JP6038511B2 - Washing and drying machine - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a washing dryer.

  Conventionally, washing dryers that perform washing processes (including detergent washing processes and rinsing processes), dehydration processes, and drying processes do not use electric heaters as drying means, and there is less wrinkling and shrinkage of clothes, saving energy and drying time. There is a washing machine using a heat pump that can be shortened. In this type of washing machine, when the washing operation is started, the weight of the clothes is detected, and the end time of the washing / drying operation (the time required until the clothes drying rate reaches the target drying rate) is predicted and displayed. I am doing so. In this case, the estimated end time of the washing / drying machine is the total time of the time required for the detergent washing process, the time required for the rinsing process, the time required for the drying process, and the time required for the drying process, respectively. .

JP 2002-221388 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-146999

  By the way, with respect to detecting the drying rate of clothing, the exhaust temperature of the storage chamber (inside the drum in the case of a drum-type washing and drying machine) in which clothing is stored is detected, and this exhaust temperature is set to a preset end determination temperature. In this case, it is determined that the drying rate of the clothing has reached the target drying rate, and the end of the drying process is determined. However, in the method of determining the drying rate of clothes based on the exhaust temperature, there is a variation in the weight of the clothes and the time required for the drying process from the start of the drying process until the exhaust temperature reaches the end determination temperature, and the exhaust temperature and the drying rate. Therefore, even if the drying process is completed in the estimated required time, the drying rate may not be the predetermined drying rate. In other words, even if the washing and drying operation ends at the estimated end time (display time), the clothes may not be sufficiently dried. For this reason, there is a method in which the display time is set longer with a margin by setting the estimated required time for the drying process in advance, but in this case, there is a risk of overdrying.

  In view of this, there is provided a washing / drying machine capable of completing the drying process so as to achieve the target drying rate initially set at the initial target time.

In the washing and drying machine of the present embodiment, the washing and drying machine performs each process of washing, dehydration, and drying. The washing and drying machine includes a storage room in which clothes are stored, a circulation fan, and the air in the storage room is taken out again. A circulation air passage that forms a circulation air flow to be returned to the housing chamber, and a compressor, a condenser, a decompression unit, and an evaporator are connected in a closed loop by a refrigerant pipe, and the evaporator is connected to the circulation air passage. A heat pump which is disposed on the air outlet side of the housing chamber and the condenser is disposed on the downstream side of the circulating air flow from the evaporator, and before passing through the evaporator from the housing chamber An air temperature sensor before passing through the evaporator for detecting the temperature of the air; an air relative humidity information obtaining means before passing through the evaporator that obtains the relative humidity information of the air before passing through the evaporator; Cold in the evaporator An evaporator inlet temperature sensor that detects an evaporator temperature on the inlet side, and an air relative humidity information acquisition means after passage through the evaporator that acquires relative humidity information of air before passing through the condenser and through the evaporator; Garment weight detection means for detecting the weight of the garment, the weight of the garment in the dry state detected by the garment weight detection means at the beginning of the washing process, and detected by the garment weight detection means at the end of the dehydration process Necessary dehumidification amount detecting means for detecting a difference between the weight of the garment in a wet state as a necessary dehumidification amount of the garment, and set in correspondence with the necessary dehumidification amount, and at a predetermined target time from the start of the drying process. A temporal change pattern of a drying rate increase value at a predetermined time interval for setting the clothing to a predetermined target drying rate is stored as reference data, and a control allowable value for the reference data is stored. Storage means, and sequentially increasing the dehumidification amount increase value of the clothing at the predetermined time interval when the drying process is performed, the detected temperature of the air temperature sensor before passing through the evaporator and the air relative humidity information acquiring means before passing through the evaporator calculated on the basis of the air relative humidity information before passing through the evaporator obtained, and the evaporator inlet temperature detected temperature and the evaporator after passing through the air relative humidity information acquisition evaporator after passing through the air relative humidity information obtained by means of the sensor by A drying rate increase value calculating means for sequentially calculating a drying rate increase value of the clothing at the predetermined time interval from the calculated dehumidification amount increase value, and a drying rate increase at an arbitrary time calculated by the drying rate increase value calculating means. When the value exceeds the control value above the control value indicated by the reference data, the capacity of the heat pump is reduced, and the value of the dry rate increase for an arbitrary time is increased by the reference data. It is characterized in that it comprises drying control means for increasing the capacity of the heat pump when the control value falls below the allowable value for control by an additional value.

Longitudinal side view of the washing and drying machine according to the first embodiment Diagram showing schematic configuration of heat pump Functional block diagram of control system Flow chart showing control contents of control device (A) is a diagram showing reference data, (b) is a diagram showing air humidity data before passing through the evaporator, and (c) is a diagram showing air humidity data after passing through the evaporator. Diagram showing the relationship between air temperature and saturated water vapor FIG. 2 equivalent view showing the second embodiment 3 equivalent figure

  The washing / drying machine according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, a water tank 2 is disposed inside the outer box 1, and a drum 3 is disposed inside the water tank 2. Both the water tank 2 and the drum 3 have a cylindrical shape with one end closed. In this case, the water tank 2 and the drum 3 constitute a tank used for washing clothes (detergent washing and rinsing), dehydration and drying. And the inside of the said drum 3 comprises the storage chamber 3a in which clothing is stored.

  The water tank 2 and the drum 3 have respective openings 4 and 5 on the front side, that is, on the left end surface in FIG. Among these, the opening 5 of the drum 3 is where clothes are put in and out, and the opening 5 is surrounded by the opening 4 of the water tank 2. The opening 4 is connected via a bellows 7 to an opening 6 for putting in and taking out clothes formed on the front surface of the outer box 1. A door 8 is provided at the opening 6 of the outer box 1 so as to be openable and closable.

  The drum 3 is provided with, for example, a liquid-filled rotary balancer 9 around the opening 5, and a hole 10 is formed in the circumferential side, that is, almost the entire region of the drum 3 (one in FIG. 1). Only the part is shown). The hole 10 functions as a water passage hole during washing and dehydration, and functions as a ventilation hole during drying. A plurality of baffles 11 are provided on the inner surface of the peripheral side portion of the drum 3 so as to protrude inward of the drum 3. A plurality of hot air inlets 12 are formed in the end surface portion on the rear side of the drum 3 by an annular arrangement concentric with the center thereof.

  The water tank 2 is formed with a hot air outlet 13 at the upper part of the front end surface, that is, at a portion above the opening 4, and is opposed to the rotation trajectory of the hot air inlet 12 at the upper part of the rear end surface part. Thus, the hot air inlet 14 is formed. A drain port 15 is provided at the bottom of the water tank 2. A drain valve 16 is connected to the drain port 15 outside the water tank 2, and further, a drain hose 17 is connected to the drain valve 16 so that the water in the water tank 2 can be discharged out of the machine.

  A washing machine motor 18 is attached to the back surface of the water tub 2, and the rotation shaft 19 is inserted into the water tub 2, and the center portion of the rear end surface portion of the drum 3 is attached to the front end portion thereof. ing. Thereby, the drum 3 is coaxially supported by the water tank 2 so that rotation is possible. That is, the drum 3 is directly rotated by the washing machine motor 18, and a direct drive system using the washing machine motor 18 is employed.

  The water tank 2 is elastically supported by the outer box 1 via a plurality of suspensions 20 (only one is shown in FIG. 1). As for the support form, the axial direction of the water tank 2 has a horizontal axis shape that is front and rear and an upwardly inclined shape. Further, the drum 3 supported by the water tank 2 has the same form. In this case, the washing machine motor 18 is constituted by an outer rotor type brushless DC motor, and functions as a driving means for rotating the drum 3.

  A base plate 21 is disposed below the water tank 2, that is, on the bottom surface of the outer box 1, and a ventilation duct 22 is disposed on the base plate 21. The ventilation duct 22 has an air inlet 23 at the top of the front end. A warm air outlet 13 of the water tank 2 is connected to the air inlet 23 via a return air duct 24 and a connection hose 25. The return air duct 24 is piped so as to bypass the left side of the opening 4 of the water tank 2.

  A casing 27 of a circulation fan 26 is connected to the rear end portion of the ventilation duct 22. The outlet portion 28 of the casing 27 is connected to the hot air inlet 14 of the water tank 2 via a connection hose 29 and an air supply duct 30. The air supply duct 30 is piped so as to bypass the left side of the washing machine motor 18. Here, the warm air outlet 13 and the warm air inlet 14 of the water tank 2 are connected by the return air duct 24, the connection hose 25, the ventilation duct 22, the casing 27 of the circulation fan 26, the connection hose 29, and the air supply duct 30. Thus, the circulation air passage 31 is configured. The circulation air passage 31 communicates with the water tank 2 and also with the drum 3. In this case, the circulation fan 26 is a centrifugal fan, and has a centrifugal impeller 32 inside the casing 27 and a motor 33 that rotates the centrifugal impeller 32 outside the casing 27. The circulation fan 26 constitutes a blowing means for circulating the air in the drum 3 through the circulation air passage 31. By operating the circulation fan 26, a circulation air flow indicated by an arrow A is formed in the circulation air passage 31.

  An evaporator 34 is disposed in the circulation air passage 31 inside the ventilation duct 22 on the warm air outlet 13 side which is the air outlet side of the storage chamber 3a. Further, a condenser 35 is disposed in the circulation air passage 31 in the ventilation duct 22 on the downstream side of the circulation air flow from the evaporator 34. Although neither of these evaporator 34 and condenser 35 are shown in detail, they are tube-shaped with fins in which a large number of heat transfer fins are arranged at a fine pitch on the refrigerant flow pipe, and are excellent in heat exchange. Thus, the circulating air flow (circulating wind) in the ventilation duct 22 passes between the heat transfer fins.

  The evaporator 34 and the condenser 35 constitute a heat pump 37 as a hot air supply means together with a compressor 36 and, in particular, a throttle valve (pressure reduction means) 43 (see FIG. 2) formed of an electronic control valve. In this heat pump 37, the compressor 36, the condenser 35, the throttle valve 43, and the evaporator 34, which is a dehumidifying means, are connected in this order by a refrigerant pipe 37a (refrigeration cycle), and the compressor 36 operates. By doing so, the refrigerant is circulated.

The capacity (drying capacity) of the heat pump 37 is determined by the rotational speed of the compressor 36 and the rotational speed of the circulation fan 26.
In the inner upper part of the outer box 1, a power supply system control unit 38 and a display system control unit 39 necessary for controlling the washing and drying machine, a water supply valve 40 for supplying water into the water tank 2, a water supply case 41, And the water supply hose 42 is arrange | positioned. The circulation air passage 31 is located between the hot air outlet 13 and the evaporator 34 to detect the temperature of the air before leaving the storage chamber 3a and passing through the evaporator 34. A front air temperature sensor 44 is disposed as a pre-passage air temperature sensor. Further, the evaporator 34 is provided with an evaporator inlet temperature sensor 45 for detecting the evaporator temperature on the refrigerant inlet side, as shown in FIG.
The temperature of the evaporator 34 on the refrigerant inlet side detected by the evaporator inlet temperature sensor 45 is substantially equivalent to the temperature of the air that has passed through the evaporator 34. That is, the evaporator inlet temperature sensor 45 is used as a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the air that has passed through the evaporator 34.

  FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the control system. The control device 47 includes the control units 38 and 39 (see FIG. 1), and is composed of, for example, a microcomputer, RAM, ROM, or the like. The control device 47 functions as control means 47a that controls the overall operation of the washing and drying machine by executing a control program stored in advance. The control means 47a includes a front air relative humidity information acquisition means as an air relative humidity information acquisition means before passing through the evaporator that acquires relative humidity information of air before passing through the evaporator 34 from the storage chamber 3a. 47b, rear air relative humidity information acquisition means 47c as post-evaporator air relative humidity information acquisition means for acquiring the relative humidity information of the air before passing through the evaporator 34 and before passing through the condenser 35, clothing A weight detection unit 47d, a necessary dehumidification amount detection unit 47e, a drying rate increase value calculation unit 47f, a drying control unit 47g, and an absolute humidity indexing unit 47h are included.

  Further, the control device 47 incorporates a nonvolatile memory 51 as a storage means. In the nonvolatile memory 51, as will be described later, reference data S (see FIG. 5A), which is a change pattern of the drying rate increase value, and air relative humidity data I before evaporator corresponding to the reference data S ( FIG. 5 (b)) and post-evaporator air relative humidity data J (see FIG. 5 (c)) are stored. The nonvolatile memory 51 further stores a control allowable value Sk for the reference data S and the like. The control allowable value Sk is an upper limit value and a lower limit value for control with respect to the reference data S.

  Various operation signals are input to the control device 47 from an operation unit 53 that is an operation means for a user to perform operations related to the operation of the washing and drying machine. Then, various displays including the operation result, the current operation status, and an abnormality display are displayed on the display unit 54 which is a display unit including a liquid crystal display, for example. In addition, a water level detection signal is input to the control device 47 from a water level sensor 48 provided to detect the water level in the water tank 2. The controller 47 receives temperature detection signals from the front air temperature sensor 44 and the evaporator inlet temperature sensor 45, and a motor rotation sensor 49 provided to detect the rotation of the washing machine motor 18, A rotation detection signal is input from a compressor rotation sensor 50 provided to detect the rotation of the compressor 36.

  The function as the clothing weight detection means 47d in the control device 47 will be described. The clothing weight detecting means 47d is a function for detecting the weight of clothing stored in the drum 3, and the clothing weight can be detected using various methods. The motor current value of the washing machine motor 18, for example, the q-axis current value in the vector control, is closely related to the weight of the clothes put in the drum 3. Therefore, the washing load amount can be detected by detecting such a motor current value when the washing machine motor 18 is rotated at a predetermined rotation number, for example, 75 rpm, with the current sensor 55.

  And the control apparatus 47 is based on the various input signals and the control program memorize | stored previously, The water supply valve 40 provided so that it may supply in the water tank 2 (inside the drum 3), and the washing machine motor for driving the drum 3 18. The drain valve 16, the compressor 36, the circulation fan 26, and the throttle valve 43 provided so as to drain from the water tank 2 (in the drum 3) are driven and controlled via the drive circuit 52.

Here, the reference data S, the pre-evaporator air relative humidity data I (pre-evaporator air relative humidity information), and the post-evaporator air relative humidity data J (evaporator) stored in the nonvolatile memory 51. The air relative humidity information after passage) and the control allowable value Sk will be described.
The reference data S includes a plurality of data, and FIG. 5A shows, for example, two data. The data line S1 in FIG. 5A indicates that the clothing is predetermined at a predetermined target time TE1 (predicted required time TE for the drying process described later) from the start of the drying process when the amount of moisture contained in the clothes, that is, the necessary dehumidification amount is H1. It is a temporal change pattern of the drying rate increase value for setting it as the target drying rate K1 (for example, 102%).

In this case, since the necessary dehumidification amount at the start of the drying process varies depending on the amount of clothes, the dehydration rate, and the like, the reference data S is set corresponding to the necessary dehumidification amount. For example, another data line S2 in FIG. 5A is reference data corresponding to the required dehumidification amount H2 larger than the necessary dehumidification amount H1, and in this case, the predetermined target time is TE2 slightly longer than TE1. However, in this embodiment, the target drying rate is set to the same predetermined target drying rate K1 in order to obtain the same drying finish.
The required dehumidifying amount may be set in a plurality of stages (in this case, five stages) such as a minimum level range, a slightly lower level range, a medium level range, a slightly higher level range, and a maximum level range. In this case, five reference data are stored.

Here, the dry rate increase value refers to the following. In the drying process, the drying rate Kx is calculated at every predetermined time ti interval (described later), and a value (ΔK) obtained by subtracting the previous drying rate Kx ′ from the current calculated drying rate Kx is the drying rate increase value. . That is, it is a value indicating how much the current drying rate Kx has increased with respect to the previous drying rate Kx ′.
ΔK = Kx−Kx ′ (1)
Therefore, the drying rate increase value ΔK at an arbitrary time in the actual drying operation is (SΔK + Sk) as the upper limit value of the drying rate increase value SΔK indicated by the reference data S (S1 and S2) at the time. And the lower limit (SΔK−Sk) are controlled so that the predetermined target drying rate (or the drying rate very close to this) is reached when the predetermined target time is reached.

  The pre-evaporator air relative humidity data I corresponding to the reference data S will be described. The air relative humidity data I before passing through the evaporator is indicated by, for example, data lines I1 and I2 in FIG. 5B. The air relative humidity before passing through the evaporator in the air relative humidity data I before passing through the evaporator means the air relative humidity before the circulating air flow passes through the evaporator 34 (around the point Pi) in FIG. The data line I1 indicates the reference change in the air relative humidity corresponding to the data line S1 when the necessary dehumidification amount is H1. The data line I2 indicates a reference change in the air relative humidity corresponding to the data line S2 when the required dehumidification amount is H2. These data lines I1 and I2 are experimentally obtained in advance. The air relative humidity data I before passing through the evaporator is provided in the same number as the reference data S.

  The post-evaporator air relative humidity data j corresponding to the reference data S will be described. The post-evaporator air relative humidity data J is indicated by, for example, data lines j1 and j2 in FIG. In FIG. 2, the air relative humidity after passing through the evaporator in the air relative humidity data J after passing through the evaporator means the air relative humidity before the circulating air flow passes through the evaporator 34 and before passing through the condenser 35 (around the point Pj) in FIG. The data line J1 indicates a reference change in the air relative humidity corresponding to the data line S1 when the required dehumidification amount is H1. The data line J2 indicates a reference change in the air relative humidity corresponding to the data line S2 when the required dehumidification amount is H2. These data lines J1 and J2 are experimentally obtained in advance. The air relative humidity data J after passing through the evaporator is also provided in the same number as the reference data S.

The absolute humidity indexing means 47h calculates (determines) an absolute humidity (volumetric absolute humidity) e by calculation using the following equation (well-known).
First, if the air temperature is t [° C] and the saturated water vapor pressure is E,
E = 6.11 × 10 (7.5 × t / (237.3 + t)) (2)
If the relative humidity is RH, the (current) water vapor pressure (water vapor partial pressure) Ep of the measurement air is
Ep = E x RH / 100 (3)
Volumetric absolute humidity e is e = 217 x Ep / T (4)
T: Temperature [K]
Here, FIG. 6 shows the saturated water vapor amount with respect to the air temperature, and it can be seen that the saturated water vapor amount decreases as the air temperature decreases. Since the temperature of the air before passing through the evaporator 34 is high and the temperature of the air after passing is low, the saturation humidity after passing through the evaporator 34 is also low. Therefore, after passing through the evaporator 34, the absolute humidity is extremely low, but since the air temperature is low, the relative humidity is 80 to 80 from the start to the end of drying as indicated by the data lines JI and J2 in FIG. It is as high as 90%. On the other hand, the air temperature before passing through the evaporator 34 is high from the start to the end of drying, and the moisture content of the clothes is decreased. Therefore, the absolute humidity is low, and the relative humidity is as shown in FIG. ) It becomes lower sequentially as shown in.

6 may be stored as absolute humidity data, and the absolute humidity may be calculated based on the absolute humidity data from the air temperature and the air relative humidity.
Control contents of the control means 47a of the control device 47 (front air relative humidity information acquisition means 47b, rear air relative humidity information acquisition means 47c, clothing weight detection means 47d, necessary dehumidification amount detection means 47e, drying rate increase value calculation means 47f, drying control means 47g, and absolute humidity indexing means 47h) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

For example, a washing / drying operation (including a washing process and a drying process) performed based on the control of the control device 47 will be described. The washing process includes a detergent washing process, a rinsing process, and a dehydrating process.
When the user accommodates the clothes in the drum 3 and selects the washing / drying operation which is a fully automatic course and starts the operation, as shown in FIG. Detect the weight of clothing. Let this detected weight be Wa [g]. In the next step R2, the required time TA until the end of the washing / drying operation is predicted based on the detected weight Wa, and the predicted end time TA is displayed on the display unit 54. The predicted end time TA includes an estimated required time TB for the detergent washing process, an estimated required time TC for the rinsing process, an estimated required time TD for the dehydration process, and a target time TE that is an estimated required time for the drying process. .

  In the next step R3, a soft timer is started. In the next step R4, the detergent washing process is executed with the estimated required time TB. In the detergent washing process, an operation of supplying water into the water tank 2 from the water supply valve 40 through the water supply case 41 and the water supply hose 42 (the detergent is automatically added at the initial stage of water supply) is performed. Subsequently, when the washing machine motor 18 is operated, the drum 3 is alternately rotated in both forward and reverse directions at a low speed.

In the next step R5, the rinsing process is executed at the estimated required time TC by the same operation as the above-described detergent cleaning process (but no detergent is added).
In the next step R6, the dehydration process is executed for the estimated required time TD. In this dehydration process, after the water in the water tank 2 is discharged, the drum 3 is rotated in one direction at a high speed. Thereby, the clothes in the drum 3 are centrifugally dehydrated. In this dehydration process, an unbalance rotation detection operation is performed at the beginning of dehydration. If no unbalance rotation occurs, the dehydration process ends at the estimated required time TD. Since the correction process is executed, the estimated required time TD of the dehydration process is extended accordingly. However, when viewed from the predicted end time TA of the washing and drying operation, the extension time is extremely small, and there is almost no need to change the predicted end time TA. Therefore, the remaining time of the washing and drying operation at the end of the dehydration process can be safely performed as the execution time TE of the drying process.

In the next step R7, the clothing weight detection means 47d detects the clothing weight again.
The detected weight at this time is defined as Wb [g].
In the next step R8, the required dehumidification amount H [g] (the amount of water contained in the clothing) is calculated (detected) by subtracting the first detected weight Wa from the current detected weight Wb . In step R8, reference data S corresponding to the necessary dehumidification amount H and the target time TE of the drying process is captured.

  In the next step R9, the drying process is started. This drying process does the following: The drum 3 is rotated in both forward and reverse directions at a low speed, and the motor 33 of the circulation fan 26 is driven at a preset rotational speed. Then, a circulating air flow is generated by the air blowing action of the centrifugal impeller 32 as shown by a solid arrow A in FIG. That is, the air in the water tank 2 flows into the ventilation duct 22 from the hot air outlet 13 through the return air duct 24 and the connection hose 29. At this time, the compressor 36 of the heat pump 37 is driven at a predetermined rotational speed. Thereby, the refrigerant sealed in the heat pump 37 is compressed to become a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant, and the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant flows into the condenser 35 and exchanges heat with the air in the ventilation duct 22. As a result, the air in the ventilation duct 22 is heated, and conversely, the temperature of the refrigerant is lowered and liquefied. The liquefied refrigerant then passes through the throttle valve 43 and is depressurized, and then flows into the evaporator 34 and vaporizes. Thereby, the evaporator 34 cools the air in the ventilation duct 22. The refrigerant that has passed through the evaporator 34 returns to the compressor 36.

  As a result, the air flowing into the ventilation duct 22 from the water tank 2 is cooled by the evaporator 34 and dehumidified, and then heated by the condenser 35 to be warmed. Then, the hot air is supplied into the water tank 2 from the hot air inlet 14 through the connection hose 25 and the air supply duct 30, and is further supplied into the drum 3 from the hot air inlet 12. The hot air supplied into the drum 3 takes away moisture from the clothing, and then flows into the ventilation duct 22 from the hot air outlet 13 through the return air duct 24 and the connection hose 29. As described above, air circulates between the ventilation duct 22 having the evaporator 34 and the condenser 35 and the drum 3, that is, the circulation air passage 31, thereby drying the clothes in the drum 3. Therefore, in this case, the storage chamber 3a in the drum 3 functions as a drying chamber.

  In the next step R10, the detected temperature Qa by the front air temperature sensor 44 and the detected temperature Qb by the evaporator inlet temperature sensor 45 are taken in every time ti that is a predetermined time interval, and further stored in the nonvolatile memory 51. The air relative humidity data Ix at this time is taken in from the air relative humidity data I before passing through the evaporator (the front air relative humidity information acquiring means 47b) and the air relative humidity data J after passing through the evaporator after this time. The side air relative humidity Jx is taken in (rear side air relative humidity information acquisition means 47c).

  In step R11, the aforementioned drying rate increase value ΔK is calculated from the detected temperature Qa, detected temperature Qb, air relative humidity Ix, and air relative humidity Jx as described below (dry rate increase value calculating means). 47f).

First, using the above-described detected temperature Qa and the air relative humidity Ix, the absolute humidity e (this front side) of the air (front air) before passing through the evaporator 34 at this time point from the above-described formulas (2) to (4). The absolute humidity of air is called ea). In this case, Qa is substituted for t in the equation (2), and Ix is substituted for RH in the equation (3) to obtain the absolute humidity ea.
Similarly, using the above-described detected temperature Qb and air relative humidity Jx, the absolute humidity e of the air (rear air) after passing through the evaporator 34 at this time is obtained from the above-described equations (2) to (4). (The absolute humidity of the rear air is referred to as eb).

Then, based on the absolute humidity ea of the front air, the absolute humidity eb of the rear air, and the integrated ventilation amount, the dehumidification amount increase value Hn at a predetermined time ti (from the current dehumidification amount to the previous dehumidification amount). Increase).
Hn = (ea−eb) × f
Here, f is the integrated ventilation amount at time ti, and this integrated ventilation amount f is obtained by the product of the rotational speed of the motor 33 of the circulation fan 26 and the time ti.

Then, when the dehumidification amount increase value Hn obtained this time is added every calculation timing (take-in timing), the integrated dehumidification amount HN up to this point is obtained.
HN = “Current dehumidification amount increase value Hn” + “Total dehumidification amount increase value so far”
From this integrated dehumidification amount HN and the aforementioned weight detection result Wb, the weight Wb ′ of the clothing at this point is obtained.

Wb ′ = Wb−HN
From this Wb ′, the drying rate Kx at this point is obtained.
Kx = (Wa / Wb ′) / 100 [%]
Then, assuming that the drying rate Kx at this point is Kx ′ and the previous drying rate is Kx ′, the drying rate increase value ΔK is obtained from the above-described equation (1) (drying rate increase value calculating means 47f).

After obtaining the drying rate increase value ΔK in this way, the process proceeds to step R12. In this step R12, it is determined whether or not the elapsed time of the washing / drying operation has reached the aforementioned predicted end time TA, and if not, the process proceeds to step R13.
In step R13, the drying rate increase value SΔK at this point in the reference data S is read with respect to the drying rate increase value ΔK at this point, and the drying rate increase value ΔK becomes the drying rate increase value SΔK. On the other hand, it is determined whether or not it exceeds the control allowable value Sk. That means
It is determined whether or not ΔK> = SΔK + Sk.

When it is determined in step R13 that the drying rate increase value ΔK is greater than the control allowable value Sk with respect to the drying rate increase value SΔK, the process proceeds to step R14, and the capacity of the compressor 36 is increased. A certain number of revolutions is reduced to a preset number of revolutions, and the number of revolutions of the motor 33 which is the capability of the circulation fan 26 is reduced to a preset number of revolutions.
If “NO” is determined in Step R13, the process proceeds to Step R15. In step R15, it is determined whether or not the drying rate increase value ΔK at this time is lower than the control allowable value Sk by the drying rate increase value SΔK of the reference data S. That means
It is determined whether or not ΔK = <SΔK−Sk.

  Here, when it is determined that the drying rate increase value ΔK is lower than the control value Sk by the drying rate increase value SΔK of the reference data S, the process proceeds to step R16, and the compressor 36 described above. The rotational speed is increased to a preset rotational speed, and the rotational speed of the motor 33, which is the capability of the circulation fan 26, is increased to a predetermined rotational speed.

  By the control of Steps R10 to R16 described above, the change in the dehumidification amount and the change in the drying rate increase value ΔK converge so as to match the reference data S (S1 and S2). Accordingly, when the predicted end time TA is reached, the target drying rate K1 is reached. As a result, when it is determined in the above-described step R12 that the elapsed time of the washing / drying operation has reached the above-mentioned predicted end time TA, the drying state with the above-described target drying rate K1 is obtained. That is, the washing / drying operation can be executed at the initial predicted end time TA and the target drying rate K1 with no excess or deficiency.

As for only the drying process, the drying process can be completed with the target time TE of the drying process initially predicted and the target drying rate K1.
In the above-described embodiment, the required dehumidification amount detection unit 47e detects the necessary dehumidification amount H before the start of the drying process, and the drying rate increase value calculation unit 47f sequentially performs a predetermined time during the execution of the drying process. Based on the detected temperature Qa and front air relative humidity Ix of the front air temperature sensor 44, the detected temperature Qb of the evaporator inlet temperature sensor 45 and the rear air relative humidity Jx The garment drying rate increase value ΔK at the predetermined time ti interval is sequentially calculated from the calculated dehumidification amount increase value Hn. When the calculated drying rate increase value ΔK for an arbitrary time exceeds the control allowable value Sk by the drying rate increase value SΔK indicated by the reference data S corresponding to the detected required dehumidification amount H by the drying control unit 47g. The capacity of the heat pump 37 is lowered, and the capacity of the heat pump 37 is increased when the drying rate increase value ΔK for an arbitrary time falls below the control allowable value Sk by more than the drying rate increase value SΔK indicated by the reference data S.

  According to this embodiment, in the drying process, the capacity of the heat pump 37 sequentially matches the drying rate increase value SΔK indicated by the reference data S in which the drying rate increase value ΔK is set according to the necessary dehumidification amount H of the clothing. Thus, the drying process can be completed at the target time TE of the initially predicted drying process and the target drying rate K1. That is, it is possible to reliably finish drying the garment at the drying process target time that is initially planned to be at the initially planned drying rate.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, since the evaporator inlet temperature sensor 45 that detects the inlet temperature of the evaporator 34 is used as the temperature sensor that detects the air temperature after passing through the evaporator 34, the following effects are obtained. That is, the space between the condenser 34 and the condenser 35 is not so large on the downstream side of the evaporator 34, and it is difficult to install an air temperature sensor in the space portion, and the assembling property is also poor. Moreover, if an air temperature sensor is provided in the space portion, the temperature of the condenser 35 existing in the vicinity may be detected. In order to cope with this, attention is paid to the fact that the temperature of the evaporator 34 on the refrigerant inlet side detected by the evaporator inlet temperature sensor 45 is substantially equivalent to the temperature of the air that has passed through the evaporator 34. By using the temperature sensor 45 as a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the air that has passed through the evaporator 34, the deterioration of the assembling property can be prevented and the temperature of the condenser 35 can be detected.

  In addition, when superheat processing is performed and the rotation speed of the compressor 36 is controlled, this evaporator inlet temperature sensor 45 can be utilized effectively. That is, the superheat process is a process for controlling the number of revolutions of the compressor in accordance with the difference between the inlet refrigerant temperature of the evaporator and the outlet refrigerant temperature, and is a sensor that detects the inlet refrigerant temperature of the evaporator. The evaporator inlet temperature sensor 45 can be used effectively.

  According to the above embodiment, the non-volatile memory 51 stores the pre-evaporator air relative humidity data I and the post-evaporator air relative humidity data J corresponding to the reference data S, and the pre-evaporator air. The front air relative humidity information acquisition unit 47b as the relative humidity information acquisition unit acquires the pre-evaporator air relative humidity data I as the pre-evaporator air relative humidity information from the nonvolatile memory 51, and the rear air relative humidity. Since the information acquisition means 47c acquires the air relative humidity data J after passing through the evaporator as the air relative humidity information after passing through the evaporator from the nonvolatile memory 51, the front air humidity for detecting the air relative humidity before passing through the evaporator is obtained. It is not necessary to provide a rear air relative humidity sensor for detecting the air relative humidity after passing through the sensor and the evaporator. In the case where a rear air relative humidity sensor that detects the air relative humidity after passing through the evaporator is provided, it may be provided in a space between the evaporator 34 and the condenser 35. Since the space is small, it is difficult to assemble the rear air relative humidity sensor. However, in this embodiment, since the air relative humidity data J after passing through the evaporator is used instead of the rear air humidity sensor, it is not necessary to use the rear air humidity sensor, and there is no difficulty in assembling.

In the above embodiment, the laundry weight detection means 47d for detecting the weight of the clothes and the display unit 54 as the display means are provided, and the washing / drying operation is performed in which the washing, dehydration and drying processes are successively performed. In this case, at the beginning of the washing process, the clothes weight detecting means 47d detects the weight Wa of the clothes in the dry state, and the washing drying operation end time TA including the target time TE of the drying process is determined according to the weight detection result. Predicting and displaying the predicted end time TA on the display unit 54, the necessary dehumidifying amount detecting means 47e detects the weight Wb of the clothing by the clothing weight detecting means 47d at the end of the dehydration process, and the weight detection result Wb The necessary dehumidification amount H is detected from the weight detection result Wa in the dry cloth state.
According to this embodiment, since the drying process can be reliably completed at the target time TE, the laundry drying operation can be reliably completed at the predicted end time TA displayed on the display unit 54, and a highly reliable laundry dryer is provided. it can.

Next, FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second embodiment, which differs from the first embodiment in the following points. The air relative humidity data I before passing through the evaporator is not stored in the nonvolatile memory 51. Instead of the pre-evaporator air relative humidity data I, the front-side air relative humidity sensor 61 is used as the pre-evaporator air relative humidity sensor that detects the relative humidity of the air before leaving the chamber 3a and passing through the evaporator 34. Is provided near the point pi. The front air relative humidity information acquisition unit 47b acquires the relative humidity detected by the front air relative humidity sensor 61 as the air relative humidity information before passing through the evaporator.
According to the second embodiment, the actual value of the air relative humidity before passing through the evaporator can be acquired, and the calculation accuracy of the drying rate increase value can be improved. Further, since the front air relative humidity sensor 61 is provided at the front side (upstream side) of the evaporator 34 with sufficient space, there is no difficulty in assembling the sensor 61.

  In addition, you may change the washing-drying machine of embodiment as follows. In the dehydration process, an unbalance rotation detection operation is executed at the beginning of dehydration, and if no unbalance rotation occurs, the dehydration process ends at the estimated required time TD, but if an unbalance rotation occurs many times, an unbalance correction process is performed. Is repeatedly executed, the estimated required time TD of the dehydration process may be extended to the extent that it cannot be ignored. In this case, when the extended time is TDa, the target time TE of the drying process may be changed to (TE-TDa). In this case, as the reference data S, reference data for setting the target drying rate K1 using (TE-TDa) may be further stored in advance, and the heat pump capability may be controlled based on the reference data.

  According to the washing and drying machine of the embodiment described above, in the drying process, the capacity of the heat pump sequentially matches the drying rate increase value indicated by the reference data in which the drying rate increase value is set according to the necessary dehumidification amount of the clothing. As such, the drying process can be terminated at the initially predicted target time of the drying process and at the target drying rate.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  In the drawings, 2 is a water tank, 3 is a drum, 3a is a storage chamber, 12 is a hot air inlet, 13 is a hot air outlet, 14 is a hot air inlet, 22 is a ventilation duct, 26 is a circulation fan, and 31 is a circulation air. , 34 is an evaporator, 35 is a condenser, 36 is a compressor, 37 is a heat pump, 43 is a throttle valve (pressure reducing means), 44 is a front air temperature sensor (air temperature sensor before passing through the evaporator), and 45 is an evaporator. Inlet temperature sensor, 47a is control means, 47b is front air humidity information acquisition means (air relative humidity information acquisition means before passing through the evaporator), 47c is rear air humidity information acquisition means (air relative humidity information acquisition means after passing through the evaporator) ), 47d is a clothing weight detection means, 47e is a necessary dehumidification amount detection means, 47f is a drying rate increase value calculation means, 47g is a drying control means, 51 is a non-volatile memory (storage means), 61 is a front air relative humidity sensor ( Evaporator passing It shows the air relative humidity sensor).

Claims (4)

A washing and drying machine that performs each process of washing, dehydration, and drying,
A storage room in which clothing is stored;
A circulation air passage that includes a circulation fan and forms a circulation air flow that takes out the air in the storage chamber and returns the air to the storage chamber again;
A compressor, a condenser, a decompression means, and an evaporator are connected in a closed loop by a refrigerant pipe,
Among them, a heat pump in which the evaporator is arranged on the air outlet side of the housing chamber in the circulation air passage and the condenser is arranged on the downstream side of the circulation air flow from the evaporator,
An air temperature sensor before passing through the evaporator that detects the temperature of the air before leaving the housing chamber and passing through the evaporator;
An evaporator relative air relative humidity information acquisition means for acquiring relative humidity information of the air before leaving the storage chamber and passing through the evaporator;
An evaporator inlet temperature sensor for detecting an evaporator temperature on the refrigerant inlet side in the evaporator;
Air relative humidity information acquisition means after passing through the evaporator and acquiring relative humidity information of air before passing through the condenser;
Clothing weight detecting means for detecting the weight of the clothing;
The difference between the weight of the garment in the dry state detected by the garment weight detection means at the beginning of the washing process and the weight of the garment in the wet state detected by the garment weight detection means at the end of the dehydration process , A necessary dehumidifying amount detecting means for detecting the necessary dehumidifying amount of the clothing;
As a reference data, a temporal change pattern of a drying rate increase value is set corresponding to the required dehumidification amount and is set at a predetermined time interval for causing the garment to have a predetermined target drying rate at a predetermined target time from the start of the drying process. Storage means for storing control tolerance values for the reference data, and
During the drying process, the evaporator sequentially obtains the dehumidification amount increase value of the clothing at the predetermined time interval by the temperature detected by the air temperature sensor before passing through the evaporator and the air relative humidity information acquiring means before passing through the evaporator. and air relative humidity information before passing, calculated based on the evaporator after passing through the air relative humidity information obtained by the detected temperature and the evaporator after passing through the air relative humidity information acquisition means of the evaporator inlet temperature sensor, and the calculated A drying rate increase value calculation means for sequentially calculating the drying rate increase value of the clothing at the predetermined time interval from the dehumidification amount increase value;
When the drying rate increase value at any time calculated by the drying rate increase value calculation means exceeds the control value above the drying rate increase value indicated by the reference data, the capacity of the heat pump is lowered, and the A laundry dryer comprising drying control means for increasing the capacity of the heat pump when the drying rate increase value falls below the control allowable value by more than the drying rate increase value indicated by the reference data. The storage means further stores pre-evaporator air relative humidity data and post-evaporator air relative humidity data corresponding to the reference data,
The pre-evaporator air relative humidity information acquisition means acquires the pre-evaporator air relative humidity data as pre-evaporator air relative humidity information from the storage means,
2. The laundry according to claim 1, wherein the post-evaporator air relative humidity information acquisition unit acquires the post-evaporator air relative humidity data as post-evaporator air relative humidity information from the storage unit. Dryer. The storage means further stores post-evaporator air relative humidity data corresponding to the reference data,
Furthermore, an air relative humidity sensor before passing through the evaporator that detects the relative humidity of air before going out of the storage chamber and passing through the evaporator,
The pre-evaporator air relative humidity information acquisition means acquires the relative humidity detected by the pre-evaporator air relative humidity sensor as the pre-evaporator air relative humidity information,
2. The laundry according to claim 1, wherein the post-evaporator air relative humidity information acquisition unit acquires the post-evaporator air relative humidity data as post-evaporator air relative humidity information from the storage unit. Dryer. Furthermore, a display means is provided,
When performing a washing / drying operation in which each of the washing, dehydrating and drying processes is performed continuously, the predetermined target is set according to the weight of the clothes in the dry cloth state detected by the clothes weight detecting means at the initial stage of the washing process. washing and drying machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, it predicts the wash completion of the drying operation time including the time the predicted end time and displaying on the display means.

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