JPH01192395A - Control method for clothing drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate an unnecessary drying time and to terminate drying at a set end time by preliminarily performing load quantity deciding operation for deciding the quantity of load of clothing to be dried before the start of the drying process. CONSTITUTION:A gradient of temperature rise is measured by the load quantity deciding operation. The gradient is changed approximately in proportion to the quantity of load of clothing to be dried, and the quantity of load is decided by this gradient. A time TB required for drying is operated after this measurement, and the start time of the drying process is obtained by backward calculation from the end time and is set.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for controlling a clothes dryer, particularly in an automatic washing machine or an automatic dryer, in which an end time is set and the drying process is completed at this end time. The present invention relates to a method for controlling a clothes dryer.

[Prior Art] A clothes dryer can be used as an automatic dryer installed separately from a washing machine that washes and rinses laundry, or as a dryer for a drum-type washing machine that performs both the washing/rinsing process and the drying process. In such automatic dryers or drum-type automatic washing machines, if you select the late night program,
The start time of the washing or drying process is set by counting backwards from the end time of the drying process.

Conventionally, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 197100/1983 that controls the operation of a dryer based on the end time of late-night power and the required drying time.

Figure 7 shows the operating parts of a conventional drum-type washing machine, where (1) is the power switch, (2) is the time display, and (
3) is a reservation timer button for setting the start or end time of washing in minutes; (4,) is a wash selection button for selecting the washing process time from 30 minutes, 20 minutes, or 15 minutes; (5) is a dehydration selection button for selecting either high speed dehydration or slow dehydration in the dehydration process;
) is the drying selection button that allows you to select whether the finish level is standard or ironable in the drying process, and (7) is the standard course or the late night course that washes during the midnight hours when electricity costs are low. This is a course selection button to select one of the following.

According to such a washing machine, by setting the late-night course using the course selection button (7), all washing can be completed at the end of the late-night time period when electricity charges are low.

The late-night course is provided for the following reasons.

In other words, in recent years, power consumption has been concentrated during the daytime, and electric power plants are required to have a scale that can supply the maximum amount of power used during the daytime, and for this purpose, it is necessary to increase the number of power facilities. Another problem is that this requires a huge amount of investment. Therefore, on the power supply side, it is necessary to moderate the power consumption, suppress the height of the consumption peak as much as possible, and average it out throughout the day.

For this reason, the idea is to use the electricity used in the daytime during the night when electricity consumption is low.
One method is to set electricity rates lower during late night hours. Therefore, in automatic washing machines, especially those with a drying process that requires a long time, if the washing machine is used late at night, the benefits for the user will be greater.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In conventional dryers, the time required for drying varies depending on the amount of clothes, the moisture content in the clothes, the ambient temperature, or the ambient humidity. There is a problem in that when drying is started, unnecessary drying must be performed.

That is, in the control for setting the start time of washing or drying from the end time of the midnight time slot, the start time of washing or drying is determined in consideration of the predicted maximum time required for drying. Therefore, even if the amount of clothes to be dried is small, the moisture content of the clothes is low, or even if a short drying time is sufficient depending on the ambient temperature and humidity, a long drying operation is required. .

This wastes power, and the unnecessary drying process increases contact between the drum and the cloth or between the cloths, resulting in damage to the cloth.

Furthermore, in order to avoid wasting drying time, conventional apparatuses automatically detect the end of the drying process and stop the drying operation. However, this method does not allow the drying process to end at the set end time, and the clothes are left in the drum even after the drying process is finished, resulting in wrinkles on the clothes.

Furthermore, in a device that automatically detects the end of the drying process, it has been proposed to rotate the drum for several seconds at intervals of 1 to 2 minutes in order to prevent the occurrence of wrinkles, but this method still reduces wasted cloth. Contact can also cause fabric damage and generate noise, especially during late night hours.

The present invention was made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling a clothes dryer that eliminates unnecessary drying time, eliminates damage and wrinkles on clothes, and performs good drying. shall be.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] In the method for controlling a clothes dryer according to the present invention, first, before starting the drying process, a load amount determination operation is performed to determine the load amount of the clothes to be dried. This load amount basically indicates the heat capacity required for the clothes placed in the drum to be 100% dry, and includes the amount of clothes, moisture content of the clothes, ambient temperature, and ambient humidity. It is determined from the elements of

This load amount can be detected, for example, from a change in the temperature inside the drum during the drying process, and it is determined by the gradient rate of temperature increase at the start of drying (preheating period of the drying process), and the predetermined temperature difference at the start of drying. The heat capacity, that is, the load amount, until the target clothing is 100% dry can be determined based on the time until the drying temperature becomes constant or the time from the start of drying until the change in temperature within the drum becomes constant.

Then, the drying time necessary for drying is calculated from the load amount obtained in this way, and the drying time is calculated based on the drying time required and the end time selected and set, that is, the end time set on the reservation timer or late at night in the late night course. The drying start time is set based on the end time of the time period.

Therefore, after the load amount determination operation is completed, the dryer is stopped until the drying start time, and at this drying start time, the original operation of the dryer is started.

According to this, the drying process can be completed exactly at the selected and set end time.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

Figure 1 shows the configuration of an example in which the present invention is applied to a drum-type washing machine that performs everything from the washing process to the drying process in one drum, where (8) is a cabinet, and (9) is a cabinet (8). The outer tub (10) of the washing tub supported on a rack is a washing tub that rotates within the outer tub (9) and washes or rubs the laundry, and in the drying process, it is used as a drying tub. The rotating drum, (11) is the door for loading and unloading the laundry,
(12) is a motor connected to the support rotating shaft of the rotating drum (10) via a pulley or belt, (13) is an air path for circulating hot air, and (14) is a motor connected to the rotating drum (10) side. The heater (15) provided at the outlet of the air passage is a fan for circulating hot air. The characteristic feature of the present invention is that an operation is performed to determine the load amount of the clothes to be dried;
The goal is to set an accurate drying time.

In FIG. 1, (16) is an operating unit as shown in FIG. 7, (17) is a controller that controls load amount determination operation, etc., and (18) is a controller that controls the load amount determination operation, etc. Load amount determination means (19) is a drying time calculation means that calculates the drying time necessary for the drying process from the load amount obtained by the load amount determination means (18).

In the load amount determination means (18), the load amount is the heat capacity until the clothes placed in the rotating drum (10) are 100% dry, and when drying is in the iron mode, the dry state is 10096 or less. Based on. This load amount is determined by considering various requirements such as the amount of clothes to be dried, the moisture content in the clothes, the ambient temperature, or the ambient humidity, and in the example, it is determined from the following three δ-j quantifications. be able to.

That is, the load amount can be measured by the rate of change in the temperature inside the drum during the preheating period of the drying process; the first method is to determine the load amount by the gradient rate of temperature rise ΔS/Δt;
The method is a method of determining the load amount based on the time T1 until a predetermined temperature difference is reached, and the third method is a method of determining the load amount based on the time T2 from the start of drying until there is no temperature change.

Figure 2 shows the change in temperature inside the drum at the exterior outlet (9a).
The characteristic curve expressed by the exhaust temperature at
This characteristic curve is for a case where the ambient temperature is 20° C., the humidity is 65%, and the amount of clothing and moisture content are standard, but the curve varies depending on the above-mentioned factors. In the figure, the period during which the temperature gradient rate is high between 0 minutes and about 30 minutes during the drying time is called the preheating period, and the period when the temperature is constant between about 30 minutes and 90 minutes during the drying time is called the period when the drying efficiency is stable. In this sense, it is called an efficiency period, and the period in which the temperature rises for about 90 minutes or more during drying time is called a waning rate period in the sense that the drying efficiency decreases.

The present invention determines the drying time by detecting the thinning rate during the preheating period in such a characteristic curve, and the first
In the method shown in the figure, the temperature gradient rate ΔS/Δt is measured between the time t1 and the minute time Δt, and according to the first method, the load amount can be determined using a short time period where Δ is time. This will be done on the product.

The second method is carried out by measuring the time T1 until the exhaust gas temperature reaches from 81 to exhaust temperature S2 shown in FIG. Furthermore, the third method measures the time T2 from the start of drying to the time t3 when the efficiency period begins and the temperature becomes constant.

In fact, the clothes become 100% dry at the point 200 shown in Figure 2, but the pattern of the characteristic curve can be known from the temperature change rate during the preheating period, and the drying time is determined based on the following formula. Time TB (time to dry point 200) can be calculated.

T-f(ΔS/Δt, orT, orT2)B
1 + α (1) In the above equation (1), α is an amount that takes into account the variation in the error range, and is set to a time of about 10 minutes.

This calculation is performed by the drying time calculation means (19), and based on this drying time, the controller (17)
Now, determine the start time of the drying process.

That is, after the period TA during which the load amount determination operation is performed has elapsed as shown in FIG. 3, the start time is set by going back the required drying time TB from the set end time of the drying process.

The embodiment has the above configuration, and its operation will be explained below based on FIGS. 4 to 6.

FIG. 4 shows the operation of the first method of determining the load amount based on the gradient rate of temperature rise. First, in step 101, it is determined whether the reserved course or the late-night course has been selected with the operation section (16). , NO”, step 101 is further repeated, and “YES”, step 10 is repeated.
2 to start the load amount determination operation.

This load amount determination operation is an operation performed before performing the original drying step under normal conditions in the drying process, and when this load amount determination operation is started, the process moves to step 103A.

In step 103A, it is determined whether or not t1 time has elapsed since the start of the load amount determination operation, and if "No", step 103A is further repeated, and if "YES", the process moves to step 103B and the temperature rise gradient Measure the ratio ΔS/Δt.

As described above, this gradient rate ΔS/Δt changes in a substantially proportional relationship to the load amount of the clothes to be dried, and the load amount can be determined based on this gradient rate.

When this temperature gradient rate measurement is completed, step 10.4
Then, the required drying time TB is calculated using the equation (1), and the process moves to step 105.

In step 105, the drying time TB is calculated backward from the end time set by the reservation timer or the late-night course selection, and the start time of the drying process is calculated and set. The start time of the load amount judgment operation is set in consideration of the maximum time expected from the end time of the drying process, and as shown in FIG. This is the time after the drying operation is temporarily stopped after the quantity determination operation time TA has elapsed.

When the drying start time is set in step 105, the process moves to step 106, and the drying operation is started after waiting for the drying start time.

Figure 5 shows the time T until the drum internal temperature reaches a predetermined temperature difference.
This is the operation of the second method of determining the load port according to No. 1, and the steps excluding step 103C to step 103E are the same as those in FIG.

In this case, step 10 starts the load amount determination operation.
2, the temperature inside the drum, that is, the exhaust temperature reaches S.
The process moves to step 103C in which it is determined whether or not t has been reached, and in the case of "NO', the process returns to step 103C again.
If "YES", the process moves to step 103D.

In step 103D, measurement of the time from when the temperature reaches the temperature s1 is started, and the process moves to step 103E.

In step 103E, the exhaust temperature is 52 (S2>Sl
), and if "NO", return to step 103E, and if "YES", proceed to step 103F, and measure the time Tl from temperature S to temperature s2. do. As in the first method, this time T1 is a value corresponding to the rate of temperature change during the preheating period of the characteristic curve shown in FIG. 2, and this makes it possible to determine the amount of clothing load.

FIG. 6 shows the operation of the third method of determining the load amount based on the time T2 from the start of drying until there is no temperature change, and the steps except step 103G and step 103H are the same as the above method. .

In this case, step 102 starts the load amount determination operation.
When the process ends, the process moves to step 103G, starts measuring time from the start of load amount judgment operation, and proceeds to step 103H.
to move to.

In step 103H, it is determined whether the temperature change per unit time has become less than a predetermined value, that is, a value close to O. If "No", step 103H is repeated again; if "YES", The process moves to step 103I.

In this step 103I, a time T2 is measured when the temperature change per unit time becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value. This time T2 also indicates the rate of temperature change during the preheating period of the characteristic curve in FIG. 2, and the load amount can be determined from this.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, this invention performs a load determination operation before starting drying, and calculates the drying time required for drying from each detected load. The drying process can be accurately completed at the end time of the day or at the end time of the late night time period, making it possible to eliminate wasted drying time.

Further, according to the present invention, there is an advantage that clothing can be finished in a good dry state without damage or wrinkles.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration when the present invention is applied to a drum-type washing machine, Fig. 2 is a diagram of a characteristic curve showing the change in temperature inside the drum under certain conditions, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the load amount judgment operation and the original Figure 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between drying operation start time and drying operation start time.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment using the second load determination method, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment using the second load determination method, and FIG. 6 is an embodiment using the third load determination method. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the conventional device. In the figure, (3) is the reservation timer button, (7) is the course selection button, and (8) is the cabinet 1. (9) is the exterior, (10) is the rotating drum, (12) is the motor, (14)
) is the heater, (15) is the fan, (16) is the operation unit, (
17) is a controller, (18) is a load amount determination means, (
19) is a drying time calculation means. In addition, in the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts. Agent: Patent attorney Masuo Oiwa (and 2 others) Figure 1 Figure 2 0 Kaikaidai Pass 1
1 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Procedural amendment (voluntary) Mr./Mrs. Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office 63 Suishin/
131, Incident. Indication Japanese Patent Application No. 1983-01i70 No. 2, Name of the invention: Clothes dryer control method 3, Relationship with the person making the amendment Patent applicant Moriya Shiki 4, Agent 5, Invention of the specification to be amended Detailed explanation field. 6. Details of amendments and above

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Before starting the drying process, perform a load determination operation for a predetermined period of time to determine the load of the clothes to be dried, and use the load amount obtained in this load determination operation to determine the drying time required for drying. A method for controlling a clothes dryer in which a drying start time is calculated based on the required drying time and a selected end time, and the dryer starts operating when the drying start time is reached.