JPH0420398A - Clothes drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To keep the finished state of drying constant regardless of the amount of dryed clothes and the state of dehydration, etc., by providing a fuzzy inference device to estimate proper drying time by inputting the calculated results of a difference calculation means and a differential calculation means. CONSTITUTION:A drum 2 and a heat exchanger 4 are driven by a motor 7 through belts 8 and 9. By a difference calculation means 10, the difference value between the detected values of a first temperature detection means 5 and a second temperature detection means 6, is calculated, and the differential value of the above-mentioned difference value is calculated by a differential calculation means 11. The differential value is calculated as the amount of change in the difference value during a timer means 12 times prescribed time. A fuzzy inference device 13 decides the proper drying time by these difference value and differential value. A control part 14 controls a heating means 3 and the motor 7 according to the decided drying time. Thus, the clothes can be finished with always the same drying rate and a practical and highly effective drying in power consumption can be performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Use The present invention relates to a clothes dryer used in homes, industry, and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A conventional method for controlling drying time of a clothes dryer will be described below. That is, assuming that the temperatures at the front and rear of the heat exchanger installed in the dryer are (2) and (T) respectively, the first method is to terminate the drying operation after a certain period of time from the time (2) reaches a predetermined temperature. The second method is after the differential value of (T - T ) falls within a predetermined range (so-called constant rate drying interval).
The process was terminated when the differential value reached a predetermined value or higher.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the method described in 1, for clothes that often do not have a constant drying rate period, such as small quantities of clothes or semi-dry clothes, the finished dry state may be over-dry or under-dry. There were some issues. This is because the above method ■
The drying operation starts for a certain period of time after reaching a predetermined value, but this is because it is difficult to maintain a constant finished dry state unless the drying time is changed appropriately depending on the drying state of the cloth at that time. .

The present invention is intended to solve these problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a clothes dryer that maintains a constant finished drying state regardless of the amount of drying clothes or the state of dehydration.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above objects, the clothes dryer of the present invention includes a drum for storing clothes, a heating means for drying the clothes in the drum, a heat exchanger, and a dryer for drying the clothes before passing through the heat exchanger. a first temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the hot air; a second temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the hot air after passing through the heat exchanger; and a difference calculation means for calculating the difference between the detection values of the two temperature detection means. and,
The apparatus is equipped with a differential calculation means for differentiating the calculation result of the difference calculation means, and a F, C inference device that receives the calculation results of the difference calculation means and the differential calculation means as input and estimates an appropriate drying time.

Further, in the clothes dryer of the present invention, the calculation results of the difference calculation means and the differential calculation means when the detected value of the first temperature detection means reaches a predetermined value are input to the fuzzy inference device.

Further, in the clothes dryer of the present invention, the calculation results of the difference calculation means and the differential calculation means when the output of the timer means for counting the time from the start of drying reaches a predetermined value are input to the fuzzy reasoning device. It is something to do.

Further, in the clothes dryer of the present invention, the output of the timer means and the calculation result of the differential calculation means when the calculation result of the difference calculation means reaches a predetermined value are input to the fuzzy inference device.

Function The first means of the clothes dryer of the present invention described above is to use fuzzy inference from the calculation results of the difference calculation means and the differential calculation means to determine the appropriate drying time according to the amount of clothes to be dried and the state of dehydration. . The second means uses fuzzy inference from the calculation results of the difference calculation means and the differential calculation means to perform proper drying according to the amount of drying clothes and dehydration state when the first temperature detection means reaches a predetermined value. It determines the time. The third means uses fuzzy inference from the calculation results of the difference calculation means and the differential calculation means to determine an appropriate drying time according to the amount of drying clothes and the dehydration state when the output of the timer means reaches a predetermined value. It is something to do. Furthermore, the fourth means uses fuzzy inference from the output of the timer means and the calculation result of the differential calculation means when the calculation result of the difference calculation means reaches a predetermined value, and calculates the appropriate amount according to the amount of dried clothes and the dehydration state. This determines the drying time.

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

The main body 1 of the clothes dryer includes a drum 2 for storing dry clothes, a heat exchanger 4 for circulating air and exchanging heat, a heating means 3 for heating the circulating air and drying the clothes, and a heat exchanger. It has a first temperature detection means 5 that detects the temperature of the circulating air before passing through the heat exchanger, and a second temperature detection means 6 that detects the temperature of the circulating air after passing through the heat exchanger. drum 2
and heat exchanger 4 are driven by motor 7 via belts 8 and 9. The difference calculating means 10 calculates the difference between the detection values of the first temperature detecting means 5 and the second temperature detecting means 6, and the differential calculating means 11 calculates the differential value of the difference value. This differential value is determined as the amount of change in the differential value while the timer means 12 measures a predetermined time. Fuzzy Reasoner 13. determines the appropriate drying time based on these difference values and differential values. # Part 6 I4 is
Heating means 3 and motor 7 according to the determined drying time
control.

In this embodiment, a heater is used as the heating means 3, and a thermistor is used as the first temperature detection means 5 and the second temperature detection means 6, but the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the difference operator stage 10, the differential calculation means 1], the timer means 12, the fuzzy inference unit 13, and the control section 14 can be easily realized by the microcomputer 5.

Next, the operation of detecting the dry state by the first temperature detecting means 5 and the second temperature detecting means 6 when drying clothes will be explained. If the detection values of the first temperature detection means 5 and the first temperature detection means 6 are respectively T1 and T2, then the difference calculation means 10
The calculation result T is T3=T.

■ It becomes. The temporal change in (2) varies depending on the amount of dry clothes and the dehydration rate. For example, as shown in FIG. 8(a), even if the dehydration rate is the same, the temperature rises at a gentle slope when the amount of cloth is large, and rises steeply when the amount of cloth is small. Further, as shown in FIG. 2(b), even if the amount of cloth is the same, the temperature rises steeply when the dewatering rate is high, and gradually increases when the dehydrating rate is low. In this way, the change in the difference molecule depends on the amount of dry clothing and the dehydration rate, and changes in a complex manner as these two parameters change. That is, the difference ■
The temporal change in item 3 includes information regarding the amount of dry clothing and the dehydration rate. Therefore, we will consider detecting the amount and dehydration rate of dry clothes from the temporal changes in the difference (■), and determining the optimal drying time according to the amount and dehydration rate. In this example, the following three methods are used to observe temporal changes in the difference molecules.

The first method is based on the difference calculation means 10 and the differential calculation means 1 when the detected value of the first temperature detection means 5 reaches a predetermined value.
1 is used. The second method uses the calculation results of the difference calculation means 10 and the differential calculation means 11 when the output of the timer means 12 reaches a predetermined value. The first method uses the output of the timer means 12 and the calculation result of the differential calculation means 11 when the calculation result of the difference calculation means 10 reaches a predetermined value. Although it is possible to detect temporal changes in differential molecules using these methods, the relationship between the detected value and the appropriate drying time is very complex and difficult to express mathematically. Therefore, a method for expressing the above-mentioned complex relationship using fuzzy inference will be described below.

The drying time is determined according to the first method described above. The fuzzy inference is based on the difference value obtained from the differential calculation means]O when the detected value of the first temperature detection means 5 reaches a predetermined temperature (for example, 65°C) and the differential value obtained from the differential calculation means 11. It is done from. That is, this is performed based on the rule that ``If the difference value is large and the differential value is large, the drying time should be very short.'' Six such rules are used as shown in FIG. Qualitative and ambiguous concepts such as the difference value being "large", the differential value being "large", or the drying time being "short" in these rules are explained in Figure 3 (
It is expressed quantitatively by the membership functions shown in a), (b), and (c).

FIG. 6 shows the specific configuration of the fuzzy inference device.

The operation of determining the drying time will be explained below using the same figure. First, the difference value compatibility calculation means 16 calculates the compatibility between the calculation result of the difference calculation means 10 and the difference value membership function. Further, the differential value suitability calculation means 17 includes the differential calculation means 11
The goodness of fit between the calculation result and the differential membership function is calculated. Next, the antecedent minimum calculation means 21 calculates the endogenous value of the two degrees of suitability based on the antecedent of the drying time inference rule, and sets it as the degree of suitability of the antecedent of the rule.

The consequent minimum calculation means 22 calculates the minimum between the antecedent suitability and the drying time membership function based on the drying time inference rule, and uses this as the conclusion of the rule.

Finally, the center of gravity calculation means 24 calculates the center of gravity of the conclusions of all the rules obtained by the minimum consequent part calculation means 22, and sets it as the final conclusion. The final conclusion obtained is the desired drying time. At this time, the various membership functions are stored in the difference value membership function storage means 18, the differential value membership function storage means 19, and the drying time membership function storage means 23, respectively. Further, the drying time inference rules are stored in the drying time inference rule storage means 20.

The above fuzzy inference machine can also be applied to the second method by slightly changing the membership function. Regarding the third method, the drying time is determined by performing fuzzy inference using the rules not shown in FIG. 4 and the membership functions shown in FIG. 5 in the fuzzy inference device configuration shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, a normal triangular type is used for the drying time membership function, but it is also possible to implement the drying time membership function using a linear form or a real value. Further, the number of rules is not limited to six.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the clothes dryer of the present invention optimizes the drying time according to the amount of clothes to be dried and the dehydration rate, thereby always maintaining the same drying rate without the inconvenience of over-drying or under-drying. It is also possible to perform high-efficiency drying without wasting power consumption.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, a second block diagram showing an embodiment of the fuzzy reasoning device, and FIG. 8 is a characteristic diagram of temperature time depending on the amount of dry clothes and the dehydration rate. 2... Drum, 3... Heating means, 4... Heat exchanger, 5... First temperature detection means, 6... Second temperature detection means, 10... Difference calculation means, 11... Differential calculation means, 12... Timer means, 13... Fuzzy inference device. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano and one other person

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A drum for storing clothes, a heating means for drying the clothes in this drum, a heat exchanger, a first temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the hot air before it passes through the heat exchanger, and a first temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the hot air before it passes through the heat exchanger. a second temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the hot air;
A difference calculation means for calculating the difference between the two temperature detection means, a differentiation calculation means for differentiating the calculation result of the difference calculation means, and calculation results of the difference calculation means and the differentiation calculation means are inputted to estimate an appropriate drying time. A clothes dryer equipped with a fuzzy reasoner. (2) The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the fuzzy inference device receives as input the calculation results of the difference calculation means and the differential calculation means when the detected value of the first temperature detection means reaches a predetermined value. (3) The fuzzy inference device receives as input the calculation results of the difference calculation means and the differential calculation means when the output of the timer means for measuring the time from the start of drying reaches a predetermined value. clothes dryer. (4) The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the fuzzy inference device receives as input the output of the timer means and the calculation result of the differential calculation means when the calculation result of the difference calculation means reaches a predetermined value.