JPH04242692A - Drum type washing and drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a drum type washing and drying machine which has good drying efficiency and short drying time. CONSTITUTION:The drying operation in a drum washing and drying machine 1 is performed by circulating drying air from an ambient air duct in a drum 2 while the drum 2 is rotated at a low speed and circulating drum generating air W. That is, the air sucked from suction ports 25a, 25b of a water tank 13 into an air duct 8 by the drive of a blowing fan 12 is dehumidified by a dehumidifier 4. The dehumidified air is circulated as drying air to the drum 2 and mixed with high temperature air heated by a heater 3 in the drum 2. Subsequently, the mixed air evaporates moisture contained in washed materials so that the air itself is brought to the condition of low temperature and high humidity to be fed into the dehumidifier 4 and be dehumidified thereby.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a drum-type washer/dryer, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a drum-type washing/drying machine, and more specifically, the washing process, rinsing process, spin-drying process, etc. It relates to a drum-type washer/dryer that performs a drying process.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art A drum-type washer/dryer has a structure in which a drum rotates around a horizontal axis within a water tank. The laundry stored in the drum can be washed (washed and rinsed) and dried in the same drum. For this reason, the drum-type washer/dryer is a typical type of washer/dryer that has washing, dehydrating, and drying functions. Such a drum-type washing/drying machine can also be used as a so-called fully automatic laundry, in which no human intervention is required until the laundry is completely dried after the laundry is loaded into the drum.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional drum-type washer/dryer. The drum-type washer/dryer 51 includes a water tank 13 suspended by a spring 18 in an outer box 14, and a water tank 1.
The drum 2 rotates around a horizontal axis 7 inside the drum 3. The water tank 13 is swingably supported by a spring 18 and a shock absorber 19 to absorb vibrations generated during operation. It also has the function of storing and discharging washing liquid and dehydrating liquid. A large number of small holes 17 are perforated throughout the peripheral wall of the drum 2 to allow water supply during washing, drainage during dehydration, dehumidified water during drying, and dry air to pass through. A plurality of baffles 20 for stirring the laundry are protruded from the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the drum 2.

The drum-type washer/dryer 51 is provided with a water injection valve 6 for injecting water from the top of the water tank 13 during washing and rinsing operations. Separately from this, a water supply valve 26 is provided that supplies cooling water for dehumidifying the air in the water tank 13 during drying operation. The water supply valve 26 and the side wall of the water tank 13 are connected by a water injection pipe 27. Furthermore, a heater 43 is provided between the peripheral wall of the drum 2 and the peripheral wall of the water tank 13, as shown in FIG. That is, the heater 43 is fixed to the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the water tank 13.

The operation of the drum type washer/dryer 51 will be explained below based on FIG. First, in the washing process (during washing operation), laundry is put into the drum 2 through the upper lid 21, the water tank lid 22, and the drum lid 23. Next, a washing liquid containing detergent is supplied from above into the water tank 13 and impregnated into the laundry. Thereafter, the drum 3 is rotated at a low speed by the drive of the motor 15, and a washing operation is executed. At this time, the laundry in the drum 2 is urged toward the peripheral wall by the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the drum 2. And baffle 20
After being lifted up to near the top inside the drum 2, it falls to the bottom of the drum 2 due to its own weight (this operation is hereinafter referred to as "tumbling"). By repeating this tumbling, the laundry is beaten and washed by the impact force when it falls.

[0006] Also, in the rinsing process (during rinsing operation), operations similar to those in the above-mentioned washing operation are performed, but in this case, water is injected from the water injection valve 6 and water is drained from the drain valve 16 at the same time. And the dehydration process (during dehydration operation)
In this case, the drum 2 is rotated at high speed, and the laundry is strongly pressed against the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the drum 2 due to the centrifugal force. The water contained in the laundry is separated from the laundry by the centrifugal force of this high speed rotation (600-1000 rpm) and is blown toward the water tank 13 through the small holes 17 in the peripheral wall of the drum 2. This water is guided along the inner surface of the water tank 13 to its bottom, and is discharged to the outside of the machine via the drain valve 16.

Subsequently, in the drying process (drying operation), the drum 2 is rotated at a low speed and the heater 43 is energized. Then, the air in the water tank 13 and the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the drum 2 are heated, and the temperature of the laundry increases accordingly. Furthermore, a small amount of cooling water is supplied to the water tank 1 from the water supply valve 26.
Continuously injected within 3 days. At this time, air inside and outside the drum 2 flows through the small holes 17. The humid air in the water tank 13, which contains a large amount of moisture due to the evaporation of the water in the laundry, is cooled by the cooling water. Then, the moisture in the humid air condenses into water droplets, and these water droplets are discharged through the drain valve 16.

[0008]

[Problem to be solved by the invention] The above-mentioned drum type washing machine
In the dryer 51, during drying operation, the dry air outside the drum 2, which is heated by the heater 43 and dehumidified by the cooling water, and the humid air inside the drum 2 are exchanged through the small holes 17 of the drum 2 by natural ventilation. Ta. However, due to natural ventilation, the air inside and outside the drum 2 tends not to circulate efficiently through the small holes 17. In addition, the heater 43
is arranged on the inner surface of the circumferential wall of the water tank 13 between the inner wall of the drum 2 and the inner wall of the water tank 13, so that the water tank 13 is directly heated when drying takes a long time with natural ventilation. Then, the amount of heat radiated from the outer surface of the water tank 13 would increase, and there was a risk that the thermal efficiency would decrease. In other words, the above-mentioned drum-type washer/dryer 51 cannot be said to have excellent drying efficiency for laundry because it employs the dehumidification method and heating method described above, and is generally not suitable for drying laundry. It took a long time.

[0009] Generally, when clothing is used, it is necessary not only to remove stains, but also to remove wrinkles caused by use of the clothing and during storage, and to remove odors caused by insect repellents during storage. However, in conventional washing and drying machines, there are methods to remove wrinkles that occur during use of clothes and wrinkles due to storage of clothes, and to remove odors from clothes using insect repellent while storing them (methods for refreshing clothes). ) was not available. For this reason, portable steamers, steam irons, and the like have been used to refresh clothes by removing wrinkles from them.

[0010] An object of the present invention is to provide a drum-type washing/drying machine with excellent drying efficiency and short drying time.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes a water tank suspended within an outer box, and a drum rotatably supported around a horizontal axis within the water tank and capable of storing laundry. The washing liquid is heated and the air inside the drum is heated.
Drum-type laundry that dries laundry by dehumidifying it.
In a dryer, a dehumidifying/air blowing means is provided outside the drum, includes a dehumidifier and a blower, and is connected to the drum in a closed loop via a blower duct, and a dehumidifying/air blowing means is provided inside the water tank at the bottom to control washing and drying. Equipped with a heater that heats the washing liquid according to the process and also heats the air between the drum and the water tank, and after heating the air between the drum and the water tank with the heater while flowing the air between the drum and the water tank, the inside of the drum is heated. In addition to drying the laundry by introducing air into the drum, the air is dehumidified by circulating air between the inside of the drum and the outside of the drum via a dehumidifying/air blowing means.

0012

[Function] In the drum-type washer/dryer according to the present invention, in the drying process, the dehumidifying/air blowing means outside the drum and the drum are connected in a closed loop via the water tank and the air duct. Therefore, the air in the drum is circulated between the heater, dehumidifying/blowing means, and the drum, and is heated and dehumidified. Thereby, the laundry in the drum is efficiently dried. The means for blowing air into the drum consists of two parts: a blower fan in the circulation path, and means that collects the air generated by rotation of the drum at the lower part of the water tank, heats it with a heater, and sends it into the drum.

[0013] Furthermore, the drum type washer/dryer of the present invention is preferably equipped with the following steam control means. In other words, water is supplied between the drum and the water tank in an amount sufficient to immerse the heater without impairing the rotation of the drum, the water is heated by the heater to generate steam, and the generated steam is transferred to the air generated by the rotation of the drum. It is preferable to include a steam control means for introducing steam into the drum with a movement of 1 to heat and humidify the clothes in the drum. In the steam treatment process, a water level detector or the like detects a water level sufficient for water supplied from a water supply valve or the like to touch a heater and generate steam, thereby controlling the water level. therefore,
The generated steam can be introduced into the drum along with the air generated by the rotation of the drum without interfering with the rotation of the drum or wetting the clothes being refreshed. At this time,
No air circulation system is required. Refreshing clothes in the drum are tumbled in the drum and steam removes wrinkles and deodorizes them.

[0014]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Note that the following examples do not limit the technical scope of the present invention. In FIGS. 1 and 2, elements common to the conventional drum-type washer/dryer 51 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, the drum type washer/dryer 1 has the following components:
The basic structure is almost the same as that of the conventional drum type washer/dryer 51. The difference from the conventional drum-type washer/dryer 51 is that there is a water-cooled dehumidifier 4 on the outside of the drum 2 that dehumidifies the air coming out of the drum 2, and a water-cooled dehumidifier 4 that dehumidifies the air coming out of the drum 2. A ventilation fan 12 is provided. A water-cooled dehumidifier 4, a blower fan 12, and a drum 2 are connected in a closed loop via a blower duct 8. Thereby, circulating air is performed between the dehumidifier 4, the ventilation fan 12, and the drum 2.

The lower part of the water tank 13 is a water reservoir section V. Air is heated within this water reservoir V by the heater 3 fixed to the water tank 13. The heated air is passed through the small hole 17 of the drum 2 by the wind (dashed arrow in FIG. 2) generated by the rotation of the drum 2 (clockwise in FIG. 2) as shown by the white arrow N (FIG. 1). It is introduced into the drum 2. A large number of ventilation holes 11 are formed in the side wall 2a of the drum 2 to guide dry air into the drum (arrow m) through an outlet 24 through which air from the fan 12 is blown out.

The wind Nm introduced into the drum 2 exits the drum 2 through a number of ventilation holes 11 in the other side wall 2b. Then, the water is dehumidified by the water spray S supplied from the dehumidifying water electromagnetic valve 36. Dehumidifying water S1 is supplied into the dehumidifier 4 through the water spray nozzle 101 under water supply pressure. This increases the effect of contact with the circulating warm air.

A water tank 13 arranged near the outside of the drum 2
A circulation air path is formed by the air duct 8 along the outside of the air. The ends of this circulation air path are connected to the air outlet 24 and suction ports 25a, 25b of the water tank 13, respectively. Further, a dehumidifier 4 and a blower fan 12 are arranged within this circulation air path. The dehumidifier 4 cools and dehumidifies the air circulating in the circulation air path by spraying water S. That is, the dehumidifier 4, the blower fan 12, the drum rotating blower W, the heater 3, and the water sprinkler S are dehumidifying heating blowing means. It goes without saying that the above-mentioned circulation air passage is arranged at a position that does not cause any trouble in taking laundry into and out of the drum 2. The end portion of the peripheral wall of the drum 2 is formed to protrude toward the side wall of the water tank 13 as a projecting portion 10 over the entire circumference.

On the other hand, a bead 9 is formed on the side wall of the water tank 13 opposite to the side wall 2a of the drum 2 so as to protrude toward the side walls 2a and 2b of the drum 2. The bead 9 is formed to have a slightly smaller diameter than the inner periphery of the overhang 10 and is configured to fit into the overhang 10 without contacting it. Note that the bead 9 is manufactured by drawing at the same time as the side wall of the water tank 13 is manufactured. The gap between the bead 9 and the side walls 2a, 2b of the drum 2 is set to a minimum gap such that they do not come into contact with each other as the drum 2 rotates. In this case, the air outlet 24 is provided to open in the side wall of the water tank 13 closer to the axis than the bead 9.

Further, the gap between the overhanging portion 10 and the side wall of the water tank 13 is also set to the same minimum gap as above. As mentioned above, the gap between the drum 2 and the water tank 13 is narrowed by the overhang 10 of the drum 2 and the bead 9 of the water tank 13.
The structure is such that the hot air sent from the blower fan 12 does not easily leak to the circumferential side of the drum 2. Therefore, drum 2
Due to the rotation of the wind generator W, the wind generator W forms a substantially independent air blowing means. Then, the drum draft W heated by the heater 3 provided in the water reservoir in the water tank 2 is circulated by the circulating air W by the function of the involute structure of the water tank 13.
less susceptible to A hopper 31 is located at the lower end of the dehumidifier 4.
is provided. This hopper 31 allows dehumidified cooling water to flow downward, but does not allow much circulating warm air to pass through it. The hopper 31 discharges the dehumidifying water together with the dehumidifying water spray S.

To perform a washing operation to a drying operation using this drum-type washing/drying machine 1, laundry is first put into the drum 2 through the upper lid 21 and the drum lid 23. after that,
Washing operation and rinsing operation similar to the conventional washing operation are performed on the above-mentioned laundry. When the rinsing operation is completed, the rinsing water in the water tank 13 is discharged through the drain valve 16. Thereafter, the drum 2 is driven to rotate at high speed, and dewatering operation is performed using the centrifugal force.

The drying operation in the drum-type washer/dryer 1 is performed by circulating the drying air into the drum 2 from the circulation air path while rotating the drum 2 at a low speed, and also by circulating the drum air blower W. That is, the blower fan 1
2, the air sucked into the air duct 8 from the suction ports 25a, 25b of the water tank 13 is dehumidified by the dehumidifier 4. This air becomes dry air and returns to the drum 2, where it is mixed with high temperature air heated by the heater 3. In this case, the space between the drum 2 and the water tank 13 is slightly sealed by the above-mentioned overhang 10 and bead 9. Therefore, the dry air blown out from the air outlet 24 is almost forcibly blown into the drum 2 through the ventilation hole 11 of the drum 2.

[0023] The dry air blown into the drum 2 is mixed with high-temperature air generated by the drum draft W inside the drum 2. Then, the moisture contained in the laundry is vaporized, and the laundry itself becomes a low temperature and high humidity state, and is sent to the dehumidifier 4 to be dehumidified. At this time, the laundry in the drum 2 is lifted up to near the top of the drum 2 by tumbling. The laundry is then loosened as it falls under its own weight and brought into contact with uniformly hot air and dry air. Note that the moisture condensed in the dehumidifier 4 is discharged to the outside of the machine together with the dehumidified cooling water.

As described above, this drum-type washer/dryer uses a forced circulation system to forcefully circulate dry air and high-temperature air to the drum 2, thereby improving the efficiency of drying laundry. . Thereby, drying time for laundry can be shortened.

Note that the bead 9 of the water tank 13 can be processed at the same time as the side wall of the water tank 13 is manufactured without increasing the number of processing steps. The beads 9 are also useful for reinforcing the water tank 13 or improving its vibration-proofing properties.

Next, when refreshing the clothes, water is first supplied from the water supply valve 6 so as not to wet the clothes placed in the drum 2. This water is then allowed to flow down along the wall surface of the water tank 13. At this time, the water level sensor 32 controls a small amount of water level that does not contact the drum 2. Then,
As the drum 2 is rotated clockwise as shown in FIG. 2, the heater 3 is energized to generate steam. The generated steam along with the drum draft W flows through the small hole 17 of the drum 2.
is introduced into the drum 2 as shown by the N arrow. This steam heats and humidifies the clothes being tumbled. This removes wrinkles from clothing and progresses deodorization. In this case, there is no need to operate the circulation fan 12, and no water spray S for dehumidification is required.

[0027]

Effects of the Invention Since the drum-type washing/drying machine of the present invention is constructed as described above, it is possible to improve the efficiency of drying laundry and shorten the drying time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural explanatory diagram of a drum-type washer/dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the front.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration explanatory diagram of the washer/dryer shown in FIG. 1, viewed from the side.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration explanatory diagram of a conventional drum-type washer/dryer seen from the front.

4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the heater attachment part of the washer/dryer shown in FIG. 3, viewed from the side.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Drum type washer/dryer 2
Drum 3 Heater 4 Dehumidifier 7 Horizontal shaft 8 Air duct 9 Bead 10 Overhang 11 Air hole 12 Air fan 13 Water tank 16 Drain valve 17 Small hole 26 Water supply valve 32 Water level sensor

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: A washing machine comprising a water tank suspended in an outer box, and a drum rotatably supported around a horizontal axis within the water tank and capable of storing laundry, and capable of heating washing liquid. In a drum-type washer/dryer that dries laundry by heating and dehumidifying the air inside the drum, it is installed outside the drum, includes a dehumidifier and a blower, and is connected to the drum through a water tank and a blower duct. A dehumidifying/air blowing means connected in a closed loop, and a heater installed at the bottom inside the water tank to heat the washing liquid and the air between the drum and the water tank in accordance with the washing and drying control process. The air between the drum and the water tank is made to flow by the rotation of the drum, heated by a heater, and then introduced into the drum to dry the laundry. A drum-type washing/drying machine that dehumidifies air by circulating air between the drums. [Claim 2] Water is supplied between the drum and the water tank in an amount sufficient to immerse the heater without impairing the rotation of the drum, the water is heated by the heater to generate steam, and the generated steam is used to control the rotation of the drum. 2. The drum-type washing/drying machine according to claim 1, further comprising steam control means for introducing steam into the drum by the movement of air generated by the movement of the steam to heat and humidify the clothes in the drum.