JPH04307099A - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain drying of clothes of good feeling without cold and wet feeling in a clothes dryer installed in a bathroom, etc. CONSTITUTION:In a drying operation performed by a combination of a dehumidifying means 2 and a heating means 3 and a ventilating means 4 provided to a drying room 1, the drying room 1 is provided with a temp. detecting means 7 and a drying operation control means 8 which select one of a regular operation performed by a combination of dehumidification, heating and ventilation and a warming operation in which the heating means 3 is mainly used according to the judgment of the drying condition on the basis of the output of the temp. detecting means 7. Thus, in a high power drying time when most of the drying is performed, a regular operation of high drying speed is performed, and in a low power drying time before finishing of drying, clothes are heated thus to obtain dried clothes of good feeling and of proper temp. at the completion of drying.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clothes dryer for use in a bathroom or the like.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional clothes dryer of this type has a drying chamber 1, a dehumidifying means 2, a heating means 3, a ventilation means 4, and a combination of the dehumidifying means 2 and the heating means 3, as shown in FIG. and a control means 5 for controlling the ventilation means 4.

[0003] In the clothes dryer, the control means 5 controls the combination of the dehumidifying means 2, the heating means 3, and the ventilation means 4 so that the condition of the air in the drying chamber 1 increases the drying speed. .

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, when drying operation is performed at a relatively low temperature, even if the drying of the clothes is completed at the end of the operation, the drying will be delayed due to the low temperature. The problem was that it gave a feeling of being unfinished and had a damp texture. Further, although not shown, drum-type clothes dryers have a problem in that when the moisture content decreases and drying is nearing completion, the temperature rises rapidly, damaging the clothes and impairing their texture.

[0005] The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and aims to improve the feel of drying clothes.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a drying chamber, a dehumidifying means for dehumidifying the air in the drying chamber, a heating means for heating the air in the drying chamber,
ventilation means for exchanging air inside the drying chamber with air outside the drying chamber; temperature detection means for detecting the air temperature inside the drying chamber; and based on the output of the temperature detection means, the dehumidification means and the heating means The drying operation control means is provided for switching between a normal operation in which the drying chamber and the ventilation means are combined at a fixed ratio, and a heating operation in which a heating means is mainly used to give priority to raising the air temperature in the drying chamber.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the same object, humidity detection means is provided in place of the temperature detection means as another configuration.

[0008]

[Operation] According to the above-described structure, the present invention first sets a combination of operating conditions of the dehumidifying means, heating means, and ventilation means such that the drying rate can be increased. During the constant rate drying period when the drying rate is constant, the temperature and humidity of the drying room also remain constant over time, and most of the drying is done during this process. Thereafter, when the drying period enters the lapse rate drying period where the drying is coming to an end, the temperature detecting means or the humidity detecting means detects a phenomenon in which the drying rate slows down and the room temperature rises while the humidity falls. At this time, by switching from the combination of the dehumidifying means, heating means, and ventilation means to the operation that mainly uses the heating means to raise the air temperature in the drying chamber for subsequent drying, the clothes are Raise the temperature to enhance the texture.

[0009] Constant rate drying is a drying process in which moisture is supplied one after another to the surface of clothing containing moisture by capillary action from inside the fabric, and the drying rate remains constant. Drying is a drying process in which the moisture content of the clothing is reduced and the drying rate is gradually reduced because the dried surface becomes resistant to drying of the remaining moisture.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the upper part of the drying chamber 1,
It has a cooling coil 2 as a means for dehumidifying the air in the drying chamber 1, a heater 3 as a heating means, and a damper 4 for switching flow paths as a ventilation means. 3. Air passage 5 provided with damper 4
A blower 6 for transporting and circulating the air inside the drying chamber 1 and a thermistor 7 as means for detecting the temperature of the air inside the drying chamber 1 are provided. Further, 8 is a drying operation control means which will be explained in detail below.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the drying operation control means 8. That is, the drying operation control means 8 includes a drying state determining section 9 that determines whether it is a constant rate drying period or a decreasing rate drying period based on a signal from the thermistor 7, and a drying state determining section 9 that determines whether it is a constant rate drying period or a decreasing rate drying period based on a signal from the drying state determining section 9. An operating state setting unit 10 switches the output of the cooling coil 2, the heater 3, and the opening setting of the damper 4 during operation, and the cooling coil 2, heater 3, damper 4, and Blower 6
and an operation control section 11 that performs control.

The operation of the above configuration will be explained. Clothes 12 are hung in the drying chamber 1 and drying operation is started. Note that FIG. 3 shows changes in temperature and humidity in the drying chamber 1 during drying of clothes, and the degree of drying, with time as the horizontal axis. When the drying operation starts, the drying state judgment unit 9 reads the temperature of the drying chamber 1 from the thermistor 7 moment by moment, and if the temperature is almost constant over time, that is, the rate of change can be considered to be zero, it is determined that the drying state is constant rate drying, and the drying state judgment unit 9 starts the operation. The signal is sent to the state setting unit 10 and normal operation is executed. Thereafter, when drying is nearing completion, the process shifts to lapse rate drying, and the drying rate gradually decreases. Correspondingly, the heat of evaporation removed from the air in the drying chamber 1 decreases, so that the air temperature increases. Therefore, the rate of change in temperature taken in from the thermistor 7 begins to take a positive value, but the drying state determining unit 9 determines this to be a state of lapse rate drying. In other words, at this point, it is determined that drying is almost complete. Here, this result is sent to the operating state setting section 10, and most of the input energy is transferred to the heater 3.
Set to the heating operation used for Then, the temperature of the clothes is increased and the final stage of drying begins.

[0014] In this way, during the constant rate drying period when most of the drying takes place, dehumidification, heating, and ventilation are combined to accelerate the drying rate and reduce the lapse rate drying before the end of drying. During the drying period, the temperature of the clothes can be increased mainly by heating means to improve the feel of the clothes when drying is completed. Also, at this time, the air temperature does not rise as much as in a drum-type dryer, so there is less risk of heating the clothes more than necessary and damaging the clothes. And, the advantages of general bathroom clothes drying,
In addition to being resistant to wrinkles, it can provide a comfortable clothes drying effect.

Furthermore, in a clothes dryer used in a bathroom, a temperature detection means used for room temperature control for heating or cooling can be used in conjunction with the dryer, which simplifies the structure and reduces cost.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment in which a humidity sensor 13 as humidity detection means is provided in place of the thermistor 7 as temperature detection means in the first embodiment.

According to the configuration of this embodiment, since the moisture generation from damp clothing can be directly detected, the detection is more direct than temperature detection, and the detection result has the effect of being more accurate.

[0018]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the clothes dryer of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) In a drying operation that combines a dehumidifying means, a heating means, and a ventilation means provided for the drying chamber, a temperature detecting means is provided in the drying chamber, and the drying state is determined from the output, and the dehumidification and Normal operation that combines heating and ventilation,
Since it mainly switches between heating operation using heating means,
During the constant rate drying period, when most of the drying takes place, normal operation with a high drying speed is performed, and the clothes are heated during the decreasing rate drying period before the end of drying, so that when drying is completed, the clothes are finished at an appropriate temperature with a high texture. can get. (2) If humidity detection means is used instead of the temperature detection means described above, moisture generation from damp clothing can be directly detected, resulting in high detection accuracy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 2
] Block diagram of the drying operation control means of the clothes dryer

[Figure 3
] A diagram showing the temporal changes in temperature and humidity in the drying chamber and degree of dryness during operation of the same clothes dryer.

[Fig. 4] Cross-sectional view of a clothes dryer according to another embodiment

[Figure 5] Block diagram of a conventional clothes dryer

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Drying room 2 Cooling coil (dehumidification means) 3 Heater (heating means) 4 Damper (ventilation means) 7 Thermistor (temperature detection means) 8 Drying operation control means 13 Humidity sensor (humidity detection means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A drying chamber, a dehumidifying means for dehumidifying the air inside the drying chamber, a heating means for heating the air inside the drying chamber, and a ventilation means for exchanging the air inside the drying chamber with the air outside the drying chamber. and a temperature detection means for detecting the air temperature in the drying chamber, and a normal operation in which the dehumidification means, the heating means, and the ventilation means are combined at a constant ratio based on the output of the temperature detection means, and mainly the heating means. a drying operation control means for switching between a heating operation and a heating operation that gives priority to an increase in the air temperature in the drying chamber using the drying apparatus. 2. A drying chamber, a dehumidifying means for dehumidifying the air inside the drying chamber, a heating means for heating the air inside the drying chamber, and a ventilation means for exchanging the air inside the drying chamber with the air outside the drying chamber. and a humidity detecting means for detecting the humidity in the drying chamber, and a normal operation in which the dehumidifying means, the heating means, and the ventilation means are combined at a constant ratio based on the output of the humidity detecting means, and mainly the heating means. and drying operation control means for switching between heating air and heating air that gives priority to an increase in air temperature in the drying chamber.