JPH04327895A - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce drying time without impairing clothes even if a door is opened during operation. CONSTITUTION:In accordance with the time until a prescribed dryness factor is detected by a door open/close detecting part 22 for detecting the open/close condition of the door through which cloth is carried in or carried out, an exhaust temperature change- rate detecting part 19 for detecting the change rate of the exhaust temperature by the outputs of an exhaust temperature detecting part 13, and a dryness degree detecting part 18, and with the temperature change rate detected by the exhaust temperature change-rate detecting part 19, the time that the change of the heat quantity to be supplied to a rotating drum is started to be reduced and the change rate of heat quantity are determined. A control part 20 for controlling a proportional control valve 17 is provided, and the control valve 20 is constituted in such a way that the temperature change-rate data from the exhaust temperature change-rate detecting part 19 are neglected until the temperature detected by the exhaust temperature detecting part 13 at the time of restart of drying after the door has been opened or closed reaches the output temperature of the exhaust temperature detecting part 13 at the time the opening of the door is detected by the open/close detecting part 22.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clothes dryer that controls the amount of heating by heating means depending on the quality and degree of dryness of clothes in a rotating drum.

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, there has been a strong demand for improved drying efficiency and shorter drying time for clothes dryers. Conventionally, this type of clothes dryer generally had a configuration as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The configuration will be explained below.

As shown in the figure, a rotary drum 2 in a main body 1 is rotatably supported at its front by a drum front plate 3. A large number of hot air holes 4 are provided in the flat surface of the drum front plate 3, and a burner 5 is provided.
The hot air from the combustion of is guided to the hot air hole 4 through the combustion tube 6,
It is made to flow into the rotating drum 2. Further, a blower fan 7 is provided at the rear of the rotating drum 2 to exhaust moisture after drying the clothes to the outside of the device body 1 via an exhaust guide 8. Note that 9 is a door that covers the clothes slot on the front side of the main body 1 of the device.

[0004] An electrode 10 is fixed to the front plate 3 of the drum, and this electrode 10 is connected to a dryness degree detecting section 11, which detects whether the clothes inside the rotary drum 2 are connected to the electrode as the rotary drum 2 rotates. 10, and the degree of dryness of the clothes is detected by utilizing the fact that the resistance value of the clothes is correlated with the degree of dryness of the clothes. Attach the thermistor 12 to the exhaust guide 8,
This thermistor 12 is connected to an exhaust temperature detection section 13. The output of the dryness degree detection section 11 and the output of the exhaust temperature detection section 13 are input to the control section 14, and the output of the control section 14 controls the on-off valve 16 via the heat source control section 15. The on-off valve 16 controls supply and stop of gas to the burner 5 . 24
is a filter that collects thread waste inside the rotating drum 2.

[0005] The operation of the above structure will be described. Clothes are placed in the rotary drum 2 and rotated, and hot air generated by combustion in the burner 5 is flowed into the rotary drum 2 through the combustion tube 6 to dry the clothes. At this time, the drying rate of the clothes changes over time as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the temperature inside the exhaust guide 8 detected by the thermistor 12, that is, the exhaust temperature is shown in FIG.
It changes like this. When the exhaust temperature reaches TH, the control unit 14 turns off the on-off valve 16 to stop supplying gas to the burner 5, and when the exhaust temperature reaches TL, turns on the on-off valve 16 to supply gas to the burner 5. Hot air is supplied to the rotating drum 2. Therefore, the gas consumption amount is controlled only by the exhaust temperature, as shown in FIG. 11, and is not related to the degree of dryness of the clothes. In other words, the temperature of the hot air hitting the clothes is always constant, and as drying progresses, combustion is controlled at maximum gas consumption even when the clothes are almost dry, and high-temperature hot air hits the clothes intermittently. When the target degree of dryness is detected by the electrode 10, the control unit 14 continues the rotation of the rotary drum 2 and the combustion of the burner 5 for a certain period of time, and then stops the rotation.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In such conventional clothes dryers, the burner 5 is controlled on and off, so the adjustment range of heat amount is limited, and the non-burning time during temperature adjustment operation is limited. There is a problem that drying time becomes longer due to an increase in the drying rate.Also, when the drying rate is around 100% and the clothes are almost dry, high-temperature hot air hits the clothes, causing shrinkage and damage. was. In addition, there is no feedback on the type of clothing (cotton, synthetic fibers, etc.);
It is not possible to control the amount of heat depending on the drying state, and specifically, if the temperature adjustment temperature is set to match cotton, which is relatively heat resistant and difficult to dry, synthetic fibers will shrink and have negative effects such as damage. On the other hand, if the temperature adjustment temperature is set low in accordance with synthetic fibers, cotton has a problem in that the drying time increases due to the increase in the number of temperature adjustment operations.

The present invention solves the above problems by constantly controlling the maximum amount of heat at which clothes are not adversely affected by hot air, depending on the type of clothes and degree of dryness, and without damaging the clothes even when the clothes are used a lot. The purpose is to shorten the drying time.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides door opening/closing detection means for detecting the opening/closing state of a door for taking in and taking out clothes, and supplying hot air into a rotating drum that accommodates clothes. heating means for adjusting the heating amount of the heating means; dryness degree detection means for detecting the degree of dryness of clothing in the rotating drum; and exhaust gas for detecting the temperature of exhaust gas discharged from the rotating drum. a temperature detection means, an exhaust temperature change rate detection means for detecting a rate of change in exhaust gas temperature from the output of the exhaust temperature detection means, an output of the dryness degree detection means and an output of the exhaust temperature change rate detection means; The time and amount of heat at which the amount of heat supplied to the rotary drum starts to be changed in a smaller direction according to the time until the degree of dryness detection means detects a predetermined drying rate and the rate of temperature change from the rate of change in exhaust temperature temperature detection means. comprising a control means for determining a rate of change and controlling the heating control means, the control means comprising:
The rate of change in exhaust gas temperature is detected until the temperature detected by the exhaust temperature detection means when drying resumes after opening and closing the door reaches the output temperature of the exhaust temperature detection means when the door opening/closing detection means detects the opening of the door. The first means of solving the problem is to create a clothes dryer that ignores temperature change rate data from the means.

[0009] The present invention also includes a heating means for supplying hot air into the rotating drum for storing clothes, a heating control means for adjusting the heating amount of the heating means, and a filter for collecting thread waste in the rotating drum. clogging detection means for detecting clogging; dryness degree detection means for detecting the degree of dryness of clothes in the rotating drum; exhaust temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of exhaust gas discharged from the rotation drum; Exhaust temperature change rate detection means detects the rate of change in exhaust temperature from the output; the output of the dryness degree detection means and the output of the exhaust temperature change rate detection means are input, and the dryness degree detection means detects a predetermined dryness rate. A time and a rate of change in the amount of heat to be supplied to the rotating drum are determined in accordance with the time until the change in temperature and the rate of change in the amount of heat supplied to the rotating drum are determined in accordance with the rate of change in temperature from the rate of change in temperature detected by the rate of change in the exhaust gas temperature, and the rate of change in the amount of heat is determined by The control means is configured to control the temperature detected by the exhaust temperature detection means during the air blowing operation after detecting clogging and when restarting drying after the clogging state is eliminated. A second object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer that ignores temperature change rate data from the exhaust temperature change rate detection means until the output temperature of the exhaust gas temperature detection means is reached when clogging is detected by the detection means. It is used as a solution.

0010

[Operation] The present invention uses the above problem solving means to estimate the quantity and quality of clothing based on the time taken by the dryness degree detection means to detect a predetermined dryness rate and the temperature change rate from the exhaust temperature change rate detection means. Even if the user opens or closes the door during driving, the amount of heat can be controlled according to the quantity and quality of the clothes, so that the clothes are not damaged and the drying time can be shortened. Furthermore, even if the filter becomes clogged during operation, the clothes will not be damaged and the drying time can be shortened.

[0011]

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. Note that components having the same configuration as those of the conventional example are given the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, a burner (heating means) 5 supplies hot air into the rotating drum. The proportional control valve (heating control means) 17 controls the amount of gas supplied to the burner 5 by input current. The degree of dryness detection section (degree of dryness detection means) 18 is connected to the electrode 10 and detects the degree of dryness of the clothes in the rotating drum.It detects the change in resistance value between the electrodes 10 per unit time and detects the degree of dryness. It makes it possible to detect it. The degree of dryness is determined based on whether the resistance has exceeded the threshold value of each set resistance. The exhaust gas temperature change rate detection section (exhaust gas temperature change rate detection means) 19 receives the output of the exhaust gas temperature detection section (exhaust gas temperature detection means) 13 and detects the change rate of the exhaust gas temperature. The control unit (control means) 20 is composed of a microcomputer, etc., and is connected to the dryness level detection unit 1
8, the output of the exhaust temperature change rate detection section 19, the output of the door opening/closing detection section 22 that detects the open/closed state of the door 9, and the output of the clogging detection section 23 that detects the clogging state of the filter 24. , the proportional control valve 1 via the heat source control section 21
7, the amount of heat supplied to the rotating drum 2 is reduced in accordance with the time until the dryness degree detection section 18 detects a predetermined dryness rate and the temperature change rate from the exhaust temperature change rate detection section 19. Determine the time when the change starts and the rate of heat change,
A proportional control valve 17 is controlled.

The operation of the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. The solid line (A
) indicates the characteristics of clothing mixed with synthetic fibers (hereinafter referred to as synthetic fibers), and the broken line (B) indicates the characteristics of clothing with a high proportion of cotton (hereinafter referred to as synthetic fibers).
The characteristics of cotton (hereinafter referred to as cotton) are shown below. That is,
The drying rate is as shown in Figure 2. Cotton (B) is difficult to dry because it contains a large amount of water in its fibers, and the drying rate is lower than that of synthetic fibers (A) even for the same amount of clothing. The rise will be low and the time until drying will be completed will be long. In addition, the drying rate at which hot air has an adverse effect on clothing is higher for cotton products due to the difference in moisture content within the fibers. Therefore, if there is a large amount of cotton, a large amount of heat can be input even if the drying rate is the same. On the other hand, as for the exhaust temperature, as shown in FIG. 3, as the cotton ratio increases, a constant rate drying section appears where the rate of temperature change is small. Therefore, the cotton ratio can be estimated based on the magnitude of the exhaust gas temperature change rate.

Based on this idea, in this embodiment, when the dryness degree detection section 11 detects a predetermined drying rate at a time T that is not affected by the high-temperature hot air when the synthetic fiber has the maximum amount of heat, the control section 14 indicates θ1 where the exhaust gas temperature change rate is relatively large, based on the output of the exhaust gas temperature change rate detection unit 19 at the same time T.
If θ2 is relatively small, it is estimated to be a synthetic fiber, and if θ2 is relatively small, it is estimated to be a cotton material. As a result, for synthetic fibers with a low cotton ratio, based on the time T until the dryness degree detection unit 18 detects a predetermined dryness rate and the exhaust gas temperature change rate θ1, it is found that the time T1 when the heat amount starts to change in the smaller direction and the time after that Determine the rate of change in heat amount φ1. In addition, for cotton, even if the time T to reach a predetermined drying rate is the same, the time T2 at which the heat quantity starts to change in a smaller direction according to the value of the exhaust temperature change rate θ2 is lengthened, and the heat quantity change rate φ2 to a large extent. therefore,
It does not damage clothes and at the same time shortens drying time due to the long maximum heat output time.

As described above, in a clothes dryer that controls gas consumption by the proportional control valve 17 depending on whether the clothes are made of mostly synthetic fibers or cotton, what happens when the user opens the door during operation? This will be explained using Figure 5. Figure 5 shows the change over time in the temperature Th detected by the exhaust temperature detection unit 13. At T2, the door is opened and the drying operation is stopped, and at T2, the drying operation is stopped.
At 4, the door is closed and the drying operation is restarted, and at T4, the temperature has returned to the temperature Td when the door was opened. Control unit 20
stores Th at the moment the door is opened as Td, and even if the door is closed and the drying operation is restarted, the exhaust temperature change rate detection unit 1 remains unchanged until Th returns to the temperature Td at the time the door was opened.
The temperature change rate data from 9 is ignored. In other words, this is to prevent erroneously determining that there is a large amount of synthetic fibers due to a large rate of temperature change due to opening and closing of the door in a drying operation where there is a large amount of cotton.

Further, the case where filter clogging occurs during operation will be explained using FIG. 6. Figure 6 shows the change over time in the temperature Th detected by the exhaust temperature detection section 13. At T5, the control section 20 stops the drying operation when the clogging detection section 23 detects the filter clogging, and at T6, the control section 20 detects the clogging. This indicates that the condition has been resolved, the drying operation has resumed, and the temperature has returned to the temperature Tm at the moment when filter clogging was detected at T7. The control unit 20 controls T at the moment the filter becomes clogged.
Even if h is memorized as Tm and the clogging condition is resolved and the drying operation is resumed, the exhaust temperature change rate detection unit 1 remains unchanged until Th returns to the temperature Tm at the moment the filter became clogged.
The temperature change rate data from 9 is ignored. In other words, this is to prevent erroneously determining that there is a large amount of synthetic fibers due to a large rate of temperature change when the filter is clogged in a drying operation where the amount of cotton is large.

In the above embodiment, the burner 5 is used as the heating means, and the gas consumption is controlled by the proportional control valve 17. You may also do so. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, one means of detecting the degree of dryness is the change in resistance between the electrodes 10 in the rotating drum 2, but changes in the exhaust temperature or humidity may also be used. It is sufficient if the drying state of the clothes in the drum 2 can be ascertained.

[0018]

As is clear from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, there is provided a door opening/closing detection means for detecting the opening/closing state of the door for taking clothes in and out, and a hot air blower in the rotating drum for storing and drying clothes. heating means for supplying the heating means, heating control means for adjusting the heating amount of the heating means, dryness degree detection means for detecting the degree of dryness of the clothes in the rotary drum, and detecting the temperature of the exhaust gas discharged from the rotary drum. an exhaust gas temperature detection means for detecting a rate of change in exhaust gas temperature from the output of the exhaust temperature detection means; an output of the degree of dryness detection means and an output of the exhaust temperature change rate detection means; , a time at which the amount of heat supplied to the rotating drum starts to be changed in a smaller direction according to the time until the dryness degree detection means detects a predetermined dryness rate and the temperature change rate from the exhaust temperature change rate detection means; and a control means for controlling the heating control means, and the control means is configured to determine the temperature detected by the exhaust temperature detection means when drying is resumed after the door is opened/closed, and the temperature detected by the exhaust temperature detection means to be detected by the door opening/closing detection means. Since the clothes dryer ignores the temperature change rate data from the exhaust temperature change rate detection means until the output temperature of the exhaust temperature detection means reaches the output temperature of the exhaust temperature detection means when the opening is detected, the amount and type of clothes and the degree of dryness are It is possible to constantly control the maximum amount of heat at which clothing will not be adversely affected by hot air, and even if the clothing is used a lot, it will not damage the clothing, and the drying time can be shortened. By gradually reducing the amount of heat of the heating means accordingly, the drying efficiency can be improved without performing a temperature adjustment operation. Furthermore, even if the door is opened while driving, it will be accurately detected, and if there is a lot of cotton, it will not be mistakenly determined to be a lot of synthetic fibers.

[0019] The invention also includes a heating means for supplying hot air into the rotating drum for storing and drying clothes, a heating control means for adjusting the heating amount of the heating means, and a filter eye for collecting waste lint in the rotating drum. clogging detection means for detecting clogging; dryness degree detection means for detecting the degree of dryness of clothes in the rotating drum; exhaust temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of exhaust gas discharged from the rotation drum; Exhaust temperature change rate detection means detects the rate of change in exhaust gas temperature from the output of the means; the output of the dryness degree detection means and the output of the exhaust temperature change rate detection means are input, and the dryness degree detection means detects a predetermined drying rate. The time and rate of change in heat amount to start changing the amount of heat supplied to the rotating drum in a smaller direction are determined according to the time until detection and the rate of change in temperature from the exhaust gas temperature change rate detection means, and the heating control is performed. The control means is configured to control the temperature detected by the exhaust temperature detection means during air blowing operation after detecting clogging and when restarting drying after the clogging state is eliminated. The clothes dryer ignores the temperature change rate data from the exhaust temperature change rate detection means until the output temperature of the exhaust temperature detection means reaches the temperature when the clogging detection means detects clogging. It is possible to constantly control the maximum amount of heat at which clothing will not be adversely affected by hot air, depending on the amount and type of hot air and the degree of drying, and the drying time can be shortened without damaging clothing even when the clothing is used a lot. Further, by gradually reducing the amount of heat of the heating means according to the degree of dryness of the clothes, there is no need to perform a temperature adjustment operation, and the drying efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, even if the filter becomes clogged during operation, it can be accurately detected and there is no possibility of erroneously determining that there is a large amount of synthetic fibers when there is a large amount of cotton.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[
Figure 2: Drying rate change characteristic diagram of the clothes dryer

[Figure 3] Exhaust temperature change characteristic diagram of the clothes dryer

[Figure 4] Gas consumption change characteristic diagram of the clothes dryer

[Figure 5] Exhaust temperature change characteristic diagram when the door of the clothes dryer is opened

[Figure 6] Exhaust temperature change characteristic diagram when the filter of the clothes dryer is clogged

[Figure 7] Longitudinal cross-sectional view of a conventional clothes dryer

[Figure 8] Block diagram of the clothes dryer

[Figure 9] Drying rate change characteristic diagram of the clothes dryer

[Figure 10] Exhaust temperature change characteristic diagram of the clothes dryer

[Figure 11] Gas consumption change characteristic diagram of the clothes dryer

[Explanation of symbols]

5 Burner (heating means) 17 Proportional control valve (heating control means) 18 Dryness degree detection section (resistance detection means) 19 Exhaust gas temperature change rate detection section (exhaust temperature change rate detection means) 20 Control section (control means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Door opening/closing detection means for detecting the open/closed state of a door for taking clothes in and out; heating means for supplying hot air into a rotating drum that accommodates clothes; and heating means for adjusting the heating amount of the heating means. a control means, a dryness degree detection means for detecting the degree of dryness of clothes in the rotating drum, an exhaust temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of exhaust gas discharged from the rotation drum, and an exhaust temperature detection means based on the output of the exhaust temperature detection means. an exhaust gas temperature change rate detection means for detecting the rate of change of the exhaust gas temperature change rate, and inputting the output of the dryness degree detection means and the output of the exhaust gas temperature change rate detection means, and the time until the dryness degree detection means detects a predetermined dryness rate. and control means for controlling the heating control means by determining a time and a rate of change in the amount of heat to start changing the amount of heat supplied to the rotating drum in a smaller direction in accordance with the rate of change in temperature from the rate of change in temperature from the exhaust gas temperature change rate detection means. The control means controls the temperature until the temperature detected by the exhaust temperature detection means when drying is resumed after the door is opened and closed reaches the output temperature of the exhaust temperature detection means when the door opening/closing detection means detects that the door is opened. The clothes dryer ignores temperature change rate data from the exhaust temperature change rate detection means. 2. A heating device for supplying hot air into a rotating drum that accommodates clothing, a heating control device that adjusts the amount of heating by the heating device, and a filter that collects waste lint in the rotating drum. clogging detection means for detecting clogging; dryness degree detection means for detecting the degree of dryness of clothes in the rotating drum; exhaust temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of exhaust gas discharged from the rotation drum; Exhaust temperature change rate detection means detects the rate of change in exhaust temperature from the output; the output of the dryness degree detection means and the output of the exhaust temperature change rate detection means are input, and the dryness degree detection means detects a predetermined dryness rate. A time and a rate of change in the amount of heat to be supplied to the rotating drum are determined in accordance with the time until the change in temperature and the rate of change in the amount of heat supplied to the rotating drum are determined in accordance with the rate of change in temperature from the rate of change in temperature detected by the rate of change in the exhaust gas temperature, and the rate of change in the amount of heat is determined by comprising control means for controlling;
During the ventilation operation after detecting clogging, the control means
and until the temperature detected by the exhaust temperature detection means when drying is restarted after the clogging condition is eliminated reaches the output temperature of the exhaust temperature detection means when the clogging detection means detects clogging. A clothes dryer that ignores temperature change rate data from the exhaust temperature change rate detection means.