JPH04338496A - Electric dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the title dryer capable of preventing damage to materials to be dried such as clothes, etc., caused by drying operation and reducing the running cost. CONSTITUTION:Start of drying operation can be set at a previously determined time in a time zone such as midnight when electricity rate is low. A microcomputer 100 makes the drying operation start at the set up time and controls an electric heater to reduce its output to prevent damage to clothes during the drying operation.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric dryer such as an electric clothes dryer that dries objects to be dried using an electric heater.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Electric dryers are known that dry clothes by blowing air heated by an electric heater (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-26
No. 0597). In conventional electric dryers,
Some devices are equipped with a plurality of electric heaters, and by changing the number of electric heaters used, the heat output of the electric heaters can be switched between high and low levels by manual operation.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional electric dryer as described above, if drying operation is performed by increasing the heat output of the electric heater, it is possible to complete drying in a short time; On the other hand, if drying is performed with the electric heater's heat output set to low, the damage to the clothes will be small, but it will take a long time to complete drying. This has led to problems in that the overall power consumption of the electric dryer is large and the running cost is high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an electric dryer that can suppress damage to objects to be dried due to drying operation and reduce running costs. do.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] An electric dryer according to the present invention includes an electric heater that heats air blown onto an object to be dried, and adjusts the output strength of the electric heater to adjust the temperature of the air. In an electric dryer capable of switching between low and low temperatures, means for reserving a start time of a drying operation for a predetermined time period, means for starting the drying operation at the start time reserved by the means; The apparatus is characterized by comprising means for forcibly reducing the output of the electric heater when a drying operation is performed according to a reservation setting.

[0006]

[Function] According to the present invention, the drying operation is automatically started at the start time set in the reservation, so the drying operation is automatically started at the start time set in the reservation. The operation is executed automatically. When performing drying operation with this reservation setting, the output of the electric heater is forced to be weak, so the operating time of the drying operation becomes longer, but during the drying operation with reservation setting, the electricity bill is cheaper as mentioned above. Therefore, the running cost is low, and since the drying operation is performed slowly with the output of the electric heater being low, clothing, which is an example of the object to be dried, can be finished soft without being damaged.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically explained below based on drawings showing embodiments thereof. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an electric dryer according to the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes the box-shaped frame, and the front part of the frame 1 is provided with a clothes input port 11 for loading and unloading clothes to be dried. A lid 12 for opening and closing the clothes input port 11 is provided on the outside of the clothes input port 11. A plurality of air holes 13 for sucking cooling air into the frame 1 are provided in the center of the rear wall of the frame 1, and air sucked from the air holes 13 is provided in the lower part of the rear wall of the frame 1. An exhaust hole 14 is provided to exhaust the air.

[0009] Inside the frame 1, a horizontal shaft-type drum 2 that stores clothing and rotates in the circumferential direction is rotatably disposed with its axial center being in the front-rear direction of the frame 1. The front part of the drum 2 has a circular opening, and the opening and
The clothes input port 11 is airtightly connected to the clothing input port 11 by a cylindrical cylinder cover 15 with a flange. Further, in the center of the rear wall surface of the drum 2, a circular lint filter 22 is provided inside a hollow disc-shaped filter cover 21 formed with a plurality of holes 210, 210 on the front and back surfaces, respectively. A filter 20 for dust collection is attached.

Between the rear wall surface of the frame 1 and the rear wall surface of the drum 2, there is a fan storage chamber 30 which rotatably stores a disk-shaped double-sided fan 3 disposed coaxially with the drum 2. It is formed. A portion of the fan storage chamber 30 on the drum 2 side is open, and the opening and the drum 2 side are open.
The rear wall surface of the filter 20 is airtightly connected to the filter 20 by a cylindrical connecting member 33 with a flange. In addition, a round bar-shaped shaft 1 is inserted from the outside of the frame 1 into the center of the filter 20 in the drum 2, the center of the wall on the opening side of the fan storage chamber 30, and the center of the rear wall of the frame 1.
0 is passing through. Inside the fan storage chamber 30, the double-sided fan 3 rotates in the circumferential direction about this shaft 10 as its rotation center. Further, the drum 2 is supported by a shaft 10 at its rear side, and by a cylinder cover 1 at its front side.
5 and is designed to rotate.

The double-sided fan 3 is provided with a plurality of blades (not shown) on each of its front and back surfaces, and the fan storage chamber 30 is divided into a first chamber 31 on the drum 2 side by the double-sided fan 3, and a first chamber 31 on the drum 2 side. It is divided into a second chamber 32 on the rear wall side of the frame 1. In the first chamber 31 of the fan storage chamber 30, the air inside the drum 2 is sucked in through the filter 20 by the rotation of the double-sided fan 3. On the other hand, in the second chamber 32 of the fan storage chamber 30, the rotation of the double-sided fan 3 draws in outside air through the air holes 13, 13, . . . .

The lower part of the first chamber 31 of the fan storage chamber 30 is
It is connected to the end of a circulation duct 4, which is an air passage that extends from the bottom of the frame 1 through the front to the cylinder cover 15 below the clothes input port 11. A first heater 51 and a second heater 52 made of semiconductor heaters are disposed on the front side of the frame 1 in the middle of the circulation duct 4, and a bottom part on the rear side of the frame 1 in the middle of the circulation duct 4 is provided with a first heater 51 and a second heater 52. A drain port 41 is provided for draining moisture in the circulation duct 4 to the outside of the machine. Further, a ventilation hole 42 is provided in the end surface of the circulation duct 4 on the cylinder cover 15 side, which communicates the circulation duct 4 with the inside of the drum 2. It is now being introduced inside the.

A motor 6 for rotating the drum 2 and the double-sided fan 3 is disposed on the upper surface of the circulation duct 4 in the lower part of the frame 1. This motor 6 has rotating shafts 61 and 62 provided in the front and rear directions of the frame 1, respectively.A pulley 63 is attached to the tip of the rotating shaft 61 provided in the front direction of the frame 1, and a pulley 63 is attached to the tip of the rotating shaft 61 provided in the front direction of the frame 1. 2 and a pulley 63 are interlocked and connected via a V-belt 64,
The drum 2 is rotated by the driving force of the motor 6. Further, a fan pulley 65 is attached to the tip of a rotating shaft 62 provided on the rear side of the frame 1, and the double-sided fan 3 and the fan pulley 65 are connected to the round belt 6.
6, and the double-sided fan 3 is rotated by the driving force of the motor 6.

Further, in the first chamber 31 of the fan storage chamber 30, there is a first chamber for detecting the temperature of the air in the first chamber 31.
A heat sensitive element 71 is provided between the first heater 51 and the second heater 52 in the circulation duct 4 and the drain port 41 to maintain the temperature of the air before being heated by the first heater 51 and the second heater 52. A second heat sensitive element 72 for detecting is provided,
A third heat-sensitive element 73 is provided in front of the first heater 51 and the second heater 52 in the circulation duct 4 to detect the temperature of the air heated by the first heater 51 and the second heater 52. .

Next, the operation of the electric dryer constructed as described above will be explained. When the motor 6 is driven, the drum 2 and double-sided fan 3 rotate simultaneously. double-sided fan 3
When the drum 2 rotates, the air inside the circulation duct 4 heated by the first heater 51 and the second heater 52 is introduced as hot air into the drum 2 through the ventilation holes 42, and the introduced hot air is heated by the first heater 51 and the second heater 52. The air exchanges heat with the clothes inside and becomes hot and humid air, which is then passed through the filter 20 to the first chamber 3 of the fan storage chamber 30.
It is inhaled within 1.

On the other hand, cooling air is sucked into the second chamber 32 of the fan storage chamber 30 through the air holes 13, 13, . . . by the rotation of the double-sided fan 3, and the sucked cooling air is The double-sided fan 3 in the second chamber 32 is cooled, and after cooling, the air is exhausted from the exhaust hole 14 to the outside of the machine. As the double-sided fan 3 cools, the hot and humid air in the first chamber 31 is also cooled, and the moisture in the air in the first chamber 31 condenses to form water droplets. These water droplets are blown away by the double-sided fan 3 in the first chamber 31, sent into the circulation duct 4, and drained out of the machine from the drain port 41 at the bottom thereof.

[0017] The air from which moisture has been removed in this way is
A first heater 51 and a second heater 5 pass through the circulation duct 4.
2, and is sucked into the drum 2 again.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a keyboard provided with various operation keys to operate the electric clothes dryer. The surface of the keyboard is a horizontally long rectangle, and on the front side, from left to right, you can select the use of both or one of the first heater 51 and the second heater 52 to set the heater output to strong or weak mode. Heater switching key 81 for switching between multiple predetermined drying courses (6
A course switching key 82 for switching the drying course to select a desired drying course from among (0 minute course, ironing course, ... standard course), a reservation for making a reservation for operation to start operation at a predetermined time key 83
, a time setting key group 84 for setting the reserved time for the operation reservation (this reserved time can only be set during late-night rate hours when electricity rates are low), and a start key 85 for instructing the start and temporary stop of operation. and a power switch 86 are provided in this order.

Further, behind the heater switching key 81, there is a heater LED 8 that illuminates to indicate either the strong or weak mode of the heater output selected by the heater switching key 81.
10 are provided. A course LED 820 is provided behind the course switching key 82 to illuminate and display the drying course selected by the course switching key 82. A reservation LED 830 is provided behind the reservation key 83 and lights up when the reservation key 83 is pressed. A time display window 840 is provided behind the time setting key group 84 to display the time set by operating the time setting key group 84.

Next, the configuration of the control system of the electric dryer according to the present invention will be explained. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the control system of the electric dryer according to the present invention. In the figure, 100 is a microcomputer 100 that performs various controls of the electric dryer.
is operated by power supplied from the power supply circuit 9. Microcomputer 100 has
Input key circuit 1 consisting of various operation keys as described above
01, first heat sensitive element 71, second heat sensitive element 72, third
A signal from the heat sensitive element 73 is input.

The microcomputer 100 includes an LED lighting circuit 10 composed of various LEDs as described above.
2 is connected to the microcomputer 100 in response to an input signal from the input key circuit 101.
Data for lighting the heater LED 810, the course switching key 82, the reservation LED 830, etc. is given to the D lighting circuit 102. Further, a load drive circuit 103 is connected to the microcomputer 100, which is a circuit that drives devices such as the motor 6, the first heater 51, the second heater 52, and an auto power-off device for automatically turning off the power. The load drive circuit 103 includes an input key circuit 101, a first
Heat sensitive element 71, second heat sensitive element 72 and third heat sensitive element 7
A control signal for driving the device is given based on a signal input from 3.

When performing drying operation, the heater output can be selected from either "strong" or "weak" mode as described above, and when the heater output is selected as "strong", the Both the first heater 51 and the second heater 52 are operated, and when the heater output is selected as "weak", one of the first heater 51 and the second heater 52 is operated. .

A method of controlling the electric dryer constructed as above will be explained. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the control procedure of the electric dryer according to the present invention.

After the power is turned on, first, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the course switching key 82 has been operated. If it is determined that the course switching key 82 has been operated, the course LED 820 corresponding to the operation is selectively turned on in step S2, and the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, if it is determined that the course switching key 82 is not operated,
The process advances to step S3 without performing the process in step S2.

In step S3, it is determined whether the heater switching key 81 has been operated. If it is determined in step S3 that the heater switching key 81 has been operated, the process proceeds to step S4, where a reservation flag is set (reservation flag = 1), which is a flag indicating that a reserved operation, which will be described later, has been reserved. Determine whether or not the If it is determined in step S4 that the reservation flag is not set (reservation flag = 0), the process proceeds to step S5, where the heater LED 810 is selectively turned on according to the operation of the heater switching key 81, and the process proceeds to step S6. move on. Further, if it is determined in step S3 that the heater switching key 81 is not operated, and if it is determined in step S4 that the reservation flag is set (reservation flag=1), the process directly advances to step S6.

In step S6, it is determined whether the reservation key 83 has been operated. If it is determined that the reservation key 83 has not been operated, the process advances to step S14, which will be described later. On the other hand, if it is determined that the reservation key 83 has been operated, the process proceeds to step S7, and it is determined whether or not the reservation flag is set (reservation flag=1).

If it is determined in step S7 that the reservation flag is not set (reservation flag=0), the reservation flag is set in step S8 (reservation flag←1
) and turns on the reservation LED 830 in step S9. Next, in step S10, the heater output mode is set to "weak" and the heater LED 810 is turned on in the "weak" mode. Then, step S11
The time set using the time setting key group 84 (the time during the late-night rate period when electricity rates are cheap) is
It is determined as the reserved time for starting the reserved operation, and in step S14
Proceed to. If it is determined in step S7 that the reservation flag is set (reservation flag=1), the reservation flag is reset in step S12 (reservation flag←0), and the reservation LED is turned on in step S13.
830 is turned off to cancel the driving reservation, and step S1
Proceed to step 4.

In step S14, the start key 85
Determine whether or not has been operated. If it is determined that the start key 85 has not been operated, the process returns to step S1 and enters a state of waiting for the start key 85 to be operated. In this case, it is possible to operate the course switching key 82, heater switching key 81, and reservation key 83 again. On the other hand, if it is determined that the start key 85 has been operated, the process advances to step S15.

In step S15, it is determined whether the reservation flag is set (reservation flag=1). If it is determined that the reservation flag is not set (reservation flag=0), the process advances to step S17, which will be described later. On the other hand, if it is determined that the reservation flag is set (
For the reservation flag=1), in step S16, it is determined whether or not the reservation time determined as described above has elapsed, and only when the reservation time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S17.

In step S17, the drying operation is started, and in step S18, the time measurement after the start of the drying operation is started. In the drying operation, when a reserved operation is performed, a "weak" mode is selected for the heater output in step S10, and only one of the first heater 51 and the second heater 52 is forced to operate. On the other hand, when the reserved operation is not performed, the first heater 51 and the second heater 52 operate based on the mode selected by the user's operation of the heater switching key 81. After the start of the drying operation, in step S19, it is determined whether or not the clothes have been dried to the degree determined for each drying course.

[0031] The degree of drying can be determined, for example, by
The temperature of the exhaust air from drum 2 detected in step 1 and the temperature of the exhaust air from drum 2 detected in step 1 and
This is performed by determining whether the difference between the temperature of the air after condensation and the temperature of the air after condensation detected by the heat-sensitive element 72 exceeds a predetermined temperature difference. This is because the temperature of the air after condensation is approximately constant regardless of how dry the clothes are, while the temperature of the air discharged from the drum 2 is the same as the moisture content of the clothes in the drum 2 decreases due to drying. As you go, it will rise accordingly,
This is because the degree of dryness of the clothes can be estimated by determining that the difference between these temperatures is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature.

In step S19, if it is determined that the clothes have been dried to a predetermined degree, the drying operation is ended. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S19 that the clothes have not been dried to the predetermined degree, the process proceeds to step S20, where it is determined whether the reservation flag is set (reservation flag=1).

[0033] If it is determined in step S20 that the reservation flag is not set (reservation flag = 0)
, that is, if you are performing a drying operation that is not a reserved operation,
Proceeding to step S21, it is determined whether or not a first drying operation time limit T1 predetermined for the case where no reserved operation is performed has elapsed. First drying operation time limit T1
If it is determined that the period has not elapsed, step S1
7 and continues the drying operation. On the other hand, if it is determined that the first drying operation time limit T1 has elapsed, the drying operation is ended.

Further, if it is determined in step S20 that the reservation flag is set (reservation flag=
1), that is, when drying operation is being performed by reserved operation, the process proceeds to step S22, and the second drying operation limit time T2 (T1 < T2
) has elapsed. If it is determined that the second drying operation time limit T2 has not elapsed, the process returns to step S17 and the drying operation is continued; on the other hand, if it is determined that the second drying operation time limit T2 has elapsed, ,
Terminate the drying operation.

As explained above, in the present invention, when scheduled operation is performed, the drying operation is performed during the late night rate period when electricity rates are low, and in this case, the heater output is "weak".
mode, and the drying operation time limit is longer than when the reserved operation is not performed. As a result, in the reserved operation, the clothes are slowly dried at a relatively low temperature, so that the reserved operation can provide a soft finish without damaging the clothes at low running costs.

In this embodiment, an electric dryer for drying clothes has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to electric dryers for drying objects other than clothes. .

[0037]

Effects of the Invention As detailed above, in the electric dryer according to the present invention, the drying operation is automatically started at the start time set in the reservation, so that the drying operation is automatically started at the start time set in the reservation. Drying operation can be automatically executed during predetermined time periods such as When performing drying operation with this reservation setting, the output of the electric heater is forced to be weak, so the operating time of the drying operation becomes longer, but during the drying operation with reservation setting, the electricity bill is cheaper as mentioned above. Therefore, the overall power consumption of the device is small, resulting in low running costs.Also, since the drying operation is performed slowly with the output of the electric heater being low, the clothes to be dried are The present invention has excellent effects, such as being able to finish it softly without damaging it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an electric dryer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the keyboard of the electric dryer.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a control system of an electric dryer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for the electric dryer according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for the electric dryer according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

51 First heater 52 Second heater 84 Time setting keys group 100 Microcomputer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electric dryer comprising an electric heater that heats air blown onto an object to be dried, and in which the output of the electric heater can be switched between strong and weak in order to adjust the temperature of the air. means for reserving a start time of a drying operation for a predetermined time slot; means for starting a drying operation at the start time reserved by the means; An electric dryer characterized by comprising: a means for forcibly reducing the output of the electric dryer.