JPH0438999A - Controller of garment dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically decide an optimum operation time period corresponding to the volume of items to be dried and automatically stop the operation by a method wherein the resistance value between electrodes is detected, the number of times of falls in the resistance value below the set value within a specified time period is counted, and a delay time period is decided according to the number of times. CONSTITUTION:A microcomputer 17 includes a comparator 18 and a built-in arithmetic device 19. A resistance detector 12 detects the resistance value between two conductor members of electrodes 8 for every unit time. The comparator 18 detects the number of times of falls in the resistance value below the set value within a specified time period. The arithmetic device 19 decides an operation time period according to the number of times detected by the comparator 18. A controller 15 controls a motor 2 and a heater 7, according to control signals transmitted from the microcomputer 17. When the volume of items to be dried is large, the number of times of falls in the resistance value between the electrodes 8 below the set value within a specified time period increases, and when the volume of the items is small, said number of times decreases. Therefore, the volume of the items to be dried is detected, according to the number of times of falls in the resistance value between the electrodes 8 below the set value within a specified time, and a delay time period of operation is decided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clothes dryer that automatically stops operating depending on the drying state of the clothes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, the mainstream of clothes dryers has been one that automatically detects the drying state and stops the clothes. Conventionally, this type of clothes drying 1(7) control device as shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 has been common.

This will be explained below based on the drawings.

As shown in the figure, a motor 2 serving as a driving source is installed at the bottom of the main body 1.
A belt 5.6 is stretched between the motor 2, a fan 3 provided on the back side of the main body 1, and a rotating drum 4 provided in front of the fan 3.
The fan 3 and the rotary drum 4 are rotated by the drive of the fan 3 and the rotary drum 4. In addition, a heater 7 serving as a heat source is arranged on the front side of the main body 1, and hot air heated through the heater 7 by the rotation of the fan 3 is introduced into the rotary drum 4, and the heated air is introduced into the rotary drum 4. Dried items (clothing) are heated and dried. Note that the arrows in the figure indicate the flow of wind. Also, there are eight electrodes, which are brought into contact with the material to be dried in the rotating drum 4 during operation.

As shown in FIG.
The dry state of the material to be dried is detected by detecting the . As shown in FIG. 8, a time t2 when the resistance value r between the conductive members 9 exceeds the set value a after a predetermined period of time T1 has passed.
Therefore, the configuration is such that the operation is ended at a certain delay time T5'Fl and marking time t4. Note that the delay time T3 is set because the drying time is insufficient at time t2.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a conventional control device for a drying moat, the resistance value r becomes larger than the set value a after a predetermined period of time T1. The time required to reach the drying rate varies depending on the type and capacity of the material to be dried in the rotating drum 4. In other words, this Y! If you set a constant delay time of 3 like AJ, it may result in insufficient drying for items that are difficult to dry or items with a large capacity, or overdrying for items that are easy to dry or items that have a large capacity. There were many issues, such as the tendency to fall in one direction or the other.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its first object is to determine the optimum operating time depending on the volume of the material to be dried and to automatically stop the operation. The second purpose is to determine the optimal operating time depending on the type and volume of the material to be dried.
The purpose is to automatically stop operation.

Means for Solving the Problems A first means of the present invention for achieving the above first object is to detect the number of times the resistance value between the electrodes detected within a predetermined time is smaller than a set value. However, the delay time is set based on this number of times.

A second means of the present invention for achieving the second object is to detect the number of times the resistance value between the electrodes detected within a predetermined time is smaller than a set value, and to It is designed to detect the rate of change in the number of times and set the delay time based on the number of times and the rate of change.

Effect According to the first means, when the volume of the dried material is large (d), the number of times that the resistance value between ti becomes smaller than the set value and the normal value within a predetermined time increases, and vice versa, the dried material If the capacitance of is small, the number of times the resistance value between the electrodes becomes smaller than the set value within a predetermined period of time will be smaller. Detects the volume of the material to be dried and determines the operation delay time.

According to the second means, in addition to the number of times the resistance value between the electrodes becomes smaller than the set value within a predetermined period of time, the rate of change of this number of times is detected. It is possible to determine whether or not this is the case, and to determine the delay time depending on the type of material to be dried. The rate of change in the number of times mentioned above will change greatly if the item to be dried is easy to dry, and the change will be small if the item to be dried is difficult to dry, so by detecting this rate of change, the type of item to be dried can be determined. .

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Note that the same components as those in the conventional example are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the microcomputer 11 is
Electrode 8 detected every unit time by resistance detection means 12
Comparing means 13 detecting the number of times the resistance value of the two conductive members becomes smaller than the set value within a predetermined time; and Comparing means 1
3, and a calculation for setting the operating time according to the number of times detected by the comparison means 13 and the rate of change detected by the number of times change rate detection means 14. It is constituted by means 16. System: n means 16 is a microcomputer-11
The motor 2 and heater 7 are controlled according to control signals output from the motor.

In the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the resistance value of the material to be dried in the rotary drum 4 detected every unit time via the electrode 8 is set within a predetermined time (the number of times C becomes smaller than the direct Indicates the change over time.For example, every second the resistance of the object is
Suppose that the resistance value is set to detect the resistance value C and the number of times C that this resistance value becomes smaller than the set value within 10 seconds, then C(
l'i: An integer from 0 to 10. The resistance value of the material to be dried increases as the drying process progresses, so cl gradually becomes a number close to O, and eventually O
are continuous. When the material to be dried is wet at the beginning of operation, the resistance value is small and C becomes a number close to 1o.

As drying progresses, c begins to decrease by 4.

From time t6 when C becomes 0 continuously during set time T5, delay time T7'f! : The operation ends at the elapsed time t8. Delay time T71. -1:, C is 0 consecutively
Let it be a function of the change C' of the center C of the direct curve time T8. For example, T7=KX(100')...
Set as in (1) so that when C' is small, 7 becomes long. In other words, if the type of material to be dried is thick or has a large capacity, it will be difficult to dry, so c(4) shown in FIG. 2 will decrease relatively slowly and C' will become smaller.

For items to be dried that are difficult to dry, it is necessary to increase the delay time 7, and T7 is set longer according to equation (1). On the other hand, when the type of material to be dried is thin and has a small volume, it dries easily, so the C'd@ shown in Fig. 2 decreases drastically.
C'-1 increases. Since the delay time T7 may be short for an object to be dried that dries easily, pT7 is set short according to equation (1).

Further, other embodiments of the wooden invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.

As shown in the figure, a comparison means 18 detects the number of times that the resistance value between the two conductive members of the electrode 8 detected per unit time by the resistance detection means 12 becomes smaller than a set value within a predetermined time. and a microcomputer 17 incorporating arithmetic means 19 for setting the operating time according to the number of times detected by the comparison means 18. Reference numeral 15 denotes a control means for controlling the motor 2 and heater 7 in accordance with control signals output from the microcomputer 17.

In the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, the resistance value of the material to be dried in the rotating drum 4 detected every unit time via the electrode 8 is the number of times C that is smaller than the set value within a predetermined time period. Show change. For example, if the resistance value of the object to be dried is detected every second, and the number of times C that this resistance value becomes smaller than the set value in 10 seconds is detected, then C is a value from 0 to 10. is an integer. As the drying progresses, the resistance value ′ of the object to be dried increases, so as the drying progresses, C becomes a number close to ◯ in many cases, and eventually becomes a continuous 0. If the material to be dried is wet at the beginning of operation,
When the resistance value is small and the amount of material to be dried is large, the frequency of contact with the conductive member of [%8] is high, so C becomes a number close to 10. The operation is terminated at time t8 after a delay time T7 has elapsed since time t6 when C was read as 0 by mistake at time T5. FIG. 6 shows the time-varying behavior of C when the amount of the material to be dried is small. When the material to be dried is wet at the beginning of operation, the resistance value is small, but the frequency of contact with the conductive member of the electrode 8 is low, so C becomes a smaller number than when the amount of material to be dried is large. Here, if C' is set between 0 and 10, C will be larger than C' at the beginning of operation when the amount of material to be dried is large. Moreover, FIG. 5 shows a graph when the amount of material to be dried is small, and in this case it is smaller than cyc'.

When C is smaller than C' at the beginning of operation, T'
7 is set as K XT. However, o<K<1. The delay time T; from time t6 when C becomes 0 continuously for T5 is shorter than T7 in FIG. 4, and the operation ends at time t. That is, when the amount of material to be dried is large, the delay time T7 is long, and when there is a small amount, the delay time T'7 is short.

Further, by setting C' in several stages and setting K in each stage, the delay time can be set in accordance with the amount of material to be dried.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description of the embodiments, according to the present invention, the operating time set by the calculation means is determined by the number of times the resistance value of the material to be dried becomes smaller than the set value within a predetermined time. Since the delay time of the operation is determined by the number of times obtained by the comparison means based on the method, it is possible to set the drying end time depending on the volume of the material to be dried. In addition, since the delay time of the operation is determined according to the rate of change in the number of times, it is possible to set the drying end time with high accuracy depending on the type of the object to be dried.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1q is a block diagram of a control device for a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control device for a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the invention, and FIGS. A graph showing the number of times the resistance value of the electrode of the control device of the clothes dryer of another embodiment becomes smaller than the setting within a predetermined period of time. Fig. 7 is a folded view, and Fig. 8 is an external perspective view showing the electrode section of the control device for a conventional clothes dryer.
The figure is a graph showing the resistance value of the electrode of the control device and the change over time in a conventional clothes dryer. 2...Motor, 7...Heater, 8...
...Electrode, 11...Microcomputer-11
3... Comparison means, 14... Number change rate detection means, 15... Calculation means, 16...
Controlling child actor. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano and 1 other person1
Figure No. 6! ra cause O) 綜

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An electrode disposed in a position in contact with the object to be dried in a rotating drum, a resistance detection means for detecting the resistance value of the electrode every unit time, and a resistance value detected by the resistance detection means within a predetermined time. a comparison means for detecting the number of times the resistance value has become smaller than a set value; a calculation means for setting an operating time according to the number of times detected by the comparison means; and a control means for controlling a motor serving as a heat source and a drive source based on the operation time, and the operation time set by the calculation means is determined by a delay time at a time when the number of times obtained by the comparison means becomes 0 continuously for a certain period of time. , and the delay time is set to be longer when the number of times obtained by the comparison means immediately after the start of operation is large. (2) an electrode disposed in a position in contact with the object to be dried in a rotating drum; a resistance detection means for detecting the resistance value of the electrode every unit time; a comparison means for detecting the number of times the resistance value has become smaller than a set value; a number change rate detection means for detecting a rate of change in the number of times detected by the comparison means; The operation time set by the calculation means is determined by the comparison means, and the operation time set by the calculation means is determined by the comparison means. A delay time is added to the time when the obtained number becomes 0 continuously for a certain period of time, and this delay time is defined as the rate of change immediately before the number obtained by the comparison means becomes 0 continuously for a certain period of time. A clothes dryer control device that is set to be long when it is small.