JPH0497792A - Clothings dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the dried state of clothings even when the quantity of the clothings is extremely small by deciding the remaining drying time by means of a drying time setting means in accordance with the detecting output of a moisture sensor when cold air is fed. CONSTITUTION:A hot air generating means 1 is composed of a heater 4 and fan 5 and sends hot air 3 to a drying chamber 3, and a cold air generating means 6 sends cold air to the drying chamber 2. Operations of the means 1 and 6 are controlled by means of a controlling means 7. A moisture sensor 8 detects the dried state of clothings 9 to be dried in a drying chamber 2 by detecting the moisture of the air exhausted from the chamber 2 and inputs its output to the controlling means 7 and a drying time setting means 10. Therefore, the dried state of the clothings, namely, the moisture contained in the clothings can be detected accurately with the moisture sensor 8 at the time of supplying cold air and the completion of the drying operation can be discriminated pertinently even when the quantity of the clothings to be dried is small.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clothes dryer equipped with a sid sensor for detecting the drying state of clothes to be dried.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been a demand for clothes dryers equipped with sensors for detecting the drying state of clothes to be dried to be able to finish drying appropriately even when there are only a few clothes to be dried.

Conventionally, this type of clothes dryer consists of a hot air generating means that sends hot air into the drying chamber containing the clothes to be dried, and a dry sensor installed at a location where the hot air is exhausted from the drying chamber. The drying state of the clothes to be dried is detected from the change in the detection output of the dry sensor after the drying operation has started, and when it is determined that the drying level is sufficient, the drying operation is ended.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention In such conventional clothes dryers, when the amount of clothes to be dried is extremely small compared to the volume of the drying chamber, the amount of moisture in the drying chamber is low from the beginning, so the sid sensor detects the problem. In particular, the correlation between the output change and the drying state of the clothes to be dried makes it difficult to accurately grasp the drying state, making it difficult to judge when drying is complete.

That is, when there are many clothes to be dried in the drying chamber, the detection output of the dry sensor changes depending on the drying state as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, fal is the characteristic when the clothes to be dried are damp, and (b) is the characteristic when the same clothes are slightly dry. Therefore, when the detection output of the dry sensor becomes constant and becomes equal to or less than the bell fcl, it can be easily determined that the clothes to be dried are dried. However, if the amount of clothes to be dried is extremely small compared to the volume of the drying cabinet, as shown in Figure 5, if the clothes to be dried are damp, f
At and fbl when the clothes are slightly dry are the same detection outputs of the dry sensor, making it difficult to accurately detect the drying state of the clothes to be dried. This is because the moisture content in the clothes to be dried is small from the beginning, so the temperature inside the drying chamber rises rapidly as shown in Figure 6 (al), and as a result, the amount of moisture contained in the clothes to be dried is On the other hand, for example, 4 kg of clothes to be dried
In a drying cabinet with a rated capacity of 100g, if the shirt is damp and contains about 70g of moisture, the required drying time is about 40 minutes; It has been experimentally determined that the drying time is approximately 20 minutes, and if the transition of the drying state with respect to these drying times cannot be distinguished, drying must be performed for at least 40 minutes to satisfactorily dry both.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to accurately detect the drying state even when there are few clothes to be dried, and to appropriately terminate the drying operation.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is provided with a cold air generating means that sends cold air to the drying chamber for a certain period of time after a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the start of drying, and a drying time setting means that inputs the output of a dry sensor. The problem is solved by determining the remaining drying time according to the detection output of the air sensor when cold air is blown.

Effect of the present invention By using the above-mentioned problem solving means, even when there are few clothes to be dried, the drying state of the clothes to be dried when cold air is blown, in other words, the moisture contained in the clothes to be dried, can be accurately detected by a dry sensor, and drying can be completed appropriately. can make judgments.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown in the figure, the hot air generating means 1 sends hot air 3 to the drying chamber 2 and is composed of a heater 4 and a fan 5. The cold air generating means 6 sends cold air to the drying chamber 2. The operation of the hot air generating means 1 and the cold air generating means 6 is controlled by a control means 7. The drying sensor 8 detects the exhaust gas of the drying chamber 2 to detect the drying state of the clothes 9 to be dried in the drying chamber 2, and inputs its output to the control means 7 and the drying time setting means 10. The drying level storage means 11 stores the remaining operating time according to the drying state, and inputs it to the drying time setting means 10, which sets the remaining drying operating time according to the detection output of the dry sensor 8. do. The time setting means 12 is for setting the operating time of the hot air generation means 1 or the cold air generation means 6.

The hot air 3 sent into the drying chamber 2 is exhausted from the exhaust port 13, cooled by the fan 5 to become cold air 14, and sent to the heater 4 through the ventilation port again. The air sensor 8 is installed at the exhaust port 13 (1t!l), which is located slightly between the exhaust port 13 and the fan 5, in order to detect the flow of the hot air 3 before being cooled. In order to expose the drying clothes 9 to the hot air 3 evenly and efficiently, it is rotated by a motor (not shown).

To explain the operation in the above configuration, when there are many clothes 9 to be dried in the drying chamber 2, the detection output of the sid sensor 8 becomes as shown in the above-mentioned FIG.
Accordingly, the control means 7 determines whether the drying is completed and controls the operation of the hot air generation means 1.

When the number of clothes 9 to be dried is small, the detection output of the sid sensor 8 becomes as shown in FIG. 5, and it is determined that there are few clothes 9 to be dried based on the detection output of the sid sensor 8 after a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the start of drying. In this case, the time setting means 12 drives the cold air generation means 6 instead of the hot air generation means 1 after a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the start of drying. As a result, the temperature inside the drying chamber 2 decreases, and the relative temperature inside the drying chamber 2 increases. For example, if one 100g piece of clothing 9 is used for drying and contains 70g and 10g of moisture, if the cold air generating means 6 is driven after a predetermined time (for example, 20 minutes) has elapsed from the start of drying, The detection output of the liquid sensor 8 is as shown in Fig. 3 when the clothes 9 to be dried contain 70 g of moisture (
There is a difference between al and the case (b) containing 10 g of water. Therefore, the cold air generating means 6 is driven for a certain period of time (for example, 3 minutes), and if the detection output of the air sensor 8 at that time does not change compared to before the cold air, it is determined that the clothes 9 to be dried are sufficiently dry. , the drying operation is terminated at that point.

Further, if the detection output of the sid sensor 8 becomes large after a certain period of time has elapsed, it is determined that the clothes 9 to be dried are in a damp state, and the clothes 9 are dried based on the detection output of the sid sensor 8 and the stored contents of the drying level storage means 11. The time setting means 10 determines the remaining drying time, drives the hot air generating means 1, and ends the drying operation when the remaining drying time has elapsed.

As described above, according to the clothes dryer according to the embodiment of the present invention, the drying time setting means 10 determines the remaining drying time according to the detection output of the dry sensor 8 when cold air is blown. Even when the amount of moisture is extremely small, the operation can be completed in a drying time corresponding to the wetness and amount of the clothes 9 to be dried.

If the number of clothes to be dried 9 is small, the remaining drying time is determined by driving the cold air generating means 6 for a certain period of time after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of drying, and after driving the hot air generating means 1 again, and then again after a predetermined time has elapsed. By correcting the remaining drying time by driving the cold air generating means 6, the drying time can be determined with high accuracy.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, the drying time setting means determines the remaining drying time according to the detection output of the air sensor when cold air is blown. Even if the number of clothes to be dried is extremely small, the drying state can be accurately detected and the drying operation can be appropriately terminated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same clothes dryer, Figure 3 is a detection output characteristic of the throat sensor when the number of clothes to be dried in the same clothes dryer is small, and Figure 4 is a graph showing the number of clothes to be dried in a general clothes dryer. Fig. 5 is a detection output characteristic diagram of the sid sensor when the number of clothes to be dried is large, Figure 5 is a detection output characteristic diagram of the sid sensor when the number of clothes to be dried is small, and Fig. 6 is a characteristic diagram of the sid sensor during drying operation. It is. 1...Hot air generation means, 2...Drying chamber,
6... Cold air generation means, 7... Control means,
8...Sid sensor, 9...Drying clothes, 10...Drying time setting means. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano Haka16 No. 3 Figure 4 Shikai

Claims (1)

[Claims] A hot air generating means for sending hot air into a drying chamber in which clothes to be dried are stored, a sid sensor for detecting an exhaust air of the drying chamber, and a cold air for sending cold air into the drying chamber for a predetermined period of time instead of hot air after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of drying. a drying time setting means for inputting the output of the sid sensor, and a control means for inputting the outputs of the sid sensor and the drying time setting means and controlling the driving of the hot air generation means and the cold air generation means, In the clothes dryer, the time setting means determines the remaining drying time according to the detection output of the sid sensor when cold air is blown.