JPH0592100A - Clothes drier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the clothes drier having an air casing structure which can maintain ventilation capacity of drying and cooling air even for forward/ backward rotations of a drum, that is, forward/ backward rotations of a heat exchange fan so as to suppress wrinkles and wear of clothes, and also, to execute drying in a short time. CONSTITUTION:A drying air casing 26 and a cooling air casing are provided with a first tong 27a for leading drying or cooling air to an exhaust port 30 of each air casing 26 at the time when a heat exchange fan 7 is rotated forward, and a second tong 27b for leading drying or cooling air to the exhaust port 30 of each air casing 26 at the time when the heat exchange fan 7 is rotated backward, respectively.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dehumidifying type clothes dryer used in homes and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional clothes dryer is shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 5, a rotary drum 2 is rotatably provided in the dryer main body 1, and the rotary drum 2 includes a motor 3
Is driven via the drum belt 4. A clothes inlet 5 is provided on the front surface of the dryer main body 1, and a heater 6 for heating the drying air flowing into the rotary drum 2 is provided below the dryer main body 1.

A heat exchanging fan 7 is provided behind the rotary drum 2. The heat exchanging fan 7 has an air blowing function and a heat exchanging function, and is driven by a motor 3 via a drive transmission shaft 23 and a fan belt 8. Driven. The drying air casing 9 of the heat exchange fan 7 is provided at the rear of the rotary drum 2 and has a rotary drum side intake hole 10 in the center. 11
Is a filter installed on the rear surface of the rotary drum 2 for removing lint and the like, 12 is a cooling air casing, and the cooling air casing 12 has an intake hole 13 in the central portion like the drying air casing 9. A casing exhaust port 14 for cooling air is partially formed. 16 is a heat exchange fan 7
And a holding plate for fixing the drying air casing 12 to the dryer main body 1 by a shaft that rotatably supports the rotating drum 2.
Sticked to 17.

A partition plate 18 is interposed between the drying air casing 9 and the cooling air casing 12, and the partition plate 18 partitions the outer peripheral portion of the heat exchange fan 7 into front and rear parts to separate the drying side and the cooling side. It is airtightly separated. A circulation duct 19 is provided in the lower part of the dryer main body 1, and the circulation duct 19 has a function of an air passage for guiding the exhaust air of the drying air casing 9 to the heater 6. A drainage hole is provided in the middle of this circulation duct 19.
20 is provided, and the drain hole 20 discharges condensed water generated by heat exchange in the heat exchange fan 7. Reference numeral 21 is a back plate that covers the rear surface of the dryer main body 1, and has an intake hole 22 for intake of the cooling air 3 in a part thereof.

An arrow A (shown by a thick arrow) shows a flow of cooling air, and an arrow B (shown by a thin arrow) shows a flow of drying air. In the above clothes dryer, the motor 3
When is rotated, the rotating drum 2 containing the clothes and the heat exchange fan 7 are rotated to generate the flows A and B of the cooling air and the drying air. The drying air is heated by the heater 6 to dry the clothes in the rotary drum 2, resulting in high temperature and high humidity, which is circulated by the heat exchange fan 7. on the other hand,
The cooling air sucks the outside air from the intake hole 22 provided in the back plate 21, and is discharged to the outside from the casing exhaust port 14 of the cooling air casing 12 through the main body side exhaust port 15 provided in the dryer main body 1. To be done. The circulated hot and humid drying air contacts the heat exchange fan 7, is cooled and dehumidified by the cooling air, and is circulated again in the rotary drum 2. As described above, the clothes are dried.

FIG. 6 is a view of the drying air casing 9 seen from the front side. One tongue 9a is formed in the drying air casing 9, and the exhaust side passage 24 in which the tongue 9a is formed. Is connected to the exhaust port 25. Although not shown, the cooling air casing 12 has a similar structure.

[0007]

It is generally known that when drying the clothes, when the rotary drum 2 is rotated only in the same direction, the occurrence of wrinkles increases. This is improved by rotating the rotary drum 2 in the forward and reverse directions (both left and right rotations).
However, in the conventional clothes dryer, as can be easily seen from the shape of the tongue 9a of the drying air casing 9 shown in FIG. 6, the rotation direction of the heat exchange fan 7 corresponds to only one direction due to the structure of the air casing. It was Therefore, even if only the motor 3 is rotated in the normal and reverse directions, the amount of airflow is extremely reduced in the reverse rotation, and satisfactory performance cannot be obtained.

Further, when the wool knit clothing is dried, the heat exchange fan 7 is always operated and only the rotary drum 2 is intermittently rotated, so that drying with less shrinkage is possible. However, in the conventional clothes dryer, the heat exchange fan 7
The rotary drum 2 and the rotary drum 2 are integrally driven, and it is impossible to intermittently rotate only the rotary drum 2 while constantly operating the heat exchange fan 7.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems. Even when the heat exchange fan is rotated in the reverse direction, a sufficient amount of air can be obtained. Further, the heat exchange fan is always operated and only the rotary drum is intermittently rotated. An object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer that can be used.

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, the first means of the present invention is to provide a drying air casing and a cooling air casing for coping with the forward and reverse rotation (both left and right rotation) of the heat exchange fan. In the air casing, the first tongs that guide the drying air or the cooling air to the exhaust port of each air casing when the heat exchange fan is rotated forward and the drying air or the drying air when the heat exchange fan is rotated in the reverse direction. Second tongs for guiding the cooling air to the exhaust port of each air casing are provided.

The second means of the present invention is the same as the above-mentioned first means, wherein the exhaust port is provided in the first and second exhaust side passages communicating from the first and second tongs to the exhaust port of each air casing. Check valves are provided to allow air to flow only to the sides.

A third means of the present invention is the same as the above-mentioned first means, but is provided with first and second exhaust passages which lead from the first and second tongs to one exhaust port of each air casing. A switching valve that guides only the air from one of the exhaust side passages to the exhaust port is provided at the merging portion of the first and second exhaust side passages to the exhaust port.

A fourth means of the present invention is to provide the above-mentioned first, second, and
In each of the third means, a one-way clutch is interposed between the rotary drum and the drive transmission shaft.

[0014]

According to the first means, by providing the first and second tongs, the first and second tongs can be operated even when the heat exchange fan is rotated in the normal and reverse directions (both left and right rotations). By working, air can be efficiently guided to the exhaust port.

According to the second means, the check valve works to prevent the air from flowing back (flowing in) from the exhaust port, so that the air can be guided to the exhaust port more efficiently. .

According to the third means, a performance equivalent to that of the second means can be obtained only by providing the switching valve having a very simple structure at the confluence portion to the exhaust port. Further, according to the fourth means, the heat exchange fan is always operated in forward and reverse directions,
Due to the action of the one-way clutch, the rotating drum rotates intermittently only when rotating in one direction.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a drying air casing of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, since the clothes dryer in this embodiment is the same as the conventional one shown in FIG. 5 except for the structures of the drying air casing and the cooling air casing, the description of the entire configuration will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, a drying air casing
The bidirectional tongue portion 27 having a substantially triangular shape in which a first tongue 27a and a second tongue 27b are formed is provided in the 26, and the first and second exhaust side passages formed by the bidirectional tongue portion 27 are provided. 28 and 29 are joined at the exhaust port 30. here,
The first tongs 27a guide the drying air to the exhaust port 30 when the heat exchange fan 7 is rotated in the forward direction, and the second tongs 27b.
Guides the drying air to the exhaust port 30 when the heat exchange fan 7 is rotated in the reverse direction. Since the cooling air casing has the same structure as the drying air casing 26, its drawing and description are omitted.

Next, the operation will be described. When the heat exchange fan 7 rotates forward (counterclockwise), air (indicated by a dashed arrow)
Is efficiently guided to the exhaust port 30 by the action of the first tongue 27a of the bidirectional tongue portion 27. When the heat exchange fan 7 rotates in the reverse direction (clockwise rotation), the air (indicated by the solid arrow) is efficiently guided to the exhaust port 30 by the action of the second tongue 27b of the bidirectional tongue portion 27. That is, the drying air can be sent with the same performance even when the heat exchanging fan 7 rotates forward and backward (right and left).

Therefore, the rotary drum 2 is rotated normally (right and left).
Since the blowing amount of the drying air can be secured to be almost the same as that of the conventional one even if it is rotated, the rotating drum 2 can be rotated normally and reversely to efficiently perform the drying for reducing the wrinkles and the damage of the clothes.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the drying air casing of the clothes dryer according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the drying air casing 26 and the cooling air casing, in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, check valves 31 and 32 are provided in the first and second exhaust passages 28 and 29, respectively. Here, the structure of the check valves 31 and 32 will be described. The first and the second in the first and second exhaust side passages 28, 29
Near the second tongs 27a, 27b, hinge portions 31b, 32b for rotatably supporting the valve bodies 31a, 32a are provided.
31a and 32a are lightly urged in the direction of closing the passage by spring bodies 31c and 32c.

Next, the operation will be described. When the heat exchange fan 7 rotates forward (counterclockwise), air (indicated by a dashed arrow)
The first tongue 27a of the bidirectional tongue portion 27 acts to cause air to flow toward the exhaust port 30. The valve body 31a is opened by the air pressure, and air is guided to the exhaust port 30. At this time, air slightly tries to flow in from the other check valve 32 side, but the valve body 32a of the check valve 32 is in contact with the outer peripheral portion of the casing 26 and does not open in the opposite direction any more. Therefore, the air once guided to the exhaust port 30 does not return to the casing 26 again, and the air can be guided to the exhaust port 30 more efficiently than that shown in FIG.

The heat exchange fan 7 rotates in the reverse direction (clockwise).
When that is the case, that is, when the air flow flows as shown by the solid arrow, the operation is exactly opposite to that described above, and the operation is the same.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a drying air casing of a clothes dryer according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In the drying air casing 26 and the cooling air casing, in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, one of the exhaust side passages 28 and 29 is joined to the exhaust port 30 at one exhaust side. Switching valve 33 that guides only the air from the passages 28 and 29 to the exhaust port 30
Is provided. Here, the switching valve 33 has a structure in which a valve body 33b is rotatably supported by a hinge portion 33a arranged in the vicinity of the bidirectional tongue portion 27 in the merging portion.

Next, the operation will be described. When the heat exchange fan 7 rotates forward (counterclockwise), air (indicated by a dashed arrow)
The first tongue 27a of the bidirectional tongue portion 27 acts to cause air to flow toward the exhaust port 30. The air pressure moves the valve element 33b of the switching valve 33 from the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line to the position indicated by the solid line, and air is guided to the exhaust port 30. At this time, the valve element 33b hits the side wall of the exhaust port 30, and the casing
Automatically closes backflow of air to the 26 side. Therefore, the air once guided to the exhaust port 30 does not return to the inside of the casing 26 again, and the air can be guided to the exhaust port 30 more efficiently than that shown in FIG. Further, according to this embodiment, since the structure is simpler than that shown in FIG. 2, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

When the heat exchange fan 7 rotates to the right, that is, when the air flow is indicated by a solid arrow, the operation is exactly opposite to that described above, and the operation is the same. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a clothes dryer according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the clothes dryer of the present invention, the structures of the drying air casing 26 and the cooling air casing are the same as those shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, or FIG. 3, while the drive transmission from the motor to the rotating drum 2 is performed. Since the structure is different, this drive transmission structure will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, a drying air casing
The motor 26 is driven by the motor 3 via the drive transmission shaft 23 and the fan belt 8 as in the conventional case, and is rotated by the forward and reverse rotation of the motor 3. On the other hand, the fan pulley 36 and the motor 3 that rotate the rotating drum 2 via the fan belt 4.
A one-way clutch 34 is interposed between the drive transmission shaft 23 and the one-way clutch 34, and the one-way clutch 34 causes the motor 3 of the rotary drum 2 to travel in a predetermined one direction (normal rotation direction in this embodiment).
It is designed to rotate only when driven to. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 35 is a fan pulley that rotates the drying air casing 9 via the fan belt 8.

Next, the operation will be described. It is now assumed that the motor 3 is rotating to the right (forward rotation) when viewed from the front of the clothes dryer. At this time, the one-way clutch 34 is in the connected state, and both the rotary drum 2 and the heat exchange fan 7 are rotationally driven as in the conventional dryer.

Next, when the motor 3 is rotated in the reverse direction (counterclockwise rotation), the heat exchange fan 7 is driven in the same manner as described above, but the rotary drum 2 is not driven by the action of the one-way clutch 34. That is, in this case, the heat exchange fan 7 is operating, but the rotating drum 2 is stationary.

As described above, when the motor 3 is rotated in the normal and reverse directions, the heat exchange fan 7 is constantly rotated to maintain the air blowing function, while the rotary drum 2 is stopped during the reverse rotation of the motor 3. That is, by appropriately rotating the motor 3 in the reverse direction, the knit garment can be dried in the optimum state.

This point will be described in detail. In general,
In normal drying, the rotating drum 2 is rotated to apply drying air (heated air) to the clothes so that the clothes are not uneven. However, when a wet knit garment is subjected to the same rotation as a normal garment such as cotton, that is, a mechanical force is applied, the knit garment is immediately felted and contracted. Therefore, as a measure against this, the amount of dried products (knit clothing)
One is to reduce the mechanical force applied to the knit garment by rotating the rotary drum 2 intermittently. However, even when the rotary drum 2 is stopped, the heat exchange fan 7 is constantly rotated to operate the air blowing function.

By controlling the intermittent rotation more finely, more suitable drying of the knit garment can be performed. That is, the rotating drum 2 is rotated about 1/3, and the baffles (three baffles are arranged substantially evenly on the rotating drum 2. Not shown) in the rotating drum 2 are located substantially above the lowest point. By moving the knit garment up to about half a turn, that is, the knit garment is turned upside down. Therefore,
When the rotary drum 2 is rotated 1/3, the next baffle is almost at the lowest position. Then, this movement is intermittently operated at predetermined time intervals. Therefore, the drying air is evenly applied to the knit clothing. For example, 1/3 rotation operation was performed at intervals of 5 minutes. The result is good, and the knitted clothes can be dried with a drum type clothes dryer using the rotary drum 2. If this time interval is too short, the mechanical force will be too large and contraction will occur easily, and if it is too long, drying unevenness and wrinkle sticking will occur.

By causing the rotary drum to move in this manner, it is possible to dry the knit garment with less shrinkage.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, drying or cooling air is supplied to the drying air casing and the cooling air casing when the heat exchange fan is normally rotated. The heat exchange fan is provided with the first tongue that leads to the exhaust port and the second tongue that guides the drying or cooling air to the exhaust port of each air casing when the heat exchange fan is rotated in the reverse direction. With respect to the normal and reverse rotations (both left and right rotations), the drying and cooling air can be efficiently guided to the exhaust port by the action of each tongue.

As a result, it is possible to rotate the rotary drum in the forward and reverse directions while ensuring the air volumes of the drying and cooling air almost equal to those in the conventional case, so that the dried product can be maintained while maintaining the conventional drying time. It can reduce damage and wrinkles.

Then, check valves are provided in the first and second exhaust passages that communicate from the first and second tongs to the exhaust ports of the air casings, respectively. Thus, the air can be guided to the exhaust port more efficiently.

Further, there are provided first and second exhaust side passages leading from the first and second tongs to one exhaust port of each air casing, and the first and second exhaust side passages are connected to the exhaust ports. By providing the merging portion with the switching valve that guides only the air from one exhaust side passage to the exhaust port, the same performance can be obtained with a simpler configuration than when the check valve is provided.

Furthermore, by adding a structure in which a one-way clutch is interposed between the rotary drum and the drive transmission shaft to the structure of the air casing, while maintaining the function as a normal dryer in forward rotation, Further, in the reverse rotation, the rotary drum can be stopped while always operating the transfer air function. Therefore, by intermittently rotating only the rotary drum, the knit garment can be dried while reducing its shrinkage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a drying air casing of a clothes dryer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a drying air casing of a clothes dryer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a drying air casing of a clothes dryer according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a clothes dryer according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a conventional clothes dryer.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a drying air casing of a conventional clothes dryer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Dryer Main Body 2 Rotating Drum 3 Motor 7 Heat Exchange Fan 23 Drive Transmission Shaft 26 Drying Air Casing 27 Bidirectional Tongs 27a First Tongs 27b Second Tongs 28 First Exhaust Side Passage 29 Second Exhaust Side Passage 30 Exhaust port 31, 32 Check valve 31a, 32a Valve body 31b, 32b Hinge part 31c, 32c Spring body 33 Switching valve 33a Hinge part 33b Valve body 34 One-way clutch

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A dryer main body, a rotary drum rotatably provided in the dryer main body, and a heat exchange fan provided behind the rotary drum and having a blowing function and a heat exchanging function.
The drying air casing provided on one side of the heat exchange fan, the cooling air casing provided on the other side of the heat exchange fan, and the drive transmission shaft for driving the rotary drum and the heat exchange fan are normally and reversely rotated. A first tongue that includes a motor, and that guides the drying air or the cooling air to the exhaust port of each air casing when the heat exchange fan is normally rotated in the drying air casing and the cooling air casing; A clothes dryer provided with a second tongue for guiding drying or cooling air to the exhaust port of each air casing when the replacement fan is rotated in the reverse direction. 2. A check valve for flowing air only to the exhaust port side is provided in each of the first and second exhaust side passages communicating from the first and second tongs to the exhaust port of each air casing. The described clothes dryer. 3. A first and a second exhaust side passage leading from the first and second tongs to one exhaust port of each air casing are provided, and the first and second exhaust side passages are connected to the exhaust port. 2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the merging portion is provided with a switching valve that guides only the air from one exhaust side passage to the exhaust port. 4. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, further comprising a one-way clutch interposed between the rotary drum and the drive transmission shaft.