JPH0679640B2 - Dryer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to drying in which the time required for the drying operation is predicted and displayed at the initial stage of the drying operation.

(Prior Art) Recently, for convenience of use, a device in which the required operation time is predicted and displayed at the beginning of the drying operation is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-48198. This is to detect the rise change of the exhaust gas temperature in the initial stage of the drying operation and predict and display the time required for the drying operation based on the detected value.

By the way, during the drying operation, open the door of the dryer to add the material to be dried, change the operating condition such as changing the strength of the heater or changing the operation course (changing the finish dryness). There are things. In such a case, the actual required time for the drying operation is significantly different from the predicted time at the beginning of the operation (the predicted value of the required time for the dry operation).
However, in the conventional structure described above, even if an object to be dried or an operation condition change operation is performed during the drying operation, the operation time is not predicted again, and the estimated time display before that is displayed. Since it is continued, in this case, the error between the predicted time and the actual operating time eventually becomes large, and the reliability of the predicted time display is impaired.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional structure, the predicted time display before that is continued even if an object to be dried or a change operation of the operation course is performed after the drying operation is started. Therefore, in this case, as a result, the error between the predicted time and the actual operating time becomes large, and the reliability of the predicted time display is impaired.

The present invention is intended to solve such problems,
Therefore, an object thereof is to provide a dryer capable of reducing an error between the predicted operation time of the drying operation and the actual operation time even if the operation of changing the drying course or the object to be dried is performed after the start of the drying operation. It is in.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) A dryer of the present invention includes a driving course setting means for setting a driving course, a door opening / closing detecting means for detecting opening / closing of a door of a drying chamber, and the drying device. The amount of dried material for determining the amount of dried material housed in the room, the operation course set by the operation course setting means, and the amount of dried object determined by the dried material amount determination means Prediction means for predicting the required time, and a display means for displaying the required time of the dry operation predicted by this predicting means, the predicting means, when the operation course setting means is switched during the dry operation or When the door opening / closing detection means detects opening / closing of the door, the time required for the drying operation is re-estimated and the display of the display means is changed.

(Operation) Usually, before starting the drying operation, the user sets a desired operation course by the operation course setting means, stores the material to be dried in the drying chamber, and closes the door of the drying chamber. , Start the drying operation. Thereafter, the predicting means predicts the required time of the drying operation based on the driving course set by the driving course setting means and the amount of dried material determined by the dried material amount determining means, and displays the estimated time on the display means. Display it. During this drying operation, the operation course may be switched by the operation course setting means, or the door may be opened and closed to add an article to be dried or a part of the article to be dried may be taken out. In such a case, the time required for the dry operation also differs from the previously predicted time, so when the driving course setting means is switched or the door opening / closing detecting means detects opening / closing of the door, the predicting means is The time required for the drying operation is re-estimated based on the operation course and the amount of dried matter determined by the dried matter amount determination means, and the display of the display means is revised.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to a drum type dryer will be described with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 3 showing the overall structure, reference numeral 1 is an outer box of a drum type dryer, and a drying object inlet / outlet 3 which is opened and closed by a door 2 is formed on the front surface thereof. Reference numeral 4 denotes a rotary drum disposed inside the outer box 1, the inside of which serves as a drying chamber, a circular opening 5 on the front side thereof is rotatably supported by an annular support 6 on the front part of the outer box 1, and a rear end surface thereof. A shaft 7 attached to the center is rotatably supported by a horizontal frame 8 fixed to the rear side of the outer box 1. The reference numeral 9 designates a fan casing arranged at the rear portion of the rotary drum 4 and has a double-bladed fan inside thereof.
Are installed. The fan 10 and the rotary drum 4 are rotationally driven by a motor 11 above the outer box 1. in this case,
When the fan 10 rotates, the air in the rotary drum 4 is sucked into the front portion of the fan casing 9 through the lint filter 12 on the rear surface of the rotary drum 4, the exhaust hole 13 and the ventilation hole 14 on the front surface of the fan casing 9 in this order. It is returned to the rotary drum 4 again while being heated by the heater 16 through the communication duct 15. At the same time, the air outside the outer casing 1 is sucked into the rear portion of the fan casing 9 through the intake hole 17 in the central portion of the rear surface of the outer casing 1 and flows through the front side of the fan 10 as described above. After exchanging heat with the air, the air is discharged from the exhaust hole 18 in the lower rear portion of the outer box 1. Reference numeral 19 is a temperature sensor such as a thermistor, which is a vent hole of the fan casing 9.
It is arranged in 14 parts and detects an abnormal rise in the exhaust temperature of the rotary drum 4. Reference numeral 20 designates a pair of detection electrodes provided on the inner surface of the annular support 6 so as to come into contact with an object to be dried (not shown) in the rotary drum 4. The output signal of the pair of detection electrodes is the contact frequency as shown in FIG. It is input to both the output circuit 21 and the dryness output circuit 22. In this case, the contact frequency output circuit 21 inputs a signal corresponding to the contact frequency between the detection electrode 20 and the object to be dried into the microcomputer 23 as a predicting means, and causes the microcomputer 23 to calculate the amount of the object to be dried. Therefore, the microcomputer 23 also functions as a determination unit that determines the amount of the material to be dried based on the output signal of the contact frequency output circuit 21. Further, the dryness output circuit 22 inputs a signal corresponding to the electric resistance value of the material to be dried, which contacts the detection electrode 20, to the microcomputer 23, thereby causing the microcomputer 23 to calculate the dryness of the material to be dried. On the other hand, on the operation panel 24 provided on the upper front surface of the outer box 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a power switch 25, a start switch 26 for starting a drying operation, and a driving course setting means for selecting a driving course. A barrel course selection switch 27, four light emitting elements 28 for displaying a driving course, a display 29 for displaying a predicted value of a required time for a dry operation, and the like are provided. In this case, the driving course that can be selected by the course selection switch 27 is a "standard" course in which the finish dryness is standard, a "careful" course in which drying is performed carefully, and an "ironing" suitable for ironing in a slightly dry state. There are four "Chemical Fiber" courses that are suitable for drying relatively easy to dry things such as courses and synthetic fibers. Then, when the power switch 25 is turned on, the driving course is automatically set to the "standard" course, and depending on the subsequent pressing circuit of the course selection switch 27, the "careful" course, the "chemical fiber" course, and the "ironing course" are selected. The courses are selected sequentially.

Therefore, the predicted value of the required time for the dry operation, that is, the predicted time is
Based on the drying time determining factor input to the microcomputer 23, the microcomputer 23 calculates and displays it on the display unit 29 as a display means. In this case, the factors that determine the drying time are the input operating conditions, that is, the type of operating course selected by the course selection switch 27, and the amount of material to be dried detected via the detection electrode 20 and the contact frequency output circuit 21. If the operation course is the same, the larger the amount of material to be dried, the longer the prediction time. On the other hand, if the amount of material to be dried is the same, the prediction time is "Chemical fiber" course, "Iron" course, "Standard" course, It will be longer in the order of "on" course.

Such time prediction by the microcomputer 23 is
In addition to being performed when the start switch 26 is turned on, that is, when the drying operation is started, an operation that changes the drying time determining factor even after the drying operation is started, that is, the operation course is changed or the object to be dried is dried. Is added, it will be re-predicted. In the case of changing the driving course, time prediction is performed on the condition that the course selection signal is input from the course selection switch 27 to the microcomputer 23. When adding a material to be dried, the door 2 is always opened and closed, so that the time is predicted on the condition of the operation of the door switch 30 (see FIG. 1) which is the door opening / closing detection means for detecting the second opening / closing. .

In FIG. 1, 31 is a rectifier circuit that serves as a power source for the microcomputer 23, 32 is a clock pulse generation circuit that gives a clock pulse to the microcomputer 23, and 33 is a drive circuit for driving the motor 11 and the heater 16. .

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When performing a drying operation, first, a material to be dried such as clothes is put into the rotary drum 4, and the power switch 25 is turned on. When the power switch 25 is turned on, the driving course is automatically set to the "standard" course. When operating on the "standard" course, you can start the drying operation by turning on the start switch 26 immediately after turning on the power, but either the "careful", "chemical fiber", or "iron" operation course When selecting, the course selection switch 27 is pressed once to three times and then the drying operation is started. Simultaneously with the start of operation, the detection electrode
The detection of the contact frequency between 20 and the object to be dried is started, and the amount of the object to be dried is calculated based on the contact frequency within a fixed time. The substance to be dried becomes a factor for determining the drying time together with the type of the operation course set by the course selection switch 27, and the required time for the drying operation is predicted by the microcomputer 23 based on these factors for determining the drying time, and the predicted time is displayed. Bowl 29
Is displayed in.

After such a drying operation is started, if the course selection switch 27 is operated to change the operation course among the drying time determining factors, the type of the changed operation course and the amount of the object to be dried detected via the detection electrode 20 are displayed. Based on microcomputer 23
The time required for the dry operation is re-estimated by, and the estimated time is newly displayed on the display unit 29. Therefore, after the driving course is changed, an appropriate predicted time display according to the changed driving course is performed, and the error between the predicted time and the actual driving time can be reduced. In addition, when the door 2 is opened to add an object to be dried after the start of the drying operation, when the door 2 is closed after that, the door switch 30 operates and the microcomputer 23
Let them re-estimate the time required for the drying operation. In this case, the amount of material to be dried after addition is detected by the frequency of contact with the detection electrode 20, and the amount of material to be dried and the type of operation course at that time are used to re-estimate the time required for the drying operation and display 29
Revise the displayed value of. Therefore, after adding the material to be dried, an appropriate estimated time display according to the amount of material to be dried after the addition is made, and even in this case, the error between the estimated time and the actual operating time can be reduced and the estimated time can be reduced. The reliability of the display can be improved.

On the other hand, the predicted time displayed on the display unit 29 decreases, for example, in units of 10 minutes as time passes. And the sensing electrode 2
0, after the dryness of the object to be dried detected through the dryness output circuit 22 reaches a predetermined value, a delayed drying operation by time control is executed for a predetermined time, and then the drying operation is ended.

In the present embodiment, based on the fact that there is a correlation between the amount of material to be dried and the time required for the drying operation, the amount of material to be dried is detected by the detection electrode 20, and the type of operation course is added to the detected value. Then, the time required for the dry operation is predicted. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and based on the fact that there is a correlation between the rise change degree of the exhaust temperature in the initial stage of the drying operation and the required time of the dry operation, the rise change degree of the exhaust temperature in the initial stage of the drying operation is May be detected by the temperature sensor 19, and the time required for the dry operation may be predicted by adding the type of operation course to the detected value.

Further, although a switch for switching the amount of heat generated by the heater 16 is not provided in the present embodiment, the present invention can be applied to a configuration having this switch. In this case, the heat generation amount of the heater is also a determining factor for the drying time. Therefore, the heat generation amount of the heater is also added to predict the time required for the drying operation, and when the heat generation amount of the heater is switched after the drying operation is started, It may be configured to re-estimate based on the heat generation amount after switching.

Furthermore, the types of operation courses (finish dryness) that can be selected are not limited to the four types of "standard", "reinforcing", "iron", and "chemical fiber", and there are three types or less or five types or more. Is also good.

[Effects of the Invention] As is apparent from the above description, when the operation course setting means is switched or the door is opened / closed after the start of the drying operation, the predicting means reduces the time required for the drying operation. Since it is designed to re-estimate, the operation that changes the drying time deciding factor was changed after the start of the drying operation, that is, the operation course setting means was switched and the door was opened / closed (addition / partial removal of the material to be dried) was performed. Even in such a case, there is an excellent effect that the error between the predicted operation time of the dry operation and the actual operation time can be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram, FIG. 2 is a front view of an operation panel, and FIG. 3 is a vertical side view of the whole. In the drawing, 4 is a rotary drum (drying chamber), 20 is a detection electrode, 21
Is a contact frequency output circuit, 23 is a microcomputer (prediction means, dried material amount determination means), 27 is a course selection switch (driving course setting means), 29 is an indicator (display means), 30
Is a door switch (door open / close detection means).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A driving course setting means for setting a driving course, a door opening / closing detecting means for detecting opening / closing of a door of a drying chamber, and an amount of dried material determining means for determining an amount of dried material contained in the drying chamber. A predicting means for predicting a required time for a drying operation based on the operation course set by the operation course setting means and the amount of dried material determined by the dried material amount determining means; and the drying estimated by this predicting means. Display means for displaying the time required for operation, the predicting means is a dry operation when the operation course setting means is switched during a dry operation or when the door opening / closing detection means detects opening / closing of the door. The dryer is characterized in that the display of the display means is revised by re-estimating the required time.