JPH0719439Y2 - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clothes dryer for drying wet laundry, and can realize an appropriate drying operation even when the amount of clothes put in a drying chamber is extremely small. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art So-called clothes dryers, in which wet laundry is exposed to warm air to dry it, have come into widespread use, and laundry work such as in rainy weather has become possible. An example of such a clothes dryer is shown in FIG. Instrument body (1
0) is provided with a rotating drum (11) for rotating and stirring the put-in clothes (B) and (B), and on the back wall of the drying chamber (13) surrounded by the rotating drum (11). The suction port (39) of the exhaust fan (2) is formed. or,
An exhaust gas temperature sensor (27) and a humidity sensor (28) are provided in the exhaust passage (26) of the exhaust fan (2), and a combustion device (gas burner or the like is provided below the instrument body (10) ( 20) is provided.

When clothes (B) and (B) are put into the drying chamber (13) through the opening / closing door (15) to burn the combustion device (20) and drive the exhaust fan (2), the combustion device (20) ) Combustion exhaust gas from the outlet (24) to the drying chamber (1
3) It is supplied into the inside of the clothes (B) and accelerates vapor emission from the clothes (B). Then, the exhaust containing the vapor is sucked by the exhaust fan (2) and discharged to the outside from the exhaust passage (26). The temperature and humidity of the exhaust gas are monitored by an exhaust temperature sensor (27) and a humidity sensor (28) arranged in the exhaust passage (26), and the drying chamber is based on the output of the former exhaust temperature sensor (27). The temperature inside (13) is controlled to a constant temperature, and the output of the latter humidity sensor (28) determines the dry state of the clothes (B). Then, after the humidity detected by the humidity sensor (28) drops to a certain level, the exhaust fan (2) is kept in a driving state while the combustion device (20) is extinguished, and the clothes (B) and (B) are cooled. The tool operation is stopped after the final finishing operation. That is, the clothes drying operation is completed.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional one, when drying a small amount of clothes (B) and (B), there is a problem that the clothes (B) and (B) may not be properly dried. . When the amount of the clothes (B) is so small that the inside of the drying chamber (13) can be regarded as being substantially empty, the absolute amount of the clothes (B) is small even if the vapor is vigorous. Therefore, the vapor content in the exhaust gas is extremely low, and the humidity of the exhaust gas hardly rises. That is, when the amount of the clothes (B) is extremely small, a large error occurs between the humidity of the clothes itself during the drying operation and the humidity detected by the humidity sensor (28). Therefore, in the above-mentioned case, when the amount of clothes (B) is small, the humidity sensor (28) may output a dry end signal and the apparatus may stop even if the clothes (B) are in an undried state.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and includes an "exhaust temperature sensor (27) for detecting the temperature of the exhaust gas from the drying chamber (13) and a humidity sensor (28) for detecting the humidity of the exhaust gas. ), Which stops the drying operation in response to a detection signal from the humidity sensor (28) ”, an appropriate drying operation can be ensured even when an extremely small amount of clothes (B) is dried. Let's do that.

[0006]

The technical means of the present invention for solving the above problems will be described with reference to the conceptual diagram of FIG. 5. The technical means of the present invention is "drying start signal generating means for outputting a start signal of a drying operation ( 41), a timer (18) that keeps a certain time after the drying operation start signal is generated, and a temperature difference between the temperature detected by the exhaust temperature sensor (27) and the outside air temperature when the timer (18) expires. Temperature difference calculating means (42) for calculating
Furthermore, when a small amount of clothes (B) is dried for the set time of the timer (18), the temperature difference between the detected temperature detected by the exhaust temperature sensor (27) and the outside air temperature is the reference temperature difference. Reference temperature difference storage means (4
3) is provided with a comparator (44) which compares the reference temperature difference with the temperature difference calculated by the temperature difference calculating means (42) and outputs a small amount signal when the latter is large, and the comparator (44) is provided.
When a small amount of signal is output, the humidity sensor (28) does not judge the detected humidity, and the drying operation is continued for a certain period of time, and then the operation of the appliance is stopped.

[0007]

The above technical means operates as follows. When the operation of the appliance is started, a drying operation start signal is output from the drying start signal generating means (41). Drying start signal generating means (4
When the drying start signal is output from 1), the timer (1
8) starts counting a certain time, and when the timer (18) times out, the exhaust temperature sensor (27) at that time point
Difference calculation means (42) for calculating the temperature difference between the detected temperature of the
Calculates. That is, the temperature difference calculating means (42) calculates the temperature rise in the drying chamber (13) while the timer (18) is measuring the time. Then, the temperature difference calculated by the temperature difference calculating means (42) and the reference temperature difference stored in the reference temperature difference storing means (43) are compared with each other by the comparator (44).
, And if the former temperature difference is large, the comparator (4
There is a small signal from 4). That is, the temperature difference between the detected temperature detected by the exhaust temperature sensor (27) and the outside air temperature when a small amount of clothes (B) is dried for the set time of the timer (18) is used as the reference temperature difference. It is stored in the temperature difference storage means (43). Therefore, when the temperature difference calculated by the temperature difference calculating means (42) is larger than the reference temperature difference, the clothes (B) in the drying chamber (13) have an extremely small amount and the exhaust temperature rises rapidly. Therefore, a small amount of signal is output from the comparator (44) that compares the two temperatures.

When a small amount of signal is output from the comparator (44), the drying operation is forcibly continued for a certain period of time to dry the clothes (B) without judging the humidity of the exhaust gas from the drying chamber (13). After that, the instrument is stopped.

[0009]

[Effect] The present invention has the following unique effects. Clothing (B)
When the operation of the appliance cannot be controlled based on the humidity detected by the humidity sensor (28), the drying operation is forced to continue for a certain period of time. Even when the amount is extremely small, the drying operation is properly performed.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention described above will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The instrument main body (10) is configured as shown in FIG. 1 as described above, and the rotary drum (11) and the rotary vanes (23) of the exhaust fan (2) can be rotated by the motor (19). ing. Further, the outside air temperature is an outside air temperature sensor (29) arranged near the combustion device (20).
Is detected during the intake action by the operation of the combustion device (20).

The respective parts constituting the clothes dryer are controlled by a microcomputer (3) as shown in FIG. 2, and the input port of the microcomputer (3) is connected to the dryer (13). An exhaust temperature sensor (27) for detecting the exhaust temperature, a humidity sensor (2 for detecting the humidity of the exhaust
8), an outside air temperature sensor (29) for detecting the outside air temperature, an operation switch (31), and a flame detector (25) for detecting the flame of the combustion device (20) are connected. Further, a proportional valve (22), a motor (19) and an indicator (4) inserted in a gas circuit to the combustion device (20) are connected to the output port, respectively.

A control program having the contents shown in FIG. 3 is written in the microcomputer (3), and the operation of the clothes dryer according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. ． When the operation switch (31) is operated, the combustion device (20) is monitored when the operation switch (31) is operated.
Of the proportional valve (22) inserted in the gas circuit to the combustion device (20) by driving an ignition device (not shown)
The ignition operation is performed. Further, the motor (19) is driven to rotate the rotary drum (11) and the exhaust fan (2) (see steps (71) and (72) in the drawing), and the output of the flame detector (25) is monitored. Then the combustion device (2
0) is actually in the combustion state, and if it is confirmed that the combustion device (20) is in the combustion state, a certain time (30 seconds in this embodiment) is waited (drawing). See steps (73) and (74). And
In this embodiment, the flame detector (25) corresponds to the drying start signal generating means (41) described in the section of the technical means, and the microcomputer (3) for waiting the time of 30 seconds is used. The function part in () corresponds to the timer (18) described in the above-mentioned technical means section.

.. The temperature difference (A) between the exhaust temperature (G) of the exhaust gas from the drying chamber (13) detected by the exhaust temperature sensor (27) and the outside air temperature (F) detected by the outside air temperature sensor (29) is calculated. (See step (75)). That is, the temperature difference (A) indicating the difference between the temperature in the drying chamber (13) and the outside air temperature after 30 seconds have elapsed after the combustion of the combustion device (20) was detected by the flame detector (25) is calculated. Is done.
Further, in this embodiment, the functional unit in the microcomputer (3) for executing the operation of the reference numeral (75) for calculating the temperature difference (A) is the temperature difference calculating means described in the above-mentioned technical means section. It corresponds to (42).

.. Next, when the above-mentioned temperature difference (A) is 35 deg or more as the reference temperature difference, the required drying time (T) is set to "11 minutes" (drawing symbol (76)-
(See step (77)). That is, when the clothes (B) and (B) put into the drying chamber (13) are extremely small, the exhaust gas temperature becomes high at the beginning of the operation. In this case, the finishing operation for "11 minutes" is immediately executed. Therefore, the required drying time (T) is set to "11 minutes". Then, the required drying time (T) is displayed on the display (4) (see step of drawing reference numeral (78)). In this embodiment, the memory in the microcomputer (3) for storing "35 deg" as the reference temperature difference corresponds to the reference temperature difference storage means (43) described in the above-mentioned technical means. . Further, the functional unit in the microcomputer (3) for executing the step of drawing reference numeral (76) for judging whether the temperature difference (A) is less than 35 deg is the comparator (44) described in the section of the above-mentioned technical means. ) Is supported. On the other hand, when the step of drawing code (76) is executed, the drying chamber (13)
If the exhaust gas temperature from (1) is not so high (less than 35 deg in this embodiment), the control is transferred to the step "" described later.

.. Next, while controlling the opening of the proportional valve (22) based on the detected temperature of the exhaust gas temperature (27), the combustion device (2
The amount of combustion of (0) is controlled, whereby the drying operation is continued while maintaining the inside of the drying chamber (13) at 60 ° C. (see step (79) of the drawing). In addition, it is judged whether one minute has elapsed (see step (80) of the drawing), and when the time elapses, the content of the "drying required time (T)" is reduced by one minute (step of the same (81)). Further, the drying required time (T) is the final finishing operation (the operation of blowing cold air on the clothes (B) to cool them).
It is judged whether or not the time required is "3" minutes or less (see step of drawing code (82)), and the inside of the drying chamber (13) is kept at 60 ° C until the drying time (T) becomes 3 minutes or less. Drying time (T) displayed on the display (4) while keeping
Is reduced in increments of "1 minute".

.. When the time required for drying (T) is 3 minutes or less, the combustion device (20) is maintained in a fire extinguishing state (see the step of reference numeral (83) in the drawing), and then the time required for drying (T) displayed on the display (4). ) Is displayed in a countdown every minute (see step of drawing code (85)), and the motor (19) is stopped when the required drying time (T) becomes "0" (drawing codes (84), (86)). See step). Thereby, a small amount of clothes (B) can be properly dried.

Next, the operation when the amount of clothes put in the drying chamber (13) is not small will be described. ． When it is determined that the temperature difference (A) is less than 35 deg when performing the step of the drawing symbol (76),
That is, when it is determined that a considerable amount of clothes (B) and (B) are present in the drying chamber (13), the calculation for predicting the drying end time is executed using the temperature difference (A). That is, it is determined whether or not the temperature difference (A) is “13 deg” (hereinafter, referred to as critical temperature) or more, and when the temperature difference (A) is less than or equal to the critical temperature, “drying required time (T ) =-
2.15A + 63 ”is calculated. The above calculation result is rounded up to the nearest decimal point and used as the required drying time (T) value. Further, when the value of the temperature difference (A) is larger than "13 deg", "drying required time (T) =-1.76A +
58 ”is executed. (See step in drawing reference (90)).

After 30 seconds from the start of drying, the drying chamber (1
3) The relational expression between the temperature difference between the inside temperature and the outside temperature (A) and the time required for drying (T) is as follows:
This is an equation obtained from the result of an experiment of drying while heating to 0 ° C. As shown in FIG. 4, the temperature difference (A) measured 30 seconds after the start of drying is plotted on the horizontal axis and the required drying time (T) is plotted on the vertical axis, and a plurality of points indicating the experimental results are shown on the coordinates. Then, when the graph of the linear function closest to each of these points is searched for, the formula of “drying required time (T) = − 2.15A + 63” is obtained as the experimental result in the region where the value of the temperature difference (A) is “about 13 deg” or less. It turned out to be the best match with. Further, it was found that the formula of "required drying time (T) =-1.76A + 58" best matches the experimental result in the region where the value of the temperature difference (A) is "about 13 deg" or more.

.. When the required drying time (T) is calculated in the step of "", the required drying time (T) is output and displayed on the display (4) in a display mode of "T minutes or more". Further, the combustion amount of the combustion device (20) is controlled while judging the detection temperature of the exhaust temperature sensor (27), and thereby the temperature in the drying chamber (13) is kept at a constant temperature (60 ° C. in this embodiment).
Perform the steps of the drawing code (92) that keep

[0020]. Next, when the value of the required time for drying (T) exceeds “11 minutes”, it is monitored that one minute has elapsed after the required time for drying (T) was displayed, The value of the time required for drying (T) is reduced by 1 minute each time, and the display time of the display unit (4) is decreased by 1 minute (drawing marks (93), (94), (95)). , (9
1)). And the value of the time required for drying (T) is "11 minutes"
If the humidity sensor (28) outputs an end warning signal (a signal indicating that the humidity of the exhaust gas from the drying chamber (13) has decreased to a certain value) while the humidity sensor (28) is depleted, this is indicated by the drawing reference numeral (96). ) Step, after that, the drawing code (77)
The control operation is transferred to the following finishing operation. When the finishing operation is started, the value of "11 minutes" is displayed on the display (4) regardless of the display time immediately before the finishing operation (for example, from "13 minutes" to "11 minutes". Changes),
After that, the finishing operation described above is executed. still,
When the value of the drying time (T) is reduced to "11 minutes", this is judged in the step of the drawing code (93), and in such a case, "11" is displayed on the display (4) regardless of the elapsed time.
The value of "minute" is continuously displayed, and the finishing operation is started when the end warning signal is issued. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the remaining time until the end of drying is displayed on the display (4), but the estimated time of completion of drying is displayed on the display (4) by using the required drying time (T) and the current time. ) May be displayed. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the outside air temperature (F) when the temperature difference (A) is calculated is detected by the outside air temperature sensor (29), but when the continuous use is not considered, the operation switch (31) is operated. The temperature detected by the exhaust temperature sensor (27) before the post-combustion device (20) is ignited is stored in the microcomputer (3) as the outside air temperature (F), and the exhaust temperature (G) after 30 seconds is stored. The temperature difference of the outside air temperature (F) may be obtained. In this case, there is an advantage that the outside air temperature sensor (29) is unnecessary. Further, in the above embodiment, the clothes (B) are dried by the exhaust air of the combustion device (20), but an electric heater may be adopted instead.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a dryer.

FIG. 2 is a control circuit diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for control operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the temperature difference (A) and the time required for drying (T).

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of the present invention.

[Explanation of sign]

 (2) ... Exhaust fan (13) ... Drying chamber (27) ... Exhaust temperature sensor (28) ... Humidity sensor

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An exhaust temperature sensor (27) for detecting the temperature of exhaust gas from a drying chamber (13) and a humidity sensor (28) for detecting the humidity of the exhaust gas are provided, and detection from the humidity sensor (28) is provided. In a clothes dryer which stops a drying operation by a signal, a drying start signal generating means (41) for outputting a start signal of the drying operation, a timer (18) for keeping a constant time after the drying operation start signal is generated, Timer (18)
Difference calculation means (4) for calculating the temperature difference between the temperature detected by the exhaust temperature sensor (27) and the outside air when
2) and a small amount of clothes (B) on the timer (18)
Exhaust temperature sensor (27) when dried for the set time
Reference temperature difference storage means (43) that stores in advance the temperature difference between the detected temperature and the outside air temperature to be detected as the reference temperature difference, and the reference temperature difference and temperature difference calculation means (42).
A comparator (44) that outputs a small amount signal when the latter is large by comparing the temperature differences calculated by
When 4) outputs a small amount of signal, the clothes dryer is configured such that the drying operation is continued for a certain period of time without judging the humidity detected by the humidity sensor (28) and then the appliance operation is stopped.