JPH07303796A - Clothing drier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform an appropriate drying operation in response to the characteristic of a drying object by accurately recognizing the characteristic of the drying object. CONSTITUTION:A first electrode sensor 41 and a second electrode sensor 42 with different electric resistance according to whether or not wet clothing is abutted are provided in a drum. Electrode sensor circuits 51, 52 compare the electric resistance of the electrode sensors 41, 42 with each threshold value. A control part 30 estimates water component quantity, the quality and quantity of clothing as the characteristics of the drying object based on the comparison results of the electrode sensor circuits 51, 52, and decides a drying pattern consisting of the combustion quantity and combustion time of gas in a gas burner 14 based on the estimated characteristic.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clothes dryer which controls according to the characteristics of the object to be dried.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a clothes dryer uses an electrode sensor having a different electric resistance depending on whether or not wet clothes are hit, and the amount of clothes, the amount of water contained in clothes, etc. are dried. There is a method in which the drying pattern is controlled on the basis of this characteristic information. The control of the drying pattern is, for example, in the case of a gas clothes dryer that dries clothes by hot air obtained by burning gas, it is the control of the amount of gas burned, the burning time, and the like.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a state in which the front end portion of the drum is viewed from the inside of the drum in an example of a conventional clothes dryer. In the example shown in this figure, the front end portion 1 of the drum 112 is
45 is provided with a take-out port 146 for taking in and taking out clothes at a central portion corresponding to the door of the clothes dryer, and below the take-out port 146, air (hot air) heated by a gas burner (not shown) is drummed. A blowout port 147 for introduction into 112 is provided. An electrode sensor 141 is provided on the front end portion 145 of the drum 112.

In the conventional method of controlling the drying pattern by using the electrode sensor 141, the number of times that the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 141 falls below a predetermined threshold value during a certain time is counted, and from this number of times, the clothing The amount of water and the amount of water contained in clothes are estimated. Specifically, for example, the sampling time is set to 2 milliseconds, the number of times of falling below the threshold value per second is counted, and the count value per second is measured as the electrode sensor data. And
This measurement is performed for 3 minutes after the start of the drying operation, the water content is estimated from the level of the electrode sensor data, and the combustion amount, the combustion time, etc. are determined based on this water content.

[0005]

FIG. 9 shows an electrode sensor 14
1 shows an example of the change in the electric resistance of No. 1 in FIG. In this figure, reference numeral 191 indicates the electric resistance in the case where the drying target is wet cotton, 192 indicates the electric resistance in the case where the drying target is wet chemical fiber, and 193 indicates the electric resistance in the case where the drying target is the raw dry clothes. Shows resistance.

Most of the clothes actually dried by the clothes dryer are cotton-based clothes dehydrated by the dehydrator. Therefore, the threshold value of the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 141 is an intermediate value between the electric resistance when the cotton is wet and the electric resistance when the cotton is dry, as indicated by reference numeral 195 in FIG.
For example, it was determined to be 9 MΩ.

However, as shown in FIG. 9, since the electric resistance 192 of the wet chemical fiber is higher than the threshold value 195, according to the conventional method, the amount of the chemical fiber in the object to be dried,
It was not possible to grasp the water content contained in the chemical fiber. Therefore, when the amount of chemical fibers is large, the optimum drying pattern is not always obtained, and there is a problem that uneven drying or damage to clothes occurs.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, since the electric resistance 193 of the clothes which are dried to some extent is higher than the electric resistance 191 of the cotton which is wet, the clothes dryer is used for finish drying after sun drying. In this case, there is a problem that it is difficult to grasp the characteristics of the object to be dried, since it cannot be distinguished from the case where the amount of clothes is small and the case where the amount of chemical fibers is large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to more accurately grasp the characteristics of the object to be dried and to perform an appropriate drying operation according to the characteristics of the object to be dried. It is to provide the clothes dryer which was made into.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clothes dryer, comprising: a storage section for storing clothes; a drying means for supplying hot air into the storage section to dry the clothes; A plurality of electrode sensors having different electric resistances depending on whether or not wet clothes are hit, and provided corresponding to each electrode sensor. A plurality of comparing means for comparing the magnitude with the threshold value, a characteristic estimating means for estimating the characteristic of the drying target based on the comparison result of each comparing means, and a drying means based on the characteristic estimated by the characteristic estimating means. And a control means for controlling the operation of.

In this clothes dryer, the plurality of comparison means use different threshold values to compare the electric resistance of each electrode sensor with each threshold value, and the comparison result of each comparison means is compared. Based on this, the characteristic of the object to be dried is estimated by the characteristic estimating means. Then, the operation of the drying means is controlled by the control means based on the estimated characteristics.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clothes dryer according to the first aspect, wherein two electrode sensors and two comparing means are provided, and the threshold value in the first comparing means is wet cotton electricity. Set to a value higher than the resistance and lower than the electric resistance of the wet chemical fiber, and the threshold value in the second comparing means is higher than the electric resistance of the wet chemical fiber and lower than the electric resistance of dry clothes. It is set to the value.

In this clothes dryer, the information of wet cotton is obtained by the first comparing means, and the information of wet cotton and wet chemical fiber is obtained by the second comparing means. It is possible to estimate the quality of clothing based on these pieces of information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the clothes dryer according to the second aspect, the characteristic estimating means obtains an integrated value of comparison results of the comparing means per unit time, and based on the integrated value. It is intended to estimate the characteristics of the object to be dried.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the clothes dryer according to the third aspect, the characteristic estimating means estimates the amount of water contained in the clothing as the characteristic to be dried based on the level of the integrated value. It is a thing.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the clothes dryer according to the third or fourth aspect, the characteristic estimating means includes an integrated value corresponding to the first comparing means and an integrating value corresponding to the second comparing means. Based on the difference from the value, the quality of clothes is estimated as a characteristic of the object to be dried.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clothes dryer according to the third aspect.
In the clothes dryer according to 4 or 5, the characteristic estimating means estimates the amount of clothes as the characteristic of the drying target, based on the amplitude of the temporal change of the integrated value.

The clothes dryer according to claim 7 is the clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the drying means has a gas burner for generating hot air, and the control means is estimated by the characteristic estimating means. Based on these characteristics, the drying pattern is determined by the combination of the amount of gas burned by the gas burner and the burning time.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic structure of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, in the clothes dryer of this embodiment, a housing 12 is provided with a drum 12 for storing clothes and rotating them. On the front surface of the housing 11, there is provided a door 13 that is opened and closed when putting clothes in and out of the drum 12.
A gas burner 14 for generating hot air is provided below the drum 12 in the housing 11.
The gas burner 14 has a gas passage 15 for supplying gas.
Is connected, and an electromagnetic valve 16 for opening and closing the gas passage 15 is provided in the middle of the gas passage 15.

A fan 17 for sucking the air heated by the gas burner 14 (hot air) through the drum 12 is provided on the rear side of the drum in the housing 11. Then, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1, the hot air containing the steam that is sucked by the fan 17 and generated from the clothes in the drum 12 passes through the exhaust passage 18 and the housing 11.
The gas is discharged from an exhaust port 19 provided on the upper surface of the. An exhaust temperature sensor 44 that detects the exhaust temperature is provided near the inlet of the exhaust passage 18.

A motor 21 for rotating the drum 12 and the fan 17 is provided at the bottom of the housing 11.
Is provided. Two pulleys 22 and 23 are attached to the output shaft of the motor 21, and a drum belt 24 for rotating the drum 12 is hung on one pulley 22. A fan belt 26 is stretched between the other pulley 23 and the pulley 25 attached to the rotating shaft of the fan 17. An operation panel 27 is provided on the front surface of the housing 11.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which the front end portion of the drum 12 is viewed from the inside of the drum 12. As shown in this figure, the front end portion 45 of the drum 12 is provided at a central portion corresponding to the door 13 with a take-out port 46 for taking in and out of clothes.
A blow-out port 47 for introducing the air (hot air) heated by the gas burner 14 into the drum 12 is provided below the take-out port 46. Further, the front end portion 45 of the drum 12 is provided with a first electrode sensor 41 and a second electrode sensor 42 as electrode sensors having different electric resistances depending on whether wet clothes are hitting or not. A clothing temperature sensor 43 that detects the temperature of the clothing that is hitting is provided. Note that, in FIG. 2, the first electrode sensor 41 and the second electrode sensor 42 are provided at positions close to each other, but these arrangements are arbitrary,
For example, the first electrode sensor 41 and the second electrode sensor 42 may be arranged at positions facing each other with the outlet 46 interposed therebetween.

The clothes dryer of this embodiment further has a characteristic estimating means for estimating the characteristic of the object to be dried, and a control section functioning as a controlling means for controlling the drying operation based on the characteristic estimated by the characteristic estimating means. Is equipped with.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit and its surroundings in the clothes dryer of this embodiment. As shown in this figure, the control unit 30 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 3
1, ROM (Read Only Memory) 32, RAM
A (random access memory) 33, a clock 34 for clocking time, and an input / output port 35 are provided, and these are connected to each other by a bus 36. The input / output port 35 has a first electrode sensor circuit 51 and a second electrode sensor circuit 5 as a comparison means for comparing the electric resistance of each electrode sensor 41, 42 with a predetermined threshold value.
2, the clothing temperature sensor 43, the exhaust temperature sensor 44, the gas burner 14, the solenoid valve 16, the motor 21, and the operation panel 27 are connected. The first electrode sensor circuit 51 is connected to the first electrode sensor 41, and the second electrode sensor circuit 52 is connected to the second electrode sensor 4.
2 is connected. In addition, the first electrode sensor circuit 51
The threshold at is slightly higher than the electrical resistance of wet cotton and lower than the electrical resistance of wet chemical fibers, eg 9
The threshold value in the second electrode sensor circuit 52 is set to a value slightly higher than the electric resistance of the wet chemical fiber and lower than the electric resistance of the dry clothes, for example, 40 MΩ.
Is set to.

In this control unit 30, the CPU 31 controls the RA
The entire clothes dryer is controlled by executing a program stored in the ROM 32 with M33 as a working area.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the configuration of the first electrode sensor circuit 51 in FIG. In this electrode sensor circuit 51, a resistor (6.8) is provided at one end of the electrode sensor 41.
MΩ) 61, a resistor (560 KΩ) 62, and a surge absorber (withstand voltage 39 V) 63 are connected to one end, and the other end of the electrode sensor 41 is connected with one end of the resistor (100 K) 64 and surge absorber (withstand voltage 39 V) 65. It is connected. The power supply voltage (5 V) V _CC is applied to the other end of the resistor 61. The other ends of the surge absorbers 63 and 65 and the resistor 64 are grounded.

The electrode sensor circuit 51 also includes a comparator 66. The inverting input terminal of the comparator 66 is connected to the other end of the resistor 62 and a capacitor (1000PF).
One end of each of 67 and a capacitor (1000PF) 68 is connected. The other end of the capacitor 67 is connected to the other end of the resistor 61, and the other end of the capacitor 68 is grounded. One end of each of a resistor (2.2 KΩ) 69, a resistor (3.3 KΩ) 70, and a resistor (51 KΩ) 71 is connected to the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator 66. The power source voltage V _CC is applied to the other end of the resistor 69, and the resistor 7
The other end of 0 is grounded. Therefore, the comparator 66
The power supply voltage V _CC is applied to the resistors 69 and 70 at the non-inverting input terminal of
The reference voltage divided by is applied. This reference voltage is set to a voltage equal to the voltage applied to the inverting input terminal of the comparator 66 when the resistance of the electrode sensor 41 is 9 MΩ. The other end of the resistor 71 is connected to the output end of the comparator 66. Further, a capacitor (1000) is provided between the inverting input terminal and the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator 66.
PF) 72 is connected. In addition, the comparator 66
A power supply voltage V _CC is applied to one power supply terminal, the other power supply terminal is grounded, and a capacitor (0.1 μF) 73 is connected between both power supply terminals. Further, one ends of a resistor (2.2 KΩ) 74 and a resistor (10 KΩ) 75 are connected to the output end of the comparator 66. The power supply voltage V _CC is applied to the other end of the resistor 74,
The other end of 5 is connected to the input / output port 35 of the control unit 30 shown in FIG.

The electrode sensor circuit 51 includes an electrode sensor 4
The voltage applied to the inverting input terminal of the comparator 66 that changes according to the electric resistance of 1 is compared with the reference voltage applied to the non-inverting input terminal, and the comparison result is output from the output terminal to the resistor 75.
It is adapted to be output to the input / output port 35 of the control unit 30 via the.

The configuration of the second electrode sensor circuit 52 is the same as that of the first electrode sensor circuit 51 except that the reference voltage applied to the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator 66 forming the comparator is different. The reference voltage in the comparator 66 of the second electrode sensor circuit 52 is set to a voltage equal to the voltage applied to the inverting input terminal of the comparator 66 when the electric resistance of the second electrode sensor 42 is 40 MΩ.

For example, the control unit 30 sets the sampling time to 2 milliseconds, and counts the number of times the threshold value is dropped below 1 second for each of the first electrode sensor circuit 51 and the second electrode sensor circuit 52, and then counts for 1 second. The count value (integrated value) per hit is measured as the first electrode sensor data and the second electrode sensor data, respectively. Then, this measurement is performed for a predetermined period in the early period after the start of the drying operation, for example, 3 minutes after the start of the drying operation, and based on each electrode sensor data, as the characteristics of the drying target, the amount of water contained in the clothes,
It is designed to estimate the quality and quantity of clothing.
Further, the control unit 30 is configured to determine a drying pattern including a combination of the combustion amount and the combustion time of gas by the gas burner 14 based on the estimated characteristics of the drying target.

Next, the operation of the clothes dryer of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the clothes dryer of this embodiment, the user puts the damp clothes into the drum 12 through the door 13 and
Is closed and an instruction to start the drying operation is given from the operation panel 27, the drying operation is started. When the drying operation is started, the drum 12 is rotated by the motor 21, the pulley 22, and the drum belt 24, and the air (hot air) heated by the gas burner 14 and ignited by the gas burner 14 is blown by the fan 17.
The hot air containing the steam generated by the clothes in the drum 12 is discharged from the exhaust port 19 through the exhaust passage 18. In this drying operation, the electrode sensors 41, 42
Detects the electrical resistance, the clothing temperature sensor 43 detects the temperature of the hit clothing, and the exhaust temperature sensor 44 detects the exhaust temperature.

The electrode sensors 41, 42 have a low electric resistance when wet clothes are in contact therewith, and have a high electric resistance when wet clothes are not in contact therewith. The electrode sensor circuits 51 and 52 output an L (low) level when the electric resistances of the electrode sensors 41 and 42 exceed the respective threshold values (9 MΩ, 40 MΩ), and output H when they fall below the threshold values. Outputs (high) level. The control unit 30 sets the sampling time to 2 milliseconds and sets each electrode sensor circuit 5
For every 1 and 52, the number of times the threshold value is dropped per second is counted, the count value per second is measured as the first electrode sensor data and the second electrode sensor data, and this measurement is started. Do the next 3 minutes. Further, the control unit 30 estimates the amount of water contained in the clothes, the quality of the clothes, and the amount of the clothes as the characteristics of the drying target based on each electrode sensor data, and based on the estimated characteristics of the drying target, The combustion amount and combustion time of the gas by the gas burner 14 are determined.

Next, an example of the method of estimating the characteristics of the object to be dried and the method of determining the combustion amount and the combustion time of the gas in the control unit 30 will be specifically described.

FIG. 5 shows an example of changes in the electrical resistance of the electrode sensors 41, 42. In this figure, reference numeral 9
1a is an electrode sensor 4 when the object to be dried is wet cotton
1, 91b shows the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 42 when the dry object is wet cotton, and 92a shows the electrode sensor 4 when the dry object is wet chemical fiber.
1, 92b represents the electrical resistance of the electrode sensor 42 when the drying target is wet chemical fiber, and 9b represents 9
3a shows the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 41 when the drying target is clothes that are dried, and 93b shows the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 42 when the drying target is clothes that are dried.

From FIG. 5, when the object to be dried is wet cotton, the number of times the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 41 falls below the threshold value (9 MΩ) per unit time and the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 42 becomes the threshold value. It can be seen that the number of times of falling below (40 MΩ) is large. In addition, when the dry object is a wet chemical fiber, the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 41 rarely falls below the threshold value (9 MΩ), and the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 42 per unit time (40 MΩ). It turns out that there are many times below. Further, when the object to be dried is clothes that are dried, the number of times the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 41 falls below the threshold value (9 MΩ) and the number of times the electric resistance of the electrode sensor 42 falls below the threshold value (40 MΩ) per unit time. It turns out that both are small.

FIG. 6 shows changes over time in the electrode sensor data. Reference numeral 95 indicates the first electrode sensor data, and 96 indicates the second electrode sensor data. Reference numeral L ₁ indicates the level of the first electrode sensor data, L ₂ indicates the level of the second electrode sensor data, and A
₂ indicates the amplitude of the time change of the second electrode sensor data.

It can be seen from FIG. 5 that the greater the amount of water contained in the clothes, the more often the electric resistance of the second electrode sensor 42 falls below the threshold value (40 MΩ) per unit time. Therefore, in this embodiment, the amount of water contained in the clothes is estimated from the level L _{2 of} the second electrode sensor data shown in FIG.

From FIG. 5, the number of times the electric resistance of the second electrode sensor 42 falls below the threshold value (40 MΩ) per unit time and the electric resistance of the first electrode sensor 41 becomes the threshold value (9 MΩ). The difference with the number of times of falling is smaller the more cotton,
It can be seen that the larger the number of chemical fibers, the larger. Therefore, in this embodiment, the second electrode sensor data and the first electrode sensor data shown in FIG.
The quality of the clothes (whether there is much cotton or much chemical fiber) is estimated from the difference L ₂ -L ₁ from the electrode sensor data of. That is, the smaller the difference between L ₂ -L _1, estimates that cotton is large, the difference between L ₂ -L
_It is estimated that the larger ₁ is, the more chemical fibers are.

When the amount of clothes is large, the clothes are always
Since the electrode sensors 41 and 42 hit the electrode sensors, the time change of each electrode sensor data is small. However, when the amount of clothes is small, the clothes randomly hit the electrode sensors 41 and 42, and thus the time change of each electrode sensor data is large. Become. Therefore, in this embodiment, the amount of clothing is estimated from the amplitude A ₂ of the temporal change of the second electrode sensor data shown in FIG. That is, as the amplitude A ₂ is small, estimated that many clothes amount, as the amplitude A ₂ is large, estimated to be less clothes amount.

In the estimation of the water content, when it is estimated that the amount of cotton is large from the estimation result of the quality of the clothing, the water content contained in the clothing is estimated from the level L ₁ of the first electrode sensor data, If it is estimated from the quality estimation result that the amount of chemical fibers is large, the amount of water contained in the clothing may be estimated from the level L ₂ of the second electrode sensor data.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a drying pattern determined based on the characteristics of the object to be dried estimated as described above. In this figure, the horizontal axis represents the elapsed time after the start of the drying operation, and the vertical axis represents the gas combustion amount per unit time in the gas burner 14. In the drying pattern shown in this figure, the gas combustion amount is 4000 kcal / hour, 375
0 kcal / hour, 3500 kcal / hour, 3250
Switching is performed in the order of kcal / hour and 3000 kcal / hour. The amount of gas burned is controlled by using a gas flow rate adjusting valve included in the gas burner 14.

In this embodiment, of the drying patterns shown in FIG. 7, the duration T _{4000 of the} combustion amount of 4000 kcal / hour and the time T _{DRY of the} entire drying operation are determined based on the estimated characteristics of the object to be dried. To do. The following is an example of the characteristics of the object to be dried and T ₄₀₀₀ and T _DRY determined based on these characteristics. (1) When the amount of clothes is large, the amount of water is large, and the quality of clothes is a lot of cotton, T ₄₀₀₀ is longer (for example, 20 minutes), T _DRY
Is longer (for example, 47 minutes). The drying pattern in this case is shown by reference numeral P ₁ in FIG. 7. (2) If the amount of clothes is normal, the amount of water is large, and the quality of clothes is a lot of cotton, T ₄₀₀₀ is slightly longer (for example, 15 minutes),
T _DRY should be slightly longer (eg, 30 minutes). (3) When the amount of clothes is small, the amount of water is large, and the quality of clothes is a lot of cotton, T ₄₀₀₀ is short (for example, 3 minutes), T _DRY
Is short (for example, 20 minutes). The drying pattern in this case is shown by reference numeral P ₂ in FIG. 7. (4) When the amount of clothes is large and the amount of water is small, T ₄₀₀₀ should be short (for example, 3 minutes) and T _DRY should be short (for example, 20 minutes) regardless of whether the clothes are made of cotton or synthetic fibers. .

Even when the combination of the estimation results of the characteristics of the object to be dried is other than the above example, the optimum drying pattern is determined in advance by experiments or the like.

Further, switching of the combustion amount after 3750 kcal / hour is performed when the clothing temperature detected by the clothing temperature sensor 43 reaches, for example, 100 degrees C. Even before T _DRY has passed, the exhaust temperature sensor 4
The exhaust gas temperature detected by 4 is a predetermined temperature (for example, 65
The drying operation may be terminated when the temperature reaches C).

The drying pattern in the clothes dryer of this embodiment is not limited to that shown in FIG.
The drying pattern may be changed more finely based on the estimation result of the characteristics of the drying target.

Thus, in the clothes dryer of this embodiment, 2
One electrode sensor 41, 42 is provided, and the two electrode sensor circuits 51, 52 respectively use different threshold values to compare the electric resistance of each electrode sensor 41, 42 with each threshold value. Based on the comparison result of the electrode sensor circuits 51 and 52, the controller 30 estimates the amount of water, the quality of clothes, and the amount of clothes as the characteristics of the object to be dried, and the gas burner 14 determines the gas based on the estimated characteristics. The drying pattern is determined by the combination of the burning amount and the burning time. Therefore, it is possible to grasp the characteristics of the object to be dried, such as chemical fiber or clothes that are not dried by the conventional clothes dryer, and to grasp the characteristics of the object to be dried more accurately and to match the characteristics of the object to be dried. Appropriate drying operation can be performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
For example, three or more electrode sensors and electrode sensor circuits may be provided, and the quality of clothes and the like may be classified more finely.

The present invention can be applied not only to a clothes dryer using gas but also to a clothes dryer using electricity.

[0051]

As described above, according to the clothes dryer of the present invention, a plurality of electrode sensors are provided in the storage part, and a plurality of comparing means use different threshold values.
The electrical resistance of each electrode sensor and the size of each threshold value are compared, based on the comparison result of each comparison means, the characteristic of the drying target is estimated by the characteristic estimation means, and based on the estimated characteristic, Since the operation of the drying means is controlled by the control means, there is an effect that the characteristics of the object to be dried can be grasped more accurately and an appropriate drying operation according to the characteristics of the object to be dried can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the front end portion of the drum is viewed from the inside of the drum in the clothes dryer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit and its surroundings in the clothes dryer of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a configuration of a first electrode sensor circuit in FIG.

5 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of a change in electric resistance of the electrode sensor in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic part showing a temporal change of electrode sensor data used in the control part in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a drying pattern of the clothes dryer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the front end portion of the drum is viewed from the inside of the drum in an example of a conventional clothes dryer.

9 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of a change in electric resistance of the electrode sensor in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 drum 14 gas burner 30 control unit 41 first electrode sensor 42 second electrode sensor 51 first electrode sensor circuit 52 second electrode sensor circuit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing clothes, a drying unit for supplying hot air into the storage unit to dry the clothes, and an electric device provided in the storage unit for determining whether or not wet clothes are hit. A plurality of electrode sensors having different resistances, and a plurality of comparison means provided corresponding to each electrode sensor and comparing the electric resistance of each electrode sensor with each threshold value using different threshold values. A characteristic estimating means for estimating a characteristic of a drying object based on a comparison result of each comparing means, and a control means for controlling an operation of the drying means based on the characteristic estimated by the characteristic estimating means. A clothes dryer characterized by. 2. The electrode sensor and the comparing means are provided in pairs, and the threshold value in the first comparing means is higher than the electric resistance of the wet cotton and lower than the electric resistance of the wet chemical fiber. 2. The garment according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value set in the second comparing means is set to a value higher than the electric resistance of the wet chemical fiber and lower than the electric resistance of the dried cloth. Dryer. 3. The characteristic estimating means obtains an integrated value of comparison results of the respective comparing means per unit time, and estimates the characteristic of the drying object based on the integrated value. Clothes dryer. 4. The clothes dryer according to claim 3, wherein the characteristic estimating means estimates the amount of water contained in the clothes as the characteristic of the drying target based on the level of the integrated value. 5. The characteristic estimating means estimates the quality of clothes as a characteristic of a drying target based on a difference between an integrated value corresponding to the first comparing means and an integrated value corresponding to the second comparing means. The clothes dryer according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that. 6. The clothing according to claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein the characteristic estimating means estimates the amount of clothing as the characteristic of the drying target based on the amplitude of the temporal change of the integrated value. Dryer. 7. The drying pattern has a gas burner for generating hot air, and the control means has a drying pattern which is a combination of a combustion amount and a combustion time of gas by the gas burner based on the characteristic estimated by the characteristic estimating means. The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: