JPH09117597A - Clothes drier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the safety of a clothes drier by surely detecting the opening/closing abnormality of an intake valve and an outlet valve. SOLUTION: At the time of shifting from a recovery drying process to an exhaust drying process, a cooling valve 17 is kept opened and cooling by a cooler 16 is continued for the prescribed time after opening the intake valve 8 and starting to introduce outdoor air from an intake port 7. Since hot blast passed through a rotary drum 1 does not reach the cooler 16 since it is discharged from an outlet port 10 to the outside and also a cooling operation is continued, the detection temperature of a temperature sensor 19 provided on the exit side of the cooler 16 is rapidly lowered. By detecting the abnormality of the opening operation of the intake valve 8 based on the temperature change amount, quick and sure detection is performed and the danger of the ignition of a solvent is evaded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clothes dryer for drying clothes after dry cleaning with a petroleum solvent or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Processes in a clothes dryer of this kind are finished with a collecting and drying process for drying clothes while recovering a solvent, an exhaust drying process for completely drying clothes by volatilizing the solvent remaining in the clothes, and a drying process. It consists of a cool-down process that loosens and cools the clothes, and a deodorizing process that removes the solvent odor remaining on the clothes.

In the collecting and drying step, the air heated by the heater is sent into the rotary drum containing the clothes while the intake port which is the intake port for the air from the outside and the exhaust port for the air to the outside are closed, Evaporate the solvent that has penetrated into. Then, the air containing the solvent is sent to a cooler, and by cooling the air, the solvent is liquefied and recovered. The air is heated again by the heater and circulated for solvent recovery.
After the recovery of the solvent is almost completed, the exhaust drying process is performed. In the exhaust drying step, the intake port and the exhaust port are opened, and the outside air is taken in from the intake port and heated by the heater, and then sent into the rotary drum to evaporate the residual solvent of the clothes and discharge it from the exhaust port to the outside.

Therefore, in the recovery and drying step, the treatment is carried out in a closed circulation path in the clothes dryer, and the concentration of the solvent contained in the air in the circulation path reaches the maximum when it passes through the rotating drum and passes through the cooler. Immediately after that, it becomes the minimum. If the solvent concentration exceeds a certain value, there is a risk of ignition, and therefore the concentration of the solvent that evaporates is generally limited by lowering the heating temperature of the heater. On the other hand, in the exhaust drying step, the solvent concentration is originally low, so the temperature of the heater is set high.

By the way, intake and discharge of air into the clothes dryer are controlled by opening and closing an intake valve provided at an intake port and an exhaust valve provided at an exhaust port, respectively. However, when the intake valve and the exhaust valve are not normally opened and closed due to a mechanical failure or the like, the following problems occur. That is, if the intake valve or the exhaust valve is kept closed in the exhaust drying step, the heater temperature is high even if the solvent remaining on the clothes is small, so that the volatility of the solvent is increased and the solvent concentration is increased. In this case, the solvent concentration rises when the heater temperature is high, which increases the risk of ignition.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, the applicant has already proposed a clothes dryer capable of detecting the open / closed state of the intake valve and the exhaust valve.
This is proposed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 098. In this clothes dryer, a temperature sensor is provided at the gas outlet of the cooler, and an opening / closing abnormality of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is detected based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor. That is, for example, in the exhaust drying step, if the opening operation of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is normal, the hot air that has passed through the drum is exhausted to the outside from the exhaust port provided in front of the cooler, so the cooler does not operate. In both cases, the temperature near the cooler outlet should be low. On the contrary, if the intake valve or the exhaust valve remains closed, the temperature of the cooler outlet rises because the hot air is circulated to the cooler side. Therefore, if the temperature at the cooler outlet is equal to or higher than a predetermined value after a short time has passed from the recovery drying step to the exhaust drying step,
It is determined that the opening / closing operation of the intake valve or the exhaust valve is abnormal.
As described above, since the opening / closing abnormality of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is electrically detected, the structure is simple and the reliability is high.

In order to further enhance the safety of such a dryer, it is desirable to detect the temperature change as quickly and surely as possible after shifting from the recovery / drying step to the exhaust drying step. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is to further improve the above-mentioned conventional clothes dryer, and its object is to reliably detect abnormal opening / closing of an intake valve and an exhaust valve. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer with improved safety.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems and Embodiments of the Invention A clothes dryer according to the present invention made to solve the above problems is provided with a rotary drum for accommodating clothes and one of the rotary drums. A circulation path of air contained in the portion, an intake port for taking in outside air into the circulation path, an exhaust port for discharging air from the circulation path to the outside, and an intake valve or the exhaust port provided in the intake port A cooler for solvent recovery arranged in a circulation path between the intake port and the exhaust port where the rotary drum is not located, and the intake port and the rotary drum. And a heater for heating the air, which is arranged in the circulation path between
A collection / drying step of drying at least one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve, drying the clothes while collecting the solvent without introducing the outside air into the circulation path, and the at least one intake In a clothes dryer that continuously performs an exhaust drying step of drying clothes while opening both the valve and the exhaust valve and introducing outside air into the circulation path, a) a temperature sensor arranged near the cooler And b) an operation control means for stopping the cooling of the cooler after a lapse of a predetermined time after opening the intake valve and the exhaust valve provided with at least one of the at the time of transition from the recovery drying step to the exhaust drying step, c) An abnormality detection hand that detects an opening / closing abnormality of the intake valve or the exhaust valve based on the amount of temperature change detected by the temperature sensor after the opening operation of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is performed. It is characterized in that it comprises, when.

In the clothes dryer according to the present invention, at least one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is closed during the recovery / drying process, that is, in a state where one of the intake port and the exhaust port is open. Even if there is, the air pressure in the circulation passage is kept slightly lower than the outside air pressure, so that the air in the circulation passage is circulated in a closed state without being discharged to the outside. At this time, the heater and cooler are activated. Therefore, the air in the circulation path is heated by the heater and is sent into the rotary drum containing the clothes in which the solvent has permeated. The solvent volatilized from the clothes reaches the cooler through the circulation path together with the air, and is cooled and liquefied and recovered. The air is heated again by the heater and circulates.

When the recovery / drying process shifts to the exhaust / drying process, first, both the intake valve and the exhaust valve are opened to take in the outside air into the circulation path. At this time, the heater and the cooler both continue to operate. Therefore, the outside air flowing in from the intake port is heated by the heater and sent into the rotary drum. The air that has passed through the rotary drum is not circulated in the cooler direction and is discharged to the outside through the exhaust port. Since the cooling operation of the cooler is continued in the state where hot air is not supplied to the vicinity of the cooler, the temperature of the air near the cooler drops sharply. However, if both the intake port and the exhaust port are not open,
The hot air that has passed through the rotating drum does not go to the exhaust port but circulates in the cooler direction, so the temperature near the cooler does not drop. Therefore, the temperature sensor detects this temperature change, and the abnormality detecting means determines whether the intake valve and the exhaust valve have been opened (that is, the operation control means has commanded the intake valve and the exhaust valve to be opened). It is determined that the intake valve and the exhaust valve have normally opened when there is a temperature decrease of a predetermined value or more within a certain period of time, for example, a temperature decrease of 2 ° C. or more per minute.

It should be noted that the temperature sensor can surely detect the temperature decrease at a position as far as possible from the exhaust port and near the cooler. For this reason, it is preferable that the cooler is arranged on the blower outlet side.

Further, the abnormality detecting means detects the opening / closing abnormality of the intake valve and the exhaust valve by determining the temperature decrease amount occurring during a fixed time after the opening operation of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is performed, and the cooler Is preferably stopped before the elapse of a certain period of time and at a point of time sufficient to cause a temperature decrease when the opening operation of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is normal. That is, in order to improve safety in the present invention, it is desirable that the abnormality detecting means detects the temperature decrease and the valve opening / closing abnormality within the shortest possible time. For that purpose, it is better to extend the predetermined time for continuing the operation of the cooler after opening the valve, and keep the cooler at least until the abnormality detecting means detects the valve opening / closing abnormality. However, if the operation of the cooler is continued for a long time in the state where hot air does not circulate, there is a risk of dew condensation and further freezing. Therefore, the cooler operation does not always continue until the abnormality detection ends, and is stopped at an appropriate time. For example, when detecting the temperature decrease amount for one minute as described above, the predetermined time for continuing the cooler operation is set to about 30 seconds.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to quickly and surely detect a defective opening / closing of the intake valve or the exhaust valve.
The risk of solvent ignition and explosion can be greatly reduced.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a rear sectional view of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the same, and FIG. 3 is an electric system configuration diagram. A rotary drum 1 having a cylindrical shape having a large number of ventilation holes around the dryer main body is arranged substantially in the center of the dryer body, and clothes are thrown into the rotary drum 1 through a clothes inlet 2. Rotating drum 1
Is supported by the main shaft 3, and a pulley 4 is attached to the tip of the main shaft 3. The pulley 4 is connected to the speed reducer 5 via a belt, and further connected to the drum drive motor 6 via a belt. An intake port 7 having an intake valve 8 that can be opened and closed is arranged at the upper part of the dryer main body, and the air introduced from the intake port 7 into the dryer main body includes the rotary drum 1, the lower ventilation passage 9c, the rear ventilation passage 9b, and the rear ventilation passage 9b. It circulates through a series of circulation paths consisting of the upper ventilation path 9a. An exhaust port 10 that opens to the upper back surface is provided between the rear air passage 9b and the upper air passage 9a. The circulation of the air in the circulation path is performed by rotating the fan 11 installed in the lower ventilation path 9c by the blower motor 12. Further, a lint filter 13 for collecting lint and the like discharged from clothes is provided in the lower ventilation passage 9c.

A heater 14 is provided in a ventilation path from the intake port 7 to the rotary drum 1, and steam from a boiler (not shown) is supplied to the heater 14 through a steam valve 15. Further, a cooler 16 is provided in the upper air passage 9a, and a cooled refrigerant is circulated and supplied to the cooler 16 from a refrigerator 18 installed at the bottom of the dryer body via a cooling valve 17. Inside the circulation path, a first temperature sensor 19a provided on the outlet side of the cooler 16, a second temperature sensor 19b provided on the air supply side ventilation path of the rotary drum 1, and an exhaust port side ventilation path of the rotary drum 1 are provided. Three temperature sensors, that is, the third temperature sensor 19c are arranged.

In FIG. 3, the control unit 30 is mainly the CPU 3
1 and a memory 32, and the control unit 30 has a key input signal from the operation unit 33, three temperature sensors 19a and 1a.
Detection signals from 9b and 19c, and further signals from switches (not shown) are input. On the other hand, the control unit 30
An appropriate command is given to the drive circuit 35 in accordance with the execution of the operation program stored in the internal memory 32 and the input signals described above, and the drum drive motor 6 and the blower motor 1
It controls the rotation drive of No. 2 and the opening and closing of the intake valve 8, the steam valve 15 and the cooling valve 17. The control unit 30 also displays on the display unit 34 a display according to an input signal of the operation unit 33 and a display for monitoring the driving condition.

The operation of the clothes dryer having the structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 are control flowcharts, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a temperature change in the circulation path and a cooler operation. In this embodiment, the operation time of the recovery and drying step is 17 minutes, the outlet temperature of the rotary drum 1 in this step, that is, the set temperature of the third temperature sensor 19c is 50 ° C., and the inlet temperature and the outlet temperature of the rotary drum 1 are the same. Heater heating control is performed so that the difference becomes 10 ° C. Further, the operating time of the exhaust drying step is 5 minutes, the set temperature at the outlet of the rotary drum 1 in this step is 60 ° C., and the heater is heated so that the difference between the inlet temperature and the outlet temperature of the rotary drum 1 is 20 ° C. Control shall be performed.

When the clothes moistened with the solvent after the liquid removing step of the dry cleaning is accommodated in the rotary drum 1 through the clothes inlet 2 and the drying operation is started, the control unit 30 follows the operation program stored in the memory 32. First, the recovery / drying step is executed. First, the blower motor 12 and the drum drive motor 6 are turned on, the refrigerator 18 is turned on, the cooling valve 17 is opened, and the intake valve 8 is closed (step S1). At the same time, the steam valve 15 is opened (step S2).

When the blower motor 12 is rotated with the intake valve 8 closed, the suction force generated by the rotation of the fan 11 causes the air to circulate in the circulation path described above. That is,
The air heated by the heater 14 is sent into the rotary drum 1 through the ventilation holes of the rotary drum 1, hits the agitated clothes, and volatilizes the solvent penetrating the clothes. The air containing this solvent escapes from the lower part of the rotary drum 1 to the lower air passage 9c, passes through the rear air passage 9b and the upper air passage 9a, and cools the air in the cooler 1.
To 6. When the air is cooled by the cooler 16, the solvent is condensed and liquefied and collected.

After the recovery / drying operation is started, it is determined whether or not the recovery / drying operation time has passed 17 minutes (step S3), and if it has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S10. When it has not elapsed, the process proceeds to step S4, and the first temperature sensor 19
The temperature at the cooler 16 outlet is 5 ° C based on the temperature detected by a.
It is determined whether or not: That is, since the intake valve 8 is closed and air is not introduced from the outside in the normal recovery / drying operation, the hot air that has passed through the rear ventilation passage 9b is exhausted from the exhaust port 10.
It is circulated to the cooler 16 side without being discharged. Therefore, the temperature at the outlet of the cooler 16 does not become extremely low. However, if the intake valve 8 is left open due to a malfunction, the outside air flows in from the intake port 7, so that the hot air that has passed through the rear ventilation passage 9b is discharged from the exhaust port 10 to the outside. In this case, the cooler 16 continues to be cooled while hot air does not circulate, so the temperature at the outlet of the cooler 16 becomes abnormally low. Therefore, when the temperature detected by the first temperature sensor 19a becomes 5 ° C. or lower, it is determined that the operation of the intake valve 8 is abnormal, the operation proceeds to step S28, and the operation is stopped. Is displayed (step S29).

When the temperature at the outlet of the cooler 16 is higher than 5 ° C. in step S4, the temperature at the drum outlet is 55 ° C. or more or the temperature at the drum inlet and outlet is higher than the temperature detected by the second temperature sensor 19b and the third temperature sensor 19c. It is determined whether the difference is 10 ° C. or more (step S5). If the drum outlet temperature is 55 ° C. or more or the temperature difference is 10 ° C. or more, the process proceeds to step S6, and the steam valve 15 is closed. As a result, the heating of the heater 14 is weakened. If the drum outlet temperature is less than 55 ° C and the temperature difference is less than 10 ° C, the process returns to step S3 to repeat the above process. After the steam valve 15 is closed in step S6, the processes of steps S7 and S8 corresponding to steps S3 and S4 are executed. In step S9, the temperature at the drum outlet is 5
It is determined whether the temperature is 3 ° C. or less and the temperature difference between the drum inlet and the outlet is 8 ° C. or less. When the drum outlet temperature is 53 ° C. or lower and the temperature difference is 8 ° C. or lower, the process returns to step S2 and the steam valve 15 is opened again to start heating the heater 14. On the other hand, when the drum outlet temperature is higher than 53 ° C. or the temperature difference is larger than 8 ° C., the steam valve 15 is closed and the process returns to step S7 to repeat the above process.

As a result of the above processing, the temperature difference between the drum inlet and outlet is kept around 10 ° C. as shown in FIG. 6A, and the temperature at the drum outlet side is also the upper limit temperature (55 ° C. in this case). ) It can be kept below. As a result, the concentration of the solvent in the circuit is kept almost constant at a value without risk of ignition. Then, when the recovery / drying operation time has passed 17 minutes, the recovery / drying step is ended and the process proceeds to the next exhaust drying step.

After the start of the exhaust drying process, the steam valve 15 is opened if it is closed (step S10), and the intake valve 8 is also opened (step S11). When the blower motor 12 is rotated with the intake valve 8 opened, the outside air constantly flows in from the intake port 7, the outside air heated by the heater 14 is sent into the rotating drum 1, and the clothes are agitated and hit. Volatilize any solvent remaining in the. This hot air escapes from the lower part of the rotary drum 1 to the lower air passage 9c,
It is discharged from the exhaust port 10 to the outside through the rear ventilation passage 9b.

After 30 seconds have passed since the intake valve 8 was opened (step S12), the cooling valve 17 is closed and the cooling of the cooler 16 is stopped (step S13). During this 30 seconds, the hot air that has passed through the rotary drum 1 does not pass through the upper ventilation passage 9a and does not hit the cooler 16, but the cooler 16 continues to operate, so the air in the vicinity of the cooler 16 is cooled. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6A, the temperature detected by the first temperature sensor 19a (cooler outlet temperature) sharply decreases immediately after the exhaust drying operation is started.

It is determined whether or not one minute has passed since the intake valve 8 was opened (step S14). If not, based on the temperatures detected by the second temperature sensor 19b and the third temperature sensor 19c. It is determined whether the drum outlet temperature is 60 ° C. or higher or the temperature difference between the drum outlet and the inlet is 20 ° C. or higher (step S15). When 1 minute has passed in step S14, the process proceeds to step S20. When the drum outlet temperature is 60 ° C. or more or the temperature difference is 20 ° C. or more, the steam valve 15 is closed to weaken the heater heating (step S16), and the drum outlet temperature is less than 60 ° C. and the temperature difference is less than 20 ° C. If there is, return to step S14 and repeat the above processing. After closing the steam valve 15 in step S16, it is again determined whether one minute has elapsed (step S17), and if it has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S20. When 1 minute has not elapsed, the drum outlet temperature is 58 ° C. or less and the temperature difference between the drum inlet and the outlet is 18
It is determined whether the temperature is below ℃ (step S18), and if so, the steam valve 15 is opened (step S1).
9) After that, the process returns to step S14 to repeat the above process.

When 1 minute has elapsed in steps S14 and S17, the temperature change amount Δ of the cooler outlet temperature for 1 minute based on the temperature detected by the first temperature sensor 19a.
Calculate T (step S20). Then, it is determined whether or not the temperature change amount ΔT is 2 ° C. or more (step S
21) If the temperature is 2 ° C. or higher, it is determined that the opening operation of the intake valve 8 is normal, and the process proceeds to step S22 to continue the exhaust drying operation. On the other hand, if the temperature is lower than 2 ° C., it is determined that the intake valve 8 is still closed or the opening is insufficient, and the process proceeds to step S28 to stop the operation and display the intake valve open abnormality. (Step 29).

In step S23, the exhaust drying operation time is 5
It is determined whether or not the minutes have elapsed. If the minutes have elapsed, the exhaust drying operation is terminated and the process proceeds to the next cooldown step.
If 5 minutes have not elapsed, the process proceeds to step 24 corresponding to step S15. Step S22-
The process of S27 is the same as that of steps S14 to S19 except for the criterion for determining the elapsed time.

As a result of the above processing, in the exhaust drying step, the temperature difference between the drum inlet and outlet is maintained at around 20 ° C. as shown in FIG. 6 (a), and the temperature at the drum outlet side is also the upper limit temperature. (65 ° C. in this case) or less. As a result, the concentration of the solvent in the circuit is kept almost constant at a value without risk of ignition. Then, when the exhaust drying operation time has passed 5 minutes, the exhaust drying process is ended and the process proceeds to the next cool down process.

In the cool down process, the intake valve 8 is closed again, the cooling valve 17 is opened, and the steam valve 15 is closed. That is, the heating of the heater is stopped and the cool air cooled by the cooler 16 circulates in the circulation path. The operating time of the cool down process is 2.5 minutes. Then, in the final deodorizing step, the intake valve 8 is opened and the cooling valve 1
In the closed state 7, air is only replaced by the fan 11.

In the above embodiment, the exhaust port 10 is not provided with an exhaust valve that can be opened and closed, but is left open. It is also possible to provide an exhaust valve that can be opened and closed and control the intake valve 8 to open and close simultaneously with the opening and closing of the intake valve 8 so that the inside of the dryer can be brought into a completely sealed state.

When the cooling of the cooler is stopped, not only the cooling valve may be closed but the operation of the refrigerator itself may be stopped. Further, the values such as the operating time and the temperature in the above embodiment are examples and can be changed as appropriate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear cross-sectional view of a clothes dryer that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the clothes dryer of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an electrical configuration diagram of the clothes dryer of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of the clothes dryer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a control flowchart of the clothes dryer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a temperature change and a cooler operation in a circulation path of the clothes dryer according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rotating drum 7 ... Intake port 8 ... Intake valve 9a ... Upper ventilation path 9b ... Rear ventilation path 9c ... Lower ventilation path 10 ... Exhaust port 14 ... Heater 15 ... Steam valve 16 ... Cooler 17 ... Cooling valve 19a, 19b, 19c … Temperature sensor 30… Control unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rotary drum for accommodating clothes, an air circulation path including the rotary drum as a part thereof, an intake port for introducing outside air into the circulation path, and an air outside the circulation path. And an exhaust port for exhausting the exhaust gas to the exhaust port, at least one of an intake valve provided at the intake port and an exhaust valve provided at the exhaust port, and circulation between the intake port and the exhaust port where the rotary drum is not located. A cooler for recovering a solvent arranged in a passage, and a heater arranged in a circulation passage between the intake port and the rotary drum for heating air, and at least one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve. One of them is closed, and a collection / drying step of drying clothes while collecting the solvent without introducing outside air into the circulation path, and opening both an intake valve and an exhaust valve provided with at least one of the above. The circulation In a clothes dryer that continuously performs an exhaust drying process for drying clothes while introducing outside air into the circuit, a) a temperature sensor arranged near the cooler, and b) a recovery drying process to an exhaust drying process. The operation control means for stopping the cooling of the cooler after a lapse of a predetermined time after opening the intake valve and the exhaust valve provided with at least one of the above, and c) the intake valve and the exhaust valve. An abnormality detection unit that detects an opening / closing abnormality of the intake valve or the exhaust valve based on a temperature change amount detected by the temperature sensor after the opening operation is performed, a clothes dryer. 2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is arranged on a gas outlet / outlet side of the cooler. 3. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality detecting means determines the temperature decrease amount occurring during a fixed time after the opening operation of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is performed. When the opening / closing abnormality of the valve or the exhaust valve is detected and the predetermined time set in the operation control means is before the predetermined time has elapsed and the opening operation of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is normal, the temperature A clothes dryer characterized in that it has a sufficient time to cause a decrease.