JPH09187600A - Clothings drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clothings drying machine with which a fan casing and a circulating duct are made into simple constitution. SOLUTION: A circulating duct 17 of clothings drying machine and a fan casing 12 are composed of integrally molded parts, the circulating duct 17 is integrally formed into linear cylinder between a heater 7 and the fan casing 12, and the fan casing 12 is provided with a drain hole for dehumidified water. Thus, since the connecting part of the circulating duct 17 and the fan casing 12 can be eliminated, the fan casing 12 and the circulating duct 17 can be made into simple configuration, and the packing or sealing member of connecting part can be unnecessitated. Besides, since the drain hole is installed at any place excepting for the circulating duct 17, namely, on the fan casing 12, the circulating duct 17 can be formed in a simple shape.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clothes dryer, and more particularly to a structure of a casing of a circulation fan and a circulation duct of the clothes dryer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a general dehumidification type clothes dryer is provided with a heating element such as a semiconductor heater at a hot air inlet under a front portion of a drum for containing an object to be dried, and guides the hot air from the heating element to a rotating drum. A circulation fan is installed at the rear of the drum. The back side of the circulation fan is a cooling fan, where the moist air is cooled and dehumidified, and this dehumidified air then passes through a fan casing that holds the circulation fan and forms the ventilation path. , Through the circulation duct connected to the fan casing, and returns to the hot air inlet provided with the heating element to complete a circulation path. The dehumidified water travels through the inclined part formed in the circulation duct,
Similarly, it is discharged out of the machine through a drain port provided in the circulation duct.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned dehumidification type clothes dryer, the circulation duct and the fan casing are formed separately, so that the connection between the circulation duct and the fan casing does not leak air or water. A high degree of sealing is required to prevent this. To ensure the tightness,
A packing material or a sealant is used at the connection between the fan casing and the inlet of the circulation duct, but the sealing work is difficult and the productivity is reduced.

Further, since the drainage mechanism for draining the dehumidified water is provided in the circulation duct due to the restriction on assembly, the shape of the circulation duct becomes complicated, which also causes the manufacturing cost to increase.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer having a simple structure of a fan casing and a circulation duct.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a drum for storing and rotating an object to be dried containing water in a drum, and a heater for heating air sent into the drum. A heat exchange fan having a heat exchanger for dehumidifying moisture from the material to be dried while allowing air heated by the heater to flow into the drum; and a circulation duct provided between the heater and a fan casing. In a clothes dryer having the fan casing that holds the heat exchange fan and dehumidifies air into the circulation duct and the dehumidified water, the circulation duct is formed of a molded product integrated with the fan casing. To do.

Further, another feature of the present invention is that a drum for storing an object to be dried containing water therein and rotating the drum, a heater for heating air sent into the drum, and the heater in the drum. A heat exchange fan that also serves as a heat exchanger that allows heated air to flow in and dehumidify moisture from the object to be dried, a circulation duct provided between the heater and a fan casing, and holds the heat exchange fan. In a clothes dryer having a fan casing for flowing dehumidified air and dehumidified water to a circulation duct, the circulation duct and the fan casing are integrally formed, and the circulation duct includes the heater and the fan casing. The fan casing has a drainage port for the dehumidified water, and the fan casing is integrally formed in a straight tubular shape.

According to the present invention, the circulation duct of the clothes dryer and the fan casing are integrally formed. The circulation duct is integrally formed in a linear tubular shape between the heater and the fan casing, and the fan casing has a drainage port for dehumidified water.

As a result, since the connecting portion between the circulation duct and the fan casing is eliminated, the packing material and the sealing material for the connecting portion, which are necessary when the circulating duct and the fan casing are made of separate parts, are not required. Further, by installing the drainage port other than the circulation duct, that is, in the fan casing, there is no need to provide a large inclination for draining the drainage port or the drainage port, and the circulation duct can have a simple shape.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A clothes dryer according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the structure and circulation air passage of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The drum 6 provided in the outer frame 1 has a function of a clothes drying chamber, and clothes are loaded from the door 2 configured to be openable and closable through the clothes loading port 3. The front side of the drum 6 is supported by a drum support 13 provided on the front inner surface of the outer frame 1, and the rear side thereof has a function of holding a heat exchange fan 8 having both functions of circulation and a heat exchanger for dehumidifying moisture. Fan casing 1 having
2 rotatably supported.

When viewed from the front door 2 side, the drum 6 includes a drum belt 9 from an electric motor 11 arranged on the lower right rear side.
Power is transmitted through and drives. Similarly, the heat exchange fan 8 is rotationally driven by the power transmitted from the electric motor 11 via the fan belt 10.

The circulation air passage for the air for drying the dried product is
The heat generated by the heater 7 provided in the heater portion 22 on the lower front side of the drum 6 is introduced into the drum 6 as hot air by the heat exchange fan 8 to heat clothes, which is dried matter, to evaporate moisture. Here, the moisture evaporated from the clothes passes through the lint collecting device 15 together with the circulating wind of the arrow, passes through the drum exhaust port 6a of the rear wall of the drum 6, and flows into the circulation side of the fan casing 12. The humid air flowing into the circulation side is cooled and dehumidified by the heat exchange fan 8 using the cooling air sucked from the back plate 16.

Next, this dehumidified air passes through a fan casing 12 which holds the heat exchange fan 8 and constitutes a ventilation path, is installed on the lower left side when viewed from the front, and is integrally molded with the fan casing 12. By returning to the heater section 22 via the circulation duct 17, air circulates once,
A circulation air passage is constructed.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of a conventional clothes dryer and the structure of a circulation air passage. As shown in FIG. 4, the circulation duct 17
Since it is configured separately from the fan casing 12,
A packing material 21 is attached to the circulation duct inlet 17a to ensure hermeticity. Dehumidified water duct outlet 1
Since 7b is provided in the circulation duct 17, the structure of the circulation duct is complicated.

Further, the electric motor 11 and the heater 7 described above
Is controlled by a control device 5 including a microcomputer and the like, and is controlled by a driving control unit 4.

Next, the configurations of the fan casing and the circulation duct of the clothes dryer shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 shows the rear surface of the clothes dryer of FIG.
FIG. 3 shows a left side surface and a partial vertical cross section of the clothes dryer of FIG. FIG. 4 shows the fan casing 12 of the clothes dryer of FIG.
2 shows a vertical cross section of the fan casing (A) 20.

The fan casing 12 is made of an injection molding resin such as polypropylene and has a drum exhaust port 6a for drawing in warm air from the drum 6 at the center thereof. A support metal fitting 18 and a support shaft 19 for holding the heat exchange fan 8 are arranged at the drum exhaust port 6a. The heat exchange fan 8 rotates around the support shaft 19 in the direction of the arrow, and draws in the hot air containing the moisture sucked from the drum 6 to the circulation side of the heat exchange fan 8.

Here, the drawn hot air is heat-exchanged with the air on the cooling side of the heat exchange fan 8 to be cooled and dehumidified to become water, and falls to the lower part of the fan casing 12. The dropped water passes through a drainage groove 12c provided at the bottom of the fan casing 12 and a drainage port 12b.
Led to This drain port 12b is used for the heat exchange fan 8
Since it is provided directly on the lower fan casing 12,
The dehumidified water drops under its own weight and is drained immediately, so it has good drainage.

A fan casing (A) 20 having a labyrinth portion 20a having a labyrinth shape for preventing air on the circulation side from leaking to the cooling side is arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the heat exchange fan 8. Fan casing (A)
Reference numeral 20 is a component of injection molding resin such as polypropylene different from the fan casing 12, and has a shape that covers almost the entire surface of the fan casing 12. The labyrinth portion 20 a of the fan casing (A) 20 is provided so as to face the labyrinth of the heat exchange fan 8.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fan casing 12 forming a part of the circulation air passage and the fan casing (A) 20 provided with the labyrinth portion 20a are welded to each other.
At d, welding such as vibration welding or ultrasonic welding or bonding with an adhesive forms a closed structure of the circulation air passage.

The dehumidified air is supplied to the fan casing 12
The air is blown along the scroll shape, and is guided to the circulation duct 17 which is provided in the lower portion of the fan casing 12 and is integrally formed with the fan casing 12. The circulating wind guided to the circulation duct 17 passes through the casing discharge port 12a, the inside of the circulation duct 17 to the front part of the drum 6, and is returned to the heater part 22 provided with the heater 7 below the drum 6. . With the above structure, a circulation air passage is formed and clothes are dried.

Here, in the fan casing 12, the upper surface of the casing outlet 12a of the circulation duct 17 is covered with a part of the fan casing (A) 20, the outer peripheral portion is sealed by welding, etc. Prevents water leakage.
With such a structure, the fan casing 1
2 and the circulation duct 17 can be integrally formed, which is easy.

Further, in the prior art, it was necessary to provide the drain port 12b in the circulation duct 17. In order to provide the drain port 12b in the circulation duct 17, the circulation duct length 300 to 4
In the case of 00 mm, considering the installation accuracy of the product and the drainage property from the drain port 12b, the inclination of the lower surface of the circulation duct 17 is
About 5 ° is required.

However, if an attempt is made to secure this inclination in a general injection-molded product, the opening area on the heater side becomes about 1/5 to 1/10 smaller than the opening area on the circulation side of the circulation duct. , The pressure loss of the air flowing in the duct becomes very large. For that purpose, it is necessary to increase the amount of air blown from the circulation side of the duct, and for that purpose, it is necessary to increase the power of the electric motor 11 that rotates the heat exchange fan 8. Therefore, not only the problem of cost increase but also the problem of quality such as noise occurs.

Therefore, in the present invention, as shown in FIG.
With the rotation direction of the heat exchange fan 8 as the direction of the arrow, the dehumidified water is not directly guided into the circulation duct 17 but passed through the upper side of the circulation duct 17, accumulated in the lower part of the fan casing 12, and flowed into the drain groove 12c. The water is drained to the outside of the machine through the drain port 12b. That is, the drain port 12b is not provided in the circulation duct 17, but is provided in the fan casing 12.

With this structure, it is not necessary to provide the circulation duct 17 with a large inclination or a drain port 12b having a complicated shape for connecting a drain hose. Therefore, the fan casing 12 and the circulation duct 1
7 can be easily molded integrally, and further, the circulation duct 17
Can be a simple linear integral shape, as shown in FIG. In addition, the pressure loss of the circulating air in the circulation duct 17 can be suppressed to be equal to or less than that of the conventional component by making the inside of the circulation duct 17 into a linear integral shape.

According to the fan casing 12 and the circulation duct 17 having the above-mentioned structure, compared with the conventional clothes dryer in which the fan casing 12 and the circulation duct 17 are provided separately, the connecting portion is eliminated and the complete structure is eliminated. In addition to obtaining a good airtightness, parts such as packing material are not required, and the circulation duct can be configured with a simple structure.

[0030]

According to the present invention, by integrally forming the fan casing and the circulation duct, it is possible to ensure the airtightness of the connection portion between the fan casing and the circulation duct, and it has been necessary in the past. It is possible to eliminate the need for packing material and sealing material.

Further, since it is not necessary to separately provide a circulation duct, productivity is improved and the structural cost of the fan casing and the circulation duct can be reduced to about 2/3 to 1/2 as compared with the conventional product. it can.

Furthermore, the drainage port is placed in a place other than the circulation duct,
That is, by providing it in the fan casing, the shape of the circulation duct can be simplified, the integral moldability can be improved, the opening area of the circulation duct can be secured, and the circulation duct can be maintained without increasing the pressure loss of the circulation air passage. Can be configured. Therefore, it is not necessary to increase the power of the electric motor, and it is possible to reduce the problem of cost increase and the problem of quality due to noise and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a structure and a circulation air passage of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the clothes dryer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a left side view and a partial vertical sectional view of the clothes dryer of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a fan casing and a fan casing (A) of the clothes dryer of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional clothes dryer and a circulation air passage.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Outer frame, 6 ... Drum, 6a Drum exhaust port, 7 ... Heater, 8 ... Heat exchange fan, 10 ... Fan belt, 11 ... Electric motor, 12 ... Fan casing, 12a casing discharge port, 12b ... Drainage port, 12c ... Drainage groove, 12d ... Welding portion, 17 ... Circulation duct, 17a ... Circulation duct inlet, 17
b ... Duct outlet, 20 ... Fan casing (A), 2
0a ... Labyrinth part, 21 ... Packing material, 22 ... Heater part

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Kenichi Ogoshi 1-1-1 Higashitaga-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi Ltd. Electric Appliance Division

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A drum for storing and rotating an object to be dried containing moisture in a drum, a heater for heating the air sent into the drum, and an air heated by the heater to flow into the drum. A heat exchange fan that also serves as a heat exchanger for dehumidifying moisture from the material to be dried, a circulation duct provided between the heater and a fan casing, and air and dehumidification that holds the heat exchange fan and dehumidifies the circulation duct. A clothes dryer having the fan casing through which water flows, wherein the circulation duct is formed of a molded product integrated with the fan casing. 2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the circulation duct is integrally formed in a linear tubular shape between the heater and the fan casing. 3. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the fan casing has a drainage port for the dehumidified water. 4. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the circulation duct and the fan casing are integrally molded by injection molding resin. 5. A drum for storing and rotating an object to be dried containing moisture in a drum, a heater for heating air sent into the drum, and air for heating the heater flowed into the drum. A heat exchange fan that also serves as a heat exchanger for dehumidifying moisture from the material to be dried, a circulation duct provided between the heater and a fan casing, and air and dehumidification that holds the heat exchange fan and dehumidifies the circulation duct. In a clothes dryer having the fan casing through which water flows, the circulation duct and the fan casing are integrally formed, and the circulation duct has a linear tubular shape between the heater and the fan casing. And a fan casing having a drainage port for the dehumidified water.