JPH09192397A - Garments drier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accomplish more safety by quickly detecting shortage of cooling in a cooler system of a garments drier. SOLUTION: After closing a suction valve 5 and an exhaust valve 7, and starting recovery drying, when the temperature detected by a second sensor 17 mounted on the outlet of a cooler 14 is equal to or higher than 30 deg.C, operation is stopped and 'COOLING SHORTAGE ERROR' is displayed. Even if the detected temperature is lower than 30 deg.C, if the detected temperature is equal to or higher than 20 deg.C after one minute passed, similarly 'COOLING SHORTAGE ERROR' is displayed. Consequently, even if an operator instructed restarting taking no time after drying operation is stopped, operation is immediately stopped when cooling by the cooler 14 has not come to be in a steady condition, danger such as igniting is prevented from occurring.

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 laundry after dry cleaning with a petroleum solvent or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A process in a clothes dryer of this type includes a recovery / drying process for drying a laundry while recovering a solvent, an exhaust drying process for completely drying the laundry by volatilizing a solvent remaining in the laundry, and a drying process. It consists of a cool down process of cooling the finished laundry while loosening it, and a deodorizing process of removing the solvent odor remaining in the laundry. In the collecting and drying step, the air circulation path in the clothes dryer body is closed. That is, the air heated by the heater is sent into the drum containing the laundry, the solvent that has permeated the laundry is evaporated, the air containing the volatilized solvent is sent to the cooler, and the air is cooled to remove the solvent. Are condensed and liquefied and collected. The air from which the solvent has been removed is heated again by the heater and circulated into the drum. The steam heated by the steam boiler is fed into the heater pipe, and the cooling water is fed into the cooler pipe from the cooling device.

In the recovery and drying process described above, if the cooling effect of the cooler deteriorates due to an abnormality in the cooling device, the solvent contained in the circulating air becomes difficult to liquefy, and the concentration of the solvent in the air increases each time the air circulates. Therefore, the air having a high solvent concentration is reheated by the heater. In the case of petroleum-based solvents, if the solvent concentration in the air is 0.6 to 0.8% or more, there is a risk of ignition, and therefore the following safety measures are generally taken to prevent this.

That is, a temperature sensor is installed on the air outlet side of the cooler, and when the temperature higher than a predetermined abnormality detection temperature continues for a predetermined time assuming a lack of cooling, the heater heating is stopped or the intake valve is closed. Also, the exhaust valve is opened to take in outside air into the circulation path to perform exhaust drying. Even if such a measure is taken, the detected temperature does not decrease, and if the state of the second abnormality detection temperature or higher, which is a temperature higher than the abnormality detection temperature, continues for a predetermined time, the drying operation is completed. It stops and displays "Cooling shortage error" etc.

[0005]

However, the above-described conventional safety device has the following problems. It is assumed that the operation is automatically stopped due to insufficient cooling while the operator is performing the dry operation by operating the input key to start the dry operation. Immediately after restarting the drying, the operator immediately notices an abnormality in the cooling device and puts it in a state where normal cooling operation can be performed. In such a case, even if the cooler operates normally, it takes some time to reach a steady cooling state, so after the operation continues for a while, the abnormality detection is activated again and the operation is stopped. If such a thing is repeated, the concentration of the solvent in the circulation path will increase and it may be in a dangerous state. That is, even if there is no abnormality in the cooler, the operator repeats the drying restart without sufficient time after the operation is stopped, thereby increasing the risk of a fire accident or the like.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer capable of further improving safety.

[0007]

A clothes dryer according to a first aspect of the present invention made to solve the above problems, has a drum for accommodating clothes and a circulation of air including the drum as a part thereof. A passage, 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, an intake valve provided at the intake port or an exhaust valve provided at the exhaust port. At least one, a cooler for solvent recovery arranged in a circulation path between the intake port and the exhaust port where the drum is not located, and air arranged in a circulation path between the intake port and the drum. And a heater for heating the clothes, and at least one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is closed to collect the solvent without collecting the outside air into the circulation path and to dry the clothes. In the dryer, a) A temperature sensor arranged in the vicinity of the cooler, b) first determining means for determining whether or not the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is equal to or higher than the first abnormal detection temperature, and c) a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of drying. Second determination means for determining whether or not the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is equal to or higher than a second abnormality detection temperature lower than the first abnormality detection temperature at the point of time, d) the first or second And an operation control unit that stops the drying operation when an abnormality is detected in any of the determination units.

A clothes dryer according to a second aspect of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, has a drum for accommodating clothes, an air circulation path including the drum as a part thereof, and the circulation path. An intake port for taking in outside air into the inside, an exhaust port for exhausting air from the circulation path to the outside, at least one of an intake valve provided at the intake port or an exhaust valve provided at the exhaust port, and the drum And a heater for heating the air arranged in the circulation path between the intake port and the drum, the cooler for collecting the solvent arranged in the circulation path between the intake port and the exhaust port A clothes drier for collecting and drying clothes by collecting at least one of the intake valve or the exhaust valve and collecting the solvent without introducing outside air into the circulation path, and Near the cooler A temperature sensor provided, b) first determining means for determining whether or not the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is equal to or higher than the first abnormality detection temperature, and c) the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. Second determining means for continuously determining whether or not the temperature is equal to or higher than a second abnormality detecting temperature lower than the first abnormality detecting temperature; and d) abnormality in either the first or second determining means. And an operation control means for stopping the drying operation when is detected.

The clothes dryer according to the first or second aspect of the present invention further includes abnormality notifying means, and the operation control means drives the abnormality notifying means when an abnormality is detected and the drying operation is stopped. It is preferable to configure as follows.

Further, in the clothes dryer according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor continues for a predetermined time or more and is lower than the second temperature detected by the third abnormality detection. The operation control means includes a third determination means for determining whether or not the temperature is equal to or higher than a temperature, and the operation control means, when an abnormality is detected in the third determination means, the intake valve and the exhaust gas provided with at least one of the at least one. It is more preferable to open both valves and perform exhaust drying to dry clothes while introducing outside air into the circulation path.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First Embodiment
In the clothes dryer according to any one of the above aspects, the second determination means can detect an abnormal state due to insufficient cooling of the cooler when a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the drying operation. On the other hand, the first determination means has no time delay and detects an abnormal state due to insufficient cooling of the cooler immediately after the start of the drying operation. That is, if the temperature of the air near the cooler is equal to or higher than the first abnormality detection temperature immediately after the start of the drying operation, the drying operation is stopped immediately. Even if the temperature of the air in the vicinity of the cooler is lower than the first abnormality detection temperature, the second abnormality detection temperature or higher continues for a predetermined time or after the second abnormality detection occurs. If the temperature is higher than the temperature, the drying operation is similarly stopped. In general, it is desirable to set the first abnormality detection temperature higher than the second abnormality detection temperature by several degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius.

According to the first or second aspect of the invention, when the cooling of the cooler is abnormal, or when the operator repeatedly instructs the drying start before the cooling operation reaches the steady state even though the cooler operation is normal. In addition, since the insufficient cooling is quickly detected and the drying operation is stopped, it is possible to avoid the danger that the concentration of the solvent is abnormally increased to cause the ignition.

Further, if the configuration is provided with the abnormality notifying means, the operator can know from this notification that the cause of the interruption of the drying operation is insufficient cooling of the cooler. For this reason, it is possible to promptly take measures to remove the cause, and an efficient drying operation can be performed.

Further, if the third judging means is added, it is possible to judge that the cooling by the cooler is slightly insufficient, though it does not cause a danger immediately. The drying operation is continued by performing non-hazardous exhaust drying for a predetermined time. Therefore, the drying operation is not interrupted on the way, so that the efficient drying operation can be performed. Further, if the cooler returns to the steady cooling operation during the exhaust drying period, the exhaust drying can be performed for a predetermined time, and then the recovery drying can be performed again.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the clothes dryer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a clothes dryer, FIG. 2 is an electrical system configuration diagram, and FIG. 3 is a control flowchart in a drying operation.

First, the overall structure will be described with reference to FIG. A cylindrical drum 2 having a large number of ventilation holes around it is rotatably supported inside the drying chamber 1, and clothes to be dried are accommodated in the drum 2. Inside the dryer main body, there is a left air passage 3a, a drying chamber 1, a right air passage 3b, and an upper air passage 3
An air circulation path composed of c is formed, and the air flows along this circulation path by the suction force of the fan 8 that is rotationally driven by the blower motor 9. Upper air passage 3c and left air passage 3
An intake port 4 having an openable / closable intake valve 5 is disposed between a and a, and an exhaust port 6 having an openable / closable exhaust valve 7 is provided between the right air passage 3b and the upper air passage 3c. Will be placed. That is, when the intake valve 5 and the exhaust valve 7 are open, the air taken in from the intake port 4 is left in the left ventilation passage 3a, the drying chamber 1, and the right ventilation passage 3b, as indicated by the broken arrow in the figure. Through the exhaust port 6 to the outside. On the other hand, when the intake valve 5 and the exhaust valve 7 are closed,
The closed air in the circulation path circulates through the left ventilation path 3a, the drying chamber 1, the right ventilation path 3b, and the upper ventilation path 3c as indicated by the solid arrow in the figure.

A heater 10 is provided in the left vent passage 3a, and high-temperature steam from a boiler (not shown) is supplied into the pipe of the heater 10 through steam valves 11a and 11b. Therefore, the air passing through the left ventilation passage 3a is heated by the heater 10
It is heated by and sent to the drying chamber 1. Heater 10
A first temperature sensor 12 for detecting the temperature of hot air is provided on the outlet side of the. Further, a lint filter 13 for collecting lint and the like discharged from clothes is provided in front of the fan 8 in the right air passage 3b. Furthermore, the upper ventilation passage 3
A cooler 14 is provided in c, and the cooled refrigerant is circulated and supplied from a cooling device (not shown) via a cooling valve 15. The air circulated from the right air passage 3b side is the cooler 1.
When rapidly cooled at 4, the solvent contained in the air is liquefied and dropped. The liquefied solvent flows out from the drainage port 16 and reaches the water separator 18. The water separator 18 is for separating the recovered liquid into a solvent and water by specific gravity and returning only the solvent to the solvent tank 19. The second temperature sensor 1 for detecting a cooling abnormality is provided on the outlet side of the cooler 14.
7 is installed.

Next, the structure of the electric system will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 20 mainly includes a CPU 21 and a memory 22.
The control unit 20 receives a key input signal from the operation unit 23, detection signals from the first and second temperature sensors 12 and 17, and signals from switches (not shown). In addition, the control unit 20 has an internal memory 22.
In accordance with the execution of the operation program stored in and the respective input signals, an appropriate command is given to the drive circuit 25, the drum drive motor 26 and the blower motor 9 are rotationally driven, the intake valve 5 and the exhaust valve 7 are opened and closed, the steam valve 11a, 11b and the opening and closing of the cooling valve 15 are controlled respectively. Further, the control unit 20 causes the display unit 24 to perform a display according to an input signal of the operation unit 23 and a display for monitoring the driving condition.

The operation of the clothes dryer having the above structure will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the operator operates the “dry start” input key to instruct the operation start, the control unit 20 executes the recovery / drying process according to the operation program stored in the memory 22. First, the blower motor 9, the drum drive motor 26, and the cooling device are turned on, the cooling valve 15 and the steam valves 11a and 11b are opened, and the intake valve 5 and the exhaust valve 7 are closed (step S1).

When the blower motor 9 is rotated with the intake valve 5 and the exhaust valve 7 closed, the suction force generated by the rotation of the fan 8 causes air to circulate in the circulation path as described above. That is, the air heated by the heater 10 is the drying chamber 1
Into the drum 2 through the ventilation holes of the drum 2
The solvent that has penetrated into the clothes inside is volatilized. The air containing this solvent flows from the drying chamber 1 to the right ventilation passage 3
It escapes to b and reaches the cooler 14. As described above, the solvent is condensed and liquefied when the air is cooled by the cooler 14.

After the recovery and drying operation is started, the second temperature sensor 1
Based on the temperature detected by No.7, the cooler outlet temperature is 30 ℃
It is determined whether or not this is the case (step S2). If the temperature is 30 ° C. or higher, it is determined that the temperature is too high and there is a high risk of ignition, etc., and the process immediately proceeds to step S7,
The display unit 24 displays the "cooling error" and the drying operation is stopped (step S8).

In step S2, the temperature at the cooler outlet is 30
If the temperature is lower than ℃, the process proceeds to step S3 and step S2.
It is determined whether 1 minute has elapsed after the determination of the beginning of the. 1
Until the lapse of minutes, the process returns to step S2, and it is repeatedly determined whether the outlet temperature of the cooler is 30 ° C. or higher. When 1 minute has passed in step S3, the process proceeds to step S4, and it is determined whether the outlet temperature of the cooler is 20 ° C. or higher. When the temperature is 20 ° C. or higher, the process proceeds to steps S7 and S8, and the “cooling error” is displayed on the display unit 24 and the drying operation is stopped as in the previous case. That is, in this case, the cooler outlet temperature is 20 ° C. or higher even after about 1 minute has elapsed after the start of the drying operation, and therefore it is determined that the concentration of the solvent in the air in the circulation path is high, which is dangerous.

In step S4, the cooler outlet temperature is 20 ° C.
If it is lower, the process proceeds to step S5, where the temperature is 16
It is determined whether the temperature is equal to or higher than ° C. If the temperature is 16 ° C. or higher, the process proceeds to step S9, it is determined whether 1 minute has elapsed after the determination at the beginning of step S5, and the routine of steps S9, S4, and S5 continues until 1 minute elapses. First, it is determined whether the temperature is 16 ° C. or higher. When 1 minute has elapsed in step S9, the process proceeds to step S10, and the intake valve 5 and the exhaust valve 7 are opened. In this state, the outside air flowing in through the intake port 4 is heated by the heater 10 and sent into the drying chamber 1. The hot air containing the solvent that has passed through the drum 2 passes through the right ventilation passage 3b and is discharged to the outside through the open exhaust port 6. That is, not exhaustion drying but exhaust gas drying in which the solvent is not recovered is performed. In exhaust gas drying, fresh air is always taken into the circulation path from the outside, and almost all solvent-containing air is discharged to the outside. Therefore, the concentration of the solvent in the air inside the circulation path does not increase.

After opening the intake valve 5 and the exhaust valve 7, exhaust drying is continued until 3 minutes have passed (step S1).
1). After the lapse of 3 minutes, the flag F0 indicating that the exhaust drying has been executed is set in the middle of the recovery / drying process (step S12). Then, the intake valve 5 and the exhaust valve 7 are closed again (step S13), the process returns to step S2, and the recovery / drying is executed again.

The drying time after the drying start key is operated is measured by the internal timer of the CPU 21. When the cooler outlet temperature is lower than 16 ° C. in step S5, the elapsed time of this internal timer is checked in step S6 to determine whether or not the preset recovery / drying process time has elapsed. Then, until the drying time elapses, the process returns to step S4, and the collecting and drying is continued. When the drying time has elapsed, the recovery / drying step is terminated and the process proceeds to the next exhaust drying step.

Further, the check of the internal timer is executed also in steps other than step S6, and, for example, if the preset time of the recovery / drying step has elapsed during the repeated processing of step S11, the routine is immediately exited. The process proceeds to the next exhaust drying step.

The flag F0 is checked when the operation of the dryer is stopped after the completion of all the drying steps. Then, when the flag F0 is set,
“Cooling error” is displayed on the display unit 24. That is, when exhaust drying is temporarily performed due to abnormal temperature detection during the recovery and drying process, the drying operation is not interrupted, but an error is displayed after the drying operation is finished to alert the operator. . The operator can know the cooling abnormality from this error display and can inspect and repair the defective portion such as the operation abnormality of the cooling device and the abnormality of the cooler.

In the control flow chart of the above embodiment, for example, when detecting an abnormal temperature of 20 ° C. or higher,
The routine of repeating steps S2 and S3 waits until 1 minute has elapsed, and after 1 minute, temperature determination is performed in step S4. However, it may be possible to continuously determine whether or not the detected temperature is 20 ° C. or higher for one minute, and to proceed to step S7 when the detected temperature is continuously 20 ° C. or higher.

Further, in the configuration of the above embodiment, the exhaust port 6 is provided with the exhaust valve 7 which can be opened and closed.
Even without the above, recovery drying and exhaust drying can be selectively executed only by controlling the opening / closing of the intake valve 5. That is, if the fan 8 is rotated with the intake valve 5 closed, the air pressure in the circulation path is stable at a level slightly lower than the outside air pressure, and the air does not escape from the exhaust port 6 even if it is open. It will circulate in the circulation path. Therefore, the same effect as above can be obtained without providing the exhaust valve 7.

It should be noted that the numerical values shown in the above embodiments are examples and can be changed as appropriate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

2 is an electric system configuration diagram of the clothes dryer according to the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of a recovery / drying process in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Drying room 2 ... Drum 3a ... Left ventilation path 3b ... Right ventilation path 3c ... Upper ventilation path 4 ... Intake port 5 ... Intake valve 6 ... Exhaust port 7 ... Exhaust valve 10 ... Heater 12 ... First temperature sensor 14 ... Cooler 17 ... Second temperature sensor 20 ... Control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A drum for accommodating clothes, an air circulation path including the drum as a part thereof, an intake port for introducing outside air into the circulation path, and air exhausted from the circulation path to the outside. And an at least one of an intake valve provided at the intake port or an exhaust valve provided at the exhaust port, and a circulation path between the intake port and the exhaust port where the drum is not located. A cooler for solvent recovery and a heater for heating air arranged in a circulation path between the intake port and the drum are provided, and at least one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is closed to remove outside air. In a clothes dryer for collecting and drying clothes while collecting solvents without introducing them into the circulation path, a) a temperature sensor arranged in the vicinity of the cooler, and b) a temperature detected by the temperature sensor. Is the first difference First determining means for determining whether or not the temperature is equal to or higher than the normal detection temperature; and c) a second detection temperature lower than the first abnormality detection temperature detected by the temperature sensor when a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of drying. Second determination means for determining whether or not the temperature is equal to or higher than the abnormality detection temperature; and d) operation control means for stopping the drying operation when an abnormality is detected in either the first or second determination means. A clothes dryer, comprising: 2. A drum for accommodating clothes, an air circulation path including the drum as a part thereof, an intake port for taking in outside air into the circulation path, and air exhausted from the circulation path to the outside. And an at least one of an intake valve provided at the intake port or an exhaust valve provided at the exhaust port, and a circulation path between the intake port and the exhaust port where the drum is not located. A cooler for solvent recovery and a heater for heating air arranged in a circulation path between the intake port and the drum are provided, and at least one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is closed to remove outside air. In a clothes dryer for collecting and drying clothes while collecting solvents without introducing them into the circulation path, a) a temperature sensor arranged in the vicinity of the cooler, and b) a temperature detected by the temperature sensor. Is the first difference A first determining means for determining whether or not the temperature is equal to or higher than the normal detection temperature; and c) a second abnormality detection temperature lower than the first abnormality detection temperature for a predetermined period of time or longer and detected by the temperature sensor. And (2) operation control means for stopping the drying operation when an abnormality is detected in either the first or second determination means. A clothes dryer characterized by. 3. The clothes dryer according to claim 1 or 2,
A clothes dryer, further comprising an abnormality notifying unit, wherein the operation control unit drives the abnormality notifying unit when an abnormality is detected and the drying operation is stopped. 4. The clothes dryer according to claim 1 or 2,
Further, a third determination means for determining whether or not the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is equal to or higher than a third abnormality detection temperature lower than the second abnormality detection temperature continuously for a predetermined time or longer, is provided. When an abnormality is detected in the third determination means, the control means opens both the intake valve and the exhaust valve provided with at least one of them and introduces the outside air into the circulation path to dry the clothes. A clothes dryer characterized by performing exhaust drying.