JPH10295997A - Auxiliary instrument for clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily sort and separately dry clothes to be separately dried by arranging plate-like members to partition the inside of a drum into plural parts to partition a clothing input opening into plural parts so as to be freely mountable/demountable in an auxiliary instrument for a clothing dryer to be used by being installed inside the drum to rotate around a horizontal shaft. SOLUTION: An auxiliary instrument 40 is constituted by pivotally fixing two plate-like members 41 and 42 composed of a heat resistant resin material or the like by a hinge. U-shaped installing parts 411 and 421 are respectively formed in free end parts of the plate-like members 41 and 42, on the one hand, a freely slidable lock member is arranged in pivotally fixing side end parts of the plate-like members 41 and 42, and the unfolded plate-like members 41 and 42 can be locked in a plate shape. When this auxiliary instrument 40 is installed inside a drum 13, it is put in the drum in a folded-up condition, and is put in a condition of being expanded in the drum, and the inside of the drum is partitioned into two chambers by respectively fitting both end U-shaped installing parts 411 and 412 to two baffles 131. The auxiliary instrument 40 is also folded up in two when it is not used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an auxiliary device for a clothes dryer used in a drum-type clothes dryer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A household clothes dryer dries and dries by supplying dry hot air to a drum containing wet clothes and cooling the wet hot air containing moisture evaporated from the clothes. The air is reheated by a heater and circulated to the drum. The drum is rotated slowly about a horizontal axis, which causes the clothes in the drum to be agitated and an even drying to be performed.

[0003]

There are various types of clothes to be dried in this type of dryer. For example,
When the white clothing and the colored clothing are dried together, lint that has fallen from the colored clothing adheres to the white clothing, and a troublesome operation of removing the lint after drying must be performed. For this reason, depending on the user, white clothing and colored clothing may be dried separately, and in any case, much time is spent on the drying operation. In addition, although it is after washing, for example, there are some users who are resistant to mixing kitchen clothes and the like with underwear and socks and drying them together. Was.

[0004] Conventionally, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-164393.
In the clothes dryer described in the publication, a partition consisting of a plurality of protrusions is formed on the inner peripheral wall surface of the drum, and attached so as to hold both ends of the vertically erected partition plate with the partition,
It has been proposed to partition the inside of the drum into a clothes input side and a back side.

[0005] However, in such a section, after putting clothes in the drum, a partition plate must be attached, and further clothes must be put in the space on the near side. For this reason, not only was the mounting of the partition plate very troublesome, but the clothes on the back side could not be taken out without removing the partition plate, which was not practical.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary device for a clothes dryer capable of easily separating and drying clothes to be separated and dried. It is in.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems and Embodiments of the Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clothes dryer for storing clothes in a drum rotating about a horizontal axis. A clothes dryer auxiliary tool used by being mounted inside a drum, wherein the inside of the drum is divided into a plurality of sections so as to divide a plurality of openings provided in a front surface or a side peripheral surface of the drum for introducing clothes. To this end, a plate-shaped member is provided which is provided to be detachably supported on the inner peripheral surface of the drum by being inserted into the inner peripheral surface of the drum.

That is, in the clothes dryer according to the first aspect of the present invention, for example, in a clothes dryer in which an opening is provided on the front surface of a drum, the inside of the drum extends along the horizontal axis of the drum. In a clothes dryer provided with a plate-like member which is divided into a plurality of surfaces, and an opening is provided on a side peripheral surface of the drum, the inside of the drum is parallel to the drum horizontal axis direction or the drum horizontal surface. It is provided with a plate-like member that is divided into a plurality of sections on a plane perpendicular to the axis. In any case, the auxiliary tool is attached so that the plate-like member divides the opening into a plurality. Therefore, the inside of the drum is divided into a plurality of parts by the auxiliary tool, and openings are present in all of the divided drying chambers, so that clothes can be freely taken in and out of any of the drying chambers through the openings. .

A second invention made to solve the above-mentioned problem is directed to a clothes dryer which stores clothes in the drum through a front opening of the drum rotating around a horizontal axis. An auxiliary device for a clothes dryer which is used by being attached to the inside. The auxiliary device is detachably supported on the inner peripheral surface of the drum so as to partition the inside of the drum into a plurality of surfaces along the horizontal axis of the drum. It is characterized by comprising a plate-shaped member provided as a separate member.

The clothes dryer assisting device according to the second aspect of the present invention is, for example, a plate-like member having dimensions of the inner diameter of the drum and the depth of the inside of the drum, and the plate-like member is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the drum. Are held in contact with each other. The inside of the drum is horizontally divided by the auxiliary tool, and the front of the two divided drying chambers is an opening on the front of the drum, so that clothes can be freely taken in and out of any of the drying chambers through the openings. I can do it.

Usually, in this type of clothes dryer, the inside diameter of the front opening of the drum is smaller than the inside diameter of the drum.
Therefore, in order to put the above-mentioned auxiliary tool in and out of the drum,
It is preferable that the plate-like member has a structure that can be folded to a size that can pass through the opening of the drum.

For example, specifically, it is preferable that the plate-like member is composed of two hinged plate members so that the plate-like member can be put in and out of the drum front opening in a folded state. Also,
In order to ensure that the plate member is held as a single plate inside the drum, it is preferable to provide a locking portion for fixing the plate member in an expanded state. For example, the locking portion can be a sliding lock mechanism.

Further, in order to stably attach the auxiliary device for a clothes dryer according to the present invention to the inside of the drum, attachment portions are formed at both ends of the plate-shaped member so as to be fitted to baffles projecting from the inner peripheral surface of the drum. Then, the mounting portion may be fitted and fixed to two baffles provided facing the inner periphery of the drum.

Some clothes dryers of this type have a configuration in which hot air is fed into the drum from only one direction in front of the drum. When the above-mentioned auxiliary tool is attached to such a clothes dryer, in a structure in which the inside of the drum is divided into a plurality of sections by a surface along the horizontal axis direction, hot air is alternately applied to each of the drying chambers inside the drum as the drum rotates. Is sent.
For this reason, when drying clothes made of heat-sensitive fibers, the time during which hot air is directly applied to the clothes is shortened, and preferable drying can be performed. However, when drying relatively thick clothing such as cotton that is resistant to heat, the time of exposure to hot air is shortened, making it difficult to dry, and drying unevenness may occur. Further, in a structure in which the inside of the drum is divided into a plurality of parts by a plane orthogonal to the horizontal axis of the drum by the auxiliary tool, hot air is not fed into the drying chamber on the rear side of the drum at all, and sufficient drying cannot be performed.

In view of the above, the clothes dryer auxiliary tool may be provided with a ventilation window through which air flows through the plate-like member to collect solid matter such as lint. This allows hot air to pass from the one drying chamber to the other drying chamber through the ventilation window, so that the entire garment is easily exposed to the hot air, and drying can be performed quickly.

[0016]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention; First, the overall configuration of a clothes dryer using the clothes dryer aid of this embodiment is shown in FIG.
A description will be given with reference to a side vertical sectional view of FIG. A clothes input port 3 is provided at the center of the front of the machine frame 2 of the clothes dryer 1, and its opening is opened and closed by a door 4. Rear panel 5 on the back of machine frame 2
The rear air inlet 6 is located substantially at the center of the rear panel 5.
Are formed. On the other hand, an air outlet 7 for air is formed on the lower surface of the machine casing 2. In the machine frame 2, an annular sheet metal drum support plate 8 is attached so as to surround the clothes input port 3, and a support plate 9 is erected at a rear portion in a lateral direction with a predetermined interval from the rear plate 5. I have. A partly cut-out fan casing 10 is fixed to the support plate 9, whereby the inside of the machine frame 2 is divided into a fan chamber 11 and a drying chamber 12.

A horizontal shaft type drum 13 is provided in the drying chamber 12.
Is supported by a drum support plate 8 via a felt or the like with the front opening facing the clothes input port 3, and the rear side is rotatably supported by a main shaft 14. An air outlet 15 covered with a lint filter 16 is formed on the back surface of the drum 13, while an air inlet 17 is formed below the drum support plate 8 on the front surface. The support plate 9 has a drying room 12
A communication port 18 is formed between the drum 13 and the support plate 9 so that the air flow from the air outlet 15 reaches the communication port 18 without fail. .

In the fan chamber 11, a disk-shaped double-sided synthetic resin fan 20 is fixed to the main shaft 14, and includes a circulation fan 20a located on the drying chamber 12 side and a cooling fan 20b located on the rear panel 5 side. Are radially and integrally formed on both sides. A partition 21 is provided in the fan casing 10 so as to surround the double-sided fan 20.
The two-sided fan 20 is accommodated in the substantially central circular opening, so that the two-sided fan 20 and the partition 21 combine to partition the inside of the fan chamber 11 into a drying air passage 22 and a cooling air passage 23. A concentric rotating groove that opens toward the drying air passage 22 is formed integrally with the periphery of the double-sided fan 20.
A concentric fixing groove that opens toward the cooling air passage 23 is formed in the inner peripheral edge of the first fan 1, and the rotating groove of the double-sided fan 20 and the fixing groove of the partition 21 are loosely fitted in a non-contact state with each other. I have. That is, the rotating groove of the double-sided fan 20 and the fixing groove of the partition 21 form a labyrinth connection. For this reason, air cannot be exchanged between the drying air passage 22 and the cooling air passage 23.

A lower portion of the drying air passage 22 and an air inlet 17 formed in the drum support plate 8 are connected by a drying duct 24, and a heater 25 is disposed near the air inlet 17 inside the drying duct 24. I have. The heater 25 is formed of, for example, a honeycomb-shaped positive temperature coefficient thermistor. At the lowermost part of the drying duct 24, a drain port 26 for discharging the dehumidified water condensed in the drying duct 24 to the outside of the machine is provided. Further, a motor 27 is disposed at the bottom of the machine casing 2, and the motor 27 is connected to a V wound around the outer peripheral surface of the drum 13.
While applying a rotational force to the belt 32 via the pulley 31,
Cooling fan 20 via pulley 28 and fan belt 29
The pulling force is applied to the pulley 30 formed at the center of b.

During the drying operation, the drum 13 is driven at a low speed by the rotational driving force of the
Are rotated at high speed, and at the same time, the heater 25 is energized to heat the drying air. Thereby, the circulation fan 20
The wind generated by the rotation of a is the drying air path 22, the drying duct 2
4. Circulates through the drum 13 and removes moisture from clothing as hot air passes through the drum 13. On the other hand, cooling fan 2
By the rotation of Ob, outside air is introduced into the cooling air passage 23 from the intake port 6 and discharged from the exhaust port 7. At this time, the double-sided fan 20 itself is cooled by the cool air. The hot air containing moisture after passing through the drum 13 contacts the double-sided fan 20 and is cooled, and condensed water flows down the inner wall of the drying air passage 22 and is discharged from the drain port 26.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are external perspective views of the clothes dryer assisting device of the present embodiment. FIG. 2A shows a folded state, FIG. 2B shows an expanded state, and FIG. Indicates a locked state. FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a state in which the auxiliary tool is mounted inside the drum 13.

In the auxiliary device 40 of this embodiment, two plate-like members 41 and 42 made of a heat-resistant resin material or the like are hinged by hinges 43. U-shaped mounting portions 411 and 421 are formed at the ends of the plate members 41 and 42, respectively. Also,
On one surface of the plate members 41 and 42, long and short concave portions 412 and 422 are formed so as to be continuous with the plate members 41 and 42 being spread.
A lock member 44 that is slidable is provided inside 2, 422. The size of the plate members 41 and 42 corresponds to the size (inner diameter, depth, and height of the baffle 131) of the drum 13.

The auxiliary device 40 can be folded into two as shown in FIG. 2A when not in use (when not attached to the clothes dryer 1). Do not occupy. When the auxiliary tool 40 is mounted inside the drum 13, it is inserted into the inside of the drum 13 through the clothes input port 3 in a folded state as shown in FIG. 2 (a), and the inside of the drum 13 is indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2 (a). Spread as shown.
At this time, as shown in FIG.
1, 412 are fitted to the two baffles 131, respectively, and are spread in a plane. When the auxiliary member 40 is folded into two, the lock member 44 is housed inside the elongated recess 412 of the plate member 41 as shown in FIG. 2B. Therefore, after completely expanding the plate members 41 and 42, the lock member 44 is connected to the short recesses 42 of the plate member 42.
Slide 2 side. Corresponding claws are formed on the lower surface or side surface of the lock member 44 and the upper surface or side surface of the short recess 422, respectively.
When they are slid to a predetermined position, the two claws are fitted and locked. At this time, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
, The plate members 41 and 42 are fixed in a planar shape. Since the lock is released relatively easily by applying a force in the opposite direction to the lock member 44, the auxiliary tool 40 can be easily removed in the reverse procedure. Further, the lock member 44 is provided with the concave portions 412, 422.
, It is difficult for clothing to contact the lock member 44 during use of the assisting device, thereby preventing the lock from being undesirably released.

When the auxiliary tool 40 is mounted inside the drum 13 as described above, the inside of the drum 13 is partitioned into two drying chambers 13a and 13b by the auxiliary tool 40 as shown in FIG. The length of the plate members 41 and 42 in the depth direction is
3 can be made substantially the same as the depth inside, so that each drying chamber 13
a and 13b do not communicate with each other. For example, even if the white clothing 50 is stored on one side and the colored clothing 52 is stored on the other side and drying is performed, the lint dropped from the colored clothing 52 is transferred to the white clothing 50. Does not adhere.

Further, since the volume of each of the drying chambers 13a and 13b is reduced, the movement of clothes inside the drying chambers 13a and 13b is reduced, and the stirring is suppressed. For this reason, for example, even clothes for exclusive use of dry cleaning such as wool and clothes that easily cause cloth damage can be dried while suppressing cloth damage and shrinkage due to friction.
In particular, a baffle 1 that has the function of greatly scraping clothes
31 loses its original function and the drying chambers 13a, 13b
Since only the small auxiliary baffle 132 is present inside, the clothes are not agitated large and violently, and damage to the clothes is suppressed.

By the way, in the clothes dryer 1 shown in FIG. 1, since hot air is sent into the inside of the drum 13 from the air inlet 17 below the drum 13, the inside of the drying chamber which comes below the drum with the rotation of the drum 13 is rotated. Hot air enters, and no hot air enters the drying chamber located at that time. That is,
The clothes stored in each of the drying chambers 13a and 13b are directly exposed to the hot air for a half of the time when the drum 13 makes one rotation. Therefore, when the garment is made of fibers that are relatively weak to heat, hot air is intermittently applied, and damage to the fibers due to heat can be prevented.

However, when the clothing is made of, for example, a thick cotton product, the drying time becomes poor due to the reduced time of exposure to hot air, and the drying may be insufficient even after the predetermined drying time is completed. There is. Therefore, when drying clothes that are resistant to heat, an auxiliary tool for a clothes dryer having a structure as shown in FIG. 4 may be used. In the auxiliary tool 40 of this embodiment, a ventilation window 423 provided with a mesh-like filter that does not allow solid matter such as lint to pass through is provided in the plate members 41 and 42. In other respects, it is the same as the auxiliary tool shown in FIG. When the auxiliary tool 40 of this embodiment is mounted inside the drum 13 as shown in FIG. 3 and a drying operation is performed, the hot air sent into the drum 13 from the air inlet 17 is located below the drum. Ventilation window 42 of auxiliary tool 40 from drying room
3 and into the drying chamber located above. For this reason, regardless of the rotation position of the drum 13, the clothes are always blown with hot air, so that the clothes are dried quickly.

In the above embodiment, the auxiliary tool 40 is mounted by fitting the U-shaped mounting portions 411 and 421 formed on the auxiliary tool 40 and the baffle 131. However, the mounting can be performed by another method. You may make it. For example, when the inner peripheral wall of the drum 13 and the baffle 131 are made of metal, attaching a magnet to the end of the plate-like members 41 and 42 allows the auxiliary tool to be fixed at an arbitrary position on the inner periphery of the drum. .

The above embodiment is an example of an auxiliary tool used for a clothes dryer having a structure in which an opening for putting clothes is provided in the front of the drum. There is also a clothes dryer having a structure in which an opening is provided in a part of the drum and clothes can be stored in the drum through a clothes inlet formed on the upper surface or side surface of the machine frame. In such a clothes dryer, an auxiliary tool for partitioning a cylindrical drum into a front side and a rear side is mounted in the drum, and clothes are put into either side peripheral surface of the two divided drying chambers. For the opening. Thereby, clothes can be easily stored in each drying room.

The above embodiment is merely an example, and it is apparent that modifications and modifications can be made as appropriate within the scope of the present invention.

[0031]

As described above, according to the clothes dryer aids according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the inside of the drum is divided into a plurality of drying chambers, and each of the drying chambers includes colored clothing and Since the white clothing and the like can be separated and stored, the lint coming out of each other's clothing does not adhere, and the labor of removing the lint after drying and the labor of drying in a plurality of times are reduced. In addition, clothes that are not desired to be dried together can be separated and dried from the viewpoint of hygiene. In addition, since a clothes inlet is provided in the front or side peripheral surface of each drying chamber, clothes can be easily taken in and out.

According to the auxiliary device for a clothes dryer according to the second aspect of the present invention, the space in which the clothes can move when the drum rotates is reduced, so that the stored clothes move less and are less likely to be agitated. For this reason, it is also suitable for drying easily shrinkable clothing such as wool or other dry cleaning clothing.

Further, by making the above-mentioned auxiliary device for clothes dryer foldable, it is easy to put the auxiliary device in and out of the drum when attaching and detaching the auxiliary device, and to save space when not in use. Absent.

[0034] Further, the above-mentioned clothes dryer auxiliary tool is fixed by a locking member when the two plate members are hinged and spread, so that the clothes drying machine can be more easily mounted on the drum. The state is stable, and the inside of the drum can be reliably partitioned.

Further, the above-mentioned clothes dryer auxiliary tool has a structure in which a mounting portion is formed at an end of the plate-like member so as to be fitted to a baffle protruding from the inner peripheral surface of the drum, so that the inside of the drum is stably provided. The auxiliary tool can be fixed, and there is no need to modify the clothes dryer to fix the auxiliary tool. Therefore, the auxiliary tool can be used more generally.

In addition, by providing the above-mentioned clothes dryer auxiliary tool with a structure in which a ventilation window is provided in the plate-shaped member, hot air supplied to one drying chamber partitioned by the auxiliary tool flows into the other drying chamber. Therefore, the speed of drying is not impaired.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side longitudinal sectional view of a clothes dryer for attaching a clothes dryer auxiliary tool of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of the clothes dryer aid of the present invention, in a folded state (a), an expanded state (b), and a locked state (c).

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the clothes dryer auxiliary tool of the embodiment is mounted inside a drum of the clothes dryer.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing another embodiment of the clothes dryer auxiliary tool of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Drum 131 ... Baffle 40 ... Auxiliary tool 41, 42 ... Plate-shaped member 411, 421 ... U-shaped mounting part 412, 422 ... Depression 43 ... Hinge 44 ... Lock member 423 ... Ventilation window

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A clothes dryer for accommodating clothes in a drum rotating about a horizontal axis, the clothes dryer being used by being mounted inside the drum, wherein the front or side peripheral surface of the drum is used. A plurality of plate-like members which are inserted into the inner periphery of the drum so as to be detachably supported on the inner peripheral surface so as to divide the inside of the drum into a plurality of sections so as to divide the opening provided for putting clothes into a plurality of sections. Characteristic aid for clothes dryer. 2. A clothes dryer for storing clothes in a drum through a front opening of the drum rotating about a horizontal axis, wherein the clothes dryer is used by being mounted inside the drum. A clothes dryer provided with a plate-shaped member which is inserted into the inner periphery of the drum and is detachably supported on the inner periphery so as to partition the inside of the drum into a plurality of sections along a plane along the horizontal axis of the drum. Aids. 3. The auxiliary device for a clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the plate-shaped member is foldable so as to be able to pass through an opening of a drum. 4. The clothes drying apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plate-like member is formed of two hinged plate members, and has a locking portion for fixing the plate member in an expanded state. Machine aids. 5. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein an attachment portion is formed at an end of the plate-like member to be fitted to a baffle protruding from an inner peripheral surface of the drum. Aids. 6. The plate-shaped member is provided with a ventilation window through which air is circulated to collect solid matter.
The auxiliary equipment for a clothes dryer according to any one of the above.