JPH1085500A - Clothes drier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform appropriate drying and to detect drum rotation abnormality by a V belt cut or the like by automatically detecting a load amount. SOLUTION: A microcomputer tentatively turns OFF a motor after the motor is raised to a prescribed rotation speed and rotates the motor by inertia. The rotation number of the motor is counted during the period of the inertia rotation of 5 seconds and if the load amount is large, middle or small is judged corresponding to the value of the pulse number N (S12-18.) Further, when it is judged that the pulse number N is larger than a prescribed value N3 continuously for two times (S17 and S19,) it is judged that loads applied to the motor are too light and the possibility of a belt cut is present and a drying operation is stopped (S20.) When the load amount is decided, temperature control data corresponding to the load amount are decided and the drying operation is executed based on the temperature control data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotating 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] In such a clothes dryer, generally only one motor is provided for rotating a fan and a drum for generating circulating air, respectively, and a pulley, a V-belt and the like are transmitted from a rotating shaft of the motor. The configuration is such that the fan and the drum are driven to rotate at a predetermined rotation speed via a mechanism. The V-belt is wound around a pulley attached to a rotating shaft of a motor and an outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical drum, and is provided with an appropriate tension by a tension mechanism. Therefore, if the V-belt breaks or comes off, or if the tension mechanism fails and the tension is not applied to the V-belt, the drum stops.
In such a case, since the hot air intensively blows on the clothing accumulated near the outlet of the hot air into the drum, the clothing becomes abnormally hot, and depending on the type of fiber, discoloration or scorching may occur. is there.

In order to detect such an abnormal state, for example, in the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-48795, the displacement of a spring of a tension mechanism is detected. However, if abnormality detection is performed by such a mechanical structure, special mechanical parts are required, the cost is increased, and the assembly is time-consuming.

[0005] In view of the above, the present applicant has
Japanese Patent Application No. 8-220386 proposes a new clothes dryer that detects an abnormality such as a broken V-belt by counting the number of rotations of a motor during inertial rotation. According to this clothes dryer, a drum rotation abnormality such as a V-belt breakage is quickly and reliably detected after the drying operation is started.

[0006]

By the way, in order to improve the drying performance of this type of clothes dryer, the amount of clothes stored in the drum is detected, and the temperature, operating time, etc., are adjusted according to the amount. It is preferable to perform the drying operation control, and for that purpose, it is necessary to detect the amount of clothes, that is, the load amount with a simple configuration as accurately as possible. Therefore, if such a load amount detection can be performed simultaneously with the above-described V-belt breakage abnormality detection, the overall configuration is simplified and the processing by the microcomputer or the like is also simplified.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem. It is an object of the present invention to detect the amount of clothes stored in a drum with a simple structure. An object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer capable of preventing abnormal heating of clothes in a drum by detecting an abnormality such as a belt break.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clothes dryer in which hot air heated by a heater is sent to a drum containing clothes and passes through the drum. A clothes dryer that circulates the drying air to the heater after cooling and dehumidifying the dried air, wherein the clothes drying machine transmits the rotational driving force of the motor to the drum via a belt. B) drive control means for driving the motor for a first predetermined time in an early stage of operation and then stopping energization of the motor for a second predetermined time; c) within the second predetermined time Counting means for counting the number of rotations of the motor detected by the rotation number detecting means, d) load amount detecting means for determining the amount of clothes stored in the drum according to the count value of the counting means, e) The count value of the counting means is a predetermined value. Is characterized in that it comprises a, an abnormality detection means for stopping the operation when being e.

A second clothes dryer according to the present invention, in the first clothes dryer, a drying operation control means for changing a parameter for controlling the drying operation in accordance with the load detected by the load detection means. It is characterized by having.

A third clothes dryer according to the present invention, in the first or second clothes dryer, further comprises a load amount display means for notifying a user of the load amount detected by the load amount detection means. It is characterized by.

A fourth clothes dryer according to the present invention, wherein in any one of the first to third clothes dryers, the load amount for displaying when the drive control means stops supplying power to the motor. It is characterized by comprising a detection means during the detection operation.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth clothes dryers, the drive control unit determines that the load amount is small by the load amount detection unit. In this case, the power supply to the motor is stopped for a third predetermined time after a predetermined drying operation time has elapsed, and the counting means counts the number of rotations of the motor detected by the rotation number detection means within the third predetermined time. The abnormality detection means stops the operation when the count value exceeds a predetermined value.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the first clothes dryer, the drive control means supplies a drive current to the motor such that the motor increases to a predetermined steady rotational speed after the start of the drying operation.
When the first predetermined time has elapsed, the driving is temporarily stopped.
Here, the first predetermined time is set in advance to a time sufficient for the motor to reach a substantially predetermined steady-state rotation speed. When the drive control means stops driving the motor, the motor continues to rotate due to the inertia of rotation immediately before the stop of the drive. The counting means counts pulse signals synchronized with the motor rotation obtained from the rotation speed detecting means during the second predetermined time during the inertial rotation.

Normally, the load on the motor is determined by the weight of the clothes stored in the drum. If the weight of the clothes is heavy, the deceleration is rapid, so the count value by the counting means is small. Since it is moderate, the count value becomes large. In this way, the load amount detecting means determines the load amount based on the count value. Further, when the belt for transmitting the rotation of the motor to the drum is cut or disengaged, the load on the motor is extremely light, and the degree of deceleration during coasting rotation is smaller. Therefore, the abnormality detection means compares the count value with a predetermined value, and when the count value is larger, determines that the abnormality is abnormal and stops the drying operation.

In the second clothes dryer, the drying operation control means changes a parameter for controlling the drying operation in accordance with the load detected by the load detection means, and turns on the heater based on the parameter. / OFF and other operations relating to the drying operation are controlled. The parameters include, for example, an upper limit set value of the temperature in the drum.

In the third clothes dryer, for example, the load amount display means displays which of the load amounts detected by the load amount detection means belongs to a plurality of stages. Thereby, the user can know whether the amount of clothes put into the drum is a little or too much.

Further, in the fourth clothes dryer, the load amount detecting operation display means is lit when the rotation speed of the motor is reduced for detecting the load amount and detecting the abnormality. Therefore, even if the rotation of the drum drops during the inertial rotation, the user can immediately recognize that the rotation is due to the load amount detection operation.
Therefore, there is no fear that the user may mistakenly think that a failure has occurred.

In such a clothes dryer, the drying state of the clothes is generally determined by detecting the temperature in the drum and the like, and when it is determined that the clothes are sufficiently dried, the drying operation is terminated. Therefore, when clothes that have been subjected to normal dehydration by the washing machine are put in, the drying operation ends faster as the amount of clothes is smaller. Therefore, in the fifth clothes dryer, the drying operation is terminated when the amount of clothes stored in the drum is small, and on the contrary, when the amount of clothes is large, the drying operation is continued. Set the drying operation time. If the drying operation has not been completed at the time when the predetermined drying operation time has elapsed even though the load amount is determined to be small by the load amount detecting means at the beginning of the drying operation, the rotation of the drum is stopped. It is determined that there is a possibility that the drying may be defective due to the abnormality, and the abnormality detection processing of the V belt breakage is performed again. That is, the drive control means stops the energization of the motor for the third predetermined time and causes the motor to coast. The counting means counts a pulse signal synchronized with the rotation of the motor obtained from the rotation speed detecting means during the third predetermined time, and the abnormality detecting means determines that the belt has run out if the counted value exceeds a predetermined value. It is determined that there is an abnormality, and the drying operation is stopped.

[0019]

According to the first clothes dryer of the present invention, the amount of clothes stored in the drum is determined immediately after the start of the drying operation with a simple configuration, and at the same time, the presence / absence of V-belt breakage abnormality. Is detected. Therefore, load detection and V
Belt breakage abnormality detection can be realized at relatively low cost.
In addition, since the drying operation is automatically stopped when the V-belt breakage abnormality is detected, abnormal heating of the clothes in the drum can be prevented.

Further, according to the second clothes dryer, the parameters of the drying operation are set in accordance with the detected load amount, so that proper drying is performed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the clothes from being damaged due to uneven drying and excessive heating.

According to the third clothes dryer, the load amount automatically determined is displayed, so that the user can easily recognize whether or not the amount of clothes put into the drum is appropriate. Can be.

According to the fourth clothes dryer, the display is made during the load amount detection operation, so that even if the rotation of the drum temporarily decreases or stops, the user is in trouble. There is no danger of making a misjudgment.

Further, according to the fifth clothes dryer, the belt running-out abnormality is detected even after the predetermined drying operation time has elapsed, and if it is determined that there is an abnormality, the drying operation is stopped at that point. You. For this reason, it is possible to reliably detect the occurrence of an abnormality such as breakage or detachment of the V-belt during the drying operation, so that abnormal heating of the clothes in the drum can be prevented. In addition, since the load amount is determined before the abnormality detection is performed, and the rotation speed of the drum is reduced only when the possibility of the V-belt being broken is high, the abnormality may occur even though the possibility of the V-belt being broken is small. The rotation speed of the drum does not decrease due to the detection, and the drying performance is maintained.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a clothes dryer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the overall configuration of the clothes dryer will be described 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. A rear plate 5 is fixed to the back of the machine casing 2, and an intake port 6 for external air is formed substantially in the center of the rear plate 5. 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.
The support plate 9 has a partially cut-out fan casing 1.
0 is fixed.
1 and a drying chamber 12.

In the drying chamber 12, a horizontal axis type drum 13 is provided.
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 disc-shaped double-sided synthetic resin fan 20 is fixed to the main shaft 14, and a circulation fan 20 a located on the drying chamber 12 side and a cooling fan 20 b 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.

A motor 27 is arranged at the bottom of the machine casing 2. The motor 27 applies a rotational force to a V-belt 32 wound around the outer peripheral surface of the drum 13 via a pulley 31, and a pulley 28 formed at the center of the cooling fan 20 b via a pulley 28 and a fan belt 29. Giving rotational force. Further, in order to prevent the V-belt 32 from slipping, the idler pulley 33 is driven by the V-belt 32 during rotation of the drum.
Apply appropriate tension to In the vicinity of the pulley 28, a rotation sensor 34 composed of a Hall element is provided.
The rotation of the motor 27 is detected in combination with the magnet attached to the motor 8.

During the drying operation, the drum 13 is rotated at a low speed by the rotational driving force of the motor 27, and the double-sided fan 20 is rotated at a high speed. At the same time, the heater 25 is energized to heat the drying air. Thereby, the wind generated by the rotation of the circulation fan 20a circulates through the drying air passage 22, the drying duct 24, and the drum 13, and when the hot air passes through the inside of the drum 13, deprives the clothes of moisture. On the other hand, by the rotation of the cooling fan 20 b, 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
It is itself cooled by cold 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.

An outlet temperature sensor 35 for detecting the temperature of the air exhausted from the drum 13 is arranged near the air outlet 15 of the drum 13. Outlet temperature sensor 3
Numeral 5 is composed of a thermosensitive element such as a thermistor. An operation panel 36 provided with various input keys and a display is provided below the front of the machine casing 2. A board case 37 made of synthetic resin is attached to the inside of the machine casing 2 behind the operation panel 36 with screws, and the board case 37 has a large heat capacity that is not easily affected by a sudden change in the ambient temperature. A control board 38 made of a member is provided. On the control board 38, a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as "microcomputer") described later, an atmosphere temperature sensor 39 for detecting the temperature of the control board 38 itself, and other various electric components are mounted.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of the operation panel 36. On the operation panel 36, a power key 40 for turning on the power, a start key 41 for instructing start and stop of the drying operation, and a drying course such as a "standard drying course" and a "slightly drying course" are selected. Input keys such as a course switching key 42 for selecting the course, a heating switching key 43 for selecting the heating intensity, and a selected course, the heating intensity, and the progress of the drying operation. A plurality of LED displays 44, a load amount detecting display 45 for notifying the user that the load amount is being detected, a load amount display 46 for notifying the detected load amount to the user, a filter A sign display 47 for notifying the user of the clogging, and an electronic buzzer 48 for confirming the operation of the input key and notifying the user of an abnormality are provided.

Next, the electrical configuration of the clothes dryer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. At the center of the control is the CPU 51,
ROM 52, RAM 53, timer 54, A / D converter 5
And a microcomputer 50 comprising a ROM 5 and the like.
The drying operation is performed by controlling each unit described below in accordance with an operation program stored in advance in Step 2. The microcomputer 50 includes an input key circuit 60 including input keys of the operation panel 36, a door switch 61 for detecting opening and closing of the door 4,
LED for driving the LED display 44 and the like of the operation panel 36
A lighting circuit 62, an outlet temperature sensor 35, an ambient temperature sensor 39, a rotation speed detection circuit 63 including a rotation sensor 34, a buzzer circuit 64 for driving an electronic buzzer 48, a power supply circuit 65 connected to a commercial power supply, a zero cross point of the commercial power supply , A commercial power supply zero-cross signal detection circuit 66, a motor 27,
A heater 25 and an automatic power-off circuit (APO) 6 for automatically shutting off the power supply after the drying operation is completed.
7, a load driving circuit 68 for driving the clock 7, a clock oscillation circuit 69 for generating a master clock signal, and a reset circuit 70 are connected.

FIG. 4 shows the clothes dryer of this embodiment.
The outlet temperature T1 detected by the outlet temperature sensor 35 and the substrate temperature T2 detected by the ambient temperature sensor 39
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a change with respect to a drying operation time. The outlet temperature T1 changes as shown by a curve L1. That is, in the preheating period [i], the outlet temperature T1 gradually rises because the given amount of heat is used to increase the temperature of the dryer main body and the clothes containing much moisture. In the subsequent constant-rate drying period [ii], most of the applied heat is consumed for evaporating the moisture in the clothes, so that the outlet temperature T1 remains almost constant. In the rate-decreasing drying period [iii], the given amount of heat is used not only for evaporating the water but also for raising the temperature of the clothes itself or the body of the dryer in which the water is reduced,
The outlet temperature T1 rises again.

In the decreasing rate drying period [iii], the outlet temperature T1 is equal to the high limiter temperature TH which is a predetermined upper limit temperature.
, The outlet temperature T1 falls within a predetermined temperature range lower than the high limiter temperature TH. this is,
This is because the ON / OFF control of the heater 25 is performed. If this state continues for a predetermined time, the drying operation ends.

On the other hand, the substrate temperature T2 changes as shown by a curve L2. That is, the substrate temperature T2 gradually rises for a while from the start of the operation, and changes to a substantially constant level after a certain period of time. This is because the control board 38 to which the ambient temperature sensor 39 is attached is a member having a large heat capacity which is affected by the ambient temperature itself but is not easily affected by the rapid change. This is because it almost depends on the heat radiation of each of the electric components mounted on the module 38. The drying operation is also terminated when the temperature difference between the substrate temperature T2 and the outlet temperature T1 reaches a predetermined value.

Hereinafter, the processing operation of the microcomputer 50 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 to 8, focusing on the load amount detection and the V-belt break abnormality detection processing, which are features of the present invention. FIG. 5 to FIG. 7 are the entire flow charts from the power-on to the end of the drying operation. First, the power key 40 is
When N is reached (step S1), the microcomputer 50 receives a reset signal from the reset circuit 70 and executes an initial setting process (step S2), thereby resetting various flags and variables.

When the user puts clothes into the drum 13 and presses the start key 41 (step S3), the microcomputer 50 sets the target rotation speed to, for example, 1150 rpm and starts the motor 27 (step S4). At substantially the same time as the start of the motor 27, the timer A for determining time and the timer B for counting operation time are started (step S5). The rotation speed of the motor 27 rises rapidly to near the target rotation speed, and the drum 13 and the double-sided fan 20 rotate at a predetermined rotation speed determined by their respective reduction ratios.

When the timer A reaches 55 seconds (step S6), the display 45 during load detection is turned on (step S7), and the drive current of the motor 27 is cut off by setting the motor ON signal to zero. (Step S8). As a result, the motor 27 rotates by inertia due to the immediately preceding rotation. At substantially the same time, after the timer A is reset, the timing is restarted (step S9), and the pulse counter is reset to start counting (step S1).
0). The pulse counter receives one pulse signal generated each time the motor 27 makes one rotation from the rotation sensor 34 and counts it. Note that the elapsed time in step S6 can be appropriately determined to be a time longer than the time sufficient for the motor 27 to reach the target rotation speed.

When the timer A reaches 5 seconds (step S11), the count value N of the pulse counter at that time is read (step S12). Since the count value N is the number of motor rotations for 5 seconds during the inertial rotation period of the motor 27, when the clothes stored in the drum 13 are heavy and the load applied to the motor 27 is large, the count value is large because the deceleration is rapid. N is a relatively small value. Conversely, when the weight of the clothes stored in the drum 13 is light and the load applied to the motor 27 is small, the degree of deceleration is slow and the count value N
Is a relatively large value. Further, for example, the V belt 32
When the pulley 31 is rotated with almost no load due to the disconnection or disconnection, the load on the motor 27 is almost zero and the count value N becomes a larger value. From these facts, the load value detection and the V-belt breakage abnormality detection are performed by determining the count value N as follows.

First, it is determined whether or not the count value N is in the range of N1 or less and N2 or more (step S1).
3) When it is within the range, it is determined that the load amount is "medium" (step S14). If it is determined in step S13 that the count value N is not in the range of N1 or less and N2 or more, it is next determined whether or not the count value N is less than N2 (step S15). Sometimes, it is determined that the load amount is “large” (step S16).
If it is determined in step S15 that the count value N is not less than N2, it is next determined whether or not the count value N is equal to or greater than N3 which is greater than N1 (step S17). It is determined to be “small” (step S1
8).

If it is determined in step S17 that the count value N is equal to or greater than N3, it is determined whether or not this determination processing operation is the first time (step S19). If it is the first time, the flow returns to step S4. The motor 27 is turned on and the above determination operation is executed again. That is, the load amount detection gives a result only by one motor inertia rotation process, but the V-belt breakage abnormality detection is performed twice in order to increase the reliability of the determination.

If it is determined in step S19 that the determination processing operation is not the first time, the count value N is continuously set to N twice.
Since it is determined that it is 3 or more, it is determined that the load on the motor 27 is abnormally light due to the V-belt break or the like, and the V-belt break error processing is executed (step S20). The comparison values N1, N2, and N3 (N3>N1> N2) in steps S13, S15, and S17 are set in advance to appropriate values so that the above determination can be made.

When the load amount is determined in any of steps S14, S16 and S18, this is stored in the RAM 53 (step S21). Then, a display corresponding to the load is displayed on the load indicator 46 (step S2).
2). In general, even if the load amount is divided into too small parts, the reliability is lacking.
Although it is divided into three stages of "small", this division can be set arbitrarily. In particular, if the load of the motor 27 is abnormally large, for example, when it can be determined that the amount of drying that can be set in the dryer is greatly exceeded, the display is displayed to the user, so that the user can wear the clothes. You can let them know you're overloaded.

Next, the temperature control data during the drying operation is determined according to the load amount stored in the RAM 53 (step S23). That is, in order to perform appropriate drying in accordance with the load amount, for example, the value of the high limiter temperature TH shown in FIG. 4 is determined according to the load amount. Of course,
Such temperature control data is based on the ambient temperature, that is, the substrate temperature T.
The temperature control data is determined by comprehensively judging these factors, because it also depends on the condition of the filter 2 and the state of clogging of the filter.
Further, the temperature is not always uniquely determined at this time, and is appropriately corrected based on the outlet temperature T1, the substrate temperature T2, or the time until the outlet temperature T1 reaches the predetermined temperature during the drying operation. May be performed.

When the above-described series of processing is completed, the display 45 for the load amount is turned off (step S2).
4).

Subsequently, the target rotation speed is set to a predetermined value, and the driving of the motor 27 is restarted (step S2).
5), energization of the heater 25 is started (step S2)
6). Then, a drying operation is performed based on the previously determined temperature control data (step S27). Further, it is determined whether or not the drying operation has ended (step S2).
8) If it is determined that the drying operation is not completed, then it is determined whether or not the timer B for operating time counting has elapsed 90 minutes (step S29). Step S2
8, for example, as described above, the outlet temperature T1 is a predetermined high limiter temperature TH determined by the temperature control data.
, The drying operation is terminated when it is detected that a predetermined period of time has elapsed after reaching the predetermined time.

In step S29, the count of timer B is 90
If the time has not elapsed, the process returns to step 27 and the drying operation is continued. Then, when it is determined in step S28 that the drying operation has ended, the process proceeds to step S39, in which a cool-down operation is performed to lower the temperature of the clothes to facilitate removal, and then the operation is ended.

Normally, when the amount of clothes stored in the drum 13 is small, the moisture of the clothes evaporates within a relatively short time and the outlet temperature T1 rises (that is, shifts to the reduced-rate drying period [iii]). The drying operation is completed by 90 minutes. Therefore, the reason why the drying operation is continued for 90 minutes or more can be presumed to be because the amount of clothing is large or the amount of clothing is small, but it is extremely difficult to dry due to the properties of fibers, for example.

Therefore, when the timer B has counted 90 minutes in step S29, it is determined whether or not the load amount stored in the RAM 53 is "small" (step S30). If the load is not “small”, the load is either “medium” or “large” and the drying operation time is 9
Since it is relatively likely that the time will be 0 minutes or more, the process returns to step S27 without performing the V belt breakage abnormality detection processing and continues the drying operation.

If it is determined in step S30 that the load is "small", the drum 1
It is determined that the drying operation time may be prolonged due to the non-rotation of 3 and it is determined whether or not the V-belt breakage abnormality detection processing after step S32 has already been performed (step S31), and the abnormality detection processing is performed. If not, the process proceeds to step S32. On the other hand, when the abnormality detection processing has already been performed, the process returns to step S27 to continue the drying operation.

The processing in steps S32 to S37 is the same as the processing in steps S8 to S12 and S17. That is, by setting the motor ON signal to zero, the motor 2
When the drive current of the motor 7 is cut off (step S32), the motor 27 rotates by the inertia of the immediately preceding rotation. At substantially the same time, the timer A for counting the determination time is reset to restart the time measurement (step S33), and the pulse counter is reset to start counting (step S3).
4). When the timer A reaches 5 seconds (step S
35) Then, the count value N of the pulse counter at that time is read (step S36). It is determined whether or not the count value N is equal to or greater than N3 (step S37). If the count value N is equal to or greater than N3, it is determined that the possibility of running out of the V belt is extremely high.
The belt running error processing is executed (step S20).

If it is determined in step S37 that the count value N is less than N3, it is determined that the possibility of running out of the V-belt is low, and the motor 27 is driven again (step S38).
The drying operation is continued (Step S27).

Next, the V-belt outage error processing in step S20 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. In this error processing, the rotation control of the motor 27 is stopped by setting the motor ON signal to zero (step S41), the current supplied to the heater 25 is cut off, and the heating is also stopped (step S42). Further, the LED lighting circuit 62 is driven to blink all the LEDs of “during drying”, “remaining 10 minutes”, “weaker switching weak”, and “standard drying course” as a display operation when an abnormality occurs (step S43). Further, an auto power off circuit (APO) 67
Is set to a short value (step S44). For example, when the drying operation is completed normally, the auto power off time is set to 5 minutes, and when an abnormality occurs, the auto power off time is set to about 1 minute. Then, even if the power key 40 is not operated after the driving of the motor 27 and the heater 25 is stopped due to the occurrence of the abnormality,
When the auto power off time has elapsed, the power is automatically shut off.

In addition to notifying the user of the abnormality by blinking the LED, the buzzer circuit 64 may be driven to alert the user by a warning sound of the electronic buzzer 48.

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.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side longitudinal sectional view of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of an operation panel of the clothes dryer.

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

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing changes in outlet temperature and substrate temperature with respect to operation time during a drying operation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of load amount detection and V-belt breakage abnormality detection processing in the clothes dryer.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of load amount detection and V-belt breakage abnormality detection processing in the clothes dryer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of load amount detection and V-belt breakage abnormality detection processing in the clothes dryer.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an error process performed when a V-belt is broken.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Drum 27 ... Motor 31 ... Pulley 32 ... V belt 34 ... Rotation sensor 45 ... Display during load amount detection 46 ... Load amount display 50 ... Microcomputer 63 ... Rotation number detection circuit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A clothes dryer for feeding hot air heated by a heater to a drum containing clothes, cooling and dehumidifying the air passing through the inside of the drum, and then circulating the dry air to the heater. A clothes dryer for transmitting a rotational driving force of a motor to a drum via a belt, comprising: a) a rotational speed detecting means for detecting a rotational speed of the motor; Drive control means for stopping energization of the motor for a predetermined time of 2); c) counting means for counting the number of rotations of the motor detected by the rotation number detection means within the second predetermined time; d) said counting means Load amount detection means for determining the amount of clothes stored in the drum according to the count value of e) abnormality detection means for stopping the operation when the count value of the counting means exceeds a predetermined value, Clothing comprising:燥機. 2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, further comprising: a drying operation control unit that changes a parameter for controlling a drying operation according to the load amount detected by the load amount detection unit. 3. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, further comprising a load amount display unit that notifies a user of the load amount detected by the load amount detection unit. 4. The garment according to claim 1, further comprising a load-amount-detecting-operation display means for displaying when the drive control means stops supplying power to the motor. Dryer. 5. The drive control unit, when the load amount is determined to be small by the load amount detection unit, stops energizing the motor for a third predetermined time after a predetermined drying operation time has elapsed, The counting means counts the number of rotations of the motor detected by the rotation number detecting means within the third predetermined time, and the abnormality detecting means stops the operation when the counted value exceeds a predetermined value. The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: