JPH11319394A - Bathroom clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bathroom clothes dryer without energy waste by precisely detecting the drying condition of drying objects. SOLUTION: This dryer has a moisture detecting means (mass detector) to detect moisture of drying objects in a bathroom, and controls at least one of a circulation means (a blower for circulation 2), a heating means (an electric heater 4), and a humidity controlling means (a blower for ventilation 3). The controller 5 operates the drying operation method of the best drying efficiency at a high drying speed and of energy saving based on the data measured by the mass detector (mass sensor), and sends operation orders to the blower for circulation 2, the blower for ventilation 3 and the electric heater 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for drying clothes in a bathroom provided with circulating means for circulating air in a bathroom, heating means for heating the air, and humidity adjusting means for adjusting the humidity of the air. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a device for drying clothes in a bathroom, there has been a device for controlling a timer to automatically stop a drying operation. However, this method has a configuration in which the operation is performed until the timer ends even though the drying target is completely dried, and there is a problem that energy is wasted. Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 60-12547, a device has been devised in which a humidity sensor is provided in a circulation circuit of the air supply, and when the air humidity reaches a set value, the drying operation is stopped to suppress waste of energy.

[0003]

However, the method described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 60-125449 may cause the following problems.

[0004] The object to be dried is heated, and moisture is released as steam. The vapor is released outside the bathroom or forms condensation on the cold walls of the bathroom. The outside air of the bathroom enters the bathroom instead of the air and steam discharged outside the bathroom.
The humidity of the outside air fluctuates greatly depending on the weather and the temperature and humidity environment around the bathroom.

[0005] Some of the water condensed in the bathroom stays on the floors and walls and evaporates again. Therefore, the humidity in the bathroom fluctuates regardless of the drying state of the object to be dried, and if the drying operation is controlled based on this humidity information, the problem that the drying operation ends even though the clothes are not in the drying completed state, In some cases, the drying operation is continued even though the clothes are in a drying completed state, and a problem of wasting energy occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a bathroom clothing drying apparatus capable of accurately detecting a drying state of an object to be dried without wasting energy and a control method thereof. To provide.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems and Actions and Effects There are provided a circulating means for circulating air in a bathroom, a heating means for heating the air, and a humidity for the air. A humidity control means for adjusting the humidity of the bathroom clothing, comprising: a water content detection means for detecting the water content of the object to be dried in the bathroom, the bathroom clothes in response to the output of the moisture content detection means Since at least one of the circulation unit, the heating unit, and the humidity adjustment unit of the drying device is controlled, the drying state of the object to be dried can be accurately detected, and the drying unit according to the drying state of the object to be dried. Can be selected and a drying operation without wasting energy can be performed.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a bathroom clothes drying apparatus.

On the ceiling of the bathroom 1, an electric heater 4 as a means for heating the air in the bathroom and a circulating blower 2 as a means for circulating the air in the bathroom are provided, and clothes 6 to be dried are dried in the bathroom. It is installed while being hung on a pipe 8. Circulating blower 2
Is heated by the electric heater 4 and supplied into the bathroom. The moisture contained in the clothes 6 is heated by the heated air in the bathroom, and is promoted to evaporate. The evaporated water is released to the outside of the bathroom together with the air in the bathroom by the ventilation blower 3 as the humidity control means, and the outside air of the bathroom enters the bathroom ventilation opening 9 instead.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the mass detecting device.

A mass sensor 20 fixed to a bathroom wall 21
Is connected to a clothesline 8. Clothing 6 on the pipe
Is suspended, the mass is measured by the mass sensor 20, and the measurement data is output to the controller 5.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram, and FIG. 4 is a time chart of the operation. The controller 5 calculates a drying operation method with a high drying speed and energy saving and the best drying efficiency based on the data measured by the mass detector (mass sensor 20). An operation command is issued to the heater 3 and the electric heater 4.

Experimental results show that it is effective to lower the surface humidity of clothes in the initial stage of drying, so that the circulating blower 2 and the ventilating blower 3 are set to perform in the HI mode (high air flow). Is programmed to In the later stage of drying, it is effective to raise the temperature of the clothes, and the capacity of the circulation blower 2 and the ventilation blower 3 is set to the LOW mode (small air flow), and the electric heater 4 is set to the HI mode ( (Large heating). Whether the drying state is early, late or completed is determined by the value of drying efficiency (weight loss rate / input heat quantity).

First, the amount of heat input into the bathroom is calculated from the amount of heat of the electric heater 4 and the amount of air blown by the circulation blower 2 and the ventilation blower 3. Then, the weight loss rate of the clothing mass (= the mass change / the elapsed drying time) is calculated to determine the drying efficiency. At the beginning of the dry state, the value of the drying efficiency is large, and at the late stage, it becomes small,
It approaches zero as it approaches completion.

The above-described example is an example in which the mass sensor 20 is used as the water content detecting device. FIG. 5 is an example in which temperature detection by infrared rays is used as the water content detecting device. The infrared detecting element 30 receives a certain wavelength in the infrared region of the thermal energy radiated from the garment 6 and outputs a signal corresponding to the temperature of the garment 6. 6 is characterized in that its temperature can be detected in a non-contact manner.

FIG. 7 shows a change in clothes temperature. The clothes temperature in the initial stage of drying shows a lower value than the bathroom temperature detected by the temperature sensor 14, and the change in temperature is small even after the drying time has elapsed. . In the later stage of drying, the temperature of the clothes 6 changes greatly and approaches the temperature in the bathroom. Therefore, by detecting the temperature of the garment 6, its dry state can be known.

Further, since there is a characteristic in the dry state of the garment 6 and its temperature change, the dry state can be similarly obtained from the time change rate of the temperature detection value by infrared rays without using the information of the temperature sensor 14. Examples of the infrared light receiving element include a thermopile and a pyroelectric element.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which humidity detection by infrared rays is used as a moisture detection device. The infrared light emitter 31 emits, in the direction of the clothes 6, an infrared ray having a wavelength of 1.45 μm absorbed by water and an infrared ray having a wavelength of 1.3 μm which is hardly absorbed by water.

The infrared light receiver 10 is installed at a position where the infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitter 31 passes through the clothes 6 and reaches the infrared light, detects infrared light having a wavelength of 1.45 μm and 1.3 μm, and outputs a signal corresponding to the detected intensity. Output. Among the infrared rays emitted from the infrared light emitter 31, those having a wavelength of 1.45 μm are partially absorbed by the moisture of the clothes 6, and the rest reaches the infrared receiver 10.

On the other hand, infrared rays having a wavelength of 1.3 μm reach the infrared ray receiver 10 without being absorbed by the moisture of the clothes 6. Therefore 1.4
By detecting the intensity of the infrared rays having a wavelength of 5 μm and the infrared rays having a wavelength of 1.3 μm, the dry state of the clothes 6 can be known.

In this example, infrared rays of two wavelengths are emitted. However, since the drying state can be known from the time change rate of the infrared ray of the wavelength absorbed by water, the wavelength absorbed by water is obtained. May be used alone. The infrared light emitting element includes a light emitting diode and a semiconductor diode, and the infrared light receiving element includes an InGaAs PIN photodiode and a Ga photodiode.

According to the above-described embodiment, the drying state of the garment 6 is detected during the drying operation, and a predicted drying end time is calculated based on the detected value and reported to the driving remote controller. The predicted time is corrected by a value calculated by constantly detecting the dry state of the garment 6. When the elapse of the predicted drying end time is detected by a timer built in the driving remote controller, the driving remote controller sounds a buzzer to notify the end of the drying operation.

In the above-described embodiment, the supply of the heated air to the bathroom is performed by the circulating means for sucking the air in the bathroom. However, a method of heating the air sucked from outside the bathroom and supplying the heated air to the bathroom may be employed. Good. Further, the humidity adjusting means may be a method such as a moisture adsorbent or a cooling type dehumidifier that does not discharge the air in the bathroom to the outside of the bathroom instead of the ventilation blower 3.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a bathroom clothing drying device.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a mass detection device.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram.

Fig. 4 Operation time chart

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a temperature detection device using infrared rays.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a humidity detection device using infrared rays.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing a change in clothing temperature.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Bathroom, 2 ... Circulating blower, 3 ... Ventilation blower, 4 ...
Electric heater, 5: controller, 6: clothing, 7: infrared light emitting device, 8: drying pipe, 9: bathroom vent, 10: infrared light receiver, 11: remote controller, 12: bathtub, 13: humidity sensor, 14: temperature sensor, 20: mass sensor, 2
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Bathroom wall, 30 ... Infrared detecting element, 31 ... Infrared light emitting element

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A bathroom clothing drying apparatus comprising: a circulating unit for circulating air in a bathroom; a heating unit for heating the air; and a humidity adjusting unit for adjusting the humidity of the air.
It is provided with a moisture content detecting means for detecting the moisture content of the drying object in the bathroom, and according to an output of the moisture content detecting means, at least one of a circulating means, a heating means, and a humidity adjusting means of the bathroom clothes drying device. A bathroom clothing drying device characterized by controlling one. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said moisture detecting means is a mass detecting device. 3. The bathroom clothing drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said moisture amount detection means is a temperature detection device using infrared rays. 4. The bathroom clothes drying device according to claim 1, wherein said moisture amount detecting means is a humidity detecting device using infrared rays. 5. The bathroom clothes drying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for calculating and notifying a predicted drying end time in accordance with an output of the water content detecting means.