JPH1144484A - Drying device and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the time that is required for drying a dried material such as clothing without overheating it. SOLUTION: A closed container 10, inside of which the pressure reduction to the atmospheric pressure or lower is possible, and a water sealing type vacuum pump 30 are provided. Clothing 1 is stored in the closed container 10, and then the air and steam inside the closed container 10 are discharged by the water sealing type vacuum pump 30, so as to maintain the low pressure in the closed container 10. On the other hand, an electric heater 15 is provided in the closed container 10 to heat the clothing 1. The temperature drop of the clothing 1 due to the removal of the latent heat of vaporization at the time of the vaporization of moisture is prevented, so that the high saturated vapor pressure of moisture is maintained. Thereby, the saturated vapor pressure of moisture is maintained higher than the atmospheric pressure in the closed container 10, and then the vaporization of moisture is promoted, so that the time that is required for drying can be shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drying apparatus and a drying method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a dryer for clothes, wet clothes are put into a container, and hot air is blown into the container to heat the clothes, thereby promoting evaporation of moisture and drying clothes. It is general to try to reduce the time required.

However, in such a dryer, it is necessary to raise the temperature of the hot air in order to shorten the drying time, but the temperature of the hot air has an upper limit because of the need to prevent damage to clothes. However, there is a limit to the reduction of the drying time.

Therefore, a drying apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-139.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 400, by putting clothes in a closed container configured to be able to depressurize the inside to below atmospheric pressure, by providing a vacuum pump to depressurize the inside of the closed container,
Some of them aim to shorten the drying time. This drying device promotes the evaporation of water by relatively increasing the saturated water vapor pressure of the water contained in clothes by reducing the pressure inside the container, thereby shortening the drying time without raising the temperature of the clothes. It is to try to.

[0005]

However, in a dryer equipped with a vacuum pump as described above, evaporation of water is once promoted by the reduced pressure in the closed vessel, but continuous discharge of water vapor is difficult. As a result, the sealed container is filled with steam. As a result, the saturated water vapor pressure of the water contained in the clothes becomes substantially equal to the air pressure in the closed container, and the evaporation is not sufficiently promoted, and the drying time cannot always be effectively reduced. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the atmospheric pressure in a closed container (10) by saturating water contained in an object (1) to be dried such as clothing. By keeping the pressure lower than the water vapor pressure, the evaporation of water is promoted and the drying time is shortened.

[0007]

The present invention relates to a closed container (10).
Air and water vapor are continuously discharged to keep the pressure in the closed vessel (10) low while heating the material (1) to be contained in the material (1) By maintaining the saturated water vapor pressure of the water high, the evaporation of the water is promoted.

[0008] Specifically, the means adopted by the invention of claim 1 is constructed so that the inside can be maintained at a reduced pressure state below the atmospheric pressure, and a sealed container (10) for storing the object to be dried (1). When,
A heat source (15) for heating the object to be dried (1) in the closed container (10), and a state in which the object to be dried (1) is connected to the closed container (10) and heated by the heat source (15) And a discharge means (30) for sucking air and water vapor inside the closed container (10) and discharging the air and water vapor to the outside so that the object to be dried (1) in the closed container (10) is dried. Things.

Further, the means adopted by the invention according to claim 2 is the drying device according to claim 1, wherein the discharging means (30)
Is constituted by a water-sealed vacuum pump (30). The means adopted by the invention according to claim 3 is the drying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the closed container (10) and the discharge means (30)
Is connected to a collecting means (20) for collecting the water vapor sucked from the inside of the closed vessel (10), and the collecting means (20) is cooled to condense the water vapor. Cooling unit
(21) and a water storage container (22) for collecting and storing the water condensed in the cooling part (21). In the drying apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the heat source (15) is any one of an electric heater, a gas combustion heater, and a catalyst combustion heater.

[0010] The measures taken by the invention according to claim 5 are the drying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the closed container (10) is provided.
Further, a separator (12) for dividing the inside of the sealed container (10) into a plurality of spaces is provided.

[0011] The measures taken by the invention according to claim 6 are the drying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the closed container (10) is provided.
Is provided with a container body (14) and a stirring drum (11) formed in a hollow cylindrical shape so as to store the object to be dried (1),
The stirring drum (11) is attached to the container body (14) so as to be rotatable about the drum so as to stir the material to be dried (1).

Further, the means of the invention according to claim 7 is to store the material to be dried (1) in a closed container (10), keep it in a sealed state, and rotate the stirring drum (11) to dry the material. Thing (1)
While the material to be dried (1) in the stirring drum (11) is heated by the heat source (15), the heating of the material to be dried (1) by the heat source (15) is continued, and the water ring vacuum is applied. Pump (30)
The air and water vapor in the closed container (10) are simultaneously discharged to dry the object (1) to be dried.When the drying of the object (1) is completed, the heating of the heat source (15) is stopped. Then
After air is introduced into the closed vessel (10) to equalize the pressure inside and outside the closed vessel (10), the stirring drum (11) is stopped, and the material to be dried (1) is taken out.

According to the present invention, first, the object to be dried (1) is stored in the closed container (10). In the invention according to claim 5, the material to be dried (1) is stored in the stirring drum (11) of (10).
Are dispersed and stored by the separator (12).

Thereafter, the object to be dried (1) is stirred by rotating the stirring drum (11), and the object to be dried (1) in the stirring drum (11) is heated by the heat source (15). Specifically,
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, heating is performed by an electric heater, a gas combustion heater, or a catalyst combustion heater.

At the same time as the heating by the heat source (15), the air and steam in the closed vessel (10) are discharged by the discharging means (30). For example, in the second aspect of the present invention, the inside of the closed vessel (10) is depressurized by a water ring vacuum pump (30),
(1) Dry.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the water vapor discharged by the discharging means (30) is collected by the collecting means (20), that is, the water vapor is cooled by the cooling part (21) and condensed. The condensed water is stored in the water storage container (22).

On the other hand, when the drying of the object to be dried (1) is completed, the heating of the heat source (15) is stopped, and then the closed vessel (10)
After introducing air into the inside of the container and equalizing the inside and outside of the closed vessel (10), the stirring drum (11) is stopped and the material to be dried (1) is taken out.

[0018]

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
The pressure in the closed vessel (10) can be kept low by the discharge means (30). On the other hand, the material to be dried (1)
As the temperature of the material to be dried (1) does not decrease by removing the latent heat of evaporation from the material to be dried (1) when the water evaporates, the temperature of the material to be dried (1) is reduced. The saturated steam pressure can be kept high. As a result, the saturated water vapor pressure of the water can be kept higher than the pressure inside the closed container (10), and the state in which the evaporation of the water is promoted can be maintained. be able to.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the air and water vapor in the closed vessel (10) can be sucked and discharged by the water ring vacuum pump (30). In other words, since a general vacuum pump lubricates and seals between the cylinder and the rotor using lubricating oil, if water vapor is sucked and moisture is mixed into the lubricating oil, damage to equipment or sealing due to poor lubrication may occur. The exhaust performance is reduced due to the defect. On the other hand, according to the water-sealed vacuum pump (30), the cylinder and the rotor are sealed with water, and the bearing is sealed by packing, so that water does not enter. For this reason, it is possible to stably discharge the water vapor without lowering the exhaust performance or damaging the equipment.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the steam is condensed in the cooling section (21), the closed vessel (1) is condensed.
0), more condensed water is stored in the water storage container (22), so that it does not stay in the cooling unit (21), which may obstruct the flow of the discharged water vapor. Absent.

Further, according to the present invention, the object to be dried (1) can be reliably heated by using any one of an electric heater, a gas combustion type heater and a catalytic combustion type heater. it can.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the objects to be dried (1) do not come into contact with each other, and water can be uniformly evaporated from the entire surface of the object to be dried (1). And drying time can be shortened.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the article to be dried (1) is stirred by the stirring drum (11), it is possible to uniformly evaporate water from the entire surface of the article to be dried (1). The drying can be performed reliably and the drying time can be shortened.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since the object to be dried (1) is heated while being stirred, the object to be dried is heated.
(1) can be heated uniformly, while closed container (10)
Since the object to be dried (1) is continuously heated from before exhausting to the inside of the exhaust, the object to be dried
(1) The temperature drop can be reliably prevented. Furthermore, when the air in the sealed container (10) is exhausted, the material to be dried (1) is stirred by the rotation of the stirring drum (11).
Water can be uniformly evaporated from the surface of (1).
As a result, drying can be reliably performed, and the drying time can be shortened.

[0025]

Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the present embodiment is a clothes dryer for drying clothes (1) as an object to be dried.
Closed container (10) for storing clothes (1) and collection means (20)
And a water ring vacuum pump (30).

The collecting means (20) comprises a cooling part (21) and a water storage container (22). The cooling part (21) is formed by a spiral pipe, and one end is provided with an exhaust valve (V1). Connected to a sealed container (10) through a water-sealed vacuum pump (3
0). At the bottom of the cooling section (21),
A water storage container (22) is detachably mounted via a water storage valve (V2) so as to store condensed water.

The closed container (10) comprises a container body (14),
Openable and closable door (not shown) and air introduction valve
(V3) and an air introduction port (13),
A stirring drum (11) formed in a hollow cylindrical shape is provided in the container body (14). The stirring drum (11) is connected to a motor (not shown), and is attached to the container body (14) so as to rotate around the center of the cylindrical drum.
Is configured to be stirred. In addition, the closed container
An electric heater (15) as a heat source is provided inside (10), and the electric heater (15) radiates the stirring drum (1).
1) It is configured to heat the garment (1) therein.

The water ring vacuum pump (30) is provided with
(20), and constitutes a discharge means (30), and is placed on a water tank (32), and a water suction pipe (33) is connected to suck water in the water tank (32). . As shown in FIG. 2, the water ring vacuum pump (30) includes a casing (41) in which an elliptical internal space (48) is formed. The casing (41) has a suction port (43a) and a suction-side connection port (43b), and a suction path (43) communicating with the suction port (43a) and the suction-side connection port (43b). On the other hand, a discharge port (44a) and a discharge-side connection port (44b) are formed in the casing (41), and the discharge port (44
a) and a discharge path (44) communicating with the discharge side connection port (44b). A disk-shaped impeller (42) is provided in the internal space (48), and the impeller (42) has an internal space (48).
Are provided so as to share the center axis with the center of the ellipse.
The impeller (42) includes a plurality of blades (42a) radially formed in a radial direction, and is connected to a motor (not shown) so as to rotate about a central axis.

In the water ring vacuum pump (30), water is injected into the internal space (48) of the casing (41), and the impeller (42)
Is rotated as shown by the arrow in FIG. 2 so that water rotates and flows along the wall surface of the internal space (48),
A space (46) is formed at the center of (48). Then, as the impeller (42) rotates, the liquid level (4
7) moves in the radial direction to perform a piston action, thereby inhaling and discharging gas.

-Driving Operation-Next, the drying operation of the clothes dryer will be described together with the drying method.

First, the wet clothes (1) are stored in the stirring drum (11) from the door of the closed container (10), and the door is closed to keep the closed container (10) in a closed state. Thereafter, the clothes drum (1) is stirred by rotating the stirring drum (11), and at the same time,
Electricity is supplied to the electric heater (15) to uniformly heat the clothes (1).

Subsequently, while maintaining the above state, the water-sealed vacuum pump (30) is operated and the exhaust valve (V
1) is opened, and the air and steam in the closed vessel (10) are sucked and discharged by the water ring vacuum pump (30). The discharge of water vapor and the heating of the garment (1) as described above
Continue until the drying in (1) is completed.

At this time, a part of the steam discharged from the closed vessel (10) is cooled by heat exchange with air in the cooling section (21) and condenses, and flows down inside the cooling section (21). It flows through the open water storage valve (V2) and is stored in the water storage container (22), while the remaining steam is water-sealed vacuum pump (30)
And is discharged from the discharge path (44). Also clothing
If the water storage container (22) is full before the drying of (1) is completed, close the water storage valve, remove the water storage container (22), drain the stored water, and then Refit 22), open the water storage valve and store the water condensed in the cooling section (21).

After the clothes (1) have been dried,
The heating by the electric heater (15) is stopped, and the exhaust valve is closed to stop the exhaust. Then the air introduction valve
After opening (V3) and introducing outside air into the closed container (10),
Stop the stirring drum (11).

According to the first embodiment, the pressure in the closed vessel (10) can be kept low by the water ring vacuum pump (30).
On the other hand, since the electric heater (15) heats the clothes (1), the temperature of the clothes (1) can be prevented from lowering due to the latent heat of evaporation being taken from the clothes (1) during the evaporation of moisture. clothing
The saturated water vapor pressure of the water contained in (1) can be kept high. As a result, the saturated steam pressure of moisture is
(10) Since the pressure can be maintained higher than the internal pressure, the state in which the evaporation of water is promoted can be maintained, and as a result, the drying time can be reduced.

Further, since the water-sealed vacuum pump (30) is used, even when sucking water vapor, the water vapor in the sealed container (10) can be stably kept without lowering the exhaust performance or causing damage to the equipment. Can be discharged.

In the cooling section (21), the closed vessel (10)
Since a part of the water vapor sucked from the water is condensed, more water vapor can be suctioned, but the condensed water is stored in the water storage container (22) and does not stay in the cooling part (21), but is discharged. It does not impede the flow of steam that is generated.

In addition, since the clothing (1) is heated while being stirred, the clothing (1) can be heated uniformly, while the interior of the closed container (10) is continuously exhausted before exhausting and before exhausting. Since the clothing (1) is heated in advance, the temperature of the clothing (1) can be reliably prevented from lowering due to evaporation of water. Furthermore, even when the inside of the closed container (10) is evacuated, the clothes (1) are stirred by the rotation of the stirring drum (11), so that water can be uniformly evaporated from the surface of the clothes (1). Can,
Drying can be performed reliably, and the drying time can be shortened.

Modification of Embodiment 1 In the above embodiment, the electric heater (15) is provided as a heat source in the closed container (10). Either a gas-fired heater or a catalyst-fired heater is installed in the garment (1), and the heat generated by the combustion of the gas causes the clothing (1)
May be configured to be heated.

Further, the discharging means (30) is constituted by using a water-sealed vacuum pump, but is not necessarily limited to the water-sealed vacuum pump, and continuously discharges air and water vapor. Anything that can do it is acceptable.

[0042]

Embodiment 2 In Embodiment 2, as shown in FIG. 3, a stirrer drum (11) is provided inside a closed vessel (10) in Embodiment 1, and a shelf-shaped separator is used. (1
2) is provided to divide the space inside the sealed container (10) into a plurality of spaces. And the separator
The clothes (1) to be dried are placed on the (12) to perform drying. Further, the separator (12)
Are formed in a mesh, and the separator (12) of the garment (1)
It is configured so as not to hinder evaporation of water from a portion in contact with the water. Other configurations are described in Embodiment 1.
Is the same as

-Driving operation-The driving operation of the present embodiment is performed by setting the clothes (1) in the stirring drum (11).
The operation is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the clothes (1) are placed on the separator (12) instead of storing the clothes, and the stirring drum (11) is not rotated. .

According to the second embodiment, since the inside of the closed container (10) is divided into a plurality of spaces, the clothes (1) can be stored separately according to types. Usability can be improved.

[0045]

Other Embodiments In the first and second embodiments, the case where the drying device of the present invention is configured as a clothes dryer has been described. However, what is dried by the drying device is limited to clothes. Instead, things other than clothing may be dried.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a clothes dryer according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a water ring vacuum pump.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a clothes dryer according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (1) Clothes (dry matter) (10) Closed container (11) Stirring drum (12) Separator (14) Container body (15) Electric heater (heat source) (20) Collection means (21) Cooling unit (22) Water storage container (30) Water ring vacuum pump (discharge means)

Claims (7)

[Claims] An airtight container (1) for storing an object to be dried (1), wherein the inside of the airtight container (1) is configured to be maintained at a reduced pressure below the atmospheric pressure.
0), a heat source (15) for heating the object to be dried (1) in the closed container (10), and the object to be dried (1) connected to the closed container (10) by the heat source (15). In a state in which the object to be dried (1) in the closed container (10) is dried while the container is heated, a discharging means (3) for sucking air and water vapor inside the closed container (10) and discharging it to the outside.
0). 2. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharging means (30) is constituted by a water ring vacuum pump (30). 3. The drying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a closed container (1) is provided between the closed container (10) and the discharging means (30).
(0) is connected to a collecting means (20) for collecting the water vapor sucked from the inside, while the collecting means (20) is provided with a cooling unit (21) for cooling and condensing the water vapor. A water storage container (22) for collecting and storing the water condensed in the cooling unit (21). 4. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heat source is one of an electric heater, a gas-fired heater, and a catalytic-fire heater. And drying equipment. 5. The drying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the sealed container (10) includes a separator (12) for dividing the inside of the container body (14) into a plurality of spaces. . 6. The drying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the closed container (10) includes a container main body (14) and an agitating drum (11) formed in a hollow cylindrical shape so as to store the object to be dried (1). )
A drying device, characterized in that the stirring drum (11) is rotatably mounted on the container body (14) around the drum so as to stir the material to be dried (1). 7. An object to be dried (1) is stored in an agitating drum (11) of an airtight container (10) and held in a sealed state.
(11) is rotated to agitate the object to be dried (1), while the object to be dried (1) in the stirring drum (11) is heated by the heat source (15), and then the object to be dried by the heat source (15) is heated. While the heating of (1) is continued, the air to be dried (1) is dried by simultaneously discharging the air and steam in the closed vessel (10) by the water ring vacuum pump (30), and the dried object (1) is dried. ) Is completed, the heating of the heat source (15) is stopped, and then outside air is introduced into the closed container (10) to equalize the inside and the outside of the closed container (10).
A drying method, wherein the stirring drum (11) is stopped.