JPH1199299A - Clothing drier and clothing drying method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable exhausting on the indoor side by turning hot air used for drying clothing to cool air in a clothing drier. SOLUTION: A heating coil 90 is provided in front of a rotatable drum 20 into which is placed wet clothing to turn air sucked into a clothing drier to hot air. In combination, a cooling coil 60 is provided facing a fan 40 on the side of the rear of the drum 20 through which the hot air passes. The heating coil 90 and the cooling coil 60 are interlinked by a heat pump system to enable circulation of a heat exchange medium through a compressor 70 and an expansion valve 80.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clothes drying technique in which hot air used for drying clothes is not exhausted as it is but is converted into cool air and can be exhausted indoors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in accordance with the diversification of lifestyles, washing at night or washing in the rain can be performed efficiently.
Clothes dryers are becoming popular in the home. If you have a clothes dryer, you do not have to pick up your clothes on a sunny day. Laundry can be dried without being affected by the weather.

[0003] The conventional clothes dryer is basically of a type in which hot air is blown on wet laundry to remove moisture by the hot air and dry the laundry.

For example, in the clothes dryer shown in FIG. 2, an electric heater 2, a drum 3, a motor 4 for rotating the drum 3, and a fan 5 for feeding hot air into the drum 3 are provided in a rectangular casing 1. Have been.

The clothes wet after washing are put into the drum 3 through the opening / closing window 6 on the front of the casing 1. The drum 3 is rotated together with a fan 5 by a motor 4. The rotation of the motor 4 is transmitted to the drum 3 via a belt 7a and to the fan 5 via a belt 7b.

On the other hand, air is sucked into the clothes dryer by the rotation of the fan 5, and the air passes through the electric heater 2, is converted into hot air, and is sent into the drum 3. In the drum 3, clothes are rotated while being hooked on a baffle 3a provided inside the drum 3. Hot air hits the rotating clothes, and the hot air passes through the filter 8 to the back side of the drum 3 while removing moisture.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hot air that has escaped is exhausted directly into the room or the like from an exhaust port provided on the upper surface side of the casing 1.

There is also known a clothes dryer in which the hot air passing through the drum 3 is circulated in the clothes dryer without being exhausted. For example, as shown in FIG.
In the clothes dryer having such a configuration, the clothes are put into the drum 3 through the opening / closing window 6 and rotated together with the fan 5 by the rotation of the motor 4, similarly to the clothes dryer having the above configuration.

On the other hand, the air in the clothes dryer is passed through the electric heater 2 by the fan 5 and converted into hot air.
This hot air is sent into the drum 3, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3, and is brought into contact with the wet clothing to absorb moisture and dry the clothing. The hot air that has absorbed moisture in the drum 3 in this way escapes to the back side of the drum 3 and
By the duct d to the heat exchanger 9 side.

In the heat exchanger 9, room air is passed outside the heat exchanger 9, and the temperature of the hot air sent into the heat exchanger 9 is lowered to such an extent that moisture in the hot air can be removed as condensed water. This condensed water is directly discarded outside the clothes dryer.

The hot air whose moisture has been removed by the heat exchanger 9 and thus dried is further sent to the electric heater 2 side, and the hot air whose temperature has been once lowered for dehumidification rises again to a predetermined temperature. Then, it is sent into the drum 3.

[0012]

However, in the clothes dryer of the type in which the hot air is directly exhausted as described above, for example, in a state where the room is being cooled, even if the room temperature including the dehumidification is reduced, the room temperature may be reduced. Then, the room temperature is raised by the hot air exhaust of the clothes dryer.

In this case, the room temperature must be reduced by the temperature rise again, and the cooling load due to the air conditioning operation increases, which is uneconomical.

Further, from the viewpoint of power consumption and the like, the electric heater conventionally used for generating hot air is very inefficient as a thermal device. It is also necessary to efficiently generate hot air without using an electric heater and to provide a clothes dryer that consumes little power.

On the other hand, there is also known a system in which the hot air is not exhausted as it is, but the hot air is dehumidified and the dried hot air is circulated again. Since the air is passed through the outside of the heat exchanger to reduce the temperature of the hot air and dehumidify by air cooling, the heated air also flows into the room.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the temperature of hot air used for drying clothes in a clothes dryer so that cold air can be discharged.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0018]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, the outline of a representative one will be briefly described.
It is as follows.

That is, in the present invention, air in a room where a clothes dryer is installed is taken into the clothes dryer, and a heating coil is provided on the hot air supply means side in the clothes dryer, and air is passed between the coils. This turns the air into hot air.

The hot air is fed into a rotating drum containing wet clothes, and the moisture of the clothes wet with the hot air is removed by evaporation. The hot air containing the moisture is led out of the drum, and a cooling coil is provided. Then, the air is passed through the temperature-adjusting exhaust means to change the air to cool air. This cold air is exhausted indoors.

As described above, unlike the related art, since the hot air is not exhausted as it is, the cooling load for the operation of the indoor air conditioner can be reduced.

The heat exchange coils such as the heating coil and the cooling coil may be configured to be able to circulate a heat exchange medium through a compressor or an expansion valve by a heat pump method used for conventional air conditioning.

That is, the heat exchange medium is condensed from the compressor to a high temperature and sent to the heating coil side, and the air passing between the heating coils is warmed and changed into hot air. Further, the heat exchange medium in a condensed state that has passed through the heating coil passes through the expansion valve and is vaporized and evaporated toward the cooling coil side, and takes away surrounding heat during vaporization. The hot air that has passed through the drum is passed between the cooling coils, and changed to cool air. When changing to cold air, the water contained in the hot air is removed as condensed water.

As described above, when hot air is generated by the heating coil of the heat pump system, when the same amount of wet clothes is dried, the heat efficiency is higher than that of the conventional electric heater.
About one-third of the electricity consumption can be achieved.

[0025]

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

The clothes dryer of the present embodiment has a substantially cylindrical drum 20 rotatably provided in a casing 10 formed in a substantially box shape, and wet clothes are placed in the drum 20. The clothes can be dried by applying hot air while rotating.

An opening / closing window 30 also serving as a door is provided on the front side of the casing 10 so that clothes can be taken in and out through the opening / closing window 30. The opening / closing window 30 has a structure in which transparent glass having a certain degree of pressure resistance, heat resistance, and the like is fitted so that the drying state of the clothes in the drum 20 can be visually confirmed.

The drum 20 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and inside the cylinder, a baffle 21 protruding like a blade is provided on the inner peripheral surface side of the cylinder. The wet clothing put in the drum 20 is hooked on the baffle 21 and is rotated with the rotation of the drum 20.

The circular front surface 20a of the drum 20 facing the opening / closing window 30 is formed in a ring shape having a circular opening at the center. As shown in FIG. 1, the ring-shaped circular front surface 20 a has a peripheral edge of a central circular opening, which is bent outward in an approximately L-shape along the peripheral edge and is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape. A stop 22 is provided. Locking part 2
2 is slidably supported on the outer peripheral side of the drum support member 23 so that the drum 20 can rotate stably.

The drum support member 23 is formed in a disk shape in accordance with the size of the central circular opening of the circular front surface 20a, and a flange 23a is formed on the peripheral edge thereof, the flange 23a being bent along the peripheral edge into an approximately L-shaped section. It is adapted to be slidably fitted inside the cylindrical locking portion 22.

A circular opening is provided at the center of the disk surface of the drum support member 23 so that clothes can be taken in and out of the drum 20 through the opening / closing window 30 on the front side of the casing 10 through the circular opening. Has become.

In this way, the drum 20 is fixed to the flange 23 a of the drum support member 23 by the locking portion 2 of the drum 20.
2 can be stably rotated in a state of being slidably fitted.

Below the disk surface of the drum supporting member 23, there is provided an intake port 24 having a large number of intake holes. An intake port 11 having a large number of intake holes is also provided below the casing 10.
1 and a hot air supply means together with a heating coil described later.

On the other hand, on the side of the substantially circular back surface 20b of the cylindrical drum 20, a circular opening through which hot air flows is provided at the center. A fan 40 is provided facing the circular opening surface of the circular back surface 20b.

The circular back surface 20 b of the drum 20 is separated from the inside of the drum 20 via a filter 25.
The hot air that has passed through the inside of the
The fan 40 sucks the air from the side 0b.

The fan 40 can rotate by connecting the respective rotating shaft sides via a motor 50 and a belt 51. The motor 50 is provided with a pulley 52 provided on a rotating shaft thereof, a rotating belt 53 provided on a cylindrical peripheral surface of a drum is hung on the pulley 52, and is formed so as to be rotatable by the motor 50. In this way, both the fan 40 and the drum 20 are rotated by the same motor 50.

Further, a cooling coil 60 is provided facing the back side of the fan 40. In the present embodiment, the fan 40 and the cooling coil 60
Including, the exhaust passing through the circular back surface 20b side,
In order to be able to discharge from the exhaust port 12 on the upper surface of the casing 10, it is provided so as to enter into a duct D configured toward the exhaust port 12, and constitutes a temperature adjusting exhaust means.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cooling coil 60 is connected to the intake port 11 of the casing 10 and the intake port 24 provided below the drum support member 23 through a compressor 70 and an expansion valve 80. And a heating coil 90 between the heating coil 90 and the heat exchange medium in a heat pump manner.

That is, the cooling coil 60 and the heating coil 90 of a small heat pump type air conditioning and cooling mechanism are provided before and after the drum 20 of the clothes dryer.

In the clothes dryer of the present embodiment configured as described above, the rotation of the fan 40 causes the air in the room where the clothes dryer is placed or on the veranda to be provided at the lower front of the casing 10. Inhale through the mouth 11 into the clothes dryer.

The sucked air is passed between the coils of the heating coil 90 as it is, and at this time, heat is exchanged with a heat exchange medium passing through the heating coil 90 to be converted into hot air. The heat exchange medium condensed to a high temperature in the compressor 70 flows through the heating coil 90, and heat exchange is performed with air having a lower temperature than the heat exchange medium.

In this embodiment, since the generation of hot air conventionally performed by an electric heater is performed by a heat pump type heat exchange, it is estimated that when the same amount of clothes is dried, the hot air is generated. In this case, the amount of electricity can be reduced to about 1/3.

In the present embodiment, the hot air generated in this manner is, as shown in FIG.
3 is drawn into a cylindrical drum 20 from an intake port 24 formed by opening a number of intake holes below the disk surface. Inside the drum 20, wet clothes are rotated by the baffle 21 in accordance with the rotation of the drum 20, and hot air is applied to the wet clothes. The hot air passes through the drum 20 toward the circular back surface 20b while sucking the moisture of the clothes to dry the clothes.

When the hot air passes through the drum 20, care is taken so that fiber waste does not pass through the filter provided on the circular back surface 20b side to the circular back surface 20b side.
The hot air that has escaped toward the circular back surface 20 b is further blown toward the cooling coil 60 by the fan 40.

In the cooling coil 60, the heating coil 90
The heat exchange medium which has exchanged heat with the air sucked on the side of the air is expanded and evaporated by the expansion valve 80, and the cooling coil 60
While passing between the coils, the hot air is taken by the heat exchange medium in which the heat evaporates (the hot air is cooled).

When the hot air passes between the coils of the cooling coil 60, the water contained in the hot air is condensed and collected in a drain pan 61 provided below the cooling coil 60, and further collected in a drain pan 61. The water is drained out of the clothes dryer by the connected drain pipe 62.

The hot air escaping toward the circular back surface 20 b in this way is changed into a cool air without moisture while passing through the cooling coil 60, and is discharged along the duct D into the exhaust port 12 provided on the upper surface of the casing 10. Therefore, the air is exhausted, for example, to the indoor side.

Unlike the conventional case, the hot air is not exhausted to the indoor side as it is. Therefore, even if the clothes dryer is used during indoor cooling in summer, for example, the indoor temperature set in the cooling environment is exhausted by the exhaust from the clothes dryer. Don't worry about raising it.

Further, since the moisture is also removed as condensed water at the same time, there is no need to raise the humidity in the room.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the configuration is such that the hot air is changed to the cold air by the heat exchange method of the heat pump type adopted as the conventional air conditioning system, the temperature of the cold air can be adjusted by controlling the temperature during the air conditioning. It can be easily done in the manner of adjustment.

Further, in the above embodiment, the exhaust port 12 is provided on the upper surface of the casing 10, but may be provided on the rear side or the side of the casing 10.

Further, the operation control of the clothes dryer of the above embodiment is, for example, incorporated in combination with a sensor and a microcomputer so as to detect the degree of dryness of the clothes in the drum 20 and automatically stop the clothes. It should be left. The degree of dryness may be detected by detecting the humidity of hot air that has escaped toward the circular back surface 20b and stopping the operation when the humidity reaches a certain level.

Alternatively, as the clothes dry, the humidity of the exhaust hot air decreases and the temperature of the hot air rises, and operation control may be performed by detecting this rise in temperature.

Further, an electrode is provided in the drum 20,
The operation control may be performed by detecting the electrical resistance value of the clothing at the moment when the clothing contacts the electrode, and detecting the drying rate from the resistance value.

As described above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof. Needless to say, there is.

[0056]

Advantageous effects obtained by typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described.
It is as follows.

(1). In the present invention, since the hot air used for drying the clothes is changed to cool air and exhausted to the indoor side,
Unlike the conventional configuration in which the hot air is exhausted as it is, the clothes dryer can be used without breaking the indoor cooling state. Therefore, an increase in indoor cooling load can be suppressed.

(2). In the present invention, hot air used for drying clothes is generated by a heating coil of a heat pump system, so that when the same amount of clothes is dried, the amount of electricity used is smaller than when a conventional electric heater is used. And it is economical.

(3). In the present invention, the hot air is changed to the cold air by the cooling coil, and the moisture contained in the hot air is removed as condensed water, so that the dehumidified cold air can be exhausted to the indoor side, and the clothes dryer is used. By doing so, indoor air conditioning can be assisted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a conventional clothes dryer.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a conventional clothes dryer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Casing 2 Electric heater 3 Drum 4 Motor 5 Fan 6 Opening window 7a Belt 7b Belt 8 Filter 9 Heat exchanger d Duct 10 Casing 11 Intake port 12 Exhaust port 20 Drum 20a Circular front 29b Circular back surface 21 Baffle 22 Locking part 23 Drum support Member 23a Flange 24 Intake port 25 Filter 30 Open / close window 40 Fan 50 Motor 51 Belt 52 Pulley 53 Belt 60 Cooling coil 61 Drain pan 62 Drain coil 70 Compressor 80 Expansion valve 90 Heating coil D Duct

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rotatable drum for holding wet clothes, a hot air supply means for blowing hot air into the drum, and a temperature for adjusting the temperature of the hot air passing through the drum and discharging the hot air to the outside of the clothes dryer. A clothes dryer comprising: a regulating exhaust unit. 2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein a heating coil for heat exchange is provided on the hot air supply means side, and a cooling coil for heat exchange is provided on the temperature adjustment exhaust means side. A clothes dryer, wherein the heating coil and the cooling coil are provided so that a heat exchange medium can be circulated in a heat pump manner. 3. The air is sucked into the clothes dryer to convert it into hot air, the hot air is put into a rotating drum containing wet clothes, and the moisture in the clothes is removed by evaporating the hot air with the hot air. A method of drying clothes, comprising changing hot air that has passed through to cool air to dehumidify the air, and exhausting the cold air into the room to dry the clothes.