KR100434371B1 - Dryer and drying method - Google Patents

Abstract

Drying apparatus according to the present invention is provided with an evaporator for converting the air of a predetermined space to low temperature dry air, a condenser for converting the low temperature dry air to high temperature dry air, and a fan for circulating the air of the various states, The laundry is characterized in that it comprises a refrigeration means that is modular to be separated from the drum containing the laundry can be used alone.

Drying apparatus according to the present invention having such a feature is excellent in the dehumidification effect using a refrigeration means including an evaporator, a condenser, it is possible to obtain a high drying effect even with a relatively low temperature hot air. In addition, by using a relatively low temperature hot air rather than a very high temperature hot air, it does not hurt the fabric, and can be produced by using a general material rather than a heat-resistant material, which has the effect of reducing the production cost, the advantage of the small volume have.

In addition, there is less risk of fire due to high temperature, and can also be used to remove from the drum, there is also a wide range of applications by using only the drying device is kept in a closet or a damp room for storing clothes separately.

Description

Drying apparatus and drying method

The present invention relates to a drying apparatus and method, and in more detail, to improve the problem that the laundry is damaged due to high heat, and relates to a more efficient drying apparatus and method.

1 is a structural diagram schematically showing a conventional drying apparatus.

Referring to Figure 1, a conventional drying apparatus includes a drum (10) containing laundry to be dried; A fan (20) for suction-circulating medium-temperature wet air in the drum (10) due to the laundry; A heat exchanger (30) for converting the sucked middle temperature wet air into dry air; A heater 40 for heating the low temperature dry air and converting the low temperature dry air into high temperature dry air; It consists of an air pipe 80 that serves as the passage of air.

In more detail, the drum 10 is a member for storing laundry to be dried, and a baffle is formed therein so that the laundry can be lifted by rotation.

The fan 20 is a member that causes the flow of air by rotation, and mainly uses the fan motor 50 as a driving source for high speed rotation. In addition, when the fan 20 and the fan motor 50 are spaced apart by a certain degree, the fan 60 is connected using the belt 60.

The heat exchanger 30 is a member that sucks outside air to cool the middle temperature wet air of the drum 10 introduced by the fan 20 to cool the middle temperature wet air. Cooling fan 31 is provided to suck the water. At this time, the driving source for rotating the cooling fan 31 is to serve as the fan motor 50.

The heater 40 is a member for heating the low temperature dry air dehumidified in the heat exchanger 30 to convert the high temperature dry air.

The air pipe 80 is a member that serves as a passage through which air is circulated, and a drain hole for draining water generated in the heat exchanger 30 is formed, and a drip tray 70 receiving the drained water is separately installed. .

Referring to the operation of the conventional drying apparatus having such a structure, first, the fan 20 rotates at a high speed to suck air in the drum 10. The air is dehumidified while passing through the heat exchanger 30 and becomes hot air by the heater 40 to be supplied to the drum 10 again. At this time, the laundry in the drum 10 is lifted by the baffles formed therein and falls off from the top due to the slow rotation. At this time, the moisture is evaporated by the hot air and the moisture is discharged through the exhaust port.

However, such a drying method has a problem that the production cost is increased by using a heater of a very high temperature, not only the drying efficiency is lowered and the fabric is damaged, but also internal heat resistant material must be used.

In addition, since the configuration is integrally formed with the drum of the washing machine, the use thereof is separated from the drum and cannot be used separately, so there are many problems in the application of the drying apparatus.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a drying apparatus and method which can dry laundry at a lower temperature than a heater and can be used for various purposes.

1 is a structural diagram schematically showing a conventional drying apparatus.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a drying apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flow chart showing a clothes drying process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a schematic view showing a state of use of the drying apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10, 100 ... Drum 20, 250 ... Fan

30 ........ Heat exchanger 31 ........ Cooling fan

40 ........ Heater 50, 251 ... Fan motor

60 ........ belt 70, 270 ... drip

80 ........ Air pipe 200 ....... Refrigeration means

210 ....... Evaporator 220 ....... Compressor

230 ....... Condenser 240 ....... Expansion Valve

260 ....... Drain

In order to achieve the above object, a drying apparatus according to the present invention includes an evaporator for converting air in a predetermined space into low-temperature dry air, a condenser for converting the low-temperature dry air into high-temperature dry air, and circulating air in the various states. Is provided with a fan, characterized in that generally comprises a refrigeration means that is modular so that the laundry can be used alone or separated from the drum containing the laundry.

In addition, the drying method according to the present invention includes a drying step of drying a predetermined space by converting air in a predetermined space into a high-temperature dry air using a dehumidification effect using the cooling action of the evaporator and a heating effect using the exothermic action of the condenser; It is characterized by including an operation time inspection step of repeating the drying step when it is not reached by checking whether it reaches a sufficient time for drying of a predetermined space and ending the drying when it is reached.

As such, the drying apparatus and method according to the present invention have the advantage of obtaining high efficiency at a lower volume and at a lower temperature by drying the laundry using a freezing circulation process of the freezing means, and having high heat resistance due to the low operating temperature. It is also possible to use general materials rather than materials, which reduces the production cost.

In addition, the risk of fire due to high temperature, and can be used away from the drum, so there is also a wide range of applications, such as a closet for storing clothes or a humid room.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the drying apparatus according to the present invention includes an evaporator 210 for converting air of a predetermined space into low temperature dry air, a condenser 230 for converting low temperature dry air into high temperature dry air, and the various states. Is provided with a fan 250 for circulating the air, it is generally composed of a refrigeration means 200 that is modular so that it can be used alone by separating from the drum 100 containing the laundry.

In more detail, the evaporator 210 is a member in which a low temperature low pressure liquid refrigerant is converted into a low temperature low pressure gas refrigerant, and thus absorbs ambient heat when the refrigerant evaporates, resulting in lowering the ambient temperature. do. At this time, the air introduced by the fan 250 is present, the temperature is lowered due to the evaporator 210 and the relative humidity is raised to form water. As a result, dehumidification occurs and the incoming air is replaced with cold, dry air.

The condenser 230 is a member in which the high temperature and high pressure gas refrigerant is converted into a medium temperature and high pressure liquid refrigerant, and emits heat to the surroundings when the temperature of the refrigerant decreases, thereby increasing the ambient temperature. At this time, there is a low-temperature dry air passed through the evaporator 210, the temperature rises due to the condenser 210 is changed to high-temperature dry air.

The evaporator 210 and the condenser 230 should be continuously supplied with air to be used for heat exchange, and for this purpose, an evaporation fan and a condensation fan are required. Preferably, the evaporation fan and the condensation fan are integrated into one fan 250, and the fan 250 is driven by a fan motor 251.

In addition, the refrigerating means 200 including the evaporator 210 and the condenser 230 should be further provided with a compressor 220 and an expansion valve 240 for the refrigeration circulation action, the compressor 220 Is a member positioned after the evaporator 210 to convert the low temperature low pressure gas refrigerant introduced from the evaporator 210 into a high temperature high pressure gas refrigerant, and the expansion valve 240 is next to the condenser 230. Located at is a member for converting the medium-temperature high-pressure liquid refrigerant from the condenser 230 into a low-temperature low-pressure liquid refrigerant. As described above, the refrigerating means 200 includes an evaporator 210, a compressor 220, a condenser 230, an expansion valve 240, and a fan 250, thereby providing a compression process, a condensation process, an expansion process, and an evaporation process. Freezing circulation is possible.

On the other hand, the refrigerating means 200 is configured to include a part of the air passage including a part of the air pipe 80, in particular, the condenser 23, which is one component of the refrigerating means 200 is rather It is located at the lower end of the air passage. It is preferable that a drain port 260 for draining the water formed in the evaporator 210 is formed, in this case, a separate drip tray 270 is disposed at the end of the drain port 260. It is preferable.

The drying apparatus according to the present invention thus configured converts the air of a predetermined space into hot air and supplies it to the predetermined space again, and at the same time, the moisture of the predetermined space is discharged through a drain hole to dry the predetermined space. Although the predetermined space is used as the drum 100 in the present embodiment, it may be applied to a closet, a clothes drying room, or a humid room. This is possible because the risk of fire or the like is reduced by using the safe refrigeration means 200 of low temperature instead of the high temperature heater.

Of course, the refrigeration means 200 for use in a predetermined space other than the drum 100 is also because it is configured in a modular detachable to the drum 100.

Then, the operation of the drying apparatus according to the present invention having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a clothing drying process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the clothes drying process according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a dehumidifying effect using a cooling function of the air in a predetermined space and a heating effect using an exothermic action of the condenser 230. Drying step (S 910) to convert a high-temperature dry air to dry a predetermined space using; Check whether the time reaches a sufficient time for drying of the predetermined space to repeat the drying step (S 910) when not reached, and when it reaches the operation consists of an operation time inspection step (S 920) to finish the drying.

Looking in more detail, the drying step (S 910) and the step of sucking the air of a predetermined space (S 911); Converting the sucked air into a low temperature dry air by dehumidifying by a cooling action of the evaporator (S 912); Converting the low temperature dry air into high temperature dry air by absorbing heat from a condenser (S 913); The hot dry air is supplied to a predetermined space, and the predetermined space is dried (S914).

At this time, the predetermined space is preferably at least one of a drum, a wardrobe, a clothes drying room, a damp room.

On the other hand, the operation time inspection step (S 920) is a step performed by the control unit by a command by a user's operation or a command by the self-sensing system, it may be performed before the drying step (S 910).

In addition, a time sufficient for drying of the predetermined space inspected in the operation time checking step S 920 may be a time when the humidity measured by the sensor becomes less than or equal to a predetermined time, or a time manually designated by the user.

4 is a schematic view showing a state of use of the drying apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, the drying apparatus according to the present invention has a modular structure so that it can be used separately from the drum, and since the operating temperature is low, there is little risk of fire, and thus, the drying apparatus is separated from the wardrobe, the clothes drying room, and the damp room. Or the like. Of course, it can be applied to various places where moisture removal is required.

On the other hand, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and many variations are possible by those skilled in the art within the spirit of the present invention.

As described above, the drying apparatus and method according to the present invention have an excellent dehumidifying effect using a refrigerating means including an evaporator and a condenser, so that a high drying effect can be obtained even with a relatively low temperature hot air. In addition, by using a relatively low temperature hot air rather than a very high temperature hot air, it does not hurt the fabric, and can be produced by using a general material rather than a heat-resistant material, which has the effect of reducing the production cost, the advantage of the small volume have.

In addition, the risk of fire due to high temperature, and can be used away from the drum, so there is also a wide range of applications, such as a closet for storing clothes or a humid room.

Claims (7)

In the drying apparatus for drying a certain space, The drying apparatus includes an evaporator for converting air of the predetermined space into low temperature dry air; A condenser for converting the low temperature dry air into high temperature dry air; And a fan for circulating the air in various states, the apparatus including refrigeration means configured to be modular so that it can be used alone by separating from a drum containing laundry. The method of claim 1, The predetermined space is a drying apparatus, characterized in that at least one of a drum, a wardrobe, a clothes drying room, a damp room. The method of claim 1, The freezing means includes a drain for draining the water formed in the evaporator; And a drip tray receiving the water drained from the drain. The method of claim 1, And a fan of the freezing means serves as an evaporation fan and a condensation fan respectively required for the evaporator and the condenser. A drying step of drying the predetermined space by converting the air in the predetermined space into high temperature dry air using the dehumidifying effect using the cooling action of the evaporator and the heating effect using the exothermic action of the condenser; The method of claim 2, wherein the drying step is repeated to perform the drying step when not reached. The method of claim 5, wherein The drying step may include sucking air in a predetermined space; The sucked air is dehumidified by the cooling action of the evaporator and converted into low temperature dry air; Converting the cold dry air into hot dry air by absorbing heat from a condenser; And drying the predetermined space by supplying the hot dry air to a predetermined space. The method of claim 5, wherein The predetermined space is a drying method, characterized in that at least one of a drum, a wardrobe, a clothes drying room, a damp room.