KR100631715B1 - Heat exchanger for a drier and condensing type drier utilizing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A heat exchanging machine for a drier and a condensing type drier using the same are provided to reduce an overall cost of a total system and to improve a dry efficiency by stably connecting the heat exchanging machine to a front cover using the medium of a plate. In a heat exchanging machine for a drier, a wet air flowing member in a shape of a duct and an external air flowing member on which a plurality of pin structures is formed are alternatively stacked on a heat exchanging member. A front surface cover(40) and a rear surface cover are attached to a front surface and a rear surface of the heat exchanging member, respectively. A plurality of protrusions(44b) is extended to a rear direction with opening a center thereof. A plate is placed between the heat exchanging member and the front surface cover, and between the heat exchanging member and the rear surface cover. And, the plate is physically connected to the protrusions.

Description

Heat exchanger for dryer and condensation dryer using the same {HEAT EXCHANGER FOR A DRIER AND CONDENSING TYPE DRIER UTILIZING THE SAME}

1A is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a clothes dryer.

FIG. 1B is a top view of the clothes dryer of FIG. 1A; FIG.

2 is a perspective view showing an example of a heat exchanger;

Figure 3 is an exploded view showing the components of the heat exchanger of the present invention.

Figure 4a is a perspective view showing the front cover of the heat exchanger of the present invention.

Figure 4b is a side view showing the front cover of the heat exchanger of the present invention.

5 is a front view showing a plate of the heat exchanger according to the present invention.

Figure 6a is a side view showing a heat exchanger with the front cover and plate combined.

Figure 6b is a photograph showing a portion of the actual heat exchanger produced.

*** Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing ***

30: heat exchange part 32: tube

34: pin structure 40: front cover

42: rear cover 44b: rear projection

50: plate 54: protrusion

The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for a dryer, and more particularly, to a heat exchanger having a new structure with improved heat exchange efficiency.

In general, a drying machine such as a combined-use washing machine or a clothes dryer blows hot air generated by a heater into a drum to perform drying on a drying object, and greatly depends on a treatment method of wet air generated by drying the drying object. It is divided into exhaust method and condensation method.

In the case of the exhaust method, the wet air discharged from the drum is discharged to the outside of the dryer, and in the condensation method, the wet air discharged from the drum is condensed in the condenser to remove moisture, and the dried air, which has been removed, is sent back to the drum for recycling.

Condensation dryers typically include drums for drying laundry, filters for filtering debris, heat exchangers (or condensers) that remove moisture from the laundry through heat exchange, fans that create flow to facilitate drying, and drying to create hot winds. It consists of a heater which shortens, piping which connects each component, etc.

An example of a condenser dryer is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. In FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, arrow I shows the flow of outside air, and arrow II shows the flow of circulating air.

As shown in the drawing, the drum 11 in which the drying object is accommodated is rotatably installed in the main body 10 in which the door 12 is installed on the front surface. The drum 11 is connected to the belt 19 by a motor 17 installed below the main body 10 so as to rotate.

In addition, a heat exchanger (or condenser) 13 is installed below the main body 10 to condense the hot and humid air circulating through the drum 11 to remove the moisture to dry the circulating air. The front part and the rear part of the heat exchanger 13 are connected to circulation ducts 14 connected to the front and rear of the drum 11, respectively, so that the air discharged through the drum 11 causes the heat exchanger 13 to pass through. It is configured to be introduced into the drum 11 again.

In addition, the circulation duct 14 is provided with a heater 15 for heating the air passing through the heat exchanger 13 and a circulation fan 16 for forcibly circulating the air through the circulation duct 14, The circulation fan 16 is driven in connection with the other shaft of the motor 17 for driving the drum 11.

In order to condense the air circulating through the circulation duct 14 by heat exchange in the heat exchanger 13, external cool air must be supplied to the heat exchanger 13. One side is connected to the outside air supply duct 18 is connected to the outside of the main body 10, the outside of the heat exchanger 13 to which the outside air supply duct 18 is connected to forcibly suck the outside air through the outside air supply duct 18 The cooling fan 20 and the cooling fan drive motor 21 for discharging into the main body 10 is installed. Reference numeral 22 is a filter for filtering foreign matter such as seams from the air discharged to the circulation duct 14 through the front of the drum (11). The lower part of the heat exchanger 13 is provided with a drip tray (not shown) for collecting condensed water generated and dropped during the condensation process, and a pump 23 for sending the condensed water collected in the drip tray to the condensate storage tank 2. Is installed.

The purpose of the dryer is to dry the laundry in less time and with less power consumption. There is a method of increasing the heater capacity or the capacity of the fan in order to reduce the power consumption and to satisfy the drying time at the same time, but there is a problem due to additional cost burden, an increase in electric bills due to power consumption, noise increase.

An alternative to this problem is to increase the efficiency of the heat exchanger. An example of a heat exchanger used in a condensation type clothes dryer or a dry washing machine is shown in FIG. 2. The heat exchanger as shown in FIG. 2 exchanges heat with wet air circulated into the wet air inlet 13b inside the heat exchanger while dry air introduced into the external air inlet 13a is in the process. Moisture air is condensed by heat exchange, resulting in water droplets. In the condensation type dryer, the heat exchanger is a key component that has an important effect on the drying efficiency, and there is a great need for a new heat exchanger to improve the heat exchange efficiency.

In particular, there is a demand for a heat exchanger having improved heat transfer characteristics inside the heat exchanger and a low manufacturing cost.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel heat exchanger structure for improving heat transfer characteristics.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger with economical efficiency in terms of mass production and material.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to further improve the drying efficiency by applying a heat exchanger having improved performance to a dryer or a combined-use washing machine.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a heat exchanger in which both ends of the duct-shaped wet air flow unit and an external air flow unit in which a plurality of fin structures are formed are alternately stacked; A front cover and a rear cover attached to the front and rear surfaces of the heat exchanger and having a protrusion open at a center thereof and extending rearwardly; And a plate disposed between the heat exchange part and the front cover and between the heat exchange part and the rear cover and comprising a plate physically coupled with the protrusion.

The plate may be physically coupled to the front cover or the rear cover by bending the tooth-shaped extension formed at the edge. On the other hand, the plate is preferably bonded to the heat exchanger via a clad material.

The front cover and the back cover may be manufactured by injection molding by mixing a plastic material and glass fiber. Preferably, the heat exchange part and the plate are made of a metal having excellent thermal conductivity, and for example, aluminum or an aluminum alloy may be used.

The plate may be formed with a plurality of openings corresponding to the open both ends of the wet air flow portion, in this case, the front cover or the rear cover does not need to form a plurality of channels corresponding to the open both ends of the wet air flow portion. .

The present invention also provides a clothes dryer employing the heat exchanger, and a combined laundry or drying machine employing the heat exchanger.

Specifically, the drum is provided to be rotatable inside the cabinet; A heat exchanger for condensing moisture through heat exchange with air introduced from outside of the humid air; A fan causing the flow of air; The heat exchanger is configured to include a heat source for applying a high temperature heat to the circulating air, the heat exchanger is a heat exchanger in which the duct-shaped wet air flow portion is open at both ends and the external air flow portion formed with a plurality of fins alternately stacked, A front cover and a rear cover attached to the front and rear surfaces of the heat exchanger and having a protrusion formed at the center and extending rearwardly; And it is provided between the heat exchanger and the front cover and between the heat exchanger and the rear cover, and provides a condensation type dryer or combined washing machine comprising a plate that is physically coupled to the protrusion. The dryer or washing machine may further include a filter for filtering foreign matter.

The heat exchanger according to the present invention not only has a strong connection between the heat exchanger and the front cover and the rear cover, but also is more effective in heat exchange performance, and in particular, it provides mass productivity suitable for mass production of the heat exchanger, and consequently adopts this heat exchanger. It can reduce the production cost of the dryer or washing machine.

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

Referring to Figure 3, the components of a heat exchanger according to the invention are shown. The heat exchanger 30 in which heat exchange between the outside air and the inside air is performed is formed by alternately stacking a plurality of tubes 32 and a plurality of fin structures 34. The tube 32 is a duct structure in which both ends are open and the cross section is rectangular. Opening ends of the tube 32 are connected to pipes (not shown) through which circulating air in the dryer flows. The fin structure 34 is composed of a structure repeatedly bent in a zigzag manner and a plurality of pins formed on the surface of the structure.

The tube 32 and the fin structure 34 form a heat exchange part by repeatedly stacking thin layers. By forming a repeating laminated structure in this manner, the heat transfer area can be increased.

The material of the tube 32 and the fin structure 34 is a metal having excellent heat transfer characteristics, and mainly aluminum or aluminum alloy is preferred.

The front cover 40 and the rear cover 42 are coupled to the front and rear surfaces of the heat exchanger 30, respectively. The front cover 40 and the rear cover 42 serves as a coupling medium so that the heat exchanger 30 is easily coupled with the piping or other components in the dryer. The material of the front cover 40 and the rear cover 42 is plastic-based, such as ABS-GF, and is mainly formed by injection molding.

The front cover 40 or the rear cover 42 and the heat exchanger may be coupled in a mechanical manner, but are usually coupled through an adhesive to prevent leakage of air or heat. For example, the front cover 40 or the rear cover 42 may be combined with the heat exchanger by epoxy bonding.

Thus, when the adhesive is mediated, an organic adhesive having poor heat transfer characteristics is usually used as the adhesive. In addition, when the adhesive is bonded through a medium, a large amount of time is required for bonding, which leads to a poor productivity (for example, epoxy bonding takes about 2 days).

Therefore, the coupling between the front cover 40 or the rear cover 42 and the heat exchanger needs to be considered in terms of improving heat transfer characteristics and excellent mass productivity.

In the present invention, instead of the adhesive, a thin metal plate is inserted in the middle to couple the front cover 40 or the rear cover 42 to the heat exchange part. To this end, it is necessary to improve the structure of the front cover 40 or the rear cover 42.

4A and 4B show the structure of the front cover 40 (or back cover) according to the present invention. As shown, the front cover 40 has a cross section similarly formed in a square shape, and has an opening therein. The opening is formed to be almost the same as the cross-sectional shape of the heat exchanger, and serves as a passage through which the internal circulating wet air of the dryer flows through the tube 32 region to another part of the dryer.

The opening formed in the front portion 44a of the front cover 40 preferably does not have a channel corresponding to the region of the tube 32 separately. The reason for this is that it is preferable to form a channel region in the plate which mediates the coupling between the front cover 40 and the heat exchanger 30 as described below in terms of heat exchanger performance. Although the central support wall 45 is formed at the central opening of the front cover 40 illustrated in FIG. 4A, the central support wall 45 is not necessarily required, and in some embodiments, the central support wall 45 may be omitted.

This structurally simplified front cover 40 (or rear cover) facilitates the manufacture of heat exchanger components to improve mass productivity and extend product life.

On the other hand, since the front cover 40 (or the rear cover) is coupled to the heat exchange unit 30 via a plate it is preferable to have a coupling structure that is easy to combine with the plate. In the present invention, the rear surface of the front cover 40 (or rear cover) is integrally added to the rear protrusion 44b which extends to a predetermined length so that the plates can be physically coupled. On the other hand, the edge of the rear protrusion 44b may be formed to have a thicker thickness of the barty edge 44c as shown in Figure 4a to facilitate physical coupling. The rear protrusion 44b may be formed to have a similar shape and area to the heat exchanger 30, and may be formed to have a smaller area than the plate described below in more detail.

It is necessary to design the corresponding plate structure so that the front cover 40 (or the back cover) and the plate can be physically coupled. 5, there is shown a coupling plate structure according to the present invention. The plate 50 is a thin plate-like metal with a number of openings 52 therein. The opening part 52 is formed to have a size corresponding to the cross-sectional area of the tube 32 of the heat exchange part, and serves as a flow passage of wet air circulating through the tube. In addition, the bar 51 between the openings of the plate is formed to have a size corresponding to the cross-sectional area of the fin structure 34 of the heat exchange unit 30, the outside air passing through the fin structure 34 flows out It acts as one side of the air flow path.

The plate 50 is formed to be similar to the area and shape of the front and rear end of the heat exchanger 30, the thickness is preferably as thin as possible, the material is excellent in conductivity and preferably a light metal or metal alloy. If possible, it is preferable to use the same material as the heat exchanger 30.

In the present invention, the heat exchanger 30 is coupled to the front cover 40 (or the rear cover) via the plate 50.

The plate 50 is preferably combined with the heat exchanger 30 in such a way that the adhesive that drops heat transfer is not mediated. To this end, in the present invention, the plate 50 and the heat exchanger 30 are coupled by a brazing method.

Brazing combines two metals by instantaneous heating of a metallic medium, which allows for a strong bond between metals in a very short time and effectively.

In the present invention, a metal clad material is used as a brazing medium for brazing coupling between the plate 50 and the heat exchanger 30. The cladding material should have a lower melting point than the material of the heat exchange part 30 and the plate 50, and the thickness of the clad material should be as thin as possible.

For example, when the material of the plate 50 and the heat exchanger 30 is aluminum, the clad material selects a material having a melting point lower than 550 ° C., which is a melting point of aluminum. As the clad material, it is preferable to use a material including aluminum or an aluminum alloy, but is not necessarily limited thereto.

As an example of the brazing process, the cladding material is applied to the plate 50 to a thickness of about 100 micrometers, and the melting point of the cladding material in the state in which the plate 50 and the heat exchanger 30 are flavored. Above, when heated to a temperature of less than 550 ℃ (which is the melting point of aluminum), the clad material is melted and the plate 50 and the heat exchanger 30 is firmly bonded without damage, the clad material is hardly left in the brazing process. . Even if the cladding material remains in the joining portion of the plate 50 and the heat exchanger 30 with an extremely small thickness, the metal component of the cladding material does not adversely affect heat transfer and thus does not adversely affect the heat exchanger.

Next, the coupling between the plate 50 and the front cover 40 or the rear cover 42 will be described. Since the front cover 40 or the rear cover 42 is usually made of a plastic material formed by an injection method, the coupling with the plate 50 is preferably avoided by a chemical bonding method by heating.

Accordingly, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, the structure of the plate 50 is coupled to the outer circumferential surface of the plate 50 in the form of a sawtooth so as to be coupled in a physical manner. The protrusion 54 is easy to bend, and the protrusion 50 is bent and coupled to the end edge of the front cover 40, respectively, so that the plate 50 has a front cover 40 (especially the front cover) as shown in FIG. 6A. Securely attached to the rear projection 44b and the rim 44c). The same applies to the back cover.

Figure 6b is a photograph showing a state that the heat exchanger and the front cover is coupled via the plate in the actual heat exchanger manufactured. The front cover was made of a mixture of ABS and glass fiber, and the plate was made of aluminum, and the plate and the heat exchanger were brazed, and the plate and the front cover were physically combined.

When the plate 50 is coupled to the heat exchanger 30 and the front cover (or the rear cover) in the manner described above, it is possible to maintain the robustness of the coupling without degrading the heat transfer characteristics. In addition, since the coupling of the plate 50 and the heat exchanger 30 is instantaneous by brazing, mass production is excellent, and the coupling between the plate 50 and the front cover (or rear cover) is physical (mechanical). By combining the method, it is possible to secure the overall economics of heat exchanger manufacturing.

According to the present invention, by providing a new coupling structure of the dryer heat exchanger, the material cost can be reduced and the process time can be drastically reduced, thereby ensuring economic feasibility in mass production and material aspects. In particular, the heat exchanger and the front cover (or the back cover) can be firmly coupled via the plate, which has the advantage of simplifying the manufacturing process. When the heat exchanger is applied to a dryer or a combined-use washing machine, the cost of the entire system can be lowered and the drying efficiency can be improved.

Claims (8)

A heat exchange part in which both ends of the duct-shaped wet air flow part and an external air flow part in which a plurality of fin structures are formed are alternately stacked; A front cover and a rear cover attached to the front and rear surfaces of the heat exchanger and having a protrusion open at a center thereof and extending rearwardly; And A plate disposed between the heat exchange part and the front cover and between the heat exchange part and the rear cover and physically coupled to the protrusion part; Heat exchanger for dryer. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the protrusion part is formed to be similar to the cross-sectional shape of the heat exchange part and is smaller than the plate area. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the plate is physically coupled to the front cover or the rear cover by bending the sawtooth-shaped extension formed at the edge. The heat exchanger for a dryer according to claim 1, wherein the plate is joined to the heat exchanger via a clad material. The dryer heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the front cover and the back cover are manufactured by mixing a plastic material and glass fiber. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the heat exchange part and the plate are made of a metal having excellent thermal conductivity. The dryer heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the plate has a plurality of openings corresponding to open ends of the wet air flow part. A drum installed inside the cabinet to be rotatable; A heat exchanger for condensing moisture through heat exchange with air introduced from outside of the humid air; A fan causing the flow of air; It consists of a heat source that applies high temperature heat to the circulating air, The heat exchanger A heat exchange part in which both ends of the duct-shaped wet air flow part and an external air flow part in which a plurality of fin structures are formed are alternately stacked; A front cover and a rear cover attached to the front and rear surfaces of the heat exchanger and having a protrusion open at a center thereof and extending rearwardly; And A plate disposed between the heat exchange part and the front cover and between the heat exchange part and the rear cover and physically coupled to the protrusion part; Condensation Dryer.

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