KR101537641B1 - Drum washing machine and Drying unit thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a drum washing machine in which a thermostat is installed in a housing of a drying unit to sensitively detect the temperature of the heater.

The drum washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention is a drum washing machine including a drying unit, wherein the drying unit includes a housing made of stainless steel, a heater for radiating heat from the inside of the housing, And a thermostat for sensing the temperature of the one surface of the housing.

Description

[0001] DRUM CLEANING MACHINE AND DRYING UNIT [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drum type washing machine and a drying unit thereof, and more particularly, to a drum type washing machine and its drying unit in which the temperature of a heater is sensitively sensed to reduce the possibility of occurrence of fire due to overheating of a heater.

Generally, in a drum type washing machine, a drum horizontally disposed inside a washing machine body alternately rotates in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction, so that the laundry is lifted upward along the inner circumferential surface of the drum together with the washing water, I will wash.

In the drum type washing machine, the drum is installed inside the tub for receiving the washing water, and is rotated by the driving device. The door is rotatably disposed on the front surface of the tub so that the laundry can be inserted or removed.

In addition, a drying unit may be installed in the drum washing machine to dry the laundered laundry. Generally, the drying unit includes a housing provided at both ends thereof with an air inlet and a hot air outlet and installed on the upper surface of the tub so as to communicate with the drum, and a heater disposed inside the housing. Therefore, when the washing of the laundry contained in the drum is completed through the washing and dehydrating operations performed by the rotation of the drum, the drying unit dries the laundry. That is, the heater installed in the housing is operated to circulate the air introduced from the drum through the air inlet into the hot air and then to the drum through the hot air outlet so as to dry the laundry contained in the drum.

On the other hand, a thermostat is mounted on one side of the heater to prevent the air flowing into the drum from being overheated. The thermostat controls the temperature of the air flowing into the drum.

One aspect of the present invention is to provide a drum washing machine and a drying unit thereof, which sensitively detect the temperature of a heater to reduce the possibility of occurrence of fire due to overheating of the heater.

The drum washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention is a drum washing machine including a drying unit, wherein the drying unit includes a housing made of stainless steel, a heater for radiating heat from the inside of the housing, And a thermostat for sensing the temperature of the one surface of the housing.

Further, the thermostat is installed at a position spaced apart from the passage formed inside the housing by a predetermined distance.

The thermostat includes a first housing and a second housing. The first housing and the second housing are coupled to the first housing and the second housing, respectively, Is assembled in a portion where the battery is assembled.

Further, the thermostat is installed at the edge of the housing, which is folded stepwise downward from the center of the housing so as to reduce interference with the washing machine body.

The first and second housings each include first and second lid portions on which the heater is seated and first and second rim portions disposed on the edges of the first and second lid portions, And is fastened to the first and second edge portions so as to be adjacent to the heater.

In addition, a hole may be formed in the first rim for insertion of the thermostat, and a recess may be formed in the second rim to accommodate the thermostat.

The drum washing machine includes a tub and a drum rotatably installed in the tub, and the housing is disposed in communication with the drum to circulate the air.

Further, the one surface of the housing is characterized in that the heat of the heater is transferred by convection.

The thermostat further includes a bimetal part disposed inside the body part to cut off current when the heater is at a set temperature or more to prevent overheating of the heater, And a terminal unit connected to the heater.

Further, the body portion is fitted outside the rim portion.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drum washing machine comprising a tub for receiving washing water, a drum rotatably installed in the tub, a drying housing arranged to communicate with the drum, And a thermostat which is tightly coupled to one surface of the drying housing to detect whether the heater is overheated.

Also, the dry housing is made of stainless steel, and the thermostat is fastened to the rim of the dry housing so that the temperature of the dry housing can be sensed by conduction.

In addition, the housing is provided such that the first and second housings can be assembled with each other, and the thermostat is installed at a portion where the first and second housings are assembled.

Further, a hole is formed in one of the parts where the housing is assembled so that the thermostat can be inserted, and the other one of the parts where the housing is assembled is formed with a depression on one side to receive the thermostat. do.

A drying unit of a drum type washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing that forms an outer appearance, a heater that radiates heat at a high temperature inside the housing, and a heater that senses a temperature of the one side of the housing, And a thermostat which is installed in close contact with the thermostat.

Also, the housing is made of stainless steel, and the thermostat senses the temperature of one side of the housing in a heat transfer manner by conduction.

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

1 is a view illustrating a drum washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, the drum type washing machine according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a washing machine main body 100 forming an outer tubular shape, a cylindrical tub 100 horizontally installed inside the washing machine body 100, A drum 120 rotatably installed in the tub 110 and a driving unit 130 for rotating the drum 120. The drum 120 is rotatably installed in the tub 110,

The front part of the tub 110 and the drum 120 are opened to allow laundry to be inserted into the drum 120 or to take out laundry contained in the drum 120, A door 140 is hinged to open / close the front portion of the door 120.

Lifters 121 are arranged at regular intervals on the inner circumferential surface of the drum 120 so that the laundry and the washing water are lifted up to the top as the drum 120 rotates and dropped at a predetermined height to wash the laundry.

A water supply hose 150 for supplying the washing water from the outside and a detergent box 160 for mixing the detergent into the supplied washing water are installed in the upper part of the washing machine main body 100. On the bottom of the washing machine main body 100, A drain pump 170 and a drain hose 180 for discharging the washing water to the outside of the washing machine main body 100 are installed.

A drying unit 200 for blowing high-temperature air into the laundry contained in the drum 120 to dry the laundered laundry is installed in the upper part of the tub 110. The drying unit 200 has its both ends connected to the openings 110a and 110b provided at the front and rear portions of the tub 110 so as to communicate with the drum 120 so that the air inside the drum 120 flows into the drying unit 200, So that the air is heated to a high temperature.

A condensing duct 111 is installed at the rear of the tub 110. The condensing duct 111 is provided with a cooling device 112 for cooling the high-temperature air containing a large amount of moisture, which has been emitted from the laundry, through the drum 120 into low-humidity air having low humidity. When the washing operation is completed, the drum 120 is rotated at a low speed and the drying unit 200 is operated so that the air inside the drum 120 flows through the openings 110a and 110b to the drum 120 and the drying unit 200 to allow the laundry to dry. At this time, a large amount of moisture, which is emitted from the laundry and is contained in the air, is condensed by the water sprayed through the cooling device 112, so that low temperature, low temperature air flows into the drying unit 200.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a drying unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the drying unit shown in FIG. 2 is disassembled.

1 to 3, a drying unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing 300 communicating with the drum 120 in a state where both ends are coupled to the tub 110, A heater 500 disposed inside the housing 300 to generate heat at a high temperature and a heater 500 disposed at one end of the heater 500 when the heater 500 rises above a set temperature, And a thermostat 600 closely attached to the housing 300 to cut off the current of the thermostat 600.

The housing 300 forms a closed circuit together with the drum 120 to form an appearance of the drying unit 200 so that air can be circulated. The housing 300 may be made of a metal material having a good heat transfer property, and preferably made of stainless steel. STS430 is used for stainless steel and can be manufactured by press working.

The housing 300 includes a first housing 310 provided below the first housing 310 and a second housing 320 formed on the upper side of the first housing 310 to form a predetermined space for allowing air to flow therethrough.

The first housing 310 and the second housing 320 are opened at both ends so as to communicate with the tub 110. A passageway 300a is formed between the first housing 310 and the second housing 320 to allow air to flow therein. The first lid part 311 of the first housing 310 and the second lid part 321 of the second housing 320 may be formed in a predetermined space so that the passage 300a can be formed in the housing 300. [ 300a.

The first cover part 311 is formed with a fan mounting part 313 having a predetermined diameter at one end thereof. An inlet 314 is formed at the bottom of the fan seat 313 to allow air to flow therethrough. The first lid part 311 extends to a side lid part 311a having a predetermined height and a first rim part 312 is formed at an edge of the side lid part 311a. The first rim portion 312 is formed with a depressed groove 312a to receive the thermostat 600 to be described later.

A second rim portion 322 is formed at an edge of the second lid portion 321. The second rim portion 322 is coupled to the first rim portion 312 in a screw or other manner, The assembling of the base 300 can be completed. The second rim portion 322 is bent downward with a height difference in the second lid portion 321. A hole 322a is formed in the second rim portion 322 so that the thermostat 600 can be inserted into the second rim portion 322 .

The fan assembly 400 includes a blowing fan 410 for allowing air to flow in an axial direction and discharging the air in a radial direction, a fan motor 430 positioned above the blowing fan 410 to rotate the blowing fan 410, An air guide 420 for guiding the flow of the air sucked by the air blowing fan 410, a motor housing 420 protruding from the upper surface of the air guide 420 to a predetermined height and diameter, And a motor mount 440 which is mounted on the upper surface of the motor housing 300 and supports the fan motor 430.

The heater 500 is made in a zigzag manner and is disposed over the entire width in the passageway inside the housing 300. The heater 500 includes a terminal portion 510 to which a current flowing is connected, a heater chamber 520 mounted at a predetermined distance from the terminal portion 510 to prevent leakage of air, And a heat generating part 530 which is formed by bending a plurality of times with a length.

Reference numeral 700 denotes a coupling member mounted on the other end of the first housing 310 to connect the drying unit 200 to the tub 110. Reference numeral 315 denotes a side cover part of the first housing 310, Which is formed in the heater chamber 311a to allow the heater chamber 520 to be inserted.

When the drying process is started, the fan motor 430 is energized to rotate the blowing fan 410, and the power is applied to the heater 500, . The air inside the drum 120 is sucked by the blowing fan 410. Then, the sucked air flows into the housing 300, exchanges heat with the heater 500, and is heated to a high temperature. The air heated to a high temperature flows into the tub 110 through the coupling member 700. The air introduced into the tub 110 evaporates moisture permeating the laundry in the drum 120 to dry the laundry.

A thermostat 600 is mounted on the edge portions 312 and 322 of the housing 300 to prevent the interior of the drying unit 200 from being overheated. Although the two thermostats 600 are connected in series in the drawing, it is needless to say that the thermostat 600 may include only one thermostat 600.

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the drying unit shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a side view showing the drying unit shown in Fig.

4 and 5, the thermostat 600 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a body portion 610 fitted to the first and second rim portions 312 and 322 of the housing 300, A bimetal part 620 disposed on the inner side of the bimetal part 610 to cut off the current when the heater 500 is at a set temperature or higher so as to prevent the heater 500 from being overheated, And a terminal unit 630 connected to a power source (not shown).

The body portion 610 is closely attached to the housing 300 so that the temperature of the housing 300 heated by the heater 500 can be sensed by a heat transfer method by conduction. The thermostat 600 is installed closely to the housing 300 to sense the temperature of the heater 500 so that the temperature of the heater 500 is set by the heater 500. In other words, If the temperature rises, the current of the heater 500 can be quickly and sensitively blocked.

The body portion 610 is coupled to the first and second rim portions 322 of the housing 300. The body portion 610 passes through the holes 322a of the second rim portion 322, And can be fitted and fixed in the groove 312a of the part 312. [ The groove 312a of the first rim 312 and the hole 322a of the second rim 322 are spaced apart by a predetermined distance L from the side lid 311a provided in the housing 300 As shown in Fig.

In general, conduction is a phenomenon in which heat is transferred using a solid material as a heat transfer medium, and when the heat transfer medium is made of a solid metal material, the thermal conductivity (Kcal / ° C) may be much higher than the convection. For example, when stainless steel is used as the heat transfer medium, the thermal conductivity at 20 ° C is 20 (Kcal / ° C), whereas when air is used as the heat transfer medium, the thermal conductivity at 20 ° C is only 0.026 (Kcal / ° C) . Therefore, heat can be transferred quickly and sensitively by using a heat transfer mechanism by conduction using a heat transfer medium as a solid metal material. Therefore, the thermostat 600 closely attached to the housing 300 sensitively senses the temperature of the housing 300 by the heat transfer method by conduction, thereby reducing the possibility of fire due to overheating of the heater 500 .

The terminal unit 630 includes a first terminal unit 630 coupled to a power source and a second terminal unit 630 connected to one of the terminal units 510 of the heater 500. The terminal portion 630 may be formed as short as possible so as to facilitate fabrication, transportation, and mounting of the thermostat 600. Since the thermostat 600 can be easily coupled to the first and second edge portions 312 and 322 of the housing 300 at a position adjacent to the terminal portion 510 of the heater 500, And the terminal portion 630 can be connected in a state where the tilting phenomenon of the terminal portion 630 is minimized.

Next, the operation of the drum washing machine having such a drying unit will be described.

When the blowing fan 410 and the heater 500 operate, the air inside the drum 120 flows into the housing 300 through the air inlet 314 and is uniformly distributed in the passage provided with the heater 500, Temperature. Then, the laundry is returned to the drum 120 through the coupling member 700, and the laundry contained in the drum 120 is dried.

At this time, the heat of the heater 500 is received at the surface of the housing 300, and the temperature of the surface of the housing 300 can be quickly and sensitively sensed by the thermostat 600 by conduction by conduction , The possibility of occurrence of fire due to overheating of the heater 500 can be reduced.

In addition, since the thermostat 600 is installed on the second rim portion 322 bent downward with a step from the second lid portion 321, it is possible to secure a certain spacing space from the washing machine main body 100, The interference with the main body 100 can be reduced and a compact structure can be realized.

Since the thermostat 600 is installed at a portion where the housing 500 is assembled, a separate gap for inserting the thermostat 600 into the housing 500 is unnecessary and the thermostat 600 is heated in the housing 500 It is possible to reduce the possibility that the air flows out to the outside of the housing 500. At the same time, the temperature of the heater 500 can not be precisely sensed due to the outflow, thereby reducing the possibility of fire occurring.

As described above, in the drum type washing machine according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the thermostat is closely attached to the housing forming the outer appearance of the drying unit, the temperature of the heater is sensitively sensed by the heat transfer method by conduction, It is understood that the basic technical idea is to reduce the possibility of fire occurrence. Therefore, many modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1 is a view illustrating a drum washing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a perspective view showing a drying unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the drying unit shown in FIG. 2 is disassembled.

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the drying unit shown in Fig. 2. Fig.

5 is a side view showing the drying unit shown in Fig.

Description of the Related Art [0002]

100 ... washing machine body 110 ... tub

120 ... drum 200 ... drying unit

300 ... housing 310 ... first housing

320 ... second housing 400 ... fan assembly

500 ... heater 600 ... thermostat

Claims (19)

A drum washing machine comprising a drying unit, The drying unit includes a housing made of a stainless steel material, a heater for radiating heat in the housing, and a thermostat closely attached to the housing, The housing includes a first housing provided at a lower side and a second housing coupled to an upper portion of the first housing to form a predetermined space for air to flow, The first housing includes a first rim portion disposed along an upper periphery, and a groove formed in the first rim portion, The second housing includes a second rim portion coupled with the first rim portion and a hole formed in the second rim portion, Wherein the thermostat includes a bimetal part for blocking current when the temperature of the thermostat is over a predetermined temperature, and a body part for receiving the bimetal part, the body part being inserted into a groove formed in a first rim of the first housing, Wherein the temperature sensor detects the temperature of the drum. delete delete delete delete delete The method according to claim 1, Wherein the drum washing machine includes a tub and a drum rotatably installed in the tub, and the housing is disposed in communication with the drum to circulate air. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete The method according to claim 1, Further comprising a drum rotatably mounted, Wherein the housing is provided with a blowing fan for blowing air heated by the heater to the inside of the drum, and the first housing is formed with a fan seat for installing the blowing fan. The method according to claim 1, The thermostat includes two thermostats connected in series, Wherein two grooves are formed on the first rim of the first housing and two holes are formed on the second rim of the second housing. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the first rim portion of the first housing and the second rim portion of the second housing are screwed together.

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