KR20030012417A - method and apparatus for dry rate sense of clothes - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method and a device for sensing the dryness degree of clothing are provided to inform a user of the precise dryness degree of clothing according to detected heat loss and clothing amount via a display part. CONSTITUTION: A method for sensing the dryness degree of clothing includes the steps of setting and storing a dryness degree on the basis of an amount of clothing and a heat loss, sensing an amount of clothing received in a drum(110), detecting the capacity lost in the drum by drying operation(130), and sensing a currently processed dryness degree corresponding to the sensed clothing amount and the detected heat loss on the basis of the stored values(140).

Description

Method and apparatus for dry rate sense of clothes

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting the dryness of a laundry cloth, and more particularly, to a drying cloth of a laundry cloth by detecting a temperature difference obtained by sensing a temperature of hot air flowing into or out of a drum. It relates to a dryness detection method and apparatus.

Hereinafter, a method of detecting dryness of a laundry cloth according to the prior art will be described.

Next, with reference to Figure 1 looks at the operation of the conventional dryer.

1 shows a configuration of a general dryer. As shown, the outer case 1 forms the appearance of the dryer. And the front plate 3 is connected to the front end of the outer case 1 to form the front of the dryer.

In the interior of the outer case (1), a laundry (5) is introduced into the drum (5) is dried rotatably installed. The inner surface of the drum 5 is provided with a plurality of stirring blades (6). The stirring blade 6 serves to mix the laundry during the rotation of the drum (5). Such a drum 5 is rotated by a drum drive belt 7 surrounding its outer surface. Here, the drum drive belt 7 is driven by a separate drive source.

On the other hand, a door 8 for selectively communicating the inside of the drum 5 with the outside is installed through the front plate 3 corresponding to the tip of the drum 5. An exhaust port 10 is formed to correspond to an inner surface of the front plate 3 and to be opened toward the inside of the drum 5. The exhaust port 10 serves to exhaust air in the drum 5 to the outside of the drum 5, and a filter 12 is installed at an inlet thereof to remove foreign substances mixed in the air.

And one side of the exhaust port 10 is equipped with an electrode sensor 30 for measuring the temperature inside the drum 5 during the drying operation. The electrode sensor 30 is a temperature sensor, and when the laundry is touched, it detects the temperature by the difference in the voltage applied to both ends of the electrode. The detected signal is output as a voltage signal.

An exhaust passage 13 is formed inside the front plate 3 to be connected to the exhaust port 10. And the blower assembly 15 is installed in communication with the exhaust passage (13). The blower assembly 15 is connected to an exhaust duct 17 for discharging the air from the exhaust passage 13 to the outside of the dryer.

Meanwhile, a supply duct 18 for supplying air into the drum 5 is installed at a portion of the inside of the outer case 1 corresponding to the lower part of the drum 5. The supply duct 18 supplies air to the inside of the drum 5 through the rear of the drum 5. On one side of such a supply duct 18, a heater 19 is provided.

Next, an operation process of circulating air for drying in a conventional dryer having the above configuration will be described.

First, the door 8 is opened to load laundry for drying in the drum 5. When the drying operation signal is input after the door 8 is closed, the drum 5 is rotated by a driving source. The blower assembly 15 is operated to discharge air in the drum 5 to the exhaust duct 17.

When the air inside the drum 5 is discharged, outside air is sucked into the drum 5 through the supply duct 18, and the heater 19 at the inlet of the supply duct 18 is sucked. By air generation, the air is heated to a predetermined temperature and supplied into the drum 5.

The hot air supplied into the drum 5 absorbs moisture in the laundry and flows to the exhaust passage 13 through the exhaust port 10 by driving the blower assembly 15. The exhaust passage 13 is discharged to the outside through the blower assembly 15 through the exhaust duct 17.

At this time, the air passing through the exhaust port 10 is purified by the filter 12, so that foreign matter (for example, seams or lint of laundry) mixed in the air is not transmitted to the blower assembly 15. Play a role.

In this operation, the electrode sensor 30 detects the temperature of the dry matter in the air circulated inside the drum 5, and transmits the detected signal to the controller as a voltage signal. At this time, the electrode sensor 30, when the building is touched by the sensor, senses the temperature using the difference in the voltage value applied to both ends of the electrode. The sensed temperature is then output as a voltage signal.

The detected value of the electrode sensor 30 is continuously input to the control unit, and the control unit determines the current drying degree by the change of the voltage value detected by the electrode sensor 30.

However, the conventional drying control apparatus of the dryer has the following problems.

Conventionally, the control device of a dryer performs the difference of the drying degree based on the detected value of an electrode sensor. That is, there is no difficulty in performing control because a large difference in voltage is generated in the detection value detected by the electrode sensor at the beginning of drying. However, as shown in FIG. 2, when the drying degree is increased to 80% or more, the difference in the sensed voltage detected through the electrode sensor becomes small.

That is, as shown in Figure 2, the value detected in accordance with the temperature in the electrode sensor 30 is converted into a voltage is input to the control unit, the control unit is to determine the drying degree by the change in the input voltage value. However, from above a certain time point, the difference of the detected voltage value is decreasing, which eventually causes a problem of significantly lowering the discriminating power of the electrode sensor.

Therefore, the electrode sensor used in the conventional dryer has a difficulty in detecting a minute temperature difference when the degree of drying rises above a certain portion, which results in a problem that the dry state of the dried product becomes excessive or insufficient. .

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for sensing the dryness of a laundry cloth by sensing the temperature of the hot air flowing into the drum and the temperature of the hot air discharged to the outside of the drum, according to a change in the amount of heat due to the temperature difference.

1 is a block diagram of a general dryer,

2 is a detection waveform diagram during a drying operation using a conventional electrode sensor,

3 is a configuration diagram for detecting the dryness according to the present invention,

4 is a control block diagram for detecting the dryness according to the present invention,

5 is a table showing the relationship between the dryness and amount of water according to the present invention,

6 is a flow chart for detecting the dryness according to the present invention,

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: key input unit 20: control unit

48: Temperature sensor 1 32: Temperature sensor 2

60: output display unit 65: drive unit

70: quantity detection unit 75: flash memory

Drying cloth detection method of the laundry cloth according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a storage step for setting and storing the dryness on the basis of the amount and the amount of heat loss; A quantity detection step for sensing the quantity contained in the drum; A loss calorie detection step for detecting the amount of heat lost inside the drum by the drying operation; And a dryness detection step of detecting a current dryness value from the storage value of the storage step corresponding to the amount of heat detected in the quantity detection step and the loss calories detected in the loss calorie detection step.

The detecting of the amount of heat lost may include: detecting a temperature of hot air flowing into the drum; Detecting a temperature of hot air discharged from the drum; And calculating the calorific value of the lost heat by the temperature difference between the two temperatures detected in the above step.

In addition, the dryness detection apparatus of the laundry cloth according to the present invention, the memory for storing the dryness based on the amount of each of the amount and heat loss; A quantity detecting means for sensing the quantity contained in the drum; Lost calorie detection means for detecting the amount of heat lost inside the drum by the drying operation; And a control means for sensing the current dryness from the stored value of the memory corresponding to the amount of heat detected by the quantity detecting means and the amount of heat detected by the loss calorie detection means.

Hereinafter will be described in detail a method and apparatus for detecting the dryness of the laundry cloth in the dryer according to the present invention.

3 is a block diagram of a dryer according to the present invention.

As shown, the outer case 53 forms the exterior of the dryer. And the front plate 41 is connected to the front end of the outer case 53 to form the front of the dryer. In the interior of the outer case 53, laundry is introduced into the drum 44, which is dried and rotatably installed. The drum 44 is rotated by a drum drive belt 54 around its outer surface.

An exhaust port 43 is formed to correspond to an inner surface of the front plate 41 and to be opened toward the inside of the drum 44. The exhaust port 43 serves to exhaust the air in the drum 44 to the outside of the drum 44, and a lint filter is installed at the inlet thereof to remove foreign substances mixed in the air.

An exhaust passage 45 is formed inside the front plate 3 to be connected to the exhaust port 43. And blower assembly 20 is installed in communication with the exhaust passage (45). The exhaust passage 45 is equipped with a temperature sensor 2 (32) for sensing the temperature of the hot air exhausted.

The blower assembly 20 is connected to the exhaust duct 34 for discharging the air from the exhaust passage 45 to the outside of the dryer. The blower assembly 20 circulates and intakes air in the drum 44, thereby introducing a heat of the heater 42 to be described later into the drum 44, and a blower for discharging moisture of the clothes to the exhaust port 43. (31) is included. The blower 31 uses a variable speed.

Meanwhile, a supply duct 46 for supplying air into the drum 44 is installed at a portion of the inside of the outer case 53 corresponding to the lower portion of the drum 44. The supply duct 46 supplies hot air to the inside of the drum 44 through the rear of the drum 44. The heater 42 is provided on one side of such a supply duct 46. One side of the supply duct 46 is provided with a temperature sensor 1 48 for sensing the temperature of the air sucked into the drum 44.

And the present invention is installed on the inner side of the outer case 53, the main board 52 for the overall control of the dryer, the inverter board 50 for the inverter control of the drive source (not shown) for generating the rotational force of the drum (inverter PCB) is installed.

Figure 4 is a control configuration for detecting the dryness of the dryer according to the invention.

Key input unit 35 for the user to input the drive control signal of the washing machine, the drive unit 65 for driving the washing machine, the controller 80 for controlling the process of driving the washing machine, and the temperature of the hot air flowing into the drum The temperature sensor 1 (48) for detecting, the temperature sensor 2 (32) for detecting the temperature of the hot air discharged to the outside of the drum, the quantity detection unit (70) for detecting the quantity contained in the drum, and the detected temperature And a flash memory 75 for storing respective data for each of the data, and an output display unit 60 for displaying the controlled result to the user.

The flash memory 75 stores a dryness according to a relationship between a temperature difference and a quantity according to a temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 1 48 and the temperature sensor 2 32. The controller 80 recognizes the temperature data measured by the temperature sensors 1, 2 (48, 32). The controller 80 calculates the dryness according to the measured data by using the data stored in the flash memory 75, and displays the dryness of the laundry cloth to the user through the output display unit 60. Control. At this time, the temperature sensor 1 (48) and the temperature sensor 2 (32) uses a thermistor.

When the laundry cloth flows into the drum, the quantity detecting unit 70 detects the laundry cloth amount. The quantity detecting unit 70 detects by a general sensing method, and is a means for directly receiving the detected amount of laundry cloth data through a connection cable. Data detected by the laundry detection amount from the quantity detection unit 70 is stored in the flash memory (75).

Next will be described the operation process for detecting the dryness of the laundry cloth according to the present invention made of the above configuration.

5 is an operation flow chart for detecting the dryness of the laundry cloth through the drying process according to the present invention.

The laundry cloth is introduced into the drum, and the user inputs a signal for performing the drying of the laundry. The signal is input to the controller 80, and the controller 80 rotates the drum for the drying operation (step 100).

In the initial rotation operation of the drum by the step 100, the controller 80 detects the amount of the laundry cloth contained in the drum through the quantity detecting unit 70 (step 110). The controller 80 detects the dryness level of the laundry after the washing amount is detected in step 110.

On the other hand, with the rotation of the drum in the 100th step, hot air flows into the drum. At this time, the temperature sensor 1 48 detects the temperature of the hot air flowing into the drum. The sensed temperature is input to the controller 80. The temperature of the hot air passing through the drum and discharged to the exhaust passage 45 through the exhaust port 43 is detected by the temperature sensor 2 32 mounted on the exhaust passage 45.

In this way, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 1 (48) and the temperature sensor 2 (32) during the drying is applied to the controller 80 (step 120).

The control unit 80 calculates the temperature difference between the two temperature sensors 1, 2 (48, 32) read in step 120 (step 130).

On the other hand, the flash memory 75 stores the data according to the relationship between the amount of quantity, the temperature difference and the dryness.

As shown in the table of FIG. 5, a difference in drying degree occurs according to a temperature difference between hot air flowing into the drum and hot air discharged from the drum. That is, the amount of heat is lost by the washing cloth inside the drum, so that the temperature of the hot air is lowered, and the hot air is discharged to the outside of the drum at the lowered temperature. The temperature difference of the hot air detected by the temperature sensor 1 (48) and the temperature sensor 2 (32) depends on the humidity and the amount of laundry cloth that the laundry cloth in the drum.

For example, when the temperature difference between the temperature of the hot air introduced into the drum and the hot air discharged from the drum is 1 ° C, the temperature difference means the amount of heat lost by the laundry cloth for drying in the drum. When the said temperature difference is the same, the dryness becomes high, so that the quantity of laundry cloth is small.

That is, when the amount of laundry cloth is 1lb, and when the amount of heat consumed in the drum is the same at 2lb, the dryness of the laundry cloth having a small amount in the same amount of heat is high. As shown in the diagram, the dryness is A% when the amount of laundry cloth is 1lb, and the dryness is B% when the amount of laundry cloth is 2lb. And the numerical value of the dryness is A is larger than B. The numerical value of the dryness is expressed by the inequality as follows.

A% (1 lb of laundry cloth)> B% (2 lb of laundry cloth)

In addition, when the amount of the laundry cloth is constant, the value of the dryness of the laundry cloth increases as the amount of heat consumed in the drum increases. For example, when a predetermined amount of laundry cloth flows into the drum, the amount of heat consumed in the drum is large, and as a result, the greater the temperature difference of the hot air, the greater the dryness value of the laundry cloth.

That is, after each laundry cloth having a different amount of laundry cloth is introduced into the drum and hot air is introduced to perform drying, the temperature difference of the hot air discharged to the outside of the drum is changed to 1 ° C. When the difference in temperature of the hot air is generated at a temperature of 2 ℃, the degree of drying of the laundry cloth also appears according to the temperature difference. As shown in the diagram, the dryness is A% when the 1 lb cloth is lost inside the drum and the dryness is A%, while the 1 lb cloth is 2 ° C lost inside the drum. Dryness is shown in a%. In addition, the numerical value of the dryness indicates a numerical value where a% is larger than A%, and the numerical value of the dryness is indicated by an inequality sign as follows.

A% (when heat loss is 1 ° C) <a% (when heat loss is 2 ° C)

Such values described in the table of FIG. 5 are based on experimental values.

Accordingly, the controller 80 performs drying based on the amount of quantity recognized in step 110 and the temperature difference calculated in step 130 from the relationship between the quantity of stored quantity in the flash memory 75, the temperature difference, and the degree of drying. It is possible to determine the degree (step 140).

Then, the dryness of the laundry cloth is displayed through the output display unit 60 so that the user can know the dryness of the laundry cloth recognized by the controller 80 (operation 150).

This process is repeated until the dryness determined in step 140 reaches 100%. Therefore, when it is determined in step 160 that the drying is not completed, the drying process (steps 120 to 150) is repeated (step 170). However, if it is determined that the drying operation is completed by the controller 80, the drying process (steps 120 to 150) ends (step 180).

As described above, the technical concept of the present invention is to accurately detect the dryness of the laundry cloth through the temperature difference between the temperature of the hot air flowing into the drum and the temperature difference of the hot air discharged from the drum.

The rights of the present invention are not limited to the embodiments described above, but are defined by the claims, and those skilled in the art can make various modifications and adaptations within the scope of the claims. It is self-evident.

In the dryer according to the present invention as described in detail above, in order to measure the dryness of the laundry cloth, the temperature of the hot air flowing into and out of the drum was measured through a temperature sensor and a quantity detector for sensing the amount of laundry cloth introduced into the drum. . Through the measured data, it is possible to grasp the amount of heat lost inside the drum by the controller and to detect the dryness of the laundry cloth according to the lost amount of heat and the amount of the bag.

Therefore, the present invention can know the exact dryness of the laundry cloth, and thus can be displayed through the output display to provide the user with the correct dryness of the laundry cloth. In addition, due to such a control, a user using the washing machine of the present invention can maximize satisfaction with the product.

Claims (3)

A storage step for setting and storing the dryness level based on the respective quantity and amount of heat lost; A quantity detection step for sensing the quantity contained in the drum; A loss calorie detection step for detecting the amount of heat lost inside the drum by the drying operation; Drying degree of the laundry cloth comprising a dryness detection step of detecting the current dryness from the storage value of the storage step corresponding to the quantity detected in the quantity detection step and the loss calories detected in the loss calorie detection step Detection method. The method of claim 1 wherein: Detecting the lost calories, Detecting a temperature of hot air flowing into the drum; Detecting a temperature of hot air discharged from the drum; And calculating a calorific value of heat lost by the temperature difference between the two temperatures detected in the step. A memory for storing the degree of dryness based on the respective quantity and loss of calories; A quantity detecting means for sensing the quantity contained in the drum; Lost calorie detection means for detecting the amount of heat lost inside the drum by the drying operation; Drying degree detection device of the laundry cloth comprising a control means for detecting the current dryness from the storage value of the storage means corresponding to the amount of heat detected by the quantity detection means and the loss calories detected by the loss calorie detection means .