KR20040021098A - Method for controlling clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A control method of a clothing drier is provided to control a drying stroke precisely and effectively by measuring the air sucked and exhausted into/from a drying drum and detecting the exact air volume and load and then setting up the optimum drying condition according to the detected load. CONSTITUTION: A control method of a clothing drier comprises steps of measuring the temperature of air sucked into a drying drum by a suction-side temperature sensor and transmitting the measured temperature to a controller, and measuring the temperature of air exhausted from the drying drum by an exhaust-side temperature sensor and transmitting the measured temperature to the controller(S1); outputting the air volume by a temperature change transmitted by the suction-side temperature sensor(S2); detecting a load by the variable ratio of the exhaust temperature measured by the exhaust-side temperature sensor and the output air volume(S3); and setting up a drying condition according to the detected load(S4).

Description

Control method for clothes dryers {Method for controlling clothes dryer}

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a clothes dryer for drying clothes, and more particularly, to a control method of a clothes dryer to enable proper temperature and air flow control according to the amount and moisture content of clothes to be dried contained in a drying drum.

In general, a clothes dryer is a device for automatically drying a wet object to be dried (for example, clothing) after washing. The clothes dryer introduces external air, heats it with a heater, and then heats the heated outdoor air in a rotating drum in a rotating state. The object to be dried is dried by drying the clothes or the like contained in the drying drum.

Such a conventional clothes dryer is provided with a contact dryness sensor installed in front of a drying drum containing a drying object to measure the dryness of the drying object, that is, the moisture content of the drying object. The drying condition is grasped by the degree of drying to control the drying time, the amount of air supplied, and the heating temperature of the heater.

However, as described above, the conventional clothes dryers receive the dry state of the dry object by the contact dryness sensor and thus do not obtain information on the dry state of the dry object. Only the information on the drying status is reduced, the drying efficiency is lowered and there is a risk of overdrying. In addition, when the amount of the drying target is small, the drying target is judged to be complete because the drying target does not come into contact with the dryness sensor. There was a problem that the drying administration is terminated before it is dried.

That is, in order to perform a quick drying without damaging the fabric, the dryness of the drying object should be known, but as described above, the dryness (water content) using the contact dryness sensor located on the discharge side in front of the drying drum. In the case of measuring, since the drying of the drying object in contact with the dryness sensor proceeds relatively later than the other drying objects, the drying objects placed on the suction side of the drying drum are likely to be overdried and the fabric may be damaged. Since the contact between the drying object and the drying sensor is not made, the drying administration may be completed before the drying object is completely dried.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, by measuring the temperature of the air sucked into the drying drum and discharged from the drying drum to detect the correct air flow and load amount, the optimum drying conditions according to the detected load amount The purpose of the present invention is to provide a control method of the clothes dryer so that precise and effective control of the drying administration can be achieved.

1 is a sectional view showing the main parts of an example of a configuration of a clothes dryer to which a control method according to the present invention is applied;

2 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a control method of a clothes dryer according to the present invention.

3 is a graph showing the change in the air flow rate and the exhaust temperature according to the load

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

1: main body 3: drying drum

5 heater 7 suction duct

8: lint duct 10: drive motor

12: power transmission belt 13: blower fan

15: exhaust duct 21: suction temperature sensor

22: outlet temperature sensor

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, a drying drum rotatably installed in the main body, a drive means for rotating the drying drum, a blowing fan for forcibly sucking and blowing outside air, and heating the sucked outside air A heater, an intake duct for guiding the air heated by the heater into the drying drum, an exhaust duct for guiding the air discharged from the drying drum to the outside of the main body, and sensing the temperature of the air flowing into the drying drum In the method for controlling a clothes dryer comprising a suction side temperature sensor for transmitting to the controller, and the discharge side temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the air discharged from the drying drum to the controller, the drying drum with the suction side temperature sensor Measuring a temperature of air sucked into the inside and transferring the temperature to the controller; Measuring the temperature of the air discharged from the drying drum with a discharge side temperature sensor and transmitting the same to the controller; Calculating the air volume by the temperature change transmitted by the suction side temperature sensor in the controller; Detecting a load amount by a rate of change of exhaust temperature measured by the discharge side temperature sensor and the calculated air volume; There is provided a control method of a clothes dryer, comprising the step of setting a drying condition according to the detected load amount.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of a method for controlling a clothes dryer according to the present invention will be described in detail.

First, Figure 1 is a view showing a configuration of a clothes dryer to which the control method according to the present invention is applied, the door 2 is installed in front of the main body 1 forming the outer case of the clothes dryer, the inside of the body 1 The drying drum 3 having the front and rear parts open and the plurality of lifters 4 formed therein is rotatably installed by a driving means, and generates hot air by heating air sucked from the outside to one side of the main body 1. The heater 5 is provided.

At the rear of the drying drum 3, a suction duct 7 for guiding the hot air generated by the heater 5 into the drying drum 3 is installed in communication with the drying drum 3, and in front of the drying drum 3, a drying drum ( 3) A lint duct 8 for discharging air in the air is installed in communication with the lint duct 8, which is connected to the exhaust duct 15.

In addition, a blowing fan 13 is installed at the rear of the lint duct 8 to forcibly suck air from the outside and forcibly blow the air into the exhaust duct 15.

In addition, the connecting portion of the lint duct 8 and the drying drum 3 is provided with a filter 14 for filtering foreign matter such as lint from the air discharged from the drying drum 3.

The driving means for rotating the drying drum (3) is the drive motor 10 is installed on the lower body 1, the pulley 11 and the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum (3) coupled to the drive motor 10 It consists of a power transmission belt 12 which transmits the rotational force of the pulley (11) to the drying drum (3), the drive pulley (11) when the drive pulley (11) is rotated by the rotation of the drive motor (10) The power transmission belt 12 wound around is rotated to rotate the drying drum 3.

The blowing fan 13 is coupled to a drive shaft (not shown) extending to the opposite side of the pulley 11 of the drive motor 10 to operate together when the drive motor 10 operates.

In addition, the suction duct 7 is provided with a suction side temperature sensor 21 which senses the temperature of the air flowing into the drying drum 3 in real time and transmits it to a controller (not shown), and the exhaust duct 15 ) Is provided with a discharge side temperature sensor 22 which detects the temperature of the air discharged from the drying drum 3 in real time and transmits it to a controller (not shown).

Hereinafter, a control method of the clothes dryer constructed as above will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

When the user performs a drying stroke after putting clothes such as a drying object into the drying drum 3, the heater 5 and the driving motor 10 are operated to rotate the drying drum 3 and simultaneously blow a fan 13. ) Is rotated, the air of the outside air is sucked and heated by the heater (5), and then flows into the drying drum (3) in the rotary state through the suction duct (7) to perform drying. The hot air introduced into the drying drum 3 is dried by evaporating the moisture of the dry object in the wet state, and then becomes air of low temperature and high humidity to pass through the lint duct 8 and the exhaust duct 15 in order to be discharged to the outside.

At the initial stage of performing the drying stroke as described above, the suction side temperature sensor 21 and the discharge side temperature sensor 22 are heated by the heater 5 and the air and the drying drum 3 introduced into the drying drum 3. After drying the drying object in the) measured the temperature of the discharged air is delivered to the controller. (S1)

In general, in the case of the clothes dryer, a difference occurs in the air volume because the length and structure of the exhaust duct 15 are different in each household. When the intake air temperature is measured by the suction side temperature sensor 21, the following equation 1 is used. The air volume can be known by this.

Where B is the air volume, ρ is the air density, Cp is the static pressure specific heat, ΔT is the change in intake temperature per unit time, and Q is the heater capacity.

Since the pressure does not change significantly throughout the clothes dryer, the air density (ρ) and the static pressure specific heat (Cp) are generally a function of the intake air temperature, and the heater capacity (Q) is determined according to the heater type. The amount of air flow (B) can be easily obtained from the time-measured temperature measurement of) (S2).

When the air volume is obtained in this manner, the load amount is determined by the rate of change of the air volume and the exhaust temperature measured by the exhaust temperature sensor 22 using the relationship between the air volume experimentally obtained and the change of the exhaust temperature for each load as shown in the graph of FIG. It can be detected (S3), it is possible to perform the drying stroke by optimizing the drying conditions such as the temperature and drying time of the heater (5) in accordance with the obtained load amount (S4).

For example, when the load is small, the operation can be performed by lowering the temperature of the heater 5 or by setting the drying time short. When the load is large, the temperature of the heater 5 is increased or the drying time is set longer. The operation can be performed by the operation (S4).

If the exhaust temperature measured by the discharge-side temperature sensor 22 is equal to or higher than the set value (A) during the operation by setting the drying condition according to the load amount as described above, for example, when the temperature is equal to or higher than 60 ° C, In order to prevent damage, the operation of the heater 5 is stopped, and when the temperature B drops again to a predetermined temperature (B), for example, 50 ° C., the heater 5 is restarted and operated.

When the heater 5 is stopped and restarted as described above, the air volume and load amount are calculated for each restart of the heater 5, and the operation is continued by resetting the drying conditions.

In this way, if the change rate of the load amount falls within the set value (C) while the heater 5 is repeatedly stopped and restarted, it means that most of the moisture of the drying object is removed. (S6)

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect the load by measuring the temperature of the air flowing into the drying drum and the air discharged from the drying drum, it is possible to set the drying conditions according to the load calculated as described above And effective drying control can be achieved.

In addition, since the operation can be performed by setting the optimum drying conditions according to the detected load amount, problems such as the risk of overdrying and early termination of the drying administration that can occur in the conventional contact dryness sensor can be solved.

Claims (3)

A drying drum rotatably installed in the main body, a driving means for rotating the drying drum, a blowing fan for forcibly sucking and blowing outside air, a heater for heating the sucked outside air, and an air heated by the heater An intake duct guiding the inside, an exhaust duct guiding the air discharged from the drying drum to be discharged to the outside of the main body, a suction side temperature sensor that senses the temperature of the air flowing into the drying drum and transmits it to the controller, and the drying In the method for controlling a clothes dryer comprising a discharge side temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the air discharged from the drum and transmitting to the controller, Measuring a temperature of air sucked into the drying drum by a suction side temperature sensor and transmitting the measured temperature to a controller; Measuring the temperature of the air discharged from the drying drum with a discharge side temperature sensor and transmitting the same to the controller; Calculating the air volume by the temperature change transmitted by the suction side temperature sensor in the controller; Detecting a load amount by a rate of change of exhaust temperature measured by the discharge side temperature sensor and the calculated air volume; Control method of the clothes dryer comprising the step of setting the drying conditions in accordance with the detected load amount. The method of claim 1, wherein when the heater is stopped and restarted, the air condition and the load are redetected each time the restart is performed to reset the drying conditions. The method of controlling a clothes dryer according to claim 2, wherein when the change rate of the measured load is less than or equal to a predetermined value every time the heater is stopped and restarted, it is determined that the drying is completed and the operation is stopped.