KR20090100801A - Controlling method of cloth treating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A control method of a cloth managing device is provided to reduce consumption of electric energy consumption with simple structure, and to prevent generation of overload on the device in case the clothes are sterilized or dried. CONSTITUTION: A control method of a cloth managing device includes the following steps of: sterilizing the clothes by spraying steam to a receiving space; confirming an in-between driving condition of a heat pump to supply the hot air(S510); setting the heat pump according to the in-between driving condition; and drying the clothes by supply g the hot air to the receiving space(S530). The hot air is supplied by the heat pump having an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, a compressor, and an expansion valve.

Description

{Controlling method of Cloth treating apparatus}

The present invention relates to a control method of a clothes treating apparatus, and more particularly, to a control method capable of preventing excessive load from being driven when the clothes treating apparatus is driven.

Recently, various types of clothes treating apparatuses have been used together with washing machines for washing clothes. For example, drum-type dryers for drying clothes after washing, cabinet-type dryers for hanging clothes and drying, and refreshers for supplying hot air to clothes and refreshing clothes have been developed.

Among the clothes treating apparatuses, a refresher, a dryer, or the like mainly supplies air by heating the air using a heater. Such heaters include a gas heater that burns gas to heat air, and an electric heater that heats air by electric resistance. In recent years, electric heaters that are easy to install and simple in structure have been used.

However, when the air is heated by the electric heater as described above, the high temperature heat of the heater can be directly transmitted to the clothing, there is a problem that the clothing may be damaged, or even a fire may occur inside the clothing processing apparatus.

In addition, since the electric heater heats the air by using electricity, in order to heat the air to a desired temperature, a large amount of electricity is consumed, and thus a lot of maintenance costs are involved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a laundry treatment apparatus having a simple structure and reducing electric energy consumption.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a clothes treating apparatus and a control method which can prevent excessive load on the clothes treating apparatus when sterilizing and drying the clothes by the clothes treating apparatus.

An object of the present invention as described above, the clothes having a receiving space for accommodating the clothes, spraying steam to the receiving space, or provided with a heat pump provided with an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser and an expansion valve to supply hot air A control method of a processing apparatus, comprising: (a) disinfecting clothes by spraying steam into the accommodation space; (b) checking an intermediate driving condition for supplying hot air to the heat pump; (c) setting the heat pump according to the intermediate driving condition; And (d) supplying hot air to the accommodation space by the heat pump to dry the clothes.

Wherein step (b) comprises (b1) equally forming pressures of the evaporator and the condenser; And (b2) checking the operating pressure of the compressor. Preferably, the step (b1) further includes opening the expansion valve as much as possible.

On the other hand, in the control method according to the present embodiment, the heat pump further comprises a flow fan for flowing air to the accommodation space and a cooling fan for cooling the compressor, the step (b1) is the flow fan and the cooling fan Preferably, the method further includes driving.

In addition, the step (b2) is preferably to check the operating pressure of the compressor by measuring the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator.

On the other hand, step (b2) it is preferable to check the operating pressure of the compressor by comparing the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator with a predetermined temperature.

In addition, the step (c) is to open the expansion valve to the maximum when the evaporator inlet temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature and to continue to operate the flow fan and cooling fan, when the evaporator inlet air temperature is below the predetermined temperature Adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve in accordance with the measured temperature; preferably further comprises. Here, the predetermined temperature may be made of 41 ℃ to 45 ℃.

On the other hand, when the temperature of the evaporator inlet air is less than the predetermined temperature, preferably further comprising the step of closing the expansion valve before adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve. Specifically, when the evaporator inlet air temperature is below the predetermined temperature, it is preferable to adjust the opening degree of the expansion valve so that liquid compression does not occur in the condenser.

In addition, the step (d) preferably further comprises the step of driving the compressor. Furthermore, the step (d) preferably further comprises the step of pumping the condensed water condensed in the heat pump to the condensate storage unit.

On the other hand, the control method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention (A) prior to the step (a) may further include a preheating step of heating the receiving space.

Here, the step (A), (A1) checking the initial driving conditions of the heat pump; (A2) setting the heat pump according to the initial driving condition; And (A3) supplying hot air to the accommodation space using the heat pump.

In addition, the step (A1) may include (A11) closing the expansion valve; And (A12) measuring a temperature of air introduced into the evaporator and comparing the temperature with a predetermined temperature.

Here, the step (A11) preferably further comprises the step of driving a flow fan for flowing air to the receiving space and a cooling fan for cooling the compressor.

On the other hand, the step (A2) is to adjust the opening degree of the expansion valve so that the liquid compression does not occur in the condenser when the temperature of the evaporator inlet air is less than a predetermined temperature, when the operating pressure of the compressor is higher than the predetermined temperature It is desirable to adjust so as not to rise above the set proper pressure.

Here, step (A3) may further comprise the step of driving the compressor. In addition, the step (A3) preferably further comprises the step of pumping the condensed water condensed in the heat pump to the condensate storage unit.

As described above, the control method according to the present invention can prevent excessive load on the heat pump by checking the driving conditions of the heat pump when supplying hot air after spraying steam by the clothes treating apparatus. .

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent damage to the clothes treating apparatus by preventing an excessive load on the clothes treating apparatus.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention. First, the structure of the clothes treating apparatus to which the control method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described. Next, the control method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

1 is a front view showing a laundry treatment apparatus to which the control method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied. In the present specification, a refresher for refreshing clothes and supplying hot air as a clothes treating apparatus is described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the idea of the present invention may be applied to other clothes treating apparatuses that may include a heat pump described below. have. Hereinafter, the configuration of the laundry treatment apparatus according to the present invention will be described first, and then the control method will be described.

Referring to FIG. 1, the clothes treating apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment supplies hot air to the cabinet 10 and the receiving space 12 in which an accommodation space 12 for accommodating the clothes 1 is formed. It includes a hot air supply (see Fig. 2, 22). In addition, the laundry treatment apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment may further include a steam generator (see FIG. 2, 30) for selectively spraying steam into the accommodation space 12.

Here, the clothes treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the at least two or more detection sensors (see Fig. 2, 50, 52) and the hot air supply device 22, the steam generator 30 to detect the temperature inside the cabinet 10 It may further include a control unit (not shown) for controlling the driving.

The cabinet 10 is provided with various components to be described later, and an accommodation space 12 in which clothing is accommodated is formed therein. The receiving space 12 is selectively communicated with the outside by the door 14. In addition, the receiving space 12 is provided with a variety of support 16 to hang the clothes (1), etc., the structure for supporting such clothes (1) is widely known in the field of the present invention, so a detailed description thereof is omitted. do.

On the other hand, inside the cabinet 10 is formed a machine room 20 in which the hot air supply device 22 for selectively supplying hot air and steam to the receiving space 12 and the steam generator 30 is accommodated. The machine room 20 is preferably located at the lower portion of the accommodation space 12, the above-described hot air supply device 22 and the steam generator 30 is located therein. As such, the reason why the machine room 20 is located at the bottom is that the hot air and steam supplied to the accommodation space 12 have the property of being raised by heat, so that the machine room 20 is located at the bottom to face the hot air and This is because it is preferable to supply steam.

2 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the inside of the machine room 20. In FIG. 2, only components of the heat pump 22 and the steam generating device 30 constituting the hot air supply device are illustrated for convenience of description, and the piping lines connecting the components are not shown. .

Referring to FIG. 2, the heat pump 22 and the steam generator 30 for supplying steam are located in the machine room 20 as a hot air supply device for supplying hot air to the accommodation space (see FIG. 1 and 12). do.

The heat pump 22 corresponding to the hot air supply device of the present invention is similar to a heat pump used in an air conditioner or the like. That is, the heat pump 22 is provided with an evaporator 24, a compressor 26, a condenser 27 and an expansion valve 28 through which the refrigerant circulates, thereby dehumidifying and heating the air. That is, the refrigerant evaporates in the evaporator 24 to absorb latent heat of ambient air, thereby cooling the air to condense and remove moisture in the air. In addition, when the refrigerant is condensed in the condenser 27 via the compressor 26, the latent heat is released toward the surrounding air to heat the surrounding air. Therefore, the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27 function as a heat exchanger, and the air introduced into the machine room 20 is dehumidified and heated through the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27 to the receiving space 12. Supplied.

As such, the air heated by the heat pump 22 may be slightly lower than the air heated by using a conventional heater, but the air can be dehumidified without using a separate dehumidifier. Therefore, the air supplied back to the receiving space 12 by the heat pump 22 corresponds to a relatively 'low temperature dry air' (here, 'low temperature' does not mean that the temperature is absolutely low, but heating But it is used in the sense that the temperature is relatively low compared to conventional heating air). Accordingly, the air supplied by the heat pump 22 of the present invention has a lower temperature than the hot air of the conventional clothes treating apparatus, but supplies dehumidified air without a separate dehumidifying apparatus, thereby easily drying clothes. It becomes possible to refresh.

Specifically, an air inlet 21 through which air in the accommodation space 12 flows into the inside of the machine room 20 is formed at the front end of the machine room 20, and the air inlet 21, the evaporator 24, and the condenser ( It is preferable to form a flow path through which air flows by the duct 29 connecting the 27 and the flow fan 32. The air introduced into the machine room 20 through the air inlet 21 by the duct 29 is dehumidified and heated while passing through the heat pump 22, and is supplied back to the receiving space 12 by the flow fan 32. do.

Here, although not shown in the drawings, the air inlet 21 may be preferably provided with a filter. By providing a filter at the air inlet 21, it is possible to filter various foreign matters and the like that may be included in the air flowing into the machine room 20 from the accommodation space 12 to supply only fresh air to the accommodation space 12.

On the other hand, the machine room 20 is provided with a steam generator 30 for selectively supplying steam to the accommodation space (12). By supplying steam to the accommodation space 12 by the steam generating device 30, it is possible to remove wrinkles and the like that may occur in clothing, and furthermore, by the high temperature steam with the effect of sterilization and refreshing due to the swelling of the clothing cloth, etc. You can expect the effect. As such, the timing of spraying steam by the steam generator 30 may be appropriately modified. Preferably, steam is sprayed before the hot air is supplied by the heat pump 22 described above. This is because it is preferable to supply hot air and then to dry the clothes after injecting high temperature steam.

The steam generator 30 is provided with a heater (not shown) for heating the water therein, and generates water by heating the water to supply to the receiving space (12). An external faucet or the like may be used as the water supply source for supplying water to the steam generator 30, or a container type water supply source provided on one side of the machine room 20 may be used. This container type water supply is preferably detachably installed so that the user can separate the water supply from the machine room 20 to fill the water and reinstall it.

In addition, the steam generated by the steam generator 30 is supplied to the accommodation space 12 through the steam hose 36 and the steam nozzle 40. In this case, the shorter the length of the steam hose 36 is, in order to prevent the temperature of the steam from being lowered or the condensation of steam while the steam moves along the steam hose 36. Therefore, when the machine room 20 is located below the accommodation space 12, the steam nozzle 40 preferably supplies steam through the top of the machine room 20, that is, the bottom of the accommodation space 12. .

In addition, a cooling fan 34 may be provided in the rear portion of the machine room 20. The cooling fan 34 supplies the air outside the machine room 20 into the machine room 20, thereby cooling the above-described heat pump 22, in particular, a compressor or by cooling the steam generator 30, thereby providing a machine room 20. The internal temperature is prevented from rising too much. On the other hand, reference numeral 52 and 50 not described in Figure 2 is a duct 29 and the receiving space 12 is located near the outlet 33 through which the heated air is discharged to detect a sensor for sensing the temperature of the flowing air Shown.

Hereinafter, a control method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention applied to a laundry treatment apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a clothes treating apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a schematic configuration of a heat pump 22 in the above-described clothes treating apparatus.

Referring to Figure 3, the control method of the laundry treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is preheating step (S310), preheating by supplying hot air to the receiving space 12 largely, supplying steam to the receiving space 12 And a sterilization step (S330) for sterilizing the clothing and a drying step (S350) for supplying hot air back to the accommodation space 12 to dry the clothing.

The control method according to the present embodiment first preheats the accommodation space 12 by supplying hot air into the accommodation space 12.

In this embodiment, the steam is sprayed into the accommodation space 12 to sterilize the clothes. The steam is preheated to an appropriate temperature before the sterilization process so that the steam can be sprayed more effectively in the sterilization step described below. That is, in the case of sterilizing the clothing by spraying steam, if the temperature of the accommodation space 12 in which the clothing is accommodated is too low, the sterilization effect is reduced. Therefore, in the preheating step, when the steam is sprayed by preheating the temperature of the accommodation space 12 to approximately 30 to 50 ° C. or more, the sterilization effect is increased.

Specifically, the preheating step (S310) is a step (S311) of checking the initial driving conditions of the heat pump 22, the step of setting the heat pump 22 in accordance with the initial driving conditions (S313) and the heat pump 22 And preheating the hot air by supplying the hot air to the receiving space 12 (S315).

As described above, the clothes treating apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a heat pump 22 including an evaporator 24, a compressor 26, a condenser 27, and an expansion valve 28 as a device for supplying hot air. Done. As described above, the heat pump 22 may heat the flowing air and remove moisture in the air without a separate device.

However, such a heat pump 22 includes an evaporator 24, a compressor 26, a condenser 27 and an expansion valve 28, in particular the operating pressure of the compressor 26 of the components is a heat pump ( It acts as an important operating condition when driving 22). In other words, if the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is too high compared to the appropriate pressure, the compressor 26 is excessively loaded, which may cause a failure or even breakage of the compressor 26.

Therefore, the control method according to the present embodiment checks the initial driving conditions of the heat pump 22, in particular the operating pressure of the compressor 26 before the hot air is supplied by the heat pump 22 to operate above the proper pressure. Will be prevented. On the other hand, the "qualified pressure" of the compressor 26 is a pressure that the compressor can operate normally in a range that does not overdo the compressor, changes depending on the capacity of the compressor, etc., it is difficult to limit to a special value, but this embodiment Is stabilized by the evaporator inlet air temperature described below.

On the other hand, the step (S311) of checking the initial driving conditions of the heat pump 22 in the present embodiment is to close the expansion valve 28 of the heat pump 22 and the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 And measuring and comparing the temperature with a predetermined temperature.

That is, prior to checking the operating pressure of the compressor 26, in this embodiment, the expansion valve 28 is closed first. This is to confirm the operating pressure of the compressor in a state in which the flow of the refrigerant is blocked before the heat pump 22 is driven, and further, to open the expansion valve 28 to adjust the operating pressure of the compressor 26 as described below. This is to initialize the opening degree of the expansion valve 28 in the case of adjusting the degree.

Subsequently, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is checked by comparing the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 with a predetermined temperature. In this embodiment, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is indirectly checked by measuring the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24, rather than directly checking whether the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is lower than the proper pressure. This is because it is difficult to directly check the operating pressure of the compressor 26.

That is, since the evaporator 24 and the compressor 26 are connected by a refrigerant line (not shown), when the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 is measured, it is necessary to check the operating pressure of the compressor 26. It becomes possible. For example, when the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 increases because the air temperature of the accommodation space 12 rises, the temperature of the refrigerant also increases, thereby increasing the operating pressure of the compressor 26. . Therefore, in this embodiment, by measuring the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is confirmed by comparing with a predetermined temperature, for example, 41 to 45 ℃. That is, when the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 is lower than 41 to 45 ℃ it is determined that the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is lower than the appropriate pressure.

On the other hand, when measuring the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 in this way, a flow fan for flowing the air to supply the air in the receiving space 12 to the evaporator 24 more smoothly (see Fig. 2, 32 Is preferably driven. In addition, since the compressor 26 is preferably driven at a lower pressure than the appropriate pressure, the compressor 26 is preferably driven together with a cooling fan 34 for cooling the machine room, particularly the compressor 26.

As described above, the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 is measured and compared with a predetermined temperature, and then the heat pump 22 is set according to the initial driving condition (S313).

In this case, when the measured evaporator inlet air temperature is lower than or equal to the predetermined temperature, the opening degree of the expansion valve 28 is adjusted so that the liquid compression does not occur in the condenser 27. Adjust the operating pressure so that it does not rise above the set pressure.

When the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, since the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is higher than the appropriate pressure, it is necessary to lower the operating pressure of the compressor 26. In this case, the opening of the expansion valve 28 is made smaller than the state of the maximum opening, thereby lowering the pressure of the evaporator to lower the operating pressure of the compressor 26.

In addition, when the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 is less than the predetermined temperature, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is preferably lower than the appropriate pressure, but in this case, if the measurement temperature is too low, the expansion valve 28 is too In the case of excessive opening, there is a possibility that liquid compression of the refrigerant occurs in the compressor 26 and the compressor 26 may fail or be damaged. Therefore, when the evaporator 24 inflow measurement temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature, the liquid compression is not generated in the compressor 26 when the expansion valve 28 is opened.

In other words. The opening degree of the expansion valve 26 is made smaller than the state in which the expansion valve 26 is opened to prevent the liquid compression from occurring when the compressor 26 is driven.

As described above, when the operation pressure of the compressor 26 of the heat pump 22 is lower than the proper pressure, and the expansion valve 28 is adjusted so that no liquid compression occurs, the hot air is supplied by the heat pump 22. It is made (S315).

Specifically, the compressor 26 is driven to allow the refrigerant to flow, thereby absorbing the latent heat of the surrounding air while the refrigerant evaporates in the evaporator 24, thereby cooling the air to condense and remove moisture in the air. In addition, when the refrigerant is condensed in the condenser 27 via the compressor 26, the latent heat is released toward the surrounding air to heat the surrounding air. Therefore, the air introduced into the machine room 20 is dehumidified and heated through the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27, and is supplied to the accommodation space 12, thereby preheating the accommodation space 12.

On the other hand, although not shown in the figure, the heat pump 22 according to the present embodiment has a condensate storage unit (not shown) for storing the condensed water condensed in the evaporator 24, the condensed water condensed in the heat pump 22 Is transferred to the condensate storage unit by the pumping action of the pump (not shown). Therefore, when the hot air is supplied by the heat pump 22, it is preferable to drive the pump to pump the condensate into the condensate storage unit.

This preheating step is to heat the interior of the receiving space 12 to approximately 30 to 50 ℃ to maximize the sterilization effect when spraying steam in the sterilization step to be described later.

When the receiving space is preheated by the preheating step S315, the compressor 26, the flow fan 32, and the cooling fan 34 are stopped, and the pump (not shown) is condensed in the heat pump 22. In order to pump the condensed water, it is preferable to drive for a predetermined time, for example, about 20 seconds even after the compressor 26 is stopped.

Subsequently, steam is sprayed through a preheating step to sterilize the garment (S330). When spraying steam, it is preferable to spray from the bottom so that the steam is evenly sprayed on the clothes.

On the other hand, since the structure of the steam generating device 30 according to the present embodiment is as described above, repeated description is omitted. When steam is injected in the sterilization step (S330), the temperature of the steam and the steam injection time are appropriately determined by the controller according to the type and amount of clothes accommodated in the accommodation space (12). In this case, clothing information, such as the type of clothing and the amount of clothing stored, may be manually input by the user, or the clothing information may be automatically input by having a separate sensor in the clothing storage device. In addition, the control unit is input in advance to the appropriate steam temperature according to the type of clothes and the steam injection time according to the amount of clothes, the control unit to control the steam generating device 30 in accordance with the clothing information manually or automatically input.

After the sterilization step is to dry the clothing (S350). In order to dry the clothes in this embodiment, hot air is supplied by the heat pump 22 to dry the clothes.

Specifically, the clothing drying step (S350) is a step of confirming the intermediate driving conditions of the heat pump (S351), the step of setting the heat pump 22 in accordance with the intermediate driving conditions (S353) and the heat pump 22 by the heat pump 22 Supplying and drying steps (S355).

The clothing drying step (S350) is provided with similar steps to the preheating step (S310) described above, will be described with a focus on the differences.

When the heat pump 22 is driven after the steam is injected, it is necessary to check the intermediate driving condition, that is, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 again (S351). This is because, in the case of sterilization by spraying steam, the air temperature inside the accommodation space 12 is increased by the high temperature steam. Therefore, if the heat pump 22 is directly driven immediately after the sterilization step, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is increased by the high temperature air flowing into the evaporator 24 to be higher than the proper pressure, so that the compressor 26 is excessive. There is a load.

Specifically, the step of checking the intermediate driving condition (S351) includes the step of forming the pressure of the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27 are approximately the same and the step of checking the operating pressure of the compressor (26).

In general, when the heat pump 22 stops driving, the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27 form approximately the same pressure, and in this case, the compressor 26 can be operated without difficulty.

However, when the sterilization step is performed as in the present embodiment, an imbalance may occur between the pressures of the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27 by the hot air flowing into the evaporator 24, and in particular, the expansion valve 28. In the case of opening a small amount of), an imbalance occurs severely between the pressures of the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27. As such, when a severe imbalance occurs between the pressures of the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27, a severe force acts on the driving of the compressor 26, so in this embodiment, the pressure of the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27 is first. To form the same, specifically, the expansion valve 28 is opened to the maximum to form a pressure approximately the same. In this way, when the expansion valve 28 is opened as much as possible, the refrigerant can be freely moved through the expansion valve 28 between the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27, thereby reducing the pressure of the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27. It becomes possible to form substantially the same.

As such, the pressures of the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27 are the same, and then the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is checked.

When checking the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is similar to the method of confirming the operating pressure of the compressor in the pre-heating step described above, except that the expansion valve 28 is opened as much as possible. That is, in this case, the expansion valve 28 is opened to the maximum, and the operating pressure of the compressor is checked by comparing the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 with a predetermined temperature, and further, the flow fan 32 and the cooling fan ( 34).

As described above, the intermediate driving condition of the heat pump 22, that is, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is checked by comparing with a predetermined temperature, and then the heat pump 22 is set according to the intermediate driving condition (S353).

Specifically, when the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 is above a predetermined temperature, the expansion valve 28 is opened as much as possible and the flow fan 32 and the cooling fan 34 are continuously driven, and the evaporator 24 is used. When the inlet air temperature is below a predetermined temperature, the opening degree of the expansion valve 28 is adjusted according to the measured temperature.

That is, when the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 is a predetermined temperature, for example, 41 to 45 ℃ or more, since the operating temperature of the compressor 26 is higher than the appropriate pressure, the expansion valve 28 is opened as much as possible The temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 is maintained by continuing to drive the flow fan 32 and the cooling fan 34.

As a result, when the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 is lowered below the predetermined temperature, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is lower than the proper pressure, so that the compressor 26 can be driven. However, when the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 becomes too low, the liquid compression of the refrigerant may occur in the compressor 26 as described above. Therefore, when the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator 24 falls below the predetermined temperature, the opening degree of the expansion valve 28 is adjusted so that the liquid compression does not occur in the compressor 26.

In addition, when adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve 28, it is preferable to first close the expansion valve 28 completely, and then adjust the opening degree. Rather than adjusting the expansion valve 28 in a fully open state, the expansion valve 28 is completely closed to initialize the opening degree of the expansion valve 28, and then the opening degree is adjusted so that no liquid compression occurs.

in this case. In other words. The opening degree of the expansion valve 26 is made smaller than the state in which the expansion valve 26 is opened to prevent the liquid compression from occurring when the compressor 26 is driven.

As described above, the heat pump 22 is set according to the intermediate driving condition, and the hot air is supplied by the heat pump 22 to dry the clothes (S355).

In this case, by operating the compressor 26 to operate the heat pump 22 to supply hot air, and to pump the condensed water condensed in the heat pump 22 to the condensate storage unit (not shown) by the pump. desirable.

When the clothes are dried in the drying step S350, the compressor 26, the flow fan 32, and the cooling fan 34 stop driving, and the pump (not shown) condenses condensed water in the heat pump 22. It is preferable to drive for a predetermined time, for example, about 20 seconds even after the compressor 26 is stopped for pumping.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the control method according to the present embodiment has a difference in that clothes are dried instead of preheating the accommodation space in the hot air supply step as compared to the preheating step described above.

That is, the control method according to the present embodiment includes the step of checking the initial driving condition of the heat pump (S510), the step of setting the heat pump 22 according to the initial driving condition (S530) and the heat pump 22 by the hot air Supplying steps (S550).

Here, the step (S510) of checking the initial driving condition of the heat pump and the step (S530) of setting the heat pump 22 according to the initial driving condition are similar to the preheating step described above, and thus, repeated description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, in the case of supplying the hot air by the heat pump 22 in this embodiment is not to preheat the receiving space 12, but to dry the clothes, the receiving space 12 compared to the hot air supply in the preheating step The internal temperature will be higher. That is, for example, in the case of supplying hot air in the present embodiment, the internal temperature of the accommodation space 12 is heated to about 40 to 60 ° C. or more.

1 is a front view of a laundry treatment apparatus to which the control method of the present invention is applied;

2 is a schematic view showing the interior of the machine room of FIG.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the heat pump in the clothes treatment apparatus to which the control method of the present invention is applied, and

5 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (25)

In the control method of the clothes treating apparatus including a receiving space for accommodating clothes, the steam is injected into the receiving space, or provided with a heat pump having an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser and an expansion valve. (a) sterilizing the clothing by spraying steam into the accommodation space; (b) checking an intermediate driving condition for supplying hot air to the heat pump; (c) setting the heat pump according to the intermediate driving condition; And and (d) supplying hot air to the accommodation space by the heat pump to dry the clothes. The method of claim 1, Step (b) is, (b1) forming equal pressures of the evaporator and the condenser; And (b2) checking the operating pressure of the compressor; control method of a laundry treatment apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 2, Step (b1) is, The control method of the clothes treating apparatus further comprising the step of opening the expansion valve as possible. The method of claim 3, The heat pump further includes a flow fan for flowing air to the accommodation space and a cooling fan for cooling the compressor, The step (b1) further comprises the step of driving the flow fan and the cooling fan control method of the clothes treating apparatus. The method of claim 4, wherein The step (b2) is the control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for confirming the operating pressure of the compressor by measuring the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator. The method of claim 5, Step (b2), The control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for confirming the operating pressure of the compressor by comparing the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator with a predetermined temperature. The method of claim 6, Step (c) is, When the evaporator inlet temperature is above the predetermined temperature, the expansion valve is opened as much as possible and the flow fan and the cooling fan are continuously driven. And adjusting the opening of the expansion valve according to the measured temperature if the evaporator inlet air temperature is less than or equal to the predetermined temperature. The method of claim 7, wherein The predetermined temperature is 41 ℃ to 45 ℃ the control method of the laundry treatment apparatus. The method of claim 7, wherein And closing the expansion valve before adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve when the temperature of the evaporator inlet air is less than or equal to the predetermined temperature. The method of claim 9, And controlling the opening of the expansion valve so that the liquid compression does not occur in the condenser when the evaporator inlet air temperature is lower than or equal to the predetermined temperature. The method of claim 1, Step (d) is The control method of the laundry treatment apparatus further comprising the step of driving the compressor. The method of claim 11, Wherein step (d) further comprises the step of pumping the condensed water condensed in the heat pump to the condensate storage unit. The method of claim 1, Prior to step (a) above (A) a preheating step of heating the receiving space; control method of a laundry treatment apparatus further comprises. The method of claim 13, Step (A) is (A1) checking an initial driving condition of the heat pump; (A2) setting the heat pump according to the initial driving condition; And (A3) supplying hot air to the receiving space by using the heat pump; control method of a laundry treatment apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 14, Step (A1) is (A11) closing the expansion valve; And (A12) measuring the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator and comparing with a predetermined temperature; control method of a laundry treatment apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 15, Step (A11) is And driving a flow fan for flowing air into the accommodation space and a cooling fan for cooling the compressor. The method of claim 15, Step (A2) is When the evaporator inlet air temperature is less than a predetermined temperature to adjust the opening of the expansion valve so that no liquid compression occurs in the condenser, When the temperature is above a predetermined temperature control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for adjusting so that the operating pressure of the compressor does not rise above a predetermined appropriate pressure. The method of claim 14, Step (A3) is The control method of the laundry treatment apparatus further comprising the step of driving the compressor. The method of claim 18, Step (A3) is And controlling the condensate condensed in the heat pump to a condensate storage unit.  In the control method of the clothes treating apparatus including a receiving space for accommodating clothes, the steam is injected into the receiving space, or provided with a heat pump having an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser and an expansion valve. (A1) checking an initial driving condition of the heat pump; (A2) setting the heat pump according to the initial driving condition; And (A3) supplying hot air to the receiving space by using the heat pump to dry the clothes; control method of a laundry treatment apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 20, Step (A1) is (A11) closing the expansion valve; And (A12) measuring the temperature of the air flowing into the evaporator and comparing with a predetermined temperature; control method of a laundry treatment apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 21, Step (A11) is And driving a flow fan for flowing air into the accommodation space and a cooling fan for cooling the compressor. The method of claim 21, Step (A2) is When the evaporator inlet air temperature is less than a predetermined temperature to adjust the opening of the expansion valve so that no liquid compression occurs in the condenser, When the temperature is above a predetermined temperature control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for adjusting so that the operating pressure of the compressor does not rise above a predetermined appropriate pressure. The method of claim 20, Step (A3) is The control method of the laundry treatment apparatus further comprising the step of driving the compressor. The method of claim 24, Step (A3) is And controlling the condensate condensed in the heat pump to a condensate storage unit.

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