KR20090102415A - Laundry dryer and controlling method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A drying machine and a control method thereof are provided to prevent a filter part being blocked by cleaning the filter part automatically and periodically and equipping a cleaning nozzle on a front part of a drum. CONSTITUTION: A drying machine includes a drum, a hot wind supply device, a steam generating device(200), a filter part, and a collecting part. The drum receives the laundry, and installed at an inner side of the cabinet pivotally. The hot wind supply device supplies the hot wind to the drum. The steam generating device generates the steam sprayed to the drum. The filter part is located on a vent of the drum, and filters the air discharged from the drum. The collecting part collects foreign materials fallen from the filter part.

Description

Dryer and control method {Laundry dryer and Controlling method

The present invention relates to a dryer and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a dryer and a control method thereof that can prevent the filter portion of the dryer from being blocked.

In general, a dryer (Laundry machine) is used as a device for drying the laundry to be washed. In addition, such a dryer may be classified into a top loading type and a front loading type according to a method of inputting laundry objects. In recent years, a front loading method, a so-called drum type dryer, which can load laundry objects from the front of the dryer, has been widely used.

In addition, the dryer can be broadly divided into an exhaust type for injecting air from outside to dry it and then discharge it, and a circulation type for circulating the introduced air. However, the air containing moisture by drying the laundry object in such a dryer contains foreign substances such as dust of the laundry object in the process of drying. Thus, the dryer generally includes a filter portion for filtering the air exhausted from the drum.

By the way, when the drier is continuously operated, dust continues to accumulate in the filter unit, whereby the filter unit is blocked and air is not circulated. Therefore, in the conventional dryer, in order to prevent the filter part from being clogged, there is an inconvenience that the user should check periodically.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a dryer which can prevent the filter portion from being blocked.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a dryer which can prevent the filter portion from clogging by periodically cleaning the filter portion automatically.

An object of the present invention as described above, the drum rotatably installed inside the cabinet to accommodate the laundry object; Hot air supply device for supplying hot air to the drum; A steam generator for generating steam injected into the drum; A filter unit positioned adjacent to an exhaust port of the drum to filter air discharged from the drum; And it is achieved by a dryer characterized in that it comprises a collecting unit for collecting the foreign matter falling from the filter unit.

Here, the dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a washing nozzle for spraying steam toward the laundry object in the drum; And a cleaning nozzle for directly injecting steam toward the filter unit, wherein the steam generator may selectively supply steam to the washing nozzle and the cleaning nozzle.

On the other hand, the cleaning nozzle is preferably located adjacent to the filter unit, in this case, the filter unit is provided in the front lower portion of the drum, the cleaning nozzle is provided to face the filter unit from the front upper portion of the drum. Can be.

In addition, the collecting unit may be located under the filter unit. In this case, the collection unit is preferably detachably mounted to the outside of the cabinet.

On the other hand, an object of the present invention as described above is a steam spraying step for spraying steam toward the laundry object inside the drum; A drying step of supplying hot air into the drum to dry the laundry object; And a cleaning step of cleaning the filter unit by spraying steam into the drum.

In the cleaning step, steam may be directly injected toward the filter unit. In addition, it is preferable not to rotate the drum in the cleaning step.

As described above, the dryer according to the present invention can automatically prevent the filter portion from clogging by periodically cleaning the filter portion.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily discharge dust, including a collecting part for collecting dust and the like in the filter part.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a dryer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic view showing a schematic configuration of a steam generator in FIG.

3 is a perspective view of the combination of Figure 1, and

4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

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

1 is a perspective view showing a dryer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the dryer according to the present embodiment is rotatably installed inside the cabinet 10 to supply a hot air to the drum 20 and the drum 20 to accommodate laundry objects. In addition, the steam generator 200 for generating steam injected into the drum 20, the filter unit 50 for filtering the air discharged from the drum 20 is located adjacent to the exhaust of the drum 20 and the filter unit Collector 55 for collecting the foreign matter falling from the 50.

The cabinet 10 forms the appearance of a dryer according to the present invention, and various components described below are installed therein.

First, inside the cabinet 10, a drum 20 rotatably installed, a motor 70 for driving the drum 20, and a belt 68 are installed. A predetermined position of the cabinet 10 is provided with a hot air generator for heating air to generate hot air (hereinafter referred to as "hot air"). The hot air generator includes a heater 90 (hereinafter referred to as "hot air heater") for heating air and a hot air supply duct 44 for supplying hot air generated by the hot air heater 90 to the drum 20. do. In addition, an exhaust duct 80 for discharging humid air heat-exchanged with the object to be dried in the drum 20, a blower unit 60 for sucking humid air, and the like are also provided. On the other hand, the steam generator 200 for generating a high temperature steam is installed at a predetermined position of the cabinet (10).

In this embodiment, an indirect drive method for rotating the drum 20 using the motor 70 and the belt 68 for convenience is illustrated and described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, it is also possible to apply the present invention to a direct drive method (Direct Drive Type) in which a motor is directly connected to the rear surface of the drum 20 to directly rotate the drum 20.

Hereinafter, each component described above will be described in detail.

The cabinet 10 forms the exterior of the dryer, and includes a base 12 forming a bottom surface, a pair of side covers 14 installed perpendicular to the base 12, and a front side of the side cover 14. And a top cover 17 disposed at an upper portion of the front cover 16 and the rear cover 18 and the side cover 14 respectively installed at the rear surface. The control panel 19 having various operation switches and the like can be installed on the top cover 17, but is normally located on the front cover 16, and the door 164 is provided on the front cover 16. The rear cover 18 is provided with an inlet 182 for allowing outside air to flow therein and an exhaust hole 184, which is a final passage through which the air of the drum 20 is discharged to the outside.

The inner space of the drum 20 functions as a drying chamber in which drying proceeds, and inside the drum 20, a lift 22 is installed to drag and lift the object to invert the object to invert the object to increase the drying efficiency. Do.

On the other hand, the front supporter 30 and the rear supporter 40 are provided between the drum 20 and the cabinet 10, ie, between the drum 20, the front cover 16, and the rear cover 18, respectively. The drum 20 is rotatably installed between the front supporter 30 and the rear supporter 40, and a sealing member for preventing leakage between the front supporter 30 and the rear supporter 40 and the drum 20, respectively. (Not shown) is installed. That is, the front supporter 30 and the rear supporter 40 form a drying chamber by blocking the front and rear surfaces of the drum 20 and serve to support the front and rear ends of the drum 20.

The front supporter 30 is formed with an opening for communicating the drum 20 with the outside of the dryer, the opening is selectively opened and closed by the door 164. In addition, the front supporter 30 is connected to a lint duct 50 that forms an exhaust portion that is a passage through which the air of the drum 20 is discharged to the outside, and the lint duct 50 is a filter portion for filtering air as a lint filter ( 52) is installed.

One side of the blower unit 60 is connected to the lint duct 50, the other side of the blower unit 60 is connected to the exhaust duct 80, and the exhaust duct 80 is an exhaust hole provided in the rear cover 18. In communication with (184).

Therefore, when the blower unit 60 is operated, the air in the drum 20 is discharged to the outside through the lint duct 50, the exhaust duct 80, and the exhaust hole 184. In this case, foreign substances such as lint and the like are filtered by the lint filter 52 forming the filter unit. In general, the blower unit 60 includes a blower 62 and a blower housing 64, and the blower 64 is generally connected to and driven by a motor 70 for driving the drum 20.

The rear supporter 40 is formed with an opening 42 which is usually composed of a plurality of through holes, and the hot air supply duct 44 is connected to the opening 42. The hot air supply duct 44 communicates with the drum 20 and serves as a passage for supplying hot air to the drum 20. Therefore, the hot air heater 90 is installed at a predetermined position of the hot air supply duct 44.

On the other hand, the steam generator 200 for generating steam to supply the inside of the drum 20 is installed at a predetermined position of the cabinet (10). Hereinafter, the steam generator 200 will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a steam generator in the dryer according to the present invention. Referring to Figure 2, when describing the dryer according to the present invention.

The steam generator 200 includes a water tank 210 in which water is accommodated therein, a heater (not shown) mounted in the water tank 210, and a water level sensor for measuring the water level of the steam generator 200. 260, and a temperature sensor (not shown) for measuring the temperature of the steam generator 200 is configured. Although not shown, the water level sensor 260 is usually composed of a common electrode, a low level electrode and a high level electrode, and detects the high level and the low level by the energization of the common electrode and the high level electrode or the conduction of the common electrode and the low level electrode.

One side of the steam generator 200 is connected to the water supply hose 220 for supplying water, and the other side is connected to the steam hose 230 for discharging steam, the nozzle of the predetermined shape (at the front end of the steam hose 230) 250) is preferably provided. In general, one end of the water supply hose 220 is connected to a water supply source, and the tip end portion of the steam hose 230 or the nozzle 25, that is, the steam discharge port, is positioned at a predetermined position of the drum 20, and then into the drum 20. Steam is injected.

On the other hand, the water supply source consists of a cartridge 300 is installed in the drawer (refer to Figure 1, 600) that can be drawn out and retractable in the cabinet 10, or although not shown in the drawing is fixed to the dryer or Or an external faucet located externally.

However, if the water supply consists of a faucet, the installation becomes very complicated. This is because, in general, the dryer does not use water, and thus, when the faucet is used as a water supply source, various apparatuses and the like must be additionally installed. Thus, as in this embodiment, using a detachable water supply source (Detachable Water Supply Source) 300, the water supply source 300 is separated from the drawer 600 to fill the water, the water supply source filled with water ( 300 is mounted on the drawer 600, it is very convenient to connect to the water supply flow path of the steam generator 200, that is, the water supply hose 220.

2, the pump 400 is preferably provided between the water supply source 300 and the steam generator 200. It is more preferable that the pump 400 is capable of forward and reverse rotation to supply water to the steam generator 200 or to recover residual water of the steam generator 200 as necessary. Here, the reason for recovering the residual water of the steam generator 200 is that, if the steam generator 200 is not used for a long time, the heater may be damaged by the residual water, or there may be a possibility that the decayed water is used later. In addition, it is preferable that the safety valve 500 is provided in the steam flow path for discharging steam from the steam generator 200, that is, the steam hose 230.

However, in the dryer having such a configuration, the air is filtered by the lint filter 52 forming the filter unit before exhausting the humid air from which the laundry object is dried in the drum 200. The same foreign matter is collected by filtering in the lint filter 52. If the dryer continues to operate, foreign matters continue to accumulate in the lint filter 52, thereby blocking the lint filter 52 and preventing air from passing through.

Therefore, the dryer according to the present embodiment is provided with a configuration for preventing the lint filter 52 from being blocked by foreign substances such as lint in order to solve the above problems, will be described in detail below.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the dryer according to the present embodiment of the present invention cleans the spray nozzle directly spraying the steam toward the washing nozzle 250 and the lint filter 52 forming the filter unit to spray the steam toward the laundry object inside the drum 20. The nozzle 360 will be further included.

That is, the dryer according to the present embodiment, together with the washing nozzle 250 for spraying steam for drying the laundry contained in the drum 20, in order to clean the foreign matter accumulated in the lint filter 52, steam of high temperature, high pressure It may be provided with a cleaning nozzle 360 for spraying toward the lint filter 52. In this case, although only the washing nozzle 250 may be provided to clean the lint filter together with the drying of the laundry object, the washing nozzle 250 generally faces toward the laundry object to improve the drying performance, that is, the drum. Since the washing nozzle 250 is installed so as to face the center portion of the 20, it is not easy to clean the lint filter 52. Therefore, it is preferable to include a cleaning nozzle 360 provided toward the lint filter 52 separately from the washing nozzle 250 facing the center of the drum 20.

In this case, the steam generator 200 may selectively supply steam to the washing nozzle 250 and the cleaning nozzle 360. That is, the steam hose 230 extending from the steam generator 200 may be branched to be connected to the washing nozzle 250 and the cleaning nozzle 360, and may be selectively selected as the washing nozzle 250 and the cleaning nozzle 360. It may be provided with a valve device (not shown) to supply steam to both, or to supply steam to both sides. Accordingly, when only drying the laundry object, steam may be supplied to the washing nozzle 250, and when cleaning the filter unit, steam may be supplied to the cleaning nozzle 360. In addition, in the case where the filter unit is to be cleaned together with drying, steam may be supplied to the cleaning nozzle 360 together with the washing nozzle 250.

On the other hand, since the cleaning nozzle 360 serves to clean the filter unit 52, it is preferable that the cleaning nozzle 360 is located adjacent to the filter unit 52. Specifically, the filter unit 52 is provided in the lower front of the drum 20, the cleaning nozzle 360 is preferably provided to face the filter unit 52 in the upper front of the drum (20). Therefore, the high temperature and high pressure steam injected from the cleaning nozzle 360 is directly injected toward the lint filter 52 forming the filter unit. In this case, foreign matters such as lint accumulated in the lint filter 52 by steam do not contain moisture and scatter, and the foreign matter is separated from the lint filter 52 by high pressure steam.

Meanwhile, referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the collecting unit 55 collecting foreign matters falling from the filter unit 52 in the dryer according to the present embodiment is preferably located under the filter unit 52. As described above, since the collecting part 55 is located below the filter part 52, the filter part 52 can easily collect foreign substances that fall and contain moisture.

In addition, the collection unit 55 is preferably mounted detachably to the outside of the cabinet (10). That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the collecting unit 55 is positioned below the filter unit 52, and the collecting unit 55 is detachably provided to the outside through the cabinet 10. When the user wants to discard the foreign matter collected in the collecting unit 55, the collecting unit 55 is removed from the cabinet 10 and discarded the foreign matter, and then mounted again under the filter unit 55. As a result, the user can easily clean the collection unit 55. Although not shown in the drawings, a cover (not shown) may be provided at a predetermined position of the cabinet 10 in which the collecting unit 55 is installed, thereby preventing the collecting unit 55 from being accidentally pulled out or separated by children. have.

Hereinafter, the operation of the dryer having the above configuration will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of the dryer according to the present embodiment in order.

Referring to FIG. 4, a control method of the dryer according to the present embodiment, that is, an operation step, refers to a steam injection step (S410) of spraying steam toward a laundry object inside the drum 20, and hot air into the drum 20. Supplying a drying step (S430) for drying the laundry object and a cleaning step (S450) for cleaning the filter unit by spraying steam into the drum 20.

First, when the user inputs and drives the laundry object into the drum 20, the user sprays steam into the drum 20 (S410). The steam is injected to sterilize the laundry object, and furthermore, it is possible to remove the smell and the like from the laundry object. The amount of steam injected in this way can be appropriately adjusted by the user's selection or according to the amount of the laundry object.

Subsequently, hot air is supplied into the drum 20 to dry the laundry object (S430). Since the laundry object is mainly put into the drum 20 in a state in which washing is finished, the laundry object is put into the drum 20 in a state of containing moisture. In addition, since steam was injected in the previous step, the laundry object still contains water. Therefore, the hot air is supplied to dry the laundry object.

After supplying hot air as described above, the laundry object is dried, and finally, the filter unit 52 is cleaned (S450). That is, in the dryer control method according to the present embodiment, the cleaning step of cleaning the filter unit 52 is preferably performed at the end of the selected course. This is because it is possible to remove all the foreign matter accumulated in the filter unit 52 only at the end of the course.

In this cleaning step (S450) it is preferable to spray the steam directly toward the filter unit 52. That is, it is advantageous to directly inject steam of high temperature and high pressure toward the filter unit 52 to remove the foreign matter accumulated in the filter unit 52.

It is also preferable not to rotate the drum in this cleaning step. Typically, in the above-described steam spraying step (S410) and drying step (S430) while supplying steam and hot air while continuously or intermittently rotating the drum 20. This is to ensure that the steam and hot air is evenly sprayed to the laundry object.

By the way, in the cleaning step, it is preferable not to spray steam to the laundry object, but to clean the filter unit 52, so that foreign substances falling from the filter unit 52 do not scatter. Therefore, in the cleaning step, the steam is sprayed toward the filter unit 52 without rotating the drum 52 so that all the foreign substances falling by the steam from the filter unit 52 are collected by the collecting unit 55 without being scattered. .

On the other hand, the cleaning step may be repeated to be performed every time the drying course is finished, or may be adjusted to be performed once when the drying course is performed a predetermined number of times, for example, when the drying course is performed five times. In addition, this cleaning step may be performed separately from the drying course. For example, the user may perform only a separate cleaning course before using the dryer. In this case, only the cleaning step described above is performed to remove foreign substances from the filter unit.

In addition, although the present embodiment has been described with reference to the exhaust type as an example of the dryer, the present embodiment is not limited thereto, and of course, the present invention can also be applied to the circulation type. When applied to the circulation type, the exhaust duct for exhausting the air and the hot wind supply duct for supplying the hot air are connected to each other, and may further include a water removal unit for removing moisture in the exhaust duct. The configuration of such a circulation type is well known in the art to which the present invention pertains, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Claims (9)

A drum rotatably installed inside the cabinet to accommodate laundry objects; Hot air supply device for supplying hot air to the drum; A steam generator for generating steam injected into the drum; A filter unit positioned adjacent to an exhaust port of the drum to filter air discharged from the drum; And Dryer comprising a collecting unit for collecting the foreign matter falling from the filter unit. The method of claim 1, Washing nozzle for injecting steam toward the laundry object in the drum; And a cleaning nozzle for directly injecting steam toward the filter unit. The steam generator is a dryer, characterized in that for selectively supplying steam to the washing nozzle and cleaning nozzle. The method of claim 2, And the cleaning nozzle is located adjacent to the filter unit. The method of claim 2, The filter unit is provided in the front lower portion of the drum, the cleaning nozzle is characterized in that the dryer provided to face the filter unit from the front upper portion of the drum. The method of claim 1, Drying unit characterized in that the collection unit is located below the filter unit. The method of claim 5, The collector is detachably mounted to the outside of the cabinet. Steam injection step of injecting steam toward the laundry object in the drum; A drying step of supplying hot air into the drum to dry the laundry object; And And a cleaning step of cleaning the filter unit by spraying steam into the drum. The method of claim 7, wherein In the cleaning step, the control method of the dryer, characterized in that for direct injection of steam toward the filter unit. The method of claim 7, wherein The control method of the dryer, characterized in that the drum does not rotate in the cleaning step.