KR20100072401A - Dryer and apparatus and method for separating foreign body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A dryer, an apparatus for separating foreign material, and a foreign material removing method are provided to cleanly separate foreign material from a filter by separating once on a soft filter without being adhered. CONSTITUTION: A dryer comprises: a coolant flow path; a circulation flow path; a heat exchanger; a case which is formed in the circulation flow path and filters lint in the circulation flow path; a pair of rollers(23,24) which is accepted into the case; a soft filter(28) which is able to be bent with being folded by at least one part of a pair of rollers and wherein the air in the circulation flow path passes through at least one part of the soft filter; and a separating unit(25) which eliminates the lint stuck on the soft filter.

Description

Dryer, apparatus and method for separating foreign body

The present invention relates to a foreign matter separating apparatus and a foreign matter separating method applicable to a dryer, a dryer.

A dryer is a device that dries moisture-containing items by heating and venting.

On the other hand, according to the operation of these dryers, when the humidity is high, the small substances aggregated with each other by the cohesive force of moisture, the humidity is lowered, so that they are separated from each other and blown by air blown. These scattering substances become dust, which worsens the environment in which the dryer is placed and further harms the user's health. In order to improve the problem caused by the scattering dust, it is common to provide a filter using a fine net inside the dryer. Of course, if the filter is not filtered, it accumulates in the article being dried, which is a problem for the user of the dryer.

However, if the filter continues to filter dust, it later clogs the filter and the dryer cannot be used until the filter is cleaned.

However, even though the dryer generates a large amount of dust from the characteristics of the device, the filter that filters the filter is limited, so the filter is often empty. This is even more so in the case of condensation dryers, which are used in a circulating manner without exhausting the air used for drying. However, it is difficult for the user of the dryer to clean the filter.

Further, the filter is agglomerated and fixed to each other such as improvement in cohesion between dusts having different sizes generated during drying, chemicals such as dyes applied to the cloth, and detergent residues. In this case, the foreign matter stuck to the filter solidifies itself into a high strength solid material, which is more difficult when the user separates it.

The present invention is provided on the basis of the present situation as described above, the dryer, the cooling flow path is discharged after the external air is introduced into the heat exchange; A circulation passage through which internal air is heat exchanged and circulated; A heat exchanger provided at an intersection point of the cooling passage and the circulation passage; And a case provided on the circulation passage to filter lint on the circulation passage. At least a pair of rollers accommodated in the case; A soft filter which may be bent while contacting at least a portion of the pair of rollers, and through which the air on the circulation passage passes through an area of the at least one portion; And a filtering unit including a separation mechanism for removing the lint attached to the soft filter.

Here, the separating mechanism may be at least one selected from a brush and a peeling apparatus, wherein the separating mechanism may shake off lint from one surface or both front and rear surfaces of the soft filter. At least a portion of the soft filter is laminated and wound on the outer surface of the roller, or moves in contact with the outer surface of the roller. In addition, a bucket provided under the filtering unit is provided to receive the lint removed by the separating mechanism, and the bucket is taken out through the front of the dryer, so that the user's convenience is further enhanced.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a foreign matter separation device includes a case; A soft filter movably provided inside the case; A pair of rollers for movably supporting the soft filter; Separation mechanism for access to the roller to separate the foreign matter attached to the soft filter; And a hole formed in a lower surface of the case, through which the foreign matter separated by the separation mechanism passes. Here, the separation mechanism may be a column-shaped rotating body is provided with a projection on the outer surface so as to remove the foreign material by taking.

As a result, the foreign matter can be automatically removed from the filter, and in particular, it is possible to remove the foreign matter more conveniently when the foreign matter adhered to the filter is solidified.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for removing foreign matters attached to a lint filter of a dryer, wherein the foreign material attached to the lint filter is waited for a predetermined time to cure to a certain level, and then the lint filter and the During operation in which at least one of the lint separation mechanisms adjacent to the lint filter is relatively moved, the lint separation mechanism breaks and removes the foreign matter attached to the lint filter. As a result, separation of the solidified foreign matter can be performed efficiently.

According to the present invention, there is an advantage in that the dryer can be conveniently used and the solidified foreign matter adhered to the filter can be conveniently removed.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described a specific embodiment of the present invention. However, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those described below, and those skilled in the art who understand the spirit of the present invention can easily add, change, delete, and add other embodiments included in the same idea. It may be suggested that the invention, but this will also be included in the scope of the invention.

<First Embodiment>

1 is a perspective view of a dryer according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, the dryer 1 includes a drum 7 in which moisture-containing objects such as clothes are required to be dried, and a door for selectively opening and closing the front opening of the drum 7. 5) has The door 5 is provided with a transparent window 6, so that the user can check the inside of the drum 7 to determine whether the normal operation or the problem occurs.

The operation unit 3 serves as an interface between the user and the dryer, and the condensate water collecting unit 2 is a portion where the dried water is collected during operation of the dryer, so that the user can easily discard it later. Bottom cover (4) is a part that allows you to see the internal mechanical structure of the dryer, the user can remove the foreign material contained in the bucket (see 80 in Fig. 2) inside the bottom cover (4). It may be.

2 is a view for explaining the internal structure of the dryer. 2, the operation of the drum will be described. The dryer shown in the embodiment is a condensation type dryer, and two flow paths are generated in the operation of the dryer, one is a circulation flow path that condenses it in a heat exchanger after dehydrating moisture from the drying object while circulating inside the dryer. Is a cooling channel applied to cool the fluid flowing through the circulation channel in the heat exchanger.

First, the circulating flow path starts from the drum 7 and is indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 2. The hot air inside the drum 7 is then discharged with moisture, and then foreign matter containing at least lint is filtered through the filtering unit 20. After passing through the filtering unit 20 passes through the circulation fan (11). Here, the circulation fan 11 is a portion that is directly rotated by the motor 10 and directly provides a sound pressure that forms a circulation passage. The fluid passing through the circulation fan 11 is cooled while passing through the heat exchanger 13, and the moisture carried from the drum 7 is condensed due to the low relative humidity while being cooled. The condensed air is pumped by a pump (not shown) and conveyed to the condensate collection unit 2. The fluid from which moisture is removed by the condensation action is heated by the heating unit 90, and then flows into the drum 7 again. In the drum 7, the fluid is mixed with the drying object and takes moisture from the drying object. do.

The cooling flow path flows in from the outside of the dryer by the cooling fan 12. The cooling fan 12 is rotated by the motor 10. The air introduced from the cooling fan 12 enters the heat exchanger 13, cools the fluid on the circulation passage as described above, and is then discharged out of the dryer.

The cooling fan 12 and the circulation fan 11 is rotated by the motor 10, the driving force may be intermittently transmitted. The motor 10 may be a bidirectional rotary motor for rotation in the forward / reverse direction of the drum 7.

Hot and foreign matter-containing air discharged from the drum on the circulation passage is discharged through the cover portion of the drum as shown in the figure. Then, the foreign matter is filtered while passing through the filtering unit 20. At least a portion of the filtering unit 20 is installed in the drum cover, so that air passing through the drum cover is filtered.

The filtering unit 20 is provided with a filter having a fine network structure through which foreign matters exemplified by lint are filtered, and a separation structure for automatically separating foreign matters filtered by the filter is provided. The filtering unit 20 having such a structure will be described in more detail with reference to an exploded perspective view of the filtering unit shown in FIG. 3 together with FIG. 2.

The filtering unit 20 has a space formed therein by the front cover 21 and the rear cover 22, and a soft filter 28 is provided inside the space. The front cover 21 is a cover facing the inside of the drum 7 is provided with a suction hole 32 through which air from the drum 7 is introduced. The rear cover 22 is provided with an opening 26 through which the air filtered by the material is discharged by the soft filter 28. The opening 26 is fluidly connected to the circulation fan 11 so that the sound pressure of the circulation fan 11 is transmitted.

The soft filter 28 is made of a soft material in order to filter fine foreign matter such as lint, to form a fine net, and to wind the wound object such as a roller. Since the soft filter is mainly a filter for filtering lint, it is sometimes referred to as a lint filter. The soft filter 28 is wound by two rollers 23 and 24, and is provided to cover at least the plane in which the opening 26 is formed. If an area on the opening 26, i.e., a gap, is formed that is not covered by the soft filter 28, a sound pressure applied through the opening 26 is applied through the gap, and the lint through the gap. This is because the air passes through it without filtering foreign substances such as back. Furthermore, when the foreign matter such as lint is not filtered through the opening 26, foreign matters accumulate inside the circulation fan 11, which may lead to failure or fire.

The rollers 23 and 24 are provided with motors 29 and 30 in order to enable rotational movement. Thus, the rollers 23 and 24 are rotated so that the soft filter 28 is laminated and wound on the outer surface of the roller providing the pulling force by pulling the soft filter 28. Of course, one roller is matched with the speed with which the other roller rotates, and the speed with which the other roller rotates according to the diameter. In some cases, only the roller on the pulling side is rotated, and the roller on the opposite side can be prevented from rotating the motor and resisting the soft filter 28 loosened by a certain force by the friction force inside the roller and the motor. will be.

It will be possible in various cases for the soft filter 28 to be moved to the roller in any direction at any time by the rollers 23 and 24. This will be described in more detail with reference to the operation of the filtering unit 20.

At least one roller side of the rollers 23 and 24 is provided with a separation mechanism 25. The said separation mechanism 25 is a structure in which the brush is long provided in the outer peripheral surface of a columnar rotating body. A motor 31 for rotating the separation mechanism 25 is connected to the lower side of the rotating body. The separation mechanism is approached on the roller 24 side, so as not to disturb the filtering working area (the gap between the rollers) of the soft filter 28 to filter foreign matter as much as possible. In addition, when at least one outer surface of the separation mechanism 25 contacts the second roller 24, it may be rotated without the motor 31 by receiving the rotational force of the second roller 24. Of course, the foreign matter adhering to the soft filter 28 may be shaken off by the separating mechanism 25 that is rotated.

The separating mechanism 25 performs a function of shaking off and dropping foreign substances such as lint adhered to the surface of the soft filter 28 wound on the second roller 24, and the foreign substances are filtered out of the soft filter 28. At least a portion of the face (front side with reference to FIG. 3) is approached to allow foreign material to be filtered out.

The operation of the filtering unit 20 according to the embodiment will be described.

The hot fluid containing the foreign matter discharged from the drum 7 is introduced into the filtering unit 20 through the suction hole 32. After passing through the suction hole 32, the foreign material is filtered while passing through the soft filter 28. The fluid filtered while passing through the soft filter 28 is discharged to the outside of the filtering unit 20 through the opening 26. If this action is made to some extent, the soft filter 28 will accumulate foreign matter so as to interfere with the passage of the fluid. This state then becomes a state in which foreign matter adhering to the soft filter 28 needs to be removed.

At this time, the rollers 23 and 24 are rotated so that the soft filter 28 is moved from the first roller 29 side to the second roller 24 side. That is, the first roller 23 is rotated in the direction of loosening the soft filter 28, and the second roller 30 is rotated in the direction of winding the soft filter 24. While the rollers 23 and 24 are being rotated, the separation mechanism 25 illustrated by the brush is rotated. Then, at least a part of the separation mechanism 25, for example, a brush, shakes off the foreign matter while contacting the foreign matter attached to the soft filter 24. The foreign substance shaken off is received in the bucket 80 through the drop hole 27.

In this way, while the rollers 23 and 24 are rotated and the soft filter 28 is moved, the separation of the foreign matter by the separation mechanism 25 may be performed regardless of the operation of the dryer. However, preferably, the circulation fan 11 is stopped so that there is no circulation of air in order to prevent foreign substances separated from the soft filter 28 from being directed toward the soft filter 28 again. Then, after the portion where the foreign matter is stuck moves to the rollers 23 and 24 side, the separation of the foreign matter by the separating mechanism 25 is substantially terminated. Therefore, the rollers 23 and 24 and the separating mechanism 25 ) Can be stopped. In this case, since the new soft filter 28 is in a state corresponding to the opening 26, there is no problem in the filtering operation. Of course, such a separating action may be repeatedly performed many times by reversing the rotation direction of the roller.

After a certain amount of foreign matter is accumulated in the bucket 80, the user only needs to empty the bucket 80. At this time, the bucket is provided in the front portion of the dryer 1 as indicated through FIG. 2, the user can conveniently take it out and discard the foreign matter. In addition, although the bucket 80 is shown as being covered by the bottom cover 4 in FIG. 2, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the bucket 80 may be directly observed by the naked eye of the user and directly pulled out of the bucket 80. It is also easily predictable.

According to the first embodiment described above, even if foreign matters accumulate in the filter of the dryer, since the accumulated dust can be conveniently separated automatically, that is, for self-cleaning, the user does not have to hardly separate foreign matters from the filter. Furthermore, since the filter can always be kept clean, it is possible to prevent the filter from being clogged by foreign matter, thereby reducing the flow path resistance that may be present in the air flow in the circulation flow path.

As a modification of the present embodiment, when the foreign matter filtered by the soft filter 28 is firmly fixed to the soft filter 28, the foreign matter may already be in the form of a lump instead of a small substance such as dust or the like. Therefore, in this case, the foreign matter removed by the separating mechanism 25 falls through the drop hole 27 substantially without being affected by the fluid flow by the circulation fan 11 even when the circulation fan 11 is in operation. I will, so there is no problem. Of course, if the problem that the foreign matter can escape through the opening 26 can be solved or only the problem related to the inflow of the foreign matter into the circulation fan can be solved, the rollers 23 and 24 are separated even if the circulation fan is in operation. By allowing the mechanism 25 to operate, foreign matter may be separated from the soft filter 28. In this case, it may be explained that the soft filter 28 is being cleaned by repeating the process of dropping the foreign matter through the falling hole 27 even if a small amount of foreign matter separated and scattered from the soft filter 28 is repeated.

As another modification, the motors 29, 30 and 31 applied to the above embodiments are not necessarily provided in their entirety, but may be provided by a single or more motors by interposing a driving force transmission mechanism or the like. The rollers 23 and 24 and the separation mechanism 25 may be rotated by another external power source.

&Lt; Embodiment 2 >

The second embodiment differs in configuration and operation of the filtering unit, and otherwise, the description of the first embodiment may be applied as it is. Therefore, the part which does not have a detailed description makes use of description of a 1st Example, and abbreviate | omits the description. Specifically, the second embodiment is different from the filtering method of the soft filter, the operating method of the roller, the operating method of the separation mechanism, and the like.

4 is an exploded perspective view of the filtering unit according to the second embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, the filtering unit of the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that both surfaces of the soft filter are used for the filtering function of the foreign matter. In detail, in the first embodiment, the soft filter is laminated while being continuously wound on the outer surface of the roller. In contrast, in the second embodiment, the soft filter is in contact with the roller but is not laminated, but is in contact with the outer surface of the roller. In addition, both ends of the soft filter 28 are connected to each other to form a band and supported by a pair of rollers 23 and 24. Therefore, the soft filter 28 is pulled by the rollers 23 and 24 so that a constant tension is generated, and the soft filter 28 is rotatable even by the rotational movement of at least one roller.

In this case, the filtering surface generated by the soft filter 28 becomes two front and rear surfaces with reference to FIG. 4, whereby a higher foreign material filtering effect can be obtained. However, when the two surfaces act as the filtering surface as in the second embodiment, the soft filter passing through the front of the drawing becomes the filtering surface on the outside, whereas the soft filter passing through the back based on the drawing has the inner surface. It is the filtering side. Therefore, each of the inner and outer surfaces is provided with a separation mechanism for separating the foreign matter to be filtered. A first separating mechanism indicated by reference numeral 25 and a separating mechanism indicated by reference numeral 40 are provided. The separating mechanism is exemplified by a brush. The first separation mechanism 25 may be smaller than the rollers 23 and 24 so as to be inserted between the front and rear soft filters 28.

The operation of the second embodiment will be described.

When foreign matter such as lint is laminated on the soft filter 28 during the operation of the dryer, the rollers 23 and 24 rotate. At this time, it will be easily understood that the rollers 23 and 24 are rotated at the same speed in the same direction. At the same time, the separation mechanisms 25 and 40 come into contact with the foreign matter stuck to the soft filter 28 to shake off. The foreign matters that are shaken are stored in the bucket 80 through the drop hole 27, and after being stored to some extent, are discarded by the user.

This embodiment has the advantage that the filtering efficiency of the foreign matter is increased because the two layers of the filter performs a filtering action. In addition, since the foreign matter is filtered together by two separation mechanisms, the foreign matter can be removed more quickly, and the foreign matter can be separated more quickly and can be expected to be removed from the filter.

Third Embodiment

The third embodiment differs with respect to the separation mechanism, and the descriptions of the first and second embodiments can be applied as it is. Therefore, the parts without specific description are referred to the description of the first and second embodiments, and the description thereof is omitted.

5 is an exploded perspective view of the filtering unit according to the third embodiment.

Referring to Fig. 5, the soft filter 28 is wound around the rollers 23 and 24 as in the second embodiment. However, there is a difference in that a brush is not employed as the separation mechanism. Specifically, in the third embodiment, the separation mechanism is a columnar rotating body in the same manner as the first and second embodiments, but in that it is a peeling device in which a plurality of protrusions 51 are provided on the outer circumferential surface of the rotating body. Characteristically different. This has the purpose of breaking and removing foreign matter adhered to the outer surface of the soft filter 28.

In the operation of the dryer, not only the soft substance exemplified as the fiber lint is generated as a foreign substance, but also a viscous substance such as detergent dregs and dyeing textile dyes. In addition, among the lint of the fiber to some extent the size of the lint, while there is also a large size lint, between the lint has the nature of intertwining. In this way, when the foreign substances filtered by the soft filter 28 are entangled with each other, they eventually solidify and change into a hard and solid solid material. This detergent debris and the like act as a flocculant, and lint and the like of different sizes are entangled with each other.

Since these solid materials have some strength, they cannot be removed using a brush. In this case, once the solid material needs to be broken and removed, the protrusion 51 of the peeling device 50 is applied to break the solid material having at least one lint as such. In the peeling device 50, the protrusion 51 strongly presses and breaks the solid material, and for the solid material that is not broken, the protrusion 51 is embedded in the peeling device 50 to lift the solid material. The action can be performed. By lifting the solid material, there is an advantage that the solid material can be separated once from the soft filter 28, and can be broken again or dropped from the filter by the next projection.

6 is a flowchart for explaining a foreign matter separation method according to the third embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, foreign matter is continuously filtered by the soft filter 28 while the dryer is in operation. Of course, at this time, not only lint, but also detergent residues, dye residues, etc. are filtered together. In this case, in the general case, as long as the soft filter 28 is not too small, foreign matter is not filtered out by the soft filter 28 so that the soft filter 28 does not act by one operation of the dryer. However, after the dryer has been operated once, it may be sufficient that foreign substances filtered by the filter solidify / solidify with each other and become a solid material.

According to the third embodiment, after the drying process of the dryer is finished, it waits for a predetermined time for the filtered material to solidify (S1). After a certain time has elapsed, since the filtered material becomes a hardened state, it is in a state that can be suitably removed by the peeling device 50, at which time the self-cleaning function of the filtering unit is operated (S2). At this time, a series of processes as described in the description of the operation of the third embodiment is performed.

According to the third embodiment, since foreign matters are stuck to each other in the filter, even when detached, the foreign matters can be separated at the same time while the foreign matters are stuck together without being fixed to the soft filter. Therefore, foreign matter can be separated from the filter more cleanly.

A modification of the third embodiment is shown. The peeling device in which the projection applied in the third embodiment is provided on the outer circumferential surface can be used adaptively in the case of breaking and removing the hard solid material, and the soft brush applied in the first and second embodiments is provided on the outer circumferential surface. Brushes can be used adaptively in the case of brushing off some soft lint that is not yet hardened. This may vary according to the region or country in which the dryer is used, the user's usage habits, etc. In order to cope with this, the structure in which the brush and the projection are applied to a single rotating body or the brush and the peeling device are respectively applied. Embodiments provided may be considered, which will also be included in the spirit of the present invention.

The present invention is to automatically remove the foreign matter filtered on the flow path of the dryer, eliminating the inconvenience that the user has to difficult to clean the filter.

Although the idea of the present invention may be preferably applied to a condensation type dryer, the embodiments are not limited to the condensation type dryer.

1 is a perspective view of a dryer according to the embodiment.

2 is a perspective view illustrating an internal structure of a dryer.

3 is an exploded perspective view of the filtering unit;

4 is an exploded perspective view of the filtering unit according to the second embodiment;

5 is an exploded perspective view of the filtering unit according to the third embodiment;

6 is a flowchart for explaining a foreign matter separation method according to the third embodiment.

Claims (8)

Cooling flow path that is discharged after the heat exchanged to the outside air; A circulation passage through which internal air is heat exchanged and circulated; A heat exchanger provided at an intersection point of the cooling passage and the circulation passage; And In order to filter the lint on the circulation passage, provided on the circulation passage, case; At least a pair of rollers accommodated in the case; A soft filter which may be bent while contacting at least a portion of the pair of rollers, and through which the air on the circulation passage passes through an area of the at least one portion; And Separation mechanism for removing the lint attached to the soft filter, Dryer comprising a filtering unit included. The method of claim 1, The separator is at least one selected from a brush and a peeling device. The method of claim 1, The separating mechanism is a dryer to shake off the lint from one side or both front and rear of the soft filter. The method of claim 1, At least a portion of the soft filter is laminated on the outer surface of the roller, wound or passed through in contact with the outer surface of the roller. The method of claim 1, And a bucket provided below the filtering unit to receive the lint removed by the separating mechanism, wherein the bucket is taken out through the front of the dryer. case; Soft filter provided to be movable inside the case A pair of rollers for movably supporting the soft filter; Separation mechanism for access to the roller to separate the foreign matter attached to the soft filter; And Is formed on the lower surface of the case, foreign matter separation device including a hole for passing the foreign matter separated by the separation mechanism. The method of claim 6, The separation mechanism is a foreign matter separation device that is a columnar rotating body is provided with a projection on the outer surface so as to take the foreign matter by dipping. In the method of removing the foreign matter adhering to the lint filter of the dryer, After waiting a certain time for the foreign matter adhering to the lint filter to cure a certain level, During an operation in which at least one of the lint filter and the lint separating mechanism adjacent to the lint filter is relatively moved, The foreign matter separation method for removing the foreign matter attached to the lint filter by the lint separation mechanism.

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