KR20110067890A - Control method of clothes treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A control method of a clothing handling apparatus is provided to supply moisture, mist, or steam to the clothing. CONSTITUTION: A controller supplies water to a moisture generator(S610). The controller again supplies the water to the moisture generator(S630). The controller heats the water of the moisture generator. The controller supplies steam to an accommodation space(S650). The controller cools the clothing with the supply of the air which is not heated for a predetermined time(S670). The controller supplies the heated and dried air to the accommodation space(S690).

Description

Control method of clothes treatment apparatus

The present invention relates to a control method of a laundry treatment apparatus.

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 them, and refreshers for refreshing clothes by supplying hot air to clothes have been developed.

By the way, the cabinet-type clothes treatment apparatus is accompanied with a variety of problems.

An object of the present invention is to provide a control method capable of performing sterilization by supplying moisture, mist, steam, and the like to clothing.

An object of the present invention as described above is a method of controlling a clothes treating apparatus for supplying steam and / or hot air to a receiving space in which clothes are accommodated, the step of supplying and heating water to a water generating device for supplying steam, and generating the moisture. Re-supply step of supplying water back to the device, supplying steam by heating the water of the water generating device and maintaining clothes in a static state, cooling the accommodation space, and hot air at a predetermined temperature into the accommodation space. It is achieved by a control method comprising a drying step of supplying.

As described above, the control method according to the present invention is to sterilize by supplying moisture, mist, steam, etc. to the clothing.

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

1 is a front view showing a state in which the door 14 is opened in the clothes treatment apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The present specification describes a refresher for refreshing clothes as a clothes treating apparatus and supplying hot air, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the idea of the present invention may be applied to other devices that may include a heat pump described below. Can be. In this case, the term "refresh" is provided by providing air, heated air, water, mist, steam, and the like to remove wrinkles and odors of the garment. It may mean a process of performing deodorizing, sanitizing, preventing static electricity, or warming. In addition, the clothes referred to in the present specification, as well as clothes (clothes), apparel (apparel), as well as objects that can be worn by people such as shoes, socks, gloves, hats, shawls, etc. Includes objects to be used and includes all objects that can be washed.

Referring to FIG. 1, the clothes treating apparatus 100 according to the present invention includes a cabinet 10 having a receiving space 12 therein for receiving clothes therein, and an air supply device for supplying air or hot air to the receiving space 12. (See Fig. 5, 22), to control the water generator (see Fig. 2, 30) and the air supply device 22 and the water generator 30 to selectively inject water, mist or steam into the receiving space (12) It includes a control unit (not shown).

The cabinet 10 includes various components to be described later and includes an accommodation space 12 in which clothing is accommodated. The receiving space 12 is selectively communicated with the outside by the door 14. In addition, the accommodation space 12 is provided with a variety of support 16 to hang the clothes. Support 16 may be provided to keep the clothes in a static or fixed state without movement. On the other hand, the support may be configured to apply a predetermined movement to the clothes in the case of supplying air, hot air, moisture, mist or steam as will be described later, will be described with reference to FIGS.

2 is a front view of a laundry treatment apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the above-described embodiment of FIG. 1, the clothes are mounted and have a moving hanger for applying a predetermined motion to the clothes. Hereinafter, the difference will be described.

Referring to FIG. 2, the garment is equipped with a moving hanger 50 provided in the accommodation space 12. Moving hanger 50 is configured to apply a predetermined movement to the clothing. When a certain movement is applied to the clothes when air, hot air, moisture, mist or steam is supplied to the clothes, the refreshing effect of the clothes is increased.

3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the moving hanger 50, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the moving hanger 50. As shown in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the moving hanger 50 includes a hanger bar 250 for supporting clothes mounted on the hanger 200, and a support part 280 supporting both ends of the hanger bar 250. . The hanger bar 250 is provided with a plurality of hanger grooves 251 for fixing the position when the hanger 200 is mounted. The support part 280 is connected to and supported by the moving hanger frame 213, and the moving hanger frame 213 is provided above the inner ceiling of the cabinet 10 to be invisible from the outside. Both ends of the hanger bar 250 are provided with support ribs 254, and the support ribs 254 are connected to surround the end of the support 280.

Therefore, the clothes treating apparatus according to the present invention is expected to be superior to the conventional clothes handling apparatus in terms of the drying efficiency of the clothes as well as the refreshing because the clothes are stored on the hanger.

On the other hand, the moving hanger 50 is provided by the power conversion unit 260, the motor 230 for converting the rotational motion provided from the motor 230, the motor 230 into a horizontal linear motion of the hanger bar 250 It includes a power transmission unit 240 for transmitting the power to the power conversion unit 260.

The power transmission unit 240 is a rotating shaft coupled to the center of the driven pulley 241, driven pulley 241 and the driven pulley 242 and the driven pulley 242 provided in the motor 230 244 may be provided. The rotating shaft 244 is rotatably provided in the bearing housing 270 provided in the moving hanger frame 213.

Hanger bar 250 is preferably provided to further include a slot 252 orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. Specifically, the slot housing 253 is provided on the hanger bar 250, and the slot 252 is provided at the center of the slot housing 253. In addition, the power converter 260 is a slot inserting portion 263 inserted into the slot 252, the shaft coupling portion 261 and the slot insertion portion 263 and the shaft coupling portion 261 coupled to the rotary shaft 244. It may be provided to include a rotary arm 262 connecting the. The power converter 260 is wrapped by the cover 214 so that it is not visible from the outside, the cover 214 is provided between the moving hanger frame 213 and the slot housing 253.

In the above configuration, when the motor 230 rotates, the driven pulley 242 rotates, so that the rotating shaft 244 coupled to the driven pulley 242 also rotates, and the slot inserting portion 263 has a predetermined diameter. Eggplant will do a circular motion.

On the other hand, the slot 252 provided in the hanger bar 250 is provided to be orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the hanger bar 250, and further provided so that its length is longer than the diameter of the rotational track of the slot connection portion 263. Therefore, the slot 252 will be a linear movement in the horizontal direction even if the slot insertion portion 263 is in a circular motion. Therefore, the hanger bar 250 coupled to the slot 250 has a horizontal linear motion.

Meanwhile, the cabinet 10 includes a machine room 20 in which an air supply device 22 and a moisture generating device 30 are accommodated. Machine room 20 is preferably located below the receiving space 12, the air supply device 22 and the water generating device 30 is located therein. As such, the reason why the machine room 20 is located below the accommodating space 12 is that hot air and steam supplied to the accommodating space 12 have a tendency to ascend, so that the machine room 20 is located at the bottom and the top thereof. It is because it is preferable to supply hot air and steam toward the.

5 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the inside of the machine room 20. In order to show the internal configuration of the machine room 20, the cabinet 10 in FIG. 5 is shown only the frame 11 which forms the frame | skeleton for convenience. In addition, FIG. 5 shows only the main components including the air supply device 22 and the water generating device 30 for the convenience of description, and it is clear that the piping lines connecting the components are not shown.

Referring to FIG. 5, an air supply device 22 that supplies air or hot air to the accommodation space 12 is located inside the machine room 20.

The heat pump 22 corresponding to the air supply device of the present invention includes an evaporator 24, a compressor 26, a condenser 28, and an expansion valve (not shown) through which refrigerant is circulated, thereby dehumidifying air. And heating.

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 28 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 28 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 28 to the receiving space 12. Supplied.

As such, the air heated by the heat pump 22 may have a somewhat lower temperature than the air heated by using a conventional electric heater or the like, but it is possible to dehumidify the air 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). Clothing processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention by supplying the low-temperature drying air, it is possible to prevent the deformation or damage to the clothing due to the high temperature when performing a process such as refreshing or drying the clothing. As a result, the air supplied by the heat pump 22 in the clothes treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has a lower temperature than the hot air of the conventional clothes treating apparatus, but supplies a dehumidified air without a separate dehumidifying apparatus. Therefore, it becomes possible to dry and refresh clothing easily.

Specifically, an air inlet (see FIG. 5, 21A) 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 21A and the evaporator 24 are formed. ), An inlet duct 29 connecting the condenser 28 and the fan 32 forms a flow path through which air flows. The air introduced into the machine room 20 through the air inlet 21A by the inlet duct 29 is dehumidified and heated while passing through the heat pump 22, and is discharged by the fan 32 and the air duct 33 and the air outlet ( It is supplied to the receiving space 12 again through 21B).

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

On the other hand, the machine room 20 is provided with a water generating device 30 for selectively supplying water, mist or steam (hereinafter referred to as 'steam') to the accommodation space (12).

The water generating device 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). As a water supply source for supplying water to the water generator 30, an external faucet or the like may be used, or a water supply tank (not shown) provided on one side of the machine room 20 may be used.

The water supply tank may be provided in the door module 60 detachably installed on one side of the machine room 20, the water supply tank may be provided detachably to the door module 60. Therefore, the user can separate the water supply tank from the machine room 20 to fill the water and reinstall it.

In addition, the steam generated by the water generator 30 is supplied to the receiving space 12 through the steam hose 36 and the steam nozzle (see Figs. 1 and 2, 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 accommodating space 12, the steam nozzle 40 preferably supplies steam through the upper part of the machine room 20, that is, the lower part of the accommodating space 12. .

In addition, the back of the machine room 20 may be provided with a circulation fan (not shown). The circulation fan supplies air from the outside of the machine room 20 into the machine room 20 so that the above-described heat pump 22 and the water generating device 30 are driven to excessively increase the temperature inside the machine room 20. Will be prevented.

Hereinafter, a control method of the clothes treating apparatus having the above configuration will be described. The control method described below is a control method performed when the so-called sterilization course is selected mainly for sterilization of clothes among the above-described refreshes.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 6, the control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is a step of supplying water to the water generator for supplying steam and heating (S610), re-supply step for supplying water back to the water generator (S630) ), Supplying steam by heating the water of the moisture generating device and clothing to maintain a static state (S650), the step of cooling the receiving space (S670), the drying step of supplying hot air of a predetermined temperature to the receiving space ( S690).

First, the control unit supplies water to the moisture generating device 30 (S610). In this case, the controller supplies water to the full water level of the water generator. To this end, the inside of the moisture generating device may be provided with a water level sensor for detecting the water level. The controller supplies water until the water level is reached according to the level detected by the level sensor.

On the other hand, the control unit may further include a heating step of heating the water of the water generator to a predetermined temperature in the water supply step. This is to reduce the time to heat the water to generate steam in the steam supply step to be described later, it is possible to heat the water at the same time as the water supply or after a predetermined time after the water supply. On the other hand, the inside of the water generator is provided with a heater to heat the water inside.

Subsequently, the controller supplies water back to the moisture generator (S630). This is to supplement the evaporated water by heating the water in the previous water supply and heating step (S610). In particular, when steam is supplied for sterilization, the steam supply time is longer than that of other courses, for example, wrinkle removal, static electricity removal, and odor removal. This is to maximize the effect of sterilization by steam. Therefore, as the steam supply time becomes longer, water is supplied to the full water level when water is supplied to the water generating device, and further, water is supplied to the full water level even when the water is supplied again. In addition, by replenishing the amount of water that can be evaporated in the water supply and heating step (S610) to prevent the replenishment of water during steam supply. On the other hand, the control unit may further include a heating step of heating the water of the water generator to a predetermined temperature in the resupply step.

Subsequently, the control unit heats the water in the water generator to supply steam to the accommodation space (S650). The control unit supplies steam by heating water using a heater provided in the water generator. On the other hand, the control unit to keep the clothes in a static state, that is, not moving when supplying steam. This is because, when steam is supplied for sterilization, it is easy to infiltrate steam into the clothes only when the clothes are kept static. Therefore, when the moving hanger 50 is provided, the controller maintains the stopped state without driving the moving hanger 50 while supplying steam.

After supplying steam, the controller supplies air that is not heated for a predetermined time to cool the garment (S670). This is performed by supplying unheated air to the accommodation space 12 by driving only the fan 32 without driving the heat pump 22. This makes it possible to lower the temperature inside the receiving space 12 and the temperature of the clothes heated by the steam supply.

Subsequently, the control unit supplies the air heated and dried by the heat pump 22 to the accommodation space 12 to dry the garment (S690). When drying clothes, the control unit controls the heat pump 22 to supply hot air of 45 to 60 ℃, preferably 50 to 55 ℃. Clothing containing a relatively high amount of moisture by steam supply is dried by hot air supply, and the user is comfortable to wear.

On the other hand, in the control method according to the present embodiment, the control unit may include a step of applying a movement to the clothing in the drying step. That is, when hot air is supplied to the accommodation space 12, the clothes may be moved in a predetermined direction. In more detail, the controller drives the moving hanger 50 to apply movement to the garment. In particular, the control unit drives the moving hanger 50 to apply a horizontal movement, for example, a linear movement in the horizontal direction, a closed curve movement in the horizontal direction, or a reciprocating movement of a predetermined rpm in the horizontal direction to the garment. Since the hot air is supplied and the clothes are moved at the same time, the hot air is more in contact with the clothes as compared to the case where the clothes are not moved and are in a static state, and the drying effect is remarkable. The time for supplying hot air can be appropriately adjusted according to the type / material / property of the clothes, and the hot air supply time according to the type of clothes can be stored in advance in the controller. On the other hand, the time to apply the movement to the clothing may be made continuously for a time to supply the hot air, or may be made repeatedly in a predetermined period.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention. The control method according to FIG. 7 differs in that it includes a step of preheating the receiving space after the water supply and heating step S710 as compared with the above-described embodiment. Hereinafter, the difference will be described.

This embodiment includes a preheating step S711 of supplying hot air to the receiving space 12 and then raising the temperature to a predetermined temperature following the water supply and heating step S710. This is because if the temperature of the accommodation space 12 is too low in the case of supplying steam to the accommodation space 12, the sterilization effect by the steam is reduced. Therefore, the controller raises the temperature of the accommodation space 12 to a predetermined temperature, for example, 35 to 45 ° C. before supplying steam. In this case, the controller drives the heat pump 22 to supply hot air to the accommodation space to increase the temperature of the accommodation space 12.

On the other hand, there is a kind of steam that is difficult to penetrate depending on the object. For example, an object such as a hairy doll may not easily penetrate steam even when steam is supplied. Therefore, in order to sterilize such an object, it is necessary to increase the supply time of steam or increase the number of steam supply to maximize the effect of sterilization. However, since there is a limit to the amount of water that can be accommodated according to the internal volume of the water generator, it is difficult to increase the steam supply time beyond the limit. Therefore, the following describes a control method of two or more times of steam supply depending on the type of object.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment according to FIG. 8 has a difference in that the number of times of steam supply is two or more times as compared with the embodiment of FIG. 6 described above. Hereinafter, the difference will be described.

Referring to FIG. 8, in the control method according to the present embodiment, the first water supply step (S811) of supplying water to a water generating device for supplying steam, and heating the water of the water generating device supplies steam and the clothes are static. The first steam supply step (S812) to maintain the state, the second water supply step (S813) to supply the water back to the water generating device, the water is supplied to the steam by heating the water generating device to keep the clothes in a static state The second steam supply step (S814), the step of cooling the accommodation space (S815) and the drying step (S816) for supplying hot air of a predetermined temperature to the accommodation space.

Compared with the embodiment of FIG. 6 described above, there is a difference in that the number of times of steam supply is twice. In FIG. 8, the first water supply step S811 corresponds to the water supply and heating step S610 of FIG. 6, and the second water supply step S813 corresponds to the resupply step S630.

Therefore, in the control method according to the present embodiment, the controller supplies water to the water generator (S811), heats the water to supply steam (S812), performs the second water supply (S813), and then heats the water again. The steam is supplied again (S814). As described above, by supplying steam in two portions, it is possible to increase the steam supply time, thereby maximizing the effect of sterilization even on objects that are not easily penetrated by steam such as dolls. It is the same as in the above-described embodiment that the clothes remain static at each steam supply step.

Since the description of the remaining steps in this embodiment is similar to the embodiment of FIG. 6, repeated description thereof will be omitted.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention. The control method according to FIG. 9 differs in that it includes two or more preheating steps for raising the temperature of the accommodation space compared to the embodiment of FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 9, the present embodiment further includes a first preheating step S912 for supplying hot air having a predetermined temperature to the accommodation space after the first water supply step S911, and in the first steam supply step S913. Subsequently, the method further includes a second preheating step S914 of supplying hot air at a predetermined temperature to the accommodation space. The reason for including the preheating step is to maximize the effect of sterilization by steam in the first steam supplying step S913 and the second steam supplying step S916 as described above.

The control unit preheats the temperature to a lower temperature than the second preheating step S914 in the first preheating step S912. For example, the controller preheats the storage space to correspond to approximately 30 to 35 ° C. in the first preheating step S912, and preheats the storage space to correspond to approximately 35 to 45 ° C. in the second preheating step S914. The controller supplies hot air using a heat pump during the preheating process. Steps not specifically described in FIG. 9 are similar to the above-described embodiments, and thus, repeated descriptions thereof are omitted.

The control method having the configuration and steps as described above performs sterilization by supplying moisture, mist, steam, and the like to the clothes.

1 is a front view of a laundry treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a front view of a clothes treating apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a perspective view of the moving hanger in FIG.

4 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 3;

5 is a schematic diagram showing an internal configuration of a machine room;

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

7 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

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

Claims (12)

In the control method of the clothes treating apparatus for supplying steam and / or hot air to the accommodation space accommodated clothes, Supplying and heating water to a moisture generating device supplying steam; A resupply step of supplying water back to the water generator; Supplying steam by heating the water in the moisture generating device and maintaining the clothes in a static state; Cooling the accommodation space; And And a drying step of supplying hot air at a predetermined temperature to the accommodation space. The method of claim 1, And a preheating step of supplying hot air having a predetermined temperature to the accommodation space prior to the resupply step. The method of claim 1, The control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that the movement to the clothes in the drying step. The method of claim 1, The water supply step and the resupply step is a control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for supplying water to the full water level of the water generator. The method of claim 1, The resupplying step further comprises a heating step of heating the water of the water generator to a predetermined temperature. The method of claim 1, The preheating step is a control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for supplying hot air so that the temperature of the accommodation space corresponds to 35 to 45 ℃. The method of claim 1, The preheating step is a control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for supplying hot air by the heat pump. The method of claim 1, The drying step is a control method of a laundry treatment apparatus, characterized in that for supplying hot air of 45 to 60 ℃. In the control method of the clothes treating apparatus for supplying steam and / or hot air to the accommodation space accommodated clothes, A first water supply step of supplying water to a water generating device supplying steam; A first steam supplying step of supplying steam by heating water of the moisture generating device and keeping the clothes in a static state; A second water supply step of supplying water back to the water generator; A second steam supplying step of supplying steam by heating water of the moisture generating device and keeping the clothes in a static state; Cooling the accommodation space; And a drying step of supplying hot air at a predetermined temperature to the accommodation space. 10. The method of claim 9, And a first preheating step of supplying hot air of a predetermined temperature to the accommodation space after the first water supply step, and a second preheating step of supplying hot air of a predetermined temperature to the accommodation space following the first steam supplying step. The control method of the laundry treatment apparatus further comprises. 10. The method of claim 9, The control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for applying the movement in the horizontal direction to the clothes in the drying step. The method of claim 1, The first preheating step is a control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for supplying hot air so that the temperature of the accommodation space corresponds to 30 to 35 ℃.

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