WO2021129696A1 - Clothes treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

A clothes treatment device (1), comprising: an accommodating chamber (200) arranged in a box body (100) and accommodating clothes; a first supply unit (300) for supplying warm air into the accommodating chamber (200); a dehumidifying unit (800) for dehumidifying the air in the accommodating chamber (200); a discharge port (202) for discharging the air in the accommodating chamber (200); an exhaust duct (610) for guiding the air discharged from the discharge port (202) outside the box body (100); and an air mixing unit (850) that takes in air outside the box body (100) and mixes same with the air flowing in the exhaust duct (610). The clothes treatment device (1) can suppress an increase in ambient humidity due to exhaustion during drying of clothes.

Description

Clothes treatment device Technical field

The present invention relates to a clothes treatment device for drying clothes and other treatments.

Background technique

Heretofore, there has been known a laundry treatment device in which laundry is hung in a accommodating part, and the laundry can be dried by warm air. For example, Patent Document 1 describes an example of such a laundry treatment device.

In the above-mentioned clothes treatment apparatus, since moisture is peeled from the clothes in the accommodating part and the warm air with increased humidity is discharged to the outside of the clothes treatment apparatus, the humidity around the clothes treatment apparatus tends to increase.

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-057413

Summary of the invention

The problem to be solved by the invention

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a laundry treatment device that can suppress the increase in surrounding humidity due to exhaust air during laundry drying.

Solutions used to solve the problem

The clothes processing device of the main aspect of the present invention includes: a storage room, which is arranged in a box and contains clothes; a warm air supply unit, which supplies warm air to the storage room; and a dehumidification unit, which dehumidifies the air in the storage room The exhaust port is used to exhaust the air in the containing chamber; the exhaust duct is used to guide the air discharged from the exhaust port to the outside of the box; and an air mixing section to take in the air from the outside of the box And mix it with the air flowing in the exhaust duct.

According to the above configuration, by operating the dehumidifying section when the warm air is supplied from the warm air supply section to the storage chamber to dry the clothes, it is possible to dehumidify the air in the storage chamber containing moisture peeled from the clothes. As a result, the moisture discharged from the laundry treatment device to the outside is reduced, and the humidity around the laundry treatment device is unlikely to increase.

In addition, by operating the air mixing unit when drying the clothes, the air from the outside of the cabinet can be mixed with the air flowing in the exhaust duct to reduce the relative humidity and then discharged to the outside of the cabinet. As a result, the exhausted air is less likely to cause dew condensation and other high-humidity air on the wall surface of the room surrounding the laundry treatment device to affect the surroundings of the laundry treatment device.

In the laundry treatment device of the present aspect, the following structure may be adopted, that is, it further includes: a first opening and closing portion that opens and closes the exhaust duct; a first suction path that takes in air outside the cabinet; and The second suction path takes in the air in the containment chamber. In this case, in a state where the exhaust duct is closed by the first opening/closing section, the warm air supply section generates warm air from the air in the storage room taken into the second air intake path. The wind is supplied into the storage room, and the dehumidifying part dehumidifies the air in the storage room. In addition, in a state in which the exhaust duct is opened by the first opening and closing section, the warm air supply section generates warm air from the air taken into the outside of the box of the first air intake path And supply it into the storage chamber, and the air mixing unit supplies air from the outside of the box into the exhaust duct.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to perform cyclic drying of dehumidifying the air through the dehumidifying section while circulating the warm air that is in contact with the clothes between the storage room and the warm air supply section while closing the exhaust duct. As a result, it is possible to dry the clothes while not exhausting moist air to the outside of the cabinet as much as possible.

In addition, the exhaust duct can be opened to actively exhaust the warm air that has come into contact with the clothes, that is, the air from the storage room. At this time, the relative humidity of the air discharged from the storage room can be reduced by the air mixing unit. To the outside of the box. Thereby, by replacing the air in the storage room, the low-humidity air can easily come into contact with the clothing, and the clothing can be easily dried, and the influence of the high-humidity air on the periphery of the clothing treatment device can be suppressed.

In the case of adopting the above-mentioned structure, it is further possible to adopt the following structure, that is, further comprising: an ozone supply unit for supplying ozone-containing air into the storage chamber; and a second opening and closing unit for opening and closing the first Inhalation way. In this case, in a state where the exhaust duct is closed by the first opening and closing section and the first suction path is closed by the second opening and closing section, the ozone supply section is taken in from The air in the storage chamber of the second air intake path generates ozone and supplies air containing the ozone into the storage chamber.

With such a structure, it is possible to perform a circulation type deodorizing operation in which ozone-containing air is circulated between the storage chamber and the ozone supply unit while generating ozone by the ozone supply unit. This allows high-concentration ozone to act on the clothes in the storage room, and therefore, a high deodorizing effect can be expected. Furthermore, since the exhaust duct and the first suction path are closed, it is possible to prevent high-concentration ozone from leaking to the outside of the box.

In the case of adopting the structure including the ozone supply unit as described above, it is further possible to adopt a structure including an ozone removing unit that removes ozone contained in the air flowing in the exhaust duct. In this case, the air mixing unit supplies air taken in from the outside of the box to the exhaust duct downstream of the ozone removing unit.

With such a structure, the air from which the ozone has been removed by the ozone removing unit can be discharged to the outside of the laundry treatment device. Furthermore, the air outside the box can be mixed with the air from the containment chamber whose flow velocity is reduced by passing through the ozone removal part. Therefore, the external air becomes easy to mix with the air from the containment chamber, and the air is discharged to the outside. The relative humidity becomes easy to decrease.

In the case of adopting the structure including the first opening/closing portion as described above, it is further possible to adopt a structure including a steam supply portion that supplies steam into the storage chamber. In this case, in a state where the exhaust duct is closed by the first opening and closing portion, the steam supply portion supplies steam into the storage chamber.

If such a structure is adopted, the wrinkles of the clothes can be smoothed by supplying steam to the storage chamber. Furthermore, since the exhaust duct is closed by the first opening/closing part at this time, the leakage of steam to the outside of the machine can be suppressed. Thereby, the storage chamber is easily filled with steam, the wrinkle smoothing effect of the clothes is improved, and the increase in humidity around the clothes processing apparatus can be suppressed.

Invention effect

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a laundry treatment device which can suppress the increase in surrounding humidity due to exhaust air during laundry drying.

The effects and significance of the present invention will become clearer through the description of the embodiments shown below. However, the following embodiment is only an example when implementing the present invention, and the present invention is not limited at all by the content described in the following embodiment.

Description of the drawings

Fig. 1(a) is a front view of the laundry treatment device according to the embodiment, and Fig. 1(b) is a right side view of the laundry treatment device according to the embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a front cross-sectional view of the laundry treatment device taken along the position of the first supply unit according to the embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a front cross-sectional view of the laundry treatment device taken along the position of the second supply unit according to the embodiment.

(A) and (b) of FIG. 4 are respectively a top cross-sectional view of the clothes processing apparatus in the state which removed the cover and the state which attached the cover of embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the main part of the laundry treatment device taken along the position of the suction duct of the first supply unit according to the embodiment.

Fig. 6(a) is a top cross-sectional view of the right side of the laundry treatment device taken along the position of the exhaust unit according to the embodiment, and Fig. 6(b) is the laundry treatment taken along the position of the exhaust unit according to the embodiment Side cross-sectional view of the upper part of the device.

Fig. 7(a) is a front cross-sectional view of the main part of the laundry treatment device taken along the front position of the air circulation unit of the embodiment, and Fig. 7(b) is the air circulation unit of the embodiment with the cover removed The main view.

Fig. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of the main part of the laundry treatment device of the embodiment.

Fig. 9(a) is a view of the dehumidification unit arranged on the rear surface of the storage chamber viewed from the rear of the embodiment, and Fig. 9(b) is the line along the line AA' of Fig. 9(a) in the embodiment A top cross-sectional view of the main part of the laundry treatment device in a cutaway position.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the laundry treatment device according to the embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing operation control of the laundry treatment device according to the embodiment.

Description of Reference Signs

1: Clothes treatment device; 100: cabinet; 200: storage room; 202: discharge port; 300: first supply unit (warm air supply part, ozone supply part); 351: first duct (first suction path) 352: the second pipe (second suction path); 360: the suction shutter (the second opening and closing part); 400: the second supply unit (steam supply part); 600: the exhaust unit; 610: the exhaust Pipe; 620: exhaust shutter (first opening and closing part); 630: ozone removal filter (ozone removal part); 800: dehumidification unit (dehumidification part); 850: air mixing unit (air mixing part).

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1(a) is a front view of the laundry treatment device 1, and FIG. 1(b) is a right side view of the laundry treatment device 1. As shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view of the laundry treatment device 1 taken along the position of the first supply unit 300. The illustration of the second supply unit 400 and the air circulation unit 700 is omitted in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view of the laundry treatment device 1 taken along the position of the second supply unit 400. The illustration of the air circulation unit 700 is omitted in FIG. 3. (A) and (b) of FIG. 4 are a top cross-sectional view of the clothes processing apparatus 1 in the state which removed the cover 240 and the state which attached the cover, respectively. Illustrations of the air circulation unit 700 and the dehumidification unit 800 are omitted in (a) and (b) of FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the main part of the laundry treatment apparatus 1 taken along the position of the suction duct 350 of the first supply unit 300. It should be noted that in FIG. 2, the flow of ozone-containing air and warm air is shown by solid arrows. In addition, in FIG. 3, the flow of steam is shown by solid arrows, and the flow of dew condensation water is shown by broken arrows. Furthermore, in FIG. 5, the flow of air from the outside of the laundry treatment apparatus 1 is shown by a solid line arrow, and the flow of air from the storage room 200 is shown by a broken line arrow. Furthermore, in FIG. 3, for convenience of description, the hanger stand 260 located in front of the cross section is drawn by a one-dot chain line.

The clothes treating apparatus 1 includes a box body 100 having a longitudinally long rectangular parallelepiped shape. Legs 110 are provided on the outer bottom surface of the box 100 at four corners. A storage room 200 for storing various clothes such as suits and coats in a hung state is arranged inside the box 100. The storage chamber 200 has a longitudinally long rectangular parallelepiped shape. In addition, a first supply unit 300 that can supply warm air and ozone to the storage room 200 and a second supply unit 400 that can supply steam to the storage room 200 are arranged inside the box 100 below the storage room 200. The first supply unit 300 corresponds to the warm air supply unit and the ozone supply unit of the present invention, and the second supply unit 400 corresponds to the steam supply unit of the present invention.

The front surface of the storage chamber 200 opens as a clothing input port 201. A portion of the front surface of the box body 100 corresponding to the input port 201 is open. A door 500 is provided on the front surface of the box body 100. The door 500 has approximately the same size as the front surface of the box body 100. The casting entrance 201 is covered by the door 500. The right end of the door 500 is connected to the box body 100 via a hinge part not shown, and the door 500 can be opened forward with the hinge part as a fulcrum.

A first supply port 210 and a second supply port 220 are provided adjacent to each other in the center portion of the bottom surface of the storage chamber 200. The first supply port 210 and the second supply port 220 have a substantially semicircular cylindrical shape with straight portions on both sides. The arc-shaped portion 211 of the first supply port 210 and the arc-shaped portion 221 of the second supply port 220 are bent in opposite directions to each other when viewed from above. Thereby, the combined shape of the first supply port 210 and the second supply port 220 becomes a circular shape similar to the one-dot chain line in FIG. 4(a). A small gap is provided between the first supply port 210 and the second supply port 220, and a mounting boss 230 having a mounting hole 231 is provided in the gap.

A cover 240 is arranged above the first supply port 210 and the second supply port 220 so as to cover them. The cover 240 includes a disk-shaped top surface portion 241 and a peripheral surface portion 242 extending obliquely downward from the peripheral edge of the top surface portion 241. The size of the top surface portion 241 is larger than the combined size of the first supply port 210 and the second supply port 220. A shaft 243 protruding downward is formed in the center of the back surface of the top surface 241. The shaft 243 is fitted to the fitting hole 231 of the fitting boss 230 so that a predetermined gap can be formed between the top surface 241 of the cover 240 and the first supply port 210 and the second supply port 220. The peripheral surface 242 of the cover 240 is formed with a plurality of discharge holes 244 over the entire circumference. The discharge hole 244 has a rectangular shape elongated in the radial direction of the cover 240, and is located around the first supply port 210 and the second supply port 220, that is, the cover 240 is closer to the projection area of the first supply port 210 and the second supply port 220. Outside. As a result, dust and foreign matter falling from the clothes cannot easily enter the first supply port 210 and the second supply port 220 through the discharge hole 244. A predetermined gap is provided between the outer periphery of the cover 240 and the bottom surface of the storage chamber 200.

At the right front part of the bottom surface of the storage chamber 200, a bottom surface suction port 250 composed of a plurality of holes is provided.

A hanger stand 260 is provided at the center of the top surface of the storage chamber 200 in the front-rear direction. The hanger stand 260 includes a rod-shaped rod 261 extending in the left-right direction and a support plate 262 that supports the left and right ends of the rod 261 from the top surface of the storage chamber 200. The clothes hanger on which clothes are hung is hung on the rod 261 of the hanger stand 260. In this way, the clothes are held by the rod 261 of the hanger stand 260 in a state of being hung from the top surface of the storage room 200. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of clothes can be hung side by side on the rod 261 in such a manner that the front-rear direction of the clothes is the extending direction of the rod 261.

2 and 5, the first supply unit 300 includes: a first supply duct 310, an ozone generator 320, a heater 330, a blower fan 340, and an air suction duct 350.

In the first supply duct 310, the inlet 311 is connected to the outlet 342 of the blower fan 340, and the outlet 312 is connected to the inlet of the first supply port 210. An ozone generator 320 is arranged near the introduction port 311 in the first supply pipe 310. The first supply pipe 310 has a shape that extends from the introduction port 311 to the left, is bent from a portion beyond the arrangement position of the ozone generator 320 so as to be folded back to the right, and then extends upward to the first supply port 210.

The ozone generator 320 is a discharge-type ozone generator that generates discharges such as corona discharge and silent discharge between a pair of electrodes, and generates ozone from the air passing between the pair of electrodes. The heater 330 is arranged on the first supply port 210 side of the ozone generator 320 in the first supply duct 310 and heats the air flowing in the first supply duct 310. As the heater 330, for example, a PTC heater can be used.

The blower fan 340 is a centrifugal fan, and a suction port 341 is provided on the side surface, and a discharge port 342 is provided on the peripheral surface. The blower fan 340 takes in air from the suction port 341 and sends the taken air to the ozone generator 320 in the first supply duct 310. The blower fan 340 may also use a fan other than a centrifugal fan, such as an axial fan.

On the front surface of the box body 100, a front surface suction port 101 is formed at a position opposed to the suction port 341 of the blower fan 340. The front surface suction port 101 is provided with a dust filter 120 that removes dust and the like contained in the air taken in from the front surface suction port 101.

In the door 500, a plurality of vent holes 501 are formed on the rear surface at positions corresponding to the air intake ports 101 on the front surface of the box 100, and air intake ports 502 are formed on the bottom surface. Inside the door 500, the suction port 502 communicates with a plurality of vent holes 501.

A suction duct 350 is provided between the front surface suction port 101 and the bottom surface suction port 250 and the suction port 341. The suction duct 350 is composed of a first duct 351 connected to the suction port 101 on the front surface, a second duct 352 connected to the bottom suction port 250, and a connection between the first duct 351 and the second duct 352 and the suction port 341. The third pipe 353 is constituted. The first duct 351 corresponds to the first suction path of the present invention, and the second duct 352 corresponds to the second suction path of the present invention.

A suction damper 360 is provided in the third duct 353 of the suction duct 350. The air intake shutter 360 includes an opening and closing plate 361 and a shutter motor 362 that rotates the opening and closing plate 361. The air intake shutter 360 corresponds to the second opening and closing portion of the present invention.

The opening and closing plate 361 is switched between a first closed position that blocks the outlet 352 a of the second duct 352 and a second closed position that blocks the outlet 351 a of the first duct 351. When the opening and closing plate 361 is switched to the first closed position, it is in a state in which air from the outside of the laundry treatment apparatus 1 can be sucked from the front surface suction port 101, and the second duct 352 is in a closed state. On the other hand, when the opening and closing plate 361 is switched to the second closed position, the air in the storage chamber 200 can be sucked from the bottom surface suction port 250, and the first duct 351 is in a closed state. Hereinafter, the outside of the laundry treatment device 1 is referred to as the outside of the machine.

3, the second supply unit 400 includes: a second supply pipe 410, a steam generating device 420, and a drainage device 430. The second supply duct 410 has a shape in which the lower part bulges to the right. An outlet 411 connected to the inlet of the second supply port 220 is provided at the upper end of the second supply pipe 410. In addition, an inlet 412 is provided on the right side of the lower part of the second supply pipe 410. Furthermore, a water storage part 413 is provided below the inlet 412 of the second supply pipe 410 by making its bottom lower than the position of the inlet 412. A discharge port 414 is provided on the bottom surface of the water storage part 413.

The steam generating device 420 includes: a water supply tank 440, a water supply tank 450, a pump assembly 460, and a steam generator 470. Water to be supplied to the steam generator 470 is stored in the water supply tank 440. The water supply tank 440 is detachably installed in a water supply tank installation part not shown in the box 100. When the water supply tank 440 is installed in the water supply tank installation part, its supply port 441 is connected to the inlet 451 of the water supply tank 450 from above. The supply port 441 is provided with an on-off valve 442. When the supply port 441 is connected to the inlet 451, the on-off valve 442 is opened to supply water from the water supply tank 440 to the water supply tank 450, and the entire water supply tank 450 is filled with water.

The pump assembly 460 includes a pump 461, a connection hose 462 and a water supply hose 463. The suction port of the pump 461 is connected to the outlet 452 of the water supply tank 450 through a connection hose 462. A water supply hose 463 is connected to the discharge port of the pump 461. The pump 461 sucks the water in the water supply tank 450 through the connection hose 462 and sends it to the steam generator 470 through the water supply hose 463.

The steam generator 470 includes a main body 471 and a heater 472, and is attached to the inlet 412 of the second supply pipe 410 via a heat insulating member (not shown). The main body 471 is formed of a metal material such as aluminum die casting, and has a steam generation chamber 473 inside. In addition, a water supply port 474 to which a water supply hose 463 is connected is provided above the steam generation chamber 473 on the main body 471, and a discharge port 475 connected to the second supply pipe 410 is provided on the right of the steam generation chamber 473. The heater 472 is embedded in the main body 471.

The main body 471 is heated by the heater 472 to become high temperature. The water droplets sent by the pump 461 fall on the bottom surface of the steam generation chamber 473 and evaporate, thereby generating high-temperature steam. The generated steam is discharged into the second supply pipe 410 through the discharge port 475.

The drainage device 430 includes a drainage tank 480 and a drainage hose 490. The drain hose 490 has a connection port 491 connected to the discharge port 414 of the second supply pipe 410 at its upper end. The connection port 491 is provided with a baffle 492 so as to block the discharge port 414. The baffle 492 is, for example, a metal mesh with a fine mesh and is used to prevent the ozone supplied into the storage chamber 200 during the deodorization and sterilization operation from leaking into the box 100 through the drain hose 490.

The drain tank 480 is a container for recovering the dew condensation water generated in the second supply pipe 410. The drain box 480 is detachably installed in a drain box installation part (not shown) in the box body 100. When the drain tank 480 is installed in the drain tank installation part, its inlet 481 is located directly below the lower end of the drain hose 490.

The front surface of the box body 100 is provided with inlets and outlets 102 of these boxes 440 and 480 at the front positions of the water supply box 440 and the drain box 480 installed in the box body 100. The entrance 102 is covered by the cover 103 which can be opened and closed (refer FIG. 1). The user can access the water supply tank 440 and the drain tank 480 in and out of the box body 100 by opening the door 500 and opening the cover 103.

1, a discharge port 202 is formed on the top surface of the storage chamber 200 on the left side and slightly forward from the center. An exhaust hood 270 is detachably attached to the exhaust port 202. The exhaust hood 270 is provided with a plurality of exhaust windows 271. In addition, a lint filter 272 that removes lint and the like contained in the air is arranged inside the exhaust hood 270.

An exhaust unit 600 for exhausting the air in the storage chamber 200 to the outside of the machine is provided at the position of the exhaust port 202 between the top surface of the storage chamber 200 and the top surface of the box body 100.

6(a) is a top cross-sectional view of the right side of the laundry treatment device 1 taken along the position of the exhaust unit 600, and FIG. 6(b) is a top view of the laundry treatment device 1 taken along the position of the exhaust unit 600 Side cross-sectional view of the upper part. It should be noted that the illustration of the dehumidification unit 800 is omitted in (a) of FIG. 6.

The exhaust unit 600 includes an exhaust duct 610, an exhaust shutter 620, and an ozone removing filter 630. The exhaust duct 610 extends rearward from the exhaust port 202. An exhaust port 104 composed of a plurality of holes is formed on the rear surface of the box body 100, and an exhaust duct 610 is connected to the exhaust port 104. The left part of the top surface of the storage chamber 200 extends to the rear surface of the box body 100 and constitutes the lower surface of the exhaust duct 610. The exhaust duct 610 guides the air discharged from the exhaust port 202 to the outside of the machine.

The exhaust shutter 620 is provided in the exhaust duct 610 and opens and closes the exhaust duct 610. The exhaust shutter 620 includes an opening and closing plate 621 and a shutter motor 622 that rotates the opening and closing plate 621. In the middle of the exhaust duct 610, by narrowing the vertical width in the duct, a communication port 611 that communicates the front duct and the rear duct is formed. The opening and closing plate 621 switches between a closed position to close the communication port 611 and an open position to open the communication port 611. The communication port 611 is opened and closed by the plate 621, the exhaust duct 610 is closed, and the communication port 611 is opened, and the exhaust duct 610 is opened. It should be noted that the exhaust shutter 620 corresponds to the first opening and closing portion of the present invention.

The ozone removal filter 630 is arranged in the exhaust duct 610 behind the exhaust shutter 620, that is, downstream of the air flow. The ozone removing filter 630 may use an activated carbon/catalyst filter that adsorbs and decomposes ozone. The ozone removing filter 630 removes ozone contained in the air flowing in the exhaust duct 610. The ozone removing filter 630 corresponds to the ozone removing part of the present invention.

Fig. 7(a) is a front sectional view of the main part of the laundry treatment apparatus 1 taken along the front position of the air circulation unit 700, and Fig. 7(b) is the main part of the air circulation unit 700 with the cover 712b removed view. FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of the main part of the laundry treatment device 1. Fig. 9(a) is a view of the dehumidification unit 800 arranged on the rear surface of the storage chamber 200 as viewed from the rear, and Fig. 9(b) is a cut along the position along the line AA' of Fig. 9(a) A top cross-sectional view of the main part of the laundry treatment device 1. It should be noted that in FIGS. 7( a) and 8, the flow of air blown from the air circulation unit 700 is shown by a solid line arrow, a broken line arrow, and a one-dot chain line arrow. In addition, in (b) of FIG. 9, the flow of cooling air is shown by solid arrows. Furthermore, in (a) of FIG. 7, for convenience of description, the hanger stand 260 located forward of the cross section is drawn by a one-dot chain line.

An air circulation unit 700 is arranged inside the storage chamber 200 at the bottom and near the rear surface of the storage chamber 200. The air circulation unit 700 sucks the air in the storage room 200 and blows it out into the storage room 200, and causes the blown air to go to the hanging clothes.

The air circulation unit 700 includes a circulation fan 710 and a louver mechanism 720.

The circulation fan 710 is a cross-flow fan, and includes a fan 711, a housing 712, and a fan motor 713. The fan 711 has an impeller 711a arranged in a cylindrical shape, and the axial dimension is much larger than the radial dimension. A fan shaft 714 is provided in the center of the fan 711. Both ends of the fan shaft 714 protrude from both end surfaces of the fan 711.

The fan 711 is housed in the casing 712, and both ends of the fan shaft 714 are rotatably supported on both sides of the casing 712. The housing 712 is composed of a main body 712a with an open front surface and a cover 712b covering the front surface of the main body 712a. The casing 712 is provided on the front side of the fan 711, that is, on the front surface of the cover 712b, with a suction port 715 opening forward, and on the rear side of the fan 711 is provided a discharge port 716 opening upward. The suction port 715 opens in a direction along the bottom surface of the storage chamber 200, and its lower end is slightly higher than the bottom surface of the storage chamber 200. The suction port 715 is provided with a plurality of lattice mounds 715a extending in a lattice shape. The axial dimensions of the suction port 715 and the discharge port 716 are approximately the same as the size of the fan 711. That is, the suction port 715 and the discharge port 716 have a shape elongated in the axial direction.

A filter 717 is arranged between the suction port 715 and the fan 711 in the housing 712. The filter 717 traps dust sucked from the suction port 715 together with the air.

The right end of the fan shaft 714 penetrates the right side surface of the housing 712 and further penetrates the right side surface of the storage chamber 200. A part corresponding to the air circulation unit 700 in the right side surface of the storage chamber 200 is recessed inward, and a fan motor 713 is mounted on the outside of this part. The fan shaft 714 that penetrates the right side surface of the storage chamber 200 is connected to the rotor (not shown) of the fan motor 713.

The fan motor 713 drives the fan 711 to rotate via the fan shaft 714. When the fan 711 rotates, air is sucked in from the suction port 715, and the sucked air is sent away by the fan 711 and blown out from the discharge port 716.

The ventilation plate mechanism 720 includes a ventilation plate 721 and a ventilation plate motor 722.

The ventilation plate 721 has a rectangular shape elongated in the axial direction of the circulation fan 710 and has a size slightly larger than the discharge port 716 of the circulation fan 710. Eaves 723 are provided at both left and right ends of the ventilation plate 721, and a ventilation plate shaft 724 is provided at the lower end of the eaves 723. Support portions 718 are provided at the upper rear ends of the circulation fan 710 on both sides of the casing 712. The ventilation plate shafts 724 on both sides of the ventilation plate 721 are rotatably supported by the supporting parts 718 on both sides of the housing 712. As a result, the ventilation plate 721 is located above the discharge port 716 and can swing in the up and down direction.

The right end of the ventilation plate shaft 724 penetrates the right support portion 718 and further penetrates the right side of the storage chamber 200. A fan motor 722 is mounted on the outside of the right side surface of the storage chamber 200 and above the fan motor 713. The vent plate shaft 724 that penetrates the right side of the storage chamber 200 is connected to the rotor (not shown) of the vent plate motor 722.

The vent plate motor 722 rotates the vent plate 721 through the vent plate shaft 724 by rotating forward and reverse at a predetermined rotation angle. The air blown upward from the outlet 716 of the circulation fan 710 comes into contact with the ventilation plate 721 and is deflected. The turning angle of the air changes with the angle of the swinging ventilation plate 721, and the direction in which the air, that is, the wind travels, changes.

The fan shaft 714 of the circulation fan 710 is a rotation axis when the fan 711 rotates, and the ventilation plate shaft 724 of the ventilation plate mechanism 720 is a swing axis when the ventilation plate 721 swings. As shown in FIG. 8, the circulating fan 710, that is, the air circulation unit 700, is arranged at the bottom of the storage room 200 in the following state: the axial and left-right directions of the rotating shaft of the fan 711 and the swinging shaft of the ventilation plate 721 are defined by the rod 261 of the hanger stand 260 The front and rear directions of the hanging clothes are parallel or approximately parallel. In other words, the rod 261 of the hanger stand 260 holds the clothes in the upper part of the storage room 200 in the following state: the front-rear direction of the clothes hanging on the rod 261 and the rotation axis of the fan 711 of the air circulation unit 700 and the swing axis of the ventilation plate 721 The axis is parallel or roughly parallel. At this time, in the circulating fan 710, the center of the rotating shaft of the fan 711 in the axial direction is substantially coincident with the center of the rod 261.

A dehumidification unit 800 for dehumidifying the air in the storage chamber 200 is arranged between the rear surface of the storage chamber 200 and the rear surface of the box body 100.

The dehumidification unit 800 includes a circulating air passage 810 that circulates air between the dehumidification unit 800 and the storage room 200, a heat exchanger 820 provided in the circulating air passage 810, and a cooling fan that sends cooling air to the heat exchanger 820 830 and a cooling duct 840 through which air for cooling sent to the heat exchanger 820 flows. The dehumidification unit 800 corresponds to the dehumidification part of the present invention.

The circulating air passage 810 is composed of an introduction duct 811, a discharge duct 812, and a heat exchanger 820 arranged between these ducts 811 and 812. That is, the heat exchanger 820 constitutes a part of the circulating air passage 810. On the rear surface of the storage room 200, an inlet 203 for introducing air into the circulating air passage 810 is formed at a position above the right end portion of the air circulation unit 700, and an inlet 203 from the circulating air passage 810 is formed above the inlet 203. The air outlet 204. The introduction pipe 811 is connected to the introduction port 203, extends rearward from the introduction port 203, then bends, and extends upward. The lead-out pipe 812 is connected to the lead-out port 204, extends backward from the lead-out port 204, buckles, and extends downward. A drain port 813 is formed on the lower surface of the introduction pipe 811. The drain hose 850 is connected to the drain port 813. The drain hose 850 is connected to the water storage part 413 of the second supply pipe 410.

The heat exchanger 820 includes a plurality of heat transfer tubes 821 arranged in the left-right direction at predetermined intervals. Each heat transfer tube 821 is flat in the left-right direction and extends in the up-down direction. A lower connecting plate 822 and an upper connecting plate 823 are formed in the heat exchanger 820 at the lower end and the upper end of the plurality of heat transfer tubes 821, respectively. The lower connecting plate 822 and the upper connecting plate 823 are respectively formed with connection ports 824, 825 having openings 824a, 825a connected to the respective heat transfer tubes 821, and the inlet pipe 811 and the outlet pipe 812 are respectively connected to these connection ports 824, 825 . In addition, a left side panel 826 and a right side panel 827 are formed between the lower connecting plate 822 and the upper connecting plate 823 of the heat exchanger 820 to cover the left and right sides of the plurality of heat transfer tubes 821, respectively. The plurality of heat transfer tubes 821 are surrounded by the lower connecting plate 822, the upper connecting plate 823, the left side panel 826, and the right side panel 827, thereby forming a cooling air passage 828 that houses the plurality of heat transfer tubes 821.

The cooling fan 830 is a centrifugal fan, and a fan 832 and a motor 833 for rotating the fan 832 are provided in the housing 831. The housing 831 is provided with a suction port 834 on the side surface, and a discharge port 835 is provided on the peripheral surface. The cooling fan 830 may also use a fan other than a centrifugal fan, such as an axial fan.

One end of the cooling duct 840 has a shape corresponding to the outlet 835 of the cooling fan 830 and is connected to the outlet 835, and the other end has a shape corresponding to the inlet of the cooling air passage 828 of the heat exchanger 820, and is connected to the inlet of the cooling air passage 828. connection.

A suction port 105 and an exhaust port 106 composed of a plurality of holes are provided on the rear surface of the box body 100. The suction port 834 of the cooling fan 830 is connected to the suction port 105, and the outlet of the cooling air passage 828 of the heat exchanger 820 is connected to the exhaust port 106.

The dehumidification unit 800 is formed of a resin material with an introduction pipe 811, an output pipe 812, and a cooling pipe 840, and the heat exchanger 820 is also formed of a resin material. In this way, by forming the heat exchanger 820 from a resin material, the dehumidification unit 800 can be reduced in weight.

A wind bucket 280 covering the front of the inlet 203 is provided on the rear surface of the storage chamber 200. The wind bucket 280 has a suction port 281 that opens downward, that is, on the side of the air circulation unit 700, and receives a part of the air blown out by the air circulation unit 700 and guides it to the circulation air passage 810 through the inlet 203.

Between the top surface of the storage chamber 200 and the top surface of the box body 100, an air mixing unit 850 is provided so as to be adjacent to the exhaust duct 610. The air mixing unit 850 takes in the air outside the cabinet 100, that is, outside the machine, and mixes it with the air flowing in the exhaust duct 610. The air mixing unit 850 corresponds to the air mixing unit of the present invention.

Referring to (a) of FIG. 6, the air mixing unit 850 includes a mixing fan 860 and an introduction duct 870. The mixing fan 860 is a centrifugal fan, and the housing 861 includes a fan 862 and a motor 863 that rotates the fan 862. The housing 861 is provided with a suction port 864 on the side surface, and a discharge port 865 is provided on the peripheral surface. The mixing fan 860 may also use a fan other than a centrifugal fan, such as an axial fan.

In the exhaust duct 610, an inlet 612 is formed at a position downstream of the ozone removal filter 630 where the air flows. One end of the introduction duct 870 is connected to the introduction port 612, and the other end is connected to the discharge port 865 of the mixing fan 860.

A suction port 107 composed of a plurality of holes is provided on the rear surface of the box body 100. The suction port 864 of the mixing fan 860 is connected to the suction port 107. The suction port 107 may be separated from the exhaust port 104 by a distance that the air discharged from the exhaust port 104 will not be sucked right after being discharged.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the structure of the laundry treatment device 1.

In addition to the above-mentioned configuration, the laundry treatment device 1 further includes an operation unit 901 and a control unit 902.

The operation unit 901 includes operation buttons such as a selection button for selecting an operation mode and a start button for starting operation, and outputs an operation signal corresponding to the operation button operated by the user to the control unit 902.

The control unit 902 includes a microcomputer, various drive circuits, etc., to provide the ozone generator 320, heater 330, blower fan 340 and air intake shutter 360 of the first supply unit 300, and the pump 461 and heater of the second supply unit 400. 472, the exhaust shutter 620 of the exhaust unit 600, the fan motor 713 and the ventilation plate motor 722 of the air circulation unit 700, the cooling fan 830 of the dehumidification unit 800, the mixing fan 860 of the air mixing unit 850, etc. are controlled.

The clothes treating apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can perform a deodorizing and sterilizing operation to deodorize and sterilize clothes, a drying operation to dry the clothes, and a wrinkle smoothing operation to smooth out the wrinkles of the clothes.

Fig. 11 shows a flowchart of the operation control of the laundry treatment device 1.

When the operation to start the operation is executed, the control unit 902 determines that one of the deodorizing and sterilizing operation, the drying operation, and the wrinkle smoothing operation has been selected (S1).

When the deodorization and sterilization operation is selected (S1: deodorization and sterilization), the deodorization and sterilization operation is started, and the control unit 902 executes the deodorization and sterilization process (S2). During the deodorization and sterilization process, the control unit 902 operates the blower fan 340 and the ozone generator 320 in the first supply unit 300. Before the operation starts, that is, when the laundry treatment device 1 is in a stopped state, the opening and closing plate 361 of the air intake shutter 360 is located at the first closed position, and the opening and closing plate 621 of the exhaust shutter 620 is located at the open position. The control unit 902 does not operate the intake shutter 360 and the exhaust shutter 620, and maintains the state where the opening and closing plate 361 is at the first closed position and the opening and closing plate 621 is at the open position.

As shown by the solid arrow in FIG. 5, by the operation of the blower fan 340, the air outside the machine is taken into the suction duct 350 from the suction port 101 on the front surface and sent into the first supply duct 310.

As shown in FIG. 2, the air flowing in the first supply pipe 310 passes through the ozone generator 320, and at this time, the ozone generated in the ozone generator 320 is mixed into the air. In this way, the air containing ozone passes through the first supply duct 310, reaches the first supply port 210, and is discharged from the first supply port 210 into the storage room 200. The discharged ozone-containing air hits the cover 240 and spreads around, a part of the air is discharged from the plurality of discharge holes 244, and the remaining part of the air is discharged from between the cover 240 and the bottom surface of the storage chamber 200. In this way, the air containing ozone is diffused through the cover 240 and then travels to the upper clothing, and comes into contact with the clothing over a large area. Clothing is deodorized and sterilized by the deodorization and sterilization effect of ozone.

As shown by the one-dot chain arrow in Fig. 6(a), the air whose ozone concentration has been reduced due to the deodorization and sterilization of clothes is discharged from the discharge port 202 provided on the top surface of the storage room 200 to the exhaust duct 610 Inside, it flows in the exhaust duct 610 and is discharged from the exhaust port 104 to the outside of the machine. The air flowing in the exhaust duct 610 passes through the ozone removing filter 630. As a result, ozone in the air is removed, and air reduced to an appropriate ozone concentration is discharged to the outside of the machine.

Furthermore, during the deodorization and sterilization process, the control unit 902 drives the fan motor 713 in the air circulation unit 700 to operate the circulation fan 710, and drives the ventilation plate motor 722 to swing the ventilation plate 721 in the vertical direction. At this time, the ventilation plate 721 may continuously swing, or may stop for a predetermined time every time it swings back and forth once or repeatedly.

As shown in (a) of FIG. 7, the air containing ozone in the storage chamber 200 is taken in from the suction port 715 into the housing 712 and blown out from the discharge port 716 in the form of ozone wind. The blown ozone wind is deflected by the ventilation plate 721 and then goes to the clothes. At this time, the ventilation plate 721 swings to change the steering angle of the ozone wind, so the ozone wind will contact the clothes from all directions. As a result, the contact efficiency between the ozone wind and the clothes becomes better, and the clothes become easier to deodorize and sterilize. In addition, the clothes are blown by the ozone wind from all directions, so that the hanging clothes may shake. As a result, ozone can be made to reach parts that are difficult to reach when the clothes are stationary, such as the underarm parts of the clothes. In addition, dust adhering to clothes is easy to fall off.

Furthermore, the clothes are hung on the rod 261 of the hanger stand 260 in such a manner that the front-rear direction thereof is parallel to the axial direction of the swing axis of the ventilation plate 721 of the air circulation unit 700. Therefore, even when multiple pieces of clothing are contained in the storage room 200 as shown in FIG. 7(a), the ozone wind discharged from the circulation fan 710 and deflected by the ventilation plate 721 easily passes between the clothing and the clothing. The upper part of the containment chamber 200 is touched. As a result, the ozone wind easily contacts multiple pieces of clothing in all directions, and deodorizes and sterilizes multiple pieces of clothing well.

When the predetermined deodorization and sterilization time has elapsed, the control unit 902 stops the ozone generator 320, the blower fan 340, the circulation fan 710, and the ventilation plate 721 to end the deodorization and sterilization process. In this way, the deodorization and sterilization operation ends.

Next, when the control unit 902 determines that the drying operation is selected in step S1 (S1: drying), the drying operation is started. First, the control unit 902 executes a cyclic drying process (S3). During the cycle drying process, the control unit 902 activates the suction shutter 360 to switch the opening and closing plate 361 from the first closed position to the second closed position. Furthermore, the control unit 902 operates the exhaust shutter 620 to switch the opening and closing plate 621 from the open position to the closed position. Then, the control part 902 operates the blowing fan 340 and the heater 330 in the first supply unit 300.

As shown by the dashed arrow in FIG. 5, by the operation of the blower fan 340, the air in the storage chamber 200 is taken into the suction duct 350 from the bottom suction port 250 and sent into the first supply duct 310.

As shown in FIG. 2, the air flowing in the first supply duct 310 is heated by the heater 330 and becomes warm air of a temperature suitable for drying (for example, about 60° C.). Then, the warm air reaches the first supply port 210 and is discharged into the storage room 200 from the first supply port 210. The discharged warm air is diffused by the cover 240 like the air containing ozone, and then travels to the upper clothing, and comes into contact with the clothing over a large area. As a result, the laundry is dried.

During the cycle drying process, the exhaust duct 610 is closed by the exhaust shutter 620. Therefore, the air in the storage chamber 200 is not discharged from the discharge port 202 and is not discharged to the outside of the box body 100. Air circulates between the storage chamber 200 and the suction duct 350, the blower fan 340 and the first supply duct 310. The temperature of the air taken into the first supply duct 310 gradually increases, and accordingly, the output of the heater 330 decreases. As a result, the temperature of the air discharged into the storage chamber 200 is maintained at an appropriate temperature.

During the circulation drying process, the control part 902 operates the circulation fan 710 in the air circulation unit 700 and causes the ventilation plate 721 to swing up and down. In addition, the control unit 902 operates the cooling fan 830 of the dehumidification unit 800.

As shown in FIG. 7(a), the air in the storage room 200 warmed by the supply of warm air is taken into the housing 712 from the suction port 715, and is blown out from the discharge port 716 in the form of warm air. The blown warm air is diverted by the swinging ventilation plate 721, thereby coming into contact with the clothes from all directions. As a result, the contact efficiency between the warm air and the clothes becomes better, and the clothes become easier to dry. In addition, by shaking the clothes, the warm air can touch the parts of the clothes that are difficult to reach when the clothes are in a static state, and the dust attached to the clothes becomes easy to fall off.

Furthermore, as in the case of the deodorization and sterilization operation, even when multiple pieces of clothing are contained in the storage room 200 as shown in FIG. 7(a), the warm air discharged from the circulation fan 710 and deflected by the ventilation plate 721 It is also easy to pass between the clothes and touch the upper part of the storage room 200. As a result, the warm air can easily contact multiple pieces of clothing in all directions, and the multiple pieces of clothing can be easily dried.

The air sucked by the circulation fan 710 contains moisture peeled from the clothes. As shown by the one-dot chain arrow in FIG. 7( a ), the air blown from the right end portion of the air circulation unit 700, which is the circulation fan 710, is received by the air duct 280, and is introduced into the circulation air passage 810 through the inlet 203. The introduced air flows through the circulating air path 810 and is led out into the storage room 200 from the outlet 204. In addition, as shown in FIG. 9(b), by the operation of the cooling fan 830, the air outside the machine is sucked as cooling air from the suction port 105 and sent to the heat exchanger 820. After cooling the air duct 828, it is discharged from the exhaust port 106 to the outside of the machine.

The air flowing in the circulating air passage 810 exchanges heat with the cooling air flowing in the cooling air passage 828 when passing through the plurality of heat transfer tubes 821 of the heat exchanger 820 to be cooled and dehumidified. The water from the air is drained from the drain port 813 of the introduction pipe 811 and finally stored in the drain tank 480 of the second supply unit 400.

In this way, the air in the storage room 200 is dehumidified by the dehumidifying unit 800. Thereby, the increase of the moisture contained in the warm air before contact with the clothes can be suppressed, and therefore, the drying of the clothes becomes easy.

In the cyclic drying process, although the dehumidification unit 800 is dehumidified as described above, it is not the same as exhausting air from the storage room 200 and taking in fresh air from outside the machine to the first supply duct 310 to turn it into warm air and supply it to the Compared with the case of so-called exhaust drying in the storage room 200, the water contained in the warm air increases, and it is not easy to peel off the water from the clothes. Therefore, the clothes hung on the hanger stand 260 are slowly dried while being shaken by the warm wind, so it is easy to smooth the wrinkles on the clothes while drying.

When a predetermined time has elapsed and the clothes in the storage room 200 are in a state of being dried to a certain extent, the control unit 902 stops the heater 330, the blower fan 340, and the cooling fan 830 to end the cycle drying process.

Next, the control unit 902 executes an exhaust drying process (S4). During the exhaust drying process, the control unit 902 activates the suction shutter 360 and switches the opening and closing plate 361 from the second closed position to the first closed position. In addition, the control unit 902 operates the exhaust shutter 620 to switch the opening and closing plate 621 from the closed position to the open position. Then, the control unit 902 operates the blower fan 340 and the heater 330. It should be noted that the air circulation unit 700, that is, the circulation fan 710 and the ventilation plate 721, continue to work after the circulation drying process.

As shown by the solid arrow in FIG. 5, by the operation of the blower fan 340, external air is taken into the suction duct 350 from the front surface suction port 101 and sent into the first supply duct 310. The heating by the heater 330 generates warm air in the first supply duct 310 and is discharged from the first supply port 210 into the storage room 200. The discharged warm air and the warm air circulating in the storage room 200 through the air circulation unit 700 contact the clothes, and the clothes are dried.

As shown by the solid arrow in (a) of FIG. 6, the air from which moisture has been stripped from the clothes in the storage chamber 200 is discharged from the discharge port 202. The exhaust port 202 is provided on the top surface of the storage chamber 200, and the heated air is easily exhausted. The exhausted air flows through the exhaust duct 610 and passes through the ozone removing filter 630. At this time, the ozone removing filter 630 becomes resistance, and the flow velocity of the air decreases.

During the exhaust drying process, the control unit 902 operates the air mixing unit 850, that is, the mixing fan 860. As shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. 6( a ), the air outside the machine is taken in from the intake port 107, and is supplied to a position downstream of the ozone removal filter 630 in the exhaust duct 610 through the introduction duct 870. The air from outside the machine supplied into the exhaust duct 610 is mixed with the air from the storage chamber 200 passing through the ozone removing filter 630. At this time, since the flow velocity of the air from the storage chamber 200 becomes slow, it is easy to mix the air from outside the machine. By mixing air from outside the machine, the relative humidity of the air from the storage chamber 200 decreases. As shown by the hollow arrow in (a) of FIG. 6, the air with a reduced relative humidity is discharged from the exhaust port 104 to the outside of the machine.

When a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the exhaust drying process, the control part 902 stops the heater 330, the blower fan 340, the circulation fan 710, and the ventilation plate 721, and ends the circulation drying process. In this way, the drying operation ends.

In this way, during the drying operation, a cyclic drying process is performed before the exhaust drying process, and during the cyclic drying process, the air in the storage room 200 is dehumidified by the dehumidifying unit 800. As a result, during the drying operation, the moisture discharged from the laundry treatment device 1 to the outside is reduced, and therefore, the humidity around the laundry treatment device 1 is not likely to increase.

In addition, during the drying operation, during the exhaust drying process, the air outside the machine is mixed with the air flowing in the exhaust duct 610 by the air mixing unit 850, and the air after the relative humidity is reduced is discharged to the outside of the machine. Thereby, it is not easy for the exhausted air to cause dew condensation and other high-humidity air on the wall surface of the room around the laundry treatment device 1 to affect the surroundings of the laundry treatment device 1.

It should be noted that in the exhaust drying process, the cooling fan 830 may also be operated to dehumidify the air in the storage room 200 by the dehumidification unit 800. As a result, it is possible to reduce moisture discharged from the laundry treatment device 1 to the outside.

Next, when the control unit 902 determines that the wrinkle smoothing operation is selected in step S1 (S1: wrinkle smoothing), the wrinkle smoothing operation is started, and the preparation process is executed (S5). In the preparation process, the control unit 902 operates the heater 472 of the steam generator 470 in the state where the pump 461 is stopped in the second supply unit 400. As a result, the temperature of the main body portion 471 of the steam generator 470 gradually rises.

Furthermore, during the preparation process, the control unit 902 operates the circulation fan 710 in the air circulation unit 700 and swings the ventilation plate 721 in the up and down direction. As shown in FIG. 7(a), the air in the storage chamber 200 is taken into the housing 712 from the suction port 715, and is blown out from the discharge port 716 in the form of wind. The blown wind is deflected by the swinging ventilation plate 721, thereby coming into contact with the clothes from all directions, and shaking the clothes. As a result, dust becomes easy to fall from the clothes.

When the temperature of the main body part 471 of the steam generator 470 is sufficiently high, the control part 902 ends the preparation process and executes the steam process (S6). During the steaming process, the control unit 902 activates the exhaust shutter 620 and switches the opening and closing plate 621 from the open position to the closed position. As a result, the exhaust duct 610 is closed. Next, the control unit 902 operates the pump 461 in a state where the heater 472 continues to operate. As shown in FIG. 3, high-temperature steam is generated in the steam generator 470 and discharged into the second supply pipe 410. The released steam rises in the second supply pipe 410 to reach the second supply port 220, and is discharged into the storage chamber 200 from the second supply port 220. The discharged steam hits the cover 240 and spreads around, a part of which is discharged from the plurality of discharge holes 244, and the remaining part is discharged from between the cover 240 and the bottom surface of the storage chamber 200. In this way, the steam is diffused through the cover 240 and travels to the upper clothes, and comes into contact with the clothes in a large area. With the moisture and heat of the steam, the wrinkles of the clothes are smoothed.

When the steam flows in the second supply pipe 410, a part of the steam may condense and produce dew condensation water. The dew condensation water flows downward and is stored in the water storage part 413, and is discharged from the discharge port 414. The drained dew condensation water is recovered into the drain tank 480 through the drain hose 490. In this way, in this embodiment, since the water storage portion 413 for storing dew condensation water is provided below the inlet 412 of the second supply pipe 410, it is possible to prevent the dew condensation water from flowing from the inlet 412 to the inside of the steam generator 470. .

Furthermore, during the steaming process, the circulation fan 710 and the ventilation plate 721 continue to work. The clothes are shaken by the wind blown out from the outlet 716 and turned by the ventilation plate 721. When clothes are swayed in a suspended state, forces such as centrifugal force are easily applied to the clothes. As a result, it is easy to smooth the surface of the clothes that the steam hits, and therefore, the wrinkles of the clothes become easy to flatten. In addition, although the clothes are not in a dry state in the preparation process because they are wetted by steam, by shaking the clothes, the dust attached to the clothes can be dropped.

Furthermore, as in the case of the deodorization and sterilization operation, even when multiple pieces of clothing are contained in the storage room 200 as shown in FIG. 7(a), the wind discharged from the circulation fan 710 and deflected by the ventilation plate 721 is also It is easy to pass between the clothes and touch the upper part of the storage room 200. As a result, the wind easily comes into contact with multiple pieces of clothing in all directions, the multiple pieces of clothing are well shaken, and the wrinkles thereof become easy to flatten.

During the steaming process, the exhaust pipe 610 is closed. Therefore, the steam in the storage chamber 200 can be prevented from being discharged to the outside of the machine through the exhaust duct 610. In addition, in the exhaust duct 610, the ozone removing filter 630 is provided downstream of the exhaust shutter 620, and therefore, it is possible to prevent the steam from contacting the ozone removing filter 630 and severely wetting the ozone removing filter 630.

When the predetermined steam supply time has elapsed, the control unit 902 stops the heater 472 and the pump 461, and ends the steaming process.

Next, the control unit 902 sequentially executes the cycle drying process and the exhaust drying process (S7, S8). The cycle drying process and the exhaust drying process are the same as the cycle drying process and the exhaust drying process in the drying operation. Through the cycle drying process and the exhaust drying process, the clothes wetted by the steam are dried. It should be noted that the time of the cycle drying process and the exhaust drying process in the wrinkle smoothing operation is set to be suitable for the wrinkle smoothing operation, and can be set to be different from the time of the drying operation. Moreover, since the exhaust shutter 620 is already in the closed position during the cycle drying process, only the suction shutter 360 is working, and the opening and closing plate 361 is switched from the first closed position to the second closed position.

When the exhaust drying process ends, the control part 902 executes the ventilation process (S9). That is, the control part 902 keeps the circulation fan 710 and the ventilation plate 721 in operation after the exhaust drying process. The air in the storage chamber 200 is taken in from the suction port 715 and blown out from the discharge port 716 into the storage chamber 200. As a result, the air outside the machine passes through the suction duct 350 of the first supply unit 300 and the first supply duct 310 from the first A supply port 210 is taken into the containment chamber 200, and the air in the containment chamber 200 is exhausted to the outside of the machine through the exhaust port 202 and the exhaust duct 610. As a result, the inside of the storage chamber 200 is ventilated, and the inner wall of the storage chamber 200 becomes dry even if it gets wet with steam.

When a predetermined ventilation time has elapsed, the control unit 902 stops the circulation fan 710 and the ventilation plate 721, and ends the ventilation process. In this way, the wrinkle smoothing operation ends.

In this way, during the wrinkle smoothing operation, the exhaust pipe 610 is closed by the exhaust shutter 620 during the steaming process, and the steam cannot be discharged from the storage chamber 200 to the outside of the machine. Furthermore, a cyclic drying process is performed before the exhaust drying process, and during the cyclic drying process, the air in the storage chamber 200 is dehumidified by the dehumidifying unit 800. As a result, during the wrinkle smoothing operation, the moisture discharged from the laundry treatment device 1 to the outside is reduced, and therefore, the humidity around the laundry treatment device 1 is not likely to increase. Furthermore, during the exhaust drying process, the air outside the machine is mixed with the air flowing in the exhaust duct 610 through the air mixing unit 850, and the air after the relative humidity is reduced is discharged to the outside of the machine. Therefore, it is not easy to be caused by high humidity. The air affects the periphery of the laundry treatment device 1.

It should be noted that, in the laundry treatment device 1, in addition to the deodorization and sterilization operation, the drying operation, and the wrinkle smoothing operation, for example, drying, deodorization, and sterilization may be performed after drying. Running.

In addition to the exhaust-type deodorizing and sterilizing operation described above, a circulating type of deodorizing and sterilizing operation may also be performed. In this circulation type deodorization and sterilization operation, the control unit 902 switches the suction shutter 360 to the second closed position and the exhaust shutter 620 to the closed position, as in the cyclic drying process, while keeping the air in the container. The chamber 200 circulates between the suction duct 350, the blower fan 340, and the first supply duct 310 while operating the ozone generator 320. In this circulation type deodorization and sterilization operation, the concentration of ozone in the air increases during air circulation. Therefore, a high concentration of ozone can be applied to the clothes, and a high deodorization and sterilization effect can be expected. Moreover, in this deodorization and sterilization operation, not only the exhaust duct 610 is closed by the exhaust shutter 620, but also the first duct 351 and the front surface suction port 101 are set by the suction shutter 360. The closed state can prevent high-concentration ozone from leaking out of the machine through the first duct 351 and the front surface suction port 101.

Furthermore, it is possible that the exhaust shutter 620 can not only be switched to an open position where the opening and closing plate 621 is fully opened, but can also be stopped at a position of a plurality of opening angles when the opening and closing plate 621 is opened. By changing the opening angle of the opening and closing plate 621, the opening amount of the communication port 611 of the exhaust duct 610 is changed, and the exhaust amount of air from the storage chamber 200 is changed. In this case, during the exhaust drying process of the drying operation and the wrinkle smoothing operation, as time passes, the opening angle of the opening and closing plate 621 gradually increases, and the amount of air discharged from the storage chamber 200 increases. In this way, the humidity in the storage chamber 200 gradually decreases, and therefore, the wrinkle smoothing effect can be exerted even during the exhaust drying process.

Furthermore, a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor may be arranged in the storage room 200. In this case, it is possible to switch from the cycle drying process to the exhaust drying process or to end the exhaust drying process according to the temperature and humidity in the storage room 200. Furthermore, during the exhaust drying process, the opening angle of the opening and closing plate 621 may also be gradually increased according to changes in temperature and humidity in the storage chamber 200.

Furthermore, during the steaming process, a small amount of steam may leak from the air inlet 101 on the front surface. Therefore, in order to prevent such steam leakage, the opening and closing plate 361 of the suction shutter 360 can be switched to the second closed position during the steaming process, and the outlet 351a of the first pipe 351, that is, the front surface suction port 101 can be closed.

<Effects of the embodiment>

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by operating the dehumidifying unit 800 when the warm air is supplied from the first supply unit 300 to the storage room 200 to dry the clothes, it is possible to dehumidify the air in the storage room 200 that contains moisture peeled from the clothes. . As a result, the moisture discharged to the outside from the laundry treatment device 1 is reduced, and the humidity around the laundry treatment device 1 is unlikely to increase.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, by operating the air mixing unit 850 when drying clothes, the air from outside the machine is mixed with the air flowing in the exhaust duct 610 to reduce the relative humidity and then the air can be discharged to the outside of the machine. . Thereby, it is not easy for the exhausted air to cause dew condensation and other high-humidity air on the wall surface of the room around the laundry treatment device 1 to affect the surroundings of the laundry treatment device 1.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, during the cycle drying process, the exhaust duct 610 is closed by the exhaust shutter 620, so that the warm air that has been in contact with the clothes, that is, air is not discharged from the storage room 200, but is kept in the storage room. The chamber 200 circulates with the first supply unit 300, and the air is dehumidified by the dehumidification unit 800. As a result, it is possible to dry the clothes while not venting moist air to the outside of the machine as much as possible.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, during the exhaust drying process, the exhaust duct 610 is opened to actively exhaust the warm air that has come into contact with the clothes from the storage room 200, and the air is exhausted from the storage room 200 through the air mixing unit 850. After the relative humidity of the air decreases, it is discharged to the outside of the machine. Thus, by replacing the air in the storage room 200, the low-humidity air becomes more likely to come into contact with the clothes, the clothes become easier to dry, and the influence of the high-humidity air on the periphery of the clothes treatment device 1 can be suppressed.

Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to perform a circulation type deodorizing and sterilizing operation in which ozone-containing air is circulated between the storage chamber 200 and the first supply unit 300 while ozone is generated by the first supply unit 300. This allows high-concentration ozone to act on the clothes in the storage chamber 200, and therefore, a high deodorizing and sterilizing effect can be expected. Furthermore, since the exhaust duct 610 and the first duct 351 are closed, it is possible to prevent high-concentration ozone from leaking to the outside of the machine.

Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, since the ozone removal filter 630 is provided in the exhaust duct 610, the air from which the ozone has been removed by the ozone removal filter 630 can be discharged to the outside of the machine. Furthermore, since the ozone removing filter 630 is arranged downstream of the exhaust shutter 620, by closing the exhaust shutter 620 when steam is supplied into the storage room 200, the ozone removing filter 630 can be prevented from being wetted by the steam. , Can prevent the ozone removal performance of the ozone removal filter 630 from being reduced.

Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the air taken in from outside the machine by the operation of the air mixing unit 850 is supplied to the exhaust duct 610 downstream of the ozone removal filter 630, so that the air outside the machine can be reduced It is mixed with the air from the containing chamber 200 whose flow velocity has been reduced due to passing through the ozone removing filter 630. As a result, the air outside the machine easily mixes with the air from the storage chamber 200, and therefore, the relative humidity of the air discharged outside the machine easily decreases.

Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, by supplying steam from the second supply unit 400 into the storage room 200, wrinkles of the clothes can be smoothed. Furthermore, since the exhaust duct 610 is closed by the exhaust shutter 620 at this time, the leakage of steam to the outside of the machine can be suppressed. Thereby, the storage chamber 200 is easily filled with steam, the wrinkle smoothing effect of the clothes is improved, and the increase in humidity around the clothes treating apparatus 1 can be suppressed.

As mentioned above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment at all. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention may be modified in various ways other than the above.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, both ozone and warm air are supplied into the storage room 200 from the first supply unit 300. However, it is also possible to separately provide an ozone supply unit for supplying ozone and a warm air supply unit for supplying warm air in the laundry treatment apparatus 1. In this case, the suction duct 350 may be branched at the third duct 353 and connected to the ozone supply unit and the warm air supply unit.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the heat exchanger 820 of the dehumidification unit 800 constitutes a part of the circulating air passage 810, and the air from the storage room 200 will interact with the cooling air passing through the inside of the heat transfer tube 821 and outside the heat transfer tube 821. Heat exchange between the air. However, the dehumidification unit 800 may also adopt other structures. For example, the following structure may be adopted: the heat exchanger 820 is arranged inside the circulating air passage 810, and the air from the storage chamber 200 passes through the outside of the heat transfer tube 821 and passes through the heat transfer tube 821. The liquid and gas refrigerant on the inner side exchange heat.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the air circulation unit 700 is used to circulate air between the storage chamber 200 and the circulation air passage 810, a fan for circulating air without using the air circulation unit 700 may be used. The structure is arranged in the circulating air duct 810 and other places.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the discharge port 202 is provided on the top surface of the storage chamber 200. However, the discharge port 202 may also be provided in other positions, such as the upper part of the rear surface of the storage chamber 200.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the suction port 864 of the mixing fan 860 is connected to the suction port 107 of the housing 100. However, the suction port 864 of the mixing fan 860 may not be connected to the suction port 107 and may be opened into the box 100. In this case, by the operation of the mixing fan 860, the air outside the machine is taken into the box 100 from the air inlet 107, and the air is taken into the mixing fan 860 from the box 100. In this case, the air supplied to the exhaust duct 610 is also referred to as air outside the machine.

Furthermore, although the suction port 107 is provided on the rear surface of the box body 100 in the above-mentioned embodiment, it may be provided on another surface of the box body 100, for example, it may be provided on either side of the left and right sides.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the air mixing unit 850 adopts a structure in which the mixing fan 860 is connected to the exhaust duct 610 via the introduction duct 870. However, the air mixing unit 850 may also adopt a structure in which the discharge port 865 of the mixing fan 860 is directly connected to the exhaust duct 610. In addition, in this case, the suction port 864 of the mixing fan 860 may be directly connected to the suction port 107, or may be connected to the suction port 107 via a pipe, or may be opened into the box 100. In addition, as long as the air outside the machine can be mixed with the air flowing in the exhaust duct 610, the air mixing unit 850 may adopt any structure.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, although the activated carbon/catalyst filter is used for the ozone removing filter 630, other filters having ozone removing performance such as an activated carbon filter may also be used.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the laundry treatment apparatus 1 performs a deodorization and sterilization operation. However, the laundry treatment device 1 may not perform the deodorization and sterilization operation, and the ozone generator 320 may not be arranged in the first supply unit 300. In this case, the ozone removing filter 630 is removed from the exhaust unit 600.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the steam generator 470 of the second supply unit 400 has a structure in which the water sent by the pump 461 falls on the bottom surface of the high-temperature steam generation chamber 473 and evaporates to generate steam. However, the steam generator 470 is not limited to the above-mentioned structure, and may be a structure that generates steam by heating a water tank in which water is stored to boil the water, for example.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the air circulation unit 700 is arranged at the bottom of the storage room 200 and is arranged inside the storage room 200. As shown in FIG. However, the air circulation unit 700 may also be installed at the bottom of the storage room 200 and outside the storage room 200. In this case, the wall surface of the storage room 200 is provided with an intake port that takes in air into the circulation fan 710 and a blower port that blows air into the storage room 200. In addition, the air circulation unit 700 may also be arranged at a part other than the bottom of the storage room 200 and on any side of the inside and outside of the storage room 200.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a cross flow fan is used as the circulation fan 710, but a fan other than a cross flow fan such as a sirocco fan may be used.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the exhaust shutter 620 is used as the opening and closing portion for opening and closing the exhaust duct 610. However, another structure of the opening and closing portion may be adopted, for example, a shutter mechanism composed of a shutter that moves up and down in the exhaust duct 610 and a drive portion that drives the shutter.

Furthermore, the clothes treating apparatus 1 may not include the second supply unit 400, and may not perform the wrinkle smoothing operation. In addition, the laundry treatment apparatus 1 may not include the air circulation unit 700.

In addition to this, the embodiments of the present invention can be appropriately modified in various ways within the scope of the technical idea shown in the technical solution.

Claims (5)

1. A clothing treatment device, characterized by comprising:

   The containment room is arranged in the box to store clothes;

   A warm air supply part, which supplies warm air to the accommodation chamber;

   The dehumidification part is used to dehumidify the air in the containment room;

   The exhaust port is used to exhaust the air in the containment chamber;

   An exhaust duct to guide the air discharged from the exhaust port to the outside of the box; and

   The air mixing part takes in the air outside the box and mixes it with the air flowing in the exhaust duct.
2. The laundry treatment device according to claim 1, further comprising:

   The first opening and closing part opens and closes the exhaust duct;

   The first air suction path takes in air outside the box; and

   The second suction path takes in the air in the containment room,

   In a state where the exhaust duct is closed by the first opening and closing portion,

   The warm air supply unit generates warm air from the air in the storage room taken into the second air intake path and supplies it to the storage room, and the dehumidification unit dehumidifies the air in the storage room ,

   In a state where the exhaust duct is opened by the first opening and closing portion,

   The warm air supply unit generates warm air from the air taken into the outside of the box of the first air intake path and supplies it to the storage room, and the air mixing unit flows to the exhaust duct The inside supplies air outside the box.
3. The laundry treatment device according to claim 2, further comprising:

   An ozone supply unit, which supplies air containing ozone into the containing chamber; and

   The second opening and closing part opens and closes the first suction path,

   In a state in which the exhaust duct is closed by the first opening and closing portion and the first suction path is closed by the second opening and closing portion, the ozone supply portion is taken in from the second suction The air in the storage chamber of the air path generates ozone and supplies the air containing the ozone into the storage chamber.
4. The clothes treatment device according to claim 3, further comprising:

   The ozone removing part removes ozone contained in the air flowing in the exhaust duct,

   The air mixing unit supplies air taken in from the outside of the box into the exhaust duct downstream of the ozone removing unit.
5. The laundry treatment device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, further comprising:

   The steam supply part supplies steam into the containing chamber,

   In a state where the exhaust duct is closed by the first opening and closing portion, the steam supply portion supplies steam into the storage chamber.

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