WO2022118511A1

WO2022118511A1 - Clothing processing device

Info

Publication number: WO2022118511A1
Application number: PCT/JP2021/032333
Authority: WO
Inventors: 真司上野; 幸太郎高橋; 将矢野; 康之上甲
Original assignee: 日立グローバルライフソリューションズ株式会社
Priority date: 2020-12-01
Filing date: 2021-09-02
Publication date: 2022-06-09
Also published as: CN116348642A; JP2022087500A; JP7422648B2

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a clothing processing device that has an enhanced effect of sterilizing or disinfecting bacteria and viruses attached to clothing. To this end, the present invention provides a clothing processing device comprising: an outer frame having an opening on the front side; a door which is attached to the outer frame and can open/close; and an ultraviolet irradiation unit which is provided to the door and irradiates the rear side with ultraviolet rays, wherein the ultraviolet irradiation unit includes a light source that generates ultraviolet rays, and a protective cover that is positioned on the rear side of the light source and protects the light source, and the protective cover is formed of quartz glass or an ultraviolet-transmissive resin.

Description

Clothes processing equipment

The present invention relates to a garment processing apparatus.

In a clothes processing device such as a washing machine, a technique for sterilizing clothes by irradiating the clothes inside with ultraviolet rays is known. There is also a technique in which a light source that irradiates ultraviolet rays is installed on the door of a clothing processing device. For example, Patent Document 1 states that "a light source member is attached to an outer door as one structural component connected to an outer box" (paragraph 0040 of Patent Document 1), and "clothes are attached to the inner door from the outside." A door glass is provided so that the state of the above can be visually recognized and light can pass through the door glass ”(paragraph 0037 of Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-29560

Patent Document 1 does not specify the type of door glass or the wavelength range of ultraviolet rays. However, general glass such as borosilicate glass has an extremely low transmittance of deep ultraviolet rays having a high sterilizing effect, and it is difficult to obtain a high sterilizing effect by the technique described in Patent Document 1.

An object of the present invention is to provide a clothing processing apparatus having an enhanced effect of sterilizing or disinfecting bacteria and viruses adhering to clothing.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has an outer frame having an opening on the front side, a door attached to the outer frame that can be opened and closed, and ultraviolet irradiation provided on the door to irradiate the rear side with ultraviolet rays. Department and
The ultraviolet irradiation unit includes a light source that generates ultraviolet rays and a protective cover that is located behind the light source and protects the light source, and the protective cover is made of quartz glass. Alternatively, it was formed of an ultraviolet transmissive resin.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a clothing processing apparatus having an enhanced effect of sterilizing or disinfecting bacteria and viruses adhering to clothing. Issues, configurations and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the following description of embodiments for carrying out the invention.

The front view of the clothes dryer which concerns on embodiment. A cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. The perspective view which shows the state which opened the door of the clothes dryer which concerns on embodiment. The front view of the ultraviolet irradiation part which concerns on embodiment. BB sectional perspective view of FIG. A front sectional view showing a state in which clothing is underneath. A front sectional view showing a state in which clothing is lifted by a lifter. A front sectional view showing a state just before the garment starts to fall freely due to gravity. It is a front view sectional view which shows the locus of clothing when a drum makes one rotation. The figure which shows the rotation direction of a drum and the locus of clothing. The figure which shows the arrangement in the case of one ultraviolet irradiation part. The figure which shows the arrangement when there are two ultraviolet irradiation parts. The figure which shows the arrangement when there are three ultraviolet irradiation parts. The figure which shows the arrangement when there are four ultraviolet irradiation parts. The figure which shows the arrangement when there are 5 ultraviolet irradiation parts. The front view sectional view which shows the ultraviolet irradiation area in the case where three ultraviolet irradiation parts are provided. A side sectional view showing an ultraviolet irradiation area when three ultraviolet irradiation parts are provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments are examples for explaining the present invention, and are appropriately omitted and simplified for the sake of clarification of the description. The present invention can also be implemented in various other forms. Unless otherwise specified, each component may be singular or plural.

The position, size, shape, range, etc. of each component shown in the drawings may not represent the actual position, size, shape, range, etc. in order to facilitate understanding of the invention. Therefore, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the position, size, shape, range and the like disclosed in the drawings.

<Structure of clothes dryer>
First, the configuration of the clothes dryer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

1 is a front view of the clothes dryer 1 according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the clothes dryer 1 according to the present embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the state which the door 3 is opened.

As shown in FIG. 1, on the front side of the outer frame 2 which is the housing of the clothes dryer 1 according to the present embodiment, a door 3 which opens and closes by a hinge type is attached to a central opening, and a door 3 for drying operation is attached to the lower part. An operation unit 4 for making settings and the like is provided.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a bottomed drum 5 (clothing storage tank) having an opening on the front side for putting in and taking out clothes and a bottom surface on the rear side is arranged inside the outer frame 2. Has been done. The drum 5 constitutes a drying chamber, and the power of the drive unit is transmitted by a belt so that the drum 5 can rotate around the rotation shaft 6. Further, a lifter 7 extending in the axial direction (front-back direction) is provided on the inner surface of the drum 5, and plays a role of lifting clothes as the drum 5 rotates. The clothes lifted by the lifter 7 will fall due to gravity, but by giving the clothes movement in this way, the clothes spread in the drum 5 and become easy to dry.

Further, although not shown, a heater for heating the drying air and a hot air outlet are provided on the front side of the outer frame 2 so that the hot air can be blown into the drum 5 from the front. It has become. On the other hand, on the rear side of the outer frame 2, a filter 8 for collecting lint, an exhaust port on the rear side thereof, and a heat exchange function for cooling the drying air exhausted from the exhaust port by the outside air are provided. A heat exchange fan 9 is provided. Then, the drying air exhausted from the drum 5 is dehumidified by the heat exchange fan 9 and sent to the circulation air passage (not shown), passes through the heater in front of the drum 5, passes through the heater in front of the drum 5, and enters the drum 5 again from the outlet. Inflow to.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of ultraviolet irradiation portions 10 (three in FIG. 3) are attached to the inner surface of the door 3 that opens and closes the opening of the drum 5. The door 3 includes a resin panel body 11 that forms a design surface, and a frame body 12 that is fixed to the rear side of the panel body 11 and has a plurality of (three in FIG. 3) openings. An ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 is provided in the opening. As described above, since the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 is provided in the opening of the frame body 12, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 is less likely to protrude into the drum 5, and it is possible to suppress the catching of clothes. .. Further, since the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 is provided on the rear side (back surface) of the door 3 and the ultraviolet rays are emitted toward the rear, the light source does not turn off by any chance when the user opens the door during operation. Even in this case, it is possible to prevent the user from being directly irradiated with ultraviolet rays, and the safety is enhanced.

<Structure of UV irradiation part>
Next, the configuration of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a front view of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a sectional perspective view taken along the line BB of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 includes a light source 13 that generates ultraviolet rays, and a protective cover 14 that is located on the rear side (drum 5 side) of the light source 13 and protects the light source 13. The light source 13 is an LED or the like that irradiates ultraviolet rays having a main wavelength of 220 to 280 nm, and by irradiating the clothes in the drum 5 with such deep ultraviolet rays, bacteria and viruses adhering to the clothes are removed. Bacteria or disinfectant. The protective cover 14 is a cover that prevents clothing from coming into contact with the light source 13 or moisture or dust from entering the light source 13 to damage the light source 13, and is attached to the frame 12 via a packing 15 described later. It is attached.

The protective cover 14 is formed of such a material that transmits deep ultraviolet rays, and quartz glass or an ultraviolet ray transmitting resin is adopted as the material. If the protective cover 14 is made of general glass such as borosilicate glass, the transmittance of deep ultraviolet rays is extremely low, so that a sufficient sterilizing effect cannot be obtained. Further, even if the protective cover 14 is formed of a resin such as acrylic, the transmittance of deep ultraviolet rays is 30% or less, so that a sufficient sterilizing effect or the like cannot be obtained as well. However, in the present embodiment, since the protective cover 14 is made of quartz glass or an ultraviolet ray transmitting resin, the transmittance is high even in deep ultraviolet rays, and deterioration of the sterilizing effect and the like can be suppressed.
Further, since the present embodiment is configured to provide the protective cover 14 only at the necessary position behind the light source 13, it can be realized at a lower cost than the case where the main parts of the door 3 are made of the same material as the protective cover 14. can.

The ultraviolet transmissive resin may be any resin having a main wavelength of 220 to 280 nm and an ultraviolet transmittance of 50% or more, and for example, a polyethylene-based resin can be considered. Although such an ultraviolet-transmitting resin has a lower ultraviolet transmittance than quartz glass, it has a significantly higher transmittance than general glass, acrylic and other resins, and is superior to quartz glass in terms of cost. ..

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 of the present embodiment includes a substrate 16 that supports the light source 13, a substrate case 17 that houses the substrate 16, and a packing 15 that is attached to the edge of the protective cover 14. , Is further equipped. In addition, in FIG. 5, the illustration of the panel body 11 is omitted. The packing 15 is pressed from the front-rear direction by the edge portion of the opening of the frame body 12 and the edge portion of the substrate case 17, so that the watertightness of the space surrounded by the protective cover 14 and the substrate case 17 is enhanced. , Moisture contained in clothing and the like is suppressed from adhering to the substrate 16. The force for pressing the packing 15 in the front-rear direction can be obtained by tightening the screw 18 that fixes the substrate case 17 to the frame body 12.

Further, when performing maintenance of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 of the present embodiment, first, the panel body 11 is removed from the frame body 12. Next, by loosening the screw 18 that fixes the board case 17 to the frame body 12, the board case 17 can be removed from the front side of the frame body 12. After that, the board case 17 is removed from the frame body 12, and the light source 13 and the board 16 in the board case 17 are replaced. As described above, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 of the present embodiment has an advantage of high maintainability because the light source 13 and the substrate 16 can be replaced from the front even when the door 3 is closed.

It is desirable that the frame body 12 is made of metal. Alternatively, the frame body 12 may be made of resin, and the rear side of the frame body 12 may be covered with a metal cover (not shown). There are two reasons. First, even if a part of the ultraviolet rays emitted from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 hits the metal drum 5 and bounces off, if the metal frame 12 is in front of the opening of the drum 5, the ultraviolet rays are emitted again. This is because it is possible to reflect the light toward the inside of the drum 5. For the same reason, the portion of the substrate 16 on which the pattern is not formed may be coated with high reflectance. Second, even if the clothing in the drum 5 burns due to spontaneous combustion or the like, if there is a metal frame 12 in front of the opening of the drum 5, the ignited clothing consists of the drum 5 and the frame 12. This is because it is confined in a metal space and it is possible to prevent the spread of fire to the outside of the aircraft.

Here, the size of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10, specifically the protective cover 14, will be described.
The irradiation angle θv of the light source 13 is determined by the type thereof, and if the protective cover 14 is originally extended to a region where ultraviolet rays do not reach, the material cost of the protective cover 14 increases. On the other hand, if the protective cover 14 is too small, a part of the ultraviolet rays emitted from the light source 13 is blocked by the frame body 12. Therefore, it is desirable that the size of the protective cover 14 (particularly the vertical dimension and the horizontal dimension) corresponds to the irradiation angle θv of the light source 13. The shape of the protective cover 14 is not limited to the square shown in FIG. 4, but may be circular.

<Arrangement of UV irradiation part>
Next, the arrangement of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 10. 6A to 6C are front sectional views showing the movement of the garment with the rotation of the drum 5, FIG. 6A shows the garment underneath, and FIG. 6B shows the garment lifted by the lifter 7. FIG. 6C shows the state immediately before the garment starts to fall freely due to gravity. Further, FIG. 7 is a front sectional view showing a locus (broken line arrow) of clothing when the drum 5 makes one rotation.

Since the irradiation angle θv from the light source 13 is limited as described above, in the present embodiment, a plurality of ultraviolet irradiation units 10 are provided on the rear side of the door 3. However, if a large number of ultraviolet irradiation units 10 are provided, it causes an increase in cost. Therefore, it is desirable to provide the ultraviolet irradiation units 10 at appropriate locations in consideration of the sterilization effect and the like.

First, focusing on the movement of the clothes in the drum 5, as can be seen from FIG. 7, the position of the clothes is often on the side where the clothes are lifted. This is because the clothes lifted by the lifter 7 not only freely fall from the vicinity of the uppermost part and pass near the rotation axis 6, but also some clothes roll on the way without getting over the lifter 7, so that the clothes are lifted. This is because clothes are relatively gathered. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the number of ultraviolet irradiation units 10 on the side where the clothes are lifted is larger than that on the opposite side. The side on which the clothing is lifted differs depending on the rotation direction of the drum 5, but when the drum 5 rotates counterclockwise when viewed from the front as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a plane centered on the rotation axis of the drum 5. It is the 4th quadrant and the 1st quadrant in the visual sense, and when the drum 5 rotates clockwise, it is the 3rd quadrant and the 2nd quadrant.

8A is a diagram showing the rotation direction of the drum 5 and the locus of clothing (dashed line arrow) when viewed from the front, and FIGS. 8B to 8F show an appropriate arrangement according to the number of ultraviolet irradiation units 10. It is a figure. First, as shown in FIG. 8B, when only one ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 is provided, it is arranged near the origin of the fourth quadrant and near the position corresponding to the center of gravity of the clothing locus. In this way, by arranging the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 at a position deviated from the origin by + x with respect to the horizontal x-axis passing through the center of rotation, it is possible to effectively irradiate many clothes with ultraviolet rays. Further, the vertical y-axis passing through the center of rotation is also set to a position deviated from the origin by −y, and the deviation in the y-axis direction is made smaller than the deviation in the x-axis direction, so that the irradiation center from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 is set. It can be located near the center of gravity of the clothing trajectory.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8C, when two ultraviolet irradiation units 10 are provided, the first one is arranged in the fourth quadrant and the second one is arranged in the first quadrant. Specifically, the first is a position deviated by + x and −y from the origin, and the second is a position deviated by + x and + y from the origin. Further, the deviation of the first piece in the x-axis direction is made smaller than that of the second piece. With such an arrangement, the clothes moving in the drum 5 are evenly irradiated with ultraviolet rays.

Similarly, FIG. 8D shows desirable arrangements when three ultraviolet irradiation units 10 are provided, FIG. 8E shows four ultraviolet irradiation units 10, and FIG. 8F shows five ultraviolet irradiation units 10. .. As the number of ultraviolet irradiation units 10 increases in this way, the cost also increases, but the effect of sterilization and the like by ultraviolet rays improves.

FIG. 9 is a front sectional view showing an ultraviolet irradiation region when three ultraviolet irradiation units 10 are provided, and FIG. 10 is a side view showing an ultraviolet irradiation region when three ultraviolet irradiation units 10 are provided. It is a cross-sectional view. As shown in FIG. 9, it can be seen that the ultraviolet rays emitted from each ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 spread backward at a constant irradiation angle θv, and almost the entire side where the clothes are lifted can be covered.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the light source 13 provided in the door 3 is low in that the clothes in the drum 5 are efficiently irradiated with ultraviolet rays while suppressing damage due to dew condensation or contact with clothes. A costly clothes dryer 1 can be realized. Further, in the clothes dryer 1 of the present embodiment, even clothes that cannot be easily washed can be sterilized without using water or detergent.

The above-described embodiment has been described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and is not necessarily limited to the one including all the described configurations. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the clothes dryer has been described as an example, but the clothes dryer can be applied to a clothes storage device such as a closet as well as a washer / dryer and a washing machine. Further, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of the embodiment with another configuration, and it is also possible to add another configuration to the configuration of the embodiment. Further, it is possible to add / delete / replace a part of each configuration with another configuration.

1: Clothes dryer 2: Outer frame 3: Door 4: Operation part 5: Drum, 6: Rotating shaft, 7: Lifter, 8: Filter, 9: Heat exchange fan, 10: Ultraviolet irradiation part, 11 : Panel body, 12: Frame body, 13: Light source, 14: Protective cover, 15: Packing, 16: Board, 17: Board case, 18: Screw

Claims

An outer frame with an opening on the front side,
A door that can be opened and closed by being attached to the outer frame,
An ultraviolet irradiation unit provided on the door and irradiating the rear side with ultraviolet rays,
In a garment processing device equipped with
The ultraviolet irradiation unit has a light source that generates ultraviolet rays and a protective cover that is located behind the light source and protects the light source.
A garment processing apparatus characterized in that the protective cover is made of quartz glass or an ultraviolet transmissive resin.
In the garment processing apparatus according to claim 1,
A clothing processing apparatus characterized in that the main wavelength of ultraviolet rays generated from the light source is 220 to 280 nm.
In the garment processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The door includes a resin panel body forming a design surface and a frame body fixed to the rear side of the panel body and having an opening for the ultraviolet irradiation portion.
The frame is a garment processing apparatus characterized in that at least a part thereof is made of metal.
In the garment processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The door includes a resin panel body forming a design surface and a frame body attached to the rear side of the panel body and having an opening for the ultraviolet irradiation portion.
The ultraviolet irradiation unit further includes a substrate that supports the light source, a substrate case that houses the substrate, and a packing that is attached to the edge of the protective cover.
A garment processing apparatus characterized in that the packing is pressed from the front-rear direction by an edge portion of an opening of the frame body and an edge portion of the substrate case.
In the garment processing apparatus according to claim 4.
The board case is fixed to the frame from the front side with screws.
When the screw is tightened, the packing is pressed, and the space surrounded by the protective cover and the substrate case is sealed.
A garment processing apparatus characterized in that the substrate case can be removed from the front side of the frame body by loosening the screws.
With the outer frame
A clothing storage tank that is rotatably arranged in the outer frame and has an opening for loading and unloading clothing.
A door attached to the outer frame and capable of opening and closing the opening,
An ultraviolet irradiation unit provided on the door and irradiating the clothes storage tank with ultraviolet rays,
In a garment processing device equipped with
There are a plurality of the ultraviolet irradiation portions on the rear side of the door.
A garment processing apparatus characterized in that the number of the ultraviolet irradiation portions on the side where the garment is lifted is larger than that on the opposite side.