CN1210454C - Drier - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a dryer. The dryer flattens the pleats on the clothes by spraying mist and blowing hot air on the clothes with pleats while turning the clothes. In the drying machine of the present invention, the turning unit turns the laundry put in the tub. The hot air supply unit supplies hot air into the tub. The dryness detecting unit detects the drying rate of the clothes. The mist injection part injects mist into the barrel. Here, the mist spray unit supplies the mist to the laundry in the tub during the drying of the laundry.

Description

dryer

technical field

The present invention relates to a dryer having a spray device for supplying mist into a tub in which clothes have been placed.

Background technique

An existing drying machine with a washing function, that is, a washing and drying machine has, for example, a structure as shown in FIG. 6 . This structure will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 6 , the outer barrel 1 wraps the inner barrel 3 and hangs on the casing 5 by the hanging rod 4 . The bottom of inner barrel 3 has stirring impeller 2 in addition.

The motor 6 drives the stirring impeller 2 or the inner barrel 3 through a reduction mechanism and a clutch 7 . The water supply valve 8 supplies tap water into the outer tub 1 . Drain valve 9 is opened for draining the water in the outer tub 1 .

The circulation fan 10 sends the hot air heated by the heater 11 to the inner tub 3 and circulates through the heat exchanger 12 . Here, the circulation fan 10 and the heater 11 constitute a hot air supply device.

The cooling fan 13 sucks air into the case 5 as indicated by an arrow 52 . In addition, the cooling fan 13 directly blows the sucked air toward the heat exchanger 12 . This air passes through the inside of the heat exchanger 12 to cool hot air with high humidity.

Control unit 14 controls the work of equipment such as motor 6, water supply valve 8, drain valve 9, circulation fan 10, heater 11 and cooling fan 13, successively controls a series of processes such as washing, rinsing, dehydration and drying.

The operation of the above structure will be described below.

After putting the laundry and detergent into the inner tub 3, it starts to run.

After supplying the water suitable for the amount of laundry to be washed from the water supply valve 8, the motor is turned on to make the stirring impeller 2 rotate. The laundry and detergent to be washed are stirred by turning the impeller 2 . Now rely on the mutual friction of the clothing and the friction between the clothing and the inner barrel 3 inwalls and the stirring impeller to remove the dirt on the clothing.

After the above washing process is completed, the drain valve 9 is opened to discharge the washing water. Then, start the motor to rotate the inner tub 3, so dehydration is carried out halfway.

Hereinafter, in the process of rinsing, open the water supply valve 8 to supply water, then drive and open the motor to stir the impeller 2 to rotate. The washing water contained in the laundry is thereby rotated to remove it. Then drain valve 9 is opened, and the water for rinsing is discharged. Finally, the motor is driven again to make the inner tub 3 rotate, and dehydration is carried out by means of this rotation.

Once the dehydration process is over, it enters the drying process. Start the motor 6 to drive the circulating fan 10, the heater 11 and the cooling fan 13 while turning the stirring impeller 2 or the inner barrel 3. The circulation fan 10 circulates the air. The heater 11 heats the air and sends it into the inner tub 3 . As a result, the clothes are heated, and the water contained in the clothes forms water vapor and enters the circulating air.

The air containing a large amount of this water vapor is cooled inside the heat exchanger 12, and the water vapor condenses into dew. Here, the heat exchanger 12 is cooled by cold air generated by the cooling fan 13 .

The water that has formed dew inside the heat exchanger 12 falls to the lower part of the heat exchanger 12 by its own weight. Open the drain valve 9 in good time here, and this part of water is discharged outside the machine. The air cooled in the heat exchanger 12 is recirculated by the circulation fan 10, and the same operation as above is repeated. This makes the wet clothes after spinning dry.

In such a conventional structure, the stirring impeller 2 is rotated for removing dirt during washing and rinsing off components of detergent during rinsing. Therefore, the laundry is entangled with each other. Creases are generated on the clothes due to dehydration in a state where the clothes are entangled.

In addition, the clothes are dried with pleats, which will fix the original pleats after drying. To flatten the pleats, it takes time and labor to spray iron after drying.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a drying machine, which can straighten the pleats on the clothes by spraying mist and blowing hot air on the clothes with pleats while turning the clothes.

In the drying machine of the present invention, the turning unit turns the laundry put in the tub. The hot air supply unit supplies hot air into the tub. The dryness detecting unit detects the drying rate of the clothes. The mist injection part injects mist into the barrel.

Here, during the drying process of the clothes, the turning part turns the clothes, and the mist spraying part supplies mist to the clothes in the tub.

Therefore, the dryer of the present invention can straighten the pleats on the pleated clothes by spraying mist and blowing hot air on the clothes with pleats while turning the clothes.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is the longitudinal sectional view of the dryer with washing function according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the temperature and the drying rate when the drying machine of the present invention is drying;

Fig. 3 is a circuit block diagram of a drying machine with a washing function according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of cloth of the dryer of the present invention and the mist injection time;

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the mist injection time and the hot air supply time of the dryer of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional drying machine with a washing function.

Detailed ways

Most of the pleats that occur when clothes are dried are due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between molecules when the fibers are bent. In particular, cellulose fibers such as cotton and hemp that are prone to creases are prone to creases. The principle that this pleat can be stretched flat with an electric iron is as follows.

By dampening the cloth with a spray of mist, the hydrogen bonds begin to dissociate. Then put the electric iron on the clothes. At this point, the cloth is flattened by the weight of the iron. In this way, the electric iron uses its heat to evaporate the water in the fiber while aligning it. In this way, in the state where the fibers are neatly arranged, hydrogen bonds are regenerated between the molecules.

During the drying process, the drying machine of the present invention arranges the fibers of the clothes neatly and flattens the pleats of the clothes.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the mist spraying unit 15 that sprays mist supplies mist to the inside of an inner barrel (barrel) 33 . Here, the so-called mist refers to mist water. The meaning of mist also includes heated mist (steam). The mist water can be squeezed into a very fine nozzle to produce at the outlet of the water supply valve.

The control device 16 controls the operation of the motor 36, the circulation fan 40, the heater 31 and the mist injection device 15. The control device 16 is provided on the upper surface of the box body 35 . The control device 16 makes the mist spraying device 15 supply the mist to the clothes in the inner tub 33 . In addition, the control device 16 supplies the hot air circulation fan 40 and the heater 41 . Furthermore, the control device 16 drives the stirring impeller 32 through the driving motor 36 . The control device 16 performs control as described above.

The humidity sensor 17 as a drying detection unit is provided on a hot air circulation path that circulates hot air, and detects humidity in the circulating air. In this way, the temperature sensor 17 can detect the drying rate of the laundry in the inner tub 33 .

The operation of the drying process of the above structure will be described below.

During the drying process, the motor 36 rotates the turning impeller 32 or the inner tub 33 to turn the clothes, while the circulation fan 40 and the heater 41 work to circulate the hot air.

Here, the stirring impeller 42 or the inner tub 43 constitutes a stirring portion. In addition, the circulation fan 40 and the heater 41 constitute a hot air supply unit.

The cooling fan 43 starts to suck in the external air along the direction shown by the arrow 62 and blows it to the heat exchanger 42 . Thereby, the humid hot air in the heat exchanger 42 is cooled. Thus the water vapor in the hot air condenses. The condensed water falls to the lower part of the heat exchanger by its own weight. By opening the drain valve in good time, the condensed water is discharged out of the machine, and the clothes are dried through these tasks.

Changes with time in the humidity detected by the humidity sensor 17 and the drying rate of the laundry during the drying process are shown in FIG. 2 . As shown in Figure 2, as the drying time goes by, the clothes become dry, the drying rate increases, and the drying rate gradually reaches saturation. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2 , the humidity detected by the humidity sensor 17 rises and then falls.

The control device 16 pre-stores humidity values corresponding to drying rates of various types of laundry. Here, the drying rate of the clothes during the drying process can be known by detecting the humidity. When the drying rate targeted for the clothes is reached, the control device 16 responds to the value of the humidity sensor 17 to end the drying process.

Here, once the drying process is completed on the laundry with pleats, the laundry dries with the pleats remaining.

Therefore, the control device 16 dries the laundry in the dryer while detecting the drying rate by the humidity sensor 17 . The control device 16 starts the motor 6 to rotate the impeller 32 when detecting that the specified drying rate is reached, and simultaneously makes the mist spraying device 15 work to supply the mist to the clothes in the inner tub 33 . Stirring impeller 2 is owing to stirring clothing, and clothing can alternately move up and down in these positions. In this way, the mist is evenly sprayed on all the clothes. Here, the mist is sprayed at a predetermined drying rate most suitable for flattening the pleats.

At this time, the entire laundry is moistened by the sprayed mist, and hydrogen bonds generated between fiber molecules are once dissociated.

Furthermore, drying is performed while supplying mist. At this time, the tension generated on the clothes by turning the clothes can create a state in which the fibers are stretched. In this state, the hot air evaporates the moisture in the clothes. In the state where the fibers are stretched, that is, the state in which the fibers are aligned, hydrogen bonds are generated between molecules, and the clothes are dried in a state where the pleats of the clothes are stretched.

In this way, since the mist is sprayed while turning the clothes with pleats, the mist can be penetrated into all the clothes. Furthermore, by spraying the mist, it is possible to dissociate hydrogen bonds generated between molecules when the fiber is bent.

Also, turn the clothes while blowing hot air on them. Thus, when the fibers are stretched by the tension generated on the clothes during the tumbling, the water is evaporated with the hot air. In this way, in the state where the fibers are neatly arranged, the pleats on the clothes can be stretched evenly by forming hydrogen bonds again.

As mentioned above, the drying machine of the present invention may stop drying when the drying rate of the clothes detected by the drying detection unit reaches an appropriate drying state.

In addition, the dryer supplies mist to clothes to dissociate hydrogen bonds generated between molecules when clothes fibers are bent. Furthermore, the clothes are turned over while the hot air is blown by the dryer, and hydrogen bonds are formed again in the state where the fibers are neatly arranged, so that the pleats of the clothes are flattened.

In addition, a laundry drying course may be set, that is, a drying course may be set with drying conditions for which have been determined in advance. The dryer of the present invention has multiple drying processes.

For example, in the case of drying shirts and clothes other than shirts, these clothes have different easiness of drying, and different drying processes may be set respectively.

The drying machine of the present invention can be set by changing the prescribed value of the drying rate at which the mist is started to be supplied and the time for spraying the mist according to the set drying process. That is, the dryer of the present invention can set the timing of spraying the mist, that is, how long the mist is sprayed from when. This allows the dryer to flatten the pleats in the most suitable state in response to the fibers.

In addition, in this embodiment, when the turning impeller 32 is turned during the mist supply process, the clothes are turned and the clothes are alternately moved. In addition, the inner tub 33 may be rotated to move the clothes alternately.

In this embodiment, tension is generated on the laundry by rotating the stirring impeller 32 . In addition, it is also possible to generate tension on the clothes by rotating the inner tub 33 .

In this embodiment, although the drying machine with the washing function, that is, the washing and drying machine is described, the present invention is also applicable to the drying machine without the washing function.

In addition, in the above description, although the structure which detects a dryness rate using a humidity sensor is demonstrated, the same effect can be produced also using a thermistor type dryness sensor and an electrode type dryness sensor.

As mentioned above, the drying machine of the present invention stores the pre-adjusted humidity values corresponding to the drying rates of various kinds of clothes. Thus, the drying rate of the laundry in the drying process can be known by detecting the humidity using the humidity sensor. That is to say, the dry state of the laundry in the bucket can be detected very accurately by the humidity sensor.

The specific configuration and operation of the control device 16 will be described below.

FIG. 3 shows a specific configuration of the control device 16 shown in FIG. 1 .

The encoder 18 outputs 6 pulses per revolution of the motor 36 , and the output is input into the pulse counter 19 .

The pulse counter 19 counts the number of output pulses of the encoder 18, and inputs the output to the cloth amount judging section 20 as cloth amount judging means.

Cloth amount judging unit 20 judges the amount of clothes (cloth amount) put in inner tub 33 .

The mist spray time determination unit 21 as a mist spray time determine unit determines the mist spray time based on the output signal of the cloth amount determination unit 20 .

The hot air supply time determination unit 22 as a hot air supply time determination unit determines the hot air supply time based on the signal from the mist spray time determination unit 21 .

The control unit 23 as a control device includes a microcomputer and various electronic circuits. The control unit 23 reads signals from the cloth amount determination unit 20 , the mist injection time determination unit 21 , and the hot air supply time determination unit 22 . According to the read signals, the control unit 23 controls the power supply of the motor 36, the mist injection device 15 and the hot air supply device 25 through the power switch unit 24 as a power switch means, and controls a series of working processes in sequence.

Here, the hot air supply unit 25 is composed of a circulation fan 40 and a heater 41 .

The control unit 23 operates the mist spray device 15 based on a signal from the mist spray timing determination unit 21 . Moreover, the control part 23 operates the hot air supply part 25 based on the signal which determines the hot air supply time part 22.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below.

Clothes are put into inner bucket 33, start running.

The control part 23 makes the motor 36 rotate to the right for 0.3 seconds, stop for 1.5 seconds, then turn to the left for 0.3 seconds, and stop for 1.5 seconds. The pulse counter 19 counts the number of pulses output from the encoder 18 after 0.4 seconds have elapsed since the motor stopped. The cloth amount determination unit 20 determines the cloth amount based on the number of pulses input from the pulse counter 19 .

That is, while the motor is stopped, the motor shaft rotates with inertia in response to the amount of cloth. Determine the amount of cloth according to its number of revolutions.

The control unit 23 proceeds to the drying process after proceeding from the washing process to the dehydration process according to the cloth amount.

Fig. 4 shows an example of the relationship between the amount of cloth and the mist injection time corresponding thereto. The mist injection time determination unit 21 determines the mist injection time based on the signal input from the cloth amount determination unit 20 and the correlation shown in FIG. 4 .

In addition, since the drying time required for different cloth quantities is different, by changing the specified value of the drying rate for the time to start spraying mist and the time of spraying mist corresponding to different cloth quantities, the best state corresponding to the cloth quantity can be stretched. The pleats of flat clothing. Therefore, the dryer according to the present invention can change the predetermined value of the drying rate and the spraying amount of mist according to the amount of cloth determined by the cloth amount determination unit 20 .

Figure 5 shows the relationship between the mist injection time and the corresponding hot air supply time.

The hot air supply time determination unit 22 determines the hot air supply time based on the input signal from the mist injection time determination unit 21 and the relationship shown in FIG. 5 .

The control unit 23 detects the humidity through the temperature sensor 17 during the drying process so as to know the drying rate of the clothes.

When the drying rate of the clothes reaches a predetermined value, the control unit 23 activates the mist spray device 15 to supply mist to the clothes in the inner tub 33 within the mist spray time determined by the mist spray time determination unit 21 .

At this time, the entire laundry is moistened with the aid of the sprayed mist to dissociate the hydrogen bonds occurring between the fiber molecules. Here, since an appropriate amount of mist is supplied according to the amount of cloth, moisture deformation and excessive moisture of the clothes do not occur.

The control unit 23 operates the hot air supply device 25 simultaneously with the mist supply process.

The hot air supply unit 25 supplies hot air to the clothes dampened with mist in the inner tub 33 within the hot air supply time determined by the hot air supply time determination unit 22 .

Further, the control unit 23 drives the motor 6 to rotate the stirring impeller 2 while supplying hot air to the clothes, and turns the clothes. At this time, the fibers are stretched by the tension generated on the clothes by turning them. In this state, the moisture in the clothes is evaporated with hot air.

In the state where the fibers are stretched, that is, when the fibers are neatly arranged, hydrogen bonds are formed between molecules, and the clothes are dried with the pleats stretched out.

Here, since an appropriate amount of hot air is supplied corresponding to the amount of mist, finishing in a wet state will not be performed due to insufficient amount of hot air, and clothing will not be damaged due to excessive amount of hot air. In addition, excessive energy will not be consumed by supplying hot air.

In this way, an appropriate amount of mist can be supplied at an appropriate timing according to the drying rate of the clothes and the amount of cloth. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the pleats from being flattened due to insufficient mist or to perform final processing in a wet state due to excessive mist.

In addition, an appropriate amount of hot air can be supplied according to the amount of mist.

In this embodiment, the drying process is carried out through the process from washing to dehydration. In addition, it is also possible to put the clothes with pleats into the inner tub 33, and only carry out the drying process to flatten the pleats.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the relationship between humidity and drying rate relative to drying time is different for different kinds of laundry. That is, corresponding to different types of laundry, the relative drying time humidity changes in different trends. Therefore, the drying machine of the present invention changes the predetermined value of the drying rate at which mist spraying starts and the spraying amount of mist according to the trend of humidity change. Thus, the dryer can also flatten the folds of the clothes corresponding to different kinds of clothes.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide the dryer which can detect the drying rate of the laundry and stop drying when it reaches an appropriate dry state.

In addition, this dryer can flatten the folds of the clothes by blowing hot air and turning the clothes while supplying the mist to the clothes through the mist spraying part.

In addition, the dryer of the present invention can perform mist spraying at the optimum drying rate for flattening pleats.

In addition, the drying of the present invention makes the prescribed value of the drying rate, the timing of mist spraying, that is, the prescribed value of the drying rate and the time of mist spraying at the start of mist spraying become the optimum values by responding to the set drying process. Stretch the pleats in the best condition.

In addition, the drying machine of the present invention has a cloth amount judging unit for judging the amount of clothes in the bucket, and can stretch the pleats in an optimal state corresponding to the cloth amount.

Moreover, the drying machine of this invention comprises a dryness detection part with a humidity sensor. Therefore, the dry state of the clothes in the tub can be detected very accurately with a simple structure.

In addition, the drying machine of the present invention can change the specified value of the drying rate and the amount of mist spray according to the trend of humidity change because it changes different humidity corresponding to different types of clothes. Therefore, even if the type of clothing is changed, the pleats can be flattened in the same way.

Claims (10)

1. A dryer, comprising: a bucket for putting clothes, a turning part for turning the clothes in the bucket, a hot air supply part for supplying hot air into the bucket, and a drying detection device for detecting the drying rate of the clothes part and a mist injection part for spraying mist into the barrel, characterized in that: During drying of the clothes, the turning unit turns the clothes, and the mist spraying unit supplies the mist to the clothes in the tub. 2. The dryer according to claim 1, wherein the mist is sprayed into the barrel when the dryness rate detected by the dryness detection unit reaches a predetermined value. 3. The drying machine according to claim 2, characterized in that it has a plurality of drying processes that can be set, and corresponding to the set drying process, the specified value of the drying rate and the value of the mist are changed. Injection volume. 4. The drying machine according to claim 2, characterized in that it also has a cloth amount judging device for judging the amount of clothes in the tub, and the drying rate can be changed in response to the judged cloth amount. The specified value and the injection volume of the mist. 5. The drying machine according to claim 4, characterized in that it also determines the supply time of the hot air according to the injection amount of the mist. 6. The drying machine according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined value of the drying rate and the injection amount of the mist are set according to the type of clothes. 7. The drying machine according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined value of the drying rate and the injection amount of the mist are set according to the type of clothes. 8. The drying machine according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined value of the drying rate and the injection amount of the mist are set according to the type of clothes. 9. The drying machine according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined value of the drying rate and the injection amount of the mist are set according to the type of clothes. 10. The drying machine according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the drying detection part includes a humidity sensor.

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