DE2450024A1 - METHOD OF DRYING LAUNDRY USING A HOUSEHOLD DRYER - Google Patents

Description

PHN.7283 Wij / EVH / SCHI October 2, 1974

Α.- ... t ^ .Y. Philips'Gloeiiarnpsnfobriekeo

File No, PHN-7283
AniuiL.'una dated: Oct. 14, 1974

"Method for drying ashes using a household tumble dryer".

The invention relates to a new and improved method for drying laundry by means of a Household clothes dryer.

In the past few years, household clothes dryers are It has become more and more popular to remove a small amount of moisture in the laundry from the laundry (according to the material and / or the fabric from which the laundry has been made) to remove any moisture at the end of the washing, .— or spinning process is in the wash. There are many types of household washing

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dryers have been developed, some with advanced Systems are provided for automatic stopping when the laundry has reached a predetermined level of dryness, or when the laundry is practically completely dry. Next, some of the most modern tumble dryers are like this sized and have such a texture and appearance that they cannot only be used in conjunction with a normal washing machine can work but they can also be put on the washing machine, making an essential Saving of space is obtained, which is very gratifying especially for people in small apartments or houses is,

From a functional point of view (especially As for air, which is mostly heated in the tumble dryer used to remove the moisture from the laundry two types of tumble dryers can be distinguished. With the first type, the air is constantly becoming the ambient atmosphere and ultimately returned to said atmosphere after part of the Moisture from the laundry has been absorbed in it.

In the second type of tumble dryer, the moist air is condensed, heated and re-released into the Tumble dryer out and that during the entire time required to dry the laundry. That for condensing the water used is during the humid air

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all the tent necessary to dry the ashes in and out *

There is a large loss of condensing water, but one of the disadvantages for the user are serious is not switched off. This disadvantage is the relative humidity of the air when released into the surrounding atmosphere: this relative humidity is like this due to the condensation great that a film of water forms on the walls of the room in which the tumble dryer is located. For this Basically, it may be necessary to use a pipe that is led directly from the house, which pipe removes the air used in the tumble dryer. It also goes through the water coming from the condensation unit is constantly supplied and discharged, a lot of heat is lost. All of these factors affect the simplicity of the How the tumble dryer works so that this device is not yet used as widely as washing machines,

The present invention provides a method which solves the problems mentioned and enables household appliances to be used more economically. '

According to the invention this is achieved by a method for drying laundry by means of a Household clothes dryer with a rotating drum, the following stages can be distinguished

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- the laundry rolls around in the said drum;

- Air circulates in the drum, which was previously medium is led;

- the humid air is taken from the tumble dryer;

- The air extracted from the tumble dryer is treated in a condenser in which water is used as a condensing agent;

- the air is returned to the tumble dryer;

- The air from the tumble dryer is only used at the end of the Discharged predetermined drying cycle of the laundry into the surrounding atmosphere.

The above process is characterized in that the water used as the condensing agent is constantly returned in the condenser and is only rarely renewed

Embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and will be described in more detail below described.

The unit shown in Fig. 1 consists of a washing machine 1 with a standing on it Household tumble dryer 2, Of course, these two devices can also be used in a different way arranged if they are close enough to each other.

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The washing machine 1 contains, as usual, a tub 3f, a drum k which is rotatable by means of a mechanical gear 5, a door 6 for filling and emptying the drum, a pipe 7 for supplying water which is taken from the water supply system by means of a solenoid valve 8, a pump 9 for draining water, the tumble dryer 2 contains a tub 10, a drum 11 which is rotatable by means of a mechanical gear, a door 13 for pulling and emptying the drum, an inlet opening 1A- in the door 13 for letting in air , an electrical resistor 15 for heating the air entering the tumble dryer, a hose 16 for removing the air from the tumble dryer.

According to the present invention, the air inlet opening 14 is connected to the door 6 of the washing machine 1 by means of a suitable hose 17 for introducing air, while the hose 16 for Discharge of the air into the upper part of the tub 3 of the washing machine 1 opens.

The operation of the first embodiment is as follows. At the end of the wash cycle, laundry 18 is removed from washing machine 1 and into drum 11 of the tumble dryer 2 given. Before the latter is switched on, the tub 3 of the washing machine 1 is included

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filled with fresh water from the tap. Thereafter, when the drying cycle of the laundry 18 has started, the drum 11 and the drum h are set in rotation, the drum k rotating at a speed which is usual for washing laundry. Air enters the tumble dryer through the hose 17 and the opening lh and heated in a suitable manner by the resistor 15, this air removes part of the moisture from the laundry 18. This air is then discharged and by means of the hose 16 into the tub 3 of the Washer out in which this air mixes with the water there and the water vapor condenses.

Air dried in this way is later returned to the tumble dryer 2, so that a closed Air circuit has been obtained. This cycle ends only when the predetermined laundry drying phase is reached is; only at this moment is the air released into the surrounding atmosphere. The physical one The condition of the air when it is discharged into the surrounding atmosphere is such that no condensation on the walls of the Room in which the unit formed by the washing machine 1 and the tumble dryer 2 is set up, occurs.

According to an essential characteristic of the invention, occurs during the entire drying phase

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Laundry is neither a renewal nor a refreshment of the water: this increases the temperature of the Water and air as long as the laundry is in the drying phase. The drum 4 of the washing machine 1 becomes kept rotating to mix the water in tub 3, thereby avoiding overheating when drying the laundry will.

Experiments have shown that with a mode of operation as described above, an amount of condensation water Less than 10 kg for 1 kg of water in the laundry at the beginning of the drying cycle. sufficient » These values obtained are much lower than the values obtained with conventional tumble dryers, where air and water worked in an open cycle. For conventional tumble dryers was a Consumption of about 4o to 50 kg of condensation water for 1 kg of water in the laundry at the beginning of the drying cycle is normal. Another improvement according to the invention is that the duration of the dry phase and the consumption of electrical energy are never greater than the corresponding Values that apply to conventional dry processes were obtained. In addition, the washing machine already in the house is fully used because it forms the capacitor. Except for these remarkable ones. Results, it is completely impossible that the

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Discharge of the air into the surrounding atmosphere, this Air condenses on the walls.

In a second embodiment of the present In the invention (Fig. 2) a conventional spray condenser 20 is used; this capacitor can be used together with the tumble dryer form a unit (not shown because this embodiment is the one described above almost corresponds) or are arranged at a certain distance from the tumble dryer, at least connected so, as will be explained below.

The condenser 20 includes a line 21 for supplying the condensed water by means of a three-way solenoid valve 22, some spray nozzles 23 and a line 24 for discharging water. A three-way solenoid valve 25 is located in the line 2k and is connected to the valve 22 by means of a short-circuit pipe 26 in which a circulation pump is located.

In the capacitor 20 are a number. Partition walls arranged with different lengths. These partitions form a sinusoidal path for the air flowing from the Clothes dryer through the supply hose 29 into the Condenser 20 passes and through hose 30, at the front and at the same level as the hose is arranged, leaves the condenser.

According to a feature of the invention is a

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A certain amount of fresh water from the water pipe is fed into the condenser 20, after which the drying process in the tumble dryer is started. The clothes dryer. ' The moist air removed is then fed into the condenser, in which this air gives off part of the moisture and heat to the condensing water. If the condenser 20 ′ is suitably large, the water is not renewed or refilled during the entire drying phase of the laundry. In this way, the water is discharged at the same time as the air that gets into the surrounding atmosphere, only when the drying cycle of the laundry is completely finished. If the condenser is smaller, for example for economic reasons, the condensing water, which is constantly returned to the condenser 20, is removed and renewed two or three times per drying phase. This takes place when the temperature of the water in the condenser reaches a predetermined value. This renewal of water takes place by thermostatic means (not: shown). In both cases it has been found in tests that the total consumption of condensing water is almost the same as in the first embodiment described, which is much better than in the previous embodiment

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Tumble dryer has been reached, also beats in this second embodiment if only at the end of the Drying phase the air is released into the surrounding atmosphere, no condensate on the walls of the room, settled, in which the unit consisting of the tumble dryer and the condenser is set up.

Although two different embodiments of the Invention have been described above, it is intended that this patent also include any other embodiment which could be derived from the inventive idea by an expert. So is it is possible, for example, to install a fan in the hose 17 and possibly also in the hose 16 to improve the air circulation between the heat dryer 2 and .the washing machine 1, which acts as a condenser unit is needed.

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Claims (1)

PATENT CLAIMS ; 1 .. Method for drying laundry using a household tumble dryer with a rotating drum is provided, whereby the following stages occur: rolling the laundry in said rotating drum; the introduction of air, which has previously passed through a heating unit, into the tumble dryer; - the removal of moist air from the tumble dryer} - the treatment of those discharged from the tumble dryer . Air in a condensing unit in which water is used as' Condensing agent is used; - the recirculation of air into the tumble dryer; - the removal of air into the surrounding atmosphere only at the end of the. predetermined drying phase j characterized in that the water used as the condensing agent is constantly returned to the condenser and is renewed a certain very small number of times. . · · 2, method according to claim 1, characterized in that the water is removed from the condenser only once per drying _{phase 9} in particular when the air from the tumble dryer has been discharged into the surrounding atmosphere. 509818/08 6 6 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that air and condensing water are constantly and intensively mixed with one another in a manner known per se in such a way that, in addition to said water, the moisture previously removed from the air is constantly returned to the condenser. k. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a conventional washing machine which is functionally connected to the dryer is used as a condensation unit for moist air after this washing machine has been filled with a predetermined amount of water at the beginning of the drying phase. 5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that said amount of water in the tub of the washing machine is constantly mixed without renewal or refilling during the entire drying phase. 6 · The method according to claim h or 5 »characterized in that the drum of the washing machine is rotated when used as a condensation unit at a speed that is normally used for washing laundry and that only _: when the drying phase is completely finished, the water from the Washing machine is discharged, 7 »The method according to one of claims 1 to 3» characterized in that a known per se 509818/0868 Evaporative condenser is used to treat Air extracted from the tumble dryer and that the water is returned to the condenser by means of ' a closed water system with a circulation pump and a number of spray nozzles. 8. The method according to claim 7 »characterized in that the water is drained and almost two or three times is renewed in every dry phase. 9. Household tumble dryer for performing the method according to one of the preceding claims, 509818/0866 Blank page