JP2000180060A - Drying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent heated air from flowing backward in a duct when a blower is at halt and hence to prevent the life of equipment from becoming short in advance due to the formation of dew of air that flows backward. SOLUTION: A duct 13 for guiding heater air that is heated by a heater and is fed by a blower 11 with force to outlets 14A and 14B is provided with a check valve. The check valve is hinge type structure where an upper part is rotatably supported, is provided with a valve part and a weight part, is retained in 'closed' state due to moment caused by the weight of the weight part when a blower is stopped and air cannot be fed in the forward direction of the duct, and is rotated against the moment of the weight part due to air pressure and is switched to 'open' state when air is fed in the forward direction of the duct.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drying apparatus suitable for use in a washing machine for medical instruments and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in washing machines for medical instruments and tableware,
Usually, cleaning through steps such as preliminary cleaning, main cleaning, hot water disinfection, and drying is performed. By the way, in the drying step of the washing machine, for example, a blower and a heater are arranged at an upper portion of a casing of the washing machine, and air supplied by the blower is heated by a heater, and the heated air is passed through a duct. There is used a drying device that is guided into a casing via an air outlet provided in communication with a duct and blows onto a drying target such as a medical device, which is set inside the casing, to dry the drying target.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional drying apparatus has the following problems. That is, in the main cleaning or hot water disinfection process, the heated air in the casing flows back to the blower side via the duct because the blower is stopped. The heated air flowing backward in the duct as described above has a originally high humidity and is cooled when flowing through the duct to cause dew condensation. The condensed water not only promotes rust when the duct and the heater are made of metal, but also causes a problem that, particularly when the duct or the heater enters the motor portion of the blower, the insulating portion is damaged and the life of the motor is significantly shortened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to prevent heated air from flowing back in a duct when a blower is stopped, and to prevent the life of equipment from being shortened due to condensation of the backflow air. It is to provide a drying device which can be used.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a drying apparatus according to the present invention, a blower and a heater are arranged at an upper portion of a casing of a washing machine, and are heated by the heater and pressure-fed by the blower. Drying device that guides heated air into a casing through a duct, and blows the dried object through a blowout port provided in communication with the duct to an object set inside the casing. In the above structure, the duct may be provided with a check valve that allows the flow of air from the blower side to the outlet, but prevents the flow of air in the opposite direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the check valve is a hinge type having an upper portion rotatably supported and provided with a valve portion and a weight portion. When it is not fed in the forward direction, it is held in a "closed" state by the moment due to the weight of the weight portion, and when air is fed in the forward direction of the duct, it is opposed to the moment of the weight portion by the pressure of the air. It is characterized in that it can be rotated to be switched to the "open" state.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the check valve is provided at a bent portion where a horizontal passage extending in the horizontal direction of the duct or an oblique passage extending obliquely downward and a vertical passage extending downward intersect. It is characterized by being.

According to the present invention, a check valve is interposed in a duct extending from the blower into the casing so as to permit the flow of air from the blower side to the outlet, but to prevent the flow of air in the reverse direction. Therefore, even when the blower is stopped, the heated air does not flow backward in the duct.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a washing machine equipped with a drying device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the drying device, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the drying device. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a casing, and a lower portion of the casing 1 is a tank 2 for storing a cleaning liquid. At the lower part of the tank 2, there is provided a stirring means 3 composed of an impeller and a motor for rotating the impeller for stirring the cleaning liquid stored in the tank 2 during immersion cleaning (preliminary cleaning).

The tank 2 is provided with elevating means (not shown), and the elevating means sets a basket 5 for storing medical instruments to be cleaned at an upper position. During immersion cleaning, it can be automatically lowered to the lower position. When the cleaning liquid is filled in the tank 2 when the basket 5 is at the lower position, the basket is immersed in the cleaning liquid.

Above and below the basket 5, a rotary arm 6A and a rotary arm 6B are arranged so as to be jetted and rotated by a pump 7. A hot water injection nozzle and a purified water injection nozzle are attached to the rotating arms 6A and 6B, and hot water, hot water, or purified water is injected from these nozzles toward the medical instruments stored in the basket 5 from both upper and lower directions. (In FIG. 1, Sa indicates the water level during immersion, and Sb indicates the water level during injection, respectively). In addition, 8 is a heater.

A drying apparatus 10 according to the present invention is mounted on an upper portion of the washing machine having the above-described structure. That is, the drying device 10 includes the blower 1 disposed above the casing 1.
1 and the heater box 12 and the heater box 1
Left and right ducts 13, 1, which are communicated with the inner casing 2 and extend integrally downward inside the side wall of the casing 1.
3 and upper and lower outlets 14A and 14B which are provided on the side of the duct 13 and inject air toward the basket 5 located at the upper position (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

Here, the blower 11 is a casing 1
The heater box 12 is arranged above the ceiling of the casing 1 and on the side where the duct 13 is located. The discharge port of the blower 11 communicates with the inside of the heater box 12 via a short pipe 15. The heater box 12 is formed in a rectangular shape along one side of the casing 1, and the left and right ducts 13, 13
Are connected to the short pipes 16 and 16 extend downward. In addition, 12A is a heater.

A check valve 17 is provided at the upper end of the left and right ducts 13, 13, specifically, at a bent portion 13C where an oblique passage 13A extending obliquely downward from the duct 13 and a vertical passage 13B extending downward intersect. (See FIG. 4). The check valve 17 is connected to the blower 1 from the blower 11 side.
The flow of air (flow downward in FIG. 2) to 4A and 14B is allowed, but the flow of air opposite thereto (flow upward in FIG. 2) is prevented.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the check valve 17 is of a hinge type in which an upper portion is rotatably supported by a pin, and has a flat valve portion 18 and a direction perpendicular to the valve portion 18. And an extending weight portion 19. Valve section 18 and weight section 19
An insertion hole 20a through which a support pin is inserted is formed in the reinforcing plate portion 20 that connects the two.

The check valve 17 is connected to the blower 11
Is stopped and air is not sent in the forward direction of the duct 13, the duct 1 is rotated in the direction of arrow Y in FIG.
3 is held in a "closed" state by contacting the inner side wall 21 of the valve 3, and when air is sent into the duct 13 in the forward direction by the blower 11, the pressure of the air resists the moment of the weight portion 19. 4 and is separated from the inner wall 21 of the duct 13 to be switched to the "open" state. That is, the shape and weight of the weight portion 19 of the check valve 17
The above-mentioned movement is determined in consideration of the air pressure from the air. The check valve 17 is made of, for example, stainless steel which is resistant to rust and has heat resistance.

Next, the operation of the drying device will be described. In the casing 1 of the cleaning machine, a pre-cleaning step of immersing the basket 5 in the cleaning liquid in the tank 2 with respect to the cleaning target such as medical equipment stored in the basket 5, and after removing the cleaning liquid, the upper and lower rotating arms Main cleaning step of spraying cleaning liquid from the injection nozzles of 6A and 6B, rotating arm 6
A hot water disinfection step of injecting hot water from the injection nozzles A and 6B, and a drying step after spraying purified water from the purified water nozzles of the rotary arms 6A and 6B.

In the drying step, the blower 11 is operated by a signal from a control unit (not shown), and at the same time, the heater 12A in the heater box 12 is turned on. By the operation of the blower 11, air is supplied from the blower 11 into the heater box 12 through the short pipe 15. The supplied air is heated to an appropriate temperature by the heater 12A, and then flows into the left and right ducts 13, 13 through the short pipe 16. In addition, although the heater 12A does not become warm immediately after being turned on, when it is gradually heated and becomes a steady state, a temperature of 85 ° C.
It is kept in the range of 100 ° C.

When the blower 11 operates, the air pressure discharged from the blower 11 causes the valve section 18 to operate.
However, the non-return valve 17 rotates around the support pin against the moment of the weight portion 19 and separates from the inner wall 21 of the duct 13, so that the check valve 17 is switched to the “open” state. Therefore, the heated air introduced into the upper part of the duct from the heater box 12 smoothly passes through the check valve 17 which has been switched to the “open” state. To the longitudinal passage 13B extending to the outside. From there, the air is further led to the outlets 14A, 14B, and the outlets 14A, 14B.
As shown in FIG. 2, the warming air blown out from B is blown from both the upper and lower sides onto the medical instruments stored in the basket 5. In this way, drying is promoted by blowing the warming air onto the medical device from both the upper and lower sides.

The angle θ of the air from the outlets 14A, 14B with respect to the horizontal plane is the same as that of the outlets 14A, 14B.
The air blown out of B hits the intersection of the net of the basket 5 and the dew water adhering to the surface of the medical device and can blow them off, and the blown dew water does not adhere to the medical device in the basket again, for example, ,
The angle is set in the range of 5 to 15 degrees.

On the other hand, when the blower 11 is stopped,
For example, in the main cleaning step or the hot water / disinfection step,
Even if the inside of the casing 1 is wrapped in steam and the steam tries to flow backward in the duct 13 together with the heated air (when flowing upward from below in FIG. 1), the check valve 17 is kept in the “closed” state. Therefore, it does not flow into the blower 11 side. That is, while the blower 11 is stopped, no air pressure is applied to the valve portion 18, and the check valve 17 is maintained in the “closed” state by the moment due to the weight of the weight portion 19. Therefore, the heated air in the casing 1 flows back through the duct 13 and dew forms in the duct 13,
Condensed water does not enter the inside of the motor of the blower 11.

In the embodiment described above, the check valve 1
7 is provided at a bent portion 13C where an obliquely extending downwardly extending passage 13A intersects with an obliquely extending downwardly extending passage 13A provided in the duct 13, but the present invention is not limited to this. A horizontal passage that extends horizontally,
A check valve 17 may be provided at a bent portion where the horizontal passage and the vertical passage extending downward intersect. In that case, a part of the heater box 12 may be embedded in the casing 1 and the short pipe 16 itself for blowing out from the heater box may be a horizontal short pipe extending in the horizontal direction. In addition, blower 1
1, the heater box 12 is provided upstream of the blower 11, and the air heated by the heater 12A is fed by the blower 11 to the duct 13 side. You may do so.

[0023]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the flow of the air from the blower side to the outlet is allowed in the duct for guiding the heated air heated by the heater and fed by the blower into the casing. However, because of the intervening check valve that blocks the air flow,
Even when the blower is stopped, the heated air does not flow back through the duct, so the heated air inside the casing flows back through the duct and condenses inside the duct, or the condensed water flows through the motor of the blower. It can be prevented from intruding inside. As a result, the service life was significantly longer than that of a conventional drying apparatus of this type. According to the drying device of the second aspect, the check valve is provided with a valve portion and a weight portion as a hinge type that rotatably supports the upper portion, the blower is stopped, and air is sent in the forward direction of the duct. When it is not present, it is held in the "closed" state by the moment due to the weight of the weight, and when air is fed in the forward direction of the duct, it rotates against the moment of the weight by the pressure of the air and "opens". since such changes state to a state, only it is done Accordingly wind pressure blower opening and closing of the check valve, since it can be eliminated any accessory parts of the power, sensors, etc. other, the initial cost and the running cost becomes can be reduced . According to the drying device of the third aspect, the check valve is provided at the bent portion where the horizontal passage extending in the horizontal direction of the duct or the oblique passage extending obliquely downward and the vertical passage extending downward intersect, and the check valve is provided from the blower. The air pressure by the heated air can be caused to act in a direction in which the valve portion is pushed open through a passage extending horizontally or obliquely downward. On the other hand, the valve section which receives the moment of the weight section does not completely open at 180 degrees or 90 degrees when pushed and opened by wind pressure, but generally opens while maintaining an acute angle of 90 degrees or less. At that time, the heated air hitting the valve part will be able to change the direction of the flow path,
In the drying device according to the third aspect, since the check valve is provided at the bent portion of the duct, when the heated air hits the valve portion to change the direction of the flow path, the inflow angle to the valve portion and the valve portion are different. By adjusting the outflow angle after hitting by the balance between the weight of the weight portion and the air pressure, the flow path resistance when passing through the check valve can be kept low.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a washing machine equipped with a drying device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a drying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the drying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of an IV circle portion in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a structure of a valve body of a check valve.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Casing, 10 ... Drying device, 11 ... Blower, 1
2 ... heater box, 12A ... heater, 13 ... duct, 13A ... diagonal passage, 13B ... vertical passage, 13C ... bent portion, 14A, 14B ... outlet, 17 ... check valve, 18 ... valve portion, 19 ... weight portion .

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) F26B 21/00 F26B 21/00 A

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A blower (11) and a heater (12A) are arranged at an upper portion of a casing (1) of a washing machine, and heated air heated by a heater and fed by a blower is passed through a duct (13). Through the casing, and an outlet (14A,
14B) a drying device for drying the drying object by spraying the drying object set in the casing from the inside of the casing; A drying device characterized by interposing a check valve (17) for preventing the flow of air. 2. The check valve according to claim 1, wherein the check valve is a hinge type having an upper portion rotatably supported and includes a valve portion (18) and a weight portion (1).
9) when the blower is stopped and the air is not sent in the forward direction of the duct, when the air is sent in the forward direction of the duct when the air is not sent in the forward direction of the duct. , Is rotated by the pressure of the air against the moment of the weight portion to “open”.
The drying device according to claim 1, wherein the drying device is switched to a state. 3. The non-return valve includes a horizontal passage extending in a horizontal direction of the duct or an oblique passage extending obliquely downward.
3. The drying device according to claim 2, wherein the drying device is provided at a bent portion (13C) where A) and a vertical passage (13B) extending downward intersect.