JP2008029579A - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to impart a scent as if it was dried in the sun without causing deterioration of clothes by ultraviolet rays.
In a drum-type washing / drying machine 1 having a drying device provided with blowing means (fan 20a or the like) for supplying warm air into a drum 9 to dry clothes in the drum 9, the ultraviolet ray is irradiated from an ultraviolet lamp 27. The sun-dried fragrance component is generated from the fragrance generator in the case 26 disposed in the warm air circulation path 18 by the ultraviolet rays. It is set as the structure which supplies the produced | generated scent component of the sun drying to the drum 9 by the ventilation effect | action of the fan 20a.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothes dryer provided with a drying device for drying clothes by supplying warm air into a drying tank in which clothes are stored.

  Conventionally, it is known that when clothes that have been washed are dried outdoors in fine weather, the clothes have a so-called scent of drying in the sun. This fragrance is said to have an effect of arousing comfort, security, and cleanliness. Detergents attached to clothes and oils and fats in textiles are oxidized by the ultraviolet rays contained in sunlight. It is thought to be generated by waking up.

  As what gives such a scent of drying in the sun, what provided the irradiation light source which irradiates an ultraviolet-ray in the clothes dryer, especially the washing dryer which performs washing and drying in the same tank is indicated (for example, patent documents) 1). That is, the washer / dryer includes a water tank mounted in an outer box, a rotating drum rotatably supported in the water tank, and an irradiation light source for irradiating the rotating drum with a light beam including ultraviolet rays. The irradiation light source is provided, for example, on a door or the like. Then, by irradiating the drum with a light beam including ultraviolet rays directly after the end of the drying process, the laundry dried in the rotating drum is given a scent of sun drying. However, according to the washing and drying machine having the above-described configuration, the fibers included in the clothes are deteriorated by the irradiation of ultraviolet rays, which may damage the clothes as the laundry.

On the other hand, what applied the following illuminating devices to the drum-type washing machine is proposed (for example, refer patent document 2). This drum-type washing machine includes a laundry doorway that is provided on the front surface of the outer box and communicates with the front opening of the drum, and a door that opens and closes the doorway. A transparent portion is formed, and an illumination device is disposed at the laundry entrance so as to illuminate the inside of the drum. According to this, the visibility inside the drum can be improved by the lighting device, and further, an effect of sterilizing clothing in the drum can be obtained by irradiating the drum with light containing ultraviolet rays. .
Japanese Patent No. 3739377 Japanese Patent No. 3544874

However, this configuration is effective for sterilization of the clothing in the drum, but since the clothing is directly irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the physical properties of the fibers in the clothing may be reduced.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer capable of imparting a scent as if dried in the sun without causing deterioration of clothes by ultraviolet rays. .

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a drying tank in which clothes are stored, and a drying device provided with blowing means for supplying warm air into the drying tank to dry the clothes in the drying tank, A case provided downstream of the air blowing means and separately from the drying tank in communication with the drying tank; an ultraviolet ray generating means provided at a position capable of irradiating ultraviolet rays into the case; and the case And a fragrance generator that produces a scent component of sun-dried by irradiation of the ultraviolet rays.

  According to the above means, the sun-dried scent component can be generated from the fragrance generator in the case by the ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet light generation means. The generated scent component of the dried sun is supplied into the drying tank by the blowing action of the blowing means. As a result, it is possible to provide a clothes dryer capable of imparting the scent of sun drying without irradiating clothes with ultraviolet rays.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a drum type washing and drying machine will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.1 and FIG.2 of them has shown the vertical side view and external appearance perspective view of a drum type washing-drying machine. As shown in FIG. 1, the outer box 2 of the drum-type washing / drying machine 1 has a rectangular box shape as a whole, and a laundry doorway 3 is formed at the center of the front portion thereof. A door 4 that opens and closes is provided. Further, an operation panel 5a and a detergent charging case 5b are provided on the front surface of the outer box 2 at the top (see FIG. 2 for both).

  An operation circuit unit 2a and a control circuit unit 2b are provided at the upper and lower portions on the back side of the front surface of the outer box 2, respectively. Inside the outer box 2, a substantially cylindrical water tank 6 having an opening 6 a at the front is elastically supported on a base plate 8 constituting the bottom of the outer box 2 by a pair of left and right elastic support devices 7. ing.

  Inside the water tank 6, a drum 9 is disposed as a drying tank. The drum 9 also functions as a washing tub and a dewatering tub in this embodiment, and has a plurality of holes 10 on the peripheral wall thereof, and a plurality of baffles for washing laundry on the inner side of the peripheral wall. 11. An opening 9a is formed at the front of the drum 9 so as to face the opening 6a of the water tub 6, and a bellows 12 is provided between the opening 6a of the water tub 6 and the laundry entrance 3 of the outer box 2. And are sealed in a watertight and airtight manner. The drum 9 is disposed so as to be rotatable around a so-called tilt axis in a state where it is inclined forward and upward, and is rotated by a motor 13 comprising a DC brushless motor provided at the rear of the water tank 6. Yes.

  A water reservoir 14 is formed on the lower surface of the water tank 6, a heater 15 for washing water heating is disposed inside the water reservoir 14, and a drain hose 17 is disposed at the rear of the water reservoir 14 via a drain valve 16. Is connected. On the other hand, a circulation path 18 is provided outside the water tank 6 from the rear surface portion to the upper surface portion and the front surface portion of the water tank 6. The circulation path 18 includes a heat exchanger duct 19, a fan casing 20, a heater 21, and a duct 22 described in detail below. That is, the heat exchanger duct 19 disposed outside the rear surface of the water tank 6 is connected to the inside of the water tank 6 through a vent (not shown) formed in the lower part of the rear surface of the water tank 6, The upper part is connected to the suction side of the fan casing 20 that houses the fan 20a. The discharge side of the fan casing 20 is connected to one end of a heater 21 having a pair of drying heaters 24 and 24 (see FIG. 3 for details) inside, and the other end of the heater 21 communicates with the duct 22. It is connected.

  The air outlet 22a at the lower end of the duct 22 penetrates the upper side of the opening 6a of the water tank 6 and communicates with the inside of the water tank 6 (in the drum 9). In the duct 22, the air outlet 22a is located near the air outlet 22a. A case 26 containing an aroma generator 25 (see FIGS. 3 and 4), which will be described in detail later, and an ultraviolet lamp 27 are disposed.

  A water-cooling water injection pipe 28 a is disposed inside the heat exchanger duct 19 to constitute the heat exchanger 28. A motor 29 and a belt transmission mechanism 29a for transmitting the rotational power of the motor 29 to the fan 20a are disposed outside the fan casing 20, and these together with the fan 20a constitute a blowing means. In the drying process, when the fan 20a is driven by the motor 29 via the belt transmission mechanism 29a and the heater 24 of the heater 21 is energized, as shown by the arrow X in FIG. 6, the drum 9, the vent (not shown), the duct 19, the fan casing 20, the heater 21, and the duct 22 circulate through a circulation path 18 that substantially forms a closed space. During this circulation, water is sprinkled from the water injection pipe 28a, and the moisture in the warm air is cooled and condensed to be dehumidified. That is, in the present embodiment, the heater 24, the blowing means, and the heat exchanger 28 functionally correspond to a drying device.

  A water supply valve 30, a water injector 31, and the like are disposed in the upper part of the outer box 2. The water supply valve 30 includes a first water supply port 30a and a second water supply port 30b that are opened and closed independently, and hoses 32a and 32b are connected to the water supply ports 30a and 30b, respectively. The water supply valve 30 has a water inlet 30c connected to the water supply, and when the first water supply opening 30a is opened, the tap water passes through the hose 32a and the water injector 31, and then the upper part of the water tank 6. Is supplied into the water tank 6 and the drum 9. When the second water supply port 30b is opened, water is sprayed from the water injection pipe 28a into the heat exchanger 28 via the hose 32b.

  Here, the case 26 disposed in the duct 22, the fragrance generator 25 and the ultraviolet lamp 27 accommodated therein will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 in particular. FIG. 3 is a front view of the duct 22 and the vicinity thereof seen from the front side, and FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view cut along the line AA in FIG.

  The case 26 is made of, for example, a metal material, is formed in a thin rectangular box shape as a whole, and has a plurality of hole portions 26a. Flange portions 26b and 26b are integrally formed at both end portions (upper and lower end portions in FIG. 4) of the case 26, and the flange portions 26b and 26b are connected to the inner wall portion of the duct 22 (not shown). The case 26 is detachably attached to the inner wall portion of the duct 22 by engaging the joint portion.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an attachment hole 22b is formed in the side wall of the duct 22, and an ultraviolet lamp 27 (ultraviolet generation means) is attached to the attachment hole 22b via an O-ring 33 made of rubber or synthetic resin. It has been. The ultraviolet lamp 27 is, for example, a cold cathode tube having a relatively long life, and has a substantially U-shaped tube portion 27a that irradiates ultraviolet rays having a center wavelength of about 350 nm, a holding portion 27b equipped with the tube portion 27a, And a terminal 27c connected to the control circuit unit 2b. In this case, the ultraviolet lamp 27 is disposed so that the tube portion 27a is parallel to the outer wall surface 26c (see FIG. 4) of the case 26 and in a non-contact state, and the O-ring 33 is provided at the holding portion 27b. Therefore, ultraviolet rays do not leak to the drum 9 and the outside. The ultraviolet lamp 27 preferably does not generate ozone.

  The aroma generator 25 in the case 26 is composed of a large number of bead-like solid bodies 23 that have absorbed an aliphatic hydrocarbon-based substance. The solid body 23 is made of an inorganic porous adsorbent such as zeolite, silica gel, sepiolite, or alumina adsorbent.

The aliphatic hydrocarbon-based material refers to, for example, a liquid material that generates an oxidized material of an aliphatic hydrocarbon by irradiation with ultraviolet rays. For example, triolein ((C ₁₇ H ₃₃ COOCH ₂ ) ₂ CHOCOC ₁₇ H ₃₃ ), Tricaprylin (C ₂₇ H ₅₀ O ₆ ), 1-octadecanol (CH ₃ (CH ₂ ) ₁₆ CH ₂ OH), 1-octanol (CH ₃ (CH ₂ ) ₆ CH ₂ OH), etc. Any substance can be used. In this case, the aliphatic hydrocarbon material is kneaded with a photoexcitation catalyst such as titanium oxide, and this is adsorbed to the solid body 23. In addition, the aliphatic hydrocarbon oxidant produced by the irradiation of ultraviolet rays corresponds to a scent component of sun drying, for example, containing at least one of alcohols, esters, ketones, and aldehydes having 7 to 30 carbon atoms. To do.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.
In the above configuration, when a standard operation course is started, a washing process, a dehydrating process, and a drying process are sequentially performed. In the washing (washing and rinsing) process, the drum 9 is rotated in both forward and reverse directions at a low speed with water stored in the water tank 6. In the dehydration process, after the water in the water tank 6 is discharged, the drum 9 is rotated in one direction at a high speed, and the laundry in the drum 9 is centrifugally dehydrated. Although the outer casing 2 is vibrated by the rotation of the drum 9, the ultraviolet lamp 27 is supported by the O-ring 33 in an anti-vibration manner, so that the breakage can be prevented.

In the drying step, as described above, the hot air circulates between the circulation path 18 and the drum 9, and the drum 9 is rotated in both forward and reverse directions at a low speed, whereby the laundry in the drum 9 is dried. .
When this drying process is started, the ultraviolet lamp 27 is energized to irradiate the solid body 23 with ultraviolet rays, so that the sun-dried scent component comprising the above-mentioned oxidizing substances is generated from the solid body 23 in the case 26. Is done. At this time, the scent of the sun dried from the hole 26a of the case 26 is supplied into the drum 9 from the air outlet 22a of the duct 22 together with the warm air, so that the laundry in the drum 9 has a scent of the sun dried. Is granted. The energization of the ultraviolet lamp 27 is stopped simultaneously with the end of the drying process, so that the solid body 23 hardly generates a scent.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. In the drying process, it is possible to impart a scent of sun drying without directly irradiating the clothes as the laundry with ultraviolet rays. Although ultraviolet rays may deteriorate clothing and have an adverse effect on the eyes and skin of the human body, in this embodiment, the tube portion 27a of the ultraviolet lamp 27 is disposed in the duct 22 and ultraviolet rays are placed inside and outside the drum 9. Since it is configured so as not to leak, it is possible to prevent the laundry from being deteriorated and faded by ultraviolet rays and to prevent adverse effects on the human body. Further, since the case 26 is made of a metal material, it is possible to suppress deterioration of the case 26 due to ultraviolet irradiation as much as possible.

  Moreover, since the scent component of the sunflower is an aliphatic hydrocarbon oxide containing at least one of alcohols, esters, ketones and aldehydes having 7 to 30 carbon atoms, A scent can be realized. That is, when the carbon number is less than 7, it becomes an irritating odor, and when the carbon number exceeds 30, the scent is weakened.

Furthermore, by including titanium oxide in the solid body 23, it is possible to promote the reaction by the irradiation of ultraviolet rays, and to generate the sunshine scent more efficiently.
Since the case 26 is accommodated in the duct 22 in the hot air circulation path 18, it is possible to eliminate the need for a separate supply means for supplying the sun-dried scent from the case 26 into the drum 9.

  In general, the amount of evaporation from a porous adsorbent such as the solid body 23 increases as the temperature rises. That is, the hot air circulating in the circulation path 18 and the heat of the ultraviolet lamp 27 have a switching function for releasing the scent from the solid body 23. For this reason, in the state other than the drying process, the solid body 23 emits almost no fragrance, so that the fragrance can be generated from the fragrance generator 25 for a long time, and the lifetime can be extended. Even when the fragrance generator 25 does not release the scent due to its lifetime, the case 26 for housing the fragrance generator 25 is configured to be detachable, so that the replacement work with a new fragrance generator can be easily performed.

<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and is a schematic plan view showing the upper part of the drum type washing and drying machine 1 with a part thereof broken. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same part as 1st Example, description is abbreviate | omitted, and a different point from 1st Example is demonstrated.

  The circulation path 34 in the present embodiment is different from the circulation path 18 of the first embodiment in the following points. In other words, the upper part of the circulation path 34 is configured to include a rear half part 34a in which the fan 20a and the drying heater 24 are accommodated, and a front half part 34b formed narrower than the rear half part 34a. Further, a bypass 35 is provided at the upper part of the circulation path 34 on the downstream side of the fan 20a. The bypass 35 communicates with the rear half 34a and the front half 34b.

  In the path of the bypass 35, a housing 36 that houses the case 26 and the ultraviolet lamp 27 (not shown) is provided. Since the attachment structure of the case 26 and the ultraviolet lamp 27 to the housing 36 is the same as the attachment structure to the duct 22 in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. In the drying process, the warm air circulating in the circulation path 34 is diverted by the bypass 35 downstream of the fan 20a, and after a part of the warm air passes through the inside of the housing 36, it is returned to the circulation path 34 and blown again. The drum 9 is supplied from the outlet 22a.

Therefore, according to the said structure, the scent discharge | released from the hole 26a of the case 26 can be weakened by restrict | squeezing the flow volume of the warm air which circulates through the circulation path 34, and supplying this in the housing | casing 36. That is, since the amount of evaporation from the solid body 23 also depends on the amount of warm air, when the present invention is applied to a washing machine equipped with a drying device, depending on the amount of circulating air (about 1 m ³ / min), The amount of evaporation of the scent component may increase. Therefore, excessive evaporation of the scent component in the drying process can be suppressed, and the life of the fragrance generator 25 can be extended.

  Although illustration is omitted, by providing a damper in the bypass 35, the release of the scent of the fragrance generator 25 in the case 26 can be controlled more reliably. For example, by providing a damper in the vicinity of the connection part between the rear half 34a of the circulation path 34 and the bypass 35 and adjusting the amount of warm air passing through the bypass 35 (housing 36), the scent in the drying process The amount of evaporation of the components can be adjusted, and the intensity of the scent imparted to the clothing can be arbitrarily adjusted. Of course, when it is not necessary to release the scent component, it is only necessary to close the damper, and it is advantageous for suppressing the useless release and extending the life of the fragrance generator 25.

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 showing the third embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the case 37 of this embodiment, the so-called internal volume is set larger by increasing the horizontal dimension in FIG. 6 than the case 26 of the first embodiment. The ultraviolet lamp 27 is attached to an attachment hole 22 b (not shown) of the duct 22 via an O-ring 33 in a state where the tube part 27 a is accommodated in the case 37.
According to the above configuration, since ultraviolet rays can be irradiated in the case 37, deterioration of components in the vicinity of the case 37 due to ultraviolet irradiation can be suppressed as much as possible.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and the following modifications and expansions are possible.
The present invention can be applied not only to the drum-type washing / drying machine 1 but also to a vertical washing / drying machine including a vertical rotating tub serving as a washing tub / dehydration tub. Of course, the present invention can be applied to all clothes dryers equipped with a drying device. For example, the circulation type drying device has been described in the above embodiment, but an exhaust type drying device may be used. The drying device may be constituted by a heat pump using a refrigerant.

  Moreover, as a scent component of sun-dried, for example, aldehydes Dodecanal and Octadecenal, and ketones oxacycloheptadec-8-en-2-one (Oxacycloheptadec-8-en-2-one) , An aliphatic hydrocarbon oxide containing at least one of methyldihydrojasmonate and phenoxymethylbenzene. Further, alcohols such as propylbenzodioxyol, 3,7-dimethyl-nonadien-3-ol, and 3,7-dimethyloctadien-3-ol It may be an aliphatic hydrocarbon oxide containing at least one of (3,7-dimethyl-Octadien-3-ol).

  The aroma generator 25 is not limited to a large number of bead-like solid bodies 23 that have absorbed an aliphatic hydrocarbon-based material. That is, it may be an aroma generator in which an aliphatic hydrocarbon-based material is absorbed in a single block-shaped solid body that has both adsorptivity and heat resistance. In this case, the aroma generator is accommodated in the case 26. Since it is not necessary, a simple configuration can be obtained. Moreover, although the solid body 23 was comprised from the inorganic porous adsorption body, you may comprise from the organic type impregnating material provided with heat resistance.

  The fragrance generator 25 may be one in which the aliphatic hydrocarbon-based substance is encapsulated in a microcapsule. According to this, since the ultraviolet rays do not pass through the microcapsules, the reaction of the aliphatic hydrocarbon substances by the ultraviolet rays does not proceed, but it is necessary because the aliphatic hydrocarbon substances gradually elute on the microcapsule surface. An amount of the scent component can be generated, and the lifetime of the fragrance generator 25 can be increased. Further, the aroma generator 25 is made of a synthetic resin material such as polyvinyl alcohol, polypropylene, or polyethylene film, and the substance deposited on the surface thereof is changed to aldehyde by being irradiated with ultraviolet rays by an ultraviolet lamp 27. It may be.

In the above embodiment, a photoexcitation catalyst such as titanium oxide is kneaded with an aliphatic hydrocarbon-based material and then adsorbed on the solid body 23. However, the photoexcitation catalyst may be coated on the solid body 23. In this case, by applying an aliphatic hydrocarbon-based material to the surface of the coating, it is possible to generate the sun-dried scent more efficiently.
In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 is a longitudinal side view of a drum-type washing and drying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. External perspective view Front view of duct with internal UV generating means Longitudinal section along line AA in FIG. The top view which shows the upper part of the drum type washing-drying machine which shows 2nd Example of this invention partially partially, and shows it roughly FIG. 4 equivalent view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is a drum-type washing / drying machine (clothing dryer), 9 is a drum (drying tank), 18 and 34 are circulation paths, 20a is a fan (air blowing means, drying device), 23 is a solid body, and 24 is a heater. (Drying device), 25 is an aroma generator, 26 and 37 are cases, 27 is an ultraviolet lamp (ultraviolet generation means), 28 is a heat exchanger (drying device), 29 is a motor (air blowing means, drying device), and 29a is A belt transmission mechanism (a ventilation means, a drying device) is shown.

Claims (4)

A drying tank in which clothing is stored;
A drying apparatus provided with blowing means for supplying warm air into the drying tank to dry the clothes in the drying tank;
A case that is downstream of the blowing means and is provided separately from the drying tank in communication with the drying tank;
UV generating means provided at a position where ultraviolet rays can be irradiated in the case;
A clothes dryer comprising a fragrance generator housed in the case and generating a scent component of sun-dried by irradiation of the ultraviolet rays.   The garment according to claim 1, wherein the scent component of the sun-dried is an oxidant of an aliphatic hydrocarbon containing at least one of alcohol, ester, ketone and aldehyde having 7 to 30 carbon atoms. Dryer.   The clothes dryer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fragrance generator contains titanium oxide. 2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the drying tank is provided with a circulation path that circulates and supplies the hot air generated by the drying device, and a case is disposed in the circulation path.

Images