JP7536695B2 - Clothes drying device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a clothes dryer that dries wet clothes.

A known clothes drying device is equipped with a drying chamber that can accommodate clothes, a drying air supply section that can supply drying air to the drying chamber, and an exhaust section that exhausts the air in the drying chamber to the outside (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In the clothes drying device described in Patent Document 1, the exhaust section includes an exhaust fan and an exhaust passage that guides air from the drying chamber to the outdoors. By operating the exhaust fan, an air flow is generated in which the drying air supply section supplies drying air to the drying chamber and the air from the drying chamber is exhausted to the outdoors through the exhaust passage.

JP 2020-092754 A

In the clothes drying device described in Patent Document 1, air from the drying chamber is supplied to the exhaust passage, and the air from the drying chamber is guided to the outdoors through the exhaust passage, and the air from the drying chamber is exhausted outdoors. However, since damp clothes are stored in the drying chamber, air containing a lot of moisture is supplied to the exhaust passage at the beginning of the drying operation. At this time, if the temperature in the exhaust passage is low, particularly in winter, the supply of air containing a lot of moisture may cause condensation in the exhaust passage.

In view of this situation, the main objective of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer that can prevent condensation from forming in the exhaust passage.

The first characteristic configuration of the present invention is a drying apparatus comprising a drying chamber capable of storing clothes, a drying air supply unit capable of supplying drying air to the drying chamber, and an exhaust unit for exhausting the air in the drying chamber to the outside,
The exhaust unit includes an exhaust fan and an exhaust passage that guides air from the drying chamber to the outside.
The drying apparatus further includes a bypass supply section for supplying the drying air to the exhaust passage without passing through the drying chamber and bypassing the drying chamber.

According to this configuration, the bypass supply unit supplies drying air to the exhaust passage, bypassing the drying chamber without going through the drying chamber, so that the exhaust passage can be warmed by supplying drying air, and condensation can be prevented from occurring in the exhaust passage. Moreover, the bypass supply unit can directly use the drying air to be supplied to the drying chamber, and there is no need to provide a separate device for generating air to dry the exhaust passage, which simplifies the configuration.

A second characteristic configuration of the present invention is a control unit that controls the operation states of the drying air supply unit, the exhaust unit, and the bypass supply unit,
The control unit is configured to freely execute a drying operation in which the drying air supply unit and the exhaust unit are operated to dry the clothes stored in the drying chamber, and a drying operation with pre-supply operation in which the bypass supply unit is operated to perform a pre-supply operation in which drying air is supplied to the exhaust passage without passing through the drying chamber, bypassing the drying chamber, and the drying operation is performed following the pre-supply operation.

According to this configuration, the control unit can freely execute not only the drying operation but also the drying operation with pre-supply operation, so the drying operation can be performed with the exhaust passage warmed by performing the pre-supply operation. This makes it possible to warm the exhaust passage just before the air containing a lot of moisture is supplied to the exhaust passage, such as at the beginning of the drying operation, and thus makes it possible to accurately prevent condensation from occurring in the exhaust passage.

The third characteristic feature of the present invention is that the control unit is configured to perform the drying operation with pre-supply operation when the temperature in the exhaust passage is equal to or lower than the set temperature, and to perform the drying operation when the temperature in the exhaust passage is higher than the set temperature.

According to this configuration, when the temperature in the exhaust passage is equal to or lower than the set temperature and there is a possibility of condensation occurring in the exhaust passage, the control unit performs drying operation with pre-supply operation, so that the occurrence of condensation in the exhaust passage can be appropriately prevented by the pre-supply operation. Conversely, when the temperature in the exhaust passage is higher than the set temperature and there is no possibility of condensation occurring in the exhaust passage, the control unit performs drying operation, so that clothes can be appropriately dried without performing pre-supply operation unnecessarily.

In a fourth characteristic configuration of the present invention, the bypass supply unit is provided with a bypass passage that bypasses the drying chamber and is connected to the exhaust passage, without passing through the drying chamber,
A backflow prevention portion is provided at the connection point between the exhaust passage and the bypass passage, for preventing air from flowing back from the exhaust passage to the bypass passage.

According to this configuration, the bypass supply unit can appropriately guide the drying air to the exhaust passage, bypassing the drying chamber, by simply having a bypass passage connected to the exhaust passage. However, simply connecting the exhaust passage and the bypass passage may cause the air flowing through the exhaust passage to flow back into the bypass passage, for example, when air from the drying chamber is circulated to the outdoors through the exhaust passage.

Therefore, according to this configuration, a backflow prevention unit is provided at the connection point between the exhaust passage and the bypass passage to prevent air from flowing back from the exhaust passage to the bypass passage. This makes it possible to properly prevent air flowing through the exhaust passage from flowing back into the bypass passage while properly supplying drying air to the exhaust passage using the bypass passage.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a clothes drying device; FIG. 1 is a front view showing the rotating drum, the hot air supply passage, the exhaust passage, and the bypass supply section. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the rotating drum, the hot air supply passage, the exhaust passage, and the bypass supply section. Flowchart showing the operation when performing drying operation

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a clothes drying device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in Fig. 1, the clothes dryer 1 dries wet clothes 2 after dehydration or the like using high-temperature air K1 generated by combustion of fuel gas N. The clothes dryer 1 is provided with a box-shaped housing 3, which is provided with a drying chamber 4 capable of accommodating the clothes 2, a drying air supply section 5 capable of supplying high-temperature air K1 (drying air) to the drying chamber 4, and an exhaust section 6 for exhausting the air K in the drying chamber 4 to the outside.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 6, a single-wing door 7 is supported on the front side of the housing 3 so that it can be opened and closed freely. By opening and closing this door 7, as shown in Fig. 1, a clothes insertion opening 8 provided on the front side of the housing 3 can be closed and opened. With the door 7 open, the user can insert clothes 2 into the drying chamber 4 or remove clothes 2 from the drying chamber 4 through the clothes insertion opening 8.

The drying chamber 4 is formed by a rotating drum 11 that can be rotated. The rotating drum 11 has a cylindrical internal space with a larger diameter than the circular clothes inlet 8, and this internal space is provided as the drying chamber 4. The rotating drum 11 has a front opening 11a that is open at the front side, and the front opening 11a is connected to the clothes inlet 8. The rotating drum 11 is supported by a support shaft (not shown) that extends in a substantially horizontal direction so that it can rotate freely around the rotation axis P. In order to rotate the rotating drum 11, a drive motor 12 and a first transmission belt 14 are provided. The first transmission belt 14 is wound around the first drive pulley 13 of the drive motor 12 and the outer periphery of the rotating drum 11. The first drive pulley 13 is driven to rotate by the drive motor 12, and the first transmission belt 14 is wound, thereby transmitting the driving force of the drive motor 12 to the rotating drum 11, and rotating the rotating drum 11.

The drying air supply unit 5 is provided with a burner 21 that burns fuel gas N, and a high-temperature air supply passage 22 that supplies high-temperature air K1 (drying air) generated (heated) by the combustion of the burner 21 to the drying chamber 4. A fuel supply passage 23 is provided to supply fuel gas N to the burner 21, and fuel gas N is sprayed from a fuel nozzle 24 provided at the downstream end of the fuel supply passage 23 to supply fuel gas N to the burner 21. A fuel supply valve 25 is provided at a midpoint of the fuel supply passage 23, and the supply of fuel gas N is interrupted, and the supply amount of the fuel gas N can be freely adjusted. Incidentally, one fuel supply valve 25 is illustrated in FIG. 1, but for example, two valves can be provided: an interrupt valve that interrupts the supply of fuel gas N, and a supply amount adjustment valve that adjusts the supply amount of fuel gas N.

An opening 26 is formed on the underside of the housing 3, and air K can freely flow into the housing 3 from the opening 26. The burner 21 uses the air K as combustion air to combust fuel gas N supplied through the fuel supply path 23, generating high-temperature air K1 (drying air). The high-temperature air supply path 22 is connected to the drying chamber 4 through an air inlet 27 formed on the lower front side of the rotating drum 11, and the high-temperature air K1 (drying air) generated by the burner 21 can be freely supplied into the drying chamber 4.

The exhaust section 6 is equipped with an exhaust fan 31 and an exhaust passage 32 that exhausts the air K in the drying chamber 4 to the outside. To drive the exhaust fan 31, a drive motor 12 and a second transmission belt 16 are provided. The second transmission belt 16 is wound around the second drive pulley 15 of the drive motor 12 and the exhaust fan 31. The drive motor 12 drives and rotates the second drive pulley 15 to wind the second transmission belt 16, thereby transmitting the driving force of the drive motor 12 to the exhaust fan 31 and operating the exhaust fan 31. In this way, the driving force of one drive motor 12 is transmitted to the rotating drum 11 and the exhaust fan 31, allowing two devices, the rotating drum 11 and the exhaust fan 31, to be freely operated.

The exhaust fan 31 is disposed on the rear side of the rotating drum 11 and is configured to suck in the air K in the drying chamber 4. The exhaust passage 32 is provided with an internal passage portion 33 in the housing 3 and an external passage portion 34 outside the housing 3, and the internal passage portion 33 is connected to the external passage portion 34 (exhaust pipe) to form the exhaust passage 32 that exhausts the air K in the drying chamber 4 to the outdoors. By operating the exhaust fan 31, a flow of air K is generated in which air K is taken in from the opening 26 on the bottom surface of the housing 3 into the inside of the housing 3, the taken-in air K is supplied into the drying chamber 4 via the burner 21, and the air K in the drying chamber 4 is exhausted to the outdoors through the exhaust passage 32.

A filter 41 is disposed on the rear side of the rotating drum 11 at a position where the air K exhausted from the drying chamber 4 passes through. The filter 41 is disposed downstream (exhaust side) of the drying chamber 4 and upstream of the exhaust fan 31 in the flow direction of the air K, and removes foreign matter such as dust and lint contained in the air K exhausted from the drying chamber 4. The filter 41 is disposed in a state where it closes an opening formed in the rear wall portion 11b of the rotating drum 11, and is provided so as to be freely rotatable integrally with the rotating drum 11.

In this embodiment, not only is the high-temperature air K1 (drying air) generated by the burner 21 supplied to the drying chamber 4 and the air K in the drying chamber 4 passed through the exhaust passage 32, but also a bypass supply unit 51 is provided that bypasses the drying chamber 4 and supplies the high-temperature air K1 (drying air) generated by the burner 21 to the exhaust passage 32 without passing through the drying chamber 4. By supplying the high-temperature air K1 to the exhaust passage 32 by the bypass supply unit 51, the inside of the exhaust passage 32 can be warmed and condensation can be prevented from occurring in the exhaust passage 32. In addition, since the high-temperature air K1 (drying air) used to dry the clothes 2 is supplied to the exhaust passage 32, even if condensation occurs in the exhaust passage 32, the condensation can be removed.

The bypass supply unit 51 will now be described.
1, the bypass supply unit 51 supplies high-temperature air K1 (drying air) to the exhaust passage 32, and thus includes a burner 21 for generating the high-temperature air K1, similar to the drying air supply unit 5, and the equipment for generating the high-temperature air K1 is also used as the drying air supply unit 5. In addition to the burner 21 for generating the high-temperature air K1, the bypass supply unit 51 includes a bypass passage 52 connected to the exhaust passage 32, bypassing the drying chamber 4 without passing through the drying chamber 4, and a ventilation fan 53 for supplying the high-temperature air K1 to the exhaust passage 32 through the bypass passage 52.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the upstream end of the bypass passage 52 is branched and connected to the upstream end of the high-temperature air supply passage 22, and is configured to freely receive high-temperature air K1 generated by combustion in the burner 21. The downstream end of the bypass passage 52 is connected to the downstream end of the internal passage portion 33 in the exhaust passage 32, and is configured to freely supply the high-temperature air K1 that has flowed through the bypass passage 52 to the exhaust passage 32.

Figure 2 is a front view of the rotating drum 11, the high-temperature air supply passage 22, the exhaust passage 32, and the bypass passage 52 in the bypass supply unit 51, showing each passage in a schematic diagram. Figure 3 is a plan view of the rotating drum 11, the high-temperature air supply passage 22, the exhaust passage 32, and the bypass passage 52 in the bypass supply unit 51, showing each passage in a schematic diagram. In Figures 2 and 3, the high-temperature air supply passage 22 and the exhaust passage 32 are shown in solid lines, while the bypass passage 52 is shown in dotted lines. In Figures 2 and 3, the high-temperature air K1 when supplied to the drying chamber 4 is shown in solid lines, and the high-temperature air K1 when bypassing the drying chamber 4 is shown in dotted lines.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the burner 21 is disposed in a lower portion on the front right side of the housing 3, and the hot air supply passage 22 extends from the burner 21 to the left in the left-right direction and is extended to the center portion of the rotating drum 11. The internal passage portion 33 of the exhaust passage 32 extends upward from the exhaust fan 31, then bends to the left in the left-right direction and extends to the upper portion on the rear left side of the housing 3. Incidentally, the locations of the burner 21, hot air supply passage 22, and exhaust passage 32 are merely examples, and are not limited to this arrangement.

The bypass passage 52 is provided with a first passage portion 52a (see Figures 2 and 3) extending in the width direction of the housing 3 from the upstream side of the flow direction of the high-temperature air K1, a second passage portion 52b (see Figures 1 and 2) extending in the vertical direction of the housing 3, and a third passage portion 52c (see Figures 1 and 3) extending from the front side to the rear side in the fore-and-aft direction of the housing 3.

The first passage portion 52a is connected at its upstream end to the upstream end of the high-temperature air supply passage 22 and is provided so as to be able to freely receive the high-temperature air K1 generated by the burner 21. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the first passage portion 52a passes the high-temperature air K1 to the left side in the left-right direction to the left end of the housing 3. The second passage portion 52b is disposed in the left front portion of the housing 3 and is a passage that passes the high-temperature air K1 from the lower side to the upper side of the housing 3 following the first passage portion 52a. The third passage portion 52c is a flow path that passes the high-temperature air K1 from the front side to the rear side of the housing 3 following the second passage portion 52b, and is connected to the downstream end of the internal passage portion 33 in the exhaust passage 32.

In the bypass passage 52, a ventilation fan 53 is provided at the upstream end of the first passage portion 52a. By operating this ventilation fan 53, the high-temperature air K1 generated by the combustion of the burner 21 can be drawn into the bypass passage 52, and the high-temperature air K1 can be circulated through the bypass passage 52.

The downstream end of the third passage portion 52c is provided with a backflow prevention section 54 that prevents air from flowing back from the exhaust passage 32 to the bypass passage 52. This effectively prevents air flowing through the exhaust passage 32 from flowing back into the bypass passage 52.

The bypass supply unit 51 performs combustion using the burner 21 and operates the ventilation fan 53 while the exhaust fan 31 is not in operation. As a result, the high-temperature air K1 generated by the combustion of the burner 21 is drawn into the first passage portion 52a of the bypass passage 52, flows through the bypass passage 52, reaches the downstream end of the third passage portion 52c, and is supplied from the downstream end of the third passage portion 52c to the internal passage portion 33 of the exhaust passage 32. In this way, the high-temperature air K1 is supplied to the internal passage portion 33 and flows through the exhaust passage 32 through the internal passage portion 33 and the external passage portion 34, thereby warming the exhaust passage 32.

The control of the clothes drying apparatus 1 will now be described.
1, a control unit 9 that controls the operating state of each device is provided at the front lower portion of the housing 3. The control unit 9 can execute a plurality of operations by controlling the operating state of each device, but is mainly configured to execute a drying operation for drying the clothes 2 stored in the drying chamber 4 by operating the drying air supply unit 5 and the exhaust unit 6.

Although not shown, the front of the housing 3 is equipped with an operation unit and a display unit. The operation unit is equipped with various switches, such as a power switch, a selection switch for selecting an operation or operation course, a switch for starting and pausing the drying operation, and a setting switch for setting the drying time of the drying operation. The display unit is equipped with various display units, such as a display unit that displays the operating status and a digital display unit that displays an estimate of the remaining drying time, etc.

In the drying operation, as shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 9 controls the fuel supply valve 25 in the drying air supply unit 5 to perform combustion by the burner 21, and controls the operating state of the drive motor 12 to operate the exhaust fan 31 in the exhaust unit 6. In this drying operation, the control unit 9 operates the drive motor 12 to operate the exhaust fan 31 and rotates the rotating drum 11 to move the clothes 2 in the drying chamber 4 without stopping them in a fixed position, thereby drying the clothes 2 efficiently.

When a set time has elapsed since the start of the drying operation, the control unit 9 controls the fuel supply valve 25 in the drying air supply unit 5 to stop combustion in the burner 21, and controls the operating state of the drive motor 12 to stop the exhaust fan 31 in the exhaust unit 6, thereby terminating the drying operation.

The set time can be, for example, a preset initial setting time, or the preset initial setting time can be changed based on the amount and weight of the clothes 2 put into the drying chamber 4. In addition, the condition for ending the drying operation is not limited to the elapse of the set time, but the drying operation can also be ended, for example, when the completion of drying of the clothes 2 is detected based on the detection information of a dryness sensor that can freely detect the dryness of the clothes 2.

Regarding the drying operation, the control unit 9 is configured to be able to execute not only the drying operation described above, but also a drying operation with pre-supply operation in which a pre-supply operation is performed immediately before the drying operation. In this drying operation with pre-supply operation, the control unit 9 first operates the bypass supply unit 51 to perform a pre-supply operation in which the high-temperature air K1 bypasses the drying chamber 4 and is supplied to the exhaust passage 32 without passing through the drying chamber 4, and then performs the above-mentioned drying operation following the pre-supply operation.

In the pre-supply operation, the control unit 9 performs combustion using the burner 21 and operates the ventilation fan 53 to generate high-temperature air K1 by the combustion of the burner 21, and as shown by the dotted arrows in Figures 2 and 3, the high-temperature air K1 flows through the bypass passage 52, bypassing the drying chamber 4 and supplying it to the exhaust passage 32. The control unit 9 continues the pre-supply operation, for example, until a set time has elapsed, and when the set time has elapsed, the control unit 9 stops the pre-supply operation and switches to drying operation. At this time, the set time can be set in advance through experiments, etc., so that the supply of high-temperature air K1 can sufficiently warm the exhaust passage 32.

The operation during the drying operation will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG.
When a user places clothes 2 in the drying chamber 4 and operates the operation unit or the like to command the start of the drying operation, the control unit 9 first determines whether or not the temperature in the exhaust passage 32 is equal to or lower than the set temperature (step #1). As shown in Fig. 1, the internal passage portion 33 of the exhaust passage 32 is provided with an exhaust temperature detection sensor 55 that detects the temperature in the exhaust passage 32, and the control unit 9 determines whether or not the temperature in the exhaust passage 32 is equal to or lower than the set temperature based on the detected temperature of the exhaust temperature detection sensor 55.

If the temperature in the exhaust passage 32 is equal to or lower than the set temperature, the temperature in the exhaust passage 32 has dropped and there is a possibility of condensation, so the control unit 9 executes drying operation with pre-supply operation (if Yes in step #1, step #2). The set temperature can be set in advance based on experiments to determine whether condensation will occur in the exhaust passage 32. In this drying operation with pre-supply operation, the control unit 9 first performs combustion using the burner 21, and operates the ventilation fan 53 to operate the bypass supply unit 51 to perform pre-supply operation (step #2), and then performs drying operation following the pre-supply operation (step #3).

If the temperature in the exhaust passage 32 is higher than the set temperature, the control unit 9 performs drying operation since the temperature in the exhaust passage 32 has not dropped and there is no possibility of condensation (if step #1 is No, step #3).

[Another embodiment]
Other embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Note that the configurations of the embodiments described below are not limited to being applied alone, but may also be applied in combination with the configurations of other embodiments.

(1) In the above embodiment, high-temperature air K1 (drying air) is generated by combustion of the burner 21. However, for example, high-temperature air (drying air) can also be generated by heating with an electric heater. The heating unit for generating the high-temperature air K1 is not limited to a burner, and other heating units can also be applied.

(2) In the above embodiment, the rotating drum 11 is rotated around a rotation axis P that is approximately horizontal, but the rotating drum can also be rotated around a rotation axis that is approximately vertical, and the setting of the rotation axis of the rotating drum can be changed as appropriate.

(3) In the above embodiment, the internal space of the rotating drum 11, which can be rotated freely, is provided as the drying chamber 4, but the drying chamber 4 can also be provided in a fixed state.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Clothes drying device 2 Clothes 4 Drying chamber 5 Drying air supply section 6 Exhaust section 9 Control section 31 Exhaust fan 32 Exhaust passage 51 Bypass supply section 52 Bypass passage 54 Backflow prevention section K1 High-temperature air (drying air)

Claims (4)

The drying apparatus includes a drying chamber capable of storing clothes, a drying air supply section capable of supplying drying air to the drying chamber, and an exhaust section for exhausting the air in the drying chamber to the outside.
The exhaust unit includes an exhaust fan and an exhaust passage that guides air from the drying chamber to the outside.
a bypass supply unit that supplies the drying air to an exhaust passage by bypassing the drying chamber without passing through the drying chamber ,
The clothes drying device , wherein the drying air is generated by heating a heating unit . The drying apparatus includes a drying chamber capable of storing clothes, a drying air supply section capable of supplying drying air to the drying chamber, and an exhaust section for exhausting the air in the drying chamber to the outside.
The exhaust unit includes an exhaust fan and an exhaust passage that guides air from the drying chamber to the outside.
a bypass supply unit that supplies the drying air to the exhaust passage without passing through the drying chamber and bypassing the drying chamber,
A control unit is provided to control the operation states of the drying air supply unit, the exhaust unit, and the bypass supply unit,
The control unit is configured to freely execute a drying operation in which the drying air supply unit and the exhaust unit are operated to dry the clothes stored in the drying chamber, and a pre-supply operation with pre-supply operation in which the bypass supply unit is operated to supply drying air to the exhaust passage without passing through the drying chamber, bypassing the drying chamber, and the drying operation is performed following the pre- supply operation. The clothes drying device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit is configured to perform the drying operation with pre-supply operation when the temperature in the exhaust passage is equal to or lower than the set temperature, and to perform the drying operation when the temperature in the exhaust passage is higher than the set temperature. The bypass supply unit includes a bypass passage that bypasses the drying chamber and is connected to the exhaust passage, without passing through the drying chamber;
4. The clothes drying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a backflow prevention section at a connection between the exhaust passage and the bypass passage for preventing air from flowing back from the exhaust passage to the bypass passage.

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