KR100595760B1 - Clothes dryer with steam compression cycle system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a clothes dryer having a vapor compression cycle system, comprising: a cabinet, a drying vessel rotatably installed in the cabinet, and a first air passage connected to one side of the drying vessel and including a first heat exchanger; And a second air flow path connected to the other side of the drying container and connected to the outside of the cabinet, a driving part providing rotational force to the drying container, and installed inside the cabinet and the first heat exchanger part and a thermodynamic cycle. It provides a clothes dryer comprising a second heat exchanger and a compressor, and cooling means for cooling the compressor.

Clothes dryer, exhaust system, steam compression cycle, cooling

Description

Clothes dryer with steam compression cycle system {CLOTHES DRYER WITH VAPOR COMPRESSION CYCLE SYSTEM}

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a clothes dryer according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the clothes dryer according to the present invention.

Figure 3 is a plan view showing a lower structure of the clothes dryer according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing a refrigerant and air flow in the clothes dryer according to the invention.

5 is a perspective view of a part of a clothes dryer according to the present invention;

*** Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing ***

10: Clothes dryer 12: Cabinet

16: Drying container 18: Drive part

20: first air passage 22: second air passage

30: first heat exchanger 32: second heat exchanger

34: compressor 36: expansion means

40: fan 40 ': auxiliary fan

The present invention relates to a clothes dryer, and more particularly, to an exhaust type clothes dryer including a steam compression cycle system.

The clothes dryer may be classified into an exhaust method and a condensation method according to the treatment method of the wet air generated while drying the dry items. The former is a method of discharging the humid air discharged from the dryer to the outside, the latter is a method of condensing the wet air discharged from the dryer to remove the moisture and circulating the moisture-removed air back to the dryer.

In general, an exhaust type dryer has an intake duct and an exhaust duct connected to a rotatable drum provided inside a cabinet, and a heater is installed in the intake duct.

As the air outside the dryer is introduced into the intake duct by the driving of the fan, it is heated to a high temperature by a heater, where the heating temperature reaches about 100 ° C. This hot air flows into the drying drum inside the dryer to dry the dry matter inside the drum. In the drying process, the hot air contains moisture contained in the object to be dried, and high humidity air is discharged to the outside through the exhaust duct.

The conventional clothes dryer which transfers heat to the inlet air by using the heater can shorten the overall drying time by the rapid air heating of the heater, and can be manufactured in a large capacity, while the inlet air is heated by the heater. As a result, the energy consumption is high. In particular, since the dry object is dried with hot air at 100 ° C. or higher, the damage is likely to occur depending on the material of the dry object in the drying process.

On the other hand, the condensation type clothes dryer has the advantage of being able to be built-in type because there is no need for the exhaust duct to release air to the outside of the clothes dryer, and the energy efficiency is higher than the exhaust method, but drying time There is a disadvantage that it is difficult to manufacture a long and large capacity.

Under such a background, there is a need for an improved clothes dryer with high energy efficiency and no damage to the dry matter.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer with improved energy efficiency and low power consumption.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a clothes dryer with less possibility of damage to the dry matter due to the hot air during the drying process.

In addition, another object of the present invention to provide a compact clothes dryer with improved space utilization.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cabinet, a drying vessel rotatably installed in the cabinet, a first air passage connected to one side of the drying vessel and including a first heat exchanger, A second air flow passage connected to the other side and connected to the outside of the cabinet, a driving unit providing rotational force to the drying vessel, and a second heat exchanger installed inside the cabinet and forming a thermodynamic cycle with the first heat exchanger. It provides a clothes dryer comprising a unit and a compressor, and cooling means for cooling the compressor.

The cooling means is preferably an auxiliary fan for delivering air flow to the compressor. The auxiliary fan is preferably connected to the drive unit to receive a rotational force from the drive unit.

The first heat exchange part is a condenser for heating up the air flowing through the heat exchange, and the second heat exchange part is an evaporator.

The first heat exchange part, the second heat exchange part, and the compressor form a thermodynamic cycle through separate expansion means installed in the cabinet and a pipe connecting them, and the first heat exchange part, the second heat exchange part, the compressor, and the expansion The means is preferably installed at the bottom of the drying vessel.

Preferably, the second heat exchanger is provided between the cooling means and the compressor.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 shows an example of a clothes dryer 10 according to the present invention. The cabinet 12 is provided with an inlet 14 through which a dry matter can enter and exit on a front surface, and the inside is empty, and a drying container is rotatably installed therein.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the clothes dryer in more detail, Figure 3 is a plan view showing the components installed on the clothes dryer bottom.

The drying vessel 16 is a cylindrical structure that is installed to rotate about an axis that is substantially parallel to the bottom surface of the cabinet 12. The drying vessel 16 is rotatable under a rotational force supplied from a driving unit 18, for example, a motor, installed at a lower portion of the cabinet 12, preferably on the bottom surface of the cabinet 12. Usually, as for the transmission means of rotational force, the belt 42 extended and fastened to the outer peripheral surface of the drying container 16 from the drive shaft of the drive part 18 is suitable. As will be described later, the drive unit may be installed inside the cabinet 12 to transmit the rotational force to the fan 40 causing the air flow.

The first air passage 20 through which intake air flows is connected to one side of the drying vessel 16, and the second air passage 22 through which exhaust air discharged from the drying vessel flows to the other side thereof. Although the inlet may not be exposed to the outside of the cabinet 12, the outlet 22 ′ of the second air passage 22 may be exposed to the outside of the cabinet 12. . The shape of the 1st air flow path 20 and the 2nd air flow path 22 does not need to be specifically limited, The direction or the position of each part which comprises a flow path may be changed suitably for the space inside a cabinet.

A first heat exchange part 30 is installed in the first air flow path 20. The first heat exchanger 30 is a condenser and is changed to a heated state by applying heat from air flowing into the first air flow path 20. Therefore, the air passing through the first air passage 20 enters the drying vessel 16 in a state of being heated. The first air flow path 20 may include a filter 21 for removing dust and the like from the air flowing into the inlet.

One side of the cabinet 12 is provided with an evaporator as the second heat exchanger 32. Preferably, the first heat exchanger 30 and the second heat exchanger 32 form a thermodynamic cycle. For this purpose, the cabinet 12 further includes a compressor 34 and an expansion mechanism 36. The compressor 34 and the expansion mechanism 36 are preferably installed below the drying vessel or lower than the drying vessel, and the first heat exchanger 30 and the second heat exchanger 32 and the pipe 38. Connected to form a closed loop. This cycle corresponds to a vapor compression cycle and acts as a heat pump on the air flowing through the first air flow path 30.

An air flow fan 40 is installed in the second air flow path 22. As the fan 40, a multi-rotor sirocco fan is suitable. The fan 40 receives the rotational force from the driving unit 18 to generate an air flow through which the air is discharged from the first air passage 20 to the outside through the drying vessel 16 through the second air passage 22. .

An auxiliary fan 40 'is mounted at the other side of the driving unit. This auxiliary fan 40 'generates air flow to the compressor 34 to cool the compressor. The second heat exchanger 32 is provided between the auxiliary fan 40 ′ and the compressor 34. Accordingly, the air flow generated from the auxiliary fan 40 ′ is lowered while passing through the second heat exchange part 32 to further improve the cooling of the compressor 34. Preferably, the auxiliary fan 40 ', the second heat exchanger 32, and the compressor 34 are arranged in a straight line. As such, the compressor efficiency is improved by installing the auxiliary fan 40 'to cool the compressor 34, thereby improving the overall efficiency of the steam compression cycle. In addition, by providing an evaporator corresponding to the second heat exchanger between the auxiliary fan 40 'and the compressor 34, the compressor cooling effect can be doubled.

The air flow by the auxiliary fan 40 ′ is directed towards the compressor 34, but this flow also generates air flow in the drive 18. Therefore, the cooling effect of the drive unit 18 can also be obtained by the auxiliary fan 40 '.

As shown in FIG. 3, an opening 12 ′ may be formed on the cabinet 12 behind the compressor 34. The opening 12 ′ may serve as an outlet of air cooling the compressor 34, but the opening 12 ′ is not necessarily required.

Figure 4 schematically shows the flow of the refrigerant and the flow of air on the air flow path in the steam compression cycle system in the clothes dryer according to the present invention.

Appropriate refrigerant flows in the pipe 38 connecting the elements constituting the cycle, the direction of which passes from the first heat exchanger 30 to the second heat exchanger 32 via the expansion mechanism 36 and again. The second heat exchanger 32 passes through the compressor 34 to the first heat exchanger 30. The flow direction of this refrigerant is indicated by the solid arrow.

Air flowing into the first air passage 20 enters the drying vessel 16 after passing through the first heat exchange part 30 and is discharged through the second air passage 22 again. Is shown.

The air entering the first air flow path 20 receives the heat from the first heat exchanger 30 and is heated to a temperature of about 50 ° C. or higher, preferably 50 to 75 ° C.

Each element constituting the cycle, that is, the first heat exchanger 30, the second heat exchanger 32, the compressor 34, the expansion mechanism 36, and the pipe 38 connecting them are all inside the cabinet 12. In particular, it is preferable to be provided at the lower part of the drying container 16. For this purpose, at least a part of the first air flow path 20 in which the first heat exchanger 30 is installed is appropriately installed at the bottom of the drying vessel 16, and the remaining components are also installed at the bottom of the cabinet. Is appropriate.

This arrangement eliminates the need to increase the volume of the cabinet, effectively utilizing the interior space, resulting in a compact clothes dryer. If the elements are exposed outside the clothes dryer or the cabinet becomes bulky, the installation area of the clothes dryer inside the building will also increase, resulting in less space utilization.

5 shows a part of a clothes dryer according to the invention. As shown, the belt 42 is wound around the outer circumferential surface of the drying vessel 16, and the belt 42 is connected to the driving unit 18 to transmit the rotational force to the drying vessel 16. The drive unit 18 is also connected to a fan 40 installed in the second air flow path 22 to drive the fan. In addition, the auxiliary fan 40 ′ is also connected to the driving unit 18 to receive the rotational force.

Thus, the drive unit 18 can rotate the drying vessel 16 and the two pans 40, 40 ′ simultaneously. Thus, by driving the drying vessel 16 and the pans 40 and 40 'at the same time with only one drive unit 18, it is advantageous to increase the space utilization inside the cabinet and to eliminate the need for additional equipment.

Looking at the drying process of the clothes dryer of the present invention having such a configuration as follows.

When the fan 40 is driven by the rotation of the driving unit 18, a suction force is generated, and air outside the dryer flows into the inlet of the first air passage 20. The introduced air changes to a high temperature while passing through the first heat exchanger 30 to reach one side of the drying vessel 16. Air entering the drying vessel is maintained at a temperature of about 50 to 75 ℃. The hot air which maintains this temperature can perform drying smoothly, without damaging the to-be-drying object inside the drying container 16.

The hot air introduced into the drying vessel 16 is transferred to the heat-contained dry matter while being in contact with the moisture-containing dry matter, and the moisture is transferred from the dried water to exit the dry vessel as the high humidity air. The air flowing out of the drying vessel is discharged out of the cabinet 12 through the second air flow passage 22.

The clothes dryer of the present invention described above will be possible to those skilled in the art various modifications and improvements within the scope of the technical spirit set forth in the claims below.

The clothes dryer according to the present invention exhibits two to three times the heating performance when using the same electric power by using a heat generation system by a steam compression cycle compared to the heater method. Therefore, power consumption can be reduced. In particular, by providing the cooling means of the compressor constituting the vapor compression cycle to increase the compressor efficiency can further improve the overall cycle efficiency.

In addition, since the temperature of the air flowing into the drying container is low compared to the drying by the heater method, there is an advantage that the damage of the dry matter is prevented.

In addition, there is an advantage in space utilization because the compact size of the clothes dryer occupies a small area inside the building.

Claims (11)

Cabinets, A drying container rotatably installed in the cabinet; A first air passage connected to one side of the drying vessel and including a first heat exchanger; A second air flow passage connected to the other side of the drying vessel and connected to an outside of the cabinet; A driving unit for providing a rotational force to the drying vessel; A second heat exchanger and a compressor installed inside the cabinet and forming a thermodynamic cycle with the first heat exchanger; And cooling means for cooling the compressor. Clothes dryer. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein the cooling means is an auxiliary fan for flowing air to the compressor. The clothes dryer of claim 2, wherein the auxiliary fan is connected to the driving unit to receive rotational force from the driving unit. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein the first heat exchange part heats up the air flowing through the heat exchange. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein the first heat exchange part, the second heat exchange part, and the compressor form a thermodynamic cycle through a separate expansion means installed inside the cabinet and a pipe connecting them. The clothes dryer of claim 5, wherein the compressor and the expansion means are installed under the drying container. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein the first heat exchange part is a condenser and the second heat exchange part is an evaporator. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein the second heat exchange part is provided between the cooling means and the compressor. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein an opening is formed on a front surface of the cabinet to allow entry and exit of a dry item. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein a fan for causing an air flow is installed in the second air passage. The clothes dryer of claim 10, wherein the fan receives rotational force by the driving unit.

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