KR101521930B1 - Clothes dryer with steam generator - Google Patents

Abstract

The clothes dryer of the present invention comprises a main body forming an appearance; A top plate constituting an upper portion of the main body; A drum rotatably installed in the main body; A steam generator for generating steam supplied into the drum; And a storage tank installed in the top plate and storing water to be supplied to the steam generator. In addition, the storage tank is provided with a cap having an open top surface and being detachable to the storage tank so as to cover the entire opened top surface, and a cover is provided on the top of the cap.

According to the present invention, it is possible to effectively constitute a configuration of a steam generator for generating steam supplied into the drum and a storage tank for supplying water to the steam generator.

Steam generator, reservoir, valve, pump, top plate

Description

[0001] CLOTHES DRYER HAVING STEAM GENERATER [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a clothes dryer, and more particularly, to a clothes dryer having a steam generator for generating steam for spraying steam into a drum of a clothes dryer, and a storage tank for storing water supplied to the steam generator .

Generally, a garment dryer refers to a device for loading laundry in a state in which the laundry is completed and the dehydration process is completed into a drum of a dryer, and supplying hot air into the drum to evaporate moisture in the laundry to dry the laundry.

According to the structure of the dryer, the dryer includes a drum inside the dryer into which the laundry is introduced, a driving motor for driving the drum, a blowing fan for blowing air into the drum, and a heating means for heating the air flowing into the drum . The heating means may utilize the high-temperature electric resistance heat generated by using the electric resistance or the combustion heat generated by burning the gas.

Then, the air exiting the drum of the dryer has moisture of the laundry in the drum, and the air becomes hot and humid. In this case, the dryer can be classified according to the method of treating the high temperature and high humidity air. Since the hot and humid air circulates without being discharged to the outside of the dryer, heat exchange with the outside air occurs in the condenser, A condensing type dryer for condensing moisture, and an exhaust type dryer for discharging the high-temperature and high-humidity air passing through the drum directly to the outside.

However, there is a large amount of wrinkles in the laundry which has been laundered and put into the dryer, and such wrinkles are not removed during the drying process, so that there is an inconvenience that the dryer needs to be ironed again after drying. In addition, not only these wrinkles after washing but also wrinkles and odors are generated in the course of storing clothing or the like, or there is a problem that bacteria are propagated. Conventionally, in order to solve such a problem, a steam generator is installed in a clothes dryer to spray steam on the clothes being dried in the drum to remove wrinkles and odors, and to sterilize the clothes.

FIG. 1 shows a general shape of a clothes dryer having a conventional steam function. 1, the clothes dryer includes a main body 10 including a front cover 11 and a side cover 12 forming an outer appearance. The front cover 11 has a door 12 for opening and closing the inside thereof And an operation panel 13 for operating the dryer is provided at an upper portion of the front cover. The drum 14 is rotatably mounted in the main body.

The clothes dryer includes a steam generator 24 as a means for supplying steam to the inside of the drum 14 by being installed at one side of the drum 14 to generate steam. The steam generator 24 is provided with a heater (not shown) therein so that the water stored in the steam generator is heated by the heater to generate steam, and the generated steam is discharged through the hose 25 And is injected into the drum from the rear surface of the drum. The steam generator 24 is provided with a cartridge 21 for storing water in order to supply water for generating steam and discharging water to the steam generator when necessary. And is supplied to the steam generator by the pump 23 provided between the steam generators. The cartridge 21 is detachably attached to a drawer 20 which can be drawn out to the front of the dryer body. When the drawer 20 is drawn in or drawn out from the dryer, (Not shown). According to the above configuration, when the water in the cartridge 21 is completely consumed and needs to be replenished, the drawer 20 is pulled forward to pull out the cartridge 21 mounted on the drawer 20, And then replace it.

However, such a conventional steam generating means requires a separate cartridge for storing water, requires a drawer for mounting the cartridge, a guide for guiding the drawer, and the like, There is a problem in that a lot of such problems occur.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an effective means for generating and supplying steam into a drum in a clothes dryer.

In order to achieve the above object, A top plate constituting an upper portion of the main body; A drum rotatably installed in the main body; A steam generator for generating steam supplied into the drum; And a storage tank installed in the top plate and storing water supplied to the steam generator.

In addition, the storage tank has a top opened shape, and a cap detachable to the storage tank so as to cover the entire opened top surface.

In addition, a cap is provided at the center of the cap for introducing water to be introduced into the reservoir, a filter is provided at the charging port, and the cap is made of a transparent material to confirm the capacity of water stored in the reservoir Dryer.

The cover has a hinge connection with one side of the storage tank and is hooked to the other side of the storage tank. The cover is hinged to one side of the storage tank and is hooked to the other side of the storage tank. Lt; / RTI >

A pump for supplying water of the storage tank to the steam generator is provided between the storage tank and the steam generator or a valve for controlling the flow rate of water supplied from the storage tank to the steam generator is provided between the storage tank and the steam generator A clothes drier is provided.

The steam generator is provided with a water level sensor for measuring the volume of stored water, so that water of a predetermined level is always stored in the steam generator.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to simplify the means for generating steam supplied into the drum of the clothes dryer, thereby facilitating the production of the steam generator. When the water stored in the steam generator is required to be replenished, There is an effect that can be supplemented.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, detailed description of the same configuration as that of the conventional dryer is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a clothes dryer having a steam generator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a storage tank and a steam generator installed in the clothes dryer of FIG. 2, and FIG. Fig. 5 is a view showing the cover opened in the reservoir of Fig. 4, Fig. 6 is a view showing the cap removed from the reservoir of Fig. 4, Fig. 7 is a view Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the steam generator installed in the clothes dryer of Fig. 2; Fig.

2 to 7, the clothes dryer 50 according to the present invention includes a main body having a front cover 51 and a top plate 52 (see FIG. 4) A drum 55 rotatably mounted in the body for drying clothing and the like, and a door 53 for opening and closing an opening of the drum 55. FIG. 2 shows a configuration in which the top plate is removed to show the inside of the clothes dryer.

Further, although not shown in detail in the drawing, the clothes dryer includes a heater for heating the air supplied into the drum 55, a blowing fan for circulating the air in the dryer, and air circulating inside the dryer, And a drying duct for guiding the flow of the circulating air to be introduced into the drying duct.

The clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a steam generator 110 for generating steam supplied to the drum 55 and a storage tank for storing water for generating steam from the steam generator 110. [ (100).

FIG. 2 shows the steam generating means by simplifying the structure of the dryer to remove the top plate and the side plates. The storage tank 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a container for temporarily storing water that is supplied to the steam generator 110 and heated and changed into steam, and the upper side of the storage tank 100 is an upper surface of the clothes dryer And mounted on a top plate (52 in Fig. 4). The reservoir 100 is in the form of a container having an open top, preferably a container having a rectangular cross-section.

A cover 101 is provided on the upper part of the storage tank 100 to open and close the inside of the storage tank. The cover 101 may be slid in one direction on the top plate 52 of the dryer and may be opened or hinged to one side of the storage tank to be rotatable. On the other side of the cover and the storage tank, And may rotate around the hinge-coupled portion to open / close the inside of the storage tank 100. As shown in FIG.
More specifically, the cover 101 may be exposed to the outside of the top plate 52 when the storage tank 100 is shut off, as shown in FIG. 5, the cover 101 may be pivoted upward relative to the storage tank 100 so that the upper surface of the storage tank 100 is opened.

Also, in the structure of the storage tank 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a cap is detachably provided on the upper part of the storage tank 100 which is sealed by the cover 101.

A cap 103 is detachably mounted on the upper surface of the storage tank 100 opened by the rotation of the cover 101 to cover the entire upper surface of the storage tank 100. The cap 103 has an outer rim formed to correspond to the shape of the opened upper surface of the storage tank 100 and has an inlet 104 for guiding water to be introduced into the storage tank 100 at the center thereof. The inlet 104 is tapered from the outer periphery toward the center so that the supplied water can flow easily. A filter 105 is provided in the inlet 104 of the cap 103 to remove impurities contained in the water supplied to the storage tank 100. The filter 105 is connected to a mesh network .

The cap 103 may be made of a transparent material so that the capacity of the water stored in the reservoir 100 can be checked. The user can determine the capacity of the stored water through the transparent cap and then replenish the cap with water if necessary.

In addition, since the cap 103 is detachably mounted to the storage tank, when the user needs to separate the cap 103 from the storage tank, such as when cleaning the inside of the storage tank 100, . A sealing member (106 of FIG. 7) may be provided at a portion of the cap 103 that contacts the reservoir, and a handle (not shown) may be formed on the cap. To be used in the case of separation.

Between the storage tank 100 and the steam generator 110, a pipe 120 serving as a passage for supplying water from the storage tank to the steam generator is provided. The pipe (120) is provided with a pump (130) for blocking the flow of water inside the pipe or allowing water to flow. The pump 130 serves to supply water to the steam generator when the steam generator is deficient in water. According to the embodiment of the clothes dryer, the water in the storage tank may flow through the pipe to the steam generator by using a difference in height between the storage tank 100 and the steam generator 110 in which water is stored without using a pump . However, it is preferable to use a pump to accurately supply the amount of water required by the compact structure of the dryer or the steam generator.

When the amount of water stored in the steam generator is insufficient, the pump 130 receives a signal from the control unit of the clothes dryer and supplies water to the steam generator. To this end, the steam generator 110 measures the amount of water stored in the steam generator 110 A water level sensor is provided. The shape of the steam generator will be described below with reference to Fig.

8, a pipe 120 for supplying water from the storage tank 100 is connected to one side of the steam generator 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a discharge hose 150 are connected. The steam generator 110 includes a steam generator main body 111 for storing the supplied water, a heater 115 for heating water stored in the steam generator main body 111, And a water level sensor 113 for measuring a water level of the water stored in the steam generator main body 111. The water level sensor 113 measures the water level of the water stored in the water level sensor 111, The water level sensor 113 includes a common electrode 113a, a low-level electrode 113b and a high-level electrode 113c. The low-level electrode 113a and the low-level electrode 113b are energized to sense a low- And senses the high water level by energizing the common electrode 113a and the high-level electrode 113c. In addition, a nozzle 160 for spraying steam is connected to the end of the discharge hose 150, so that the steam sprayed from the nozzle 160 is sprayed onto the drum in the dryer to deposit on the clothes.

The fragrance spray drying process in the dryer 10 according to the present invention will be schematically described. First, after the user puts the laundry into the drum 55, the steam drying course is inputted through the input portion of the operation panel. When the drying process is started, hot air flows into the dryer drum 55 to heat and dry the clothes. In the steam generator 110, water stored by the internal heater 115 is heated to generate steam, The generated steam is injected into the drum 55 through the steam nozzle 160. The timing at which the steam is to be sprayed may be manually operated by the user by operating the operation panel, or the timing at which the steam is sprayed may depend on the drying course selected by the user among the various drying courses pre- It may be automatically adjusted by the control unit.

When the water stored in the storage tank 100 is consumed and needs to be replenished after the dryer has been dried a plurality of times, the user opens the cover 101 of the storage tank and inserts the inlet 104 of the cap 103, Can be replenished by pouring water. The user can visually confirm whether the water in the storage tank is insufficient or not through the transparent cap or measure the volume of the water stored in the water level sensor 113 provided in the steam generator 110 to detect the lack of water And a signal for notifying the user through the control unit can be generated.

1 is a perspective view of a clothes dryer having a conventional steam generator means,

2 is a perspective view of a clothes dryer having a steam generating unit according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a storage tank and a steam generator installed in the clothes dryer of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a state where a cover is closed in a storage tank according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 5 is a view showing the cover opened in the reservoir of Fig. 4,

Figure 6 is a view of the cap removed from the reservoir of Figure 4,

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the cap mounted to the reservoir of Figure 5,

8 is a cross-sectional view of the steam generator installed in the clothes dryer of Fig.

Claims (9)

An outer body; A top plate constituting an upper portion of the main body; A drum rotatably installed in the main body; A steam generator for generating steam supplied into the drum; A reservoir for storing water to be supplied to the steam generator, the reservoir having an upper surface opened and having an upper side disposed on the top plate; A cover hinged to one side of the upper part of the reservoir so as to be exposed to the outside of the top plate when opening and closing the upper surface of the reservoir; And And a cap detachably coupled to an upper surface of the storage tank so as to cover the entire opened upper surface of the storage tank, And a cap for guiding water to be introduced into the reservoir is provided at the center of the cap, Wherein when the reservoir is supplied with water, the cover is opened to the top of the top plate, and water is supplied through the inlet of the cap opened by the rotation of the cover. delete The method according to claim 1, Wherein a filter for removing impurities contained in water introduced into the storage tank is provided at an inlet of the cap. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the cap is made of a transparent material so that the capacity of water stored in the reservoir can be confirmed. delete The method according to any one of claims 1, 3, and 4, And the cover is hooked to the other side of the storage tank. The method according to any one of claims 1, 3, and 4, And a pump for supplying water in the storage tank to the steam generator is provided between the storage tank and the steam generator. The method according to any one of claims 1, 3, and 4, Wherein a valve is provided between the storage tank and the steam generator for controlling a flow rate of water supplied from the storage tank to the steam generator. The method according to any one of claims 1, 3, and 4, Wherein the steam generator is provided with a water level sensor for measuring a volume of stored water.

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