KR20130087847A - Dish washer with dehumidifying device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dish washer having a dehumidifier, and according to one aspect of the present invention, a washing tank is mounted therein and a sump is installed below; A circulation passage communicating with the washing tank; A dehumidifier provided inside the circulation passage; Blowing means for circulating air in the washing tank through the circulation passage; A drain passage for discharging water stored in the sump to the outside of the washing tank; An intake duct connected to the circulation passage to introduce external air into the circulation passage; And a heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between water and air flowing through the drainage passage and the circulation passage.

Description

Dish Washer with Dehumidifier {DISH WASHER WITH DEHUMIDIFYING DEVICE}

The present invention relates to a dishwasher having a dehumidifier, and more particularly, to a dishwasher having a dehumidifier for reducing the humidity of the air inside the washing tank during drying.

The dishwasher performs washing, rinsing, and drying processes sequentially, while washing and drying the dishes placed in the washing tank. In the washing and rinsing process, high-pressure washing water is sprayed on the surface of the dish to wash the dish and remove residual detergent. Thereafter, in the drying process, the temperature inside the washing tank is raised to about 60 ° C. using a heater to evaporate the moisture remaining on the surface of the dish, and the evaporated water is condensed on the surface of the washing tank having a relatively low temperature and positioned under the washing tank. It will be collected as a sump.

Looking at the amount of power consumed in the dishwasher, more than half of the power is consumed to increase the temperature inside the washing tank in the drying process rather than washing and rinsing. Therefore, various attempts have been made to reduce the amount of power consumed in the drying process.

As one of such attempts, a dish washer has been proposed in which a dehumidifying agent such as zeolite is provided in the duct connected to the washing tank to remove moisture contained in the air in the washing tank.

The dishwasher of this type has a separate circulation duct connected to the inside of the washing tank, and a dehumidifying device containing a dehumidifying agent is installed in the circulation duct. When the drying process is performed in the dishwasher, the air inside the washing tank is introduced into the circulation duct by using a blower and the like while raising the temperature inside.

The air thus introduced is dehumidified while passing through the dehumidifier and then resupplied into the washing tank. As dry air is dehumidified, water evaporates in the washing tank to promote dish drying. Therefore, since the internal temperature of the washing tank does not have to be increased a lot during the drying process, power required for heating is reduced. In addition, while passing through the dehumidifier, the air returns to the washing tank in a state where the temperature is raised due to the heat of adsorption of the dehumidifying agent. Therefore, the energy consumption can be reduced by about 25 to 50% compared to the case where no dehumidifier is used, and the time required for drying can be reduced as the inside of the washing tank is kept dry.

However, after the drying process is completed, the dehumidifying agent must be regenerated by evaporating the moisture adsorbed on the dehumidifying agent for the subsequent drying process. To this end, the outside air is introduced into the circulation duct, but the outside air is heated through the heater and supplied to the dehumidifier. When the high temperature air is supplied to the dehumidifier, the moisture adsorbed on the dehumidifier evaporates and the dehumidifier is regenerated.

However, there is a problem that the energy consumed to regenerate the dehumidifying agent is substantially the same as the energy saved by using the dehumidifying agent, so that there is no significant saving effect in terms of the overall power consumption.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, to provide a dishwasher that can reduce the power consumption by minimizing the energy consumed to regenerate the dehumidifying agent as a technical problem.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, the washing vessel is mounted therein, the sump is installed in the lower portion; A circulation passage communicating with the washing tank; A dehumidifier provided inside the circulation passage; Blowing means for circulating air in the washing tank through the circulation passage; A drain passage for discharging water stored in the sump to the outside of the washing tank; An intake duct connected to the circulation passage to introduce external air into the circulation passage; And a heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between water and air flowing through the drainage passage and the circulation passage.

In the above aspect of the present invention, the regenerated air supplied to regenerate the dehumidifying device to which moisture is adsorbed is heated by using the water stored in the washing tank to minimize the power required to generate regenerated air.

During the rinsing process of a typical dishwasher, 3 to 5 liters of water at 40 to 60 ° C. are discarded, and the rinsing water has available energy of approximately 100 to 200 Wh compared to 20 ° C. outside air. In view of this, the inventors have come to devise the present invention to reduce the energy consumed due to the generation of the regenerated air by utilizing the heat energy of the rinsing water to heat the regenerated air.

Here, the heat exchanger may be installed on the drainage passage so that water stored in the sump passes through the inside of the heat exchanger and then drains.

If the heat energy of the rinsing water is insufficient to sufficiently regenerate the dehumidifier, a heater for supplying hot air into the circulation passage may be further included to generate regenerated air through the heater. In this case, the energy consumption is higher than in the case of heating the regenerated air only by rinsing water, but the energy consumption can be remarkably reduced as compared with the heating by only the heater.

In addition, the heater can be used even if the temperature of the rinsing water is not high enough. That is, the heater can be operated when the temperature of the water stored in the sump is lower than the outside air.

In addition, the heater is operated after all the water stored in the sump is drained, thereby making the maximum use of the energy of the rinsing water.

In addition, the blowing means may be operated even when all the water stored in the sump is drained. In this case, since the air is supplied at room temperature, the regeneration rate of the dehumidifier is slowed down, but the regeneration of the dehumidifier may be performed in a state in which energy consumption is minimized.

On the other hand, by allowing the outside air to flow through the intake duct in the state that the circulation flow path is blocked, to prevent the humid air inside the washing tank in the rinsing process to enter the dehumidifier, to regenerate the dehumidifying agent more efficiently Can be.

According to another aspect of the invention, the washing tank is mounted; A dehumidifier for absorbing and dehumidifying moisture contained in the air in the washing tank; And a regeneration device for evaporating moisture adsorbed by supplying regeneration air to the dehumidifier, wherein the regenerated air is supplied to the dehumidifier after heat exchange with water discharged from the washing tank. A dishwasher is provided.

Here, the regenerated air may be supplied to the dehumidifier at a temperature higher than room temperature.

In addition, it may further include a heater for heating the regeneration air.

According to the aspects of the present invention having the configuration as described above, by regenerating the dehumidifying agent by utilizing the heat energy of the washing water or rinsing water that has not been used conventionally and discarded, it is possible to minimize the energy consumed to generate the regenerated air, This will greatly reduce the power consumption of the dishwasher.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a first embodiment of a dish washer according to the present invention.
2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the dehumidifying agent is being regenerated in the first embodiment.
3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a second embodiment of the dishwasher according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described an embodiment of the dishwasher according to the present invention.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a first embodiment of a dish washing machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a dehumidifying agent is being regenerated in the first embodiment. 1 and 2, the first embodiment 100 includes a washing tank 102 that provides a space in which the dishes are to be mounted and a plurality of racks installed inside the washing tank 102 to place the dishes. (104, 106).

In addition, the lower part of the washing tank 102 is provided with a sump 108 for temporarily storing the washing water and the rinsing water to be sprayed onto the surface of the dish during the washing of the dish.

 Of course, the first embodiment 100 is a cabinet constituting the exterior of the dishwasher 102, a plurality of nozzles for spraying water to the dishware and for pumping the washing or rinsing water to the nozzle Although additionally provided with a washing pump, these components can be used as it is conventionally used, the detailed description thereof will be omitted for the specific form thereof.

One side of the washing tank 102 is provided with a circulation duct 110, both ends of which communicate with the inside of the washing tank. In addition, the circulation duct 110 is provided with an intake port 110a for introducing external air into the circulation duct and an exhaust port 110b for discharging air in the circulation duct to the outside of the washing tank.

The dehumidifier 112 is provided inside the circulation duct 110. The dehumidifier 112 is provided with a dehumidifying agent therein, and the air passing through the circulation duct is configured to contact the dehumidifying agent provided therein while passing through the dehumidifying device 112. In addition, a blower 114 is provided at a downstream side of the dehumidifier 112 so as to generate an air flow for allowing the air inside the washing tank 102 to flow into the circulation duct and to be exhausted to the washing tank.

On the other hand, the first damper 120 and the second damper 122 are respectively installed in the inlet port 110a and the exhaust port 110b. The first damper 120 is installed to selectively open or close one of the flow path from the washing tank or the inlet port 110a, and the second damper 122 is the flow path of the washing tank or the exhaust port 110b. It is installed to open and close one of them selectively. In FIG. 1, the first damper 120 and the second damper 122 are disposed to block the intake port 110a and the exhaust port 110b, respectively, so that air flows between the circulation passage and the inside of the washing tank. Forming.

The sump 108 communicates with the drainage flow path 130 to allow the washing water or the rinsing water to drain out of the washing tank after the washing and rinsing is completed. The drain passage 130 is provided with a drain pump 134 to drain the washing water or rinsing water to the outside through the drain 132.

In addition, an intake duct 140 is further provided in communication with the intake port 110a to introduce air outside the washing tank 102 into the circulation passage 110. The inlet 142 of the intake duct 140 communicates with the outside of the dish washing machine so that external air existing in the place where the dish washing machine is installed is introduced into the intake duct 140.

Finally, a heat exchanger 150 is installed in the drain passage 130. Specifically, the heat exchanger 150 is connected to the drainage passage so that the washing water or rinsing water drained through the drainage passage 130 may flow inside the heat exchanger 150, and the outer surface of the heat exchanger may be It is exposed inside the intake duct. Through this, the washing water or the rinsing water drained through the drainage passage and the outside air introduced into the circulation duct through the intake duct exchange heat.

1 and 2, the operation of the first embodiment will now be described.

1 illustrates a state in which the first embodiment is in a drying process. When the rinsing process is completed, the dish washer heats the air in the washing tank to evaporate the moisture remaining on the surface of the dish. As a result, the air inside the washing tank is changed to a high temperature and high humidity condition. At this time, the blower 114 is operated to allow the high temperature and high humidity air inside the washing tank to pass through the dehumidifier 112. Here, the first and second dampers 120 and 122 are arranged to block the inlet port 110a and the exhaust port 110b, as shown, to allow air to circulate on the circulation duct.

The dehumidifier provided in the dehumidifier 112 adsorbs the moisture of the air and additionally heats the air due to the adsorption heat generated in this process, and the dry air passed through the dehumidifier 112 is reintroduced into the washing tank. It is then used to dry dishes.

Through this process, when drying is completed, the dehumidifying agent remains in a state of adsorbing moisture. In order to use the dehumidifier in a subsequent washing process, a regeneration process of evaporating the adsorbed water must be performed. On the other hand, when the dish washing is resumed, hot washing water or rinsing water is generated in the washing process or the rinsing process, which is accumulated on the sump 108 and is drained to the outside by the drain pump 134. In this way, when the hot washing water or the rinsing water is drained, the first and second dampers 120 and 122 are disposed as shown in FIG. 2 so that external air flows into the circulation duct through the intake duct. do. The introduced external air passes through the dehumidifier 112 and then is discharged back to the outside through the exhaust port 110b.

Here, the incoming outside air passes through the heat exchanger 150 and is introduced into the dehumidifier in a heated state by receiving heat from hot washing water or rinsing water passing through the heat exchanger. The heated air evaporates the moisture adsorbed on the dehumidifying agent present in the dehumidifying apparatus to regenerate the dehumidifying agent and then is discharged again to the outside. Through this, there is no need to heat a separate heater in order to regenerate the dehumidifying agent, the energy consumption can be reduced accordingly.

Here, there may be a case where the dehumidifying agent is not sufficiently regenerated even after both the washing water or the rinsing water are drained. However, even in this case, regeneration can be performed even if the temperature of the supplied air is not high enough because the vapor pressure of the moisture on the surface of the dehumidifier is higher than the vapor pressure of the air passing through. Therefore, when the regeneration is not sufficiently performed even after the washing water or the rinsing water are all drained, the regeneration may be completed by continuously operating only the blower while the operation of the drain pump is stopped.

In addition, the regeneration process of the dehumidifying agent may be started from the time when the drain pump is operated to drain the washing water or rinsing water.

On the other hand, when the drained washing water or rinsing water has a lower temperature than the inflow air, regeneration may be started after the drainage of the washing water or the rinsing water is completed.

However, when the temperature of the washing water or the rinsing water is not sufficient and rapid regeneration is required, the heater may be additionally included to increase the speed of the regeneration process. 3 illustrates a second embodiment 100 ′ of the dish washing machine according to the present invention. In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the heater 160 is further included in the intake duct 140. have. The heater 160 may be assisted when the dehumidifying agent cannot be sufficiently regenerated by the heat amount of the washing water and the rinsing water, or when it is necessary to speed up the regeneration process in order to shorten the washing time. To help.

Claims (10)

The washing tank is mounted inside, the sump is installed in the lower portion;
A circulation passage communicating with the washing tank;
A dehumidifier provided inside the circulation passage to absorb and remove moisture contained in air;
Blowing means for circulating air in the washing tank through the circulation passage;
A drain passage for discharging water stored in the sump to the outside of the washing tank;
An intake duct connected to the circulation passage to introduce external air into the circulation passage; And
And a heat exchanger configured to perform heat exchange between the water flowing through the drain passage and the circulation passage and air. The method of claim 1,
The heat exchanger is installed on the drain flow path, dishwasher, characterized in that the water stored in the sump is passed after passing through the interior of the heat exchanger. The method of claim 1,
And a heater for supplying hot air into the circulation passage. The method of claim 3,
And the heater is operated when the temperature of the water stored in the sump is lower than the outside air. The method of claim 3,
The heater is operated after all the water stored in the sump is drained. The method of claim 1,
The blowing means is a dish washer, characterized in that the operation even when all the water stored in the sump is drained. The method of claim 1,
And outside air flows through the intake duct while the circulation passage is blocked. A washing tank in which tableware is mounted;
A dehumidifier for absorbing and dehumidifying moisture contained in the air in the washing tank; And
A dishwasher comprising: a regeneration device for evaporating moisture adsorbed by supplying regeneration air to the dehumidifier.
And the regenerated air is supplied to the dehumidifier after being exchanged with water discharged from the washing tank. 9. The method of claim 8,
And the regenerated air is supplied to the dehumidifier at a temperature higher than room temperature. 9. The method of claim 8,
And a heater for heating the regenerated air.

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