JP7218862B2 - clothes dryer - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to clothes dryers.

The gas dryer described in Patent Document 1 below includes a body case provided with an intake hole and an exhaust hole, a rotating drum arranged in the body case, a gas burner provided in the upper part of the body case, and a body case. and a lint filter located at the bottom of the interior. When the clothes are thrown into the rotating drum and the gas burner is ignited, the air sucked from the intake hole is turned into warm air and supplied into the rotating drum, and then discharged from the exhaust hole via the lint filter.

JP-A-6-225995

In the gas dryer disclosed in Patent Document 1, the lint filter captures foreign matter such as lint contained in the air flowing toward the exhaust hole in the main body case. If a large amount of foreign matter adheres to the lint filter, the performance of the lint filter deteriorates. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically remove the lint filter from the main body case and clean it. In particular, when a gas dryer is installed in a laundromat for commercial use, the gas dryer is operated frequently, so foreign matter quickly accumulates in the lint filter. must clean up.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a clothes dryer capable of improving maintainability of a filter.

The present invention comprises a housing provided with an air intake port and an air exhaust port, an air passage provided in the housing and connecting the air intake port and the air exhaust port, and an air flow path for directing air outside the housing from the air intake port to the air exhaust port. An air blowing unit that takes in air into a passage and discharges it out of the housing from the air outlet, a storage unit that is provided in the air passage and stores clothes, and air that flows from the air inlet to the storage unit in the air passage. and a cylindrical filter disposed between the accommodation portion and the exhaust port in the air passage, the outer peripheral surface portion capturing foreign matter contained in the air in the air passage and a drive section for rotating the filter.

Further, according to the present invention, the clothes dryer further includes a suction nozzle having a suction port facing the outer peripheral surface of the filter and connectable to a cleaner.

Also, the present invention is characterized in that the clothes dryer further includes a brush that contacts the outer peripheral surface of the filter.

According to the present invention, in the clothes dryer, the air outside the housing is taken into the air passage from the intake port, heated by the heating part on the way to the exhaust port, becomes hot air, and dries the clothes in the accommodation part. A cylindrical filter disposed between the housing portion and the exhaust port in the air passage catches foreign matter contained in the air in the air passage on the outer peripheral surface portion. By rotating the filter, it is possible to change the foreign matter trapping area on its outer peripheral surface. As a result, it takes time for a large amount of foreign matter to adhere to the entire outer peripheral surface of the filter and the performance of the filter deteriorates, so frequent maintenance of the filter is not required. As a result, it is possible to improve the maintainability of the filter.

Further, according to the present invention, when the cleaner is connected to the suction nozzle and operated, the foreign matter adhering to the outer peripheral surface of the filter is sucked into the cleaner through the suction port of the suction nozzle. Furthermore, when the filter is rotated, the entire outer peripheral surface of the filter faces the suction port, so foreign matter can be removed from the entire outer peripheral surface of the filter. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually remove the filter and clean the entire outer peripheral surface of the filter. Thereby, the maintainability of the filter can be further improved.

Further, according to the present invention, when the filter is rotated while the brush is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the filter, foreign matter on the outer peripheral surface of the filter can be collected on the brush or scraped off from the outer peripheral surface. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually remove the filter and clean the entire outer peripheral surface of the filter. Thereby, the maintainability of the filter can be further improved.

FIG. 1 is a right side view of the interior of a clothes dryer according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the interior of the clothes dryer. FIG. 3 is a front view of the interior of a clothes dryer according to another embodiment of the invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a right side view of the interior of a clothes dryer 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is referred to as the lateral direction X of the clothes dryer 1, the lateral direction in FIG. 1 is referred to as the front-back direction Y of the clothes dryer 1, and the vertical direction in FIG. called Z. In the left-right direction X, the far side in the plane of FIG. 1 is called the left side X1, and the near side in the plane of FIG. 1 is called the right side X2. In the longitudinal direction Y, the left side in FIG. 1 is called the front side Y1, and the right side in FIG. 1 is called the rear side Y2. In the vertical direction Z, the upper side is called an upper side Z1, and the lower side is called a lower side Z2.

Although the clothes dryer 1 is installed in a store such as a laundromat for commercial use in this embodiment, it may be installed in a general house for home use. The clothes dryer 1 includes a housing 2, an air passage 3 provided in the housing 2, a housing section 4 disposed in the housing 2 for housing clothes L, and an air flow in the air passage 3. , a heating unit 6 as a heat source for heating the air in the air passage 3, and a filter 7 for capturing foreign matter such as lint contained in the air in the air passage 3.

The housing 2 is formed in, for example, a vertically long box shape. A front wall 2A and a rear wall 2B of the housing 2 extend vertically, for example. A doorway 2C through which the clothes L are put in and taken out of the housing portion 4 is formed in the central portion of the front wall 2A in the vertical direction Z. As shown in FIG. The front wall 2A is provided with a door (not shown) for opening and closing the entrance 2C. A maintenance door 2D that is opened and closed to access the lower part of the housing 2 is located on the lower side Z2 of the front wall 2A from the entrance 2C. An intake port 2E for taking air from outside the housing 2 into the housing 2 is provided in the upper portion of the rear wall 2B. An exhaust port 2F for discharging the air inside the housing 2 to the outside of the housing 2 is provided in the lower portion of the rear wall 2B.

The air passage 3 is defined inside the housing 2 so as to connect the air inlet 2E and the air outlet 2F. The internal space of the air passage 3 has an upstream area 3A connected to the air inlet 2E, a downstream area 3B connected to the air outlet 2F, and an intermediate area 3C connecting the upstream area 3A and the downstream area 3B. The upstream region 3A is positioned at the upper portion within the housing 2, the downstream region 3B is positioned at the lower portion within the housing 2, and the intermediate region 3C is positioned between the upstream region 3A and the downstream region 3B in the vertical direction Z. To position.

The housing portion 4 has a circumferential wall 4B formed with a large number of through holes 4A, an opening 4C, and a circular bottom wall 4D connected to the end of the circumferential wall 4B opposite to the opening 4C. It is a cylindrical drum. The housing portion 4 is arranged in the intermediate region 3C of the air passage 3 in a lateral posture so that the opening 4C faces the front side Y1 and faces the entrance 2C of the housing 2 . The clothes L are taken in and out of the storage section 4 through the doorway 2C and the opening 4C. A main motor 8 is attached to the rear wall 2B of the housing 2, and an output shaft 8A of the main motor 8 protrudes forward Y1 and is arranged in the intermediate region 3C and fixed to the central portion of the bottom wall 4D. When the main motor 8 generates driving force, the output shaft 8A rotates. As a result, the housing portion 4 rotates together with the output shaft 8A around the central axis J that coincides with the output shaft 8A.

The air blower 5 is a so-called fan, and includes a rotating vane 9 arranged adjacent to the exhaust port 2F in the downstream area 3B of the air passage 3 and a support rotatably supporting the rotating vane 9 arranged in the downstream area 3B. and a fan motor 11 that is fixed to the support portion 10 and rotates the rotating blades 9 . The support portion 10 includes a partition plate 10A arranged on the front side Y1 of the rotary blade 9 and extending in the left-right direction X and the up-down direction Z (see also FIG. 2, which is a front view of the inside of the clothes dryer 1). The downstream region 3B is partitioned by the partition plate 10A into a downstream front region 3BA on the front side Y1 of the partition plate 10A and a downstream rear region 3BB on the rear side Y2 of the partition plate 10A. A rotary vane 9 is arranged in the rear downstream region 3BB. The partition plate 10A is provided with a communication hole 10B that communicates the front downstream region 3BA and the rear downstream region 3BB, and an annular rib 10C that borders the communication hole 10B and protrudes toward the front downstream region 3BA.

When the rotating blades 9 rotate, the air outside the housing 2 around the air intake 2E is taken into the upstream area 3A of the air passage 3 from the air intake 2E, as indicated by a plurality of black arrows. After passing through the intermediate region 3C and the downstream region 3B in this order, it is discharged out of the housing 2 through the exhaust port 2F. Therefore, in the direction of air flow in the air passage 3, the upstream region 3A side is the upstream side, and the downstream region 3B side is the downstream side. The air flowing through the intermediate region 3</b>C passes through the through holes 4</b>A in the circumferential wall 4</b>B of the storage section 4 and hits the clothes L in the storage section 4 . The air in the downstream region 3B flows from the front downstream region 3BA to the rear downstream region 3BB through the communication holes 10B of the partition plate 10A, and then is discharged from the exhaust port 2F.

As the heating unit 6, a gas burner is used in this embodiment, but an electric heater may be used. The heating unit 6 is arranged in the upstream region 3A of the air passage 3 . The heating unit 6 becomes hot when activated by being ignited. Therefore, the air flowing from the intake port 2E to the housing portion 4 in the air passage 3 is heated to become hot air when passing around the heating portion 6 in the upstream region 3A.

The filter 7 is a so-called lint filter and is arranged in the downstream region 3B of the air passage 3 . The downstream region 3B is a region within the air passage 3 between the accommodation portion 4 and the exhaust port 2F. Strictly speaking, the filter 7 is arranged in the downstream front region 3BA on the upstream side closer to the housing portion 4 than the rotating blades 9 of the air blower 5 in the downstream region 3B.

The filter 7 has a cylindrical shape and is arranged in a sideways posture so that its central axis K extends in the front-rear direction Y. As shown in FIG. The filter 7 has an outer peripheral surface portion 7A forming its outline. The entire area of the outer peripheral surface portion 7A is configured with a mesh or lattice. A rear end portion of the outer peripheral surface portion 7A is surrounded in a non-contact manner by the ribs 10C of the partition plate 10A of the support portion 10 described above. The internal space of the filter 7 is open to the rear side Y2 and faces the communication hole 10B of the partition plate 10A.

The filter 7 is provided with a disk-shaped blocking portion 12 that blocks the internal space from the front side Y1, and a rotating shaft 13 that extends in the front-rear direction Y through the central axis K and penetrates the filter 7 and the blocking portion 12. . The closing part 12 and the rotating shaft 13 may be regarded as part of the filter 7 . A rear end portion of the rotating shaft 13 is rotatably supported by the supporting portion 10 . A bracket 14 arranged on the front side Y1 of the closing portion 12 in the front downstream region 3BA is fixed to the housing 2 . A drive unit 15 configured by, for example, a motor is attached to the bracket 14 . A front end portion of the rotary shaft 13 is connected to the driving portion 15 . When the driving portion 15 is actuated, the filter 7, the closing portion 12 and the rotating shaft 13 rotate around the center axis K. As shown in FIG. The filter 7 may rotate about the central axis K in both directions, or may rotate about the central axis K in only one direction. In this embodiment, the filter 7 rotates clockwise when viewed from the front.

The clothes dryer 1 includes a control section 16 that controls its operation (see FIG. 2). The control unit 16 is a microcomputer including a CPU and memory units such as ROM and RAM, and is arranged in a space isolated from the air passage 3 in the upper part of the housing 2, for example. Heating unit 6 , main motor 8 , fan motor 11 and driving unit 15 are electrically connected to control unit 16 .

The control unit 16 executes the drying operation by controlling the heating unit 6, the main motor 8 and the fan motor 11. FIG. Specifically, the control unit 16 operates the heating unit 6 and the fan motor 11 in a state in which the housing unit 4 is rotated by operating the main motor 8 to generate the above-described hot air. The hot air is blown onto the clothes L in the storage section 4 . Since hot air is blown onto the clothes L while being agitated by the rotating storage unit 4, the drying of the clothes L is accelerated. With the operation of the fan motor 11, the air in the housing portion 4 flows out from the housing portion 4 through the through holes 4A of the housing portion 4, as indicated by the black arrows in each figure, and flows downstream of the air passage 3. It flows into the front area 3BA from the upper side Z1. The upper portion of the outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7 is positioned ahead of the air flowing into the front downstream region 3BA.

Therefore, the air that has flowed into the front downstream area 3BA passes through the upper portion of the outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7, flows into the filter 7, and flows inside the filter 7 to the rear side Y2. The air that has flowed to the rear side Y2 inside the filter 7 passes through the communication hole 10B of the partition plate 10A, flows into the downstream rear region 3BB, and is discharged to the outside of the housing 2 through the exhaust port 2F. Since the rear end of the outer peripheral surface portion 7A is surrounded by the ribs 10C of the partition plate 10A as described above, the air in the filter 7 can be sent to the communication holes 10B without leakage.

As the drying of the clothes L progresses, dust and lint are generated. The dust and lint becomes the above-described foreign matter, rides on the air in the air passage 3, flows downstream, is captured by the filter 7 when passing over the outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7, and is caught by the upper portion of the outer peripheral surface portion 7A. to adhere to. Therefore, in the outer peripheral surface portion 7A, the upper portion is a trapping area for trapping foreign matter. The control unit 16 rotates the filter 7 little by little by periodically operating the driving unit 15 . For example, the control unit 16 rotates the filter 7 by a quarter turn every time a predetermined period of time elapses. As a result, the area of the outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7 where foreign matter is less attached is positioned above the outer peripheral surface portion 7A and serves as the trapping area described above. Note that the control unit 16 may rotate the filter 7 continuously at a very low speed instead of periodically rotating the filter 7 .

In this manner, the filter 7 can change the trapping area for trapping foreign matter on the outer peripheral surface portion 7A by rotating the filter 7 . As a result, it takes time for a large amount of foreign matter to adhere to the entire outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7 and the performance of the filter 7 deteriorates. As a result, the maintainability of the filter 7 can be improved. Moreover, since the filter 7 captures the foreign matter so as to evenly adhere to the entire area of the outer peripheral surface portion 7A, it is possible to suppress rapid deterioration of the performance of the filter 7 .

The clothes dryer 1 further includes a suction nozzle 17 for maintenance of the filter 7 with foreign matter adhering to the outer peripheral surface portion 7A. A suction port 17B elongated in the front-rear direction Y is formed in the tip portion 17A of the suction nozzle 17 . The dimension of the suction port 17B in the front-rear direction Y is the same as the dimension of the outer peripheral surface portion 7A in the front-rear direction Y, or larger than the dimension of the outer peripheral surface portion 7A. The suction port 17B faces the outer peripheral surface portion 7A from the outside of the filter 7 in the radial direction. A slight gap is secured between the outer peripheral surface portion 7A and the suction port 17B to the extent that the suction nozzle 17 approaches the outer peripheral surface portion 7A without contact.

As shown in FIG. 2, the root portion 17C of the suction nozzle 17 is exposed outside the housing 2 from the lower end portion of the right wall 2G of the housing 2, for example. A known vacuum cleaner 18 is prepared and placed near the clothes dryer 1 during maintenance of the filter 7 . A suction hose 19 provided on the cleaner 18 is connected to the root portion 17C of the suction nozzle 17 .

When the laundromat operator connects the vacuum cleaner 18 to the suction nozzle 17 and operates it, the foreign matter adhering to the outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7 is sucked into the vacuum cleaner 18 through the suction port 17B of the suction nozzle 17 . Furthermore, when the administrator operates the operation unit (not shown) of the clothes dryer 1 to instruct the control unit 16 to perform maintenance operation, the control unit 16 rotates the filter 7 . Since the entire outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7 faces the suction port 17B as the filter 7 rotates, the foreign matter can be removed from the entire outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7. FIG.

Therefore, the administrator does not have to manually remove the filter 7 to clean the entire outer peripheral surface 7A of the filter 7 . As a result, cleaning of the filter 7 becomes easier, so maintenance of the filter 7 can be further improved. The maintenance operation may not only be performed after the drying operation, but may be performed in parallel during the drying operation.

For example, the root portion 17C of the suction nozzle 17 may be arranged to face the backyard for the manager isolated from the inside of the laundromat, and the cleaner 18 may also be installed in the backyard. In this case, the manager in the backyard can maintain the filter 7 by connecting the suction hose 19 of the cleaner 18 to the root part 17C and operating it without disturbing the customers in the store.

In this case, the root portions 17C of a plurality of clothes dryers 1 may be arranged so as to face the backyard, and the suction hose 19 may be branched and connected to each root portion 17C. As a result, foreign substances on the filters 7 of a plurality of clothes dryers 1 can be collectively collected by one vacuum cleaner 18 . That is, the filters 7 of a plurality of clothes dryers 1 can be collectively maintained.

Furthermore, the vacuum cleaner 18 may be always connected to the suction nozzle 17, and the vacuum cleaner 18 may operate according to instructions from the controller 16 in conjunction with the rotation of the filter 7 during maintenance of the filter 7. . As a result, since automatic maintenance of the filter 7 can be achieved, manual work by the administrator for maintenance of the filter 7 is substantially eliminated, and the administrator only has to occasionally discard the foreign matter collected by the cleaner 18.例文帳に追加

FIG. 3 is a front view of the interior of the clothes dryer 1 according to another embodiment of the invention. In addition, in FIG. 3, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the description thereof will be omitted. The coin laundry may not be able to provide the vacuum cleaner 18 for reasons such as cost. As a simplified version of that case, clothes dryer 1 may include brush 21 shown in FIG. The brush 21 has a rod 22 having a root portion 22A fixed to the right wall 2G of the housing 2, for example, and a large number of bristles 23 planted on the tip portion 22B of the rod 22. As shown in FIG. The bristles 23 are in contact with the outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7 .

In this case, as the maintenance operation described above, when the control unit 16 rotates the filter 7, foreign matter on the outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7 can be collected on the bristles 23 of the brush 21 or scraped off from the outer peripheral surface portion 7A. Therefore, the administrator does not need to manually remove the filter 7 to clean the entire outer peripheral surface portion 7A of the filter 7 . Thereby, the maintainability of the filter 7 can be further improved. Note that the administrator opens the maintenance door 2D of the housing 2 (see the maintenance door 2D indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 1), accesses the downstream front area 3BA of the air passage 3, and adheres to the bristles 23 of the brush 21. The foreign matter scraped off from the filter 7 and collected on the bottom wall 2H of the housing 2 is collectively collected.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims.

For example, in the clothes dryer 1 of the above-described embodiment, the storage section 4 may be arranged obliquely so that the central axis J is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, or the central axis J may extend in the vertical direction Z. The housing portion 4 may be arranged vertically as shown in FIG.

The clothes dryer 1 may be a washing and drying machine that also has a function of washing clothes.

Reference Signs List 1 clothes dryer 2 housing 2E intake port 2F exhaust port 3 air passage 4 storage unit 5 blower unit 6 heating unit 7 filter 7A outer peripheral surface unit 15 drive unit 17 suction nozzle 17B suction port 18 vacuum cleaner 21 brush L clothes

Claims (3)

a housing provided with an intake port and an exhaust port;
an air passage provided in the housing and connecting the intake port and the exhaust port;
a blowing unit that takes in air outside the housing from the intake port into the air passage and discharges the air from the exhaust port to the outside of the housing;
a storage unit provided in the air passage for storing clothes;
a heating unit that heats the air flowing from the intake port to the accommodation unit in the air passage;
a cylindrical filter disposed between the accommodation portion and the exhaust port in the air passage, the filter having an outer peripheral surface portion that captures foreign matter contained in the air in the air passage;
and a driving unit that periodically rotates the filter by an angle of less than 360 degrees about the central axis of the filter . 2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, further comprising a suction nozzle having a suction port facing the outer peripheral surface of said filter and connectable to a cleaner. 3. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, further comprising a closing part that closes an opening formed at one end of said filter and that rotates together with said filter about a central axis of said filter .

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