JP7656788B2 - Clothes dryers and washer-dryers - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a clothes dryer and a washer-dryer equipped with a functional particle generating device.

Patent Document 1 discloses a clothes dryer and a washer-dryer that remove pollen that has adhered to clothes. The clothes dryer and washer-dryer have a rotating drum in which the clothes are stored, a motor that drives the rotating drum, and a housing that supports the rotating drum, and are provided with a pollen removal course and a means for blowing air directly onto the clothes stored in the rotating drum when the pollen removal course is selected.

JP 2009-72505 A

This disclosure provides a clothes dryer and a washer-dryer that can disinfect and suppress bacteria, viruses, and pollen that adhere to clothes by rotating the drum so that functional particles are evenly applied to the clothes.

The clothes dryer and washer-dryer according to the present disclosure include a drum for storing clothes, a drum drive unit for rotating the drum, a functional particle generating device for discharging functional particles into the drum, and a control means for controlling the drive of the drum drive unit and the functional particle generating device, and the control means executes a first step of holding the clothes in an unfolded state, a folding step of folding the clothes by rotating the drum forward at a first predetermined rotation speed within a range of 10 to 35 r/min and a first predetermined angle within a range of 120 degrees to 150 degrees, and a second step of holding the clothes in the folded state, a turning step of turning the folded clothes inside out by rotating the drum backward at a second predetermined rotation speed within a range of 10 to 35 r/min and a second predetermined angle within a range of 120 degrees to 150 degrees, and a third step of holding the clothes inside out, and drives the functional particle generating device in at least the first step, the second step, and the third step.

The clothes dryer and washer-dryer disclosed herein rotate to expose the front and back of the clothes, allowing the functional particles to be applied evenly to the entire clothes. This makes it possible to disinfect and suppress bacteria, viruses, and pollen that are attached to both sides of the clothes.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a washing and drying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a washing/drying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A block circuit diagram of a washer/dryer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of clothes to be washed and dried by the washing and drying machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing clothes placed in a drum of a washer/dryer according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a schematic diagram of a rotation operation of clothes in a first step to a third step of a washer/dryer according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

(The knowledge and other information that formed the basis of this disclosure)
At the time when the inventors came up with the idea of the present disclosure, there was a growing need to care for clothes that had bacteria, viruses, and pollen on them due to the growing interest in these. However, since clothes such as coats and suits cannot be washed with water, it was difficult to care for them by disinfecting them. Therefore, a dedicated course that does not use water in a washer/dryer and can disinfect and suppress bacteria, viruses, pollen, etc. by blowing air or using functional particles has been proposed.

The above-mentioned Patent Document 1 has a dedicated mode for clothes with pollen and other particles on them, and removes pollen by blowing air onto the clothes while rotating the drum forward and backward.

However, in the pollen-only mode described in Patent Document 1, the drum is rotated forward and reversed to blow air onto the clothes, but a simple forward and reverse rotation operation cannot ensure that the air and functional particles are evenly applied to the clothes. For example, in the case of long clothes such as coats, when the clothes are folded by the rotation of the drum, it is thought that the air and functional particles are unlikely to reach the inside of the folded clothes. In addition, the inventors discovered a problem that clothes that cannot be washed with water, such as coats and suits, are often made of delicate materials, and repeated rotation in the drum may promote damage to the fabric, and in order to solve this problem, the subject of the present disclosure has been constituted.
Therefore, the present disclosure provides a clothes dryer and a washer-dryer that apply functional particles evenly to the entire garment by rotating the garment in a manner that exposes the front and back of the garment.

Below, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanation of already well-known matters or duplicate explanation of substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid the following explanation becoming unnecessarily redundant and to make it easier for those skilled in the art to understand.

The accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[1-1. Configuration]
[1-1-1. Configuration of the washer/dryer]
1 and 2, a washer/dryer 1 has an outer tub 8 supported in a housing 6 so as to be capable of freely vibrating, and a drum 2 disposed in the outer tub 8 so as to be capable of freely rotating. The drum 2 is formed in a cylindrical shape with a bottom, and has a large number of small holes 2a formed all over the outer periphery.

A motor 14 that is connected to the drum 2 is provided on the rear side of the drum, and drives the drum 2 to rotate in both forward and reverse directions.

The housing 6 has an upwardly inclined surface on the front side of the outer tub 8, and an opening 6a is provided on the upwardly inclined surface. The opening 6a is covered by a door 4 that can be opened and closed freely, and clothes 20 can be put in and taken out of the drum 2 by opening the door 4.

The outer tub 8 is supported by an anti-vibration mechanism 7 below the housing 6 and a spring (not shown) above it so that it can swing freely. A drain valve 31 is provided at the bottom of the outer tub 8, and the drain valve 31 is opened to drain the wash water in the outer tub 8 to the outside.

A water supply valve 30 is provided at the top of the housing 6. The water supply valve 30 is a multiple valve configuration that can open and close two or more water passages, and supplies water to the outer tank 8.

At the top front of the housing 6, an operation display unit 5 is provided, which allows the user to select an operation course. Input is made through an input setting means (not shown) of the operation display unit 5, and the input information is displayed on a display means (not shown) to inform the user.

A control device 9 having a control means 25 (see Figure 3) constituted by a microcomputer or the like is disposed inside the upper part of the housing 6.

The control device 9 has a board cooling fan motor 15, which is driven during operation to cool the control device 9 and prevent the temperature from rising during operation.

In FIG. 3, when the operation details are set on the operation display unit 5, the control means 25 inputs various data from the water level detection means 32 that detects the water level in the outer tub 8, the cloth amount detection means 33 that detects the cloth amount put into the drum 2, the door open/close detection means 34 that detects the open/close state of the door 4, etc., to control the operation of the motor 14, the drain valve 31, the water supply valve 30, etc., and controls the washing and drying process, such as washing, rinsing, spin-drying, and drying.

The control means 25 can also measure the elapsed time from any point in time by controlling the clock means 35. The memory means 36 can store various settings and detection and measurement results.

The air in the outer tub 8 and drum 2 is circulated by a blower fan 11 rotated by a blower fan motor 13. During the drying process, the air for drying is dehumidified in the heat pump unit 10, and then heated. The air is blown through the first air passage 16 by the blower fan 11 arranged downstream of the heat pump unit 10 in the circulation air passage 23, through the mesh filter 17 from the air outlet 21 opening on the rear side of the outer tub 8, and into the drum 2. The air, which has become humid by removing moisture from the clothes 20 as it passes between them, is directed to the exhaust port 19 formed on the upper side of the outer tub 8.

The humid air introduced to the exhaust port 19 passes through the filter section 22 provided in the second air passage 12 of the circulation air duct 23 and is sent to the heat pump unit 10 for circulation.

An electrostatic atomizer 3 is disposed downstream of the blower fan 11 in the circulating air passage 23 as a functional particle generator. The electrostatic atomizer 3 generates functional particles such as charged fine water particles, which are effective substances that disinfect and suppress bacteria, viruses, and pollen that are attached to the clothes 20 in the drum 2.

The electrostatic atomizer 3 generates charged fine water particles when circulating air flows through the circulating air passage 23. The generated charged fine water particles are carried along with the flow of the circulating air and pass through the mesh filter 17 from the air outlet 21 and are released into the drum 2. They penetrate deep into the fibers of the clothes 20 in the drum 2, where they perform sterilization, virus suppression, etc.

[1-2. Operation]
The operation and function of the washer/dryer 1 configured as above will be described below.

Using Figures 4 to 6, we will explain how to control the rotation of the drum 2 so that the charged atomized water particles are evenly applied to the front and back of the clothes 20.

The garment 20 for which this embodiment 1 can be realized is one that is heavy enough to be lifted by the rotation of the drum 2 (in this embodiment, about 0.1 kg to 1.3 kg) and has an upper limit of length that is about half the circumference of the drum 2 (in this embodiment, about 30 cm to 100 cm). As an example, a winter garment having a front 20a and a back 20b as shown in FIG. 4 will be used for explanation, but any outer garment that satisfies the conditions in terms of weight and length may be used, such as a coat made of synthetic fibers or animal hair fibers, or a padded jacket.

The garment 20 is placed on the drum 2 in an unfolded state, as shown in FIG. 5. At this time, the surface (upper surface) that is not in contact with the inner surface of the drum 2 is the front surface 20a of the garment 20, but the same operation as described below is possible even if it is the back surface 20b of the garment 20. Note that in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the back surface 20b side of the garment 20 is hatched.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the first process shown in step 1, in order to suppress fine particles such as bacteria and viruses adhering to the front surface 20a of the garment 20, the electrostatic atomizer 3 and the blower fan 11 are driven while the drum 2 is stationary.

By keeping the drum 2 stationary and the clothes 20 stationary in this way, the charged water particles can be concentrated on the front 20a of the clothes 20.

If this first step lasts for approximately 60 minutes, 99% of the bacteria and viruses attached to the front surface 20a of the garment 20 can be eliminated or suppressed.

In addition, in this first step, the drum 2 may be rotated slowly in both forward and reverse directions (for example, at a rotation angle of 90 degrees or less) as long as the clothes are not folded.

Next, in order to suppress fine particles such as bacteria and viruses adhering to the back surface 20b of the garment 20, the garment is folded in a folding process shown in steps 2 and 3 to expose half of the back surface 20b. First, the drum 2 rotates forward (e.g., clockwise) at a rotation speed of about 10 to 35 r/min through about 120 to 150 degrees, folding the garment 20 in half as shown in steps 2 and 3. As shown in step 4, the garment comes to a standstill in the folded-in-half state, exposing half of the back surface 20b, the back surface 20ba. This standstill state is referred to as the second step.

Furthermore, in order to expose the back surface 20bb, which is the half of the back surface 20b that is in contact with the drum 2, a flipping process is provided as shown in step 5. In this step 5, the drum 2 is rotated in the reverse direction (e.g., leftward) at a rotation speed of about 10 to 35 r/min by about 120 degrees to 150 degrees, so that the drum 2 comes to rest in a state in which the back surface 20bb, which is the half of the back surface 20b, is exposed, as shown in step 6. This resting state is referred to as the third process.

Up to this point, each half of the back surface 20b has been exposed once, but because this operation is not guaranteed to be successful, the inventors repeated the second step, the flipping step, and the third step multiple times.

That is, from step 6, the drum 2 is rotated forward at the above rotation angle and rotation speed, and after the turning over process shown in step 7, the back surface 20ba, which is half of the back surface 20b, is exposed again in the second process shown in step 4.

By providing a certain amount of rest time in the second and third steps, the charged water particles can be applied more intensively to the back surface 20ba and back surface 20bb, which are the halves of the back surface 20b of the garment 20.

However, if this rest time is set short, there is a risk of deformation and damage to the fabric due to the increased number of rotations of the drum 2, and if it is set long, there is a risk of a decrease in the probability of successful rotation due to the reduced number of rotations, as mentioned above. Therefore, the appropriate rest time is set to 10 to 60 seconds.

In this way, half of the back surface 20b of the garment 20 appears alternately, and by providing a rest period of 10 to 60 seconds for each, the charged water particles can be applied to the entire back surface 20b.

The second and third steps have about half the active area compared to the first step, in which the electrostatically charged water particles are applied to the entire garment, so the second and third steps can achieve sterilization and virus suppression in a shorter time than the first step.

In addition, by operating the electrostatic atomizer not only in the second and third steps, but also in the folding and turning over steps, the charged fine water particles can be applied more uniformly, and the total time for the second, turning over and third steps is approximately 60 minutes, and 99% of the bacteria and viruses adhering to the back surface 20b can be eliminated and suppressed.

[1-3. Effects, etc.]
As described above, in this embodiment, the washer/dryer 1 includes the drum 2 for storing clothes, the motor 14 for rotating the drum 2, the electrostatic atomizer 3 for discharging charged fine particle water into the drum 2, and the control means 25 for controlling the operation of the motor 14 and the electrostatic atomizer 3. The control means 25 executes a first step of holding the clothes 20 in an unfolded state within the drum 2, a folding step of folding the clothes 20 by rotating the drum 2 at a first predetermined number of rotations and a first predetermined angle, a second step of holding the clothes 20 in the folded state within the drum 2, an inside-out step of turning the folded clothes inside out by rotating the drum 2 at a second predetermined number of rotations and a second predetermined angle, and a third step of holding the clothes inside-out within the drum 2, and drives the electrostatic atomizer 3 at least in the first step, the second step, and the third step.

This allows the charged fine particle water to act on the front 20a of the garment 20 in the first step, and on the back 20b of the garment 20 in the second and third steps. This makes it possible to effectively disinfect and suppress bacteria and viruses on the garment 20.

As in this embodiment, the control means 25 may repeat the second step, the flipping step, and the third step a predetermined number of times.

This increases the number of times the back surface 20b of the garment 20 is exposed, allowing the charged fine water particles to act on the back surface 20b of the garment 20 more efficiently. This makes it possible to effectively disinfect and suppress bacteria, viruses, and pollen on the back surface 20b of the garment 20.

As in this embodiment, the control means 25 may set the operation time of the first step to be longer than the operation time of the second step and the operation time of the third step.

This allows the charged water particles to act even in the first step, which has an action area roughly twice as large as in the second and third steps.

Other Embodiments
As described above, the first embodiment has been described as an example of the technology disclosed in the present application. However, the technology in the present disclosure is not limited to this, and can be applied to embodiments in which modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, etc. are made. In addition, it is also possible to combine the components described in the first embodiment to create a new embodiment.

Therefore, other embodiments are given below as examples.

In the first embodiment, a washer-dryer has been described. The washer-dryer may be any machine capable of drying clothes. Therefore, it is not limited to a washer-dryer. It may be a clothes dryer that only has the function of drying clothes.

In addition, in the first embodiment, an electrostatic atomizer has been described as the functional particle generating device. Then, charged fine water particles have been described as the functional particles. However, any functional particle generating device that generates functional particles that can sterilize or suppress bacteria, viruses, and pollen attached to the clothing 20 may be used, and any functional particle generating device other than an electrostatic atomizer may be used.

This disclosure can also be applied to clothes dryers and washer-dryers that apply functional particles evenly to the entire garment by rotating the garment to expose the front and back of the garment.

1. Washer/dryer (dryer)
2 Drum 2a Small hole 3 Electrostatic atomizer (functional particle generator)
4 Door 5 Operation display unit 6 Housing 6a Opening 7 Anti-vibration mechanism 8 Outer tub 9 Control device 10 Heat pump unit 11 Blower fan 12 Blower path 13 Blower fan motor 14 Motor (drum drive unit)
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 15 Substrate cooling fan motor 16 Air flow path 17 Mesh filter 19 Exhaust port 20 Clothing 21 Air outlet 22 Filter section 23 Circulating air path 25 Control means 30 Water supply valve 31 Drain valve 32 Water level detection means 33 Cloth amount detection means 34 Door opening/closing detection means 35 Time measurement means 36 Memory means

Claims (5)

A drum for containing the garments;
A drum driving unit that drives the drum to rotate;
a functional particle generator that emits functional particles into the drum;
a control unit for controlling the driving of the drum driving unit and the functional particle generating device,
The control means
a first step of holding the garments in an open position within the drum;
a folding step in which the garment is folded by rotating the drum forward at a first predetermined rotation speed in a range of 10 to 35 r/min and a first predetermined angle in a range of 120 degrees to 150 degrees ;
a second step of retaining the folded sheet within the drum;
a step of turning the folded garments inside out by rotating the drum in the reverse direction at a second predetermined rotation speed in the range of 10 to 35 r/min and at a second predetermined angle in the range of 120 degrees to 150 degrees ;
a third step of holding the container in an inverted position within the drum;
A clothes dryer that drives the functional particle generating device at least in the first step, the second step, and the third step. A drum for containing the garments;
A drum driving unit that drives the drum to rotate;
a functional particle generator that emits functional particles into the drum;
a control unit for controlling the driving of the drum driving unit and the functional particle generating device,
The control means
a first step of holding the garments in an open position within the drum;
a folding step in which the garment is folded by rotating the drum at a first predetermined number of rotations and a first predetermined angle;
a second step of retaining the folded sheet within the drum;
a step of turning the folded garment inside out by rotating the drum at a second predetermined number of revolutions and a second predetermined angle;
a third step of holding the container in an inverted position within the drum;
The functional particle generating device is driven at least in the first step, the second step, and the third step ;
A clothes dryer in which an operating time of the first step is set longer than an operating time of the second step and an operating time of the third step . The control means
3. The clothes dryer according to claim 1 , wherein the second step, the turning step, and the third step are repeated a predetermined number of times. The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the functional particle generating device is an electrostatic atomizing device, and the functional particles are charged fine water particles. A washer/dryer equipped with the clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4.