JPS6135879B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a drying drum sealing device, and particularly relates to a drying drum that is to be rotated for drying in a fully automatic drying washing machine or clothes dryer, and a drying drum sealed in the drying drum. This invention relates to a drying drum seal device that seals between a duct that guides air.

A conventional dry drum sealing device of this type has a structure as shown in FIG. 2, for example.

That is, FIG. 2 shows a seal structure between a drum and a duct in a conventional clothes dryer.

In the figure, 2A is a drum, 3A is an outer tank, and 4A is a drum.
is a bearing, 12A is an inflow duct, S is a drum shaft, and F is a felt.

That is, as shown in the figure, a cloth felt F adhered to the inflow duct 12A is pressed against the sliding surface of the drum 2A by the elasticity of the felt itself to form a seal.

Therefore, as the drying operation is used, the felt F wears out, and the sealing between the drum 2A and the inlet duct 12A becomes insufficient, which reduces the drying efficiency.
On the other hand, the pressing force of the felt F acts as a resistance to the rotational torque, reducing the number of rotations of the drum, resulting in a deterioration in performance.

However, if the above-mentioned seal structure is used as it is, for example, to seal the drum of a fully automatic drying washing machine that performs everything from washing to dehydration and then drying, the drum rotates at high speed during dehydration, so the felt will not rub off. As a result, the seal between the drum and the duct is insufficient, preventing heated air from entering the drum, resulting in reduced drying performance and extended drying time.

Furthermore, as described above, the pressing force of the felt acts as a resistance to rotational torque, reducing the number of rotations of the drum during dewatering, resulting in a deterioration in dewatering performance.

The present invention eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art as described above, sufficiently seals between the drum and the duct only during drying, improves the drying performance, shortens the drying time, and in other cases, To provide a drum seal device with a seal structure between a drum and a duct, in which the seal part does not come into contact with the drum so as not to cause resistance to rotational torque.
That is the purpose.

A feature of the present invention is that an air supply/discharge pipe is provided between a drum that is to be rotated for drying and a duct that guides dry air heated by a heater into the drum. The drying drum seal device is provided with a sealing film that swells into an annular shape, and is configured to press the outer surface of the sealing film against the drum by introducing air during drying, thereby sealing between the drum and the duct.

More specifically, in a fully automatic drying washing machine that performs washing, rinsing, spin-drying, and drying, air is blown in and sucked out between the drum and the duct that guides dry air heated by a heater into the drum. It is equipped with an inlet/outlet pipe and a seal thin film that expands into an annular shape when the air is introduced.
During drying, air is blown into this seal thin film, and one of its swollen surfaces is pressed against the sliding part of the drum by the air pressure inside the seal thin film, creating a seal between the drum and the duct, allowing for washing and dehydration without the need for a seal. Until now, there has been a dry drum seal device that sucks out the air inside the seal thin film to separate the seal thin film from the drum sliding surface, thereby eliminating rotational torque resistance.

Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, and 5.

Note that this embodiment is a drying drum sealing device for a fully automatic drying/washing machine.

Here, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a fully automatic drying/washing machine, and FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention incorporated in the washing machine of FIG. 1 during drying. , FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the main part of the seal from washing to dehydration.

In the figure, 1 is the outer frame, 1a is the air inlet, 2
2a is a drum that doubles as a washing tank during washing, a dehydration tank during spin-drying, and a drying drum during drying. Air holes are provided on the circumferential surface and side plates for air inflow and outflow, and 2a is the sliding surface. It is.

3 is an outer tank surrounding the outside of the drum 2; 4, 5;
is a bearing for rotatably supporting the drum 2;
6 is a drum pulley attached to the drum shaft; 7 is a motor; 8 is a motor pulley attached to the motor shaft; 9 is the drum pulley 6
and the motor pulley 8, a belt 1
0 is a fan connected to the exhaust port of the outer tank 3; 11
is a duct leading to the drum 2; 12 is an inlet duct for introducing air into the drum 2; and 13 is a heater for heating the dry air.

Further, 14 is a drum shaft provided at both ends of the drum 2, 15 is a seal thin film holder fixed to the inflow duct 12, and 16 is a seal thin film that swells into an annular shape (doughnut shape) when air is blown into the seal thin film. One half of the surface is attached to the holder 15 by adhesive or the like, and 17 is an air pipe for blowing air into and sucking out air into the sealing thin film 16, and corresponds to an air supply/discharge pipe. It is connected to a separate air handling mechanism.

Note that the sealing thin film 16 is made of a thin film made of, for example, nylon, which is resistant to friction since it slides on the drum surface.

With the above configuration, the laundry is transferred to the drum 2.
washing water containing detergent is supplied into the outer tank 3, and the drum 2 is rotated at low speed by the motor 7.
This is done by dropping the laundry inside the drum 2.

Rinsing is performed by supplying rinsing water to the outer tub 3 after washing, and rotating the drum 2 at low speed like washing, and after rinsing, the water in the outer tub 3 is drained.

Dewatering is performed by rotating the drum 2 at high speed by the motor 7 after the water is drained, and using the centrifugal force of the drum 2 to blow off water droplets from the laundry.

After dehydration, the fan 10 is rotated while the drum 2 is rotated at a low speed. As the fan 10 rotates, air heated by the heater 13 passes through the duct 11 and the inflow duct 12 into the drum 2. The air that enters the drum 2 and removes moisture from the laundry enters the outer tub 3 and is exhausted through the fan 10.

Therefore, during washing, rinsing, and dehydration in the above-mentioned manner, the seal portion between the inflow duct 12 and the drum 2 sucks out the air A in the seal thin film 16 from the air pipe 17, as shown in FIG. Deflate the seal membrane 16 and drum 2.
It is to be kept in a state where there is no contact between the two.

Therefore, by doing this, the seal thin film 1
6, the resistance to the drum rotation torque is eliminated.

In addition, during the drying process, as shown in FIG. 3, air A is blown into the seal thin film 16 from the air pipe 17 to inflate the seal thin film 16 into a donut shape, and the sealed portion is inflated with air pressure. It is pressed against the sliding surface 2a of the drum 2 to seal the air inlet of the inflow duct 12 and the dry air inlet of the drum 2.

According to the embodiment described above, the inflow duct 1
The seal between the drum 2 and the drum 2 can be improved compared to when using conventional cloth felt, allowing more drying air to flow into the drum 2 and contacting the clothes with a larger amount of air, reducing the evaporation of moisture from the clothes. This has the effect of increasing the speed and shortening the drying time, and also because the material of the seal thin film 16 is nylon, which is strong against friction, and the seal thin film 16 is applied to the sliding surface of the drum 2 with a uniform force by air pressure. Because it is crimped, the seal during drying is sufficient, and when the drum 2 is rotated at high speed during dehydration, it does not wear out like conventional cloth felt, so the seal is improved in this respect as well. Since the drying time is further shortened and the sealing method is stable, the drying performance is also stabilized.

Furthermore, in the case of the above embodiment, since the seal portion does not come into contact with the drum 2 during dewatering, the seal portion does not provide resistance to the rotational torque of the drum 2, increasing the number of rotations of the drum and improving dewatering performance. Therefore, since the amount of water contained in the clothes can be reduced, the drying time can also be shortened in this respect. In addition, since there is no torque resistance, the motor 7 for driving the drum 2
It also has the effect of reducing power consumption and being economical.

Although the above embodiment relates to a fully automatic drying/washing machine, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be incorporated into a general-purpose machine that can be incorporated into, for example, only a clothes dryer. It is something like that.

Taking all the above-mentioned points into account, the present invention eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art,
It is possible to sufficiently seal between the drum and the duct as required, and it is possible to expect improvement in drying performance and shortening of drying time, and it can be said that this invention has excellent effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a fully automatic washing and drying machine, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a seal configuration between a drum and a duct in a conventional clothes dryer, and FIG. 3 is a diagram of an embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view during drying and is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the seal from washing to dehydration. 2...Drum, 2a...Sliding surface, 3...Outer tank,
4, 5... Bearing, 7... Motor, 12... Inflow duct, 13... Heater, 16... Seal thin film, 1
7...Air pipe.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An air supply/discharge pipe is provided between a drum that is rotated for drying and a duct that guides dry air heated by a heater into the drum. A drying drum sealing device characterized in that a sealing thin film is provided which expands into an annular shape when drying is carried out, and the outer surface of the sealing thin film is pressed against the drum by introducing air during drying, thereby sealing between the drum and the duct. . 2. In what is stated in claim 1,
A drying drum seal device that seals the periphery of the drying air inlet provided in the drum and the air opening of the duct. 3 In what is stated in claim 1,
A dry drum sealing device whose sealing film is a nylon thin film. 4 In what is stated in claim 1,
The drum is a drying drum related to a fully automatic drying washing machine that performs washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying. During drying, air is blown into the seal thin film and one of its swollen surfaces is slid on the drum. The seal between the drum and the duct is created by compressing the seal thin film with the air pressure inside the drum.For washing to dehydration operations where sealing is not required, the air inside the seal thin film is sucked out and the seal thin film is separated from the drum sliding surface.
A dry drum seal device that is constructed to eliminate rotational torque resistance.