JPH0671519B2 - Dryer control method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Object of the Invention] (Industrial field of application) The present invention detects a drying load amount at the beginning of a drying operation, and controls the drying operation based on the detection result. The present invention relates to a dryer control method.

(Prior Art) In recent years, in a dryer, at the beginning of the drying operation, the load of drying is detected by detecting the contact ratio of the material to be dried based on, for example, an electrode for detecting the cloth resistance, and the detection result is For example, the operation required time is estimated and set, and the estimated time is displayed on the display.After this detection, the drying operation is continued while detecting the dryness of the material to be dried, and from the estimated time. Subtract the operation execution time to sequentially display the remaining estimated dry operation time on the display, and then when the dryness detector reaches the predetermined dryness, start the timed operation for the predetermined time and display it on the display. To the specified time (confirmed time), and in this case also, the operation execution time is subtracted to display the remaining time in sequence, and when this specified time has elapsed, the drying operation is terminated and the object to be dried is located. Some have been made to be in a dry state. Therefore,
In the above dryer, the time required to detect the drying load amount is set to a certain time period (for example, a load amount detection required time Tf) from the start of the drying operation, for example, 2 minutes to 3 minutes, and then the drying is performed. Although the detection of the object is started, it takes some time (the detection switching required time Tc) before the above-mentioned predicted setting of the required operation time and the functionalization of the dryness detection means. Here, if the load detection time Tf is set to "2 minutes" and the detection switching time Tc is set to "2 minutes", it is possible to actually detect the dryness of the material to be dried after the drying operation is started. It will take 4 minutes.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in the above-mentioned one, regardless of the detection result of the dry load amount, the dryness detection is uniquely performed after the dry load amount is detected, and the predetermined dryness degree is detected. Since the timed operation is performed at the time of detection, the following problems occur when the material to be dried is in a dry state or close to this. That is, when the material to be dried is in a dry state or in a state close to this, it is expected that the predetermined dryness is reached, so that it is sufficient to perform the timed operation for a predetermined time as the drying operation. However, after the dry load is detected, the control such as predictively setting the required operation time and the dryness detection are performed, so that the control and the control such as the dryness detection are wastefully performed, and the dry operation itself. Also, there is a problem that the operation is unnecessarily performed by the time required for the detection switching and Tc, and the drying operation and the control related thereto are wasted as a whole, resulting in a waste of the operating time and power consumption and an increase in the load on the control system. there were. Further, even when the drying operation is performed without accommodating the material to be dried, the above-described control and dryness detection are wasted, and there is the same problem as described above.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to obtain a desired dry state by detecting the dryness as usual when the dry load amount is normal and performing a timed operation at the time of detection. It is of course possible to provide a method of controlling a dryer that can eliminate unnecessary drying operation and unnecessary control by omitting unnecessary dryness detection when the no-load and the dry load amount are small.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) According to the present invention, at the beginning of the drying operation, a drying load amount including the amount of the material to be dried and the degree of wetness is detected, and the detected load amount is a predetermined value. When the dryness of the material to be dried is detected and the dryness detection value reaches a predetermined dryness, a timed operation is performed for a predetermined time to terminate the operation, and the load detection value is a predetermined value. In the following cases, the dryness of the material to be dried is not detected and the operation is immediately shifted to the timed operation.

(Operation) When the load amount detection value exceeds the predetermined value, it is determined that it is effective to perform the control relating to the drying operation according to the load amount detection value. In this case, the detection of the dryness of the material to be dried is started, and when the dryness detection value reaches the predetermined dryness, the timed operation is performed for a predetermined time, and thus the normal operation is performed.

On the other hand, when the load amount detection value is equal to or less than the predetermined value, it is determined that the above-described object to be dried is present or is present in the dry state or close to this. In this case, the operation is immediately shifted to the timed operation without detecting the dryness of the material to be dried, so that the operation time is shortened and unnecessary drying operation and unnecessary control are not performed.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, referring to FIG. 2, a schematic structure of the dryer will be described.
Reference numeral 1 is an outer box, 2 is a rotary drum provided inside the outer box 1 and has a drying chamber 3 inside, 4 is a fan chamber provided behind the rotary drum 2 and serving as a heat exchange chamber, and 5 is the fan chamber 4 Is a heat exchanging type double-blade fan provided so as to be partitioned into front and rear, and based on the blowing action of the fan 5, the rotary drum 2
As shown by the arrow A, the air inside is sucked from the rear of the rotary drum 2 to the front side of the fan chamber 4 and returns to the inside of the rotary drum 2 (drying chamber 3) through the communication duct 6, while the outside air is shown by the arrow B. Thus, the air is sucked to the rear side of the fan chamber 4 and discharged to the outside of the machine. Reference numeral 7 is a heater provided in the discharge portion 6a of the communication duct 6 for heating the return air into the rotary drum 2. As a result, warm air is supplied to the drying chamber 3 inside the rotary drum 2, and the warm air contributes to the drying of the material to be dried, and then the fan chamber 4
The heat is exchanged with the outside air at. Reference numeral 8 denotes a motor which is disposed above the inside of the outer box 1 and rotationally drives the rotary drum 2 and the fan 5, and 9 denotes an electrode for detecting a dry load amount which is disposed on the front fixing plate 10 which faces the rotary drum 2. The electrode 9 outputs an electric signal according to the cloth resistance. Reference numeral 11 is a drying chamber door that opens and closes the front opening of the drying chamber 3, and 12 is a door opening / closing detection switch that is turned off when the door 11 is opened and turned on when the door 11 is closed. Reference numeral 13 is a circuit board on which a control circuit 19 (see FIG. 4) described later is mounted, and 14 is a panel. In FIG. 3 showing the panel 14, 15 is a display comprising a 7-segment type light emitting diode, 16 is a power switch, 17 is a course selection switch, and the course selection switch 17 is a drying device to be executed depending on the number of times of pressing. Select one of "Standard", "Easy", or "Iron" as the driving course. 18 is a start switch.

Next, in FIG. 4, 19 is a control circuit for controlling the drying operation, which is composed of a microcomputer. Reference numeral 20 is a clock pulse generation circuit that gives a clock pulse to the control circuit 19, and 21 is a contact rate detection circuit for detecting the dry load amount. The contact rate detection circuit 21 outputs the electrode 9 according to the cloth resistance. Receives an electrical signal to detect the contact rate of the material to be dried,
The contact rate is given to the control circuit 19 as a dry load amount detection signal. In this case, since the electrode 9 outputs an electric signal according to the cloth resistance, the contact rate detection circuit 21 detects not only the amount of the material to be dried but also the degree of wetness, thereby detecting the overall dry load amount. Is. Reference numeral 22 denotes a dryness detection circuit, which detects the dryness of the material to be dried on the basis of an electric signal given from the electrode 9, and determines the dryness when the dryness detection value reaches a predetermined value. The signal is given to the control circuit 19. In addition, 23 is a drive circuit for driving the heater 7 and the motor 8,
A rectifier circuit 24 serves as a power source for the control circuit 19.

Thus, the control circuit 19 has a timekeeping function based on the clock pulse from the clock pulse generation circuit 20, and based on the signals given from the course selection switch 17, the contact rate detection circuit 21, and the dryness detection circuit 22. It controls the drying operation. In particular, when the dryness detection value reaches a predetermined dryness, a timed operation is performed for a predetermined time thereafter, and the drying operation is ended. The predetermined time for the above-mentioned timed driving varies depending on the selected driving course, for example, "20 minutes" for the "standard" course, "40 minutes" for the "intensive" course, and "10 minutes" for the "ironing" course. It is set.

Now, the control circuit 19 receives the dry load amount detection signal from the contact rate detection circuit 21 as a load amount detection value, and when the load amount detection value exceeds a predetermined value (1% in contact rate), it is below a predetermined value. In this case, the control contents are different, which will be described below with reference to FIG.

Now, after storing the material to be dried in the drying chamber 3, turn on the power switch.
When 16 is turned on, as shown in step S ₁ of FIG. ₁ ,
First, the control circuit 19 is initialized. Then, in the next step S ₂ , the course for the dry operation is set by the input of the course selection switch 17. Next, as shown in step S ₃ , the start operation of the start switch 18 is awaited, and when this is turned on, the motor 8 and the heater 7 are driven to start the drying operation. Then, in the next step S ₄ , the contact rate detection circuit 21 is functionalized to detect the dry load amount. This load amount detection required time Tf is, for example, 2 minutes. Then the process proceeds to step S _5, in the step S _5, the load amount detection value supplied from the contact rate detection circuit 21 is determined whether or less (1% contact rate above) a predetermined value made It
Here, when the material to be dried is a normal material to be dried in a certain degree of wet state, the predetermined value is exceeded, and in this case, in accordance with “NO” in step S ₅ , step S ₆ and step S _{7 are performed.} Then, in step S ₆ , the required drying time is estimated and set according to the load amount detection value, and the estimated time (time information) is displayed on the display unit 15. In this case, the predicted time is set to include the predetermined time of the timed operation described above, and the content thereof varies depending on the driving course, as can be seen from FIG. If the contact rate is more than 1% and less than 10%, "30 minutes" is included in the "standard" course (including 20 minutes of timed driving), and "50 minutes" (40 minutes in the same course).
Minutes are included) and "Iron" course is "20 minutes" (10 minutes of the same time is included), as shown below. In step S _7, and calculates the remaining prediction time operation elapsed time up to this point is subtracted from the predicted time,
The remaining estimated time is displayed on the display unit 15. In the next step S _8, the dryness detecting circuit 22 is functionalized by detection of dryness of the material to be dried is performed. Here, in the step S _5, until the load amount detection value actually functionalized drying degree detection by drying degree detecting circuit 22 in step S ₈ from the time it is determined that exceeds a predetermined value, typically 2 minutes It takes some time. In the next step S _9, the dryness detected value for determining whether or not reached a predetermined dryness is performed. When the dryness detection value does not reach the predetermined dryness, the process returns to step S ₇ according to “NO”. Therefore,
As can be seen from step S ₉ , step S _7, and step S ₈ , the above-described remaining estimated time calculation control and remaining estimated time display control are performed until the dryness detection value reaches the predetermined dryness. And Thus, the drying degree detection value reaches a predetermined dryness, the process proceeds to step S ₁₀ in accordance with the "YES" in step S _9, with a predetermined time described above in timed operation (settling time) is displayed, In step S _11, the timed operation is executed,
When the predetermined time has passed, the drying operation ends.
Therefore, the material to be dried can be brought into a desired dry state.

Here, in the time of the determination described above of the dry load (in step S _5), the detection value of the drying load is a predetermined value 1
The% when less, immediately proceeds to step S ₁₀ in accordance with the "YES" in the step S _5. That is, step S ₆ ,
Immediately, timed operation is performed without performing control such as step S ₇ , step S ₈ and step S ₉ such as prediction setting of operating time and its display, calculation of remaining estimated time and display of that time, and execution of dryness detection. time display for the process proceeds to (step S ₁₀₎ and timed operation (step S _11). Therefore, in this case, the operation is skipped in the time until the detection of the dryness is actually started (2 minutes described above).

As can be understood from this, when the dry load amount is equal to or less than the predetermined value, it is determined that there is no material to be dried, or even if there is an object to be dried, it is close to or in a dry state. Immediately shifts to timed operation, so
The operation time can be shortened, and unnecessary drying operation and unnecessary control can be eliminated, so that waste of power consumption can be eliminated, and the program execution time in the control circuit 19 can be shortened and the dryness detection circuit 22 can function. Therefore, the load on the control system can be prevented from increasing.

In particular, when the dry load amount is less than or equal to a predetermined value, in addition to immediately shifting to the timed operation, a predetermined time in the timed operation, that is, a fixed time (time information) is immediately displayed on the display unit 15, and thus predicted. Since the time or the remaining estimated time is not displayed, the time display is extremely good. That is, the minimum estimated time set based on the detected value of the dry load is 30 minutes in the "standard" course, and the display 15 indicates
"Minute" is displayed, but after that, the predetermined time of the timed operation (20 minutes in the "standard" course), that is, the fixed time is changed and displayed as "20 minutes", and the time of "10 minutes" actually passed. However, there is a problem that only the time display is changed with a large time value such as "10 minutes" and the time display becomes incomprehensible. In this regard, in the present embodiment, when the detected value of the dry load amount is equal to or less than the predetermined value as described above, the predetermined time in the timed operation is immediately displayed without displaying the above-described predicted time, and thus the time display is incomprehensible. It is possible to display good time.

In the above embodiment, as a means for detecting the dry load,
Although the contact rate detection circuit 21 including the electrode 9 has been illustrated, the dry load amount detection means includes a configuration including a temperature sensor to detect the temperature increase rate, and a current transformer or the like to detect the load current of the motor. It may be configured.

[Effect of the Invention] As is apparent from the above description, the present invention detects the dryness as usual when the dry load amount is normal, and performs a timed operation at the time of the detection to perform the desired dry state. In addition to what can be obtained, unnecessary drying operation and unnecessary control can be eliminated by omitting unnecessary drying degree detection when the drying load amount is small, and operating time can be shortened and consumption can be reduced. It has an excellent effect that the power can be reduced and the load on the control system can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawing shows one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a flow chart, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of a dryer, FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of a panel, FIG. 4 is a block diagram, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a rate and the time value set according to this. In the figure, 7 is a heater, 8 is a motor, 9 is an electrode, 15 is an indicator, 19 is a control circuit, 21 is a contact rate detection circuit, and 22 is a dryness detection circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A dry load amount consisting of the amount and the degree of wetness of the material to be dried is detected at the beginning of the drying operation, and when the detected load amount exceeds a predetermined value, the dryness of the material to be dried is detected. When the dryness detection value of the lever reaches a predetermined dryness, the operation is terminated by performing a timed operation for a predetermined time, and when the load detection value is less than a predetermined value, the dryness of the material to be dried is not detected. The method for controlling a dryer is characterized in that the operation is immediately switched to the timed operation.