JPH0761397B2 - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a clothes dryer used in general households.

(Prior Art) A conventional clothes dryer is shown in FIG. 5, (1) is an outer frame of the dryer, (2) is a drum rotatably supported in the outer frame (1), and (3) is heat. The exchange-type blower blows the drying air (a) and the cooling air (b) and also exchanges heat between the two airs. (4) is a heat exchange type blower (3) and a drum (2)
And (5) is a heater, and (6) is a filter provided behind the drum (2) for collecting lint and the like.

In the conventional clothes dryer configured as described above, the clothes are put into the drum (2), the power is turned on, and the motor (4) is turned on.
And the heat exchange blower (3) and the drum (2) are driven and rotated, the drying air (a) and the cooling air (b) are blown. The drying air (a) is heated by the heater (5) and blown into the drum (2). The drying air (a), which has become hot and humid by drying clothes, is cooled and dehumidified by the cooling air (b) in the heat exchange type blower (3). After that, it is heated again by the heater (5) and returned into the drum (2). Thus, the clothes are dried.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-described configuration, lint such as lint adheres to the filter provided at the rear of the drum every time drying is performed, and the air flow rate for drying gradually decreases. . Therefore, if the cleaning of the filter is neglected for a long period of time, there is a problem that the air volume for drying greatly decreases, the drying time becomes extremely long, the drying efficiency deteriorates, and energy is wasted. For this reason, it has been desired to accurately detect clogging of the filter at an appropriate time and notify the user of the filter cleaning.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and even if the user forgets to clean the filter, when the filter clogging progresses to a certain place, it is accurately detected and notified to prompt the cleaning of the filter. It is intended to provide a clothes dryer capable of always drying under good conditions.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve this object, the clothes dryer of the present invention is provided with temperature sensors at the inlet and outlet of the heat exchanger in the circulation path of the drying air. A control device having a filter clogging notification means is provided, and when the difference between the output values of the two temperature sensors reaches a predetermined value after the output values of the two temperature sensors have stabilized, the notification means notifies the filter clogging. It is something to do.

(Operation) With this configuration, the output value difference when the output values of the two temperature sensors are stable has almost no effect on the amount of clothes or the power supply voltage, and is related only to the amount of clogging of the filter. Therefore, by detecting the output value difference, it is possible to detect the clogging amount of the filter very accurately and to notify it, thereby prompting the user to clean the filter and always performing efficient and efficient drying. It can be done.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, (7) is a drum rotatably provided in an outer frame (8), and (9) is a heat exchange type blower for sending drying air (a) and cooling air (b). , Also performs heat exchange of both air. (10) is a motor, (11) is a heater, and (12) is a filter provided at the rear of the drum for collecting lint and the like. (13) and (14) are temperature sensors provided at the inlet and outlet of the drying air (a) of the heat exchange type blower (9) which is a heat exchanger. The drying air (a) is the drum (7), the heat exchange type blower (9) facing the drum,
It circulates in the circulation path including the heater (11). On the other hand, the cooling air (b) is blown in a cooling air path that is sucked in from the outside of the outer frame (8), passes through the heat-exchange-type blower (9) facing the outside of the machine, and is exhausted to the outside again. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a controller of the dryer having a clogging notification means,
The output values of the two temperature sensors (13) and (14) are used as inputs to control the motor, the heater and the clogging notification means by the microcomputer.

The operation of the clothes dryer having the above configuration will be described. As shown in Figure 3, the two temperature sensors (13), (1
The difference in the output value of 4), that is, the temperature difference, increases sharply in the latter half of drying, and when it reaches a predetermined value, it is judged that the drying is completed and the controller stops the energization of the motor (10) and the heater (11) and finishes the drying. Become.

On the other hand, lint such as lint adheres to the filter (12) when the clothes are dried, and the cooling air flow rate does not change with repeated drying, but the drying air flow rate decreases and the two temperature sensors (13) , (14) Temperature difference Δ after the output value stabilizes
T ′ tends to be larger than the temperature difference ΔT when there is no clogging as indicated by the broken line in FIG. Therefore, when the temperature difference reaches a predetermined value, it is determined that clogging has occurred and the control means can operate the filter clogging notifying means.

Further, as shown in Fig. 4, the difference in output value after the output values of the two temperature sensors (13) and (14) have stabilized, that is, the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of the heat exchanger, is related to the amount of clothes and the power supply voltage. It is known that the value always becomes constant without using the filter, and it is possible to always detect the filter clogging accurately regardless of the amount of clothes and the power supply voltage.

In this way, by informing the user of clogging of the filter, the user is prompted to clean the filter, and it is possible to use it in a good condition where there is no decrease in the air volume for drying, and the drying time and efficiency decrease due to the clogging of the filter. To prevent this.

The temperature difference between the two temperature sensors tends to decrease as the room temperature increases. Therefore, if the room temperature rises, the temperature sensor output value at the start of drying, that is, the room temperature is detected, and if the room temperature rises, the clogging detection is performed.If the predetermined temperature difference value is reduced, the clogging can be notified more accurately. Becomes

(Effect of the invention) As described above, the present invention provides temperature sensors at the heat exchanger inlet and outlet in the drying air circulation path,
Provided with a control device having a filter clogging notification means,
When the difference between the output values of the two temperature sensors becomes stable and reaches a predetermined value, the filter clogging notifying means notifies the filter clogging. The clogging condition of the filter can be accurately notified without being prompted, and the user can be prevented from clogging the filter by prompting the user to clean the filter, and it is possible to prevent an increase in drying time and a decrease in efficiency.
The effect is great.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a clothes dryer showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the same controller, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a temperature curve. FIG. 4 is a diagram of the differential temperature indicated by the two temperature sensors after clogging. FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional clothes dryer. (7) ... Drum, (9) ... Heat exchange type blower (heat exchanger), (10) ... Motor, (11) ... Heater, (12) ...
Filter, (13) ... Temperature sensor, (14) ... Temperature sensor.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tetsuo Kawai 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP 57-89899 (JP, A) Actual development 57-115394 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A drum having a filter attached to the rear portion and rotatably installed in an outer frame, a fan for blowing drying air and cooling air, a heat exchanger, a heater, and a fan and a drum are driven. A drying air circulation path composed of a motor, a drum, a filter, a heat exchanger, and a heater, and a cooling path through which the cooling air sucked from the outside of the outer frame is exhausted to the outside again through the heat exchanger. In the middle of the circulation path, a first temperature sensor is provided on the inlet side of the drying air to the heat exchanger and on the downstream side of the filter, and on the outlet side of the drying air heat exchanger and on the upstream side of the heater. In addition to providing two temperature sensors respectively, a control device having a filter clogging notification means is provided, and after the start of the constant rate drying period, the difference between the output values of the first and second temperature sensors reaches a predetermined value. When, clothes dryer that performs clogging notification of the filter by the notifying means. 2. The filter according to claim 1, wherein the difference between the output values of the two temperature sensors which are judged to be the clogging of the filter is changed according to the room temperature, and the clogging of the filter is notified using this value. Clothes dryer.