JPH0790087B2 - Dryer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a dryer capable of predicting a time required for a drying operation.

(Prior Art) This type of dryer is provided with a pair of detection electrodes so that clothes in a rotationally driven drum can come into contact with each other, and the detection electrodes detect the contact of clothes. A contact rate detection means for detecting the contact rate based on the detection signal from the detection electrode is provided, and at the beginning of the drying operation, the time required for the dry operation is predicted based on the contact rate detection result by the contact rate detection means. There is something I did. This prediction method is based on an empirical rule that, if the contact rate is high, the amount of clothes is large and the time required for the drying operation is long, and thus the time required for the drying operation can be predicted by the contact rate.

Then, a method of detecting the contact rate will be described. The contact detection signal from the detection electrodes is directly represented by a resistance value according to the water content of the clothes appearing between the electrodes, but normally, the resistance value is converted into a voltage and the voltage (reciprocal of resistance is converted into (Proportionality, proportional to conductivity between detection electrodes) is treated as a contact detection signal. Now, FIG. 5 shows an example of an output change of the detection voltage Vp which is the contact detection signal. This detection voltage Vp normally changes at the level shown by the solid line in the figure. Then, the contact rate detection means compares the detected voltage Vp with a considerably low reference voltage Vs to determine contact detection when Vp> Vs, and totals the contact detection determination time at a certain fixed time, A value obtained by dividing the total value by the constant time is detected as the contact rate Ss. Usually, as shown in FIG. 6, the higher the contact rate Ss, the larger the amount Vc of clothes in the drum, and therefore, it is predicted that the higher the contact rate Ss, the longer the time required for the drying operation.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the dryer, the clothes to be dried are generally those after washing, and therefore the clothes may contain a large amount of detergent. In such a case, the resistance value between the detection electrodes becomes considerably low, that is, the conductivity becomes considerably high. In this case, the detection voltage Vp has a higher overall level as shown by the broken line in FIG. 5, and as a result, the total value of the contact detection determination time is large and the contact rate Ss is normal (when the detergent content is small, This is considerably higher than that shown by the solid line in the figure), and as a result, the time required for the drying operation is predicted to be excessively long.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a dryer that can correct the predicted time predicted based on the contact rate detection result to an accurate predicted time.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) The present invention includes a pair of detection electrodes which are provided so that clothes in a rotationally driven drum can come into contact with each other, and which detect a contact of the clothes. The contact rate detection means for detecting the contact rate based on the detection signal from the detection electrode is provided, and the time required for the drying operation is predicted based on the contact rate detection result by the contact rate detection means at the beginning of the drying operation. In this case, a conductivity change degree detection means is provided for detecting the change rate by detecting the conductivity between the detection electrodes, and a prediction of the required drying operation time is made based on the detection result from the conductivity change degree detection means. The feature is that the value is corrected.

(Operation) The magnitude of the contact rate detected by the contact rate detection means is substantially equivalent to the amount of clothes in the drum, but if the detergent content in the clothes is large, the contact rate according to the actual amount of clothes is reached. You don't always get a rate.

However, according to the above means, the change in conductivity is detected by the conductivity change degree detection means, and the predicted value for the required time is corrected based on the detection result. In other words, the degree of change in conductivity is approximately equivalent to the amount of clothes, and therefore even if the absolute value of conductivity is different due to the presence or absence of detergent in clothes (when the contact rate is different), Since the degree of change always correlates with the amount of clothes, by correcting the predicted value for the time required for the drying operation based on the degree of change in conductivity, the predicted time after correction is accurate regardless of the presence or absence of detergent. Becomes

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

First, in FIG. 2 showing the overall structure of the dryer, 1 is an outer box, 2 is a drum rotatably arranged inside the outer box 1, and the front opening edge of the drum is supported by an annular support plate 3. The rear opening edge is supported by the fan casing 4. And
The inside of this drum 2 is configured as a drying chamber 5.
Reference numeral 6 denotes a double-blade fan provided inside the fan casing 4 so as to be divided into front and rear, and the fan 6 also serves as a heat exchanger. Reference numeral 7 is a heater provided with a vent hole (not shown) at the bottom of the fan casing 4. The drum 2 and the fan 6 are rotatably driven by a motor 8 (see FIG. 1). In this case, the air in the drum 2 passes through the filter 9 and the exhaust port 4a to the front portion of the fan casing 4. The process of being sucked, heated by the heater 7 and returned to the inside of the drum 2 is repeated. At the same time, the outside air passes through the outside air intake port 1a and the fan casing 4
The heat is exchanged with the air in the drum 2 that is sucked to the rear side portion and exhausted from the exhaust port 4a, and is discharged from the outside air discharge port 1b to the outside of the machine.

10 is a pair of detection electrodes that are contact detection means.
The annular support plate 3 is provided so that the clothes accommodated in the drum 2 can come into contact therewith. Incidentally, 11 is an exhaust temperature sensor.

Next, the electrical configuration will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 12 is a voltage dividing resistance circuit including the detection electrode 10, which is provided between the DC power supply terminal Vcc and the ground and which has the detection electrode 10 and the first resistance 1
Connect a series circuit of 3 and further add a second resistor 14 and FET 15
Is connected in parallel to the first resistor 13. The second resistor 14 is enabled / disabled by turning on / off the FET 15, and the FET 15 is activated by the conductivity change degree detection circuit 20 only when the conductivity change degree detection circuit 20 described later functions. It is turned on. In this case, when the second resistor 14 is disabled, the normal number is 100k.
In order to be able to detect the clothing resistance which changes from Ω to several tens of MΩ,
The resistance value of the first resistor 13 is set within the range of about 1.0 MΩ to 2.0 MΩ. Further, when the second resistor 14 is enabled, the resistance value of the second resistor 14 is set so that the parallel combined resistance value is about 10 kΩ so that the conductivity can be detected well. Thus, the voltage dividing resistance circuit 12 outputs a detection voltage Vp proportional to the reciprocal of the resistance between the detection electrodes 10 as a contact detection signal.

Reference numeral 16 is a contact rate detection circuit as a contact rate detection means, which has the same configuration as the conventional one. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the detected voltage Vp is compared with the reference voltage Vs, and Vp>
Contact detection is judged when Vs. Then, the contact detection determination time is totaled in a certain fixed time, and the total value is divided by the fixed time to detect the contact rate Ss. Then, the detected contact rate Ss is given to the prediction time setting circuit 17 which previously has the relationship between the contact rate Ss and the required drying operation time as prediction data. This estimated time setting circuit 17
When the contact rate Ss is given, the predicted time for the required time is set based on the prediction data, and the set predicted time signal is given to the timetable control circuit 18. This display control circuit 18
Causes the display 19 to display the predicted time based on the signal.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a conductivity change degree detection circuit which is a conductivity change degree detecting means, which turns on the FET 15 to divide the voltage dividing resistance circuit 1
The parallel combined resistance value of the first resistor 13 and the second resistor 14 applied to 2 is lowered so that the clothing resistance (inversely proportional to the conductivity) appearing between the detection electrodes 10 can be sufficiently detected, so that the clothing The conductivity of the is sufficiently reflected in the detection voltage Vp. Hereinafter, the detection voltage Vp at this time will be referred to as a conductivity-corresponding detection voltage Vp.
Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the conductivity of the clothes has the same absolute value depending on the presence or absence of the detergent content, but the degree of change with respect to the water content is the same. Therefore, the degree of change in conductivity depends on the amount of clothes, and as shown in FIG. 4, when the degree of change is large (characteristic line A), the amount of clothes is small, that is, the drying operation time is short, If the degree of change is small (characteristic line B), the required time becomes long.

Thus, the conductivity change degree detection circuit 20 sets the initial value of the conductivity corresponding detection voltage Vp to 7% when the initial value is 100%.
It detects small / large changes (large / small amount of clothes) based on the length of the judgment time τ from reaching 5% to reaching 50%. Then, the conductivity change degree detection circuit 20 has the drying operation required time data according to the time τ,
The required time is determined according to the time τ, and the determined value is given to the time display control circuit 18. The time display control circuit 18 corrects and displays the current predicted time based on the determined value. In addition, 21 is a dryness detection circuit for detecting the dryness of the clothing based on the detection voltage Vp, 22 is an operating time determination circuit,
The operation time determination circuit 22 compares the dryness detection signal from the dryness detection circuit 21 and the set value from the dryness setting device 23, and when the dryness detected value reaches the set value, the dry operation is performed. The remaining time is confirmed and a confirmation signal is given to the operation control circuit 24. Reference numeral 24 denotes an operation control circuit which, when a start signal is given, drives the motor 8 and the heater 7 to start the drying operation, and at the same time, the contact rate detection circuit 16 and the conductivity change degree detection circuit 20 are timed. When it is functionalized and a confirmation signal is given from the operation time determination circuit 22, the delay operation is executed at the determined time and the drying operation is ended.

Now, the prediction of the required dry operation time and the correction of the predicted time will be described. With the start of the drying operation, the contact rate detection circuit 16 is functionalized to detect the contact rate Ss based on the detected voltage Vp. Based on this contact rate Ss, the predicted time setting circuit 17 sets a predicted time for the required drying operation time, and the set predicted time signal is given to the time display control circuit 18, and this time display control circuit 18 makes this set prediction. The predicted time is displayed on the display unit 19 based on the time signal. This estimated time is sequentially subtracted and displayed as the drying operation progresses. Thereafter, the conductivity change degree detection circuit 20 is functionalized to turn on the FET 15, and the conductivity change degree detection circuit 20 has the initial value of the conductivity corresponding detection voltage Vp (conductivity) as described above. Time τ from 75% to 50% τ
(See FIG. 4) is calculated, and the required time is determined by this elapsed time τ. In this case, this elapsed time τ is independent of the detergent content in the clothes and depends only on the amount of clothes. The determined value for this required time is the time display control circuit
The time display control circuit 18 corrects the predicted time at the present time based on the determined value and causes the display 19 to display the corrected time. Therefore, even if the detergent content in the clothing is large and the result of the previous detection of the contact rate Ss is abnormally high and the prediction time is set too long, the prediction time can be corrected accurately.

[Effect of the Invention] As described above, the present invention is provided with a pair of detection electrodes which are provided so that clothes in a drum that is rotationally driven can come into contact with each other, and detect the contact of the clothes. The contact rate detection means for detecting the contact rate based on the detection signal of the contact rate detection means is provided, and the drying operation required time is predicted based on the contact rate detection result by the contact rate detection means at the beginning of the drying operation. A conductivity change degree detection means for detecting the conductivity between the detection electrodes and detecting the degree of change is provided, and the predicted time for the drying operation required time is corrected based on the detection result from the conductivity change degree detection means. This is an excellent feature that the predicted time for the dry operation required time can be accurately corrected regardless of the detergent content in the clothes. Produce an effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electrical configuration, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of the whole,
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a change in conductivity with and without a detergent component in relation to water content, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing change characteristics of conductivity, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are [Fig. 5] Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining a clothing amount determination method based on contact rate detection, Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an output change of a detection voltage, and Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a contact rate and a clothing amount. In the figure, 2 is a drum, 10 is a detection electrode, 12 is a voltage dividing resistor circuit,
Reference numeral 16 is a contact rate detection circuit (contact rate detection means), 17 is a predicted time setting circuit, 19 is an indicator, and 20 is a conductivity change degree detection circuit (conductivity change degree detection means).

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Koshito Goshi 4-21-21, Yoshihara-cho, Nishi-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Toshiba Audio & Video Engineering Co., Ltd. Nagoya Office

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of detection electrodes are provided so that clothes in a rotationally driven drum can come into contact with each other, and a pair of detection electrodes are provided, and a contact rate is detected based on a detection signal from the detection electrodes. A contact rate detecting means for detecting the conductivity between the detection electrodes in a method for predicting the required drying operation time based on the contact rate detection result by the contact rate detecting means at the beginning of the drying operation. A dryer characterized in that a conductivity change degree detecting means for detecting the change degree is provided, and a predicted time of a required drying operation time is corrected based on a detection result from the conductivity change degree detecting means. .