JPH0453522A - Dish dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the occurrence of trouble such as drying longer than required and insufficient drying by providing a humidity sensor for detecting the humidity of a drying chamber and a control means for stopping the drying operation according to the humidity information from the humidity sensor. CONSTITUTION:A humidity sensor 50 is fitted to the upper portion in a drying chamber 6, and a means for taking in the humidity information from the sensor 50 and reflecting it in operation control is provided in a microcomputer. The microcomputer 48 includes a reference humidity storage means 60, a set humidity storage means 61 for giving the humidity of the stop reference for drying operation according to a desired drying degree input by a user, a comparing means 62 for taking in a humidity value (y) from the reference humidity storage means 60 or the set humidity storage means 61 and comparing the same with a humidity value (x) from the humidity sensor 50, and a drying operation stop means 63 adapted to operate when the latter humidity value (x) is smaller than the former value (y) in the comparing means 62 in addition to a circuit for an ordinary operation control for a dish washer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] This invention relates to a dish dryer and a dishwasher equipped with a drying function.

[Prior Art] In a dish dryer and a dishwasher equipped with a drying function, drying operation is achieved by circulating hot air heated by a heater in a drying chamber containing dishes.

If the hot air circulates for an appropriate amount of time, the dishes will be sufficiently dried, but if it is too short, sufficient drying will not be achieved. On the other hand, if the drying time is too long, although the drying is done, extra energy is wasted and extra waiting time is caused.

The hot air circulation time, that is, the drying operation time, is an important factor as mentioned above, but in conventional devices, this time is set by a timer that can be freely changed by the user.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 11] In the dishwasher described above, if the type and amount of dishes are the same each time, the user should memorize an approximate appropriate time and adjust the timer scale to the current time. However, in reality, the types and quantities of tableware handled are usually different each time.
If you only have a small amount of food or are using ceramic plates or other dishes that drain well, you will waste extra energy unless you set them to a slightly shorter setting. If you do this, you will have to set it a little longer or there will be a problem where there will still be water left on the dishes even after the operation has stopped.

In this way, the proper setting of the timer requires experience and intuition, so to speak, and even if one becomes proficient, the user tends to dislike moisture remaining, so the timer cannot be set for a long time. This tends to result in a considerable waste of electrical energy that accumulates during long-term use.

This invention attempts to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A dish dryer according to the present invention includes a humidity sensor that detects the temperature of a drying chamber, and a control means that stops the drying operation based on temperature information from the temperature sensor. be.

[Operation] The temperature sensor detects the temperature inside the drying chamber, the detected temperature information is compared with a reference temperature given in advance within the control means, and if the detected temperature is lower, the drying operation is stopped.

Alternatively, mathematical analysis is applied to the detected temperature, and the drying operation is stopped when the degree of change reaches a predetermined standard.

[Example] An example in which the present invention is applied to a dishwasher (hereinafter referred to as a dishwasher) will be described below based on the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a new side view of the dishwasher of this embodiment, showing lattice-shaped protrusions (4 )... A lid cover (5
) to extend the cleaning tank (1) and each cover (3) (5).
to form a square box-shaped cleaning chamber (drying chamber) (6), and a lid cover (5) centered around the support shaft (7) on the rear edge of the top surface.
) can be opened and closed freely, and a shelf-like body (9) for storing tableware is installed so as to be freely accessible through guide rails (8) on both sides of the washing tank (1).

In addition, a water supply port (10) is opened at the bottom of the cleaning tank (1),
A water supply valve (12) having a water supply solenoid (11) is provided at the water supply port (10), and a water supply hose (13) connected to the water supply is connected via the valve (12) to the water supply port (10).
1o) is connected, and the valve (12) is opened and closed to supply an appropriate amount of water into the cleaning tank (1).

In addition, a water storage tank (14) is formed at the bottom of the cleaning ff (1), and a water intake case (15) t[
The tank (14) and the water intake case (15) are connected through a grid plate (16) for preventing swirling, and the heater (17) is installed inside the tank (14), and the spring (18) Drawer stand (19) to be removed by
Attach the removable garbage filter (20) to the drawer stand (19), and attach the garbage filter (20) to the upper surface of the tank (14) so that it can come in and out to collect garbage such as food scraps. It is configured as follows.

In addition, a hollow water guide shaft (21
), a fountain blade (23) having a plurality of injection nozzles (22)... is rotatably attached to the upper end of the water guiding shaft (21), and a water pump (25) has a built-in water blade (24). is installed on the lower surface side of the bottom of the cleaning tank (1), and the normal rotation discharge port (26) of the pump (25) is connected to the water guide shaft (21).
A check valve body (30) is connected to the lower end, a drain pipe (28) is connected to the reverse discharge port (27) of the pump (25), and a check valve body (30) is connected to the drain hose (29) that communicates with the sewer.
) and the secondary side drainage pipe (31) to connect the drainage pipe (28), while the water intake case (15)
The water supply pipe (32) connected to the water supply pump (25)
When the water pump (25) rotates in the normal direction, the water in the tank (14) is sent from the normal rotation discharge port (26) into the cleaning chamber (6) through the injection nozzle (22). On the other hand, due to the reverse rotation of the water pump (25), the tank (1
4) is configured to be discharged into the sewer through the reverse discharge port (27).

In addition, a control box (
33), and a group of switches (37) such as a start switch (34), a stop switch (35), and a door open switch (36).

That is, by normal rotation of the water pump (25), water is transferred from the cleaning tank (1) to the garbage filter (20) to the tank (14).
→ Water suction pipe (32) → Pump (25) → Injection nozzle (
22)→washing tank (1), and by reversing the water pump (25), water flows from washing tank (1) to tank (
The water is discharged through the following route: 14)→water suction pipe (32)→pump (25)→drainage hose (29).

(43) is the above-mentioned slideable dust filter (20)
(45) is a solenoid for advancing and retracting the stopper pin, (46) and (47) are a detection piece and a detection switch for confirming the negative position of the dust filter (2o).

After the water in the tank (14) is discharged through the above course, the heater (17) is heated and the water feed vane* (24) is rotated in the normal direction, and hot air heated by the heater (17) is jetted out. From the nozzle (22) to the drying chamber (
6) The dishes are sent inside to dry.

Furthermore, if the heater (17) is heated during the water circulation, the circulating water becomes hot water, and if the heater (17) is heated, the circulating water becomes cold water.

All of the above operation switching is performed by the microcomputer (48) in the control box (33).

According to the present invention, a temperature sensor (50) is installed in the inside of the drying chamber (6), and the temperature information from the sensor (50) is input into the microcomputer (48) to perform the above-mentioned process. A means is provided to reflect this in the operation control of the vehicle.

That is, the temperature sensor (50) in this example is made of Al2O
The sensor uses a ceramic temperature sensor (50) based on a porous sintered body of metal oxide mainly composed of 3, and a cover with a very fine perforated plate or labyrinth ( 51) and fixed it in the drying chamber (6). (51a) is a drain hole provided at the bottom of the cover.

The temperature sensor (50) changes the amount of water molecules desorbed onto the surface depending on the amount of vapor in the atmosphere, and its electrical resistance changes exponentially.

Note that various other types of temperature sensors can be used as the temperature sensor (50), and the mounting method is not limited to the above example. The cover (3) of the mounting portion may be a perforated plate or a gas-permeable plate with a labyrinth that prevents washing water from directly splashing on it but allows the atmosphere to freely enter and exit.

Next, the internal configuration of the microcomputer (48) and the connections with each sensor will be explained together with the operation of the large washer.

That is, the microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as microcomputer) (48) has a power supply section (52), a display section (53), a switch group (37), a water level sensor (54), as shown in the second diagram.
, temperature sensor (55), temperature sensor (50), motor (
56), valve group (57) and the heater (17)
etc., and the display section (53) is connected to the control box (3).
3) The water level sensor (54) consists of an LED, LCD, etc. fixed to the front panel, the water level sensor (54) consists of a plurality of electrodes (58) provided on the side of the cleaning tank (1), and the temperature sensor (55)
) consists of a thermostat, thermocouple, etc. whose detection end protrudes into the tank (14) so that the water temperature inside the tank (14) can be measured.

In the microcomputer (48), in addition to the circuit for controlling the normal operation of the dishwasher, as shown in the third diagram, there is a memory means (6o) for the basic degree of dryness, and a desired dryness input by the user. a set temperature storage means (61) that provides a temperature as a reference for stopping the drying operation according to the degree of drying; and a reference temperature storage means (61).
60) Alternatively, a comparison means (62) takes in the temperature value y from the set temperature storage means (61) and compares it with the temperature value X from the temperature sensor (50), and the latter temperature value is It is equipped with a drying operation stop means (63) that operates when X becomes smaller than the former y, and operates as follows.

In this embodiment, the reference temperature storage means (60), comparison means (62), and drying operation stop means (63) constitute drying operation stop control means.

That is, as shown in the flowchart in Figure 5, the general operation goes into the normal mode when the power switch is turned on after the power is turned on.In this normal mode, the user selects the desired operating course and the dishes are placed in the washing room (6). ) and input the desired degree of dryness, which will be detailed later. If you select the full course of washing, rinsing, and drying in the operation course selection above, the process will proceed as follows: wash mode → rinse mode 1 → rinse mode 2 → heat rinse, and if you select Yes in the determination step for the drying course. Then, the drying operation is executed, and finally all relays, switches, etc. are turned off in the "end mode" step, and the process ends.

In washing mode, hot water flows inside the washing chamber (6). In rinse mode 1 and rinse mode 2, cold water is circulated in the cleaning chamber (6), and in heated rinse mode, hot water is circulated for final rinsing.

In addition, if you select the rinsing and drying course by selecting the operation course in the normal mode above, you can skip the wash mode and enter the 5th mode.
The movement is executed from the position of ■ in the flowchart shown in the figure, and when only the drying course is selected, the operation is executed from the position of ■.

Next, the operation in the normal mode will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In the normal mode, the user selects the switch group (37).
The above-mentioned operation course is selected using the course selection switch inside, and the door (cover) (5) is opened and closed to put the dishes into the washing chamber (6). 64) to set the humidity setting to your desired value.

This is the "dryness setting" step in Figure 316.

This set humidity is the temperature that becomes the standard for stopping the drying operation, and the selection switch (64) is set to over 1.
Assuming that there are three settings, medium and low, for example, if you press the selection switch for 1 high, 5% will be set as the reference temperature, 10% for medium, and 1 low. For example, 20% is set. Of course, the above humidity values can be varied in various ways.

Then, after the above setting operation, when the user presses the start switch, it first detects whether the door (cover (5)) is open at this point, and if the door remains open, it is determined that the door is open. If the door is closed, then it is determined whether only the drying course has been selected, and if only the drying course is selected, then
If it is not only the drying course, it is determined whether the rinsing course has been selected. If Yes, the process moves to ■ in the tsS diagram flowchart, and if No, it moves to the washing mode (the "washing mode" step in the flowchart in Figure 15).

Next, the operation in the drying mode will be described in detail based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 917.

That is, when the drying mode is entered, the microcomputer (48) immediately receives the current temperature information X from the temperature sensor (50).
and start capturing the new current temperature.

The reference temperature input by the user in the "dryness setting" step of the normal mode is already displayed on the LED at the time of the normal mode.
, 1 strong drying on the display part (53) of LCD etc.” ``Semi-drying”
The humidity value corresponding to this reference temperature is loaded into the microcomputer in the "loading set value y" step.

In addition, if the user does not set the dryness level in the normal mode, or forgets to do so, the microcomputer (48
) will not be able to capture the reference temperature, so in order to prevent this inconvenience, in the next determination step it is determined whether the set value has been input by the user, that is, whether data has been input within the capture area of the set value y. Yes, Ye
If it is s, the data y in the intake area is immediately compared with the current humidity data At the time of manufacturing, a reference temperature value is stored in advance in the reference temperature storage means (60), and the reference temperature data is fetched as a reference temperature value y and compared in the determination step.

The data in the reference humidity storage means (60) may be, for example, data in the setting storage means (61) when the user selects "medium" (for example, 10%), or other data. It may be standard data.

Then, in the next judgment step of rx>y-J, YES is normally established immediately after rinsing, so the heater (17) is ONL, and this heater ON is determined in the next judgment step rxs.
This process is repeated until yJ becomes Yes. In other words,
The heater continues to be turned on until the current humidity value X becomes lower than the reference temperature value y.

Then, in the determination step rxsyJ, N is determined.

When this is true, the heater (17) and motor (56)
is turned off and the dry road rotation ends.

Note that when the result of the step of determining whether or not the set value has been input is No, and the reference temperature value is read from the reference temperature storage means (60), at the same time, the display section (53) displays "".
Display text such as ``Standard drying'' or ``Automatic drying j''.

FIG. 8 shows how the humidity inside the drying chamber (6) changes as a result of the above operation.

In this 8th rH graph, the set value y1 is the case where the user selects "1 over" with the selection switch (64), and similarly, the set value y: is "medium" and y3 is the case where the user selects "1 under". For example, if the amount and type of tableware are the same, the end times t1, t2, and t3 are different.

Furthermore, if the heat generation amount of the heater (17) is also changed according to the selection made by the selection switch (64), the curve of the above graph itself will be deviated. The time required for drying is "medium",
It is also possible to shorten the time to a point that is not much different from if you had selected "1 little less".

That is, for example, if the heater (17) is two heaters of a certain wattage and you select "Strong", the
A method of energizing both heaters, and if you select ``Medium'', energize the heater with the larger wattage, and if you select ``1 Less'', energize the heater with the smaller wattage. Alternatively, there is a method of changing the duty to the heater (17) to switch the amount of heat generated.

Furthermore, the temperature change graph of the drying room (6) is approximately 118
Since the shape shown in the figure is taken advantage of, the drying operation stop control means is not composed of the reference temperature storage means (60), the comparison means (62) and the stop means (63), but the following It can also be configured.

That is, jl! 9 Temperature sensor (5
means (7) for differentiating temperature information X from 0) with respect to time;
0) and the history of the differential value from the differentiating means (70), and when the differential value changes from small to large and then changes to small again, the drying operation stop means (63) is triggered. It may also be configured with drying curve determining means (71).

In this embodiment, the rate of change of the drying curve is calculated by the differentiating means (7o), and the portion A shown in FIG. 8 is detected by the drying curve determining means (71).

Therefore, depending on this stop control means, it is possible to reliably detect that the degree of decrease in temperature has reached the saturated state without providing any special criteria in advance, and it is possible to ensure that the temperature is always at an appropriate level regardless of the temperature of the external environment due to changes in the four seasons. Operation can be stopped depending on the degree of dryness.

Further, as the drying curve determining means (71) described in E, the drying operation stopping means (63) is executed when the differential value reaches a predetermined small value after a predetermined time has elapsed after starting the drying operation. It may also be something that triggers.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above explanation, in the dish dryer according to the present invention, the actual temperature inside the drying chamber is detected and the drying operation is stopped based on the detected temperature.

There are no problems such as unnecessarily long drying time that wastes energy as explained at the beginning, or insufficient drying when trying to process a large quantity of dishes that do not drain well.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the dishwasher according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the connection between the microcomputer and other electrical components, Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the microcomputer, and Fig. 114 is the selection A front view showing the appearance of the switch, Figures 5 to 7 are flowcharts showing the operation and user operations, *srgI is a graph showing the relationship between the drying process and the stop operation, 19 (1m is the microcomputer in other embodiments) This is a block diagram of (6)...Drying room, (48)...Microcomputer, (5
0)...Temperature sensor, (60)--Reference temperature storage means, (61)...Set temperature storage means, (6
2) ... comparison means, (63) ... drying operation stop means, (70) ... differentiation means, (71) ... drying curve determination means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A dish dryer comprising: a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of a drying chamber; and a control means that stops drying operation based on temperature information from the temperature sensor.