JPH078694A - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To prevent the drying operation from being performed while the heater is abnormally operating due to a triac short circuit or the like, and to improve the safety of the equipment. [Structure] When the power switch 42 is pressed and power is supplied to the device body from an external power source (S1), the control unit 29
The current flowing through the device body is detected (S3). If it is judged that the current value (I) at this time is the comparison value A (1A) or more (S
4), shut off the power supply to the device body (S10)
4). When the start key 33c is pressed, first, only the motor 20 is turned on (S6), and the current flowing through the device body is detected (S7). The current value at this time is the comparison value B
If it is (5A) or more, the power supply to the device body is cut off (S104).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a clothes dryer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a clothes dryer, when a heater driving means such as a triac is short-circuited and the heater remains operating, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-64396 (D06).
F58 / 28) and detected. That is, when it is detected that the outlet temperature of the heater or the outlet temperature of the drum does not decrease when cooling the clothes in the drying chamber by the operation of only the fan after finishing the drying and controlling the heater,
When it is judged that the heater is abnormal, the power supply itself supplied from the outside to the heater is shut off and the abnormality is reported.

[0003]

In the conventional clothes dryer, for example, when the power is turned off without noticing the abnormality notification, the abnormality cannot be detected the next time the power is turned on. That is, it cannot be detected until the drying operation is completed and the cooling operation is started.

Therefore, there is a possibility that the clothes may be damaged due to abnormal operation (for example, drying at a relatively low temperature, but drying at a high temperature) due to abnormal operation. If the operation is not started immediately after the power is turned on, the inside of the drum may be left at a high temperature.

The present invention relates to an improvement of a clothes dryer and solves such a problem.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in a clothes dryer for supplying clothes with a drying air heated by a heater to dry clothes, power is supplied from an external power source to the device body. For supplying electric power, starting means for outputting a command to start the drying operation, control means for outputting a heater operation command according to the command of the starting means after the power is supplied by the power supplying means, and the device main body by this operation command. The heater driving means for guiding the electric power introduced into the heater to operate the heater, the confirmation means for confirming the operation of the heater when the electric power is supplied by the power supply means, and the confirmation means for starting If it is confirmed that the heater is operating before the command by the means, the power supply means is made inoperative, and the power supply to the main body of the equipment is cut off. That.

Further, according to the present invention, in a clothes dryer for supplying clothes with a drying air heated by a heater to dry clothes, power is supplied to the device body from an external power source. Means, a starting means for outputting a command for starting a drying operation, a control means for outputting a heater operation command after a predetermined time when the command for the starting means is output after power is supplied by the power supply means, and the heater The heater is driven by the heater driving means for guiding the electric power introduced into the main body of the apparatus to the heater by the operation command to operate the heater, the confirmation means for confirming the operation of the heater within the predetermined time, and the confirmation means. When it is confirmed that the power supply means is turned on, the power supply means is made inoperative and the power supply means is cut off.

[0008]

When the power supply means operates and power is supplied to the main body of the device, the operation of the heater is confirmed. If it is determined that the heater is operating, the power supply means is deactivated and the power supply means is deactivated. , Shut off the power supply to the device. Here, as the confirmation means for confirming the operation of the heater, for example, there are means for detecting the current input to the heater and means for detecting the temperature at the heater outlet.

When the drying operation is started by a command from the starting means, the heater is operated after a predetermined time. If the operation of the heater is confirmed within this predetermined time and it is determined that the heater is operating, it is determined that the heater is in an abnormal state, the power supply means is deactivated, and the power supply to the device body is cut off.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 5, 1 is a clothes dryer of this embodiment, 2 is an outer frame thereof, and has a clothes inlet 3 on the front surface. Reference numeral 4 denotes a horizontal drum that is a rotatably supported shaft in the outer frame 2 and serves as a drying chamber. An opening is formed in the front surface corresponding to the clothes inlet 3. An exhaust port 6 is provided in the center of the rear surface of the drum 4, and a lint filter 7 is disposed in the exhaust port 6. Reference numeral 2a is a support plate which is provided from the outer periphery of the clothes insertion port 3 and supports the front surface of the drum 4, and an intake port 5 is provided in the lower portion. Reference numeral 8 is a door for opening and closing the clothes inlet 3.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a fan casing provided at the rear of the drum 4, and 10 denotes a heat exchange type double-sided fan provided so as to divide the inside of the fan casing 9 into a circulation air passage 11 and a cooling air passage 12. 13 is the exhaust port 6 and the circulation air passage 11
A communication port opened in the fan casing 9 in order to communicate with the above, and a seal member 14 provided to reliably guide the dry air discharged from the exhaust port 6 to the communication port 13. Reference numeral 15 denotes the outer frame 2 for introducing outside air into the cooling air passage 12.
An inlet port 16 is provided at the center of the rear surface of the outer frame 2 and an outlet port 16 is also provided at the lower portion of the rear surface of the outer frame 2 to guide the introduced outside air.

A circulation duct 17 connects the circulation air passage 11 and the intake port 5 of the drum 4, and a drain hole 18 is provided at the lowest position. 19 is this circulation duct 17
It is a heater device arranged on the side of the intake port 5 and is composed of two sets of honeycomb semiconductor heaters, a first heater 19a and a second heater 19b. The heater device 19 can be operated at high output (strong) and low output (weak) by switching whether both the first heater 19a and the second heater 19b are turned on or only the first heater 19a is turned on. Become. The strength of the heater device 19 depends on the dry operation course, but can be switched manually.

Reference numeral 20 denotes an induction motor, which is a drum pulley 2
1 and a drum belt 22 to connect to the drum 4, and a fan pulley 23 and a fan belt 24 to connect to the double-sided fan 10.

Thus, at the time of drying, the drum 4 is rotated at a low speed and the double-sided fan 10 is rotated at a high speed by the rotation of the motor 20. Double-sided fan 1
The dry air generated by the rotation of 0 and heated by the heater device 19 circulates through the circulation air passage 11, the circulation duct 17, and the drum 4, and exchanges heat with the clothes in the drum 4. At the same time, the outside air is introduced into the cooling air passage 12 by the rotation of the double-sided fan 10 to cool the double-sided fan 10 itself. Then, the dry air after heat exchange in the drum 4 contacts the double-sided fan 10 and is cooled, the moisture in the dry air is condensed, flows down in the circulation air passage 11, and is discharged from the drain hole 18. It

Reference numeral 25 denotes a first portion provided near the communication port 13.
It is a heat sensitive element. The first thermosensitive element 25 detects the temperature of the exhaust air (drum outlet temperature) emitted from the drum 4 in order to detect the temperature inside the drum 4. Two
Reference numeral 6 is a second heat sensitive element provided near the inlet of the heater device 19. The second heat sensitive element 26 has the heater device 19 after heat exchange is performed by the double-sided fan 10.
The temperature of the dry air (heater inlet temperature) before reheating is detected by. Thermistors are used as the first and second heat sensitive elements 25 and 26, and the detected temperature is converted into an analog voltage value and output. Then, this analog voltage value is input to a microcomputer, which will be described later, and converted into a digital voltage value by an internal A / D converter.

Reference numeral 27 is a rotation sensor for detecting the number of rotations of the motor 20. The rotation sensor 27 includes a magnet piece 27a attached to the fan pulley 23 and a Hall IC 27b that is sensitive to the magnetism generated by the magnet piece 27a. When the fan pulley 23, that is, the motor 20 makes one revolution, a pulse voltage is generated at the output of the Hall IC 27b,
The number of rotations of the motor 20 can be determined by the generation cycle of this voltage.

FIG. 6 shows a control mechanism of the clothes dryer of this embodiment, in which 28 is a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as "microcomputer"), which is the control means of the present invention, the control section 29 serving as the interruption means, and the storage section 30. , A counter section 31, an A / D conversion section 32, and the like.

Reference numeral 42 is a power switch which is a power input means and comprises a contact 42a and a coil portion 42b. Contact 42
a is ON / O when a key part (not shown) is manually pressed.
Not to mention FF, it is automatically turned off by energizing the coil portion 42b. And the contact 42a is ON
By doing so, power is supplied from the external power source to the device main body, and when turned off, the power supply is cut off. Four
Reference numeral 3 denotes a DC power supply circuit, which converts the 100V AC voltage of the external power supply into a relatively low DC voltage (for example, 5V or 12V) and inputs it to the microcomputer 28.

33 is a selection key 33a for various driving courses,
It is an operation key group including a heater output switching key 33b and a start key 33c for starting / stopping the drying operation. The start key 33c corresponds to the starting means of the present invention. A door switch 34 detects whether the door 8 is open or closed.

Reference numeral 35 is a current detection circuit for detecting the current flowing through the main body of the device in order to confirm the operation of the heater device 19 and the motor 20, and a current transformer 35a for converting the current flowing through the main body of the device into a voltage, and this current. It is composed of a rectifying circuit 35b and a smoothing circuit 35c for converting the voltage value output from the transformer 35a into a DC voltage value. And
The current detection circuit 35 corresponds to the confirmation means of the present invention.

The current detection circuit 35 includes the operation key group 3
3, the door switch 34, the heat sensitive elements 25 and 26, and the Hall IC 27b are connected to the input side of the microcomputer 28. Then, the voltage value based on the current value flowing through the device body, which is input into the microcomputer 28, is compared with the comparison value A (for example, 1A) or the comparison value B (for example, 5A) stored in the storage unit 30. Thus, the operation of the motor 20 and the heater device 19 is confirmed. Here, the comparison value A
Is a value that is exceeded when only the motor 20 is energized, the comparison value B is not exceeded when only the motor 20 is energized, and when at least one heater of the heater device 19 is energized. It is a value that exceeds.

An LED display circuit 36 is connected to the output side of the microcomputer 28 and displays the progress of the drying operation. A buzzer circuit 37 is also used to notify the end of operation or abnormal operation.

Reference numerals 38, 39, 40 and 41 are triacs for controlling the energization / de-energization of the coil portion 42b, the motor 20, the first heater 19a and the second heater 19b in accordance with the control signal from the microcomputer 28. .
The triac 38 corresponds to the shutoff means of the present invention, and the triacs 40 and 41 correspond to the heater driving means.

In the clothes dryer of this embodiment, three patterns of automatic end of drying operation are detected based on the temperatures detected by the first heat sensitive element 25 and the second heat sensitive element 26. When any one of the three patterns is detected, the drying operation is ended immediately or after a predetermined time is extended. Hereinafter, these automatic end detection methods will be described.

First, according to the first completion detection, after a predetermined time (for example, 15 minutes) from the start of the drying operation, that is, sufficient heat exchange is performed between the dry air and the clothes in the drum 4, and the drum outlet. When the temperature becomes almost constant, the first thermosensitive element 25
Also, the difference between the drum outlet temperature detected by the second thermosensitive element 26 and the heater inlet temperature is set as the reference value A. Then, after the clothes are dried, the drum outlet temperature rises, the temperature difference widens, and when the temperature difference reaches a value (A + B) obtained by adding a predetermined value B set in advance to the reference value A, the end is detected.

According to the second end detection, the first heat sensitive element 25 and the second heat sensitive element 26 detect the start of the operation or a predetermined time (for example, 30 minutes) after the start of the operation. When the difference between the drum outlet temperature and the heater inlet temperature reaches a preset limiter value, the end is detected.

According to the third end detection, the end is detected when the drum outlet temperature detected by the first thermosensitive element 25 reaches a preset high limiter value.

The end detection is performed by such a plurality of methods in order to perform better automatic end detection corresponding to the type and amount of clothes.

Here, the B value, the limiter value, and the high limiter value are determined by various experiments conducted by changing the type and amount of clothes, and are stored in the storage unit 30.

Next, a first operation example based on the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

When the key portion of the power switch 42 is pressed and the contact 42a is turned on, electric power is supplied from the external power source to the device body (S1). The control unit 29 first checks whether or not the inspection mode operation is performed (S2), and if the inspection mode operation is not performed, the current detection circuit 35 detects the current flowing through the device body (S3). Then, the current value (I) at this time is compared with the comparison value A (1A) in the storage unit 30 (S4). Triac 39 and Triac 4
If 0 and 41 are not short-circuited, the current value is only that flowing through the DC power supply circuit 43 and is smaller than the comparison value A. In such a case, it is determined that there is no abnormality.

On the other hand, if any one of the triac 39 or the triacs 40 and 41 is short-circuited, the current value becomes the comparison value A or more. In such a case, it is determined that the motor 20 or the heater device 19 is still operating, and it is determined that there is an abnormality, and the abnormality processing is performed. That is, the LED display circuit 36 and the buzzer circuit 37 notify the abnormality and (S
101), the reception of the operation key group 33 is prohibited (S10).
2). After one minute has passed (S103), the triac 38 is turned on to energize the coil portion 42b of the power switch 42, and the contact 42a is turned off to cut off the power supply to the device body (S104).

In this embodiment, since the electric power is cut off when either the motor 20 or the heater device 19 is abnormal, it is compared with the comparison value A, but only the abnormality of the heater device 19 is detected. If so, the comparison value B may be compared.

When the power switch 42 is pressed, "no abnormality"
If it is determined that the start key 33c is pressed (S5) or immediately after the power switch 42 is pressed and before the abnormality is determined (S5), the drying operation is started. First, only the motor 20 is turned on (S6), and the current flowing through the device body is detected (S7) as in S3. Then, the current value at this time is compared with the comparison value A in the storage unit 30 (S8), and if it is the comparison value A or more, it is determined that the motor 20 is operating normally.
Judge as "no abnormality". Next, this current value is compared value B
Compare with (5A) (S9), and if smaller than the comparison value B,
It is determined that there is no abnormality, assuming that the triacs 40 and 41 are not short-circuited.

On the other hand, if the current value is smaller than the comparison value A, it is considered that the motor is not energized due to disconnection or the like, and if it is the comparison value B or more, the triacs 40 and 41 are short-circuited. Yes ”. Then, similarly to the above, the abnormality processing is performed (S101 to S104).

When it is determined that there is no abnormality in S8 to S9 and 15 seconds have passed after the motor 20 operates (S10),
The first heater 19a is turned on (S11). After another 2 minutes (S12), the second heater 19b is turned on (S12).
13).

After that, the current flowing through the main body of the equipment is detected (S14), and if the comparison value B does not exceed the comparison value B even once 5 minutes have passed since the start of the operation, 2 due to disconnection or the like.
"Abnormal" because both heaters are not energized
(S15, S16), the abnormality process is also performed (S101 to S104).

If there is no abnormality after the start of operation, the clothes are dried by the operation of the motor 20 and the heater device 19, and the automatic end detection of any one of the above three patterns is performed (S17), The first heater 19a and the second heater are turned off (S18). Then, only the drum 4 and the double-sided fan 10 are operated to cool down the clothes for 5 minutes, and then the motor 20 is turned off to end the operation (S19, S20).

Here, when the inspection mode operation (special operation using the keys of the operation key group 33) is performed in S2 after the power is turned on, the inspection mode is set. This inspection mode is mainly used for inspection during manufacturing.

In this case, when the start key 33c is pressed (S21), the motor 20 is turned on, and the first heater 19a and the second heater 19b are all turned on regardless of the driving course at that time (S22). Then, the value of the current flowing to the device body is detected (S23), and if the comparison value B does not reach within 30 seconds after the start, the value is 2 due to disconnection or the like.
It is determined that the heaters of both groups are not energized (S24,
S25), the abnormality processing is performed (S101 to S104).

On the other hand, if the comparison voltage value is equal to or higher than B, it is determined to be normal. When 30 seconds have passed (S26), the operation course at that time is returned to and the drying operation is continued.

Next, a second operation example using the rotation speed sensor 27 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the power switch 42 is pressed and power is supplied from the external power source to the main body of the device (S201), the rotation sensor 27 detects the number of rotations of the motor 20 after 5 seconds (S202, S203). Then, it is determined whether or not the motor 20 is rotating (S204), and if the motor 20 is rotating, it is determined that there is an abnormality because the triac 39 is short-circuited and the motor 20 remains operating. Then
Similar to the first operation example, abnormality processing is performed (S101 to S10).
4).

It should be noted that the detection is carried out after 5 seconds is that the power switch 42 is manually turned off during operation, and immediately thereafter, it is turned on again while the motor 20 is still inertially rotating.
This is to prevent the motor 20 from being erroneously determined to be abnormal in such a case.

When the power switch 42 is pressed, "no abnormality"
If it is determined that the start key 33c is pressed (S205) or immediately after the power switch 42 is pressed and before the abnormality is determined (S205), the drying operation is started. First, the motor 20
Only in the ON state, the rotation speed of the motor 20 is detected in the same manner as in S203, and the current value (I) flowing in the device body is detected (S207, S208). Then, if the motor 20 is not rotating or is abnormally slow compared to the predetermined rotation speed, it is determined that the motor 20 is abnormal (S209). Further, the current value flowing in the device body is compared with the comparison value B in the storage unit 30 and if the comparison value B or more, the triac 40, 4
It is determined that 1 is short-circuited and the heater device 19 is still operating (S210).

Thus, the motor 20 and the heater device 19
If there is an abnormality in any of the above, abnormality processing is performed (S101).
~ S104).

When it is determined that there is no abnormality in S209 to S210, and 15 seconds have passed since the motor 20 was operated (S211), the first heater 19a is turned on for another 2 minutes as in the first operation example. The second rear heater 19b is turned on (S11 to S13). After that, the same operation as in the first operation example is performed.

In this second operation example, the operation of the motor 20 is detected by the rotation sensor 27, and even if the motor 20 is energized, it is locked and does not move.
A more reliable detection of an abnormality of 0 is performed.

[0050]

According to the structure of the present invention, short-circuiting of the heater driving means is detected immediately after power is supplied to the device body, and if short-circuiting occurs, power supply to the device body is cut off. ,
Since the energization of the heater is stopped, the drying operation is not performed while the heater is operating abnormally and abnormal drying is not performed. Further, even if the drum is left as it is without being dried, the drum is not overheated and damaged.

Further, when the drying operation is started, the heater is operated after a predetermined time, and a short circuit of the heater driving means is detected within this predetermined time.
The power supply to the equipment is cut off, and even if there is a short-circuit in the heater driving means, the power supply to the heater can be stopped immediately after the start of operation. No drying takes place.

Therefore, a safe dry operation can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a first operation example of a clothes dryer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart similarly to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of abnormality processing in the same manner.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a second operation example of the clothes dryer of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side vertical cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the clothes dryer of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control mechanism of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Drum (Drying Room) 19 Heater Device 29 Control Section (Control Means, Shutoff Means) 33c Start Key (Starting Means) 35 Current Detection Circuit (Confirmation Means) 38 Triac (Shutdown Means) 40 Triac (Heater Drive Means) 41 Triac ( Heater driving means) 42 Power switch (power input means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A clothes drier for drying clothes by supplying drying air heated by a heater into a drying chamber containing the clothes, and a power supply means for supplying electric power to an apparatus main body from an external power source. Starting means for outputting an operation start command, control means for outputting a heater operation command according to the command of the starting means after the power is supplied by the power supply means, and power supplied to the main body of the apparatus by the operation command A heater driving unit that guides the heater to operate the heater, a confirmation unit that confirms the operation of the heater when the power is supplied by the power supply unit, and the confirmation unit causes the heater to operate before the command from the starting unit. A clothes dryer, characterized in that, when it is confirmed to be operating, the power input means is made non-operational, and a shutoff means for shutting off power supply to the apparatus body is provided. 2. In a clothes dryer for drying clothes by supplying dry air heated by a heater into a drying chamber containing the clothes, a power supply means for supplying electric power to an apparatus main body from an external power source, and drying. Starting means for outputting a command to start operation, control means for outputting a heater operation command after a predetermined time when the command for the starting means is output after power is supplied by the power supply means, and equipment by the heater operation command A heater driving unit that guides the electric power introduced into the main body to the heater to operate the heater, a confirmation unit that confirms the operation of the heater within the predetermined time, and a heater that is operating by the confirmation unit. When confirmed, the clothes dryer is characterized in that the power input means is made inoperative and the power supply means is cut off.