Dehumidifying device

Abstract

This invention provides a dehumidification device, comprising: a housing having a dehumidification air inlet, a heat dissipation air inlet, and an air outlet; a dehumidification assembly including an evaporator and a condenser; a fan disposed within the housing and adjacent to the air outlet; a controller disposed within the housing; a main air duct configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the dehumidification air inlet, through the evaporator, the condenser, and the fan toward the air outlet; and a bypass air duct configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the heat dissipation air inlet, through the controller, and the fan toward the air outlet, wherein the housing has a heat dissipation guiding structure to guide the air flowing through the controller in the bypass air duct to the space between the condenser and the fan.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a dehumidification device, and more particularly to a dehumidification device that can dissipate heat from the controller in the dehumidification device. Prior Technology

[0002] The main components of a dehumidifier include a dehumidification assembly that utilizes refrigerant circulation and a controller. Especially in inverter dehumidifiers, the power required by the compressor and motor is converted and output by the controller, resulting in the controller generating a significant amount of heat. To maintain the controller at a stable operating temperature, a large amount of waste heat must be removed using cooling airflow. In existing technologies, a small cooling fan has been added to help cool the controller. This method uses another fan to provide airflow to cool the controller, but the added small cooling fan consumes extra power and increases costs, which is detrimental to the power consumption performance and pricing of the dehumidification device. Furthermore, according to another prior art, such as Republic of China Patent No. I769945, the dehumidification device, in addition to having a dehumidification airflow channel (i.e., the first flow channel described in the document), also has a heat dissipation airflow channel (i.e., the second flow channel described in the document), so that the heat dissipation airflow passes through the top of the evaporator, the top of the dehumidification plate structure, the longitudinal air duct of the dehumidification plate structure, and the condenser to dissipate heat from the controller. Here, the dehumidification plate structure can also be called a "multi-layer dehumidification film," which is used for secondary dehumidification after the evaporator. Related technical details can be found in Republic of China Patent No. I674382. Although this heat dissipation method does not require the addition of a cooling fan, the heat dissipation airflow before entering the dehumidification plate structure is heated by the waste heat of the controller, which increases the temperature difference before cooling to the dew point temperature, thus reducing the dehumidification capacity of the dehumidification plate structure and affecting the effect of secondary dehumidification. Moreover, the heat dissipation airflow does not actually pass through the controller, but only through the bottom of the radiator, so the heat dissipation effect is not complete. Therefore, how to effectively dissipate heat from the controller of the dehumidifier while maintaining dehumidification efficiency has become a problem to be solved in this technical field. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present invention provides a dehumidification device, which basically comprises: a housing having a dehumidification air inlet, a heat dissipation air inlet, and an air outlet; a dehumidification assembly disposed within the housing, the dehumidification assembly including an evaporator and a condenser for dehumidifying air drawn into the dehumidification device; a fan disposed within the housing and adjacent to the air outlet for drawing air from the dehumidification air inlet and the heat dissipation air inlet and exhausting air from the air outlet; a controller disposed within the housing for controlling the operation of the dehumidification device; a main air duct for dehumidifying air, configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the dehumidification air inlet, through the evaporator, the condenser, and the fan toward the air outlet; and a bypass air duct for heat dissipation of the controller, configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the heat dissipation air inlet, through the controller, and the fan toward the air outlet, wherein the interior of the housing is provided with a heat dissipation guiding structure to guide the air flowing through the controller in the bypass air duct to the space between the condenser and the fan. The present invention also provides a dehumidification device, which basically comprises: a housing having a dehumidification air inlet, a heat dissipation air inlet, and an air outlet; a dehumidification component disposed within the housing, the dehumidification component including an evaporator and a condenser for dehumidifying air drawn into the dehumidification device; a fan disposed within the housing and adjacent to the air outlet for drawing air from the dehumidification air inlet and the heat dissipation air inlet and exhausting air from the air outlet; a controller disposed within the housing for controlling the operation of the dehumidification device; a main air duct for dehumidifying air, configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the dehumidification air inlet, through the evaporator, the condenser, and the fan toward the air outlet; and a bypass air duct for heat dissipation of the controller, configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the heat dissipation air inlet, through the controller, the condenser, and the fan toward the air outlet, wherein the interior of the housing is provided with a heat dissipation guiding structure to guide the air flowing through the controller in the bypass air duct into the condenser. Here, the heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure can guide the air flowing through the controller in the bypass ventilation duct to the top of the condenser, or the heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure can guide the air flowing through the controller in the bypass ventilation duct to the space between the evaporator and the condenser. Preferably, the heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure is located on the rear side of the controller. Preferably, the dehumidification assembly also includes a compressor and an expansion valve to form a refrigerant cycle consisting of the evaporator, the compressor, the condenser, and the expansion valve. Preferably, the evaporator is equipped with a heat pipe module. Preferably, the heat pipe module includes one heat pipe unit disposed on the front side of the evaporator and another heat pipe unit disposed on the rear side of the evaporator. Preferably, the controller is equipped with heat dissipation fins. Preferably, the dehumidifier also includes a water collection tank that is removably disposed within the dehumidifier. Compared to prior art, this invention maintains an excellent energy factor (EF) while dissipating heat from the controller, and does not affect the existing water condensation efficiency of the dehumidifier without requiring a cooling fan. Furthermore, the controller, properly cooled, operates more efficiently. Those skilled in the art will better understand the other advantages and objectives of the invention as defined in the claims based on the disclosure of this application. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0004] [Figure 1] is a perspective view of a dehumidification device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] is a three-dimensional cross-sectional view of the dehumidification device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 3] is a side cross-sectional view of the dehumidification device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 4] is an exploded view of the main components of the dehumidifier shown in Figure 1. [Figure 5] is a schematic diagram of the main air duct and the bypass air duct of the dehumidification device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 6] is a schematic diagram of the main air duct and the bypass air duct of the dehumidification device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] is a schematic diagram of the main air duct and the bypass air duct of the dehumidification device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Implementation

[0005] The aforementioned technical contents, features, and effects of this invention will become clear in the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments. Referring to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, the dehumidification device 1 of the present invention is shown, which has a housing 10. The housing 10 has a dehumidification air inlet 11, a heat dissipation air inlet 12, and an air outlet 13. A dehumidification assembly 20, a fan 30, and a controller 40 are disposed within the housing 10. The dehumidification assembly 20 includes an evaporator 21, a compressor (not shown), a condenser 22 (also referred to as a "condenser"), and an expansion valve (not shown), which sequentially form a refrigerant circulation to dehumidify the air drawn into the dehumidification device 1. The evaporator 21 and the condenser 22 are separated by a suitable distance, which provides space between the evaporator 21 and the condenser 22 without the presence of other heat exchangers. The compressor is driven by a motor. The fan 30 is disposed at the rear of the housing 10, adjacent to the air outlet 13. The fan 30 draws in air from the dehumidification air inlet 11 and the heat dissipation air inlet 12 and exhausts air upwards from the air outlet 13. The controller 40 is also provided with heat dissipation fins 41 to increase the heat dissipation area and help dissipate heat from the controller 40. The dehumidification air inlet 11 and the heat dissipation air inlet 12 are located at the front of the housing 10, and the air outlet 13 is located at the rear of the housing 10. The dehumidification air inlet 11 is provided with a primary filter 11a and a HEPA filter 11b to filter the intake air. The controller 40 is generally located at the top of the dehumidification device 1, and the heat dissipation air inlet 12 is therefore located above the dehumidification air inlet 11 and adjacent to the controller 40. In this embodiment, the heat dissipation air inlet 12 is shown as a plurality of small holes, but such hole shape should not be limited as long as it is an opening that allows air to enter the heat dissipation air inlet 12 smoothly. In addition, a removable water collection tank 50 is provided at the lower part of the housing 10. Moisture in the air drawn in from the dehumidification air inlet 11 is condensed by the evaporator 21 and drips down into the water collection structure by gravity, and is finally collected in the water collection tank 50. In this embodiment, the evaporator 21 may also be connected to a heat pipe module 21a. The heat pipe module 21a includes heat pipe units 21a1 and 21a2. One heat pipe unit 21a1 is disposed on the front side of the evaporator 21, and the other heat pipe unit 21a2 is disposed on the rear side of the evaporator 21 to improve the water condensation effect during dehumidification. The number and position of the heat pipe units can be set as needed. During the dehumidification process, the refrigerant flows in the copper pipes connecting the various dehumidification components. Through the refrigerant's heat absorption, heat release, and phase change in each dehumidification component, the moisture in the air passing through the evaporator 21 is cooled to the dew point and condensed into water. This is the well-known principle of dehumidification and refrigeration air conditioning, so it will not be described in detail here. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG5, the dehumidification device 1 provides two types of air ducts: a main air duct A for dehumidifying the air and a bypass air duct B1 for dissipating heat from the controller 40. The main air duct A is defined by the structure of the dehumidification inlet 11, evaporator 21, condenser 22, fan 30, and outlet 13, in conjunction with the structure of the housing 10. The bypass air duct B1 is defined by the structure of the heat dissipation inlet 12, controller 40, fan 30, and outlet 13, in conjunction with the structure of the housing 10. The fan 30, which blows air outward from the outlet 13, creates a negative pressure inside the housing 10, which allows air to be drawn into the housing 10 from the dehumidification inlet 11 and the heat dissipation inlet 12. In detail, the main air duct A is configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the dehumidification air inlet 11, through the evaporator 21, the condenser 22 and the fan 30 towards the air outlet 13. The bypass air duct B1 is configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the heat dissipation air inlet 12, through the controller 40 and the fan 30 towards the air outlet 13. The main air duct A provides dehumidification of the air. On the other hand, the bypass air duct B1 is an independent air duct from the main air duct A. The airflow flowing through the bypass air duct B1 does not undergo dehumidification; instead, it is dedicated to cooling the controller 40, which generates high heat. Therefore, the airflow in the bypass air duct B1 that carries away the waste heat of the controller 40 does not affect the dehumidification efficiency of the airflow in the main air duct A. The cooling airflow in the bypass air duct B1 passes around the controller 40 and the heat dissipation fins 41, thus effectively cooling the controller 40. The housing 10 also has a heat dissipation guiding structure 14 located at the rear of the controller 40 to guide the air flowing through the controller 40 in the bypass air duct B1 to the space between the condenser 22 and the fan 30. Then, this airflow flows downward from above the space between the condenser 22 and the fan 30 to the intake of the fan 30, and is then discharged from the outlet 13 along with the dehumidified airflow. Furthermore, the bypass air duct B1 and the main air duct A overlap and share the same space starting from the fan 30. The heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure 14 can be a suitable airflow guiding structure provided on the housing 10 (such as providing a partition plate on the housing 10) or a suitable airflow guiding structure provided on the controller 40 (such as providing a cover and opening on the rear side of the controller 40) to change the direction of airflow and guide it to the next component. By establishing a bypass ventilation duct B1 in the dehumidification device 1, a large amount of waste heat generated by the controller 40 is easily carried away without affecting the dehumidification efficiency of the main ventilation duct A, and the controller 40, with its lower temperature, exhibits better power consumption performance. In an implementation of an inverter dehumidifier using the dehumidification device described in this invention, the energy factor obtained from the energy efficiency test was 3.0, which is a significant improvement compared to the 2.9 and 2.54 of other comparative models. Therefore, it can be seen that the improved bypass ventilation duct structure in this invention has significant and unexpected benefits. In the dehumidification devices of the second and third embodiments of the present invention, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, the basic structure of the dehumidification device is substantially the same as that of the dehumidification device 1 of the first embodiment. Therefore, the following description uses the same component names and symbols as the dehumidification device 1 of the first embodiment. The only difference is that the second embodiment provides a bypass duct B2, which is different from the bypass duct B1, while the third embodiment provides a bypass duct B3, which is different from the bypass duct B1. Compared to the bypass duct B1, the airflow of both bypass ducts B2 and B3 flows additionally through the condenser 22. The bypass ducts B2 and B3 are defined by the structure of the heat dissipation air inlet 12, the controller 40, the condenser 22, the fan 30, and the air outlet 13, and are combined with the housing 10. The bypass ducts B2 and B3 are configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the heat dissipation air inlet 12, through the controller 40, the condenser 22, and the fan 30 toward the air outlet 13. The heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure 14 inside the housing 10 is configured to guide the air flowing through the controller 40 into the condenser 22. In the second embodiment using bypass duct B2, the heat dissipation guiding structure 14 of the first embodiment is modified to guide the air flowing through the controller 40 to the top of the condenser 22, so that the heat dissipation airflow enters the condenser 22 from above. In the third embodiment using bypass duct B3, the heat dissipation guiding structure 14 of the first embodiment is modified to guide the air flowing through the controller 40 to the space between the evaporator 21 and the condenser 22 (where no other heat exchanger is provided), so that the heat dissipation airflow enters the condenser 22 from the front side. After a portion of the heat dissipation airflow from bypass ducts B2 and B3 flows through the condenser 22, it is then drawn into the fan 30 and discharged from the air outlet 13 along with the dehumidifying airflow. These two variations of bypass ducts can achieve the same purpose and effect of the invention. It should be understood that, in each embodiment, the heat dissipation guiding structure 14 does not guide the heated heat dissipation airflow behind the controller 40 to the evaporator 21 and / or other auxiliary heat exchangers used for water condensation, thus avoiding a decrease in dehumidification efficiency. In this article, the directional term "front side" refers to the upstream side relative to the direction of airflow, while "rear side" refers to the downstream side relative to the direction of airflow. Although only selected embodiments have been used to illustrate the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that various simple equivalent changes or modifications can be made, which should fall within the scope of the invention. Not all features or advantages need to be presented simultaneously in a particular embodiment. Therefore, the above embodiments are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents.

[0006] 1: Dehumidifier 10: Shell 11: Dehumidifying air inlet 11a: Primary filter 11b: HEPA filter 12: Heat dissipation air inlet 13: Air vent 14: Heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure 20: Dehumidification Components 21: Evaporator 21a: Heat pipe module 21a1: Heat pipe unit 21a2: Heat pipe unit 22: Condenser 30: Fan 40: Controller 41: Heat dissipation fins 50: Water collection tank A: Main air duct B1: Bypass ventilation duct B2: Bypass ventilation duct B3: Bypass ventilation duct

Claims

1. A dehumidification device, comprising: a housing having a dehumidification inlet, a heat dissipation inlet, and an outlet; a dehumidification assembly disposed within the housing, the dehumidification assembly including an evaporator and a condenser for dehumidifying air drawn into the dehumidification device; a fan disposed within the housing and adjacent to the outlet for drawing air in from the dehumidification inlet and the heat dissipation inlet and exhausting air from the outlet; a controller disposed within the housing for controlling the dehumidification operation of the dehumidification device; a main air duct for dehumidifying air, configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the dehumidification inlet, through the evaporator, the condenser, and the fan toward the outlet; and a bypass air duct for heat dissipation of the controller, configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the heat dissipation inlet, through the controller, and the fan toward the outlet. The housing has a heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure inside, which guides the air flowing through the controller in the side ventilation duct to the space between the condenser and the fan. The dehumidification air inlet and the heat dissipation air inlet are two separate air inlets, and the main air duct and the side ventilation duct are two independent air ducts from the dehumidification air inlet and the heat dissipation air inlet, respectively.

2. A dehumidification device, comprising: a housing having a dehumidification inlet, a heat dissipation inlet, and an outlet; a dehumidification assembly disposed within the housing, the dehumidification assembly including an evaporator and a condenser for dehumidifying air drawn into the dehumidification device; a fan disposed within the housing and adjacent to the outlet for drawing air from the dehumidification inlet and the heat dissipation inlet and exhausting air from the outlet; a controller disposed within the housing for controlling the dehumidification operation of the dehumidification device; a main air duct for dehumidifying air, configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the dehumidification inlet, through the evaporator, the condenser, and the fan toward the outlet; and a bypass air duct for heat dissipation of the controller, configured to allow air to flow sequentially from the heat dissipation inlet, through the controller, the condenser, and the fan toward the outlet. The housing has a heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure inside to guide the air flowing through the controller in the side ventilation duct into the condenser. The dehumidification air inlet and the heat dissipation air inlet are two separate air inlets, and the main air duct and the side ventilation duct are two independent air ducts from the dehumidification air inlet and the heat dissipation air inlet, respectively.

3. The dehumidification device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure directs the air flowing through the controller in the bypass vent to the top of the condenser.

4. The dehumidification device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure directs the air flowing through the controller in the bypass duct to the space between the evaporator and the condenser.

5. The dehumidification device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the heat dissipation and airflow guiding structure is disposed on the rear side of the controller.

6. The dehumidification device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the dehumidification assembly further includes a compressor and an expansion valve to form a refrigerant cycle consisting of the evaporator, the compressor, the condenser, and the expansion valve.

7. The dehumidification device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the evaporator is provided with a heat pipe module.

8. The dehumidification device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the heat pipe module includes one heat pipe unit disposed on the front side of the evaporator and another heat pipe unit disposed on the rear side of the evaporator.

9. The dehumidification device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the controller is provided with heat dissipation fins.

10. The dehumidification device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the dehumidification device further includes a water collection tank removably disposed in the dehumidification device.

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