Drying device and sterilizer

Abstract

This application relates to a drying device and a sterilizer. The drying device includes: a housing comprising a bottom shell and an upper shell connected to each other; the upper shell having a kitchen utensil cavity for placing kitchen utensils; the bottom shell having an air inlet cavity and an air duct cavity sequentially arranged from the bottom towards the upper shell; the inner diameter of the air duct cavity increasing from the bottom to the top; an air duct assembly disposed in the air duct cavity, forming an air passage cavity; the kitchen utensil cavity, the air passage cavity, and the air inlet cavity being sequentially connected along the axial direction of the housing; and a heating assembly disposed at the connection between the kitchen utensil cavity and the air passage cavity, used to heat the airflow flowing into the kitchen utensil cavity from the air passage cavity. The drying device of this application can more comprehensively and thoroughly dry the kitchen utensils in the kitchen utensil cavity, improving the drying efficiency of the kitchen utensils and correspondingly reducing the risk of bacterial growth due to insufficient drying, thus indirectly improving the sterilization efficiency of the drying device for the kitchen utensils.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of kitchenware technology, and in particular to a drying device and a sterilization machine. Background Technology

[0002] As people place increasing emphasis on food safety and kitchen hygiene, cutting board sterilizers are gradually becoming an important tool in home kitchens. Cutting board sterilizers typically use various methods such as ultraviolet irradiation, ozone disinfection, or high-temperature drying to clean and sterilize cutting boards, knives, and other kitchen utensils.

[0003] In related technologies, when drying kitchen utensils inside the cavity of a cutting board sterilizer, top or side air outlets are generally used. Hot air is difficult to cover all areas of the utensils, especially the edges and corners where moisture tends to remain, resulting in uneven drying. At the same time, the insufficiently dried areas of the utensils are more prone to bacterial growth, reducing the sterilization efficiency of the cutting board sterilizer. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application aims to at least solve one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, this application provides a drying device and a sterilizer, which can more comprehensively and thoroughly dry the kitchen utensils inside the kitchen utensil cavity, improve the drying efficiency of the kitchen utensils, and correspondingly reduce the risk of bacteria growth in the kitchen utensils due to insufficient drying, thereby indirectly improving the sterilization efficiency of the drying device for the kitchen utensils.

[0005] In a first aspect, this application provides a drying apparatus, comprising:

[0006] The housing includes a bottom shell and an upper shell connected to each other. The upper shell has a kitchen utensil cavity for placing kitchen utensils. The bottom shell has an air inlet cavity and an air duct cavity arranged sequentially from the bottom towards the upper shell.

[0007] An air duct assembly is disposed in the air duct cavity, and an air passage cavity is formed on the air duct assembly. The kitchenware cavity, the air passage cavity, and the air inlet cavity are connected sequentially along the axial direction of the housing.

[0008] A heating element is disposed at the connection between the kitchen appliance cavity and the air passage cavity, and is used to heat the airflow flowing from the air passage cavity into the kitchen appliance cavity.

[0009] The drying apparatus according to the first aspect of this application has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0010] The drying device of this application, through the coordinated arrangement of the shell, air duct assembly and heating assembly, allows the high-temperature airflow from bottom to top to automatically bypass the edges, corners, concave and convex surfaces, crevices and other edges and corners of the kitchenware surface, effectively drying them. This eliminates the drying blind spots caused by the single airflow direction when the high-temperature airflow is vented from the side or top in related technologies, and can improve the heat utilization efficiency of the airflow, drying the kitchenware inside the cavity more comprehensively and thoroughly. This improves the drying efficiency of the drying device for kitchenware, and also reduces the risk of bacteria growth due to insufficient drying, indirectly improving the sterilization efficiency of the drying device for kitchenware.

[0011] In some embodiments, the inner diameter of the air passage increases from bottom to top.

[0012] This design allows the high-velocity airflow to enter the air passage at a certain angle from the air inlet cavity, promoting the airflow to flow upward along the tangential direction of the inner wall of the air passage and smoothly guiding the airflow to flow at the connection between the air passage and the kitchenware cavity.

[0013] In some embodiments, the bottom and top of the air passage are respectively provided with a first passage and a plurality of second passages, the plurality of second passages are distributed at intervals around the axis of the air passage, the air passage is connected to the air inlet cavity through the first passage, the air passage is connected to the kitchen appliance cavity through the plurality of second passages, and the heating component is provided at the second passage.

[0014] This design allows the airflow to flow upwards along the bottom of the kitchen appliance cavity at a higher temperature and speed, improving the natural convection efficiency of the high-temperature airflow within the cavity and its heat exchange efficiency with the kitchen appliances, thereby increasing the drying efficiency of the kitchen appliances.

[0015] In some embodiments, the first passage is coaxially connected to the air inlet cavity, and the area of ​​the first passage is smaller than the cross-sectional area of ​​the air inlet cavity, and the area of ​​the second passage is smaller than the area of ​​the first passage.

[0016] With this configuration, the area of ​​the first inlet is smaller than the cross-sectional area of ​​the air inlet cavity. This causes the airflow velocity to increase first when it enters the air inlet cavity, and then decrease as it flows along the gradually expanding air inlet cavity. Subsequently, when the airflow velocity is heated by the heating element at the second inlet and then flows into the kitchenware cavity from the second inlet, the airflow velocity will not be significantly reduced. The airflow can still flow upward along the kitchenware cavity at a relatively high speed and temperature, which allows the high-temperature airflow to have a high natural convection efficiency in the kitchenware cavity and improves the heat exchange efficiency between the high-temperature airflow and the kitchenware, thereby improving the drying efficiency of the kitchenware.

[0017] In some embodiments, the bottom of the upper shell covers the top of the air passage cavity, and the bottom of the upper shell has a plurality of air outlets, which are connected to a plurality of second passages in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0018] This design has two advantages. First, when the airflow is heated by the heating element and then flows into the kitchen appliance cavity through the second inlet and the air outlet, the airflow velocity is increased, which improves the convective heat transfer between the high-temperature airflow and the humid airflow in the kitchen appliance cavity, thereby improving the drying efficiency of the kitchen appliances. Second, it allows the high-temperature airflow to diffuse more evenly from the bottom circumferential areas of the kitchen appliance cavity to the upper part of the kitchen appliance cavity, so that the high-temperature airflow flows around all parts of the surface of the kitchen appliances, eliminating drying dead zones and thus improving the drying efficiency.

[0019] In some embodiments, the air duct assembly further includes an arc-shaped air storage plate suspended within the air passage cavity, the arc-shaped air storage plate being disposed opposite to the bottom of the upper shell, and the arc-shaped air storage plate forming an air storage groove with an opening facing the bottom of the upper shell.

[0020] This design serves two purposes: firstly, the curved trajectory of the arc-shaped air storage plate guides the upward-flowing airflow within the air passage to the second outlet; secondly, when a portion of the airflow is reversed and flows back into the air passage by the bottom stop of the upper shell, the arc-shaped air storage plate can again stop the reversed airflow, reducing the probability of that portion of the airflow flowing back into the air passage.

[0021] In some embodiments, the upper shell includes a base plate and side plates connected to the periphery of the base plate, the side plates and the base plate forming the kitchen cavity, and a plurality of air outlets are located on the base plate and distributed at intervals around the axis of the base plate.

[0022] With this design, the base plate provides structural support for the kitchen utensils, preventing them from falling into or getting stuck in the air passage at the bottom of the upper shell. The kitchen utensil cavity formed by the base plate and the side plates provides storage space for the utensils.

[0023] In some embodiments, the air outlet and / or the second passage is covered with a grid filter, and multiple water accumulation channels are formed on the side surface of the base plate opposite to the air passage cavity, and the water accumulation channels are connected to the air outlet.

[0024] This design allows water on the side of the base plate facing away from the air passage to flow into the air outlet through the corresponding water channel, where it is quickly evaporated and dried by the heating element at the air outlet, improving the drying efficiency of the kitchen appliance cavity and the appliances inside. In addition, the grille filter provides adhesion support for the water, reducing the risk of water flowing into the lower air passage through the air outlet.

[0025] In some embodiments, the side surface of the base plate opposite to the air passage is inclined from the center of the base plate to the air outlet.

[0026] This design allows water on the side of the base plate away from the air chamber to flow quickly into the air outlet along the inclined water channel, where it is rapidly evaporated by the heating element below the air outlet, further improving the drying efficiency of the kitchenware cavity and the kitchenware inside.

[0027] In some embodiments, the inner wall of the air passage is provided with a plurality of protrusions and / or a plurality of grooves.

[0028] With this setup, some of the airflow forms a certain degree of turbulence. Driven by the fan assembly, the turbulent airflow is heated by the heating assembly and maintains a certain speed and high temperature as it flows and rises from the bottom to the top of the kitchenware cavity. Due to its own spiral upward movement, the turbulent airflow can more easily flow through and bypass the edges, corners, concave and convex surfaces, crevices, and other edges and corners on the surface of the kitchenware, effectively drying these areas and further improving the drying effect.

[0029] In some embodiments, the drying device further includes a fan assembly disposed within the air inlet chamber, which is used to introduce external airflow into the air inlet chamber and drive the airflow within the air inlet chamber to flow toward the direction of the kitchenware cavity.

[0030] This design accelerates the upward flow of air into the kitchen appliance cavity, improving the drying efficiency of the cavity and the appliances within it.

[0031] Secondly, this application provides a sterilization machine, including the drying device described above.

[0032] The sterilization machine according to the second aspect of this application has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0033] The sterilizer of this application, due to the configuration of the aforementioned drying device, also possesses the same technical effect brought by the drying device. That is, through the coordinated arrangement of the shell, air duct assembly, and heating assembly, the high-temperature airflow from bottom to top can automatically bypass the edges, corners, concave and convex surfaces, crevices, and other edges and corners on the surface of the kitchenware, effectively drying them. This eliminates the drying blind spots caused by the single airflow direction when the high-temperature airflow is vented from the side or top in related technologies, and can improve the heat utilization efficiency of the airflow, drying the kitchenware inside the cavity more comprehensively and thoroughly. This improves the drying efficiency of the drying device for kitchenware, and correspondingly reduces the risk of bacteria growth due to insufficient drying of kitchenware, indirectly improving the sterilization efficiency of the drying device for kitchenware.

[0034] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of this application. In order to better understand the technical means of this application and to implement it in accordance with the contents of the specification, and to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of this application more obvious and understandable, the following are specific embodiments of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0035] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiments below. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

[0036] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the drying apparatus according to an embodiment of this application.

[0037] Figure 2 This is an exploded view of the drying apparatus according to an embodiment of this application.

[0038] Figure 3 This is a partial exploded view of the drying apparatus according to an embodiment of this application.

[0039] Figure 4 This is a cross-sectional view of the drying apparatus according to an embodiment of this application.

[0040] Figure 5 for Figure 4 A magnified view of a portion of point A in the middle.

[0041] Figure 6 This is another structural cross-sectional view of the drying apparatus according to an embodiment of this application.

[0042] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the base plate in an embodiment of this application.

[0043] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached drawings: Housing 100; Bottom housing 110; Air inlet cavity 111; Air duct cavity 112; Air inlet 113; Upper housing 120; Kitchen appliance cavity 121; Air outlet 122; Base plate 123; Side plate 124; Water accumulation channel 125; Air duct assembly 200; Air passage cavity 210; First passage 211; Second passage 212; Protrusion 213; Groove 214; Arc-shaped air storage plate 220; Air storage slot 221; Air duct shell 230; Heating component 300; Fan assembly 400; Driver 410; Rotating shaft 420; Impeller 430. Detailed Implementation

[0044] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0045] In the description of this application, it should be understood that if terms such as "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" appear, these terms indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this application.

[0046] Furthermore, where the terms "first" and "second" appear, these terms are for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. In the description of this application, where the term "multiple" appears, "multiple" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0047] In this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "joining," and "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components, unless otherwise expressly limited. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application based on the specific circumstances.

[0048] In this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the use of descriptions such as "above" or "below" the second feature indicates that the first and second features are in direct contact or indirect contact via an intermediate medium. Furthermore, "above," "on top of," and "over" the second feature can mean that the first feature is directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply that the first feature is at a higher horizontal level than the second feature. Similarly, "below," "below," and "under" the second feature can mean that the first feature is directly below or diagonally below the second feature, or simply that the first feature is at a lower horizontal level than the second feature.

[0049] It should be noted that if an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "set on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there may be an intervening element. If an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intervening element. If so, the terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and similar expressions used in this application are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only possible implementation.

[0050] As people place increasing emphasis on food safety and kitchen hygiene, cutting board sterilizers are gradually becoming an important tool in home kitchens. Cutting board sterilizers typically use various methods such as ultraviolet irradiation, ozone disinfection, or high-temperature drying to clean and sterilize cutting boards, knives, and other kitchen utensils.

[0051] In related technologies, when drying kitchen utensils inside the cavity of a cutting board sterilizer, top or side air outlets are generally used. For top air outlets, when the high-temperature airflow flows downward into the kitchen utensil cavity, the heat exchange efficiency is poor due to the rising nature of the hot airflow itself, coupled with the sinking of the humid airflow inside the kitchen utensil cavity, thus reducing the drying efficiency. In addition, a low-temperature, high-humidity dead zone is likely to exist at the bottom of the kitchen utensil cavity. For side air outlets, there is a tendency for a blind spot on one side, and the horizontally flowing airflow is easily blocked by cutting boards and other kitchen utensils, making it difficult to dry the other side of the kitchen utensils.

[0052] In summary, the cutting board sterilizers in the relevant technologies use top or side air outlets, making it difficult for hot air to cover all areas of the kitchen utensils inside the cavity. In particular, moisture tends to remain on the edges and corners of the utensils, resulting in uneven drying and low drying efficiency. At the same time, the insufficiently dried areas of the utensils are more prone to bacterial growth, further reducing the sterilization efficiency of the cutting board sterilizer.

[0053] Based on this, one or more embodiments of this application provide a drying device. Through the coordinated arrangement of the housing, air duct assembly, and heating assembly, the high-temperature airflow from bottom to top can automatically bypass the edges, corners, concave and convex surfaces, crevices, and other edge areas on the surface of the kitchenware, effectively drying them. This eliminates the drying blind spots caused by the single airflow direction when the high-temperature airflow is vented from the side or top in related technologies, and can improve the heat utilization efficiency of the airflow. It can more comprehensively and thoroughly dry the kitchenware inside the kitchenware cavity, improve the drying efficiency of the drying device for kitchenware, and correspondingly reduce the risk of bacteria growth due to insufficient drying of kitchenware, indirectly improving the sterilization efficiency of the drying device for kitchenware.

[0054] See Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 4 This application provides a drying device, which includes a housing 100, an air duct assembly 200, and a heating assembly 300.

[0055] The housing 100 includes a bottom shell 110 and an upper shell 120 connected to each other. The upper shell 120 has a kitchen utensil cavity 121 for placing kitchen utensils. The bottom shell 110 has an air inlet cavity 111 and an air duct cavity 112 arranged sequentially from the bottom towards the upper shell 120. An air duct assembly 200 is disposed in the air duct cavity 112, and an air passage cavity 210 is formed on the air duct assembly 200. The kitchen utensil cavity 121, the air passage cavity 210, and the air inlet cavity 111 are connected sequentially along the axial direction of the housing 100. A heating assembly 300 is disposed at the connection between the kitchen utensil cavity 121 and the air passage cavity 210. The heating assembly 300 is used to heat the airflow flowing from the air passage cavity 210 into the kitchen utensil cavity 121.

[0056] It should be noted that in this application, the upper shell 120 of the shell 100 can be, but is not limited to, a cylindrical shell, a square shell, a prismatic shell, etc. The peripheral wall of the upper shell 120 forms a kitchen utensil cavity 121, which is a groove-shaped structure with the opening facing upwards. The kitchen utensil cavity 121 can be used to accommodate and place large kitchen utensils, such as kitchen knives, spatulas, cutting boards, etc. A sterilization component (not shown in the figure) can also be installed inside the kitchen utensil cavity 121. The sterilization component is used to disinfect and sterilize the kitchen utensils inside the kitchen utensil cavity 121. The sterilization component can be an ultraviolet lamp.

[0057] The bottom shell 110 can be, but is not limited to, a cylindrical shell, a square shell, a prism shell, etc., and is exemplarily a square shell. An air inlet cavity 111 and an air duct cavity 112 are formed inside the bottom shell 110 along its own axial direction. The air duct cavity 112 and the air inlet cavity 111 are located at the upper and lower parts of the bottom shell 110, respectively. The air duct cavity 112 is used to install and house the air duct assembly 200, and the air inlet cavity 111 is used to allow external airflow to enter. An air inlet 113 is opened at the bottom of the bottom shell 110 to allow external airflow to enter, and the air inlet 113 communicates with the air inlet cavity 111. Furthermore, the air inlet cavity 111 can be used to install and house a fan assembly 400. The fan assembly 400 is used to introduce external airflow from the air inlet 113 into the air inlet cavity 111 and drive the airflow within the air inlet cavity 111 to flow towards the kitchen appliance cavity 121.

[0058] Understandably, the upper shell 120 is located above the lower shell 110. The connection between the upper shell 120 and the lower shell 110 can be through plug-in, snap-fit, or threaded connection, facilitating the disassembly, assembly, and maintenance of the upper shell 120 and the lower shell 110. Of course, the upper shell 120 and the lower shell 110 can also be integrally formed, simplifying the molding process of the shell 100.

[0059] In this application, the air duct assembly 200 may include an air duct housing 230, which is installed and housed within the air duct cavity 112. The air duct housing 230 itself forms an air passage cavity 210. The kitchen appliance cavity 121, the air passage cavity 210, and the air inlet cavity 111 are sequentially connected along the axial direction of the housing 100. This can be understood as follows: the kitchen appliance cavity 121, the air passage cavity 210, and the air inlet cavity 111 are all rotating cavity structures, and the three are coaxial. The top and bottom of the air passage cavity 210 are connected to the kitchen appliance cavity 121 and the air inlet cavity 111, respectively.

[0060] The connection between the top of the air passage 210 and the kitchen appliance cavity 121 can be as follows: the bottom of the upper shell 120 is provided with multiple air outlets 122 that communicate with the kitchen appliance cavity 121, and the air outlets 122 are also located at the bottom of the kitchen appliance cavity 121, and the air passage 210 is connected to the kitchen appliance cavity 121 through the air outlets 122; or, the bottom of the kitchen appliance cavity 121 is provided with an air outlet net, the air outlet net is located at the top of the air passage 210, and the air passage 210 is connected to the kitchen appliance cavity 121 through each opening of the air outlet net.

[0061] The bottom of the air passage cavity 210 and the air inlet cavity 111 can be connected by having through openings at the bottom of the air passage cavity 210 and the top of the air inlet cavity 111 so that the two can be directly connected.

[0062] In this application, the heating component 300 is disposed at the connection between the kitchen cavity 121 and the air passage 210. It should be noted that the heating component 300 can cover the connection between the kitchen cavity 121 and the air passage 210, and can allow airflow to pass through normally. For example, the heating component 300 is a PTC ceramic heating element, which has a grid, honeycomb, or porous mesh structure, etc., and the airflow is efficiently heated when passing through the orifices on the PTC ceramic heating element; or, the heating component 300 is a spiral heating wire, which allows airflow to pass through the spiral gaps of the heating wire, reducing wind resistance, while increasing the contact area between the airflow and the heating wire, thus efficiently heating the airflow; or, the heating component 300 is a finned heating tube, where the airflow is efficiently heated when passing through the fin gaps on the finned heating tube.

[0063] Based on the above description, the working principle of the drying device in this application embodiment is as follows: External airflow flows axially upward from the air inlet cavity 111 at the bottom of the bottom shell 110 into the air passage cavity 210 on the air duct assembly 200, and then flows upward through the connection between the air passage 210 and the kitchenware cavity 121, where it is heated by the heating assembly 300 to form a high-temperature airflow. The high-temperature airflow then flows axially upward into the kitchenware cavity 121. Utilizing the natural upward characteristic of the high-temperature airflow, the high-temperature airflow first enters the bottom of the kitchenware cavity 121, and then diffuses evenly upward from the bottom of the kitchenware cavity 121, so that the flow trajectory of the high-temperature airflow covers the entire cross-section of the kitchenware cavity 121, corresponding to the high-temperature airflow flowing through various areas of the kitchenware surface in the kitchenware cavity 121, that is, the high-temperature airflow from bottom to top. The airflow automatically bypasses edges, corners, concave and convex surfaces, and crevices on the cookware surface, effectively drying them and eliminating the drying blind spots caused by the single airflow direction in related technologies where high-temperature airflow is directed from the side or top. Simultaneously, as the high-temperature airflow rises from the bottom of the cookware cavity 121, it carries water vapor generated from the evaporation of moisture on the cookware surface, forming a natural convection circulation that accelerates the drying of all parts of the cookware. Furthermore, the high-temperature airflow flowing into the cookware cavity 121 from the air passage 210 first contacts the most humid and waterlogged bottom of the cavity, efficiently heating and drying it. Even as the high-temperature airflow rises and gradually cools, it still retains good drying capacity, resulting in high heat utilization efficiency. Thus, the cookware in the cookware cavity 121 is dried more comprehensively and thoroughly, improving the drying efficiency of the drying device and correspondingly reducing the risk of bacterial growth due to insufficient drying, indirectly improving the sterilization efficiency of the drying device.

[0064] It is easy to understand that the drying device of this application embodiment, through the coordinated arrangement of the housing 100, the air duct assembly 200 and the heating assembly 300, allows the high-temperature airflow from bottom to top to automatically bypass the edges, corners, concave and convex surfaces, gaps and other edges and corners on the surface of the kitchenware, effectively drying them. This eliminates the drying blind spots caused by the single airflow direction when the high-temperature airflow is vented from the side or top in related technologies, and can improve the heat utilization efficiency of the airflow. It can also more comprehensively and thoroughly dry the kitchenware in the kitchenware cavity 121, improve the drying efficiency of the drying device for the kitchenware, and correspondingly reduce the risk of bacteria growth due to insufficient drying of the kitchenware, indirectly improving the sterilization efficiency of the drying device for the kitchenware.

[0065] In some embodiments of this application, see Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 The inner diameter of the air passage 210 increases from the bottom to the top.

[0066] Specifically, the air passage 210 has an inverted frustum-shaped cavity structure, or the air passage 210 has an flared shape, so that the inner diameter of the air passage 210 gradually increases from the bottom to the top, that is, the air passage 210 as a whole is a gradually expanding air duct.

[0067] Meanwhile, the drying device also includes a fan assembly 400, which is located in the air inlet chamber 111 and is used to introduce external airflow into the air inlet chamber 111 and drive the airflow in the air inlet chamber 111 to flow towards the kitchenware chamber 121.

[0068] Specifically, the fan assembly 400 includes a driver 410, a rotating shaft 420, and a fan wheel 430. The fan wheel 430 is rotatably mounted in the air inlet chamber 111 via the rotating shaft 420. The output end of the driver 410 is connected to the rotating shaft 420, so as to drive the fan wheel 430 to rotate by driving the rotating shaft 420 to rotate around itself. The driver 410 can be a motor or other rotary driver. The axial direction of the fan wheel 430 is perpendicular to the axial direction of the air inlet chamber 111 or the axial direction of the air passage chamber 210. Furthermore, an air inlet 113 is provided at the bottom of the bottom shell 110 to allow external airflow to enter, and the air inlet 113 communicates with the air inlet chamber 111.

[0069] Understandably, the driver 410 drives the impeller 430 to rotate, introducing external airflow into the air inlet 111 from the air inlet 113 at the bottom of the bottom shell 110, increasing the airflow speed and driving the airflow to flow from bottom to top into the air inlet 210 and the kitchen appliance cavity 121.

[0070] In the aforementioned structure, the fan assembly 400 transforms the airflow flowing axially along the air inlet cavity 111 into rotating airflow, increasing the airflow rate. Simultaneously, in conjunction with the gradually expanding structure of the air passage cavity 210, the high-velocity airflow enters the air passage cavity 210 from the air inlet cavity 111 at a certain angle, promoting the airflow to flow upward along the tangential direction of the inner wall of the air passage cavity 210. This smoothly guides the airflow towards the connection between the air passage cavity 210 and the kitchenware cavity 121, while simultaneously creating a certain degree of turbulence. Driven by the fan assembly 400, the turbulent airflow is heated by the heating assembly 300 and maintains a certain speed and high temperature as it flows upward from the bottom to the top of the kitchenware cavity 121. Due to its spiral upward movement, the turbulent airflow can more easily flow through and bypass the edges, corners, concave and convex surfaces, crevices, and other edge areas on the kitchenware surface, efficiently drying these areas and further improving the drying effect.

[0071] Further, see Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4The bottom and top of the air passage 210 are respectively provided with a first passage 211 and a plurality of second passages 212. The plurality of second passages 212 are distributed at intervals around the axis of the air passage 210. The air passage 210 is connected to the air inlet 111 through the first passage 211 and to the kitchen appliance cavity 121 through the plurality of second passages 212. A heating component 300 is provided at the corresponding location of the second passage 212.

[0072] Specifically, multiple second passages 212 are distributed circumferentially along the top of the air passage cavity 210. That is, when the centers of all the second passages 212 are connected end-to-end, they form a circle or polygon. The area at the top of the air passage cavity 210, excluding all the second passages 212, is sealed. Each second passage 212 is equipped with a corresponding heating component 300. The first passage 211 directly corresponds to the bottom opening of the air passage cavity 210. It can be understood that the area of ​​the second passage 212 is smaller than the top area of ​​the air passage cavity 210. The area of ​​the first passage 211 is equal to the bottom area of ​​the air passage cavity 210.

[0073] In the aforementioned structure, when the air passage 210 is a gradually expanding structure with an increasing inner diameter, the airflow velocity gradually decreases as it flows upward along the air passage 210. When the airflow reaches the second opening 212, which is the point of maximum inner diameter of the air passage 210, the airflow velocity drops to its lowest point. At this time, the airflow contacts the heating element 300 at the second opening 212 at a relatively slow speed and is heated by the heating element 300, thus appropriately extending the time the airflow is heated by the heating element 300 and significantly increasing the airflow temperature. When the airflow, heated by the heating element 300, flows from the second opening 212 into the kitchen appliance cavity 121, the airflow velocity increases due to the smaller area of ​​the second opening 212. This allows the airflow to flow upward along the bottom of the kitchen appliance cavity 121 at a higher temperature and speed, improving the natural convection efficiency of the high-temperature airflow within the kitchen appliance cavity 121 and the heat exchange efficiency with the kitchen appliances, thereby correspondingly improving the drying efficiency of the kitchen appliances.

[0074] In addition, multiple second passages 212 are distributed at intervals around the axis of the air passage 210, and the multiple second passages 212 are also connected to the bottom circumferential area of ​​the kitchenware cavity 121. This allows the high-temperature airflow to diffuse more evenly from the bottom circumferential area of ​​the kitchenware cavity 121 to the upper part of the kitchenware cavity 121, so that the high-temperature airflow flows around all parts of the kitchenware surface, eliminating drying dead corners and thus improving drying efficiency.

[0075] Further, see 2. Figure 4 and Figure 6 The first passage 211 is coaxially connected to the air inlet cavity 111, and the area of ​​the first passage 211 is smaller than the cross-sectional area of ​​the air inlet cavity 111, and the area of ​​the second passage 212 is smaller than the area of ​​the first passage 211.

[0076] Specifically, the first through-hole 211 is axially connected to the air inlet cavity 111. The first through-hole 211 is circular, and the air inlet cavity 111 is a cylindrical cavity. The diameter of the first through-hole 211 is smaller than the diameter of the air inlet cavity 111. The second through-hole 212 can be, but is not limited to, a circular hole, a rectangular hole, an oblong hole, etc. The central axis of the second through-hole 212 does not coincide with the central axis of the first through-hole 211. Multiple second through-holes 212 are distributed at intervals around the central axis of the first through-hole 211.

[0077] In the above structure, the area of ​​the first passage 211 is smaller than the cross-sectional area of ​​the air inlet cavity 111. When the airflow from the air inlet cavity 111 enters the air passage 210, the airflow velocity first increases, and then decreases as it flows along the gradually expanding air inlet cavity 111. After the airflow is heated by the heating element 300 at the second passage 212 and then flows into the kitchenware cavity 121 from the second passage 212, the airflow velocity will not be significantly reduced. The airflow can still flow upward along the kitchenware cavity 121 at a relatively high speed and temperature, so that the high-temperature airflow has a high natural convection efficiency in the kitchenware cavity 121 and improves the heat exchange efficiency between the high-temperature airflow and the kitchenware, thereby improving the drying efficiency of the kitchenware.

[0078] Further, see Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 6 The bottom of the upper shell 120 covers the top of the air passage 210, and the bottom of the upper shell 120 is provided with multiple air outlets 122, which are connected to multiple second passages 212 one by one.

[0079] Specifically, the air outlet 122 and the corresponding second outlet 212 are of the same size, and their projections along the axial direction coincide.

[0080] It is easy to understand that the area at the top of the air passage 210, except for all the second passages 212, is sealed by the bottom of the upper shell 120. Multiple air outlets 122 are distributed at intervals along the circumferential edge of the bottom of the upper shell 120, that is, multiple air outlets 122 are distributed at intervals around the axis of the kitchen appliance cavity 121. The kitchen appliance cavity 121 is connected to the air passage 210 through the air outlets 122 and the second passages 212.

[0081] In the above structure, multiple air outlets 122 at the bottom of the upper shell 120 are connected one-to-one with the second outlet 212 at the top of the air passage 210, so that the kitchenware cavity 121 and the air passage 210 form a circumferential connection at the docking position. On the one hand, when the airflow is heated by the heating component 300 and then flows into the kitchenware cavity 121 from the second outlet 212 and the air outlet 122, the airflow velocity can be increased, which improves the convective heat transfer between the high-temperature airflow and the humid inflow of the kitchenware cavity 121, and improves the drying efficiency of the kitchenware. On the other hand, the high-temperature airflow can be diffused more evenly from various areas around the bottom of the kitchenware cavity 121 to the upper part of the kitchenware cavity 121, so that the high-temperature airflow flows around various parts of the surface of the kitchenware, eliminating drying dead corners, and thus improving the drying efficiency.

[0082] In some embodiments of this application, see Figure 4 and Figure 6 The air duct assembly 200 also includes an arc-shaped air storage plate 220 suspended in the air passage cavity 210. The arc-shaped air storage plate 220 is disposed opposite to the bottom of the upper shell 120, and the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 forms an air storage groove 221 with an opening facing the bottom of the upper shell 120.

[0083] Specifically, the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 is hook-shaped and inclined towards the second opening 212 of the air passage 210. The arc-shaped air storage plate 220 is horizontally or suspended in the air passage 210 by a hanging rod (not shown in the figure). The two ends of the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 are not at the same height, and the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 is concave towards the first opening 211, forming an air storage groove 221 with an opening facing the bottom of the upper shell 120. In this way, the arc-shaped trajectory of the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 guides the upward airflow in the air passage 210 to the second opening 212. At the same time, the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 will not cause excessive obstruction and loss to the upward airflow.

[0084] The vertical projection of the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 relative to the bottom of the bottom shell 110 is misaligned with the vertical projection of all the second passages 212 relative to the bottom of the bottom shell 110, and there is no overlapping area between the two, which reduces the interference of the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 on the airflow from the second passage 212 to the kitchen cavity 121.

[0085] It should be noted that when the area at the top of the air passage 210, except for all the second passages 212, is sealed by the bottom of the upper shell 120, some airflow remains in the air passage 210 as the airflow flows along the air passage 210 toward the second passages 212, due to being blocked by the bottom of the upper shell 120.

[0086] Based on this, by suspending an arc-shaped air storage plate 220 inside the air passage 210 and setting the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 opposite to the bottom of the upper shell 120, on the one hand, the arc-shaped trajectory of the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 guides the upward airflow in the air passage 210 to the second outlet 212. On the other hand, when part of the airflow is blocked back to the air passage 210 by the bottom stop of the upper shell 120, the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 can block the reversed airflow again, reducing the probability of the airflow flowing back to the air passage 210. At the same time, part of the airflow will form turbulence after passing through the bottom of the upper shell 120 and the continuous reverse stop of the arc-shaped air storage plate 220. Combined with the characteristic of the airflow being heated and flowing upward, this part of the turbulent airflow can drive the airflow outside the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 to flow upward to the kitchenware cavity 121 more quickly. In this way, the drying efficiency of the kitchenware by the high-temperature airflow is accelerated. In addition, the air storage groove 221 formed on the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 can also play a certain role in storing this part of the airflow, acting as a "buffer tank". When the fan assembly 400 stops or the power fluctuates, the stored airflow is released to ensure that the airflow continuously dries the kitchen utensils in the kitchen utensils cavity 121.

[0087] Of course, in other embodiments, the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 can be constructed as a metal structure, so that the arc-shaped air storage plate 220 can absorb the radiant heat of the heating component 300 and preheat the airflow passing through it, thereby improving the thermal energy utilization efficiency of the heating component 300.

[0088] In some embodiments of this application, see Figure 2 and Figure 3 The upper shell 120 includes a base plate 123 and a side plate 124 connected to the periphery of the base plate 123. The side plate 124 and the base plate 123 form a kitchen cavity 121. Multiple air outlets 122 are located on the base plate 123 and are distributed at intervals around the axis of the base plate 123.

[0089] Specifically, the base plate 123 is perpendicularly connected to the side plate 124 and the two are integrally formed. The base plate 123 is perpendicular to the centerline of the kitchen cavity 121. It is easy to understand that the base plate 123 is the bottom of the upper shell 120, and the part of the base plate 123, except for all the air outlets 122, covers the area on the top of the air passage 210 except for all the second passages 212.

[0090] In the above structure, the base plate 123 provides structural support for the kitchen utensils, preventing them from falling into or getting stuck in the air passage 210 at the bottom of the upper shell 120. The kitchen utensil cavity 121 formed by the base plate 123 and the side plate 124 provides storage space for the kitchen utensils.

[0091] Further, see Figure 7The air outlet 122 and / or the second passage 212 are covered with a grid filter (not shown in the figure). Multiple water accumulation channels 125 are opened on the side surface of the base plate 123 away from the air passage 210, and the water accumulation channels 125 are connected to the air outlet 122.

[0092] Specifically, the heating element 300 can be a grid-shaped PTC ceramic heater, in which case the grid filter serves as the grid framework of the heating element 300. Alternatively, the grid filter and the heating element 300 can be two independent structures, with the heating element 300 located below the grid filter. Multiple water accumulation channels 125 are crisscrossed on the surface of the base plate 123 facing away from the air passage 210, and each air outlet 122 is connected to at least one water accumulation channel 125.

[0093] There are four second passages 212. Two second passages 212 are located at opposite ends along the length of the air duct assembly 200. Both of these second passages 212 are covered with a grid filter screen, which allows water accumulated on the base plate 123 to flow through and adhere to it, enabling the water on the surface of the base plate 123 to be quickly evaporated by the heating element 300 below. Two second passages 212 are located at opposite ends along the width of the air duct assembly 200. These two second passages 212 are not covered with a grid filter screen, reducing the interference of the grid filter screen on the flow of high-temperature airflow. This allows the high-temperature airflow heated by the heating element 300 to smoothly pass through the second passages 212 without grid filters and enter the kitchen appliance cavity 121. In this way, the evaporation rate of water accumulated on the surface of the base plate 123 is accelerated, and at the same time, the moisture on the surface of the kitchen appliances on the base plate 123 is dried by the high-temperature airflow.

[0094] In the above structure, since the bottom of the kitchen appliance cavity 121, that is, the side of the base plate 123 facing away from the air passage 210, is the area with the most water accumulation, multiple water accumulation channels 125 are opened on the side of the base plate 123 facing away from the air passage 210 and the water accumulation channels 125 are connected to the air outlet 122. This allows the water accumulated on the side of the base plate 123 facing away from the air passage 210 to flow into the air outlet 122 through the corresponding water accumulation channels 125, and be quickly evaporated and dried by the heating component 300 at the air outlet 122, thereby improving the drying efficiency of the kitchen appliance cavity 121 and the kitchen appliances inside. In addition, the grid filter provides adhesion and support for the accumulated water, reducing the risk of accumulated water flowing into the lower air passage 210 through the air outlet 122.

[0095] Furthermore, see also Figure 7 The surface of the base plate 123 facing away from the air passage 210 is inclined from the center of the base plate 123 to the air outlet 122.

[0096] Specifically, the surface of the base plate 123 facing away from the air passage 210 is inclined at 5° to 10° from the center of the base plate 123 to the air outlet 122.

[0097] This design creates a slope on the side of the base plate 123 facing away from the air passage 210, causing the water accumulation channel 125 to tilt towards the air outlet 122. This allows the water on the side of the base plate 123 facing away from the air passage 210 to flow quickly into the air outlet 122 along the tilted water accumulation channel 125, where it is rapidly evaporated by the heating element 300 below the air outlet 122, further improving the drying efficiency of the kitchen appliance cavity 121 and the kitchen appliances inside.

[0098] In some embodiments of this application, see Figure 4 and Figure 5 The inner wall of the air passage 210 is provided with multiple protrusions 213 and / or multiple grooves 214.

[0099] Specifically, multiple protrusions 213 and multiple grooves 214 are alternately distributed along the inner wall of the air passage cavity 210, and adjacent protrusions 213 and grooves 214 are connected. The protrusions 213 are arc-shaped ribs, and the grooves 214 are arc-shaped grooves between two adjacent protrusions 213. In this way, the inner wall of the air passage cavity 210 has spiral ribs to guide the airflow to rotate.

[0100] It should be understood that during the process of the airflow in the air inlet cavity 111 being driven by the fan assembly 400 to rise to the air passage cavity 210, some of the airflow flows along the inner wall of the gradually expanding air passage cavity 210. The multiple protrusions 213 and / or multiple grooves 214 set on the inner wall of the air passage cavity 210 will disturb the airflow, causing some of the airflow to form a certain degree of turbulence. Driven by the fan assembly 400, the turbulent airflow is heated by the heating assembly 300 and maintains a certain speed and a high temperature as it flows and rises from the bottom to the top of the kitchenware cavity 121. Due to its own spiral upward movement, the turbulent airflow can more easily flow through and bypass the edges, corners, concave and convex surfaces, gaps and other edge corners on the surface of the kitchenware, efficiently drying the edge corners of the kitchenware surface and further improving the drying effect.

[0101] In addition, this application also provides a sterilization machine, which includes the drying device of any of the above embodiments.

[0102] Specifically, the sterilizer includes a sterilization component, which is installed inside the kitchenware cavity 121 and is used to disinfect and sterilize the kitchenware inside the kitchenware cavity 121. The sterilization component can be an ultraviolet lamp.

[0103] The sterilizer of this embodiment, due to the configuration of the aforementioned drying device, also has the same technical effect brought by the drying device. That is, through the coordinated arrangement of the housing 100, the air duct assembly 200 and the heating assembly 300, the high-temperature airflow from bottom to top can automatically bypass the edges, corners, concave and convex surfaces, gaps and other edges and corners on the surface of the kitchenware, effectively drying them. This eliminates the drying blind spots caused by the single airflow direction when the high-temperature airflow is vented from the side or top in related technologies, and can improve the heat utilization efficiency of the airflow. It can more comprehensively and thoroughly dry the kitchenware in the kitchenware cavity 121, improve the drying efficiency of the drying device for kitchenware, and correspondingly reduce the risk of bacteria growth due to insufficient drying of kitchenware, indirectly improving the sterilization efficiency of the drying device for kitchenware.

[0104] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any way. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0105] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementation methods of this application, and while the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the patent application. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of this application, and these all fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this patent application should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A drying apparatus, characterized by, The application relates to an oven dryer. The oven dryer comprises a shell, a bottom shell and an upper shell connected to each other, the upper shell is provided with a kitchenware cavity for placing kitchenware, the bottom shell is sequentially provided with an air inlet cavity and an air duct cavity from the bottom to the direction close to the upper shell; An air duct assembly is arranged in the air duct cavity, the air duct assembly is formed with an air passing cavity, the kitchenware cavity, the air passing cavity and the air inlet cavity are sequentially communicated along the axial direction of the shell, the inner diameter of the air passing cavity has an increasing trend from the bottom to the top; A heating assembly is arranged at the communication position between the kitchenware cavity and the air passing cavity, and is used for heating the air flow flowing into the kitchenware cavity from the air passing cavity, the heating assembly can cover the communication position between the kitchenware cavity and the air passing cavity and can be penetrated by the air flow; The top of the air passing cavity is provided with a plurality of second passing openings, the second passing openings are spaced apart along the circumferential direction of the top of the air passing cavity, the air passing cavity is communicated with the kitchenware cavity through the second passing openings, the heating assembly is arranged at the second passing opening, the bottom of the upper shell covers the top of the air passing cavity, and a plurality of air outlets are arranged on the bottom of the upper shell and are communicated with the second passing openings one by one, the area of the top of the air passing cavity except the second passing openings is sealed by the bottom of the upper shell; The air duct assembly further comprises an arc-shaped air storage plate suspended in the air passing cavity, the arc-shaped air storage plate is arranged opposite to the bottom of the upper shell, the arc-shaped air storage plate forms an air storage groove with an opening facing the bottom of the upper shell, the arc-shaped air storage plate is in the shape of a hook inclined to the second passing opening, and the vertical projection of the arc-shaped air storage plate on the bottom of the bottom shell is dislocated from the vertical projection of the second passing opening on the bottom of the bottom shell.

2. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The bottom of the air passing cavity is provided with a first passing opening, the air passing cavity is communicated with the air inlet cavity through the first passing opening, and the air passing cavity is communicated with the kitchenware cavity through the second passing openings.

3. The drying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein The first passing opening is coaxially communicated with the air inlet cavity, the area of the first passing opening is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the air inlet cavity, and the area of the second passing opening is smaller than the area of the first passing opening.

4. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The arc-shaped air storage plate is suspended in the air passing cavity through a hanging rod, and the opposite ends of the arc-shaped air storage plate are not of the same height.

5. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The upper shell comprises a bottom frame plate and a side plate connected to the circumferential edge of the bottom frame plate, the side plate and the bottom frame plate surround the kitchenware cavity, and the air outlets are arranged on the bottom frame plate and are spaced apart around the axis of the bottom frame plate.

6. The drying apparatus according to claim 5, wherein The air outlets and / or the second passing openings are covered with a grid filter, a plurality of accumulated water flow channels are arranged on the side surface of the bottom frame plate away from the air passing cavity and are communicated with the air outlets.

7. The drying apparatus according to claim 6, wherein The side surface of the bottom frame plate away from the air passing cavity is arranged in an inclined manner from the center of the bottom frame plate to the direction of the air outlets.

8. The drying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, A plurality of protrusions and / or a plurality of grooves are arranged on the inner wall of the air passing cavity.

9. The drying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The oven dryer further comprises a fan assembly arranged in the air inlet cavity and used for introducing external air flow into the air inlet cavity and driving the air flow in the air inlet cavity to flow towards the kitchenware cavity.

10. A germ removing machine characterized by comprising: The oven dryer comprises any one of the oven dryers according to claims 1 to 9.

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