Clothes dryer

Abstract

The utility model relates to the field of household appliances, particularly provides a clothes dryer, and aims to solve the problem that the dehumidification capacity of an evaporator in the prior art is limited. In order to achieve the purpose, the clothes dryer comprises a drying chamber, a clothes dryer body and a clothes dryer body, the evaporator is arranged on the air outlet side of the drying chamber and used for dehumidifying air flowing out of the drying chamber; the condenser is arranged on the air outlet side of the evaporator and used for heating the gas flowing out of the evaporator; the pre-cooling heat exchanger is arranged between the drying chamber and the evaporator and used for conducting primary cooling on the gas flowing out of the drying chamber. The temperature of high-temperature and high-humidity gas in the drying chamber is primarily reduced through the precooling heat exchanger, and then the high-temperature and high-humidity gas enters the evaporator to be dehumidified, so that the evaporation temperature of the heat pump system can be further reduced under the same heat exchange amount of the evaporator, and the dehumidification capacity of the clothes dryer is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the field of household appliances, and specifically provides a clothes dryer. Background Art

[0002] In the existing traditional clothes dryer heat pump system, when the internal air circulates, the air passes through the drying chamber to dry the items, then passes through the evaporator in the heat pump system to be dehumidified, and then passes through the condenser in the heat pump system to heat the air, so that it becomes dry air and enters the drying chamber to form an air circulation.

[0003] However, the current dryer heat pump system has a closed air circulation cycle. As the drying process proceeds, the moisture in the items continues to decrease, and the outlet air temperature of the drying chamber continues to rise. As a result, the evaporator temperature in the heat pump system will also increase accordingly, resulting in a decrease in the dehumidification capacity of the evaporator and a limited increase in the dehumidification speed.

[0004] Accordingly, the art needs a new technical solution to solve the above problems. Utility Model Content

[0005] The utility model aims to solve the above technical problem, that is, to solve the problem that the dehumidification capacity of the evaporator in the prior art is limited. To this end, the utility model provides a clothes dryer, including: a drying chamber, in which articles to be dried are placed; an evaporator, which is arranged at the air outlet side of the drying chamber and is used to dehumidify the gas flowing out of the drying chamber; a condenser, which is arranged at the air outlet side of the evaporator and is used to heat the gas flowing out of the evaporator; and a precooling heat exchanger, which is arranged between the drying chamber and the evaporator and is used to initially cool the gas flowing out of the drying chamber.

[0006] In the above-mentioned specific embodiment of the dryer, the precooling heat exchanger includes a precooling channel and a first external channel separated by a first substrate, the air inlet end of the precooling channel is connected to the drying chamber, and the air outlet end of the precooling channel is connected to the evaporator; the first external channel is connected to the outside air; the outside air enters the first external channel to initially cool the air in the precooling channel.

[0007] In the above specific implementation of the clothes dryer, a fan is provided on the external passage of the pre-cooling heat exchanger.

[0008] In the above specific embodiment of the clothes dryer, the clothes dryer further comprises: a preheating heat exchanger, which is arranged between the evaporator and the condenser and is used for initially heating the gas flowing out of the evaporator.

[0009] In the above-mentioned specific embodiment of the dryer, the preheating heat exchanger includes a preheating channel and a second external channel separated by a second substrate, the air inlet end of the preheating channel is connected to the evaporator, and the air outlet end of the preheating channel is connected to the condenser; the second external channel is connected to the outside air; the outside air enters the second external channel to initially heat the air in the preheating channel.

[0010] In the above-mentioned specific embodiment with a clothes dryer, the precooling heat exchanger includes a precooling air duct and a precooling pipeline, the air inlet end of the precooling air duct is connected to the drying chamber, and the air outlet end of the precooling air duct is connected to the evaporator; the precooling pipeline is used to hold the cooling medium, and the air in the precooling air duct is initially cooled by the cooling medium in the precooling pipeline.

[0011] In the above-mentioned specific embodiment with a clothes dryer, the preheating heat exchanger includes a preheating air duct and a preheating pipeline, the air inlet end of the preheating air duct is connected to the evaporator, and the air outlet end of the preheating air duct is connected to the condenser; the preheating pipeline is used to hold the heat transfer medium, and the air in the preheating air duct is initially heated by the heat transfer medium in the preheating pipeline.

[0012] In the above specific embodiment with a clothes dryer, the cooling medium is water, and the precooling pipeline is connected to the upper and lower water pipelines of the clothes dryer; the heat transfer medium is water, and the preheating pipeline is connected to the upper and lower water pipelines of the clothes dryer.

[0013] In the above specific embodiment with a clothes dryer, the water supply and discharge pipes, the precooling pipe and the preheating pipe of the clothes dryer are connected in sequence.

[0014] In the above specific embodiment of the clothes dryer, fins are arranged on the first substrate.

[0015] When the above technical solution is adopted, the high-temperature and high-humidity gas from the drying chamber is firstly cooled by the precooling heat exchanger, and then enters the evaporator for dehumidification. In this way, under the same evaporator heat exchange capacity, the evaporation temperature of the heat pump system can be further reduced, thereby improving the dehumidification capacity of the clothes dryer. In addition, a preheating heat exchanger is also provided, and the high-temperature and high-humidity gas from the drying chamber is firstly cooled by the precooling heat exchanger, and then enters the evaporator for dehumidification, thereby improving the dehumidification capacity of the evaporator; then the low-temperature and low-humidity air is firstly heated by the preheating heat exchanger, and then enters the condenser for heating, thereby reducing the heat load of the condenser, and improving the working efficiency of the condenser and the drying efficiency. In the utility model, a precooling heat exchanger and a preheating heat exchanger are provided at the same time, thereby improving the working efficiency of the evaporator and the condenser at the same time, taking into account the drying temperature and the dehumidification effect, and greatly improving the drying speed of the clothes dryer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0017] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the principle of the first embodiment of the present utility model;

[0018] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the principle of the second embodiment of the present utility model;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the principle of the third embodiment of the present utility model;

[0020] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the principle of the fourth embodiment of the present utility model;

[0021] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the principle of the fifth embodiment of the present utility model;

[0022] Figure 6 This is a structural diagram of the first embodiment of the precooling heat exchanger in the utility model;

[0023] Figure 7 It is a structural diagram of the second embodiment of the precooling heat exchanger in the utility model.

[0024] In the figure: 1. drying chamber, 2. evaporator, 3. condenser, 4. precooling heat exchanger, 401. precooling channel, 402. first external channel, 403. first substrate, 404. precooling air duct, 405. precooling pipeline, 406. fan, 407. fins, 5. preheating heat exchanger. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are only used to explain the technical principles of the present invention and are not used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make adjustments as needed to adapt to specific applications. For example, although the description is described in conjunction with a clothes dryer, this is not restrictive, and those skilled in the art can apply the present invention to other scenarios that require the use of an evaporator and a condenser as needed.

[0026] It should be noted that in the description of the present invention, the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "inner", "outer", etc. indicating directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, which are only for the convenience of description, and do not indicate or imply that the relevant devices or components must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention. In addition, ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0027] In addition, it should be noted that in the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installation" and "connection" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0028] Furthermore, in order to more clearly demonstrate the core technical solution of the present utility model, the description of the known structure of the dryer is omitted in the following description. However, this omission is only for the convenience of description and does not mean that the dryer can be without these structures.

[0029] Embodiment 1

[0030] like Figure 1 As shown, the utility model proposes a clothes dryer, including: a drying chamber 1, in which articles to be dried are placed; an evaporator 2, which is arranged at the air outlet side of the drying chamber 1 and is used to dehumidify the gas flowing out of the drying chamber 1; a condenser 3, which is arranged at the air outlet side of the evaporator 2 and is used to heat the gas flowing out of the evaporator 2; a precooling heat exchanger 4, which is arranged between the drying chamber 1 and the evaporator 2 and is used to initially cool down the gas flowing out of the drying chamber 1. The precooling heat exchanger 4 can be any type of heat exchanger, which can be a metal substrate heat exchanger, or a microchannel heat exchanger, etc., as long as it can cool down the gas flowing through.

[0031] In this embodiment, in order to solve the problem that the dehumidification capacity of the evaporator in the prior art may be limited, a pre-cooling heat exchanger 4 is provided. The high-temperature and high-humidity gas in the drying chamber 1 is first passed through the pre-cooling heat exchanger 4 to initially reduce the temperature, and then enters the evaporator 2 for dehumidification. In this way, under the same heat exchange capacity of the evaporator 2, the evaporation temperature of the heat pump system can be further reduced, thereby improving the dehumidification capacity of the dryer.

[0032] Further, if Figure 6 As shown, in this embodiment, the high-temperature and high-humidity gas in the drying chamber 1 is cooled by external air. The precooling heat exchanger 4 includes a precooling channel 401 and a first external channel 402 separated by a first substrate 403. The air inlet end of the precooling channel 401 is connected to the drying chamber 1, and the air outlet end of the precooling channel 401 is connected to the evaporator 2. Figure 6 The figure shows the flow direction of air in the precooling channel 401; the first external channel 402 is connected to the external air. Figure 6 The figure shows the flow direction of the air in the first external channel 402; the external air enters the first external channel 402 to initially cool the air in the pre-cooling channel 401.

[0033] For example, high-temperature and high-humidity air (e.g., temperature>40°C) flowing out of the drying chamber 1 flows into the precooling channel 401, and the external ambient air (e.g., ambient temperature 25°C) flows into the first external channel 402. The precooling channel 401 and the first external channel 402 are not connected to each other, and the two are separated by the first substrate 403, and heat is transferred through the first substrate 403; after heat transfer, the temperature of the air entering the evaporator 2 in the precooling channel 401 can be further reduced (for example, 30°C) based on the outlet of the drying chamber 1, so as to improve the dehumidification capacity of the evaporator 2. A metal substrate can be selected as the first substrate 403.

[0034] Cooling by outside air is more cost-effective and does not require additional processing or cooling media. The precooling heat exchanger 4 cooled by outside air has a simpler structure and does not require complex piping, pumps or other liquid handling equipment. This simplicity brings higher reliability and facilitates maintenance.

[0035] Further, if Figure 1 As shown, a fan 406 is provided on the first external channel 402 , and the fan 406 is used to force the external air to be drawn into the first external channel 402 . The fan 406 can accelerate the heat transfer and dissipation, and improve the precooling efficiency of the precooling heat exchanger 4 .

[0036] Further, if Figure 6 As shown, in order to improve the heat exchange effect of the pre-cooling heat exchanger 4 , fins 407 are provided on the first substrate 403 .

[0037] Embodiment 2

[0038] In the traditional heat pump dryer system, the dehumidification air path is an internal circulation. The ideal effect of drying clothes is that the air temperature after dehumidification by the evaporator 2 is as low as possible, and the air temperature after heating by the condenser 3 is as high as possible, so that the drying speed can be greatly improved. For the heat pump system, it means that the condensation temperature needs to be high and the evaporation temperature needs to be low. Since the heat pump system cannot fully exchange heat with the environment, most of the heat for condensation heat exchange and evaporation heat exchange in the heat pump system comes from the air in the internal circulation. In this way, if the temperature of the air entering the evaporator 2 is low, the dehumidification effect is good, but it will cause the outlet air temperature of the condenser 3 to be low, and the drying effect is poor; if the temperature of the air entering the evaporator 2 is high, although the outlet air temperature of the condenser 3 is high, the dehumidification efficiency is poor. Therefore, the existing dryers cannot take into account both the drying temperature and the dehumidification effect, the drying speed is limited, and the drying speed cannot be greatly improved.

[0039] like Figure 2As shown, in this embodiment, in order to solve the above problems, the clothes dryer further includes: a preheating heat exchanger 5, which is arranged between the evaporator 2 and the condenser 3, and is used to initially heat up the gas flowing out of the evaporator 2, and then further heat up the gas through the condenser 3 after the initial heating, so that the influence of the low temperature of the air flowing out of the evaporator 2 on the heating of the air in the condenser 3 can be greatly reduced. The preheating heat exchanger 5 can be any type of heat exchanger, such as a metal substrate heat exchanger, or a microchannel heat exchanger, as long as it can heat up the gas flowing through it.

[0040] The high-temperature and high-humidity gas in the drying chamber 1 first passes through the precooling heat exchanger 4 to initially reduce the temperature, and then enters the evaporator 2 for dehumidification, which can improve the dehumidification capacity of the evaporator 2; then the low-temperature and low-humidity air first passes through the preheating heat exchanger 5 to initially increase the temperature, and then enters the condenser 5 for temperature increase, which can reduce the heat load of the condenser 3 and improve the working efficiency and drying efficiency of the condenser 3. In this embodiment, the precooling heat exchanger 4 and the preheating heat exchanger 5 are provided at the same time, which can improve the working efficiency of the evaporator 2 and the condenser 3 at the same time, taking into account the drying temperature and dehumidification effect, and greatly improve the drying speed of the dryer.

[0041] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the low-temperature and low-humidity gas flowing out of the evaporator 2 is heated by the outside air. The preheating heat exchanger 5 includes a preheating channel and a second outside channel separated by a second substrate. The air inlet end of the preheating channel is connected to the evaporator 2, and the air outlet end of the preheating channel is connected to the condenser 3; the second outside channel is connected to the outside air; the outside air enters the second outside channel to heat the air in the preheating channel for the first time. A fan can also be set on the second outside channel.

[0042] For example, the low-temperature and low-humidity gas (e.g., the temperature is 20°C) flowing out of the evaporator 2 flows into the preheating channel, and the external ambient air (e.g., the ambient temperature is 25°C) flows into the second external channel. The preheating channel and the second external channel are not connected to each other, and the two are separated by a second substrate, and heat is transferred through the second substrate; after heat transfer, the temperature of the air entering the condenser 3 in the preheating channel can be increased based on the temperature of the gas flowing out of the evaporator 2, thereby reducing the heat load of the condenser 3, reducing energy consumption, and improving the drying efficiency. In this embodiment, the structure of the preheating heat exchanger 5 is the same as that of the precooling heat exchanger 4. In actual application, a heat exchanger with a structure different from that of the precooling heat exchanger 4 can be selected as the preheating heat exchanger 5, as long as the air in the preheating channel can be heated.

[0043] Embodiment 3

[0044] like Figure 3As shown, if the precooling heat exchanger 4 is heat exchange between air and air, the heat exchange area of ​​the precooling heat exchanger 4 is large due to the small convection heat transfer coefficient of air. In order to reduce the heat exchange area of ​​the precooling heat exchanger 4, the precooling heat exchanger 4 in this embodiment is air-cooling medium heat exchange.

[0045] like Figure 7 As shown, the precooling heat exchanger 4 includes a precooling air duct 404 and a precooling pipeline 405. The air inlet end of the precooling air duct 404 is connected to the drying chamber 1, and the air outlet end of the precooling air duct 404 is connected to the evaporator 2; the precooling pipeline 405 is used to contain the cooling medium, and the precooling pipeline 405 separates the cooling medium from the air in the precooling air duct 404. When the air in the precooling air duct 404 passes through the surface of the precooling pipeline 405, it is initially cooled by the cooling medium in the precooling pipeline 405. Figure 7 4 shows the flow direction of the air in the pre-cooling air duct 404 and the flow direction of the cooling medium in the pre-cooling pipeline 405.

[0046] Embodiment 4

[0047] like Figure 4 As shown, in order to reduce the heat exchange area of ​​the preheating heat exchanger 5, the preheating heat exchanger 5 in this embodiment includes a preheating air duct and a preheating pipeline. The air inlet end of the preheating air duct is connected to the evaporator 2, and the air outlet end of the preheating air duct is connected to the condenser 3; the preheating pipeline is used to hold the heat transfer medium, and the preheating pipeline separates the heat transfer medium from the air in the preheating air duct. When the air in the preheating air duct passes through the surface of the preheating pipeline, the heat transfer medium in the preheating pipeline is initially heated up. The structure of the preheating heat exchanger 5 in this embodiment is the same as that of the precooling heat exchanger 4. In actual application, a heat exchanger with a structure different from that of the precooling heat exchanger 4 can be selected as the preheating heat exchanger 5, as long as the air in the preheating air duct can be heated up.

[0048] Since the convective heat transfer coefficient of air is much smaller than that of water (the difference can be tens to hundreds of times), the total heat transfer coefficient of air-to-air heat exchange is roughly half of the total heat transfer coefficient of air-to-water heat exchange. In order to reduce the heat exchange area of ​​the precooling heat exchanger 4, the precooling heat exchanger 4 in this embodiment is air-to-water heat exchange, the cooling medium in the precooling pipeline 405 is water, and the heat transfer medium in the preheating pipeline can also be water; the precooling pipeline 405 and the preheating pipeline can be connected to the upper and lower water pipelines of the dryer to make full use of the water source in the dryer.

[0049] Embodiment 5

[0050] like Figure 5As shown, in order to minimize energy consumption, the upper and lower water pipes of the dryer, the precooling pipe 405 and the preheating pipe are connected in sequence; after the water flows out of the upper and lower water pipes of the dryer, it first passes through the precooling pipe 405, absorbs the heat in the high-temperature and high-humidity air in the precooling air duct 404 in the precooling pipe 405, and then passes through the preheating pipe to transfer heat to the low-temperature air in the preheating air duct.

[0051] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, although some embodiments described herein include certain features included in other embodiments but not other features, the combination of features of different embodiments is meant to be within the scope of the present application and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims of the present application, any one of the claimed embodiments may be used in any combination.

[0052] So far, the technical solution of the present invention has been described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the protection scope of the present invention is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Without departing from the principle of the present invention, those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or substitutions to the relevant technical features, and the technical solutions after these changes or substitutions will fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A clothes dryer, characterized in that: include: A drying chamber (1), wherein the drying chamber (1) is used for placing objects to be dried; an evaporator (2), the evaporator (2) being arranged on the air outlet side of the drying chamber (1) and being used for dehumidifying the gas flowing out of the drying chamber (1); A condenser (3), the condenser (3) being arranged on the air outlet side of the evaporator (2) and being used to heat the gas flowing out of the evaporator (2); A precooling heat exchanger (4), the precooling heat exchanger (4) being arranged between the drying chamber (1) and the evaporator (2) and being used for initially cooling the gas flowing out of the drying chamber (1).

2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The precooling heat exchanger (4) comprises a precooling channel (401) and a first external channel (402) separated by a first substrate (403), an air inlet end of the precooling channel (401) being connected to the drying chamber (1), and an air outlet end of the precooling channel (401) being connected to the evaporator (2); The first external channel (402) is in communication with external air; The outside air enters the first outside channel (402) to initially cool the air in the pre-cooling channel (401).

3. The clothes dryer according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first external channel (402) is provided with a fan (406).

4. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The clothes dryer also includes: A preheating heat exchanger (5), which is arranged between the evaporator (2) and the condenser (3) and is used to initially heat the gas flowing out of the evaporator (2).

5. The clothes dryer according to claim 4, characterized in that: The preheating heat exchanger (5) comprises a preheating channel and a second external channel separated by a second substrate, the air inlet end of the preheating channel is connected to the evaporator (2), and the air outlet end of the preheating channel is connected to the condenser (3); The second external channel is connected to the external air; the external air enters the second external channel to initially heat the air in the preheating channel.

6. The clothes dryer according to claim 4, characterized in that: The precooling heat exchanger (4) comprises a precooling air duct (404) and a precooling pipeline (405), the air inlet end of the precooling air duct (404) is connected to the drying chamber (1), and the air outlet end of the precooling air duct (404) is connected to the evaporator (2); The precooling pipeline (405) is used to contain a cooling medium, and the air in the precooling air duct (404) is initially cooled by the cooling medium in the precooling pipeline (405).

7. The clothes dryer according to claim 6, characterized in that: The preheating heat exchanger (5) comprises a preheating air duct and a preheating pipeline, the air inlet end of the preheating air duct is connected to the evaporator (2), and the air outlet end of the preheating air duct is connected to the condenser (3); The preheating pipeline is used to contain the heat transfer medium, and the air in the preheating air duct is initially heated by the heat transfer medium in the preheating pipeline.

8. The clothes dryer according to claim 7, characterized in that: The cooling medium is water, and the precooling pipeline (405) is connected to the upper and lower water pipelines of the clothes dryer; The heat transfer medium is water, and the preheating pipeline is connected with the upper and lower water pipelines of the clothes dryer.

9. The clothes dryer according to claim 8, characterized in that: The water supply and drainage pipelines of the clothes dryer, the precooling pipeline (405) and the preheating pipeline are connected in sequence.

10. The clothes dryer according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first substrate (403) is provided with fins (407).

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