Trough mangle and laundry system with such a trough mangle

Abstract

Trough ironer (1) with at least one trough (10, 11, 12), with a rotationally drivable ironer roller (13) to which a mangle trough (14) arranged on the underside is assigned, wherein the at least one mangle trough (14) has an inlet (15) and a return (16) via which a heating fluid (17) can be supplied to the mangle trough (14) for heating, characterized in that the mangle trough (14) has, as heating fluid (17), pressurized water (18) in a liquid state under excess pressure.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a trough ironer with at least one trough, with a rotatingly driven ironer roller, to which a trough arranged underneath is assigned. The at least one trough has an inlet and a return line through which a heating fluid can be supplied to the trough for heating. Furthermore, the invention relates to a laundry system with at least one such trough ironer. STATE OF THE ART

[0002] EP 2 239 365 A2 shows, by way of example, a trough ironer which has a mangle roller and a mangle trough arranged underneath the mangle roller, wherein the mangle trough is heated with hot steam, the hot steam being generated in the mangle trough itself.

[0003] It is also stated that the superheated steam can alternatively be provided from a peripheral superheated steam source, particularly when there are multiple troughs, with the superheated steam then being fed to the mangle trough at a connection point which is upper in relation to the geodetic height. This steam passes downwards through the mangle trough, for example over a 90° segment, and condenses geodetically downwards to form liquid condensate, which is finally fed to the condensate trap via a condensate line. In the condensate trap itself, the pressure of the superheated steam as well as the temperature are reduced. This process in the condensate trap creates what is known as exhaust steam, which is usually discharged as vapor, while the still-hot condensate is fed back into a corresponding storage facility, for example the superheated steam source.

[0004] DE 10 2021 112 866 A1 specifies that the ironer's bed can be heated with hot steam or thermal oil. Thermal oil is not pleasant-smelling, and the odors can potentially be absorbed by the laundry. Furthermore, thermal oils are inherently hazardous to the environment and health, and are difficult to dispose of.

[0005] DE 10 2009 016 709 A1 states that the superheated steam for heating the ironing chamber can also be generated in the ironing chamber itself. Superheated steam has a comparatively low heat capacity and therefore requires larger quantities to heat the ironing chamber. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The object of the invention relates to an improved trough ironer with at least two or more successively arranged troughs, wherein an advantageous heating of the ironer trough with a simple heating fluid is to be proposed.

[0007] This object is achieved based on a flatwork ironer according to the preamble of claim 1 and on a laundry system according to the preamble of claim 13 in conjunction with the respective characterizing features. Advantageous developments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

[0008] The invention includes the technical teaching that pressurized water in a liquid state under excess pressure is supplied as heating fluid to heat the mangle trough.

[0009] The core idea of ​​the invention is the use of the high specific heat capacity of water in liquid form, which can be quantified at 4,190 J / kg K. Typical silicone oils, on the other hand, only have a heat capacity of 1,550 J / kg K. Water vapor has a specific heat capacity of 1,870 J / kg K at 100°C. This means that by utilizing the particularly high specific heat capacity of water in liquid form, a heat transfer medium can be used which, with significantly lower volume flows, offers the possibility of transporting just as large an amount of heat to or into the mangle trough as with fluids in liquid or gaseous form known from the state of the art.

[0010] The invention therefore also includes the idea of ​​pressurizing the heating fluid in the form of liquid water so that temperatures can be achieved that would normally be used for ironing troughs. Thus, the pressurized water can be supplied to the ironing trough at a temperature of at least 120°C, preferably at least 130°C, and particularly preferably 140°C or more. A pressure value is assigned to these temperatures, so that the pressurized water for the above-mentioned temperatures is supplied to the ironing trough at a pressure of at least 2 bar, preferably at least 2.7 bar, and particularly preferably 3.5 bar. The pressurized water can circulate in a closed system that maintains the overpressure.

[0011] For this purpose, a pump can be installed that supplies the pressurized water to the ironing trough at a rate of 10 to 20 liters per second and / or 12 to 18 liters per second and / or 14 to 16 liters per second and / or, particularly preferably, 15 liters per second. The water is supplied via the inlet and returned via the return, with a closed pipe system connecting the ironing trough via the inlet and return. The pump can be designed to be comparatively smaller than would be necessary if a heating fluid with a lower specific heat capacity were used. This also allows energy savings during pump operation.The above-mentioned flow rates of, for example, approximately 15 litres per second, which are supplied to the ironer's tub by the pump, make it possible to maintain a sufficient temperature in the ironer's tub even with very wet laundry, which is made possible by the use of pressurised water, i.e. water under excess pressure.

[0012] A pressurized water tank is also installed, filled with pressurized water and heated by a heater to bring the pressurized water to the required temperature and pressure. The pressurized water tank is integrated into the closed piping system and can be flowed through by the pressurized water when the pump is started up.

[0013] A further advantage is provided for a pressure vessel, which is also connected to the closed pipe system and via which the overpressure in the pressurized water is maintained. For this purpose, the pressure vessel has a membrane via which a pressurized gas side is separated from a pressurized water side, so that the pressurized gas side is maintained at the required pressure by means of a pressurized gas, in particular compressed air, via a pressurized gas connection. Alternatively, the pressure vessel can also have a spring-piston system or similar devices to keep the pressurized water on the pressurized water side in the pressure vessel below the required overpressure. In this case, the pressurized water vessel can be completely filled with water, and the pressure vessel serves as an equalization tank to keep the desired overpressure in the pressurized water constant within the required pressure range, even during a heating phase, for example.

[0014] The ironer can have multiple ironing troughs, each of whose inlets is equipped with valves to regulate and / or control the flow of pressurized water to the respective ironing trough. For example, it can be advantageous if the front ironing trough, into which the laundry with a higher moisture content is fed, has a higher temperature than the middle or rear ironing trough, since the laundry there is already more thoroughly dried, has a lower moisture content, and is therefore more sensitive to heat. Bridge elements can be installed between the troughs, which are also heated by the pressurized water, so that the bridge elements are connected to the closed piping system in the same way.

[0015] A further advantage can be provided by a heat pump to which the heat from the exhaust air of the at least one ironer roller is supplied at least indirectly, and wherein the pressurized water boiler is heated at least indirectly with heat from the heat pump. Thus, the trough ironer can be reheated at least partially with its own waste heat. In particular, a condensate heat exchanger can be provided, to which the exhaust air of the at least one ironer roller is supplied and from which heat is supplied to the heat pump via a heat transfer fluid.

[0016] In conjunction with other heat consumers in a laundry system, it is also conceivable for the pressurized water from the pressurized water boiler to heat other consumers in the laundry system, such as a dryer, a tunnel finisher, and / or a heating register. The pressurized water boiler can be dimensioned accordingly to provide a larger amount of pressurized water than the ironer itself requires.

[0017] The ironer's trough has several inlets and several returns distributed along its length, with the several inlets and the several returns facing each other with respect to an inner side of the ironer's trough. Because no steam is used to heat the ironer's troughs, no condensate forms in the lower area of ​​the ironer's trough, so that the flowable heating fluid volume of the ironer's trough remains completely filled with liquid. The individual ironer's troughs of the trough ironer can be connected separately to the closed piping system, whereby it is also conceivable for the pressurized water to flow through the ironer's troughs in series, i.e. one after the other, particularly including the bridge elements, so that an even greater temperature gradient results from the front to the rear ironer's trough.

[0018] The invention further relates to a laundry system with a trough ironer having at least one trough, with a rotatingly driven ironer roller, to which a mangle trough arranged underneath is assigned, wherein the at least one mangle trough has an inlet and a return line for supplying a heating fluid to the ironer trough for heating. A pressurized water boiler is provided, from which pressurized water in a liquid state under pressure can be supplied to the ironer trough as heating fluid. Thus, the laundry system can also have further heat consumers connected to the pressurized water boiler so that they can also be heated with the pressurized water under pressure, in particular a dryer, a tunnel finisher, and / or a heating register. The further heat consumers can have corresponding heat exchangers for this purpose, for example pressurized water-hot air heat exchangers. PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0019] Further measures improving the invention are described in more detail below, together with the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to the figures. It shows: Fig. 1 a schematic view of the ironer with a connected pipe system for heating the ironer's troughs with hot pressurised water, Fig. 2 a detailed view of the pressurised water boiler with connected heat pump for utilising the waste heat from the ironer roller, Fig. 3 a view of the pressure water boiler with other heat consumers of a laundry system connected to it and Fig. 4 a diagram of pressure versus temperature for water, showing at which temperature the water must be carried in the pipe system at a pressure without a vapor phase forming.

[0020] In the Fig. Figure 1 shows a trough ironer 1 with three consecutively arranged troughs 10, 11, 12. Each of the troughs 10, 11, 12 shown has a rotatably driven ironer roller 13, and a mangle trough 14 arranged underneath is assigned to the respective ironer rollers 13. To heat the ironer troughs 14, a closed pipe system 30 is connected to them to supply pressurized water 18 to the ironer troughs 14 according to the invention. For this purpose, the mangle troughs 14 have a plurality of inlets 15 distributed along their length for feeding in the pressurized water 18, and the mangle troughs 14 have a plurality of return lines 16 distributed along their length in the same way for returning the pressurized water 18 to the closed pipe system 30. The inlets 15 and the return lines 16 are located at the respective upper edge of the mangle troughs 14 and are located opposite each other in relation to the center of the trough.

[0021] The ironing trays 14 can be heated accordingly to both flatten and dry the laundry items. These are inserted into a gap between the lower half of the ironing roller 13 and the inside of the ironing tray 14. For drying, a suction air flow is generated in the inner area of ​​the ironing roller 13, which draws the moisture out of the laundry items. To guide the laundry items from tray 10, 11 to tray 11, 12, bridge elements 23 are installed between the trays 10, 11, and 12. These bridge elements are also connected to the closed pipe system 30 and are thus heated.

[0022] Furthermore, a pressurized water tank 20 is integrated into the closed pipe system 30, which is completely filled with the pressurized water 18 and is heated by a heating device 21 in order to bring the pressurized water 18 to the required temperature and pressure.

[0023] To monitor and control the pressure in the pressurized water 18, a pressure holding vessel 31 is provided, in particular, via which the excess pressure in the pressurized water 18 is maintained. For this purpose, the pressure holding vessel 31 has a membrane 32 via which a pressurized gas side 33 is separated from a pressurized water side 34. The pressurized gas side 33 is maintained at the required pressure by means of a pressurized gas, preferably compressed air, via a pressurized gas connection 35. A pressure regulating device 36 in connection with the pressurized gas connection 35 serves for this purpose, so that the pressure regulating device 36 can pressurize the pressurized gas side 33 in such a way that this pressure is transferred via the membrane 32 to the pressurized water side 34 and thus to the pressurized water 18.Thus, even when the pressurized water 18 in the pressurized water tank 20 is heated by means of the heating device 21, an expansion of the pressurized water 18 can be absorbed by the pressure control device 36 applying pressure to the membrane 32 accordingly and adjusting it accordingly.

[0024] In particular, a control unit 37 is provided, which can control both the heating device 21 and the pressure control device 36. Via temperature and pressure sensors (not shown), from which the control unit 37 monitors the parameters of the pressurized water 18 in the closed pipe system 30, the control unit 37 can also serve as a control device. During operation of the ironer 1, for example, an operator can input to the control unit 37 the temperature to which the ironer troughs 14 are to be heated. Accordingly, the control unit 37 controls both the heating of the pressurized water tank 20 with the heating device 21 and the pressurization of the pressurized water 18 by means of the pressure vessel 31 and the associated pressure control device 36.

[0025] A pump 19 is used to circulate the pressurized water 18 in the closed pipe system 30. For example, the pressurized water can have a pressure of 3.5 bar and a temperature of 140°C, whereby these values ​​can be specified and changed via the control unit 37.

[0026] In order to regulate the distribution of the pressurized water 18 to the individual troughs 10, 11, 12 and also to the bridge elements 23, valves 22 in the supply lines of the closed pipe system 30 to the inlets 15, including from the bridge elements, are used. The valves 22 can also be connected to the control unit 37 in a manner not shown in detail. In addition, the pump 19 can be designed with speed control and can be controlled via the control unit 37. In particular, the control unit can thus utilize an energy optimum, which also takes into account the operation of the pump 19, since with the pressurized water 18 as heating fluid 17, the very high specific heat capacity of the water can be utilized to supply only a reduced flow of pressurized water 18 to the mangle troughs 14, since the specific heat capacity of the water is very high. For this purpose, the mangle troughs 14 can have temperature sensors, which are also connected to the control unit 37.If the temperature of the ironing trough deviates from a target value, the control unit 37 can control the valves 22 accordingly.

[0027] Fig. Figure 2 shows an alternative heating of the pressurized water boiler 20 with a heating device 21 coupled to a heat pump 24. Furthermore, the ironer roller 13 is shown schematically, from which exhaust air 38 is extracted. The hot exhaust air 38 transfers the heat to the heat pump 24, in particular to the evaporator side, via a heat exchanger 39. By supplying electrical energy to the heat pump 24, the temperature of a heating fluid 40 supplied to the heating device 21 can be so high that the pressurized water 18 in the pressurized water boiler 20 can be heated, for example, to 140°C or more.

[0028] Fig. 3 shows merely by way of example that the pressurised water boiler 20 with the heating device 21 can be provided not only to the closed pipe system 30 for heating the ironer's trough, but other heat consumers of a laundry system can also be connected to the pressurised water boiler 20, for example a dryer 27, a tunnel finisher 28 or, for example, a heating register 29. The pressurised water boiler 20 and in particular the heating device 21 can be dimensioned larger than for heating the ironer's trough if other heat consumers of the laundry system are also connected.

[0029] Fig. Figure 4 shows a diagram 41 with temperature t in °C on the abscissa and pressure p in bar on the ordinate. As an example, the operating point of the pressurized water 18 is shown at 140°C, where the pressure of the pressurized water is approximately 3.5 bar.

[0030] The invention is not limited in its implementation to the preferred embodiment described above. Rather, a number of variants are conceivable, which utilize the presented solution even in fundamentally different embodiments. All features and / or advantages apparent from the claims, the description, or the drawings, including structural details or spatial arrangements, may be essential to the invention both individually and in a wide variety of combinations. List of reference symbols: 1 trough mangle 10 trough 11 trough 12 trough 13 mangle roller 14 mangle trough 15 Inlet 16 Return 17 Heating fluid 18 Pressurized water 19 Pump 20 pressurized water boilers 21 Heating device 22 Valve 23 Bridge element 24 heat pump 25 exhaust air 26 condensate heat exchangers 27 dryers 28 tunnel finishers 29 heating registers 30 closed pipe system 31 pressure vessels 32 membrane 33 Compressed gas side 34 Pressurized water side 35 Compressed gas connection 36 Pressure control device 37 Control unit 38 exhaust air 39 Heating fluid 40 Diagram t Temperature in degrees Celsius p pressure in dar QUOTES CONTAINED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents submitted by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the convenience of the reader. This list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] EP 2 239 365 A2

[0002] DE 10 2021 112 866 A1

[0004] DE 10 2009 016 709 A1

[0005]

Claims

[1] Trough ironer (1) with at least one trough (10, 11, 12), with a rotationally driven ironer roller (13) to which a mangle trough (14) arranged on the underside is assigned, wherein the at least one mangle trough (14) has an inlet (15) and a return (16) via which a heating fluid (17) can be supplied to the mangle trough (14) for heating, characterized by that the mangle trough (14) has as heating fluid (17) a pressurized water (18) in a liquid state under excess pressure. [2] Trough mangle (1) according to claim 1, characterized by that the pressurized water (18) has a temperature of at least 120°C, preferably of at least 130°C and particularly preferably of 140°C in the mangle trough (14) and / or that the pressurized water (18) has a pressure of at least 2 bar, preferably of at least 2.7 bar and particularly preferably of 3.5 bar in the mangle trough (14). [3] Trough mangle (1) according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized bythat a pump (19) is arranged with which the pressurized water (18) can be supplied to the mangle trough (14) at a rate of 10 to 20 liters per second and / or 12 to 18 liters per second and / or 14 to 16 liters per second and / or 15 liters per second. [4] Trough mangle (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that a pressurized water boiler (20) is provided which is filled with the pressurized water (18) and can be heated by a heating device (21) in order to bring the pressurized water (18) to the temperature and pressure. [5] Trough mangle (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized bythat a pressure holding vessel (31) is set up, via which the overpressure in the pressurized water (18) can be maintained, for which purpose the pressure holding vessel (31) has a membrane (32) via which a pressurized gas side (33) is separated from a pressurized water side (34), so that the pressurized gas side (33) can be maintained at the required pressure by means of a pressurized gas, in particular compressed air, via a pressurized gas connection (35). [6] Trough mangle (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that a plurality of mangle troughs (14) are provided, in the inlets (15) of which valves (22) are provided in order to regulate and / or control the supply of the pressurised water (18) to the mangle trough (14). [7] Trough mangle (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that between several troughs (10, 11, 12) there are bridge elements (23) which can be heated with the pressurized water (18). [8] Trough mangle (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that a heat pump (24) is arranged to which the heat from the exhaust air (25) of the at least one mangle roller (13) can be supplied at least indirectly and wherein the pressurized water boiler (20) can be heated with heat from the heat pump (24). [9] Trough mangle (1) according to claim 8, characterized by that a condensate heat exchanger (26) is provided, to which the exhaust air (25) of the at least one mangle roller (13) can be fed and from which heat can be fed to the heat pump (24). [10] Trough mangle (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that a control unit (37) is set up with which at least the operation of the heating device (21), the pressure control device (36), the valves (22) and / or the heat pump (24) can be controlled and / or regulated. [11] Trough mangle (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized bythat the pressurized water (18) from the pressurized water boiler (20) can be used to heat further heat consumers of a laundry system, in particular a dryer (27), a tunnel finisher (28) and / or a heating register (29). [12] Trough mangle (1) according to claim 11, characterized by that the mangle trough (14) has a plurality of inlets (15) and a plurality of returns (16) distributed over its length, wherein the plurality of inlets (15) and the plurality of returns (16) are opposite one another with respect to an inner side of the mangle trough (14). [13] Laundry system with a trough ironer (1) with at least one trough (10, 11, 12), with a rotating driven ironer roller (13) to which a mangle trough (14) arranged on the underside is assigned, wherein the at least one mangle trough (14) has an inlet (15) and a return (16) in order to supply a heating fluid (17) to the mangle trough (14) for heating, characterized bythat a pressurized water boiler (20) is provided, from which pressurized water (18) under excess pressure in a liquid state can be supplied to the mangle trough (14) as heating fluid (17) by means of a pump (19). [14] Laundry system according to claim 13, characterized by that further heat consumers of the laundry system are connected to the pressurized water boiler (20) so that they can be heated with the pressurized water (18) under excess pressure, in particular a dryer (27), a tunnel finisher (28) and / or a heating register (29).

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