Clothes dryers and washer-dryers

Abstract

To provide a clothes dryer and a washing and drying machine in which functional particles are made to act uniformly on the entire clothing by rotational drive so as to expose a front surface and a back surface of clothing.SOLUTION: A washing and drying machine 1 includes: a drum 2 for storing clothing; a motor 14 for rotationally driving the drum 2; an electrostatic atomization device 3 for discharging charged particle water into the drum 2; and control means 25 for controlling the drive of the motor 14 and the electrostatic atomization device 3. The control means 25 executes: a first step of holding clothing 20 in a state of being spread in the drum 2; a folding step of bringing the clothing 20 into a folded state by rotating the drum 2; a second step of holding in a state of being folded in the drum 2; a reversing step of reversing the folded clothing by rotating the drum 2; and a third step of holding in a reversed state in the drum 2. At least in the first step, the second step and the third step, the electrostatic atomization device 3 is driven.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a clothes dryer and a washer / dryer equipped with a functional particle generating device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a clothes dryer and a washer / dryer that remove pollen attached to clothes. The clothes dryer and the washer / dryer have a rotating drum in which clothes are stored, a motor that drives the rotating drum, and a housing that supports the rotating drum, and are provided with a pollen removal course and a means for blowing air directly onto the clothes stored in the rotating drum when the pollen removal course is selected. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-72505 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The present disclosure provides a clothes dryer and a washer-dryer that can disinfect and suppress bacteria, viruses, and pollen attached to clothes by rotating a drum so that functional particles are evenly applied to the clothes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The clothes dryer and the washer-dryer according to the present disclosure include a drum for accommodating clothes, a drum drive unit for rotatably driving the drum, a functional particle generator for discharging functional particles into the drum, and a control means for controlling the driving of the drum drive unit and the functional particle generator, the control means performing a first step of holding the clothes in an open state, Within the range of 10 to 35 r / min A first predetermined number of revolutions, Within the range of 120 degrees to 150 degrees The drum is rotated at a first predetermined angle. Positivea folding step in which the garment is folded by rotating it, and a second step in which the garment is held in the folded state; Within the range of 10 to 35 r / min A second predetermined number of revolutions, Within the range of 120 degrees to 150 degrees The drum is rotated at a second predetermined angle. reverse By rotating, an inside-out step of turning the folded clothes inside out and a third step of holding the clothes inside out are performed, and a functional particle generating device is driven at least in the first step, the second step, and the third step. Effect of the Invention

[0006] The clothes dryer and washer-dryer of the present disclosure can apply functional particles evenly to the entirety of the clothes by rotating the clothes so that the front and back surfaces of the clothes are exposed, thereby sterilizing and suppressing bacteria, viruses, and pollen that are attached to both sides of the clothes. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a washing and drying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a washing / drying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] A block circuit diagram of a washer / dryer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of clothes for a washer / dryer according to the first embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing clothes placed in a drum of a washer / dryer according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a rotation operation of clothes in a first step to a third step of a washing and drying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] (The knowledge and other information that formed the basis of this disclosure) At the time when the inventors came up with the idea for this disclosure, interest in bacteria, viruses, and pollen was growing. Therefore, there is an increasing need to take care of clothes that have these contaminants on them. However, since clothes such as coats and suits cannot be washed with water, it has been difficult to take care of them by disinfecting them. Therefore, a dedicated cycle for washing and drying machines that does not use water but can disinfect and suppress bacteria, viruses, pollen, etc. by blowing air and using functional particles has been proposed.

[0009] The above-mentioned Patent Document 1 has a dedicated mode for clothes with pollen and the like attached, and removes pollen by blowing air onto the clothes while rotating the drum forward and backward.

[0010] However, in the pollen-only mode described in Patent Document 1, the drum is rotated forward and backward to blow air onto the clothes, but a simple forward and backward rotation operation cannot ensure that the air and functional particles are evenly applied to the clothes. For example, in the case of long clothes such as coats, when the clothes are folded by the rotation of the drum, it is thought that the air and functional particles have difficulty reaching the inside of the folded clothes. In addition, the inventors discovered a problem that clothes that cannot be washed with water, such as coats and suits, are often made of delicate materials, and repeated rotation in the drum may accelerate damage to the fabric, and in order to solve this problem, they have come to constitute the subject of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure provides a clothes dryer and a washer-dryer that apply functional particles evenly to the entire garment by rotating the garment in a manner that exposes the front and back of the garment.

[0011] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanation of already well-known matters or duplicate explanation of substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid the following explanation becoming more redundant than necessary and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0012] It should be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

[0013] (Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0014] [1-1. Configuration] [1-1-1. Configuration of a washer / dryer] 1 and 2, in a washer / dryer 1, an outer tub 8 is supported in a housing 6 so as to be able to vibrate freely, and a drum 2 is disposed in the outer tub 8 so as to be able to rotate freely. The drum 2 is formed in a cylindrical shape with a bottom, and has a large number of small holes 2a provided all over the outer periphery.

[0015] A motor 14 connected to the drum 2 is provided on the rear side of the drum, and drives the drum 2 to rotate in the forward and reverse directions.

[0016] The housing 6 has an upwardly inclined surface on the front side of the outer tub 8, and an opening 6a is provided on the upwardly inclined surface. The opening 6a is covered by a door 4 that can be opened and closed freely, and clothes 20 can be put into and taken out of the drum 2 by opening the door 4.

[0017] The outer tub 8 is supported in an anti-vibration manner so that it can swing freely by an anti-vibration mechanism 7 below the housing 6 and a spring body (not shown) above, and a drain valve 31 is provided at the bottom of the outer tub 8 so that the wash water in the outer tub 8 can be drained to the outside when the drain valve 31 is opened.

[0018] A water supply valve 30 is disposed in the upper part of the housing 6. The water supply valve 30 has a multiple valve configuration capable of opening and closing two or more water passages, and supplies water into the outer tub 8.

[0019] An operation display unit 5 is disposed on the upper front surface of the housing 6, where the user can select an operating course. Input is made through an input setting means (not shown) of the operation display unit 5, and based on the input information, a display means (not shown) is used to display the information and inform the user.

[0020] A control device 9 having a control means 25 (see FIG. 3) constituted by a microcomputer or the like is disposed inside the housing 6 at an upper portion.

[0021] The control device 9 has a substrate cooling fan motor 15, and drives the substrate cooling fan motor 15 during operation to cool the control device 9 and suppress a temperature rise during operation.

[0022] In FIG. 3, when the operation details are set on the operation display unit 5, the control means 25 inputs various data from water level detection means 32 which detects the water level in the outer tub 8, cloth amount detection means 33 which detects the amount of cloth put into the drum 2, door open / close detection means 34 which detects the open / close state of the door 4, etc., and controls the operation of the motor 14, drain valve 31, water supply valve 30, etc., to control the washing and drying processes such as washing, rinsing, spin-drying and drying.

[0023] Furthermore, the control means 25 can measure the elapsed time from any point in time by controlling the clock means 35. The storage means 36 can store various settings and detection and measurement results.

[0024] The air in the outer tub 8 and drum 2 is circulated by a blower fan 11 rotated by a blower fan motor 13. In the drying process, the air for drying is dehumidified in the heat pump unit 10, and then heated. The air is blown through a first air passage 16 by the blower fan 11 disposed downstream of the heat pump unit 10 in the circulation air passage 23, and then through a mesh filter 17 from an air outlet 21 opening on the rear side of the outer tub 8, and into the drum 2. The air, which has become humid by removing moisture from the clothes 20 as it passes between the clothes, is guided to an exhaust port 19 formed on the upper side of the outer tub 8.

[0025] The humid air guided to the exhaust port 19 passes through the filter portion 22 provided in the second air passage 12 of the circulation air passage 23, and is sent to the heat pump unit 10 and circulated.

[0026] An electrostatic atomizer 3 serving as a functional particle generator is disposed downstream of the blower fan 11 in the circulating air duct 23. The electrostatic atomizer 3 generates functional particles such as charged fine water particles and other functional substances to sterilize and suppress bacteria, viruses, and pollen adhering to the clothes 20 in the drum 2.

[0027] The electrostatic atomizer 3 generates charged fine particle water when circulating air flows through the circulating air passage 23. The generated charged fine particle water is carried by the flow of the circulating air and passes through the mesh filter 17 from the air outlet 21 and is released into the drum 2. The charged fine particle water penetrates deep into the fibers of the clothes 20 in the drum 2, thereby sterilizing, suppressing viruses, etc.

[0028] [1-2. Operation] The operation and function of the washer / dryer 1 configured as above will be described below.

[0029] A method of controlling the rotation of drum 2 for applying charged atomized water particles evenly to the front and back of clothes 20 will be described with reference to Figs.

[0030] The garment 20 that can realize the present embodiment 1 is lifted by the rotation of the drum 2. The weight is (in this embodiment, about 0.1 kg to 1.3 kg) and the upper limit of the length is about half the circumference of the drum 2 (in this embodiment, about 30 cm to 100 cm). As an example, a winter outerwear having a front 20a and a back 20b as shown in FIG. 4 will be used for explanation, but as long as the weight and length satisfy the conditions, it may be a coat made of synthetic fibers or animal hair fibers, or a jacket with padding.

[0031] Garment 20 is placed in the drum 2 in an unfolded state, as shown in Fig. 5. At this time, the surface (upper surface) that is not in contact with the inner surface of drum 2 is defined as the front 20a of garment 20, but the same operation as described below is possible even if it is the back 20b of garment 20. Note that the back 20b side of garment 20 is hatched in Figs. 5 and 6.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 6, in order to suppress fine particles such as bacteria and viruses adhering to the front surface 20a of the garment 20, in the first process shown in step 1, the electrostatic atomizer 3 and the blower fan 11 are driven while the drum 2 is stationary.

[0033] By keeping the drum 2 stationary and the clothes 20 stationary in this manner, the charged water particles can be applied intensively to the front surface 20a of the clothes 20.

[0034] If this first step is performed for about 60 minutes, 99% of the bacteria and viruses attached to the front surface 20a of the garment 20 can be eliminated or suppressed.

[0035] In the first step, the drum 2 may be rotated slowly in the forward and reverse directions (for example, at a rotation angle of 90 degrees or less) so long as the clothes are not folded.

[0036] Next, in order to suppress fine particles such as bacteria and viruses adhering to the back surface 20b of the garment 20, the garment is folded to expose half of the back surface 20b by a folding process shown in steps 2 and 3. First, the drum 2 rotates forward (for example, clockwise) at a rotation speed of about 10 to 35 r / min through about 120 degrees to 150 degrees, so that the garment 20 is folded in half as shown in steps 2 and 3. As shown in step 4, the garment comes to a standstill in the folded-in-half state, and half of the back surface 20b, the back surface 20ba, is exposed. This standstill state is referred to as the second step.

[0037] Furthermore, in order to expose the back surface 20bb, which is half of the back surface 20b in contact with the drum 2, a turning-over process shown in step 5 is provided. In this step 5, the drum 2 is rotated in the reverse direction (e.g., leftward) by about 120 degrees to 150 degrees at a rotation speed of about 10 to 35 r / min, and comes to rest in a state in which the back surface 20bb, which is half of the back surface 20b, is exposed, as in step 6. This resting state is referred to as the third process.

[0038] Up to this point, each half of the back surface 20b has been exposed once, but since this operation is not guaranteed to be successful, the inventors repeated the second step, the flipping step, and the third step multiple times.

[0039] That is, the drum 2 is rotated forward at the rotation angle and rotation speed described above from step 6, and through the turning-over process shown in step 7, the back surface 20ba, which is half of the back surface 20b, is exposed again in the second process shown in step 4.

[0040] By providing a certain amount of rest time in the second and third steps, the charged atomized water particles can be applied more intensively to the back surfaces 20ba and 20bb, which are the halves of the back surface 20b of the garment 20.

[0041] However, if the rest time is set to a short time, the number of rotations of drum 2 increases, which can cause deformation and damage to the fabric. If the rest time is set too long, the probability of successful rotation may decrease due to the reduced number of rotations as described above, so the appropriate rest time is set to 10 to 60 seconds.

[0042] In this way, half of the back surface 20b of the garment 20 appears alternately, and by providing a rest time of 10 to 60 seconds for each half, the charged atomized water particles can be applied to the entire back surface 20b.

[0043] In the second and third steps, the active area is approximately half that of the first step in which the electrostatically charged water particles are applied to the entire garment, so that the second and third steps can achieve sterilization and virus suppression in a shorter time than the first step.

[0044] In addition, by operating the electrostatic atomizer not only in the second and third steps but also in the folding and turning over steps, the electrostatic atomized water can be applied more uniformly, and the total time for the second, turning over and third steps is approximately 60 minutes, making it possible to sterilize and suppress 99% of the bacteria and viruses adhering to the back surface 20b.

[0045] [1-3. Effects, etc.] As described above, in this embodiment, the washer / dryer 1 includes the drum 2 for storing clothes, the motor 14 for rotating the drum 2, the electrostatic atomizer 3 for discharging charged fine particle water into the drum 2, and the control means 25 for controlling the operation of the motor 14 and the electrostatic atomizer 3. The control means 25 executes a first step of holding the clothes 20 in an open state in the drum 2, a folding step of folding the clothes 20 by rotating the drum 2 at a first predetermined number of rotations and a first predetermined angle, a second step of holding the clothes 20 in the folded state in the drum 2, an inside-out step of turning the folded clothes inside out by rotating the drum 2 at a second predetermined number of rotations and a second predetermined angle, and a third step of holding the clothes inside-out in the drum 2, and drives the electrostatic atomizer 3 at least in the first step, the second step, and the third step.

[0046] This allows the electrostatically charged fine particle water to act on the front surface 20a of the garment 20 in the first step, and on the back surface 20b of the garment 20 in the second and third steps. This makes it possible to effectively disinfect and suppress bacteria and viruses on the garment 20.

[0047] As in this embodiment, the control means 25 may repeat the second step, the turning over step, and the third step a predetermined number of times.

[0048] This increases the number of times the back surface 20b of the garment 20 is exposed, and allows the charged fine particle water to act more efficiently on the back surface 20b of the garment 20. As a result, bacteria, viruses, and pollen on the back surface 20b of the garment 20 can be effectively disinfected and suppressed.

[0049] As in this embodiment, the control means 25 may set the operation time of the first step to be longer than the operation time of the second step and the operation time of the third step.

[0050] This allows the charged water particles to act also in the first step, which has an action area approximately twice as large as those in the second step and the third step.

[0051] (Other embodiments) As described above, the first embodiment has been described as an example of the technology disclosed in the present application. However, the technology in the present disclosure is not limited to this, and can be applied to embodiments in which modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, etc. are made. In addition, it is also possible to combine the components described in the first embodiment to create new embodiments.

[0052] Therefore, other embodiments will be exemplified below.

[0053] In the first embodiment, a washer / dryer has been described. The washer / dryer may be any machine capable of drying clothes. Therefore, the washer / dryer is not limited to a washer / dryer. It may be a clothes dryer that has only the function of drying clothes.

[0054] In the first embodiment, an electrostatic atomizer has been described as the functional particle generating device. And charged fine water particles have been described as the functional particles. However, any functional particle generating device that generates functional particles capable of sterilizing or suppressing bacteria, viruses, and pollen attached to clothing 20 may be used, and may be a functional particle generating device other than an electrostatic atomizer. [Industrial Applicability]

[0055] The present disclosure can also be applied to clothes dryers and washer-dryers that apply functional particles evenly to the entirety of clothes by rotating the clothes so as to expose the front and back of the clothes. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 1 Washer / dryer (dryer) 2 Drums 2a small hole 3. Electrostatic atomizer (functional particle generator) 4 Doors 5 Operation display section 6. Chassis 6a opening 7 Anti-vibration mechanism 8 Outer tank 9. Control Device 10 Heat pump unit 11 Blower fan 12 Air flow path 13 Blower fan motor 14 Motor (drum drive unit) 15 Circuit board cooling fan motor 16 Air flow path 17 Mesh Filter 19 Outlet 20. Clothing 21 Air outlet 22 Filter section 23 Circulation air duct 25 Control Means 30 Water supply valve 31 Drain valve 32 Water level detection means 33 Cloth amount detection means 34 Door opening / closing detection means 35 Timekeeping means 36 Memory means

Claims

1. A drum for containing the garments; A drum driving unit that drives the drum to rotate; a functional particle generator that emits functional particles into the drum; a control unit for controlling the driving of the drum driving unit and the functional particle generating device, The control means a first step of holding the garments in an open position within the drum; a folding process in which the garment is folded by rotating the drum forward at a first predetermined rotation speed in a range of 10 to 35 r / min and a first predetermined angle in a range of 120 degrees to 150 degrees; a second step of retaining the folded sheet within the drum; a step of turning the folded garments inside out by rotating the drum in the reverse direction at a second predetermined rotation speed in the range of 10 to 35 r / min and at a second predetermined angle in the range of 120 degrees to 150 degrees; a third step of holding the container in an inverted position within the drum; A clothes dryer that drives the functional particle generating device at least in the first step, the second step, and the third step.

2. A drum for containing the garments; A drum driving unit that drives the drum to rotate; a functional particle generator that emits functional particles into the drum; a control unit for controlling the driving of the drum driving unit and the functional particle generating device, The control means a first step of holding the garments in an open position within the drum; a folding step in which the garment is folded by rotating the drum at a first predetermined number of rotations and a first predetermined angle; a second step of retaining the folded sheet within the drum; a step of turning the folded garment inside out by rotating the drum at a second predetermined number of revolutions and a second predetermined angle; a third step of holding the container in an inverted position within the drum; The functional particle generating device is driven at least in the first step, the second step, and the third step; A clothes dryer in which an operating time of the first step is set longer than an operating time of the second step and an operating time of the third step.

3. The control means 3. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the second step, the turning step, and the third step are repeated a predetermined number of times.

4. 4. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the functional particle generating device is an electrostatic atomizing device, and the functional particles are electrostatically charged fine water particles.

5. A washing and drying machine comprising the clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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