Clothes Dryer Temperature Control for Fast Drying Without Fabric Damage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional clothes dryer temperature control methods often result in damage to fabrics due to excessive heat, as they fail to balance initial high temperatures required for drying with later lower temperatures needed to prevent deformation, leading to increased drying time and energy wastage.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic temperature control method where the heating device's upper limit value decreases with each off cycle and lower limit value increases with each on cycle, allowing for a gradual adjustment of temperatures based on material-specific thresholds, ensuring safe and efficient drying.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a fixed on-off temperature control is adopted with a high upper temperature limit to ensure sufficient drying temperature, then the drying efficiency is improved, but the clothes may deform and suffer material damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the temperature control parameters dynamic rather than fixed. The upper temperature limit TDx decreases with each off cycle (TDx = TD0 + A*K^(x-1)), and the lower temperature limit TTy increases with each on cycle (TTy = TT0 - B*M^(y-1)). This dynamic adjustment allows the system to adapt temperature limits based on the drying stage, ensuring high temperatures for efficient initial drying while progressively reducing temperatures to prevent fabric damage in later stages.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the temperature parameters TDx and TTy based on the number of on-off cycles. By using exponential decay functions with coefficients A, B, K, and M, the system transforms fixed temperature limits into variable parameters that automatically adjust throughout the drying process. This parameter change strategy resolves the contradiction by allowing high temperatures initially for efficiency while progressively lowering temperatures to protect fabric integrity.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a fixed on-off temperature control is adopted with a low upper temperature limit to prevent clothes damage, then fabric safety is improved, but the temperature increase rate is severely affected and drying time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dynamic temperature control strategy allows the system to start with a relatively high upper temperature limit TDx (when x=1, TDx = TD0 + A) to ensure rapid temperature increase and short preheating time. As the drying process progresses and the number of off cycles increases, the temperature limit naturally decreases according to the exponential function, preventing fabric damage in later stages. This dynamic approach eliminates the need to choose between high initial temperature and low final temperature.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by allowing higher temperatures at the beginning of the drying process (when the number of off cycles x is small) to rapidly heat up the dryer and clothes. The exponential decay function ensures that the temperature limit is highest at the start (TDx = TD0 + A*K^0 = TD0 + A) and gradually decreases, enabling fast initial heating without compromising fabric safety throughout the extended drying process.
3Productivity
If continuous heating is maintained to ensure sufficient drying temperature throughout the process, then drying efficiency is improved, but energy consumption increases and temperature control precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic action through the on-off control strategy with dynamically adjusting temperature limits. The heating device operates in cycles, turning on when temperature reaches TTy and turning off when temperature reaches TDx. The periodic nature of these cycles, combined with the dynamic adjustment of limits, allows the system to maintain drying efficiency while reducing continuous energy input. The exponential decay of temperature limits naturally reduces the heating duty cycle as drying progresses.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback control by continuously monitoring the temperature and comparing it against the dynamic thresholds TTy and TDx. The number of on-off cycles (x and y) serves as a feedback parameter that automatically adjusts the temperature limits. This feedback mechanism ensures that heating is applied only when necessary to maintain temperature within the dynamic range, optimizing energy consumption while preserving drying efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method reduces fabric damage, shortens preheating time, maintains temperature balance, and lowers energy consumption by optimizing heat absorption and release, resulting in faster drying with fewer wrinkles and reduced ironing needs.
Implementation Method 1
A heating device of the clothes drying treatment device executes an on or off operation in a temperature interval
Implementation Method 2
heat absorbed by the clothes in the drum can be effectively released
Data Source
AI summary
A heating device of a clothes drying treatment device executes an on or off operation in a temperature interval. When the temperature in a drum reaches an upper limit value TDx of the temperature interval under an action of the heating device, the heating device is turned off and the heating device stops heating. The upper limit value TDx decreases as a number of off times x of the heating device increases. Accordingly, a higher initial off temperature is adopted for the heating device, the temperature in the drum rapidly increases to the drying temperature, a preheating time is shortened, and a certain coefficient is multiplied in following control parameters controlling on or off of the heating device. The coefficient is related to the number of on-off times, and the effect is achieved that the off temperature of the clothes dryer gradually decreases as the number of on-off times increases.