Drying Air Recirculation Control for Faster Heating and Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional drying devices take a long time to reach and decrease the temperature of inside air, hindering quick shifts to drying work and impairing user workability during maintenance or medium replacement.
Innovation Solution
A drying device with a circulation path that adjusts the ratio of inside air to outside air using an adjusting unit, controlled by a control unit, to rapidly increase or decrease the temperature of inside air.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the drying device uses inside air circulation to heat and dry the medium, then energy efficiency is improved and power consumption is reduced, but the temperature increase time becomes longer
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary heating of outside air using the heater before introducing it into the circulation path. This preliminary action allows the inside air to reach the target temperature faster while still utilizing the circulation path for the majority of the drying process, thus reducing both energy consumption and heating time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the air circulation mode based on the temperature increase requirement. When rapid temperature increase is needed, outside air is preferentially introduced and heated. When temperature maintenance is sufficient, inside air circulation is utilized. This dynamic switching resolves the contradiction between energy efficiency and heating speed.
2Ease of operation
If the temperature of hot air is decreased for user workability during medium replacement or error handling, then user safety and comfort are improved, but the temperature decrease time becomes longer
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts hot air from the circulation path and replaces it with cooler outside air when temperature decrease is required for user operations. This extraction and replacement mechanism allows rapid temperature reduction without waiting for the existing hot air to cool down naturally, thus improving user workability while minimizing temperature decrease time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses outside air as an intermediary to quickly reduce the temperature inside the drying device. Instead of waiting for the hot air to cool down naturally, cooler outside air is introduced to act as a thermal mediator that rapidly brings down the temperature to safe levels for user operations.
3Productivity
If the drying device circulates hot air continuously, then drying efficiency is maintained, but the system cannot quickly respond to temperature adjustment requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between continuous hot air circulation mode (for high drying efficiency) and temperature adjustment mode (for rapid temperature changes). By controlling the introduction of outside air and the operation of the heater, the system can quickly transition between these modes, maintaining both drying efficiency and temperature adjustment responsiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of air circulation by adjusting the ratio of inside air to outside air introduction based on temperature requirements. When rapid temperature adjustment is needed, the proportion of outside air is increased. When drying efficiency is the priority, the proportion of circulated hot air is increased. This parameter adjustment resolves the contradiction between productivity and adaptability.
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
The device can quickly adjust the temperature of inside air, reducing standby times and improving user convenience and throughput by enhancing the temperature increase or decrease processes.
Implementation Method 1
a heating unit configured to heat air
Implementation Method 2
a circulation path through which air blown from the hot air blowing unit is to be circulated
Data Source
AI summary
A drying device includes a conveying unit, a hot air blowing unit, a passage forming unit, and an adjusting unit. The conveying unit conveys a medium to which a liquid is discharged from a discharging head. The hot air blowing unit includes a blowing unit that blows air, and a heating unit that heats air. The passage forming unit forms, between the hot air blowing unit and a region on a conveying unit conveyance path, a circulation path through which air blown from the hot air blowing unit is circulated. The adjusting unit adjusts a ratio between inside air circulating through the circulation path and outside air that is introduced into the circulation path. If a temperature increase condition is established, the adjusting unit increases a ratio of the inside air. If a temperature decrease condition is established, the adjusting unit increases a ratio of the outside air.