Clothes treating apparatus with heat pump cycle and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10240276-B2
Application number	US-201514940600-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2015
Priority date	Nov 20, 2014
Publication date	Mar 26, 2019
Grant date	Mar 26, 2019

Abstract

A clothes treating apparatus that includes a heat pump cycle and a dehumidifying device is provided herein. The clothes treating apparatus may include a case and a drum installed within the case and configured to accommodate an item for drying. A circulation duct may be provided to form an air circulation flow channel that allows air to circulate through the drum. The heat pump cycle may include an evaporator and a condenser disposed to be spaced apart from one another within the circulation duct, the heat pump cycle being configured to absorb heat of air released from the drum through the evaporator and transmit the absorbed heat to air introduced to the drum through the condenser, by using a working fluid that circulates by way of the evaporator and the condenser. Moreover, the dehumidification device may be provided to dehumidify air passing through the evaporator in the circulation duct.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling clothes treating apparatus including a drum configured to accommodate an item for drying, a circulation duct configured to form an air circulation flow channel allowing air to circulate through the drum, a heat pump cycle including an evaporator and a condenser disposed to be spaced apart from one another within the circulation duct, the heat pump cycle being configured to absorb heat of air released from the drum through the evaporator and transmit the absorbed heat to air introduced to the drum through the condenser, by using a working fluid circulating by way of the evaporator and the condenser, and a first water cooling type heat exchanger and a second water cooling type heat exchanger installed within the circulation duct, the first water cooling type heat exchanger being disposed upstream relative to the evaporator and the second water cooling type heat exchanger disposed downstream relative to the evaporator with respect to a direction of airflow through the evaporator in order to dehumidify air passing through the evaporator, the method comprising:
supplying water to the first water cooling type heat exchanger to dehumidify air passing through the evaporator; and
moving water discharged from the first water cooling type heat exchanger to the second water cooling type heat exchanger to heat air passing through the evaporator.

2. A method for controlling a clothes treating apparatus including a drum configured to accommodate an item for drying, a circulation duct configured to form an air circulation flow channel that allows air to circulate through the drum, a heat pump cycle including an evaporator and a condenser disposed to be spaced apart from one another within the circulation duct, the heat pump cycle being configured to absorb heat of air released from the drum through the evaporator and transmit the absorbed heat to air introduced to the drum through the condenser, by using a working fluid that circulates by way of the evaporator and the condenser, and a first water cooling type heat exchanger and a second water cooling type heat exchanger installed within the circulation duct, the first water cooling type heat exchanger being disposed upstream relative to the evaporator and the second water cooling type heat exchanger disposed downstream relative to the evaporator with respect to a direction of airflow through the evaporator in order to dehumidify air passing through the evaporator, the method comprising:
measuring a feed water temperature supplied to the first water cooling type heat exchanger and the second water cooling type heat exchanger and an evaporation temperature of the evaporator; and
comparing the feed water temperature and the evaporation temperature, and
selectively supplying water to the first water cooling type heat exchanger and the second water cooling type heat exchanger according to a comparison between the feed water temperature and the evaporation temperature in order to dehumidify air passing through the evaporator.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein, in dehumidifying air passing through the evaporator, the water is supplied to the second water cooling type heat exchanger and subsequently supplied to the first water cooling type heat exchanger such that the first and second water cooling type heat exchangers are used to dehumidify air passing through the evaporator.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
measuring an evaporation pressure of the evaporator and a condensing pressure of the condenser; and
comparing the evaporation pressure and the condensing pressure with a reference pressure and controlling operations of the first water cooling type heat exchanger and the second water cooling type heat exchanger based on the comparison.

5. A clothes treating apparatus comprising:
a case;
a drum installed within the case and configured to accommodate an item for drying;
a circulation duct configured to form an air circulation flow channel that allows air to circulate through the drum;
a heat pump cycle including an evaporator and a condenser disposed to be spaced apart from one another within the circulation duct, the heat pump cycle being configured to absorb heat of air released from the drum through the evaporator and transmit the absorbed heat to air introduced to the drum through the condenser, by using a working fluid that circulates by way of the evaporator and the condenser;
a first water cooling type heat exchanger and a second water cooling type heat exchanger installed within the circulation duct, the first water cooling type heat exchanger being disposed upstream relative to the evaporator and the second water cooling type heat exchanger disposed downstream relative to the evaporator with respect to a direction of airflow through the evaporator in order to dehumidify air passing through the evaporator in the circulation duct;
a first temperature sensor configured to measure a feed water temperature supplied to the first water cooling type heat exchanger and the second water cooling type heat exchanger;
a second temperature sensor configured to measure an evaporation temperature of the evaporator; and
a controller configured to selectively supply water to the first water cooling type heat exchanger and the second water cooling type heat exchanger according to a comparison between the feed water temperature and the evaporation temperature.

6. The clothes treating apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising:
a water supply device configured to supply water to the first water cooling type heat exchanger and the second water cooling type heat exchanger;
a water feed pipe configured to form a water feed flow channel to allow the water from the water supply device to be supplied to the first water cooling type heat exchanger and the second water cooling type heat exchanger; and
a drain pipe configured to form a drain flow channel to allow the water to be discharged from the first water cooling type heat exchanger and the second water cooling type heat exchanger.

7. The clothes treating apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising:
a water reservoir that stores water drained from the drain pipe.

8. The clothes treating apparatus of claim 6 , wherein
the first temperature sensor is installed at the water feed pipe,
the second temperature sensor is installed at the evaporator, and
a three way valve is installed at the water feed pipe.

9. The clothes treating apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the heat pump cycle comprises:
a first pressure sensor installed at the evaporator and configured to sense evaporation pressure of the evaporator; and
a second pressure sensor installed at the condenser and configured to sense condensing pressure of the condenser,
wherein the controller compares at least one of the evaporation pressure and the condensing pressure with a reference pressure, and controls operations of the first water cooling type heat exchanger and the second water cooling type heat exchanger according to the evaporation pressure or the condensing pressure.

10. The clothes treating apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the controller compares the feed water temperature and the evaporation temperature, and controls the three way valve according to the comparison between the feed water temperature and the evaporation temperature to selectively supply water to the first water cooling type heat exchanger and the second water cooling type heat exchanger.

11. The clothes treating apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the drain pipe includes a first drain pipe connected to the first water cooling type heat exchanger and a second drain pipe connected to the second water cooling type heat exchanger, and water

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Ryoo Byeongjo
• Kim Jongseok
• Lee Yongju

Classifications

• D06F58/24

  Condensing arrangements · CPC title

• D06F2103/08

  Humidity · CPC title

• D06F2103/50

  related to heat pumps, e.g. pressure or flow rate · CPC title

• D06F2105/24

  Flow or velocity · CPC title

• D06F2105/26

  Heat pumps · CPC title