Clothes dryer and control method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9487910-B2
Application number	US-201414533721-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 5, 2014
Priority date	Nov 7, 2013
Publication date	Nov 8, 2016
Grant date	Nov 8, 2016

Abstract

A clothes dryer and a control method thereof are provided. The clothes dryer includes an air circulation system and a refrigerant circulation system, the refrigerant circulation system includes a compressor, a condenser, a throttling element and an evaporator; the air circulation system includes a filter device, an air circulation power fan and a roller, and the refrigerant circulation system does not include a subcooler; the clothes dryer further includes a controller, a temperature sensor or a temperature-sensing element, and a temperature and humidity sensing element; the controller is configured to control an operation of the refrigerant circulation system, the operation of the clothes dryer includes a temperature rise phase and a basic drying phase, and the compressor of the clothes dryer is configured to have a higher power consumption in the temperature rise phase than in the basic drying phase, to rapidly rise a temperature in the clothes dryer.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A clothes dryer, comprising an air circulation system and a refrigerant circulation system, the refrigerant circulation system comprising a compressor, a condenser, a throttling element and an evaporator; the air circulation system comprising a filter device, an air circulation power fan for supplying power of air circulation of the air circulation system, and a roller for accommodating objects to be dried;
wherein, the condenser is configured to provide heat quantity required for drying, to the roller, and before air in an air duct of the air circulation system enters into the roller, exchanges heat with the air when the air passes through the condenser; the clothes dryer further comprises a controller, a temperature sensor or a temperature-sensing element, and a temperature and humidity sensing element; the controller is configured to control an operation of the clothes dryer, which comprises controlling an operating condition of the refrigerant circulation system; the operation of the clothes dryer comprises a temperature rise phase and a basic drying phase, and the compressor of the clothes dryer is configured to have a higher power consumption in the temperature rise phase than in the basic drying phase.

2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1 , wherein the compressor is a variable speed compressor, the compressor of the clothes dryer has a higher rotational speed in the temperature rise phase than in the basic drying phase, and the rotational speed of the compressor operating in the temperature rise phase is a maximum value of the rotational speed of the compressor in the operation of the clothes dryer.

3. The clothes dryer according to claim 2 , wherein the basic drying phase is a phase that a humidity of outlet air of the roller is relatively stable after the temperature rise phase, the operation of the clothes dryer further comprises a post-drying phase to be operated after the basic drying phase, the basic drying phase and the post-drying phase are differentiated according to the humidity or a change rate of the humidity of the outlet air of the roller, the outlet air has a higher humidity in the basic drying phase than in the post-drying phase, or, when the clothes dryer enters into the post-drying phase after the basic drying phase, the changing rate of the humidity of the outlet air is increased; and the rotational speed of the compressor in the basic drying phase is greater than or equal to that in the post-drying phase.

4. The clothes dryer according to claim 2 , wherein the controller is in signal communication with at least one of a temperature sensor or a temperature and humidity sensor for detecting a temperature of inlet air of the roller, a condensing temperature sensor for detecting a condensing temperature of the condenser, and a temperature sensor for detecting a discharge temperature of the compressor, and the controller is configured to control the rotational speed of the compressor according to the temperature of the inlet air of the roller, a condensing temperature of the condenser, or the discharge temperature of the compressor.

5. The clothes dryer according to claim 4 , wherein the throttling element is a thermal expansion valve, an electronic expansion valve, or other types of throttling elements.

6. The clothes dryer according to claim 2 , wherein the controller is in signal communication with at least one of a temperature sensor or a temperature and humidity sensor for detecting a temperature of inlet air of the roller, a condensing temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the condenser, and a temperature sensor for detecting a discharge temperature of the compressor, and the controller is configured to control the rotational speed of the compressor according to the temperature of the inlet air of the roller, a condensing temperature of the condenser, or the discharge temperature of the compressor; and
the throttling element is an electronic expansion valve, and the controller is in signal communication with a temperature sensor for detecting an outlet air temperature of the evaporator and a pressure sensor for detecting an evaporating pressure of the evaporator, or is in signal communication with a temperature sensor for detecting an outlet temperature and an evaporating temperature of the evaporator; and in a case that the electronic expansion valve has not reached a limit opening, the opening of the electronic expansion valve is controlled, by the controller, to be increased when a superheat degree of the outlet of the evaporator is relatively large, and the opening of the electronic expansion valve is controlled, by the controller, to be reduced when the superheat degree of the outlet of the evaporator is relatively small; or
the throttling element is a thermal expansion valve, and a temperature-sensing element for sensing a temperature of an outlet of the evaporator is provided in the thermal expansion valve, and the thermal expansion valve acts according to the temperature of the outlet of the evaporator, to adjust a flow of refrigerant.

7. The clothes dryer according to claim 2 , wherein in the temperature rise phase of the clothes dryer, the compressor operates in a fixed rotational speed range, and the fixed rotational speed range is 40% to 98% of an allowable maximum rotational speed of the compressor; in the basic drying phase of the clothes dryer, the rotational speed of the compressor is adjusted according to a temperature difference between an actual temperature (T 0 ) of the inlet air of the roller and a set value (T 1 ), and in a case that the actual temperature (T 0 ) of the inlet air is greater than the set value (T 1 ), an adjustment range of the rotational speed of the compressor increases as the temperature difference (T 0 −T 1 ) increases, and in a case that the actual temperature (T 0 ) of the inlet air is smaller than the set value (T 1 ), the rotational speed of the compressor remains unchanged.

8. The clothes dryer according to claim 3 , wherein in the temperature rise phase of the clothes dryer, the compressor operates in a fixed rotational speed range, and the fixed rotational speed range is 40% to 98% of an allowable maximum rotational speed of the compressor; in the basic drying phase of the clothes dryer, the rotational speed of the compressor is adjusted according to a temperature difference between an actual temperature (T 0 ) of the inlet air of the roller and a set value (T 1 ), and in a case that the actual temperature (T 0 ) of the inlet air is greater than the set value (T 1 ), an adjustment range of the rotational speed of the compressor increases as the temperature difference (T 0 −T 1 ) increases, and in a case that the actual temperature (T 0 ) of the inlet air is smaller than the set value (T 1 ), the rotational speed of the compressor remains unchanged.

9. The clothes dryer according to claim 5 , wherein in the temperature rise phase of the clothes dryer, the compressor operates in a fixed rotational speed range, and the fixed rotational speed range is 40% to 98% of an allowable maximum rotational speed of the compressor; in the basic drying phase of the clothes dryer, the rotational speed of the compressor is adjusted according to a temperature difference between an actual temperature (T 0 ) of the inlet air of the roller and a set value (T 1 ), and in a case that the actual temperature (T 0 ) of the inlet air is greater than the set value (T 1 ), an adjustment range of the rotational speed of the compressor increases as the temperature difference (T 0 −T 1 ) increases, and in a case that the actual temperature (T 0 ) of the inlet air is smaller than the set value (T 1 ), the rotational speed of the compressor remains unchanged.

Assignees

• Hangzhou Sanhua Res Inst Co Ltd

Inventors

• Huang Linjie
• Wang Yanhong
• Dong Hongzhou

Classifications

• D06F2103/50

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

• D06F2103/38

  Time, e.g. duration · CPC title

• D06F2105/26

  Heat pumps · CPC title

• D06F58/38

  of drying, e.g. to achieve the target humidity · CPC title

• D06F2103/08

  Humidity · CPC title