Structure for supplying hot air for drying clothes in drum type washing machine and operation control method thereof
First Claim
1. A drum washing machine comprising:
- a tub for holding washing water;
a drum rotatably mounted in the tub, for introducing laundry therein;
a drying heater for heating air being supplied to an inside of the drum;
a drying duct forming a flow passage for supplying hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum;
a fan for forced supply of the hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum;
a hot air inlet at a front side of the drum for supplying the hot air to the inside of the drum; and
a humid air recovery opening at a rear side of the drum for recovering humid air from the inside of the drum.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Structure for supplying hot air to a drum washing machine, and operation control method thereof, in which uniform introduction of hot air deep into an inside of a drum is made possible for enhancing drying capability and efficiency. For this, a drum washing machine includes a tub for holding washing water, a drum rotatably mounted in the tub, for introducing laundry therein, a drying heater for heating air being supplied to an inside of the drum, a drying duct forming a flow passage for supplying hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum, a fan for forced supply of the hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum, a hot air inlet at a front side of the drum for supplying the hot air to the inside of the drum, and a humid air recovery opening at a rear side of the drum for recovering humid air from the inside of the drum, and the operation control method of a drum washing machine includes the step of supplying hot air to an inside of the drum while rotating the drum at a speed equal to, or higher than a speed enough to keep the laundry in the drum attached to, and not fall off from, the inside surface of the drum in progressing a drying cycle.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A drum washing machine comprising:
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a tub for holding washing water;
a drum rotatably mounted in the tub, for introducing laundry therein;
a drying heater for heating air being supplied to an inside of the drum;
a drying duct forming a flow passage for supplying hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum;
a fan for forced supply of the hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum;
a hot air inlet at a front side of the drum for supplying the hot air to the inside of the drum; and
a humid air recovery opening at a rear side of the drum for recovering humid air from the inside of the drum. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A drum washing machine comprising:
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a tub for holding washing water;
a drum rotatably mounted in the tub, for introducing laundry therein;
a drying heater for heating air being supplied to an inside of the drum;
a drying duct forming a flow passage for supplying hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum;
a fan for forced supply of the hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum;
a hot air inlet at a rear side of the drum for supplying the hot air to the inside of the drum; and
a humid air recovery opening at a front side of the drum for recovering humid air from the inside of the drum. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for controlling operation of a horizontal or tilt type drum washing machine comprising a tub for holding washing water, a drum rotatably mounted in the tub, for introducing laundry therein, a drum driving motor for providing driving force to rotate the drum, a drying heater for heating air being supplied to an inside of the drum, a drying duct forming a flow passage for supplying hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum, and a fan for forced supply of the hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum,
the method comprising the step of supplying the hot air to an inside of the drum while rotating the drum at a speed equal to, or higher than a speed enough to keep the laundry in the drum to be attached to, and not to fall off from, an inside surface of the drum in progressing of a drying cycle.
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17. A method for controlling operation of a horizontal or tilt type drum washing machine comprising a tub for holding washing water, a drum rotatably mounted in the tub, for introducing laundry therein, a drum driving motor for providing driving force to rotate the drum, a drying heater for heating air being supplied to an inside of the drum, a drying duct forming a flow passage for supplying hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum, and a fan for forced supply of the hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum,
the method comprising the steps of: -
turning off the drum driving motor as spinning is finished;
turning on the drying heater and the fan; and
supplying the hot air to an inside of the drum while a rotation speed of the drum is maintained at a speed enough to keep the laundry to be attached to, and not fall off from an inside circumferential surface of the drum by turning on the drum driving motor again before the laundry attached to the inside circumferential surface of the drum in the spinning falls off therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for controlling a drying cycle of a horizontal or tilt type drum washing machine comprising a tub for holding washing water, a drum rotatably mounted in the tub, for introducing laundry therein, a drying heater for heating air being supplied to an inside of the drum, a drying duct forming a flow passage for supplying hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum, a fan for forced supply of the hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum, and means for determining dryness of the laundry in the drum,
the method comprising the steps of: -
measuring dryness of the laundry in the drum in a state the drum is stationary after finish of spinning;
supplying hot air while rotating the drum at a speed equal to or higher than a speed enough to keep the laundry to be attached to, and not to fall off from, an inside surface of the drum by raising the rotating speed of the drum, if measured dryness is below preset dryness; and
supplying the hot air to an inside of the drum while rotating the drum at a speed below a speed enough to keep the laundry to be attached to, and not to fall off from the inside surface of the drum, for progressing drying, if the measured dryness is higher than the preset dryness. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for controlling operation of a horizontal or tilt type drum washing machine comprising a tub for holding washing water, a drum rotatably mounted in the tub, for introducing laundry therein, a drying heater for heating air being supplied to an inside of the drum, a drying duct forming a flow passage for supplying hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum, a fan for forced supply of the hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum, and means for determining dryness of the laundry in the drum,
the method comprising the steps of: -
after spinning, supplying the hot air to the inside of the drum while rotating the drum at a speed to maintain a state in which the laundry is kept to be attached to, and not to fall off from, but not to be attached closely to, an inside surface of the drum;
detecting the dryness in the middle of above step, to progress drying while maintaining a speed to maintain a state in which the laundry is kept to be attached to, and not to fall off from, but not to be attached closely to, the inside surface of the drum, if the dryness is below a preset dryness; and
progressing the drying after reducing the rotation speed of the drum to a low speed at which the laundry is unable to be attached to, but fall off from the inside surface of the drum, if the dryness is higher than the preset dryness. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for controlling operation of a horizontal or tilt type drum washing machine comprising a tub for holding washing water, a drum rotatably mounted in the tub, for introducing laundry therein, a drying heater for heating air being supplied to an inside of the drum, a drying duct forming a flow passage for supplying hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum, and a fan for forced supply of the hot air heated by the drying heater to the inside of the drum, and a hot air supply structure in which a hot air inlet of the drying duct is positioned at a front side or a rear side of the drum, and a humid air recovery opening of the drying duct is positioned at the rear side or the front side of the drum opposite to the hot air inlet,
the method comprising the steps of: in progressing a drying cycle, supplying hot air to an inside of the drum through the hot air inlet positioned at a front, or a rear of the drum, and, at the same time with this, rotating the drum at a speed enough to keep the laundry attached to, and not fall off from, but not to be attached closely to, an inside surface of the drum, for progressing drying. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
Specification