KR101768103B1 - Driving method for auto-filter of clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

The automatic filter driving method of the clothes dryer of the present invention is characterized in that the driving motor operates the arm for a predetermined period of time while the arm is rotated by the stoppers to reciprocate to remove foreign matter An overcurrent generated in the drive motor when the arm is interfered with the stopper due to the rotation of the arm being interrupted by the current sensor provided in the drive motor, and detecting an overcurrent generated in the drive motor And stopping the operation of the driving motor when the number of times reaches a predetermined number of times.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an automatic filter driving method for a clothes dryer,

The present invention relates to a method of driving an automatic filter of a clothes dryer capable of efficiently driving an automatic filter for automatically removing foreign matters such as lint contained in air passing through a drum of a clothes dryer.

Generally, a clothes dryer refers to a clothes dryer in which a laundry having been completely washed is put into a drum (or a tub) of a dryer, and hot air is supplied to the drum to evaporate moisture from the laundry to dry the laundry Device.

The air in the clothes dryer evaporates the moisture of the laundry, and the air escapes from the drum, and the moisture of the laundry in the drum is retained, resulting in a high-temperature and high-humidity air. At this time, the dryer can be classified according to the method of treating the high temperature and high humidity air. That is, there are provided a condensing dryer for condensing moisture contained in hot and humid air by circulating hot and humid air without discharging the air to the outside of the dryer and performing heat exchange in the heat exchanger, and a high- And an exhaust type dryer that directly discharges the exhaust gas to the outside.

On the other hand, the air exiting the drum used for drying the object to be dried may include a foreign substance such as a lint coming from the object to be dried. Such foreign matter may cause a failure while passing through the mechanical components of the clothes dryer, or may pollute the outside air if discharged to the outside. Therefore, air passing through the drum must pass through the filter to remove foreign matter.

Generally, the filter is provided in front of the drum, and filters foreign substances contained in the air passing through the drum. Here, when the dryer is continuously used, foreign substances such as lint are accumulated in the filter.

If these foreign substances accumulate above a certain level, they will be regularly cleaned because they interfere with air flow. The cleaning of such a filter is performed by the user after removing the filter from the clothes dryer after the end of the drying step to remove the foreign matter, and then mounting the filter in the clothes dryer again.

However, since the above-mentioned cleaning is required not only by the user but also because it can not be performed every time of drying, the flow of air is gradually obstructed until the cleaning is performed, Respectively.

As a means of solving these problems, an auto-filter has been developed which continuously cleans the filter in addition to periodic filter cleaning. In such an auto filter, an arm with a brush attached to the filter is rotated by the rotational force of the driving motor to remove foreign substances on the filter surface. As a result, the flow of air becomes smooth even before regular cleaning, and thus it becomes possible to secure a rich air volume.

On the other hand, even in the case of the auto-filter, power consumption is consecutively consumed. Further, since the arm with the brush is located on the surface of the filter, there is a problem that the flow of air is interrupted and the flow of air is interrupted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art and has the following purpose.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic filter driving method of a clothes dryer which can efficiently drive an auto filter and accurately control the position of an arm for cleaning the filter to reduce power consumption.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic filter driving method of a clothes dryer which can precisely control the position of an arm for cleaning a filter to prevent air flow cutoff by an arm and improve drying efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides the following structure to solve the above technical problems.

An embodiment of an automatic filter driving method of a clothes dryer of the present invention includes a filter for filtering foreign substances in air discharged from a drum, an arm rotated by a driving motor to remove foreign substances from the filter, And stoppers provided in the filter to set the rotation limits of the arms in the clockwise and counterclockwise directions.

Specifically, an arm driving step in which the driving motor operates the arm for a predetermined time, the arm rotating in a direction of rotation by the stoppers and reciprocating to remove foreign substances from the filter, Detects an overcurrent generated in the drive motor when the arm is interfered with the stopper and the rotation direction is switched through the current sensor provided in the drive motor, and when the detection frequency of the overcurrent generated in the drive motor reaches a predetermined number of times And stopping the operation of the driving motor.

Wherein the arm returning step comprises: a current detecting step of rotating the arm by driving the driving motor until a current detected through a current sensor provided in the driving motor reaches a predetermined current value; And driving the drive motor until the preset number of times reaches the predetermined current value to rotate the arm.

The position of the arm when the drive motor is stopped in the arm returning step is a constant return position. That is, the return position corresponds to a position where the stopper interferes with any one of the stoppers.

According to the aspect of the present invention, after the arm is driven for a predetermined period of time, the arm is rotated by the contact with the stopper, and the overcurrent generated in the driving motor of the arm is sensed, The timing of stopping the cancer is determined. Accordingly, when the arm is stopped when the predetermined number of overcurrents is reached, the arm is in contact with the stopper, so that the air does not interfere with the flow of air passing through the filter.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic filter driving method for a clothes dryer, comprising: a filter for filtering foreign substances in the air discharged from a drum; a brush rotated by a driving motor to remove foreign substances from the filter; And stoppers provided on the filter to set the rotation limits of the arms in the clockwise and counterclockwise directions.

Specifically, the arm driven by the driving motor is rotated by the stoppers to reciprocate to remove foreign substances from the filter, and the arm is connected to the stopper through a current sensor provided in the driving motor, For driving the drive motor until a predetermined number of times of detection of an overcurrent generated in the drive motor reaches a predetermined number of times, And an overcurrent generated in the driving motor when the arm is interfered with the stopper due to the rotation of the arm being switched through a current sensor provided in the driving motor after the arm driving step, And stopping the operation of the drive motor when the number of times of detection reaches a preset predetermined number; The.

Wherein the arm returning step comprises: a current detecting step of rotating the arm by driving the driving motor until a current detected through a current sensor provided in the driving motor reaches a predetermined current value; And driving the drive motor until the preset number of times reaches the predetermined current value to rotate the arm.

The position of the arm when the drive motor is stopped in the arm returning step is a constant return position. That is, the return position corresponds to a position where the stopper interferes with any one of the stoppers.

According to the aspect of the present invention as described above, the arm is switched over by the contact with the stopper, the overcurrent generated in the driving motor of the arm is sensed, and the arm is driven for a predetermined number of times of the overcurrent , And the stopping timing of the cancer is determined by the number of occurrences of the overcurrent sensed. Accordingly, when the arm is stopped when the predetermined number of overcurrents is reached, the arm is in contact with the stopper, so that the air does not interfere with the flow of air passing through the filter.

The present invention has the following effects with the above-described configuration.

The present invention has the effect of efficiently driving the auto filter and reducing the power consumption of the clothes dryer by precisely controlling the position of the arm for cleaning the filter.

Further, the present invention has an effect of accurately controlling the position of the arm for cleaning the filter, preventing the air passage from being blocked by the arm, and improving the drying efficiency.

1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an embodiment of a clothes dryer of the present invention;
2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of an auto filter;
3 is a schematic view showing the position of the arm and stopper at the filter surface;
4 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of a method of driving an autofilter.
5 is a flow chart showing another embodiment of a method of driving an autofilter.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic view showing the appearance of a clothes dryer of the present invention. 1, a clothes dryer 100 includes a cabinet 110 as a main body having a door 130 formed on a front surface thereof, a drum 110 rotatably installed in the main body 110 and having a plurality of lifters protruding from its inner circumferential surface, (140). In addition, a control panel 120 having a display window and operation buttons is provided on a front surface of the main body.

A circulation duct (not shown) communicates with the drum 140 rotated by the driving motor in the main body 110. The heated air is discharged from the circulating duct communicating with the rear of the drum 140 to the drum to dry the object to be dried.

The air used for drying contains moisture evaporated from the object to be dried and becomes humid air and flows into the filter inlet 146 provided around the opening 145 of the main body formed on the front surface of the drum to pass through the filter. The foreign matter that may be contained in the humid air may be filtered by a filter provided between the front of the drum and the circulating duct. Further, the flow of the air is more efficiently performed by a blowing fan (not shown) provided in the circulating duct.

Meanwhile, the clothes dryer is provided with a heat exchanging device (not shown) for exchanging heat with the air circulating through the circulating duct. The heat exchanger performs heat exchange with circulated air to absorb heat from the high temperature and high humidity air to condense and remove moisture contained in the air.

On the other hand, the circulating air that has been dried with moisture removed is again heated by a heat exchanger or a heater to be hot, dry air, and is discharged to the drum 140 again by the circulating duct.

2 shows the auto filter 150 including the above-described filter in detail. Referring to FIG. 2, the air discharged from the drum 140 enters the autofilter 150 through the filter inlet 146.

The filter 150 includes a filter case 151a and a filter case 151b spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and a dust collecting container 157 forming a bottom surface. That is, filter casings 151a and 151b, which are coupled to each other with an interval therebetween, are mounted on an upper part of the dust collecting box 157 located at the lower part, and a filter inlet 146 is mounted on the upper part of the cases.

An opening is formed in a front surface of the filter case 151a forming the front surface and a filter 152 for filtering foreign substances in the air discharged from the inside of the drum covers the opening. The air introduced through the filter inlet 146 passes through the filter 152 and is discharged to the above-described circulating duct.

A brush 155 and an arm 154 are mounted on the inner surface of the front filter case 151a to remove foreign substances from the filter 152 and a driving motor 153 is mounted on the outer surface. The end of the arm 154 is engaged with the drive shaft of the drive motor, and the arm is rotated by driving of the drive motor.

In this case, the brush 155 attached to the arm is in contact with the inner surface of the filter. Accordingly, as the arm rotates, the brush presses the inner surface of the filter and rotates to clean the inner surface of the filter.

On both sides of the filter, stoppers 156a and 156b for setting clockwise and counterclockwise rotation limits of the arm are provided. As the driving motor 153, a synchronous motor is used. Here, the synchronous motor has a characteristic of rotating in an arbitrary direction. That is, when a current is applied, the synchronous motor rotates in an arbitrary direction, and if the resistance is generated, it reverses and reversely rotates.

3 is a schematic view showing the position of the arm and the stopper on the filter surface; Referring to FIG. 3, in the circular filter 152, the arm 154 only cleans the upper semicircular portion. This is because most of the air is discharged from the upper semicircle at the time of designing the circulating duct described above. In the filter 152, foreign matters such as lint which are washed and removed from the upper half-circle are accumulated and stored in the lower half-circle portion. The stored foreign substances are removed from the case of the autofilter after using the dryer.

3, as described above, the arm 154 driven by the synchronous motor rotates counterclockwise toward the left stopper 156a. When the arm 154 contacts the left stopper 156a, the rotation direction is switched to rotate clockwise, And is directed toward the stopper 156b side. When the arm 154 rotates clockwise to the right stopper 156b and comes into contact with the right stopper 156b, the rotation direction is switched to rotate counterclockwise to the left stopper 156a side. Accordingly, the stoppers 156a and 156b can be considered to set the rotation limits of the arms in the clockwise and counterclockwise directions.

Fig. 4 shows a flow chart of an embodiment of this auto-filter driving method. Referring to Fig. 4, an embodiment of a method of driving an auto filter of a clothes dryer of the present invention is characterized in that a driving motor is operated by a drive motor for a predetermined period of time, and the direction of rotation of the arm is changed by the stoppers An arm driving step (S100) for removing foreign matters from the filter by reciprocating motion, and an overcurrent generated in the driving motor when the arm is interfered with the stopper through a current sensor provided in the driving motor to switch the rotation direction (S200) for stopping the operation of the drive motor when the number of times of detection of the overcurrent generated in the drive motor reaches a predetermined number of times.

The arm driving step S100 is a step in which the arm is driven by the driving motor. Here, the driving motor 153 is driven for a predetermined time t0. For example, if the preset time t0 is 30 seconds, the driving time of the driving motor t is 30 seconds, and the driving motor is driven without being influenced by other conditions.

As described above, the drive of the arm 154 by the drive motor changes the direction of rotation by the contact of the arm with the stoppers in accordance with the characteristics of a synchronous motor, which is a kind of the drive motor, do. Accordingly, as the arm rotates, the brush presses the inner surface of the filter to rotate, and foreign substances such as lint attached to the upper half-circle portion of the filter 152 are removed to perform washing.

In the step S200, the driving motor is stopped and the position of the arm is returned to a predetermined return position. This is to keep the return position constant so that the position of the arm does not interfere with the air flow after the drive motor is stopped.

Referring to FIG. 4, the cancer returning step S200 includes a current detecting step S210 and a detecting time counting step S220. The current detection step S210 detects a current i detected through a current sensor (not shown) included in the driving motor, and controls the driving (i) And drives the motor to rotate the arm.

Meanwhile, the detecting time counting step S220 rotates the arm by driving the driving motor until the detected number n of times the detected current reaches a predetermined current value reaches a predetermined number n0 .

In this step S200 of restoring the arm, the arm is brought into contact with the stopper at the point where the overcurrent occurs, and the air obstruction due to the arm is minimized at the point where the stopper is located. Therefore, To stop it. Therefore, the number of times the overcurrent occurs is counted, and when the motor reaches the predetermined number of times, the drive motor is stopped to stop the arm in contact with the stopper.

The position of the arm when the drive motor is stopped in the step S200 of returning the arm is a fixed return position. That is, as described above, the return position corresponds to a point where the arm contacts any one of the stoppers 156a and 156b to generate an overcurrent.

According to the aspect of the present invention, after the arm is driven for a predetermined period of time, the arm is rotated by the contact with the stopper, and the overcurrent generated in the driving motor of the arm is sensed, The timing of stopping the cancer is determined. Accordingly, when the arm is stopped when the predetermined number of overcurrents is reached, the arm is in contact with the stopper, so that the air does not interfere with the flow of air passing through the filter.

Fig. 5 shows a flow chart of another embodiment of this auto-filter driving method. Referring to FIG. 5, in another embodiment of the auto filter driving method, the arm driven by the driving motor is rotated by the stoppers to reciprocate to remove foreign substances from the filter, And a controller for detecting an overcurrent generated in the drive motor when the arm is interfered with the stopper by a current sensor provided in the motor so that the rotation direction is switched and the number of times of detection of the overcurrent generated in the drive motor is set to a predetermined number of times (S100 ') for driving the driving motor until the arm reaches the stopper when the arm is interfered with the stopper through a current sensor provided in the driving motor after the arm driving step, And an overcurrent detection circuit for detecting an overcurrent generated in the motor and, when the number of times of detection of the overcurrent generated in the drive motor reaches a predetermined predetermined number of times, And a return arm stopping the operation of the motor (S200 ').

The arm driving step S100 'is a step in which the arm is driven by the driving motor. Here, the driving motor 153 is driven until a certain condition is satisfied. Such a condition is detected by detecting a current i1 generated in the driving motor when the arm is interfered with the stopper through the current sensor provided in the driving motor and the rotation direction is switched to detect whether the overcurrent i0 is reached , And the number of times of detection (n (i1)) of the overcurrent reaches a preset predetermined number n0.

As described above, the drive of the arm 154 by the drive motor changes the direction of rotation by the contact of the arm with the stoppers in accordance with the characteristics of a synchronous motor, which is a kind of the drive motor, do. Accordingly, as the arm rotates, the brush presses the inner surface of the filter to rotate, and foreign substances such as lint attached to the upper half-circle portion of the filter 152 are removed to perform washing.

In the step S200 ', the driving motor is stopped and the arm is returned to a predetermined position. This is to keep the return position constant so that the position of the arm does not interfere with the air flow after the drive motor is stopped.

Referring to FIG. 5, the cancer returning step S200 'includes a current detecting step S210' and a detection number counting step S220 '. The current detecting step S210 'detects a current i2 detected through a current sensor (not shown) provided in the driving motor, and stops the current i2 until the detected current reaches a predetermined current value i0. And drives the drive motor to rotate the arm.

Meanwhile, the detection time counting step S220 'may include a step of counting the number of times the detected current i2 reaches the predetermined current value i0 until the predetermined number of times n0 is reached And drives the drive motor to rotate the arm.

The arm returning step S200 'is a point where the arm is brought into contact with the stopper at the point where the overcurrent occurs, and the point at which the stopper is located causes the air flow to be minimally inhibited by the arm. . Therefore, the number of times the overcurrent occurs is counted, and when the motor reaches the predetermined number of times, the drive motor is stopped to stop the arm in contact with the stopper.

The position of the arm when the driving of the driving motor is stopped in the arm returning step S200 is a fixed return position. That is, as described above, the return position is a position in which the arm is stopped at any one of the stoppers 156a and 156b And the overcurrent is generated.

According to the aspect of the present invention as described above, the arm is switched over by the contact with the stopper, the overcurrent generated in the driving motor of the arm is sensed, and the arm is driven for a predetermined number of times of the overcurrent , And the stopping timing of the cancer is determined by the number of occurrences of the overcurrent sensed. Accordingly, when the arm is stopped when the predetermined number of overcurrents is reached, the arm is in contact with the stopper, so that the air does not interfere with the flow of air passing through the filter.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments and / or drawings, do. It is to be expressly understood that improvements, changes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are also within the scope of the present invention.

100: a clothes dryer 110: a main body
120: control panel 130: door
140: Drum 145: Opening in front of the main body
146: Filter inlet 150: Auto filter
151a and 151b:
152: filter 153: drive motor
154: arm 155: brush
156a, 156b: Stopper
S100, S100 ': the arm driving step
S200, S200 ': Cancer returning step
S210, S210 ': current detection step
S220 and S220 ': the number of detection times

Claims (5)

An arm having a circular filter for filtering out foreign substances in the air discharged from the inside of the drum and a brush which is rotated by a driving motor to remove foreign substances from the filter; A method for driving an auto filter of a clothes dryer, the stopper including stoppers for setting a clockwise rotation limit,
An arm driving step of driving the arm by a drive motor for a preset predetermined time period, wherein the arm is rotated by the stoppers to reciprocate to remove foreign substances from the upper half-circle part of the filter;
A current sensor provided in the drive motor detects an overcurrent generated in the drive motor when the arm is interfered with the stopper to change the direction of rotation, and the detection frequency of the overcurrent generated in the drive motor is a predetermined And stopping the operation of the driving motor when the number of times reaches the predetermined number,
Wherein the position of the arm when the driving of the driving motor is stopped in the arm returning step is a returning position in which the arm is in contact with any one of the stoppers. An arm having a circular filter for filtering out foreign substances in the air discharged from the inside of the drum and a brush which is rotated by a driving motor to remove foreign substances from the filter; A method for driving an auto filter of a clothes dryer, the stopper including stoppers for setting a clockwise rotation limit,
Wherein the arm driven by the driving motor is rotated by the stoppers to reciprocate to remove foreign matters from the upper half-circle portion of the filter, A drive motor for driving the drive motor until a predetermined number of times of detection of an overcurrent generated in the drive motor reaches a predetermined number of times, And
Wherein the control unit detects an overcurrent generated in the drive motor when the arm is interfered with the stopper due to interference of the arm through the current sensor provided in the drive motor after the arm driving step, And stopping the operation of the drive motor when the predetermined number of times reaches a predetermined number,
Wherein the position of the arm when the driving of the driving motor is stopped in the arm returning step is a returning position in which the arm is in contact with any one of the stoppers. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the step of restoring cancer comprises:
A current detecting step of driving the driving motor to rotate the arm until a current detected through a current sensor provided in the driving motor reaches a predetermined current value;
And detecting the number of times of detecting the number of times the detected current reaches a predetermined current value until the predetermined number of times is reached by driving the driving motor to rotate the arm.
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