KR101461946B1 - Cloth treating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a clothes processing apparatus. A clothes processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: a cabinet in which a receiving space for accommodating clothes is formed; A hot air supply device for selectively supplying hot air to the inside of the cabinet; At least one sensing unit for measuring the weight of the garment; And a controller for controlling the hot air supply device according to the weight measured by the sensing unit. According to such a clothes processing apparatus, hot air can be appropriately supplied in accordance with the amount of clothes to be accommodated.

Clothing, processing, hot wind, load

Description

[0001] Cloth treating apparatus [

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a clothes processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a clothes processing apparatus capable of suitably drying clothes in accordance with the amount of clothes to be accommodated.

In recent years, various kinds of clothes processing apparatuses have been used together with washing machines for washing clothes. For example, there have been developed drum type driers for drying clothes that have been washed, cabinet-type dryers for hanging clothes and drying them, and refreshers for refreshing clothes by supplying hot air to clothes.

Among the clothes processing apparatuses, a refresher, a dryer, or the like mainly uses a heater to heat the air to supply hot air to clothes. Such a heater includes a gas heater that heats the gas by burning gas to generate air, and an electric heater that heats the air by electric resistance. In recent years, an electric heater that is easy to install and has a simple structure is widely used.

However, when the air is heated by the electric heater, the heat of the heater can be directly transferred to the clothes, which may damage the clothes or cause a fire inside the clothes processing apparatus.

In addition, since the electric heater heats the air using electricity, in order to heat the air up to a desired temperature, the electric consumption increases, which causes a problem that a large maintenance cost is required.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a clothes processing apparatus which is designed to solve the above-mentioned problems and which can reduce the consumption of electric energy while having a simple structure.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a clothes processing apparatus capable of suitably drying clothes according to the amount of clothes accommodated in the clothes processing apparatus.

The above object of the present invention can be achieved by a cabinet in which a housing space for accommodating clothes is formed; A hot air supply device for selectively supplying hot air to the inside of the cabinet; At least one sensing unit for measuring the weight of the garment; And a control unit for controlling the hot air supply device according to the weight measured by the sensing unit.

In this case, the cabinet may include a support member to which at least one garment is mounted, and the sensing unit may include a first sensing unit for measuring the weight of the support member. The cabinet may further include a seating portion on which the clothes are seated, and the sensing unit may further include a second sensing unit for measuring a weight of the seating portion.

Meanwhile, the controller may control the driving time of the hot air supply device or the temperature of the hot air according to the measured weight of the clothes. Specifically, the control unit may include a storage unit for storing data on the driving time of the hot air supply device and the temperature of hot air in accordance with the weight of the clothes to be accommodated.

Also, the controller may control the hot air supply device according to the measured weight and the clothing information on the clothes to be accommodated. In this case, the clothing information may be input by the user, and the clothing information may include at least one of cloth information and proper drying degree of the clothes to be accommodated.

Therefore, the controller can control the driving time of the hot air supply device or the temperature of the supplied hot air according to the measured weight and the clothing information. Specifically, the control unit may include a storage unit for storing data on the driving time of the hot air supply device or the temperature of hot air in correspondence with the measured weight of the clothes and the clothing information.

Meanwhile, the clothes processing apparatus according to the present invention may further include a steam generating device for selectively injecting steam into the accommodation space. In this case, the controller may control driving of the hot air supply device and the steam generator according to the measured weight and the clothing information on the clothes to be accommodated. Specifically, the controller may control the driving time of the steam generator or the temperature of the supplied steam.

Meanwhile, in the garment processing apparatus according to the present invention, the sensing unit may periodically measure the weight of the garment to sense a change in weight of the garment. In this case, the controller may control the driving of the hot air supply device by determining the degree of drying of the clothes according to a change in the weight of the clothes measured by the sensing unit.

In addition, the clothes processing apparatus according to the present invention may further include a sensing unit for sensing the number of clothes placed on the support member, and the control unit controls the hot air supply device according to the measured weight or the number of the clothes, Can be controlled. In this case, the sensing unit may include at least one switch formed at one or more hanger grooves formed in the support member to emit a signal when the hanger is mounted.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the clothes processing apparatus according to the present invention can prevent unnecessary waste of energy by appropriately drying the clothes according to the amount of clothes to be accommodated.

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

1 is a front view showing a clothes processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the present specification, a refresher for refreshing clothes and supplying hot air is described as a clothes processing apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the idea of the present invention can be applied to other clothes processing apparatuses, have. Hereinafter, a configuration of a clothes processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1, a clothes processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a cabinet 10 in which a housing space 12 for accommodating clothes 1 is formed, a hot air duct for supplying hot air to the housing space 12, (See FIG. 2, 22). Further, the clothes processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment may further include a steam generating device (see FIG. 2) for selectively injecting steam into the accommodation space 12.

The clothes processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes at least two detection sensors (see FIG. 2, 50 and 52) and hot air supply device 22 for sensing the temperature inside the cabinet 10, And a control unit (not shown) for controlling the driving.

First, the cabinet 10 is provided with various components to be described later, and a receiving space 12 in which clothes are received is formed in the cabinet 10. The accommodation space 12 is selectively communicated with the outside by the door 14. [ The holding space 12 is provided with various supporting members 16 and the like capable of hanging the clothes 1. The supporting member 16 for supporting the clothes 1 will be described later in detail.

A hot air supply device 22 for selectively supplying hot air and steam to the accommodation space 12 and a machine room 20 for accommodating the steam generating device 30 are formed in the cabinet 10. The machine room 20 is preferably located at a lower portion of the accommodation space 12 and the hot air supply device 22 and the steam generator 30 described above are located inside. The reason why the machine room 20 is located at the lower part is that the hot air and the steam supplied to the housing space 12 have a property of being raised by heat and therefore the machine room 20 is located at the lower part, This is because it is preferable to supply steam.

2 is a perspective view schematically showing a structure inside the machine room 20. In FIG. 2, only the components of the heat pump 22 and the steam generator 30 constituting the hot air supply device are shown for convenience of explanation, and the piping line connecting the components is not shown .

Referring to FIG. 2, a hot air supply device for supplying hot air to the accommodation space (see FIG. 1) 12 is provided inside the machine room 20, and a heat pump 22 and a steam generator 30 for supplying steam are located do.

The heat pump 22 corresponding to the hot air supply device of the present invention is similar to the heat pump used in an air conditioner or the like. That is, the heat pump 22 is provided with the evaporator 24, the compressor 26, the condenser 27 and the expansion valve 28 through which the refrigerant circulates, thereby dehumidifying and heating the air. That is, the refrigerant evaporates in the evaporator 24 to absorb the latent heat of the surrounding air, and the air is cooled to condense and remove moisture in the air. Further, when the refrigerant is condensed in the condenser 27 through the compressor 26, the ambient air is heated by releasing latent heat toward the surrounding air. Therefore, the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27 function as a heat exchanger, and the air introduced into the machine room 20 is dehumidified and heated through the evaporator 24 and the condenser 27, .

As described above, the air heated by the heat pump 22 can be slightly lower in temperature than the air heated using the conventional heater, but it is possible to dehumidify the air without using a separate dehumidifying device. Therefore, the air supplied back to the accommodation space 12 by the heat pump 22 is relatively 'low temperature dry air' (here, 'low temperature' does not mean that the temperature is absolutely low, Which means that the temperature is relatively low compared to the conventional heating air). Therefore, although the temperature of the air supplied by the heat pump 22 of the present invention is lower than the hot air of the conventional clothes processing apparatus, the dehumidified air is supplied without a separate dehumidifying device, .

An air inlet 21 through which the air in the accommodation space 12 flows into the interior of the machine room 20 is formed in the upper portion of the machine room 20 and an air inlet 21 and an evaporator 24, 27) and the flow fan (32) is formed by a duct (29) connecting air and air. The air introduced into the machine room 20 through the air inlet 21 by the duct 29 is dehumidified and heated while passing through the heat pump 22 and supplied to the accommodating space 12 by the flow fan 32 again do.

Here, although not shown in the drawing, the air inlet 21 may preferably be provided with a filter. By providing the filter in the air inlet 21, it becomes possible to filter various foreign substances or the like that may be contained in the air introduced into the machine room 20 from the accommodation space 12, and to supply only fresh air to the accommodation space 12.

In the meantime, the machine room 20 is provided with a steam generator 30 for selectively supplying steam to the accommodation space 12. It is possible to remove wrinkles and the like which may occur in the clothes or the like due to the supply of the steam to the accommodation space 12 by the steam generating device 30 and further to the effect of sterilization by the high temperature steam, Effect can be expected. As described above, the timing of spraying the steam by the steam generator 30 can be appropriately modified. Preferably, the steam is sprayed before the hot air is supplied by the heat pump 22 described above. This is because it is preferable to dry clothes by supplying hot air after spraying high temperature steam.

The steam generator 30 includes a heater (not shown) for heating water, and generates steam by supplying water to the storage space 12. An external faucet or the like may be used as the water supply source for supplying water to the steam generator 30 or a container type water supply provided to one side of the machine room 20 may be used. This container type of water source is preferably removably installed so that the user can separate the water source from the machine room 20 to fill and reinstall the water.

The steam generated in the steam generator 30 is supplied to the accommodation space 12 through the steam hose 36 and the steam nozzle 40. In this case, the shorter the length of the steam hose 36 is, in order to prevent the temperature of the steam from being lowered or the steam to be condensed while the steam moves along the steam hose 36, the shorter the length of the steam hose 36 is. The steam nozzle 40 preferably supplies steam through the upper portion of the machine room 20, that is, the lower portion of the accommodating space 12, when the machine room 20 is located below the accommodating space 12 .

In addition, a cooling fan 34 may be provided on the backside of the machine room 20. [ The cooling fan 34 supplies air outside the machine room 20 to the interior of the machine room 20 to cool the heat pump 22, particularly the compressor, or to cool the steam generator 30, The temperature of the inside of the heat exchanger is prevented from rising excessively. Reference numerals 52 and 50, which are not illustrated in FIG. 2, are located adjacent to the discharge port 33 through which the heating air is discharged into the duct 29 and the accommodation space 12, / RTI >

Meanwhile, the clothes processing apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention refreshes, sterilizes, or dries the clothes by selectively blowing hot air or steam to the clothes to be accommodated. However, when the hot air or steam is sprayed in this way, it is preferable that the supply amount and the temperature of hot air or steam are determined in consideration of the amount of clothes to be accommodated.

That is, if hot air or steam is supplied regardless of the amount of clothes, if there are few clothes, excessive hot air or steam is supplied, which causes a problem of energy wastage. If the clothes are large, sufficient refreshment, sterilization or drying effect can not be expected . Therefore, the clothes processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can expect sufficient effects of refreshing, sterilizing or drying while preventing waste of energy by appropriately blowing hot air or steam according to the amount of clothes to be accommodated. Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given with reference to the drawings.

3 is a perspective view showing the inside of the accommodation space 12 in Fig.

Referring to FIG. 3, various components for accommodating clothes are provided in the accommodation space 12. First, a support member 16 for hanging a clothes hanger (see Fig. 1, 2) on which clothes are placed is provided in the upper portion of the accommodation space 12. [ A groove 18 is preferably formed on the upper surface of the support member 16 to insert the upper portion of the hanger 2 into the groove 18 to fix the hanger 2. [ Therefore, the clothes that can be stuck on the clothes hanger 2 are caught on the support member 16. [

On the other hand, the seating portion 60 is provided at the center of the accommodation space 12, preferably adjacent to the bottom of the accommodation space 12. [ The seat portion 60 is provided across the inside of the accommodation space 12, and clothes are seated on the upper portion. The seat portion 60 seats clothes such as socks, towels, underwear, etc. that are difficult to mount on the clothes hanger 2 described above. Therefore, the clothes processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is provided with the supporting member 16 and the seating portion 60 for accommodating the clothes according to the type of the clothes.

Further, the garment processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is provided with the support member 16 and at least one sensing unit for measuring the weight of the clothes stored in the seating portion 60. The sensing unit may be implemented in various forms. In this embodiment, the sensing unit is composed of a load cell provided to the support member 16 and the seating unit 60.

That is, when the hanger 2 is hooked on the support member 16, the first sensing unit 19 composed of the load cell provided on the support member 16 measures the weight of the garment, ). The second sensing unit 62 formed of the load cell provided on the seating part 60 measures the weight of the garment when the garment is seated on the seating part 60 and transmits the measured result to the control part.

Therefore, the control unit controls the driving of the hot air supply device 22 according to the transmission results transmitted from the first and second sensing units 19 and 62. [ That is, as the total weight of the clothes measured by the first and second sensing units 19 and 62 increases, the driving time of the hot air supply device 22 may be lengthened or the temperature of the supplied hot air may be increased. The control unit preferably includes a storage unit (not shown) in which data is stored. In the storage unit, the driving time of the hot air supply device 22 or the supplied hot air Such as the temperature of the liquid.

On the other hand, when the sensing unit for measuring the weight of the clothes is provided as described above, the degree of drying of the clothes can be discriminated. That is, clothes that are dry and moisture-free compared to wet clothes containing moisture are light in weight. Therefore, in the garment processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the weight of the garment can be detected by repeatedly measuring the weight of the garment using a sensing unit at predetermined intervals. Therefore, the degree of drying of the clothes can be determined by such weight change.

That is, if the weight of the garment is measured by the sensing unit before starting drying, and the weight of the garment is measured periodically, if the weight of the garment is reduced by a predetermined ratio, for example, 5 to 10% It can be judged that the drying is completed. In this case, even if the predetermined driving time of the hot air supply device 22 remains, the drying of the hot air supply device 22 can be stopped because it is determined that the drying is completed due to the weight change of the clothes.

On the other hand, when adjusting the driving time of the hot air supply device 22 and the temperature of the supplied hot air depending on the weight of the clothes, it may be difficult to simply adjust the temperature of the hot air depending on the weight of the clothes. That is, it is preferable to control the temperature of the hot air according to the proper drying temperature according to the cloth and fabric of the clothes to be accommodated. Therefore, in the clothes processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, it is preferable to include an input unit (not shown) capable of inputting clothing information such as cloth or proper drying temperature of the clothes to be accommodated.

It is preferable that such an input unit is provided on the front surface of the door 14 of the cabinet 10 for convenience of operation. Accordingly, the user inputs clothing information through the input unit before putting the clothes into the accommodation space 12, and stores the clothes in the accommodation space 12 by the clothes hanger. In this case, the control unit receives information on the clothes and proper drying temperature of the clothes through the input unit, and furthermore, the weight of the clothes can be measured by the sensing unit. On the other hand, in the control unit, data on the driving time of the hot air supply device and the temperature of the supplied hot air corresponding to the clothing information, the weight of the clothes, and the like are pre- Therefore, the control unit controls the driving time of the hot air supply device 22 and the temperature of the supplied hot air according to the inputted clothes information and the measured clothes weight.

In addition, since the garment processing apparatus according to the present invention includes the steam generator 30 for supplying steam to the accommodation space 12, the controller also controls the steam generator 30. In this case, the control unit can control the steam generator 30 according to the weight of the clothes measured in the sensing unit. For example, as the weight of the clothes increases, the driving time of the steam generator 30 and the temperature of the supplied steam can be increased. Further, the control unit can control the driving of the steam generator according to the clothing information input through the input unit.

On the other hand, when the weight of the clothes is measured by the sensing unit and the hot air supply device is controlled according to the measured weight, hot air may not be uniformly sprayed to the clothes if the hot air supply device is simply controlled according to the weight of the clothes. That is, the same weight may be formed by one garment, or the weight may be formed by a plurality of light garments. Therefore, when a plurality of clothes are stowed in comparison with a case where one garment is stowed, each garment may act as an obstacle to the flow of hot air. In this case, it is necessary to increase the pressure at which the hot air is sprayed.

Therefore, it is preferable that the clothes processing apparatus according to the present invention further comprises a sensing unit 70 capable of measuring the number of clothes stored in the accommodation space 12 in addition to the sensing unit for measuring the weight of the clothes .

The sensing unit 70 may be embodied in various forms. In this embodiment, the sensing unit 70 is provided on the support member 16 described above. Specifically, the sensing unit 70 includes one or more hanger grooves 18 formed on the support member 16, As shown in FIG. Here, the switch provided on the support member 16 transmits a signal to the control unit when the hanger 2 is mounted on the hanger groove 18.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic configuration diagram of the sensing unit in this embodiment.

4, the sensing unit 70 is constituted by one or more switches 72, as described above, and these switches 72 are respectively provided in a hanger groove 18 formed in the support member 16. As shown in Fig. Resistors 74 of a predetermined capacitance are connected to the respective switches 72, respectively. Therefore, when the hanger 2 is mounted on the hanger groove 18, the switch 72 provided in the groove 18 is turned on to pass a current, and the control unit measures the resistance value by measuring the current value . The control unit recognizes the number of switches that are turned on by the measured resistance value so that the number of hangers 2 hanging on the support member 16 can be grasped, The number of which is unknown.

The control unit measures the number of clothes accommodated in the accommodating space 12 by the sensing unit 70 as described above, and then, based on the measured number of clothes and the weight of the clothes measured by the sensing unit, And the like.

Specifically, the control unit controls the driving time of the hot air supply device 22 or the temperature of the supplied hot air according to the number and weight of the measured clothes. For example, it is preferable to increase the driving time of the hot air supply device 22 as the number and weight of the clothes increase, and to increase the temperature of the supplied hot air in proportion to the number of clothes. Further, it is preferable to increase the rotational speed of the flow fan 32 so that hot air is evenly sprayed as the number of clothes increases. To this end, the controller of the clothes processing apparatus according to the present embodiment controls the operation of the hot air supply device 22, the temperature of the supplied hot air, or the rotation speed of the flow fan 32 corresponding to the number of clothes, (Not shown).

In addition, since the garment processing apparatus according to the present invention includes the steam generator 30 for supplying steam to the accommodation space 12, the controller also controls the steam generator 30. In this case, the control unit can control the steam generator 30 according to the weight of the garment measured at the sensing unit and the number of garments measured at the sensing unit 70. For example, as the weight and the number of garments increase, the driving time of the steam generator 30 and the temperature of supplied steam can be increased.

1 is a front view of a clothes processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the inside of the machine room in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the supporting member and the seating part in Fig. 1, and Fig.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a sensing unit provided in the support member of FIG. 3;

Claims (18)

A cabinet in which a receiving space for accommodating clothes is formed; A hot air supply device for selectively supplying hot air to the inside of the cabinet; A steam generator for selectively injecting steam into the accommodation space; At least one sensing unit for measuring the weight of the garment; And And a controller for controlling driving of the hot air supply device and the steam generator according to the weight measured by the sensing unit. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the cabinet includes a support member to which at least one garment is mounted, and the sensing unit includes a first sensing unit for measuring the weight of the support member. 3. The method of claim 2, Wherein the cabinet further includes a seating part on which the garment is seated, and the sensing unit further includes a second sensing unit for measuring a weight of the seating part. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the control unit controls the driving time of the hot air supply device or the temperature of the hot air according to the measured weight of the clothes. 5. The method of claim 4, Wherein the control unit includes a storage unit for storing data on the driving time of the hot air supply device and the temperature of the hot air in advance in correspondence with the weight of the clothes to be accommodated. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the controller controls the hot air supply device according to the measured weight and the clothing information on the clothes to be accommodated. The method according to claim 6, Wherein the clothing information is input by a user. The method according to claim 6, Wherein the garment information includes at least one of cloth information of clothes to be accommodated and proper drying degree. The method according to claim 6, Wherein the controller controls the driving time of the hot air supply device or the temperature of hot air supplied according to the measured weight and the clothing information. 10. The method of claim 9, Wherein the control unit includes a storage unit for storing data on the driving time of the hot air supply device or the temperature of hot air in correspondence with the measured weight of the clothes and the clothing information. delete The method according to claim 6, Wherein the controller controls the driving of the hot air supply device and the steam generator according to the measured weight and the clothing information on the clothes to be accommodated. 13. The method of claim 12, Wherein the control unit controls the driving time of the steam generator or the temperature of the supplied steam. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the sensing unit periodically measures the weight of the garment and senses a change in weight of the garment. 15. The method of claim 14, Wherein the controller controls the driving of the hot air supply device by determining the degree of drying of the clothes according to a change in weight of the clothes measured by the sensing unit. A cabinet in which a receiving space for accommodating clothes is formed; A hot air supply device for selectively supplying hot air to the inside of the cabinet; At least one sensing unit for measuring the weight of the garment; A support member provided inside the cabinet and having at least one garment attached thereto; A sensing unit provided on the supporting member for sensing the number of the clothes held on the supporting member; And And a controller for controlling the hot air supply device according to the weight measured by the sensing unit. 17. The method of claim 16, Wherein the controller controls the hot air supply device according to the measured weight or the number of the clothes. 18. The method of claim 17, Wherein the sensing unit is formed of at least one switch formed in one or more hanger grooves formed in the support member and for emitting a signal when the hanger is mounted.

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