Technical Field

The present invention relates to a domestic appliance, such as a drying device or a washing and drying device, for drying textile products. of the Invention

A domestic appliance, especially with a drying function for drying textile products, such as a drying device or a washing and drying device, generally comprises a drum in which a drying process is carried out; and an air conditioning (heating and/or cooling) unit that adjusts a temperature of the drying air for the drying process carried out in the drum. Said air conditioning unit has various elements for heating and/or cooling and/or dehumidifying the air. Accordingly, for the drying process, air inside the drum is first drawn, passed through the air conditioning unit, and then returned to the drum. When the air returned to the drum contact the textile products provided in the drum, moisture in the textile products is collected and the moist drum air is drawn, conditioned and returned to the drum in a cycle to dry the textile products.

In said domestic appliances, the conditioned air is generally sent into the drum through a rear wall of the drum, with the possibility that the conditioned air may not reach all areas within the drum. In this case, the textile products in an area within the drum where air cannot reach, called the dead zone, cannot be dried effectively. In order to minimize this, long periods of dying programs are provided; however, in this case, serious time losses occur for the user, user needs cannot be met effectively, and energy efficiency decreases as the energy consumption of domestic appliances increases.

Brief Description of the Invention

A domestic appliance for drying textile products according to the present invention comprises: at least one body; at least one drum provided in the body for drying the textile products; at least one access opening for access to the drum; at least one air conditioning unit for conditioning the air received from the drum; at least one transmission pipe which is in fluid communication with the air conditioning unit and extends in the body from the rear wall to the access opening, wherein a portion of the drying air leaving the air conditioning unit passes through the transmission pipe; and at least one air outlet provided at a part of the transmission pipe closer to the access opening, in a closed chamber structure into which the drying air coming from the transmission pipe is filled, wherein the air outlet is configured to send the drying air coming from the transmission pipe into the drum, such that the drying air is sent from a side where the access opening is provided, towards the transmission opening on the rear wall, so as to intersect with the drying air leaving the transmission opening, wherein the air outlet has at least one air outlet opening for sending the drying air filled therein into the drum towards the transmission opening.

Thanks to the domestic appliance according to the present invention, after the drum air drawn from the drum is conditioned in the air conditioning unit, it is transmitted into the drum through both the rear part and front part of the drum, in an intersecting manner, as a drying air for drying the textile products in the drum. Therefore, the formation of dead zones in the drum can be minimized, which would otherwise negatively affect the drying performance, increase energy consumption and cause the duration of the drying process to be extended. Thus, a practical, efficient and reliable domestic appliance is provided, which is easy to produce and install.

Object of the Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a domestic appliance with a function for drying textile products.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a domestic appliance that decreases duration of a drying process without compromising drying efficiency. A further object of the present invention is to provide a domestic appliance with a reduced energy consumption in the drying process.

An object of the present invention is to provide a practical, efficient and reliable domestic appliance that is easy to produce and install.

Description of the Drawings

Exemplary embodiments of the domestic appliance according to the present invention are illustrated in the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of the domestic appliance according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a front perspective view of the domestic appliance according to the invention, in a semi-assembled state.

Figure 3 is a rear perspective view of the domestic appliance according to the invention.

Figure 4 is a view of detail "A" in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a view of detail "B" in Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a transmission pipe pf the domestic appliance according to the invention.

Figure 7 is another perspective view of the transmission pipe of the domestic appliance according to the invention

Figure 8 is a rear view of an air transmission element of the domestic appliance according to the invention.

Figure 9 is a front perspective view of the air transmission element of the domestic appliance according to the invention.

All the parts illustrated in figures are individually assigned a reference numeral and the corresponding terms of these numbers are listed below:

Body (1)

Drum (2)

Rear wall (2a)

Access opening (3)

Door (4) Air conditioning unit (5)

Filtering area (6)

Air transmission element (7)

Air duct (7a)

Outlet hole (7b)

Directing piece (7c)

Connecting piece (7d)

First side (7e)

Second side (7f)

Transmission pipe (8)

Air outlet (9)

Air outlet opening (9a)

Fan (10)

Detail - 1 (A)

Detail - 2 (B) of the Invention

A domestic appliance with a drying function for drying textile products generally comprises a drum in which a drying process is carried out; and an air conditioning unit in which drum air is drawn, heated and/or cooled and/or dehumidified and then returned to the drum. In a conventional domestic appliance with a drying function, the air leaving the conditioning unit is sent into the drum through a rear wall of the drum, and the air contacting the textile products in the drum dehumidifies textile products and leaves the drum. By constantly repeating such a cycle, textile products are dried. However, in said domestic appliance, the drying air transmitted into the drum cannot reach all parts of the drum, which reduces the drying efficiency. In order to minimize this, duration of the drying process is extended, which not only causes loss of time but also increases energy consumption and reduces the efficiency of the domestic appliance. Accordingly, the present invention provides a domestic appliance with a drying function for solving said problems.

The domestic appliance with a drying function (e.g. a drying device, a washing and drying device, etc.) according to the present invention, as illustrated in figures 1-9, comprises at least one body (1); at least one drum (2) provided in the body (1) for drying the textile products; at least one access opening (3) for access to the drum (2); at least one air conditioning unit (5) (e.g. a heat pump assembly, etc.) for conditioning (heating and/or cooling and/or dehumidifying) the air received from the drum (2), wherein the air conditioning unit (5) is preferably provided at a lower part of the body (1) close to a floor where the domestic appliance is provided; and at least one transmission opening (not illustrated in the drawings) which is in fluid communication with the air conditioning unit (5) and provided on a rear wall (2a) of the drum (2) opposite the access opening (3), wherein the drying air leaving the air conditioning unit (5) passes through the transmission opening and returns to the drum (2) for drying the textile products. The domestic appliance of the invention further comprises at least one transmission pipe (8) which is in fluid communication with the air conditioning unit (5) and extends in the body (1) from the rear wall (2a) to the access opening (3), wherein a portion of the drying air leaving the air conditioning unit (5) passes through the transmission pipe (8); and at least one air outlet (9) provided at a part of the transmission pipe (8) closer to the access opening (3), in a closed chamber structure into which the drying air coming from the transmission pipe (8) is filled, wherein the air outlet (9) is configured to send the drying air coming from the transmission pipe (8) into the drum (2), such that the drying air is sent from a side where the access opening (3) is provided, towards the transmission opening on the rear wall (2a), so as to intersect with the drying air leaving the transmission opening, wherein the air outlet (9) has at least one air outlet opening (9a) for sending the drying air filled therein into the drum (2) towards the transmission opening. Preferably, the domestic appliance of the invention further comprises at least one air transmission element (7) with a first side (7e) in fluid communication with the air conditioning unit (5), and a second side (7f) in fluid communication with the transmission opening, wherein the drying air leaving the air conditioning unit (5) passes through the air transmission element (7) and reaches the transmission opening, so as to be returned to the drum (2) for drying the textile products (the air transmission element (7), which may preferably be a back cover on a domestic appliance, is preferably provided inside the body (1) so as to be outside the drum (2), at a part where the rear wall (2a) is provided, or provided outside [for example, forming part of the body (1)] the body (1), and it preferably condenses the moisture in the air leaving the air conditioning unit (5), so as to remove it from the drying air); and at least one outlet hole (7b) which is provided in the air transmission element (7) for providing fluid communication between the transmission pipe (8) and air transmission element (7), and configured to pass a portion of the drying air within the air transmission element (7) to the transmission pipe (8).

In an exemplary embodiment of the domestic appliance according to the present invention, following initiation of the drying process, the drum air with a high amount of humidity due to the wet textile products in the drum (2) is preferably received into the air conditioning unit (5) through an inlet opening provided at a part where the access opening (3) is provided, preferably at a lower side of the access opening (3) (the access opening (3) can be opened and closed via at least one door (4) connected to the body (1) for access to the drum (2)). The inlet opening is preferably provided on at least one filtering area (6) provided at a lower part of the access opening (3), and accordingly, while drawing the drum air from the drum (2), the drum air can be filtered by at least one filter device provided in the filtering area (6), so that unwanted substances, such as lint, in the drum air is removed from the drum air. The drum air passing through the inlet opening reaches the air conditioning unit (5) so as to be conditioned. A portion of the conditioned air leaving the air conditioning unit (5) for drying the textile products in the drum (i.e., drying air) exits through the transmission opening provided on the rear wall (2a), and returns into the drum (2). In a preferred embodiment, the drying air leaving the air conditioning unit (5) is passed to the air transmission element (7) and is thus directed to the transmission opening in fluid connection with the second side (7f). Further, a portion of the conditioned air (i.e., drying air) is passed into the transmission pipe (8). In a preferred embodiment, passage of a portion of the conditioned air to the transmission pipe (8) occurs by means of the outlet hole (7b) that is provided at the air transmission element (7), preferably at an upper part of the air transmission element (7) that is preferably close to the second side (7e) of the air transmission element (7) (and preferably away from the air conditioning unit (5)). The drying air moving along the transmission pipe (8) is filled into the air outlet (9), after which it is passed through the air outlet opening (9a) of the air outlet (9) into the drum (2) towards the transmission opening, wherein the air outlet (9) is provided at a part where the access opening (3) is provided, preferably at an upper part of the access opening (3). Therefore, the drying air received from the air conditioning unit (5) can be sent into the drum (2) from both the back and front of the drum (2) so as to intersect each other (in other words, a cross air flow occurs in the drum (2)), and the formation of so-called dead zones within the drum (2), where drying air cannot reach, can be minimized without the need to extend the duration of the drying process. Thus, drying efficiency for the textile products in the drum (2) is also improved, so that a practical, efficient and reliable domestic appliance is obtained, which is easy to produce and install.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the domestic appliance of the invention comprises at least one air duct (7a) which is provided at the air transmission element (7), at an inner surface of the air transmission element (7) facing the rear wall (2a), and extends between the first side (7e) and the second side (7f) of the air transmission element (7), wherein the air leaving the air conditioning unit (5) flows through the air duct (7a) to reach the transmission opening and outlet hole (7b), wherein said outlet hole (7b) is preferably provided on a side wall of the air duct (7a). In this way, while the drying air is directed more effectively, a more effective condensation can be achieved by increasing the contact surface of the air transmission element (7), which can be the rear cover, so that the drying air can be transmitted into the drum (2) as free of moisture as possible. In this embodiment, the domestic appliance of the invention also preferably comprises at least one directing piece (7c), preferably a plate (or a tie piece), which is provided in the air duct (7a), close to the outlet hole (7b) (e.g. on one side of the outlet hole (7b)) for directing a portion of the drying air entering the air duct (7a) to the outlet hole (7b). Therefore, two separate areas are created at the part of the air duct (7a) close to the outlet hole (7b), one in fluid communication with the outlet hole (7c) and the other in fluid communication with the transmission opening, so that the drying air moving along the air duct (7a) can be separated to exit through both of the holes.

In another embodiment of the domestic appliance according to the present invention, the transmission pipe (8) may be directly connected to the outlet hole (7b), or the domestic appliance of the invention may preferably comprise at least one directing element (e.g. a hose) with one side connected to the outlet hole (7b), and the other side to the transmission pipe (8), for directing the drying air leaving the outlet hole (7b) into the connecting piece (7d). Thus, almost all of the drying air directed to the transmission pipe (8) can enter the transmission pipe (8).

In another alternative embodiment exemplified in Figure 8 or 9, the domestic appliance according to the invention may comprise at least one connecting piece (7d) for fluid communication between the outlet hole (7b) and the transmission pipe (8). The connecting piece (7d) is preferably provided on the air transmission element (7), with one side connected to the outlet hole (7b), and the other side to the transmission pipe (8). Preferably, a width at the side of the connecting piece (7d) in fluid communication with the outlet hole (7b) is greater than a width at the side in connection with the transmission pipe (8). In this way, the drying air leaving the outlet hole (7b) can be filled into the connecting piece (7d) and passed to the transmission pipe (8), without a direct connection between the connecting piece (7d) and outlet hole (7b). In another preferred embodiment, the domestic appliance of the invention may comprise at least one directing element (e.g. a hose) with one side connected to the outlet hole (7b) and other side to the connecting piece (7d), for directing the drying air leaving the outlet hole (7b) into the connecting piece (7d).

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the domestic appliance comprises at least one fan (10) provided at the transmission pipe (8) (preferably at a middle section of the transmission pipe (8) at equal distances to the rear wall (2a) and the access opening (3)), which enables the drying air in the air transmission element (7) to be passed to the transmission pipe (8), moved towards the air outlet (9) in the transmission pipe (8), filled into the air outlet (9), and blown through the air outlet opening (9a) into the drum (2) towards the transmission opening. Therefore, the drying air can easily enter the transmission pipe (8) and sent into the drum (2) more effectively.

Thanks to the domestic appliance according to the present invention, after the drum air drawn from the drum (2) is conditioned in the air conditioning unit (5), it is transmitted into the drum (2) through both the rear part and front part of the drum (2), in an intersecting manner, as a drying air for drying the textile products in the drum (2). Therefore, the formation of dead zones in the drum (2) can be minimized, which would otherwise negatively affect the drying performance, increase energy consumption and cause the duration of the drying process to be extended. Thus, a practical, efficient and reliable domestic appliance is provided, which is easy to produce and install.