Accessory assembly for a clothes drum type dryer

Abstract

 An accessory assembly for a clothes drum type dryer (D), either air vented or condenser dryer, comprises one or more cabinets (A', A") which can be connected in series to an air exhaust port of the clothes dryer (D) so that the clothes contained therein can be treated by such air.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an accessory assembly for a clothes drum type dryer.

[0002] Drum type dryers have the advantage in that a great amount of clothes can be dried at a time, but suffers several disadvantages from the entangling of clothes to cause them to be wrinkled and to be damaged in repeated drying treatments. Therefore a drum type dryer is not suitable for drying delicate clothes as sweaters, shirts, undergarments and the like.

[0003] Moreover in the drum type dryers, especially in the condenser dryers, a flow of hot dry air is exhausted, therefore wasting a substantial amount of energy.

[0004] A quite complex appliance is described in Japanese Patent Application No. S59-108,597, such appliance comprising a whole unit having a drum type drying section and a hanging drying section, such sections being in communication in a first condition and being not in communication in a second condition, depending on the position of specific valves of the whole unit. Such appliance is quite complicated and expensive and, in view of an independent heater of the hanging drying section, the overall increase in efficiency is not very high.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide an accessory assembly for a drum type dryer which can be installed easily by the user, which can provide a sensible increase in the energy efficiency of the traditional dryer and which can be used either on condenser dryers or air vented dryers.

[0006] According to the invention, the accessory assembly comprises at least a cabinet that can be connected to an air exhaust port of the clothes dryer so that the clothes contained therein can be treated by such air.

[0007] In the case the dryer to which the cabinet is releasably connected is a condenser dryer, the flow of air entering the cabinet is hot and dry and can be used for drying delicate clothes contained in such cabinet. In the case the dryer is an air vented dryer, at the exhaust of an air vented dryer there is a flow of warm and very humid air. In this case the same high humidity content that prevents the drying is very useful to "refresh" the garments, at the same time removing the most of the wrinkles.

[0008] If the clothes dryer is an air vented dryer, the cabinet comprises an heat exchanger in which the hot and humid air coming from the air exhaust port of the dryer heats up an air flow entering the cabinet.
The cabinet can be advantageously vertical, and in this case it is provided with hooks for hangers and it is apt to be mounted on one side of the dyer. With the term "vertical" we mean that the major dimension of the cabinet is stretched vertically. Since the normal height of a standard dryer is 0.85 m, it is preferred that the overall height of the cabinet to be placed on one side of the dryer is higher than the height of the dryer, so that long delicate garments and suits can be hanged in the cabinet. Moreover, with this layout it is preferred that the air exhaust port of the cabinet is placed in its upper portion so that a second cabinet can be placed on the top of the dryer, rendering very easy the connection of the air flow between the first and the second cabinet. This latter is therefore horizontal and it is provided with at least one drawer having a net or the like for supporting clothes in the airflow. With the term "horizontal" we mean that the major dimensions of the cabinet are stretched horizontally. The use of drawers having nets supporting delicate clothes render very easy the loading / unloading of such clothes in the horizontal cabinet.

[0009] Preferably the vertical cabinet comprises rail-mounted hooks that can be extracted from the cabinet for an easy hanging of the garments.

[0010] More preferably the assembly it comprises duct means for connecting the air exhaust port of the dryer to the air inlet of the cabinet.

[0011] Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

• figure 1 is a first embodiment of the assembly;
• figure 2 is a second embodiment of the assembly;
• figure 3 is a third embodiment of the assembly in which the same elements of figures 1 and 2 are used together;
• figure 4 is a schematic section view of an assembly for an air-vented dryer;
• figures 5 and 6 are schematic section views of a fourth and a fifth embodiment of the invention respectively;
• figure 7 is a view similar to figure 4, in which it is shown a sixth embodiment of the invention.

[0012] The assembly according to the invention comprises at least cabinet that can be vertical for clothing that is better dried hanged (figure 1, cabinet A') or horizontal, on top of the drier D, for clothing that dries better laying horizontally (figure 2, cabinet A") or preferably a modular combination of the two (figure 3). In the embodiment according to figure 1, the exhaust port of the vertical cabinet A' is covered by a side grid 11 at an height higher than the top of the dryer D. In the embodiment according to figure 2, the exhaust port of the horizontal cabinet A" is covered by a side grid 13. In the embodiment according to figure 3, the vertical cabinet A' is higher than the dryer D and the horizontal cabinet A" has an height so that its top is substantially at the same level of the top of the horizontal cabinet A", so that the whole assembly presents a quadrangular front face, the first cabinet communicating with the second cabinet through one of its side portion in its higher part over the top of the dryer D.

[0013] The vertical cabinet A' includes some rail-mounted hooks (not shown) that can be extracted from the cabinet A' for the easy hanging of the garments to be dried. The horizontal module shown in figures 2 and 3 includes a number of drawers K with the bottom made with a net (plastic or stainless steel or another suitable material) that support the garment to dry, allowing at the same time the air circulation. The hot, dry air that comes from the heat exchanger of the condenser drier D is taken from the front of the dryer by means of ducts 10 and used to dry the clothes inside the additional unit(s) A' and A". Of course, for different types of dryers, the dry hot air can be taken in different position, as it is shown in figure 3 where the hot air is taken on one side of the dryer without the need of a specific duct or pipe.

[0014] It is advisable to add a blower 12 (figure 4) to compensate the pressure losses due to the longer path of the air stream, to avoid compromising the performances of the condenser dryer. Since the assembly may release some humidity in the room, a vent or an additional heat exchanger to condense the most of the humidity can solve this problem.
The main advantages of the device are:

• Possibility to dry faster than on the line garments that aren't normally dried in the tumble dryer D because of potential damages, such as sweaters, some kind of underwear, fine garments, stockings, woollen garments in general, garments with decorations applied, athletic shoes, etc.
• Re-use of the energy normally wasted by the dryer: the condenser dryer releases a lot of hot, dry air to the environment that is normally wasted. When used together with a normal drying cycle (sheets, towels...) this accessory improves dramatically the energy efficiency because without any increase of the energy consumption (besides the negligible amount used by the blower), it increases the amount of water evaporated.
• If the vertical unit A' is used to dry garments that normally require ironing (such as shirts, trousers...), the need to iron is greatly reduced or completely eliminated. The creasing release is generally better than in the line drying because of the slightly higher drying temperature.

[0015] In figure 4 is shown an embodiment of the accessory assembly for an air vented dryer. The main practical difference between the condenser and the air-vented dryer is that the air vented exhausts, together with the heat, a substantial amount of humidity.

[0016] The air-vented dryer comprises a drum 15, a heater 17, a blower 19 and an exhaust duct 21 in which a flow E of hot humid air flows. The high humidity content of the exhaust requires usually a vent to the outside of the house, and prevents the usage of the exhausted air to dry some extra clothing.

[0017] According to the invention, the cabinet(s) A' and/or A" can be equipped with a heat exchanger 14 in order to perform the same function normally done inside the condenser dryer: using the latent heat of the humidity content of the dryer exhaust E, to heat up another air stream B that can be conveniently used to dry extra garments. In this way part of the humidity is condensed and must be collected in 16 and later removed from the additional cabinet A' or A".

[0018] So, to build an accessory for the air-vented dryer with the same functionality of the one intended for the condenser dryer it is necessary:

• To have the additional blower (not shown) to compensate the pressure drop (same as the version for condenser dryer)
• To add a heat exchanger 14 similar to the one used inside the condenser dryer.
• To build a collector 16 for the condensed water and a practical way to empty it when full (it may be the same tank used for the low end of the condenser dryer or a pump that removes directly the water to the drain.)
• To add a blower 12 for the circulation of the secondary air stream that is heated up in the heat exchanger.

[0019] According to a further embodiment of the invention, the horizontal cabinet A" may work as a stand-alone appliance that performs the same soft cycle as the accessory assembly for the dryers. In this case (figures 5 and 6) the module with the drawers is provided with a blower 18 for the air circulation and a heating element 20 to supply the required heat. This concept has the advantages of the accessory assembly cabinet A", but the energy for free. In fact, while in the accessory there isn't any heater because it uses the wasted energy of the dryer, in this case we need an independent heater 20. The advantage is clearly the possibility to dry garments that can't be dried in a tumble dryer or in a cupboard dryer (such as sweaters).

[0020] In the embodiment of figure 5 the plurality of drawers K have a net structure so that the air flow can pass through the drawers in a somehow vertical direction. In the embodiment according to figure 6 the drawers K are offset in a way that the airflow has an alternate horizontal flow pattern. The same configurations of drawers K of figures 5 and 6 can be used for drawers of assembly shown in figure 2 or 3.

[0021] At the exhaust of an air vented dryer there is a flow of warm and very humid air. It is well understandable that this air can't be used to dry additional garments, but the same high humidity content that prevents the drying, is very useful to refresh the garments. It is already known that applying steam (that means humidity and heat) to a garment, it is possible to remove the most of the wrinkles and to 'refresh' the textile. A device designed to perform this task is already available on the market, but it consumes a significant amount of energy (1 to 3 kWh). It is convenient to use the air stream exhausted by the normal air-vented dryer to perform the same for free, as shown in the embodiment of figure 7. By adding one or more 'spraying' device 22, it is also possible to add specific chemicals to the humid air stream, in order to perform special 'treatment' to the cloth, such as deodorise, perfume, make stain resistant, make waterproof etc. At the end of the drying cycle, the air stream from the dryer becomes warmer and dry, so it may be enough to remove the residual humidity from the garments in the cabinet. It is possible also to use a 'drawers' module as A" for those garments that can't be hanged. Also for this embodiment, it may be necessary to add a blower 18 to compensate the pressure losses.

Claims

1. Accessory assembly for a clothes drum type dryer (D), characterised in that it comprises at least a cabinet (A', A") which can be connected to an air exhaust port of the clothes dryer (D) so that the clothes contained therein can be treated by such air.

2. Assembly according to claim 1 in which the clothes dryer is an air vented dryer, characterised in that said cabinet (A', A") comprises an heat exchanger (14) in which the hot and humid air coming from the air exhaust port of the dryer (D) heats up an air flow (B) entering the cabinet (A', A").

3. Assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the cabinet (A') is vertical, it is provided with hooks for hangers and it is apt to be mounted on one side of the dyer (D).

4. Assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the cabinet (A") is horizontal, it is provided with at least one drawer (K) for supporting clothes in the airflow and is apt to be mounted on the top of the dryer (D).

5. Assembly according to claim 4, characterised in that the drawers (K) are provided with a net or the like.

6. Assembly according to claims 3 and 4, characterised in that it comprises a first cabinet (A') apt to be mounted on one side of the dryer (D) for supporting clothes on hangers and a second cabinet (A") apt to be mounted on the top of the dryer (D) for supporting clothes on drawers (K) provided with a net or the like.

7. Assembly according to claim 6, characterised in that the first cabinet (A') is higher than the dryer (D) and that the second cabinet (A") has an height so that its top is substantially at the same level of the top of the first cabinet, so that the assembly presents a quadrangular front face, the first cabinet communicating with the second cabinet through one of its side portion in its higher part over the top of the dryer.

8. Assembly according to claim 3, characterised in that the vertical cabinet (A') comprises rail mounted hooks that can be extracted from the cabinet for an easy hanging of the garments.

9. Assembly according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises duct means (10) for connecting the air exhaust port of the dryer to the air inlet of the cabinet (A', A").

10. Assembly according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least one of the cabinet (A', A") is provided with a spraying device (22) for adding chemicals to the air flow in order to perform a special treatment of clothes.

11. Assembly according to claim 1, characterised in that the cabinet (A', A") is provided with a fan (18) and a heater (20) for heating the air flow entering the cabinet (A', A") so that it can work as a stand-alone dryer when it is not connected to the drum type dryer (D).

Drawing