Washer/dryer with secondary condensing unit

Abstract

 A washer/dryer has a drying circuit in which air circulates under the action of a fan (F) that is provided with a cooling jacket (CJ) having a water inlet (WI) and a water outlet (WO) in order to create a water circulation that cools a wall (E) of the fan (F), so as to condense the residual moisture contained in the air coming from the condensing duct (C) when the air comes into contact with the cooled wall (E), and thus achieve a reduction of the drying time.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to washers/dryers, and in particular to a washer/dryer in which a fan acts also as secondary condensing unit to speed up the drying of the laundry at the end of the washing cycle.

[0002] It is known that in washing machines that also perform the drying of the washed laundry there is provided a circuit to circulate air between the laundry-containing drum and a condensing unit, in which the moisture removed from the laundry is condensed and discharged by means of the drain pump of the machine.

[0003] During the drying step a fan creates an air stream in the circuit and a resistor heats the air circulating in said circuit. After this initial phase, an electrovalve is opened to admit condensing water into a condensing duct, where the condensing water is kept in suspension by the suction created by the fan.

[0004] In this way, the vapor sucked in from the tank encounters the suspended water and partially condenses toward the drain pump through a suitable drain pipe. Therefore, the fan receives partially cooled and dried air that is heated again by the resistor and returned to the tank.

[0005] The most serious drawback of this known arrangement is that the moisture present in the air coming from the tank and passing through the condensing duct is only partially involved in the condensing process, since the suspended water can not come into contact with the whole stream of moist air that therefore reaches the fan with still a certain moisture degree.

[0006] This results in a poor condensing effectiveness and a long drying time, with a subsequently high power consumption due to the long operating period of the fan and resistor.

[0007] Therefore the object of the present invention is to provide a washer/dryer which overcomes said drawbacks. This object is achieved by means of a washer/dryer in which the fan acts as secondary condensing unit by operating as a heat exchanger thanks to a cooling jacket. Other advantageous features of the present washer/dryer are disclosed in the dependent claims.

[0008] The main advantage of the present washer/dryer is that of achieving in the fan the condensation of the residual moisture contained in the air coming from the condensing duct, so as to improve the condensing effectiveness. This results in a reduction of the drying time, with a subsequently lower power consumption.

[0009] Another significant advantage of this arrangement comes from its structural compactness that allows to achieve the above-mentioned improvement in effectiveness without affecting the overall size of the machine and with only a minimum increase in manufacturing cost.

[0010] These and other advantages and characteristics of the washer/dryer according to the present invention will be clear to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, with reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

Fig.1 is perspective front view showing the drying circuit of a conventional machine; and

Fig.2 is an enlarged partially sectional view showing in detail the structure of the above-mentioned fan.

[0011] With reference to fig. 1, there is seen that in a washer/dryer the drying circuit conventionally includes a centrifugal fan F connected to a condensing duct C where the stream of moist air, coming from the tank through an air entrance AE, flows in a direction opposite to the condensing water CW introduced in duct C through a relevant water entrance WE. A resistor R, with a relevant safety thermostat T, is arranged downstream from fan F in a return duct H to heat air prior to returning it to the tank, while the water condensed in duct C is conveyed to the drain pump through a bottom drain D.

[0012] In the detail of fig.2 there is seen that according to the present invention fan F is provided with an external cooling jacket CJ that encloses it at least partially. Said cooling jacket CJ is provided with a water inlet WI and a water outlet WO so as to create a water circulation (indicated by the arrows) that cools the external wall E of fan F.

[0013] The novel aspect of the present invention consists therefore in said wall E acting as a heat exchanger on which the residual moisture condenses, and is then discharged through a relevant condensate drain CD.

[0014] It should be noted that in this way fan F performs its function of secondary condensing unit exploiting the normal motion imparted to the air to have it make contact with the wide exchange surface E. The only increase in power consumption is given by the pump (not illustrated) that circulates water in the cooling jacket CJ, but the reduction in the drying time that results in a decreased operating time of fan F and resistor R more than makes up for that increased consumption.

[0015] It is clear that the above-described and illustrated embodiment of the washer/dryer according to the invention is just an example susceptible of various modifications. In particular, the exact shape and arrangement of fan F and of the cooling jacket CJ can be freely changed as long as a wide exchange surface E therebetween is retained.

[0016] For example, fan F could also not be of the centrifugal type and the cooling jacket CJ could therefore be not on the outside but formed as an internal interspace.

Claims

1. Washer/dryer having a drying circuit in which air circulates under the action of a fan (F), characterized in that said fan (F) is provided with a cooling jacket (CJ) having a water inlet (WI) and a water outlet (WO) so as to create by means of a pump a water circulation suitable to cool a wall (E) of the fan (F), the air passing through the fan (F) coming into contact with said cooled wall (E) adjacent to which there is formed a condensate drain (CD).

2. Washer/dryer according to claim 1, characterized in that the cooling jacket (CJ) encloses at least partially the fan (F) that is of the centrifugal type, the cooled wall (E) being an external wall of the fan (F).

Drawing