(19)
(11) EP 3 690 130 A1

(12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION
published in accordance with Art. 153(4) EPC

(43) Date of publication:
05.08.2020 Bulletin 2020/32

(21) Application number: 18860445.8

(22) Date of filing: 29.09.2018
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC): 
D06F 58/08(2006.01)
(86) International application number:
PCT/CN2018/108612
(87) International publication number:
WO 2019/062902 (04.04.2019 Gazette 2019/14)
(84) Designated Contracting States:
AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR
Designated Extension States:
BA ME
Designated Validation States:
KH MA MD TN

(30) Priority: 29.09.2017 CN 201710904927

(71) Applicant: Qingdao Haier Washing Machine Co., Ltd.
Qingdao, Shandong 266101 (CN)

(72) Inventors:
  • LI, Xianchang
    Qingdao Shandong 266101 (CN)
  • WANG, Jian
    Qingdao Shandong 266101 (CN)

(74) Representative: HGF 
1 City Walk
Leeds LS11 9DX
Leeds LS11 9DX (GB)

   


(54) CLOTHES DRYER


(57) Provided is a clothes dryer, including a case body (1); a rear cover plate (2) connected to the case body (1); a bearing (10) disposed on the case body (1); and a sealed chamber (3) disposed between the case body (1) and the rear cover plate (2), where the sealed chamber (3) is configured to seal the bearing (10).




Description


[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 201710904927.1 filed on September 29, 2017 and entitled "clothes dryer", application of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD



[0002] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of clothes drying, for example, a clothes dryer.

BACKGROUND



[0003] In the related art, a clothes dryer includes a drum and a rotating shaft, where a bearing is installed on the rotating shaft, the bearing is generally arranged on a case body and directly exposed to an air path between the case body and a rear cover plate. Due to the high-temperature hot air generated by a heater flowing into the air path, the bearing is directly placed in a high-temperature environment. In order to prevent the temperature of the bearing from being too high, a metal bearing and high-temperature resisting grease are usually required, and a plastic bearing with better sliding effect cannot be used. However, the use of the metal bearing has the following problems: firstly, the cost is high; secondly, the metal bearing is easily damaged; and thirdly, because the high-temperature grease will also be worn out in a long-term high-temperature environment, eventually the bearing will not rotate smoothly, causing the machine to produce abnormal noise, and affecting the normal use of the clothes dryer.

SUMMARY



[0004] The present disclosure provides a clothes dryer, which may solve the technical problems that the cost of metal bearings is high, the metal bearings are easily damaged and the rotation of the metal bearings is not smooth in the related art, which affect the normal use of the clothes dryer.

[0005] A clothes dryer includes a case body; a rear cover plate connected to the case body; a bearing disposed on the case body; and a sealed chamber disposed between the case body and the rear cover plate, where the sealed chamber is configured to seal the bearing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS



[0006] 

FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a rear cover plate of a clothes dryer connected to a case body according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a part I of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a structural schematic diagram of the case body of the clothes dryer according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the rear cover plate of the clothes dryer according to the present embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a rear cover plate, with another structure, of the clothes dryer according to the present embodiment.



[0007] In the drawings:

10. bearing;

1. case body; 11. groove; 111. first groove; 1111. air outlet; 112. second groove; 1121. air inlet;

2. rear cover plate; 21. protrusion; 22. mounting hole; 23. connecting surface;

3. sealed chamber; 31. end cover; 311. stepped surface; 32. fixed base.


DETAILED DESCRIPTION



[0008] A clothes dryer provided in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, includes a case body1 and a rear cover plate 2 connected to the case body 1. A sealed chamber 3 is disposed between the case body 1 and the rear cover plate 2, where the sealed chamber 3 is configured to seal the bearing 10 on the case body 1.

[0009] In the present embodiment, the sealed chamber 3 is arranged between the case body 1 and the cover plate to isolate the bearing 10 disposed on the case body 1, such that the bearing 10 is prevented from being directly exposed to an air path between the case body 1 and the rear cover plate 2, thereby effectively preventing a temperature of the bearing 10 from being too high, and effectively preventing the grease from being easily worn out in a long-term high-temperature environment, which eventually results in the bearing 10 not rotating smoothly and the machine producing abnormal noise.

[0010] As shown in FIG. 3, the sealed chamber 3 includes an end cover 31 and a fixed base 32 connected to the end cover 31, where the end cover 31 is disposed on the rear cover plate 2, and the fixed base 32 is disposed on the case body 1. In the present embodiment, the fixed base 32 is disposed on the case body 1 and the end cover 31 is disposed on the rear cover 2, such that the bearing 10 may be sealed, thereby avoiding the bearing 10 from being directly exposed in a space between the case body 1 and the rear cover plate 2 to get affected by hot air between the case body 1 and the rear cover plate 2. The fixed base 32 is a ring-shaped boss protruding from the case body 1, and is integrally formed with the case body 1.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 5, a protrusion 21 protrudes from a side of the rear cover plate 2 adjacent to the case body 1, and is provided with a mounting hole 22 penetrating through the protrusion 21. A connecting surface 23 is provided on one end of the mounting hole 22 adjacent to the fixed base 32, and the end cover 31 is connected to the connecting surface 23 and the fixed base 32 in sequence. In the present embodiment, the end cover 31 is fixedly connected to the connecting surface 23 and the fixed base 32 in sequence by screws or other fasteners.

[0012] The present embodiment also provides an arranging manner for the end cover 31 and the rear cover plate 2. As shown in FIG. 6, the end cover 31 is integrally formed with the rear cover plate 2, and the end cover 31 is protruded from one side of the rear cover plate 2 facing away from the case body 1, where the end cover 31 is circumferentially provided with a stepped surface 311. When the rear cover plate 2 is fixed on the case body 1, the stepped surface 311 is abutted against the fixed base 32 to seal the bearing 10 in the sealed chamber 3 formed by the fixed base 32 and the end cover 31. The arranging manner of the end cover 31 in the present embodiment may be selected according to actual needs.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 4, a groove 11 is provided on the case body 1, and a ventilation cavity (not shown) is formed between the groove 11 and the rear cover plate 2, and is configured for the hot air passing through. The groove 11 includes a first groove 111 and a second groove 112, and the fixed base 32 is disposed in the first groove 111. In addition, an air inlet 1121 is disposed in the second groove 112, and an air outlet 1111 is provided in the second groove 112. A heater is disposed inside the case body 1, and the air inlet 1121 is disposed corresponding to the heater, so that the hot air generated by the heater may pass through the ventilation cavity from the air inlet 1121, and then enter an interior of a drum body of the case body 1 through the air outlet 1111 to dry the clothes in the drum body.

[0014] The above-mentioned air inlet 1121 is disposed at a first end of the groove 11, and the air outlet 1111 is disposed at a second end of the groove 11. As shown in FIG. 4, the air inlet 1121 is disposed above the fixed base 32, and the air outlet 1111 is disposed below the fixed base 32. The hot air flowing out of the air inlet 1121 is blocked by the sealed chamber 3, so that the hot air passes through both sides of the sealed chamber 3, and a flowing direction of the hot air is shown by an arrow direction in FIG. 4, thereby preventing the hot air in the ventilation cavity from affecting the temperature of the bearing 10, and at the same time avoiding high temperature of the grease in the bearing 10, thereby avoiding a situation that the bearing 10 does not rotate smoothly due to the relatively high temperature generated by the grease.

[0015] In an embodiment, the bearing 10 is made of plastic. Compared with a metal-material bearing, the plastic bearing has a better sliding effect and is low in production cost, and a situation that the metal bearing is easily damaged when the metal bearing is used in the related art is avoided.


Claims

1. A clothes dryer, comprising:

a case body (1);

a rear cover plate (2) connected to the case body (1);

a bearing (10) disposed on the case body (1); and

a sealed chamber (3) disposed between the case body (1) and the rear cover plate (2), wherein the sealed chamber (3) is configured to seal the bearing (10).


 
2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the sealed chamber (3) comprises an end cover (31) and a fixed base (32) connected to the end cover (31), the end cover (31) is disposed on the rear cover plate (2), and the fixed base (32) is disposed on the case body (1).
 
3. The clothes dryer according to claim 2, wherein the fixed base (32) is a ring-shaped boss protruding out from the case body (1).
 
4. The clothes dryer according to claim 3, wherein the rear cover plate (2) comprises a protrusion (21) protruded on one side of the rear cover plate (2) adjacent to the case body (1), the protrusion (21) is provided with a mounting hole (22) penetrating through the protrusion (21), and comprises a connecting surface (23) located on one end of the mounting hole (22) adjacent to the fixed base (32), and the end cover (31) is connected to the connecting surface (23) and the fixed base (32) in sequence.
 
5. The clothes dryer according to claim 2, wherein the end cover (31) is integrally formed with the rear cover plate (2), and the end cover (31) is protruded from one side of the rear cover plate (2) facing away from the case body (1).
 
6. The clothes dryer according to claim 5, wherein the end cover (31) is circumferentially provided with a stepped surface (311), and the stepped surface (311) is abutted against the fixed base (32).
 
7. The clothes dryer according to claim 2, wherein a groove (11) is disposed on the case body (1), a ventilation cavity is formed between the groove (11) and the rear cover plate (2), and the fixed base (32) is disposed inside the groove (11).
 
8. The clothes dryer according to claim 7, wherein an air inlet (1121) and an air outlet (1111) that are in communication with the ventilation cavity are disposed in the groove (11), wherein the air inlet (1121) is disposed at a first end of the groove (11), and the air outlet (1111) is disposed at a second end of the groove (11).
 
9. The clothes dryer according to claim 7, wherein a heater is disposed inside the case body (1), and disposed corresponding to the air inlet (1121).
 
10. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the bearing (10) is made of plastic.
 




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Cited references

REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION



This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.

Patent documents cited in the description