Patent Abstract:
An operation method for a drying device is disclosed. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new type of a drying device which enables air in a drying drum and a cabinet for drying the laundry to circulate continuously, as well as capable of getting a suitable output of power based on each drying cycle due to a various structure of a drying heater.

Full Description:
[0001]     This application claims the benefit of the Patent Korean Application No. P2004-116155, filed on Dec. 30, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a drying device, and more particularly, to a new type of a drying device which enables air to circulate continuously therein for drying the laundry and which can gain a suitable output of power for an operation of each cycle by varying a structure of a drying heater.  
         [0004]     2. Discussion of the Related Art  
         [0005]     In general, a dryer is an electric home appliance which can dry cloth items, cloths and beddings (hereinafter, ‘the laundry’). The dryer has the laundry therein and dries the laundry by supplying hot air to the washed laundry continuously.  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional tumble dryer out of related art dryers.  
         [0007]     The related art tumble dryer includes a body  10 , a drying drum  20 , a door  40 , a motor  50 , a drying heater  60  and a fan  70 .  
         [0008]     The body  10  defines an exterior of the tumble dyer, and the drying drum  20  is rotatably mounted inside of the body  10 .  
         [0009]     Also, an opening  11  is formed in front of the body  10 , and the door  40  is coupled for opening/closing the opening  11 .  
         [0010]     The motor  50  is secured to an inner downside of the body  10  for creating a driving force to rotate the drying. drum  20  and the fan  70 .  
         [0011]     The drying heater  60  is mounted on an inner portion of a hot air supply channel  91  for heating air flowing within the hot air supply channel  91 . The hot air supply channel  91  guides a hot air passage supplied into the drying drum  20 .  
         [0012]     The fan  70  discharges dry air flowing inside of the drying drum  10  to an outside, and is provided in communication with a hot air discharge channel  92 .  
         [0013]     Thus, once the fan  70  is put into operation, external air is guided by the hot air supply channel  91  and heated by passing through the drying heater  60  to be drawn into the drying drum  10 .  
         [0014]     Thereby, the damp laundry introduced into the drying drum  10  is gradually getting dried by the heated external air.  
         [0015]     The air having dried the laundry by being circulated within the drying drum  10  is guided by the hot air supplying channel  92  to be discharged outside.  
         [0016]     Once drying is completed by the repeated performance of the above process, the fane  70  and the drying heater  60  are stopped to finish a drying cycle.  
         [0017]     However, the related art tumble dryer has a problem that a tangled portion of the laundry is not dried smoothly, because the drying cycle is performed in a state of the laundry being introduced together at one time.  
         [0018]     There is another problem that it is impossible to keep the laundry for a long time period in the related art tumble dryer.  
         [0019]     Thus, recently demands have been increasing accordingly for a new type of a combination dryer having a drying capacity thereof enlarged as well as capable of keeping the laundry for a long time. There are various kinds of combination dryers provided with tumble dryers having auxiliary cabinet dryers provided therewith, for example, US Laid-open Patent Application No. 2004-0194339 A1 or US Laid-open Patent Application No. 2004-0154194 A1.  
         [0020]     The above combination dryer has a cabinet dryer provided on a top of a conventional dryer having a rotatory drum. The cabinet dryer has space for the laundry and receives hot air used to dry or keep the laundry for a long time.  
         [0021]     The cabinet dryer is employed to dry the laundry or keep the laundry therein for a long time after receiving hot air from the tumble dryer.  
         [0022]     However, the combination dryer described above may cause a problem that the combination dryer cannot be supplied for being built-in, because the air having dried the laundry is discharged outside of the combination dryer.  
         [0023]     That is, since space for being built-in should be formed large enough to maintain a sufficient distance with a wall for discharging air smoothly, a design of an exterior may deteriorate.  
         [0024]     Furthermore, since the air discharged from the combination dryer is a high-temperature humid air, internal environment may not be the high temperature humid one which a user does not want.  
         [0025]     Still further, since the related art combination dryer has only one drying heater for generating hot air, and the output of a drying heater needed for operating a tumble dryer and the output needed for operating a cabinet dryer are the same, there may be a problem of unnecessary electric consumption.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0026]     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a drying device and a method thereof that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.  
         [0027]     An object of the present invention is to provide a drying device which enables air in a drying drum and a cabinet for drying the laundry to circulate continuously, as well as capable of getting a suitable output of power based on each drying cycle due to a various structure of a drying heater.  
         [0028]     Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.  
         [0029]     To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a drying device comprising a tumble dryer comprising a hot air supplying pipe having more than two drying heaters therein for guiding hot air inflow; and a cabinet dryer provided on a top of the tumble dryer, the cabinet dryer comprising a keeping part having the laundry therein and an air inlet pipe receiving hot air from the hot air supplying pipe.  
         [0030]     The hot air supplying pipe comprises a fan for forcibly ventilating air within the hot air supplying pipe and an air condensing part.  
         [0031]     The cabinet dryer further comprises an air outlet for guiding air discharged from the keeping part into the hot air supplying pipe.  
         [0032]     The drying heaters of the tumble dryer are two, and the two drying heaters having the same output capacity of power are paralleled.  
         [0033]     Also, the drying heaters of the tumble dryer are two, and the two drying heaters having a different output capacity of power are paralleled.  
         [0034]     The drying heaters of the tumble dryer are two, and the two drying heaters having the same output capacity of power are connected so as to adjust linear output.  
         [0035]     Also, the drying heaters of the tumble dryer are two, and the two drying heaters having a different output capacity of power are connected so as to adjust linear output.  
         [0036]     The drying heaters of the tumble dryer are three, and the two drying heaters having the same output capacity of power are connected so as to adjust linear output and the other drying heater parallels the two drying heater.  
         [0037]     A method of a drying device comprising steps of identifying if an operation object is a tumble dryer and/or a cabinet dryer; and controlling more than two drying heaters to selectively radiate heat based on the identified operation object.  
         [0038]     At that time, all of the drying heaters are controlled to be on in case that the operation object is identified as a tumble dryer, and one of the drying heaters is controlled to be on in case that the operation object is identified as a cabinet dryer. Also, one of the drying heaters is controlled to be on in case that the operation object is identified as both of the tumble dryer and the cabinet dryer.  
         [0039]     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0040]     The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:  
         [0041]      FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating an inner structure of a conventional tumble dryer.  
         [0042]      FIG. 2  is a diagram schematically illustrating an exterior of a drying device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0043]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram schematically illustrating the drying device according to the first embodiment of the present.  
         [0044]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart schematically illustrating a controlling process of the drying device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0045]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram schematically illustrating a drying device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0046]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram schematically illustrating a drying device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0047]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram schematically illustrating a drying device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0048]     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.  
         [0049]     As shown in FIGS.  2  to  3 , a drying device according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a tumble dryer  100 , a cabinet dryer  200 , and a controller  300 .  
         [0050]     The tumble dryer  100  performs only a drying cycle of the laundry. Hence, the tumble dryer  100  includes a drying drum  120  capable of rotating and agitating, a hot air supplying pipe  130  and more than two heaters  141  and  142 .  
         [0051]     The hot air supplying pipe  130  as a pipe guiding an inflow of high-temperature hot air is connectedly in communication with inside space among the drying drum  120 , the air condensing part  160  and a cabinet dryer  200 .  
         [0052]     The hot air supplying pipe  130  includes a first supplying pipe  131  for supplying hot air into the drying drum  120 , a second supplying pipe  132  for receiving and supplying the air having passed through the air condensing part  160  to the first supplying pipe  131 , and a third supplying pipe  133  for receiving and transmitting the air discharged from the drying drum  120  to the air condensing part  160 .  
         [0053]     A filtering part  134  may be further provided in the third supplying pipe  133  for filtering foreign substances contained in the flowing air.  
         [0054]     Also, the drying heaters  141  and  142  are provided within the second supplying pipe  132 , and heats flowing air along the second supplying pipe  132 .  
         [0055]     The drying heaters  141  and  142  are two, and the drying heaters  141  and  142  having the same output capacity of power are paralleled each other.  
         [0056]     For example, each drying heater has an output of 2700-watt. Also, the drying heaters are paralleled each other to have an output of 5400-watt at most.  
         [0057]     Alternatively, the drying heaters  141  and  142  may be two, and may be paralleled each other to have a different output capacity.  
         [0058]     For example, one drying heater  141  may have an output of 3000-watt and the other drying heater  142  may have an output of 2400-watt, thereby having the maximum output of 5400-watt.  
         [0059]     On the other hand, the tumble dryer according to the first embodiment of the present invention further includes a fan  150  and an air condensing part  160 .  
         [0060]     The fan  150  is provided within the second supplying pipe  132  for forcibly ventilating the air within the second supplying pipe  132 .  
         [0061]     The air condensing part  160  condenses the air flowing along the hot air supplying pipe to radiate heat of the air. The air condensing part  160  includes a condenser  161  and a condensing fan  162 .  
         [0062]     The condenser  161  receives the hot air from the third supplying pipe  133 , and includes a pipe having a plurality of branched portions and a cooling pin.  
         [0063]     The condensing fan  162  ventilates external air toward the condenser  161 .  
         [0064]     Thus, the humid air passing through the condenser  161  is condensed through heat-exchanging with external air supplied by driving of the condensing fan  162 , while flowing along a pipe way of the condenser  161 .  
         [0065]     The cabinet dryer  200  is mounted on a top of the tumble dryer  100 , with a keeping part  220  having lots of the laundry kept therein.  
         [0066]     The cabinet dryer  200  includes a hot air inlet pipe  241 , and an air outlet pipe  242 .  
         [0067]     A first end of the hot air inlet pipe  241  is connected to an air outlet of the second supplying pipe  132 , and a second end thereof is connectedly in communication with the keeping part  220  for transmitting hot air from the second supplying pipe  132  into the keeping part  220 .  
         [0068]     Preferably, an air channel valve  180  may be further provided in the second supplying pipe  132  for selectively guiding a direction of air flowing into the first supplying pipe  131  and/or the hot air inlet pipe  241 .  
         [0069]     Also, a first end of the air outlet pipe  242  is in communication with the keeping part  220 , and a second end thereof is connected to the third supplying pipe  133  to discharge high-temperature humid air having passed through the laundry within the keeping part  220 .  
         [0070]     At that time, an auxiliary exhaustion fan (not shown) may be further provided in the air outlet pipe  242 .  
         [0071]     The controller  300  according to the first embodiment of the present invention controls operations of the tumble dryer  100  and the cabinet dryer  200 .  
         [0072]     At that time, the controller  300  may be provided in at least one of the tumble dryer  100  and the cabinet dryer  200 , and it is preferred but not necessary that the controller  300  is provided only in the tumble dryer  100  as shown in embodiments of the present invention.  
         [0073]     Referring to a flow chart of  FIG. 4 , a controlling process of a drying device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.  
         [0074]     First, the controller  300  consistently receives a user&#39;s request for a drying cycle (Silo).  
         [0075]     Once a drying cycle is requested by the user through the controller  300 , the controller  300  identifies an operation object of the drying cycle (S 120 ).  
         [0076]     The operation object is the tumble dryer  100  and/or the cabinet dryer  200 .  
         [0077]     Next, the controller  300  controls the air channel valve  180  to open only a pipe connected with the identified operation object (S 131 , S 132  and S 133 ).  
         [0078]     Hence, the controller  300  controls a pair of drying heater  141  and  142  to generate hot air.  
         [0079]     Especially, the pair of the drying heaters  141  and  142  is controlled to radiate heat differently based on the operation object.  
         [0080]     For example, once the operation object is identified as the tumble dryer  100  or as a simultaneous operation of the tumble dryer  100  and the cabinet dryer  200 , the controller  300  controls the pair of the drying heaters  141  and  142  to be on (S 141 ) for gaining the maximum output of 5400-watt. Thereby, a smooth drying cycle is possible.  
         [0081]     In case that the operation object is identified as the cabinet dryer  200 , only one drying heater  141  is controlled to be on (S 141 ) for gaining a relatively small output of 2700-watt.  
         [0082]     That is why the operation of the cabinet dryer  200  is not for an actual drying cycle, but for a refreshing or a laundry keeping. That is, only one drying heater is on, because the operation temperature may be lower than the operation temperature for drying the laundry.  
         [0083]     Also, as described above, due to the selective radiation of each drying heater  141  and  142 , the temperature within the second supplying pipe  132  maintains high.  
         [0084]     At that time, since the fan  150  drives, air within each pipe  131 ,  132  and  133  of the hot air supplying pipe  130  is forcibly ventilated.  
         [0085]     The hot air changed hot by the drying heaters  141  and  142  is flown along each hot air supplying pipe  131 ,  132  and  133  to be consistently supplied into the drying drum  120  of the tumble dryer  100  and/or the keeping part  220  of the cabinet dryer  200 .  
         [0086]     During the above series of the processes, the condensing fan  162  drives to enhance a condensing efficiency of air flowing along the condenser  161 .  
         [0087]     Hence, humid air drawn from the drying drum  120  and/or the keeping part  220  passes through the air condensing part  160  to remove moisture and to become dry air. Thereby, drying efficiency may be enhanced.  
         [0088]     Thus, the laundry is dried by repetition of air inflow for a predetermined period of time.  
         [0089]     On the other hand, the drying heaters  141  and  142  of the drying device according to each embodiment of the present invention are not defined only to be paralleled two structures.  
         [0090]     That is, the drying heaters  141  and  142  are configured to be two. The two drying heaters  141  and  142  have the same output capacity of power and may be connected so as to adjust linear output.  
         [0091]     That is possible, because the drying heaters  141  and  142  are paralleled and a tap  145  is provided at a connecting portion between the two drying heaters  141  and  142  as well as an output end of the drying heater  142  provided in rear, as shown in  FIG. 5  illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0092]     Power is selectively supplied to one drying heater  141  or both of the drying heaters  141  and  142  by the tap  145  to enable linear output adjusted.  
         [0093]     Reference numbers  21  and  22  not described are relays, and a reference number  23  is an electric power source.  
         [0094]     Alternatively, each drying heater  141  and  142  may have a different output capacity and may be connected so as to adjust linear output.  
         [0095]     For example, as shown in  FIG. 6  illustrating a third embodiment of the present invention, one drying heater  141  has an output of 3000-watt and the other drying heater  142  has an output of 2400-watt.  
         [0096]     Preferably, the drying heater  142  having the output of 3000-watt is connected with a power-applying end.  
         [0097]     Referring to  FIG. 7 , a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.  
         [0098]     According to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, three drying heaters  141 ,  142  and  143  are provided. The two of the drying heaters  141  and  142  (hereinafter, referred to as a first drying heater and a second drying heater) are connected so as to adjust linear output. The other drying heater  143  (hereinafter referred to as a third drying heater) parallels the first and second drying heater  141  and  142 .  
         [0099]     The first drying heater  141  and the second drying heater  142  may be formed to have the same output capacity of power or to have different output capacity of power.  
         [0100]     Preferably, the entire output capacity of the first and second drying heater  141  and  142  is the same as that of the third drying heater  143 .  
         [0101]     As described before, the operation process of the drying device through controlling the drying heater according to the second to fourth embodiments of the present invention is the same as the operation process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0102]     Therefore, the drying device according to each embodiment of the present invention has an industrial effect that inner environment may not be changed to be suitable for being built-in, because air flowing within the tumble dryer and the cabinet dryer is not discharged outside but continuously circulated.  
         [0103]     Furthermore, the drying device according to each embodiment of the present invention has another industrial effect of enhancing drying efficiency, because the circulated air has its moisture removed smoothly due to the condensing part.  
         [0104]     Still further, the drying device according to each embodiment of the present invention has another industrial effect of preventing unnecessary power loss due, because there are more than two drying heaters having selective output capacity of power, thereby getting each operation object to have suitable output in the drying cycle.  
         [0105]     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Technology Classification (CPC): 3