Patent Abstract:
A control system for a clothes dryer has an inlet thermister located in the air flow system prior to the dryer drum to monitor the inlet temperature. This inlet temperature signal is provided to a microprocessor which samples this temperature over time and when this temperature exceeds a predetermined rate of increase with respect to time, the microprocessor generates an air flow restriction or blockage signal representing an air flow restriction or blockage in the dryer vent ducting.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a clothes dryer control system for detecting blockages in the dryer exhaust vent ducting. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The installation of a customer&#39;s clothes dryer exhaust vent ducting is critical to the performance of the clothes drying appliance. Ducting that is either too long, has too many bends or is made of very flexible material can choke the airflow coming out of the dryer and thereby cause a reduction of the total system airflow speed through the drying chamber and out the exhaust vent ducting. This reduction in airflow speed causes inefficient operation of the clothes dryer heater system and may result in increased drying times for all types of loads and fabrics. 
     Clothes dryers currently utilize thermistors and electronic controls to monitor and control drying time and degree of dryness of clothes during different drying cycles. U.S Pat. No. 5,291,667 issued Mar. 8, 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,924 issued Aug. 29, 1995 disclose a method of controlling a dryer by monitoring the air inlet temperature. When the monitored temperature exceeds a high limit temperature value a given number of times the dyer activates a blockage indicator. 
     While the use of an inlet temperature thermistor or thermostat to detect temperatures above a high limit inlet temperatures causing heaters to turn off is known, there still exist a need for determining the relative air flow restriction in the dryer vent ducting blockage prior to a high limit threshold being reached so as to permit continuous drying operation of the clothes dryer until the air flow restriction is corrected. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a dryer control system that detects a decrease in airflow speed through the dryer due to an increase in air flow restriction by monitoring the rate of temperature rise at an inlet temperature sensor located upstream of the dryer drum. 
     Preferably, the control system estimates the equivalent airflow restriction caused by the customer&#39;s exhaust venting installation from temperature signals monitored by the inlet temperature sensor. 
     In accordance with the present invention there is provided a control system for an automatic clothes dryer having a clothes drying drum, an air inlet to the drum, an air outlet from the drum, means for flowing dryer air through the drum and heater means for heating the dryer air at the air inlet side of the drum. The system comprises a temperature sensor for sensing drum inlet temperature of the dryer air at the inlet side of the drum. The system further comprises a controller responsive to the drum inlet air temperature sensor for determining the time rate of increased change in the drum inlet temperature and generating an air flow blockage signal when the time rate of change of temperature exceeds a predetermined rate value. 
     Preferably, the inlet temperature sensor is positioned adjacent the heating elements of a clothes dryer and upstream of the drying drum in the direction of air flow through the dryer. The inlet temperature sensor generates a resistance signal that is read by a circuit as a voltage signal which is sent to a controller. The controller converts or transforms the voltage signal by a transfer function into a corresponding temperature value. The temperature values are processed in accordance with a detection algorithm that determines the change in temperature at the inlet temperature sensor position using the input signal from the inlet temperature sensor. The controller relates the rate of temperature change to an equivalent venting exhaust restriction and therefore, information relating to a qualitative evaluation of the customer&#39;s venting setup can be ascertained. This information can be 
     1) relayed back to the customer if he or she so desires by recalling the value (or qualitative evaluation) using a dryer user interface; 
     2) used subsequently by the dryer&#39;s controller to adjust displayed estimated drying times as well as to adjust the drying control cycle functions with respect to the customer&#39;s venting setup; and, 
     3) store the information for field technicians as a quick diagnostic tool. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a better understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention reference may be had to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a clothes dryer control system according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a flow chart diagram of a method according to the invention for detecting air blockage in the clothes dryer. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a control system is shown for use with an automatic clothes dryer  10  wherein the dryer itself may be of any well known construction having a clothes drying drum  14 , an air inlet to the drum, an air outlet from the drum, and air mover or blower for flowing dryer air, as illustrated by arrows  16 , through the drum  14  and out of the dryer  10 . Generally as is well known, heater means  18 , for example, an electrical resistance heater may be provided for heating the dryer air at the air inlet side of the drum  14  in well known manner. It should be understood that the heater means  18  may also comprise a combustion type of heater. 
     A temperature sensor or thermistor  20  is provided for sensing the temperature of the dryer air at the inlet side of the drum  14 . Preferably, inlet thermistor  20  is placed in any convenient position within the inlet air flow so as to sense the temperature of the air flow without being directly influenced by direct radiation from the heater means  18 . A suitable shield for this purpose may be provided. The signal output of inlet thermistor  20  is a resistance value that varies with temperature. The thermistor  20  is in a circuit (not shown) that produces a voltage signal that is coupled to a suitable control circuit in controller or microprocessor  22  where the voltage value associated with thermistor  20  is converted to a temperature value. The inlet air temperature sensed by thermistor  20  typically controls the heater means  18  to maintain the inlet air at a predetermined substantially constant temperature. The particular inlet air temperature is determined in accordance with the overall design of the dryer and may, for example, be 250 degrees F. In accordance with the present invention this constant value for the inlet temperature may be altered or modified during dryer operation by controlling energization of the heating means  18  in accordance with a dryer vent ducting blockage or air flow restriction. 
     A temperature sensor or thermister  24  senses the temperature of the dryer air at the outlet side of the drum  14 . Microprocessor  22  is programmed in accordance with well known techniques to be responsive to outlet thermistor  24  to control the operation of the heater means, preferably heating elements, and thereby control the air temperature entering the dryer drum and also to initiate termination of the drying cycle in accordance with the sensed outlet temperature values. 
     The temperatures sensed from thermistor  18  are provided to controller or microprocessor  22  which is programmed to perform the functions described below. In addition, the controller  22  controls the display of information on a time to dry display, a dryness display, and an air blockage indicator  25 . 
     FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a method and functions performed by the microprocessor  22  for detecting an air blockage or an air flow restriction in accordance with the present invention. The control method may be initiated at or during the starting of the dryer or once the dryer has come up to its operating temperature chosen for a particular cycle of operation. At this point the inlet thermistor  18  provides a reading in voltage at step  28  which is transformed by microprocessor  22  into a temperature signal at step  30 . The microprocessor  22  at decision step  32  takes samples of the temperature readings from the thermister  18  and measures any change or differences in the temperature readings. In the event that any temperature rise is less than a rate of one degree F. per second, then the microprocessor sets an exhaust variable control to “NORMAL” or some numerical value associated with normal dryer operation. This normal value will be indicative of the fact the there is no air flow restriction or blockage in the dryer vent ducting that leads from the dryer to the outside environment. At this point, the processor at step  36  returns to the start again and proceeds to get another value for the therrmistor in volts to compare is with previous values. 
     In the event that the decision step  32  finds that the temperature rise is greater than 1 degree F. in one second, microprocessor  22  sets the exhaust variable to “blocked” or a numerical value indicative of the rate of change or rise greater than 1 degree F. in the last second. It should be understood that in the preferred embodiment the rate of temperature change over time is 1 degree F. per second. However, depending on the size of the dryer, and other dryer design parameters, this time rate of change at which the blocked indication will be generated may be at a different rate value. The microprocessor  22  may then use this numerical value for an indication of air flow restriction or blockage to adjust the drying cycle operation at step  40 . This may involve reducing the energization of the heating elements to lower the inlet temperature of the dryer or may result in the complete de-energization of the heating elements in the event that the numerical rate value is greater than a predetermined rate value which indicates that there is a complete blockage in the exhaust vent ducting which could result in unsafe operating conditions. The microprocessor  22  then displays at step  42  a revised drying time based on the blocked value. Accordingly, if the drying time was to be 30 minutes and there was a partial blockage, this could be readjusted to read 35 or 40 minutes. 
     Further, the microprocessor  22  is provided with memory  23  (FIG. 1) which stores blockage information or a history of this information in the dryer so that a technician can later determine if there had been any problems with the air flow through the dryer vent ducting. 
     After this stage, the microprocessor  22  ends the blockage detection at step  46 . Alternatively, the testing could continue with new values being continued to be monitored by the inlet thermister  20  so that the whole process of air flow restriction can be modified on an ongoing basis during the drying cycle. 
     It should be understood that alternative embodiments of the present invention may be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art in view of the above description for the preferred embodiments of this invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the teachings of the preferred embodiments and should be limited to the scope of the claims that follow.

Technology Classification (CPC): 3