Patent Description:
A clothes dryer will produce a lot of debris during the process of drying clothes. In order to prevent debris generated during the drying process of the clothes dryer from entering into other structures of the clothes dryer (the entering of the debris will affect the performance of the clothes dryer), the clothes dryers are generally provided with a filter device to filter debris. <CIT> relates generally to a dryer having a rotating filter for capturing dust. <CIT> relates generally to a combined self-cleaning filter and vortexer for removing large and fine particulate contaminants from a stream of fluid. <CIT> relates generally to an apparatus for separating finely divided particulate material within a predetermined size range from fluid in which it is suspended,.

For the current filter device, it is generally needs to manually clean the debris on a filter screen regularly, or needs to provide a cleaning component on the clothes dryer to clean the filter screen. However, manual removing of debris are time-consuming and laborious, and the cleaning component on the clothes dryer for removing debris by mechanical contact has following disadvantages:.

The purpose of the present application is to overcome the problems of time-consuming, laborious and incomplete cleaning of the current filter device for filtering the debris and other impurities.

The filter screen component, the base assembly, the clothes dryer, and the washing and drying integrated machine provided by the present application cannot only effectively filter impurities such as debris in the airflow, but also have the following advantages in the removing of the debris from the filter: since debris is removed by centrifugal force, there is no need to provide additional cleaning components that are in contact with the filter screen, so as to avoid transferring debris to the additional cleaning components; once the motor is activated, the debris can be removed automatically without manual cleaning; this cleaning method cannot only remove debris from the surface of the filter screen, but also remove debris in the small meshes of the filter screen, and thus a thorough clean is obtained.

<NUM>: motor; <NUM>: motor end cover; <NUM>: filter screen part; <NUM>: frame; <NUM>: first annular body; <NUM>: second annular body; <NUM>: connecting rib; <NUM>: end cover; <NUM>: depressed part; <NUM>: opening; <NUM>: shaft sleeve; <NUM>: filter screen; <NUM>: water spray part; <NUM>: nozzle; <NUM>: base; <NUM>: first plate; <NUM>: mounting hole; <NUM>: second plate; <NUM>: exhaust hole; <NUM>: air duct; <NUM>: water pump mount; <NUM>: baffle; <NUM>: first wear sheet; <NUM>: second wear sheet; <NUM>: elastic gasket.

The specific embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiment described herein are only used to illustrate and explain the application, and are not used to limit the present application.

It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application and the characteristics of the embodiments can be combined with each other if there is no conflict.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present application. In addition, "inner", "outer" should be understood as the inner and outer relative to the contour of each part itself.

In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for description purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined by "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly that there is at least one such feature.

As shown in <FIG>, the present application provides a filter screen component including a motor <NUM> and a filter screen part <NUM> which comprises an annular filter screen body having multiple meshes. An end of the filter screen body is connected to a rotary shaft of the motor <NUM>, and the other end is provided with an opening <NUM>.

The present application provides a filter screen component which can be installed in equipment that needs to filter debris or other impurities, such as a clothes dryer, a washing and drying integrated machine, an air conditioner, or a purifier. As shown in <FIG> (especially as shown in <FIG>), the filter screen component is installed in an air duct <NUM> of a base <NUM> of the clothes dryer, an airflow enters into the air duct <NUM> from an air inlet on the base <NUM>. The airflow in the air duct <NUM> can blow onto an outer surface of the annular filter screen body, to intercept debris in the airflow for drying clothes. Then, the airflow passes through the interior of the annular filter screen body and flows out from the opening <NUM>. The motor <NUM> can be activated when it is necessary to remove debris from the filter screen part <NUM>, then the motor <NUM> drives the filter screen part <NUM> to rotate, and debris and other impurities on the filter screen part <NUM> will drop from the filter screen under the action of centrifugal force. Preferably, water is sprayed on the filter screen part <NUM> to moisten debris, so that the drop of debris under the action of centrifugal force can be facilitated and rising of dust can be avoided.

The filter screen component provided by the present application cannot only effectively filter impurities such as debris in the airflow, but also have the following advantages in the removing of the debris from the filter: since debris is removed by centrifugal force, there is no need to provide additional cleaning components that are in contact with the filter screen, so as to avoid transferring debris to the additional cleaning components; once the motor is activated, the debris can be removed automatically without manual cleaning; this cleaning method cannot only remove debris from the surface of the filter screen, but also remove debris in the small meshes of the filter screen, and thus a thorough clean is obtained.

In a specific embodiment of the present application, the filter screen part <NUM> further comprises an end cover <NUM> arranged at the end of the annular filter screen body. The rotary shaft of the motor <NUM> is connected with the end cover <NUM>. A central part of the end cover <NUM> is recessed inwardly along an axial direction to form a depressed part <NUM>. The motor <NUM> is located at least partially in the depressed part <NUM>. This arrangement can render the structure compact.

Specifically, the annular filter screen part <NUM> comprises a frame <NUM> and a filter screen <NUM> arranged on the frame <NUM>. The specific structure of the frame <NUM> is shown in <FIG>, the frame <NUM> comprises a first annular body <NUM> arranged at one end of the frame, a second annular body <NUM> arranged at the other end of the frame, and a connecting rib <NUM> connected between the first annular body <NUM> and the second annular body <NUM>. The filter screen <NUM> having multiple meshes for filtering debris is arranged in a circumferential direction between the first annular body <NUM> and the second annular body <NUM>, to form an annular filter screen body. The frame <NUM> also comprises the end cover <NUM> integrally formed with the first annular body <NUM>. The end cover <NUM> is recessed inward to form a depressed part <NUM> in the shape of a general frustum. A shaft sleeve <NUM> arranged around the rotary shaft of the motor <NUM> is provided at the bottom of the depressed part <NUM> (as shown in <FIG>). The shaft sleeve <NUM> is fixed to the rotary shaft of the motor <NUM>, to drive the filter screen part <NUM> to rotate by the motor <NUM>.

In order to moisten debris on the filter screen, in a preferable embodiment, the filter screen component further comprises a water spray part <NUM> for spraying water on the outer circumferential surface of the filter screen body. The water spray part <NUM> may comprise multiple nozzles <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, in the clothes dryer, the water spray part <NUM> can be directly formed on the base <NUM> of the clothes dryer. Of course, a separate water spray part <NUM> is also possible in this case.

Another aspect of the present application provides a base assembly. As shown in <FIG>, the base assembly comprises the base <NUM> and the filter screen component as described above. The base <NUM> is formed with an air duct <NUM> for airflow to flow through, the motor <NUM> is fixed on the base <NUM>, and the filter screen body of the filter screen part <NUM> is located in the air duct <NUM> to enable the airflow in the air duct <NUM> to blow onto an outer circumferential surface of the filter screen body, in order to filter debris in the airflow.

Preferably, as shown in <FIG>, the base <NUM> comprises a baffle <NUM> for preventing debris, which is dropped from the filter screen body, from flowing toward an air inlet of the base <NUM>. The baffle <NUM> extends from a side wall of the base <NUM> on an upper side of the outer circumferential surface of the filter screen body, and is formed by being bent toward the outer circumferential surface of the filter screen body. Under the action of the baffle <NUM>, debris dropped under the action of centrifugal force can flow downward, but cannot flow in the direction of the air inlet.

Preferably, a drainage cavity is formed at a bottom of the air duct <NUM>; the drainage cavity is in communication with a drainage hole for drainage. Preferably, the drainage cavity is a condensate water cavity provided on the base <NUM> for collecting condensate water. After debris are separated under the action of centrifugal force, debris drop into the drainage cavity and can be discharged from the drainage hole with the condensed water, without further manual cleaning.

In addition, the base <NUM> can be also provided with a water spray part <NUM> for spraying water to the filter screen part <NUM> and a water pump for supplying water to the water spray part <NUM>. In an embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, the water spray part <NUM> is directly formed on the base <NUM> (that is, a hole operated as a nozzle <NUM> is opened on the structure of the base <NUM> to form the water spray part <NUM>), and a water pump mount <NUM> is provided on the base <NUM>, and the water pump can be arranged on the water pump mount <NUM> to supply water to the water spray part <NUM>. Of course, it is also possible to provide a separate water spray part <NUM> for spraying water, and the water spray part on the base <NUM>. The water sprayed by the water spray part <NUM> carries debris and drops into the drainage cavity, and then debris are discharged from the drainage cavity.

In addition, a water pump can be provided to drain the water from the drainage cavity sooner. The water is drawn out from the drainage hole of the drainage cavity through the water pump.

Further, the installation of the filter screen component on the base <NUM> is shown in <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>. The base <NUM> comprises a first plate <NUM> and a second plate <NUM> provided with an exhaust hole <NUM>, the first plate and the second plate is arranged opposite to one other. A space between the first plate <NUM> and the second plate <NUM> forms the air duct <NUM>. The motor <NUM> of the filter screen component is fixed on the first plate <NUM>. The end of the filter screen part <NUM> provided with the opening <NUM> is attached to the second plate <NUM>, and the opening <NUM> is aligned with the exhaust hole <NUM>.

More specifically, as shown in <FIG>, the first plate <NUM> can be detached from the base <NUM>. The first plate <NUM> is provided with a mounting hole <NUM>. The motor <NUM> is mounted in the mounting hole <NUM>, and the motor <NUM> is located partially in the depressed part <NUM> of the end cover <NUM> of the filter screen part <NUM>. A motor end cover <NUM> covering the mounting hole <NUM> is fixed on the first plate <NUM>. The motor end cover <NUM> is also fixedly connected to the motor <NUM> to fix the motor on the first plate <NUM>. In addition, the arrangement of the motor end cover <NUM> helps to protect the motor <NUM> and optimize the appearance.

Due to the end of the filter screen body of the filter screen part <NUM> is provided with an end cover <NUM> while the other end is attached to the second plate <NUM>, the airflow in the air duct <NUM> does not enter into the filter screen body from both ends, the airflow can only enter into it through the meshes on the filter screen body, which will prevent debris from entering into the interior of the filter screen body.

During the rotation, there will be friction between the end of the filter screen body attached to the second plate <NUM> and the second plate <NUM>. Preferably, in order to avoid friction, the end of the filter screen body provided with the opening <NUM> is provided with a first wear sheet <NUM> surrounding the opening <NUM>, the second plate <NUM> is provided with a second wear sheet <NUM> cooperating and rubbing with the first wear sheet <NUM>. The first wear sheet <NUM> and the second wear sheet <NUM> rub against each other during the rotation of the filter screen part <NUM>.

More specifically, an elastic gasket <NUM> is arranged between the second plate <NUM> and the second wear sheet <NUM>. When the end of the filter screen body abuts on the second plate <NUM>, the elastic gasket <NUM> can keep the surface of the second wear sheet <NUM> in permanent contact with the first wear sheet <NUM>, to realize better seal between the first wear sheet <NUM> and the second wear sheet <NUM>, and avoid producing a gap between the first wear sheet and the second wear sheet into which debris can enter.

When the base assembly is used in the clothes dryer (it can also be used in other electrical equipment, here is the clothes dryer as an example), the airflow generated by the clothes dryer during the clothes drying process flows through the filter screen part <NUM>. The filter screen part <NUM> can filter impurities (such as debris) in the airflow. After the clothes drying is finished, the motor <NUM> can be activated when it is necessary to remove debris from the filter screen part <NUM>. The motor <NUM> drives the filter screen part <NUM> to rotate, and water can be sprayed to the filter screen of the filter screen part <NUM> by the water spray part <NUM> at the same time. Debris drops into the drainage cavity under the action of centrifugal force, and is directly discharged with the water in the drainage cavity, without manual cleaning.

According to yet another aspect of the application provides a clothes dryer including the base assembly as described above.

According to still another aspect of the application provides a washing and drying integrated machine including the base assembly as described above. Herein, the washing and drying integrated machine is electrical equipment with washing and drying functions.

Claim 1:
A base assembly, comprising a base (<NUM>) and a filter screen component, comprising a motor (<NUM>) and a filter screen part (<NUM>), the filter screen part (<NUM>) comprising an annular filter screen body having a plurality of meshes, an end of the filter screen body being connected to a rotary shaft of the motor (<NUM>) such that in use, debris is removed from the filter screen part (<NUM>) by centrifugal force, and the other end of the filter screen body being provided with an opening (<NUM>), wherein the base (<NUM>) is formed with an air duct (<NUM>) for airflow to flow through, the motor (<NUM>) being fixed on the base (<NUM>), and the filter screen body of the filter screen part (<NUM>) being located in the air duct (<NUM>) to enable the airflow in the air duct (<NUM>) to blow onto an outer circumferential surface of the filter screen body, wherein a drainage cavity is formed at a bottom of the air duct (<NUM>) comprising a drainage hole, the drainage cavity being in communication with the drainage hole for drainage, and characterized in that: the filter screen part (<NUM>) further comprises an end cover (<NUM>) arranged at the end of the filter screen body, the motor (<NUM>) being connected with the end cover (<NUM>), a central part of the end cover (<NUM>) being recessed inwardly along an axial direction to form a depressed part (<NUM>), and the motor (<NUM>) being located at least partially in the depressed part (<NUM>).