Patent ID: 6966203

Claim:
A washing-drying machine operable to wash, rinse, dehydrate and dry objects, said washing-drying machine comprising: a cabinet; an outer tub suspended elastically in said cabinet; an inner tub having a rotating shaft and a bottom, said inner tub being rotatably sustained in said outer tub; an agitator disposed rotatably on said bottom of said inner tub; a motor operable to drive at least one of said inner tub and said agitator; a warm-air blowing section operable to blow warm air into said inner tub; a water supplying section operable to supply water into said inner tub; a warm-air circulating pass operable to circulate the warm air supplied from said warm-air blowing section, said warm-air circulating pass comprising a heat exchanger having an outer wall; a cooling section operable to cool the heat exchanger, said cooling section comprising a water-cooling section that is capable of supplying water for cooling the warm air in said heat exchanger and an air-cooling section that is capable of blowing air for cooling said outer wall of said heat exchanger; and a controller for controlling said motor, said warm-air blowing section and said cooling section, and for controlling processes including washing, rinsing, dehydrating and drying, wherein said controller controls said water-cooling section and said air-cooling section during a first period, wherein the first period is one of a given period after a preheat period in a drying process and a constant-rate period of drying while a difference of temperatures between a temperature of the warm air in said warm-air circulating pass and a temperature of said outer wall of said heat exchanger maintains a given value; and wherein said controller only controls said air-cooling section during a decreasing rate period, wherein the decreasing rate period is a period from when a difference of temperatures between a temperature of the warm air in said warm-air circulating pass and a temperature of said outer wall of said heat exchanger exceeds the given value to an end of the drying process.