DRYER USING HEAT EXCHANGER

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a dryer using a heat exchanger, the dryer comprising: a dryer body (10) having a drying chamber (12) for receiving a material to be dried therein and an air flow chamber (14) positioned near the peripheral portion of the drying chamber (12); a sensible heat exchanger (20) contained in the air flow chamber (14) of the dryer body (10); a blowing fan (30) contained in the air flow chamber (14) of the dryer body (10) to force air to pass into the sensible heat exchanger (20); and a heater (40) contained in the air flow chamber (14) of the dryer body (10) to convert air, which is supplied by the blowing fan (30), into hot wind for drying and supply the drying chamber (12) with the hot wind.

Description

BACKGROUND

(a) Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a dryer using heat exchanger. More particularly, it relates to a novel dryer using heat exchanger which can improve the drying efficiency by drying the drying object with hot wind but at the same time using the waste heat appropriately, and can contribute to the energy saving.

(b) Background Art

In general, shoes or clothes shall be cleaned periodically after using, and it is necessary to dry the cleaned shoes or clothes. There are cases where the dryers are installed in offices or homes. Since the drawers installed in offices or homes only has a function of depositing shoes or clothes, separate dryers are required to dry the shoes or clothes. If the shoes are deposited in the drawer without drying, bad smell generated by the shoes exists in the drawer, and at the time of wearing the shoes again, sweat is remained in the shoes so as to deteriorate the feeling of wearing, so that the dryer for cleaning and drying the shoes are required. If a user wears the shoes for long time, the sweat generated at the feet remained in the shoes so as to make the shoes wet, and if such shoes are placed in the drawer without drying, the bad smell fills the inside of the drawer and also the shoes cannot be rapidly dried so as to deteriorate the feeling of wearing when wearing it again, so that the dryer for cleaning and rapidly drying the shoes (including the clothes or the like) are required. The cleaned materials (including the shoes, clothes and the like) are dried by using the natural light or the dryer and deposited in the drawer. The clothes or shoes deposited in the drawer are dried, however, when they are deposited for long time or in the wet weather such as the rainy season, the cleaned materials can be wet or get moldy, and when the cleaned materials are wet, microorganism or insects are generated in the drawer so as to damage the clothes and the drawer and generate the bad smell, so as to give bad effect to the sanitary conditions. Therefore, to prevent the cleaned materials such as the clothes or shoes from being wet or getting moldy, it is necessary to take out the clothes from the drawer in a fine day and dry them in the natural light or in the dryer and replace them in the drawer again. In the meantime, when the drying and the ventilation are simultaneously carried out in the dryer, the heated hot wind dry air is discharged and at the same time the cold outdoor air is sucked in for the drying, so that the temperature of the inside of the dryer becomes lower than the drying air temperature so as to deteriorate the drying efficiency, whereby a dryer adequately using heat exchanger is required.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel dryer using heat exchanger which can improve the drying efficiency by drying the drying object with hot wind but at the same time using the waste heat appropriately. In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a novel dryer using heat exchanger which can attempt maximize the drying efficiency by recycling (at least twice or more recycling) in the heat exchanger (sensible heat exchanger) the hot wind for which the heat exchange has been already performed for drying the drying object.

The present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above-described problems by providing a dryer using heat exchanger, the dryer comprising: a dryer body having a drying chamber for receiving a material to be dried therein and an air flow chamber positioned near the peripheral portion of the drying chamber; a sensible heat exchanger contained in the air flow chamber of the dryer body; a blowing fan contained in the air flow chamber of the dryer body to force air to pass into the sensible heat exchanger; and a heater contained in the air flow chamber of the dryer body to convert air, which is supplied by the blowing fan, into hot wind for drying and supply the drying chamber with the hot wind.

Effect of the Present Invention

Since the present invention does not dump away the hot wind (waste heat) which have dried the drying object, but re-circulates it to the sensible heat exchanger so as to recycle it, the number of times of operation and the operation time are reduced so as to obtain an effect of energy saving and have advantage of raising the drying efficiency. Since each heat exchange plates of the sensible heat exchanger maintains (keeps) the predetermined temperature, when the outside relatively cold air is flown in by the blowing fan and passes the sensible heat exchanger, the outside air exchanges the heat with the accumulated heat kept in the sensible heat exchanger and rises in its temperature, and the outside air (heated outside air) of which the temperature is raised by the exchange of heat with the sensible heat exchanger is supplied to the PCT heater, so that accordingly the time for heating the outside air and the number of times of operation of the PCT heater are reduced so as to considerably contribute to the energy saving as well as improve the drying efficiency.

In addition, since the hot wind (waste heat) coming up from the drying chamber of the dryer body is re-circulated in the sensible heat exchanger so as to further raise the waste heat utility, the operation time of the PCT heater is further reduced so as to further increase the energy saving efficiency, and accordingly bring further improved result in the drying efficiency. When the waste heat (can be referred to as the hot wind which dried the drying object) comes upward from the drying chamber of the dryer body and is blown into the sensible heat exchanger, since the waste heat is once again re-circulated in the sensible heat exchanger along the guider having the circulation guide plate structure as shown with an arrow, the heat kept in the sensible heat exchanger itself can be further raised, and when the sensible heat exchanger is in the condition of raising the maintaining heat (keeping heat) of the sensible heat exchanger itself, the outside air coming into the dryer body is further raised in its temperature going through the sensible heat exchanger and is supplied to the PCT heater, as a result, the operation time and the number of times of operation of the PCT heater further reduced in comparison with no guider, and due to this, the energy according to the operation of the PCT heater can be considerably reduced and at the same time the drying efficiency is also considerably raised.

In addition, in the present invention, if at the time even the inside of the drying object being dried in the drying chamber of the dryer body is considered to be adequately dried, the outside air of the dryer body is circulated to the inside of the air circulation pipe, then the temperature of the outside air passing the inside of the air circulation pipe is lower than that of the inside of the drying chamber and dew is generated so as to reduce the amount of steam in the drying chamber, and if the drying object is dried for appropriate hours in a condition where the amount of steam in the drying chamber is lowered or absorbed due to such dew, then not only the outside of the drying object but also the inside are uniformly dried, the safe and reliable drying quality about the drying object can be guaranteed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dryer using a heat exchanger according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sensible heat exchanger which is a main part of a dryer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one side of the heat exchange plate which is a main part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing other side of the heat exchange plate which is a main part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a top view schematically showing the condition of installation of the sensible heat exchanger and a blowing fan shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a front view schematically showing the structure of a PTC heater which is other main part of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing an internal structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a one side sectional view schematically showing the internal structure and operation condition of the dryer according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a one side sectional view schematically showing the internal structure and operation condition of the dryer according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the structure according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a front view of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a one side sectional view schematically showing the structure and operation condition according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a front view showing the structure according to a transformed embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a transformed embodiment of the dryer body composing a main part of the present invention; and

FIG. 15 is a side sectional view showing a condition of installing an ozone generator and a UV lamp to the dryer body of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is a dryer using heat exchanger, the dryer comprising: a dryer body 10 having a drying chamber 12 for receiving a material to be dried therein and an air flow chamber 14 positioned near the peripheral portion of the drying chamber 12; a sensible heat exchanger 20 contained in the air flow chamber 14 of the dryer body 10; a blowing fan 30 contained in the air flow chamber 14 of the dryer body 10 to force air to pass into the sensible heat exchanger 20; and a heater 40 contained in the air flow chamber 14 of the dryer body 10 to convert air, which is supplied by the blowing fan 30, into hot wind for drying and supply the drying chamber 12 with the hot wind.

Referring to the drawings, the dryer using the sensible heat exchanger according to the present invention is characterized in that it has the sensible heat exchanger 20, the blowing fan 30, and the heater 40 in the dryer body 10 which has the drying chamber 12 therein, whereby at the time of drying a drying object such as shoes and clothes by the hot wind, the waste heat is not dumped out but utilized so as to bring various preferred results such as improving the drying efficiency and reducing the energy consumption according to the actuation of the heater 40.

The dryer body 10 is composed in a rectangular box form having the drying chamber 12 being a space into which the drying object such as the shoes or the clothes can be cast. A drying object casing opening is provided at the front of the dryer body 10, and the front side casting opening is opened and closed by a door 13. The door 13 is at one side thereof combined to the dryer body 10 by a hinge so that the door 13 can be opened and closed with reference to the hinge. In addition, a seeing through window is provided at the door 13. In the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10, a rack for placing the shoes or the like can be installed and also a hanger for hanging the clothes or the like. That is, a placement means such as the rack or hanger for placing the drying object in a condition where the drying object can be dried can be provided in the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10.

The dryer body 10 is a structure having an air flow chamber 14 around the drying chamber 12. At this time, the air flow chamber 14 comprises an upper flow chamber 14a provided at the dryer body 10 so as to be arranged at the upper side of the drying chamber 12, and a side flow chamber 14b provided at the dryer body 10 by being communicated to the upper flow chamber 14a so as to be extended upward and downward. In the present invention, a ceiling panel forms the upper wall of the dryer body 10, and an inner ceiling panel is provided below the ceiling panel, and the upper flow chamber 14a is formed between the ceiling panel and the inner ceiling panel. Both side panels composing the dryer body 10 are provided with air inlet holes 10a (hole through which air flows from outside) at positions corresponding to the upper flow chambers 14a. In addition, in the dryer body 10, a rear side panel and both side panels form the drying chamber 12, and a hot air inlet panel 16 is provided at a position inside the rear side panel, and the side flow chamber 14b is formed between the hot air inlet panel 16 and the rear side panel. A hot air inlet hole 16h in the form of plural long holes is provided at the hot air inlet panel 16. A control panel 11 is provided at upper side front of the dryer body 10, and the user operates the dryer of the present invention at the control panel.

The sensible heat exchanger 20 is embedded in the air flow chamber 14 of the dryer body 10. The sensible heat exchanger 20 has a structure in which plural heat exchange plates 24 are arranged parallel in a support frame 22 of roughly cuboid shape.

At this time, the heat exchange plates 24 is a thin rectangular structure in which plural wrinkles 24a of the shape of number “1” are provided at a predetermined spacing, and both ends of the heat exchange plates 24 are provided with a combination slit by combination guide piece 24b in the form of being bended to the direction in which they face each other. In addition, the heat exchange plates 24 are provided with a spacing protrusion 25 protruding from one side to the other side. The plural parallel wrinkles 24a are provided at the heat exchange plates 24, and the spacing protrusion 25 is extended in the direction crossing (perpendicular) the wrinkles 24a. These spacing protrusions 25 are in the form of concave recess in one side and convex protrusion in the other side. In addition, the spacing protrusion 25 has a protrusion shape of number “1” extended in the direction perpendicular to the combination slit direction.

In the sensible heat exchanger 20, two ends of either one heat exchange plate 24 at which combination guide piece 24b is not formed are inserted in slide manner into two combination slits formed at other heat exchange plate 24 among two adjoining heat exchange plates 24, so that since the spacing protrusion 25 of either one heat exchange plate 24 and the spacing protrusion 25 of the other heat exchange plate 24 are staggered in the directions perpendicular to each other and at the same time the spacing protrusion 25 of each heat exchange plate 24 contacts the surface of the facing heat exchange plate 24, a space is secured through which the air can pass between the adjoining heat exchange plates 24. The plural heat exchange plates 24 are combined while securing the space between them so as to form a heat exchange plate module, and these heat exchange plate module are installed in a support frame 22 so as to compose the sensible heat exchanger 20. In summary, the sensible heat exchanger 20 is composed such that plural heat exchange plates 24 are arranged parallel adjoining each other, and the heat exchange plates 24 is provided with a spacing protrusion 25 protruding from one side to the other side, so that a space is secured through which the air can pass between the adjoining heat exchange plates 24.

In addition, each heat exchange plate 24 of the sensible heat exchanger 20 is composed with a material capable of keeping a predetermined heat. The heat exchange plate 24 is composed with aluminum material so as to have a characteristic of keeping the predetermined heat.

In addition, an auxiliary spacing protrusion 26 is further provided at the heat exchange plate 24. The auxiliary spacing protrusion 26 is provided in the convex circular protrusion shape at the heat exchange plates 24 surface so as to be arranged at outside of the spacing protrusion 25. The auxiliary spacing protrusion 26 also contributes to the fact that the space through which the air passes between the adjoining heat exchange plates 24 is secured.

Since the sensible heat exchanger 20 is embedded in the upper flow chamber 14a of the dryer body 10, the air flown in through an air inflow hole 10a formed at the dryer body 10 and the hot wind coming up from the drying chamber 12 can pass the space formed between the heat exchange plates 24 of the sensible heat exchanger 20. The hot wind coming up from the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 passes the space between the heat exchange plates 24 so that a predetermined temperature is kept in the heat exchange plate 24. The heat of approximately 45° C. is kept in the heat exchange plate 24. That is, the sensible heat exchanger 20 keeps the heat due to the hot wind coming up from the drying chamber 12 in the dryer body 10 while letting the outside air pass.

The blowing fan 30 passing the air to the sensible heat exchanger 20 is embedded in the air flow chamber 14 of the dryer body 10. The blowing fan 30 is embedded in the upper flow chamber 14a of the dryer body 10, and the sensible heat exchanger 20 is installed at the air inflow end of the upper flow chamber 14a, and the blowing fan 30 is installed in the upper flow chamber 14a at a position behind the sensible heat exchanger 20. A rotation shaft of a fan of windmill type is embedded in a fan housing of the blowing fan 30 so as to be relatively rotated, and the rotation shaft of the fan has a structure of being rotated by a motor not shown. The fan housing portion of the blowing fan 30 is fixed at inner ceiling panel in the dryer body 10 by a fixing means such as a bolt or the like.

In addition, the sensible heat exchanger 20 and the blowing fan 30 are provided in the upper flow chamber 14a and at the same time the sensible heat exchanger 20 is composed to communicate with the drying chamber 12 in the dryer body 10. The lower side of the sensible heat exchanger 20 is communicated with the upper side of the drying chamber 12 in the dryer body 10. A communication hole meeting the lower side of the sensible heat exchanger 20 is provided at the inner ceiling panel composing the upper flow chamber 14a of the dryer body 10, and a support frame 22 of the sensible heat exchanger 20 is fixed to the inner ceiling panel by a connection piece such as the bolt and the like. The lower side of the sensible heat exchanger 20 is arranged at the place of the communication hole of the inner ceiling panel, so that the sensible heat exchanger communicates with the upper side of the drying chamber 12 in the dryer body 10.

The side flow chamber 14b formed by a hot wind inlet panel 16 and a rear side panel of the dryer body 10 is provided in the dryer body 10 so as to be connected to the upper flow chamber 14a. The side flow chamber 14b is an air flow space extended upright upward and downward at the rear side of the dryer body 10, and a heater 40 is embedded in the side flow chamber 14b formed in the rear side of such dryer body 10. At this time, the heater 40 is composed of a PTC heater in the present invention. The PTC heater is rapidly heated in view of its characteristics so as to rapidly change the outside air coming in from the sensible heat exchanger 20 and the blowing fan 30 into a hot wind. The PTC heater is fixed to the side flow chamber 14b of the dryer body 10 by a fixing means such as a bracket and the like, and the outside air sprayed by the blowing fan 30 and passing the PTC heater is heated by the PTC heater, and the hot wind heated by the PTC heater is supplied to the drying chamber 12 in the dryer body 10 through a hot wind inlet hole 16h of the hot wind inlet panel 16 composing the side flow chamber 14b of the dryer body 10. That is, the hot wind for drying the drying object is supplied into the drying chamber 12 from the rear side of the dryer body 10.

According to the present invention of the structure described above, when the blowing fan 30 is rotated, the outside air flows into the air flow chamber 14 (precisely, the upper flow chamber 14a part) through an air inlet hole 10a of the dryer body 10 and passes the sensible heat exchanger 20 (between the space between the heat exchange plates 24 of the sensible heat exchanger 20), and the air having passed the sensible heat exchanger 20 comes down to the side flow chamber 14b which composes the air flow chamber 14 in the dryer body 10 and is communicated with the upper flow chamber 14a, and the air having come down to the side flow chamber 14b is heated by the PCT heater and is blown into the drying chamber 12 through the hot air inlet panel 16 of the dryer body 10, so that the drying object (clothes or shoes and the like) received in the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 is dried by the hot wind.

At this time, the hot wind supplied to dry the drying object comes up in the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10, however, in the present invention, since the sensible heat exchanger 20 is communicated with the drying chamber 12, the hot wind (waste heat) drying the drying object flows (circulates) into the sensible heat exchanger 20 so as to be reused.

Therefore, since the present invention does not dump away the hot wind (waste heat) which have dried the drying object, but re-circulates it to the sensible heat exchanger 20 so as to recycle it, the number of times of operation and the operation time are reduced so as to obtain an effect of energy saving and have advantage of raising the drying efficiency. As described above, since each heat exchange plates 24 of the sensible heat exchanger 20 maintains (keeps) the predetermined temperature, when the outside relatively cold air is flown in by the blowing fan 30 and passes the sensible heat exchanger 20, the outside air exchanges the heat with the accumulated heat kept in the sensible heat exchanger 20 and rises in its temperature, and the outside air (heated outside air) of which the temperature is raised by the exchange of heat with the sensible heat exchanger 20 is supplied to the PCT heater, so that accordingly the time for heating the outside air and the number of times of operation of the PCT heater are reduced so as to considerably contribute to the energy saving as well as improve the drying efficiency.

In the present invention, a sensor is installed at the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 and is electrically connected to the control part, and the temperature in the dryer body 10 is set (programmed) at the control part to maintain at 55° C.˜60° C., so that when the hot wind in the dryer (hot wind in the dryer body 10) comes up to the sensible heat exchanger 20, since the sensible heat exchanger 20 keeps the heat of approximately 45° C., if in this condition the outside air (approximately 25° C.) flows in, the outside air in the condition where the temperature of the outside air before it arrives at the heater 40 is further raised (approximately 35° C. which is an average of the temperature of 45° C. which is kept by the sensible heat exchanger 20 and the outside air temperature 25° C.) is supplied to the PCT heater, the operation time of the PCT heater is reduced and accordingly there is an effect of energy saving. Therefore, it can be said that the present invention is characterized in that it does not dump away the waste heat but reuses it so as to raise the drying efficiency

Meanwhile, FIG. 9 is a one side sectional view schematically showing the structure of another embodiment of the present invention, and according to the present invention shown in FIG. 9, in the dryer body 10, the air flow chamber 14 is provided around the drying chamber 12, and the sensible heat exchanger 20 is embedded in the air flow chamber 14 so as to be communicated with the drying chamber 12, and a guider 50 which lets the hot wind (waste heat) coming into the sensible heat exchanger 20 from the drying chamber 12 to be re-circulated to the sensible heat exchanger 20 is provided in the sensible heat exchanger 20. In the present invention shown in FIG. 9, the guider 50 is a circulation guide plate structure extended from the rear end facing the blowing fan 30, through the upper side opposed to the lower side into which the hot wind flows from the drying chamber 12, to air inlet end of the front end thereof. That is, the guider 50 has a circulation guide plate structure which covers from the rear end of the sensible heat exchanger 20 to the upper side of the sensible heat exchanger 20 and to the front end of the sensible heat exchanger 20. At this time, the guider 50 is composed in such a way that the front side lower end thereof is not extended down to the position where it completely wraps the lower end of the sensible heat exchanger 20, but rather is extended down only to the position going upward from the lower end of the sensible heat exchanger 20 to secure a passage through which the outside air can be flown into the lower end of the sensible heat exchanger 20. By composing as such, when the blowing fan 30 is rotated, the outside air coming into the air flow chamber 14 (that is, the upper flow chamber 14a part) of the dryer body 10 can be flown into and pass the sensible heat exchanger 20.

The characteristics of the present invention shown in FIG. 9 is that since the hot wind (waste heat) coming up from the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 is re- circulated in the sensible heat exchanger 20 so as to further raise the waste heat utility, the operation time of the PCT heater is further reduced so as to further increase the energy saving efficiency, and accordingly bring further improved result in the drying efficiency. That is, when the waste heat (can be referred to as the hot wind which dried the drying object) comes upward from the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 and is blown into the sensible heat exchanger 20, since the waste heat is once again re-circulated in the sensible heat exchanger 20 along the guider 50 having the circulation guide plate structure as shown with an arrow (the waste heat (hot wind) having come upward from the drying chamber 12 is primarily circulated in the sensible heat exchanger 20, and then again secondly circulated in the sensible heat exchanger 20 by the guider 50), the heat kept in the sensible heat exchanger 20 itself can be further raised, and when the sensible heat exchanger 20 is in the condition of raising the maintaining heat (keeping heat) of the sensible heat exchanger 20 itself, the outside air coming into the dryer body 10 is further raised in its temperature going through the sensible heat exchanger 20 and is supplied to the PCT heater, as a result, the operation time and the number of times of operation of the PCT heater further reduced in comparison with no guider 50, and due to this, the energy according to the operation of the PCT heater can be considerably reduced and at the same time the drying efficiency is also considerably raised.

At this time, in the present invention, when the waste heat (that is, the heat rising from the drying chamber 12 in the dryer body 10 and rising to the sensible heat exchanger 20) is re-circulated in the sensible heat exchanger 20 by the guider 50 and the relatively cold air coming in from the outside of the dryer body 10 is also passed into the sensible heat exchanger 20, the exchange of heat between the cold air and the relatively hot air (waste heat) is accomplished, and considering that if the cold air and the relatively hot air meet like this, dew is generated and falls down, a dew tray 18 is further installed to be positioned below the sensible heat exchanger 20. That is, the dew tray 18 is installed to be arranged below the sensible heat exchanger 20 in the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10. The dew tray 18 has a tray structure having side walls and can be fixed by fixing means such as bracket and bolt and the like in the drying chamber 12. Meanwhile, the dew falling down from the sensible heat exchanger 20 is collected at the dew tray 18, and the dew tray 18 is inclined to one side to make the water due to the dew naturally flow down to the drying chamber 12. That is, the height of one end of the dew tray 18 is lower than that of the other end, and the other end described above inclined of the dew tray 18 is extended up to the position adjoining the inner wall of the drying chamber 12 (extended up to the position almost closely attached to the inner wall of the drying chamber 12). Then, the water falling down to the dew tray 18 naturally flows down to the other end inclined described above of the dew tray 18 and flows down along the inner wall of the drying chamber 12. At this time, a bottom part 12a composing a bottom of the drying chamber 12 is formed with a drain hole 12h, so that the water flowing down along the inner wall of the drying chamber 12 can be discharged through the drain hole 12h of the bottom part 12a. At this time, the drain hole 12h is provided at the center part of the bottom part 12a composing the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10, and the bottom part 12a is gradually inclined downward toward the center of the dryer body 10, and the drain hole 12h is provided at the center of the bottom part 12a. Then, the water having flown down along the inner wall of the drying chamber 12 from the dew tray 18 flows into the center part along the bottom part 12a of the drying chamber 12 and then is naturally drained out to the outside of the dryer body 10 through the drain hole 12h so as to make the efficiency better.

Meanwhile, FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the structure according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a front view of FIG. 10. According to the present invention according to FIGS. 10 and 11, an air circulation pipe 60 which passes the inside of the drying chamber 12 and the hollow part of the inside of which is communicated with the outside air of the dryer body 10 is further provided at the dryer body 10. The air circulation pipe 60 is provided one or more than one in the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 and at the same time is connected to the upper part and the lower part of the dryer body 10 of the upper end and the lower end of the air circulation pipe 60, so that the inside of the air circulation pipe 60 is formed as a circulation passage through which the outside air of the dryer body 10 is flown in and out.

Therefore, if at the time even the inside of the drying object 6 being dried in the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 is considered to be adequately dried, the outside air of the dryer body 10 is circulated to the inside of the air circulation pipe 60, then the temperature of the outside air passing the inside of the air circulation pipe 60 is lower than that of the inside of the drying chamber 12 and dew is generated so as to reduce the amount of steam in the drying chamber 12, and if the drying object 6 is dried for appropriate hours in a condition where the amount of steam in the drying chamber 12 is lowered or absorbed due to such dew, then the outside of the drying object 6 is not excessively dried but appropriately dried while the inside of the drying object is satisfactorily dried, so that the outside and the inside of drying object 6 are appropriately dried. That is, the outside and the inside of drying object are uniformly dried. The outside air passes through the inside air circulation passage of the air circulation pipe 60 and the dew is generated at the outside surface of the air circulation pipe 60, and the steam (water) inside the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 flows down to the bottom part 12a and flows out to the drain hole 12h, and a damper provided at the dryer body 10 is opened so as to lower the pressure in the drying chamber 12, and if the drying object 6 is dried for appropriate hours in a condition where the steam in the drying chamber 12 is discharged out and the pressure is lowered, then the outside and the inside of drying object 6 are appropriately dried. The fact that the outside and the inside of drying object are uniformly dried as such means that the appropriate drying quality of the drying object 6 can be insured. At this time, a valve (or damper) is preferably provided at the air circulation pipe 60, the air circulation passage in the air circulation pipe 60 can be opened and closed according to the opening and closing of the valve (or damper), and at the same time a fan 61f is provided at an end opposite to the end at which the valve (or damper) is provided, and the circulation of the air into the air circulation pipe 60 is surely obtained by the fan 61f, and in addition to this, it is preferred that the air circulation amount is adjusted according to the opening of the valve (or damper), and as a result, the speed by which the dew is generated at the surface of the air circulation pipe 60 can be easily adjusted, In addition, the fan 61f is preferably composed to communicate with one end of the air circulation pipe 60 in the condition where the fan is embedded in the dryer body 10.

In the meantime, FIG. 12 is a front sectional view schematically showing the inside structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. According to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 12, an adjustment pipe 70 is included which maintains the pressure inside the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 to be constant by maintaining the water (the water generated by the dew due to vapor condensation in the sensible heat exchanger 20 and the water generated at the time of drying the drying object and the like) generated at the time of drying the drying object 6 at a predetermined water level in the drying chamber 12 by being communicated with the bottom part 12a of the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10. The adjustment pipe 70 maintains the pressure in the drying chamber 12 to be constant by filling the water in the drying chamber to a predetermined water level, and discharges a part of the water to outside by the pressure difference when the water level is at or higher than the predetermined water level, and contains the water in the drying chamber at the time of equilibrium of the pressure in the drying chamber, so as to perform the function of maintaining the pressure in the drying chamber 12.

Specifically, the drain hole 12h is provided at the center position of the bottom part 12a composing the lower bottom layer of the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10, and the adjustment pipe 70 is combined so as to be communicated with the drain hole 12h of the bottom part 12a of the drying chamber 12.

The bottom part 12a of the drying chamber 12 is gradually inclined downward toward the center part of the dryer body 10, and the adjustment pipe 70 is composed so that a connection sleeve part 73 is connected between a first sleeve part 72 and a second sleeve part 74. More specifically, the first sleeve part 72 of the adjustment pipe 70 communicates at its upper end with the drain hole 12h provided at the center part of the bottom part 12a in the drying chamber 12 and is extended downward, and the lower end of the connection sleeve part 73 is connected to the lower end of the first sleeve part 72, and the upper end of the connection sleeve part is arranged at a position relatively higher than the lower end of the first sleeve part, and the second sleeve part 74 is, at its upper end, connected to the upper end of the connection sleeve part 73 and is extended downward. At this time, the upper end of the second sleeve part 74 is arranged at a position relatively lower than the upper end of the first sleeve part 72.

Therefore, when the water flows out to the inside of the adjustment pipe 70 so that the water level of the first sleeve part 72 is at the same height as that of the water level of the second sleeve part 74, the water is contained in the adjustment pipe 70 as it is so that the pressure in the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 is maintained as it is, and when the water level of the first sleeve part 72 is higher than that of the second sleeve part 74, the water flows out from the adjustment pipe 70 due to the pressure difference, so that the pressure in the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 is lowered to the regulation pressure which can dry the drying object 6 so as to also maintain the pressure in the drying chamber 12 to be constant. That is, the level of water flowing into the adjustment pipe 70 is maintained at a predetermined water level, so that the pressure in the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 is maintained to be constant, and if the predetermined pressure is maintained by the adjustment pipe 70 as such, then the drying efficiency of the drying object 6 is improved, and the heat loss is also prevented and the energy loss is also reduced. It is natural that the structure of the adjustment pipe 70 shown in FIG. 12 is an option.

In addition, the air flow chamber 14 is provided at the perimeter of the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10. Although the air flow chamber 14 is shown to be provided at the position adjoining the back side of the dryer body 10, the air flow chamber 14 can of course be provided not only at the rear position of the drying chamber 12 but also at the left and right sides. In addition, the blowing fan 30 can be provided at the middle position of the upper part of the dryer body 10, and the sensible heat exchanger 20 and the heater 40 are respectively provided one at both sides of the blowing fan 30.

In addition, an anion generator 84 or ozone generator 86 may be further provided in the air flow chamber 14 of the dryer body 10. The anion generator 84 or ozone generator 86 is embedded in the air flow chamber 14 so as to be arranged at the position of a stage next to the blowing fan 30. Therefore, the anion is generated by the anion generator 84 so as to have sterilization effect of the drying object and raise the drying efficiency, the ozone generator 86 also can bring the sterilization effect due to the ozone. In the meantime, a UV lamp 88 is provided at the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10. In the present invention, a rack 87 (both fixing type and removable attachment type are possible) for placing the drying object is provided in the drying chamber 12, and the UV lamp 88 is provided below the rack 87. The UV lamp 88 generates the ultraviolet rays in its characteristics so as to prevent propagation of germ such as microorganism and bacteria being parasitic on the drying object (for example, shoes or clothes) by the ultraviolet rays. That is, the present invention is also characterized in that it uses the UV lamp 88 so as to further hygienically dry the drying object.

Furthermore, an outlet hole 11h is further provided at the dryer body 10, so as to discharge the humidity generated at the time of drying in the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10 to outside through the outlet hole 11h so as to further raise the drying efficiency and the drying speed. At this time, a shade 11sh is provided at a position adjoining the outlet hole 11h, so as to prevent foreign material or moisture at the outside from coming into the drying chamber 12 in the dryer body 10 through the outlet hole 11h. In addition, it is preferable that a fan may be further provided at the dryer body 10 so as to communicate with the outlet hole 11h, so as to rapidly and efficiently discharge the moisture generated at the time of drying the drying object.

AVAILABILITY IN THE INDUSTRY

The present invention is a dryer using heat exchanger which does not dump away the hot wind (waste heat) which have dried the drying object, but re-circulates it to the sensible heat exchanger so as to recycle it, the number of times of operation and the operation time are reduced so as to obtain an effect of energy saving and have advantage of raising the drying efficiency, and the present invention has the availability in the industry.

Claims

1. A dryer using heat exchanger comprising:

a dryer body 10 having a drying chamber 12 for receiving a material to be dried therein and an air flow chamber 14 positioned near the peripheral portion of the drying chamber 12;

a heat exchanger 20 contained in the air flow chamber 14 of the dryer body 10;

a blowing fan 30 contained in the air flow chamber 14 of the dryer body 10 to force air to pass into the heat exchanger 20; and

a heater 40 contained in the air flow chamber 14 of the dryer body 10 to convert air, which is supplied by the blowing fan 30, into hot wind for drying and supply the drying chamber 12 with the hot wind.

2. The dryer of claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger is composed by a sensible heat exchanger 20, wherein the sensible heat exchanger 20 has plural heat exchange plates 24 arranged parallel at an air inlet passage of the air flow chamber 14, wherein the heater 40 is a PCT heater, wherein the blowing fan 30 is arranged at a position facing the sensible heat exchanger 20, whereby the air flowing into the air inlet of the dryer body 10 is supplied to the PCT heater through the sensible heat exchanger 20.

3. The dryer of claim 2, wherein the air flow chamber 14 comprises an upper flow chamber 14a provided at the dryer body 10 so as to be arranged at the upper side of the drying chamber 12, and a side flow chamber 14b provided at the dryer body 10 by being communicated to the upper flow chamber 14a so as to be extended upward and downward,

wherein the sensible heat exchanger 20 and the blowing fan 30 are provided at the upper flow chamber 14a and at the same time the sensible heat exchanger 20 is communicated with the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10,

wherein the PCT heater is embedded in the side flow chamber 14b so as to be arranged at the position of a stage next to the blowing fan 30,

whereby the hot wind is supplied to the drying chamber 12 through a hot wind inlet hole 16h formed at a hot wind inlet panel 16 comprising the drying chamber 12.

4. The dryer of claim 3, wherein the sensible heat exchanger 20 is composed so that the plural heat exchange plates 24 are arranged parallel adjoining each other, wherein the heat exchange plates 24 have spacing protrusions 25 which protrude from one side thereof to the other side, whereby the adjoining heat exchange plates 24 secure a space through which the air passes by means of the spacing protrusions 25.

5. The dryer of claim 1, wherein the air flow chamber 14 is provided at the perimeter of the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10, wherein the sensible heat exchanger 20 is embedded in the air flow chamber 14 so as to be communicated with the drying chamber 12, wherein the sensible heat exchanger 20 has a guider 50 which lets the hot wind flowing into the sensible heat exchanger 20 from the drying chamber 12 to be re-circulated to the sensible heat exchanger 20.

6. The dryer of claim 1, wherein an air circulation pipe 60 which passes the inside of the drying chamber 12 and the hollow part of the inside of which is communicated with the outside air of the dryer body 10 is further provided at the dryer body 10.

7. The dryer of claim 1, further comprising an adjustment pipe 70 which, by being communicated with the bottom part 12a provided at the drying chamber 12 of the dryer body 10, maintains the pressure in the drying chamber 12 by maintaining the water generated at the time of drying the drying object 6 to a predetermined water level in the drying chamber, and discharging the water to outside when the water level is at or higher than the predetermined water level.

8. The dryer of claim 5, wherein the bottom part 12a composing the drying chamber 12 is gradually inclined downward toward the center part of the dryer body 10, wherein the adjustment pipe 70 is composed so that a connection sleeve part 73 is connected between a first sleeve part 72 and a second sleeve part 74, wherein the first sleeve part 72 is connected to the center part of the bottom part 12a of the drying chamber 12, and wherein the upper end of the second sleeve part 74 is arranged at a position relatively lower than the upper end of the first sleeve part 72.

9. The dryer of claim 1, wherein an anion generator 84 or an ozone generator 86 is provided in the dryer body 10 so as to be communicated with the drying chamber 12, and wherein a UV lamp 88 is provided in the drying chamber 12.

10. The dryer of claim 1, wherein an outlet hole 11h for discharging the moisture generated at the time of drying in the drying chamber 12 is provided in the dryer body 10.