Automatic clothes dryer
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorJames Carow
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automatic clothes dryer comprises a cabinet in which is rotatably mounted a drum that defines a drying chamber and a motor for rotating the drum. A variable speed blower is mounted within the interior space and is fluidly coupled to the drying chamber for moving air through the drying chamber at varying flow rates to improve the drying of the clothes.
Claims29
A method for controlling the operation of an automatic clothes dryer according to a drying cycle comprising a drying chamber for receiving articles of clothing, and an air flow system comprising a motor and a blower driven by the motor for forcing air through the drying chamber, the method comprising:
- estimating the air flow through the air flow system;
- comparing the estimated air flow to a desired air flow;
- and
- adjusting the motor speed in response to the comparison such that the air flow through the air flow system approaches the desired air flow.
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The automatic clothes dryer according to claim 27, wherein the variable speed motor is one of a continuously variable motor and a discretely variable motor.
A method for controlling the operation of an automatic clothes dryer according to a drying cycle comprising a drying chamber for receiving articles of clothing, and an air flow system comprising a motor and a blower driven by the motor for forcing air through the drying chamber, the method comprising:
- estimating the air flow through the air flow system based on at least one of the motor speed, air temperature, motor current, and motor torque;
- comparing the estimated air flow to a desired air flow;
- and
- adjusting the motor speed in response to the comparison such that the air flow through the air flow system approaches the desired air flow.
An automatic clothes dryer, comprising:
- a cabinet defining an interior space;
- a drum rotatably mounted within the interior space and defining a drying chamber;
- a blower fluidly coupled to the drying chamber for moving ambient air into and exhausting air from the drying chamber;
- a variable speed motor operatively coupled to the blower for adjusting air flow from the blower;
- and
- a controller operatively coupled to the variable speed motor for adjusting the speed of the variable speed motor in response to estimating the air flow through the drying chamber and comparing the estimated air flow to a desired air flow.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.