Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUWD OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relate~ to condenser appa-
ratus, and more particularly to condenser apparatus for
- S ¦ utilization in an automatic clothes dryer so that warm
¦ moisture-laden air from the clothe~ dryer is cooled and
¦ moisture removed therefrom.
~¦ 2. Descrlption of the Prior Art:
- I In automatic clothes dryers it is common
¦ to vent the warm moisture-laden exhaust air or vapor
¦ outside the machine and preferably even outside the hou~e
¦ or building while air is con~tantly being introduced into
¦ the clothes dryer, heated and passed over the fabrics to
be dried. It is not, however, always pos~ible and, in
¦ fact, it may not be desirable to provide such a ventir.g
¦ system for automatic clothes dryers in apartments or other
¦ high rise housing establishments. In drying fabrics in a
clothes dryer it is highly desirable to be able to heat
¦ the aLr, pass the heated air over the fabrica to be dried
¦ and withdraw moisture therefrom, remove the hot moisture-
¦ laden air from the fabrics and introduce it into an appa-
ratus that lowers the temperature of the moisture-laden .
air thereby conden~ing out moisture from the air, then
recirculate the air through the clothes dryer.
¦ Condensing apparatus has been utilized in
¦ laundry machines, both combination clothes washers and
¦ dryers and a ~ matic clothes dryers, for many years.
¦ One such condensing apparatus is shown in United States
Patent 2,451,692 wherein moist air is passed through a
30 ¦ woter p oy fro~ o nozzle that i8 0180 used to effect
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movement of the air; the free water from the spray is to
be removed by a stationary screen. Another type of con-
den~ing apparatus is disclosed in United State~ Patent
2,785,557 wherein only a controlled portion of the moist
air i8 passed through a dehumidifier. United States
Patent 2,921,384 shows apparatus that uses an impeller
to circulate air that also has the cooling water dis-
charged dire~t~ly against the impeller, however, there i9
no free water collection means provided. United States
Patent 3,121,000 utilizes a condensing arrangement that
produces a coherent film of water on a channel wall to
avoid entrainment of water droplets.
Condenser apparatus for automatic clothes
dryers must be efficient in operation, low in manufacturing
cost, and economical to operate in order to make it de-
sirable. It should also be compact and of a size such
that it can be easily installed in present standard size
clothes dryers.
Moreover, when condenser apparatus is used in
residencies! plumbing codes often require that if a
negative pressure is produced in the incoming water line,
only air will be taken in rather than any liquid from the
; apparatus. This, of course, would be particularly true
when the condenser apparatus is incorporated in an auto-
matic clothes dryer.
By my invention, there is provided an improved
condenser apparatus particularly for use in automatic
clothes dryers that accomplishes the above-mentioned
desirable characteristics not found in condenser apparatus
heretofore.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There i9 provided condenser apparatus for
removing moisture from the air and particularly a con-
denser apparatus that is utilized in connection with
n automatic clothes dryer and includes a housing for
- the condenser-apparatus, which housing has both a cooling
liquid inlet and an air inlet at one end, an air outlet
~at~he oppositel~end of the housing, and a condensing
chamber therebetween. Means to form a liquid droplet
cloud in the condensing chamber is provided.
Near tho air outlet of the conde~ser apparatus
there i~ mean~ such as a rotatabl- blower, for inducing
an air flow through the condenqer apparatus from the air
inlet to the air outlet passing through the liquid drop~
let cloud. Located between the blower and the means to
form a liquid droplet cloud, also positioned within the
condenser housing, is a means, such as a rotatable water
whe-l, for collecting entrained liquid droplets before
they can pas- into the blower. A liquid pu~p that removes
both the introduced cooling liquid and the moisture con-
densed from the air from the condenser apparatus to a .
drain external of the condenser apparatus and means for
rotat~bly driving all of the rotating elements including
the pump i~ also provided.
This invention relates to utilizing in such a
condenser apparatus an auxiliary liguid discharge outlet
from the condenser apparatus to provide a vertical air
gap between the liquid inlet and the auxiliary liquid
-~ outlet of the cond~enser apparatus. The auxiliary liquid
JO outlet includes an opening outside the condensing chamber
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and a sump that i~ formed by surrounding walls and which
is partially located within the hou~ing at the bottom of
the condensing chamber. The auxiliary liquid outlet
opening i5 in communication with the sump and is located
S outside the condensing chamber and arranged to be posi-
tioned below and spaced from the liquid inlet means of
the condenser apparatus. ,If the condenser pump fails
to operate liq~id accumulates in the condenser apparatus
sump until it overflows and the liquld is discharged
through the auxiliary outlet opening to the outside of
the conden~ing chamber.
It is an ob~ect of this ~nvention to provide
an improved condenser apparatus.
It is another object of this invention to
provide an improved condenser apparatus, having an air
gap between the liquid inlet and an auxiliary liquid
outlet.
It is also an object of this invention to pro-
vide a condenser apparatus which is simple in construction,
efficient in operation, compact in size to enable its
incorporation into ~tandard size automatic clothes dryers .
and which has an air gap between the liquid inlet and
an auxiliary liquid outlet.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGURE 1 i8 a side elevational view of an auto-
; matic clothes dryer suitable for incorporation of the
condenser apparatus utilizing the present invention, the
view being partly broken away and partly in section to
illustrate details.
30 ¦¦ IGU~E 2 is a view t~ken ~long th- lines 2-2 of
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FIGURE 1 showing the condenser, apparatus installed in the
automatic clothes dryer. ,
FIGURE 3 is a side elevational, cross-sectional
view of the condenser apparatus utilizing the invention.
, S FIGU~E 4 is a front elevational view of the
condenser ,apparatus shown in FIGURE 3 taken along lines
¦ 4-4 and partially broken away to illustrate details.
¦ . DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings and initially
to FIGURB 1 thereof, there is illustrated a domestic
automatic clothes dryer 10 including an appearance and
pr'otective outer c~binet 11 having a door or closure 12
to provide acce~9 into the interior of the cabinet for
, ¦ loading and unloading fabrics., Provided on the top 13
j 15 ¦ of cabinet ll is a control housing 14 which may, in a
J ¦ conventionaL way, include a suitable manual control 15
connected to a control assembly 16 mounted in the con-
trol hou~ing 14. By manual setting of control 15, the
¦ machine may be caused to start and automatically proceed
through a cycle operation. ,
Within cabinet ll, there is provided a clothes
¦ tumbling container or drum 17 mounted for rotation on a .
¦ ~ubstantially horizontal axis. Drum 17 is sub9tantially
i ¦ cylindrical in shape, having a central cylindrical wall
¦' portion 18, and outer cylindrical wall portions 19 and 20,
1 located respectively adjacent an annular front wall 21
; ' ¦ and a circular rear wall 22 of the,drum. Wall portions 18,
¦ 19 and 20 are ~imperforate while rear wall 22 has a plurality
¦ of perforations 33. On the interior surface of wall por-
tion 18 there is a plurality of clothes tu~bling ribs 23
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so that clothes are lifted up when the drum rotates,
and then permitted to tumble back down to the bottom
¦ of the drum. The front of the drum 17 may be rotatably .
¦ supported within outer cabinet 11 by suitable slide
members or idler wheels, one of the latter of which is
indicated by the numeral 24.
The rear end of drum 17 receives its support
¦ by~means of a stub shaft 27 extending from the center of
. w~ll 22. Shaft 27 is secured within a bearing 28 mounted
¦ ~n baffle-like structure 29 which, in turn, is rigidly
~acurod by mean~ 31 to the back wall 30 of the cabinet 11.
In order to provide for the flow of drying air
through the clothes drum, it is provided with a central
. ¦ aperture 32 in the front wall 21 and a plurality of :
¦ perforations 33 in the rear wall 22. The air provided
; . - ¦ to the drum is heated by an electrical resistance heating .
¦ element 37, th~ element being the form shown in the
¦ drawings, and issues from the outlet 34 of the heating .
unit 35. Heating unit 35 includes a heater hou~ing 36
¦ and the electrical resistance heating element 37. In
. the conventional way, air is drawn into the heating unit
. 35 through an inlet opening 38 (FIGURE 2) and is warmed . .
: ¦ as it passes over and through the electrical resistance ..
heating element 37 and then out the heater outlet 34. .
The outlet end 34 of the heating unit commun- . .
icates with an upwardly extending duct 45, which enters
a generally circular heat diffuser chamber 47 formed
between the structure 29 and the rear wall 22 of drum
17. A flexible circumferential seal 39 is interposed
between member 29 and rear wall 22 of the deum to provide
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¦ a rear drum air~eal and is ~ecured to member 29 and
¦ contacts the rear wall of the rotating drum. The heated
¦ air flows from the chamber 47 through the perforations
¦ 33 into the interior of the drum 17.
¦ The front opening 32 of the drum is substan-
tially closed by means of a bulkhead generally indicated
by the numeral 50. Bulkhead 50 i8 made up of a number
,~ ' of ad~acent members including the inner surface 51 of
the access door 12, a stationary frame S2 formed as a
¦ flange on front wall 46 of the cabinet and a front door
¦ liner 42.
A transition duct 62 is formed by ~oining
together cavity member 54 and cavity member S3 at an
,,annular flange 55. It will be noted that a suitable
¦ clearance is providea between the inner edge of aper-
ture 32 and the edge of frame 52 so that there is no -
rubbing between the drum and the frame during rotation
¦ f the drum. In order to prevent substantial air
;¦ leaka~e through the aperture 32, a suitdble front drum
ring seal 56 is secured to the flange 65 in sealing
relation9hip with the exterior 9urface of the drum .
wall 21.
Door 12 is mounted on cabinet ll so that when
the door is opened fabrics may be inserted into and re-
moved from the drum through the door frame 52.
The air outlet from the drum is provided by aperforated opening 59 formed in the inner wall Sl of the
hollow door. The bottom wall section of door 12 and the
adjacent wall of door frame 52 are provided with aligned
1~ open1ngs 6 nd 61, opening 61 provid1ng an entrsnce to
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the duct 62. A lint trap 63 may be poqitioned in the
duct 62 within opening 61 and supported by the door
frame 52. Duct 62 leads downwardly and communicates
with condenser housing 64. It is within the condenser
housing that the hot moisture-laden air is cooled which
causes moisture to be removed from the air prior to
reintroducing the air into the heating unit 35 and then
recirculated through the clothes dryer.
With reference to FIGURES 1, 3 and 4 in part-
icular, the operation and construction of the condenser
apparatus will now be explained. The condenser apparatus
includes a housing 64 which is cylindrical or drum shaped
~nd haR an air inlet 66 located at the front of the con-
den er unit which is also near the front of the clothes
dryer. Hot moisture-laden air from the drum is intro-
duced into the condenser unit through the air inlet 66
by a transition duct 62 (FIGURE 1) between the drum and
the air inlet. Also located at the ~ame end of the
condenser housing 64 is a liquid inlet means 70 which
may conveniently be a hose or tubular conduit 72 supported
by structure 74 secured in a suitable fashion to the con-
den9er housing. The structure 74 securea and positions
the tubular conduit 72 substantially on the longitudinal
~xis of the condenser housing 64 with the end 73 of the
conduit 72 directed into the condenser apparatus. The
liquid introduced into the condenser apparatus by means
of the t~bular conduit 72 passes through a solenoid oper-
ated valve (not-shown) and is in the form of a stream.
m e liquid is furnished from a source external of the
clothes dryer such as a household faucet. Spaced axially
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¦ from the liquid,inlet means 70 is a concentrically
¦ positioned rotatable disc 76.
¦ At the opposite end of the condenser hou~ing
¦ 64 from the liquid inlet means 70 is a blower 78 for
I inducing aLr to flow from the air inlet 66 to an air
I outlet 80. The blower 78 not only induces air flow
¦ through the condenser apparatus but causes the air to
¦ flow through ~e eh~iré clothes ,dryer so thàt only a
~ingle blower i~ needed. The blower in this embodiment
~ 10 consists of a rotatable blower whee,l having a plurality
,, ¦ of blade~ 82 secured as by molding to circular plate 83
and a confining air ~pace 84 surrounding th~ blower wheel
for develop~ng ~uff~cient air pre9sure within the blower
, ¦ to induce the above-mentioned air flow through the entire
¦ clothe~ dryer including the condenser unit. Positioned
¦ within the condenser housing 64 and located between the
rotatable disc 76 and the blower 78 is a liquid d,roplet
collecting means 86 which in the present preferred em-
bodiment describea is in the fonm of a rotatable water
wheel having a plurality of spaced blades 88 which extend
¦ radially outward from the axis of rotation of the wheel.
. The axial depth of blades 88 is such that they extend
¦ from the blower wheel 78 into the conden~ing chambsr 90.
¦ The blade~ 88 are integrally formed with a hub 92 and
are spaced so that air flowing through the condenser I ,
¦ apparatus may flow through the spaces between,the radial bla< !es
¦ 88 and into the ~lower. Surrounding the water droplet
¦ collecting means 86 is a pump 94 which consists of a
¦ rotatable U-shaped inner wall 96 and a stationary outer
pump wall 98 which cooperate with each other to provide
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a pump cavity 100 therebetween. The outer pump wall 98
may be integrally formed with the condenser housing.
Also forming one part of the pump 94 is a circumferential
wall member 99 that is stationary and secured to the
inside of the condenser housing and inwardly depending
therefrom. Rotation of the inner pump wall 96 forces
the liquid to~be accelerated circumferentially by ro-
tational force and discharged through the pump diæcharge
outlet 102. ~he discharge outlet 102 iB connected by
suitable means to a drain outside of the clothes dryer.
Located at the bottom of the condenser housing
64 is an auxiliary liquid discharge outlet. The auxilia n
outlet comprises a sump 104 that is formed by a surrounding
wall area 108 and which is partially located within the
housing at the bottom of the condensing chamber 90 and
may, if desired, be formed integrally with the condenser
housing 64. The liquid discharge outlet has an opening
109 located outside the condenser chamber and is in
communication with the sump 104 and is arranged to be
spaced from and located below the liquid inlet means iO
to provide a vertical air gap therebetween. As mentioned
previously plumbing codes generally require a sufficient
air gap in association with the water inlet, so that if
a negative pressure iB produced in the water line, only
air will be taken in. It can be seen in FIGURE 4 that if
the liquid accumulates in the condenser apparatus sump to
; a point that it over~lows, there iB a vertical air gap in
the system between the liquid discharge outlet opening 109
and thé liquid inlet end 73. If desired, means for dis-
continuing operation of the condenser apparatus responsive
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to the auxiliary liquid discharge may be provided. One
such means could be an externally locatsd float mechani~m
activated by overflcw liquid di~charged from the condenser.
At the rear of the condenser housing 64 is a
rear wall 110 which forms part of the condenser housing.
The rear wall 110 together wi~h cylindrical wall section
111 of housing 64 and inwardly directed circular flange
113 form the blower chamber 84. Secured to the rear
wall 110 on the oppo~ite side from the blower chamber 84
i~ an electric motor 112 which may be ~uitably attached
to the rear wall as by bolts 114. The eleatric motor
~as a rotatable shaft extending through an aperture 116
in the rear wall 110 close to the central longitudinal
axis of the condenser apparatus. Secured to this motor
shaft 115, which extends into the condenser housing, are
the four rotatable elements of the condenser apparatu~,
namely, the blower 78, the water droplet collecting means
or water wheel 86, inner wall 96 of the pump 94 and the
disc 76. The single motor 112 rotatably drives all four
of these condenser apparatus elements.
The motor shaft 115 also extends rearward of
the motor ln the oppo~ite direction from the conden~er
apparatu3 and iB utilized to rotate drum 17. In order
to effect this rotation, motor 112 is provided with a
2S 6haft portion 118 having a small pulley 120 secured to
the end thereof. Around the pulley 120 and seated in
groove 121 and entirely around the cylindrical wall
section 18 of drum 17 is a movable belt 122. The rela-
tive circumference of the pulley 120 and the wall ~ec-
tion 18 of the drum 17 causes the drum to be driven by
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¦ the motor at a speed suitable to effect tumbling of
¦ fabrics to be dried in the drum. In order to effect
¦ proper tensioning of the belt 122, a suitable idler
assembly 124 is secured to the same support 126 which
S supports one end of the motor.
The air exiting the condenser apparatus
through air outlet 80 passes via duct 128 into the
heating un~t 35 for heating the air and recirculating
it into the clothes dryer drum 17.
, The operation of the condenser and dryer
apparatus is as follows: Hot moi~ture-laden ,air that
has been pa8sed through the clothes dryer drum and
picked up moisture from the fabric~ tumbled therein i9
introduced into the condenser unit through the air inlet
opening 66 while a stream of cooling liquid i8 being
t ntroduced into the condenser unit through tubular con-
' duit 72. When the condenser apparatus is operating the
electric motor provides for simultaneous rotation of
the blower 78, droplet collecting water wheel 86, inner
wall 96 of pump 94 and disc 76. As disc 76 is being
rotated the stream of liquid being introduced ~ pingss
onto the flat center area 40 of the ,rapidly rotating
di6c.' The liquid striking the rotating surface is acted
upon by centrifugal force causing the liquid to,spread -
into a film or sheet and swirl and travel up the inclined
inner wall surface 129 of the continuous wall 41 of the
disc 76 to the periphery 131 thereof and from there
thrown outwardly in the form of liquid droplets 130.
The generally radial flight of the liquid droplets 130
is interrupted by the inner surface 132 of the condenser
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housing 64 whereupon the liquid droplets are deflected
back toward the center of the condenser chamber 90, this
in effect produces a curtain or cloud of liquid droplets
within the condensing chamber 90 while the incoming hot
moisture-laden air from the dryer drum flows through this i
resultant liquid droplet cloud. The hot moisture-laden
air in contact with the cooler liquid droplets cause~
the air temper~re~o.~e lowered and the moigture con-
densed therefrom. Because the air flowing through the
condense~ chamber 90 may entrain some liquid droplets
the water droplet collecting means 86 is positioned up-
; stream of the blower 78 between the disc 76 and blower
78 so that entrained liquid droplets are es~entially
collected by the rotating blades 88 and deposited in an
underlying liquid bath 133 which is in communication withthe pump 94 through an opening 134. It will be under-
~tood that simultaneously with the introduction of cooling
; liquid into the condenser apparatus through the tubular
conduit 72 that liquid will also be removed from the
condenser apparatus by the pump 94 at a rate such that
only a small amount of liquid is in the liquid bath 133
~t a given time during operation of the condenser appa- ¦-
ratus. The now cooled air rcache~ the blower 78 which
applies air pressure to induce the air flow and force the
air out of the condenser apparatus through aLr outlet 80
for introduction into the heating unit 35 and again re-
circulate through the clothes dryer.
The foregoing is a description of the preferred
embodiment of the invention and variations may be made
thereto without departing-from the true spirit of the
invention, as defined in the appended claims.
