US-12624494-B2 - Clothes dryer

US12624494B2US 12624494 B2US12624494 B2US 12624494B2US-12624494-B2

Abstract

A clothes dryer configured to improve a drying performance by facilitating discharge of condensed water. The clothes dryer includes a cabinet, a drum rotatably arranged inside the cabinet, a support plate provided in a lower portion of the cabinet, the support plate including an evaporator mounting member and a condenser mounting member adjacent to the evaporator member, an evaporator mounted in the evaporator mounting member, and a condenser mounted in the condenser mounting member, and a fan configured to generate a circulation airflow to circulate air through the evaporator, the condenser, and the drum. The evaporator member includes a plurality of drain holes to drain water collected on the first region therethrough, extending in a widthwise direction which is perpendicular to a direction of the circulation airflow, and each of the plurality of drain holes is spaced apart from one another along the direction of the circulation airflow.

Inventors

Jonghyun JANG
Ohjin KWON
Seongryeol MYEONG
Jaeryong Park

Assignees

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220616
Priority Date: 20210827

Claims (12)

1 . A clothes dryer comprising: a cabinet; a drum rotatably arranged inside the cabinet; a support plate provided in a lower portion of the cabinet, the support plate including a first region and a second region spaced apart from the first region; a fan configured to generate a circulation airflow that passes through the drum; and a heat pump configured to heat air supplied to the drum, wherein the heat pump comprises: a compressor configured to compress and supply a refrigerant; an evaporator mounted in the first region; and a condenser mounted in the second region; wherein the first region includes: a plurality of evaporator supports configured to support the evaporator by being in contact with the evaporator, each of the plurality of evaporator supports spaced apart from one another along a direction of the circulation airflow; a plurality of drain holes formed to penetrate the plurality of evaporator supports, configured to drain water collected on the first region therethrough, extending in a widthwise direction which is perpendicular to the direction of the circulation airflow, and each of the plurality of drain holes is spaced apart from one another along the direction of the circulation airflow; and a plurality of connection ribs extending along the direction of the circulation airflow to partition the plurality of drain holes, each of the plurality of connection ribs connecting adjacent evaporator supports among the plurality of evaporator supports thereby reinforcing a strength of the plurality of evaporator supports, wherein each of the plurality of connection ribs comprises: a center portion formed in a concave shape from an upper surface of one of the adjacent evaporator supports to an upper surface of an other one of the adjacent evaporator supports in the direction of the circulation airflow; and round portions respectively extending from the center portion in the widthwise direction to guide the water downward into the plurality of drain holes, and wherein each of the plurality of connection ribs is positioned lower than the adjacent evaporator supports connected thereto.
2 . The clothes dryer of claim 1 , wherein an edge of the plurality of drain holes is inclined downwardly from the plurality of evaporator supports and provided in a curved shape to allow water around the plurality of drain holes to be guided to the plurality of drain holes.
3 . The clothes dryer of claim 1 , wherein the each of the plurality of connection ribs is arranged space apart from each other in the widthwise direction.
4 . The clothes dryer of claim 1 , wherein the second region includes a condenser mounting member is positioned lower than the plurality of evaporator supports.
5 . The clothes dryer of claim 4 , wherein the support plate comprises a prevention rib provided to prevent water from the first region from moving to the second region due to the circulation airflow.
6 . The clothes dryer of claim 5 , wherein the prevention rib is arranged between the first region and the second region, and extends in the widthwise direction.
7 . The clothes dryer of claim 5 , wherein the support plate further comprises a connection member to connect the first region and the second region, and comprising a first end connected to the first region and a second end connected to the second region, and the connection member includes a plurality of holes to drain water therethrough.
8 . The clothes dryer of claim 7 , wherein the second end of the connection member is positioned lower than the first end of the connection member, and the prevention rib is arranged on the second end.
9 . The clothes dryer of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of evaporator supports is formed in a flat shape to increase a contact area with the evaporator.
10 . The clothes dryer of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of evaporator supports comprises a curved member convex upward toward the evaporator.
11 . A clothes dryer comprising: a cabinet; a drum rotatably arranged inside the cabinet; a support plate provided in a lower portion of the cabinet, the support plate including: a first region; a second region spaced apart from the first region; and a connection region provided between the first region and the second region, and connect the first region and second region together; an evaporator mounted on the first region; a condenser mounted on the second region; and a fan configured to generate a circulation airflow to circulate air through the evaporator, the condenser, and the drum, wherein the first region includes: a plurality of evaporator supports configured to support the evaporator by being in contact with the evaporator, each of the plurality of evaporator supports spaced apart from one another along a direction of the circulation airflow; a plurality of drain holes to drain water collected on the first region therethrough, extending in a widthwise direction which is perpendicular to the direction of the circulation airflow, and each of the plurality of drain holes is spaced apart from one another along the direction of the circulation airflow; and a plurality of connection ribs extending along the direction of the circulation airflow to partition the plurality of drain holes, each of the plurality of connection ribs connecting adjacent evaporator supports among the plurality of evaporator supports thereby reinforcing a strength of the plurality of evaporator supports, wherein each of the plurality of connection ribs comprises: a center portion formed in a concave shape from an upper surface of one of the adjacent evaporator supports to an upper surface of an other one of the adjacent evaporator supports in the direction of the circulation airflow; and inclined portions formed from the center portion in the widthwise direction to guide the water downward into the plurality of drain holes, wherein each of the plurality of connection ribs is positioned lower than the adjacent evaporator supports connected thereto, and wherein the connection region includes a plurality of holes extending in the widthwise direction to drain the water collected from the first region therethrough.
12 . The clothes dryer of claim 11 , wherein the first region is located higher that the second region, and the connection region slopes downward from the first region to the second region to drain the water collected from the first region through the plurality of holes of the connection region.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) This application is a continuation application, under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a), of international application No. PCT/KR2022/007105, filed on May 18, 2022, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0113898, filed on Aug. 27, 2021, and No. 10-2021-0143365, filed on Oct. 26, 2021 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in their entireties BACKGROUND 1. Field The disclosure relates to a clothes dryer configured to improve a drying performance by facilitating discharge of condensed water. 2. Description of Related Art A clothes dryer is a device that dries laundry with hot-dry air. The clothes dryer may include a cabinet, a heat pump device arranged inside the cabinet and including a condenser and an evaporator, a fan configured to generate an air flow in the cabinet, and a drum in which laundry is accommodated. Air in the cabinet may be introduced into the drum through the evaporator and condenser by the flow of air generated by the fan. When moist air comes into contact with a cold surface of the evaporator, condensed water is generated on the surface of the evaporator. The condensed water may be discharged through a plurality of drain holes located below the evaporator, thereby preventing the condensed water from moving to the condenser. However, some of the condensed water is not discharged through the drain hole, but may move to the condenser by the flow of air. Water moving to the condenser may vaporize due to the high temperature of the condenser. As the water around the condenser vaporizes, the humidity of the air passing through the condenser rises. As the humidity of the air passing through the condenser rises, a drying time may be longer and the energy consumption may increase. That is, the drying performance of the clothes dryer may be reduced. SUMMARY Therefore, it is an aspect of the disclosure to provide a clothes dryer capable of improving a drying performance by facilitating discharge of condensed water. It is another aspect of the disclosure to provide a clothes dryer capable of improving a structure, in which an evaporator is mounted, so as to prevent movement of condensed water, which is generated by the evaporator, toward a condenser caused by an air flow inside the clothes dryer. It is another aspect of the disclosure to provide a clothes dryer capable of improving a drying performance without an increase in a material cost. Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure. In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a clothes dryer includes a cabinet, a drum rotatably arranged inside the cabinet, a support plate provided in a lower portion of the cabinet, the support plate including an evaporator mounting member and a condenser mounting member adjacent to the evaporator member, an evaporator mounted in the evaporator mounting member, and a condenser mounted in the condenser mounting member, and a fan configured to generate a circulation airflow to circulate air through the evaporator, the condenser, and the drum. The evaporator member includes a plurality of drain holes to drain water collected on the first region therethrough, extending in a widthwise direction which is perpendicular to a direction of the circulation airflow, and each of the plurality of drain holes is spaced apart from one another along the direction of the circulation airflow. The evaporator mounting member includes plurality of connection ribs extending along the direction of the circulation airflow and to partition the plurality of the drain holes, respectively, and to reinforce a strength of the evaporator mounting member. The evaporator mounting member may be in contact with the evaporator in a portion between two adjacent drain holes among the plurality of drain holes. The plurality of connection ribs may be positioned lower than the evaporator mounting member. An edge of the plurality of drain holes may be formed to be round to allow water around the plurality of drain holes to be guided to the plurality of drain holes. Each of the plurality of connection ribs may include an upper surface convex in a first direction and concave in a second direction intersecting the first direction, so as to guide water downward. The first direction may correspond to the widthwise direction. The second direction may correspond to the direction of the circulation airflow. The each of the plurality of connection ribs may be arranged space apart from each other in the widthwise direction. the condenser mounting member may be positioned lower than the evaporator mounting member. The support plate may include a prevention rib provided to prevent water from the evaporator mounting member from moving to the condenser mounting member due to the circulation airflow. The pr