EP2055825A1 - Laundry drying machine comprising a lint filter - Google Patents

Abstract

The machine has a drum traversed by drying air provoking from a drying air circuit including a blower, and a lint filter (2) provided with a lint scraping unit (17). The scraping unit is displaced relative to the lint filter and maintained in a position in the machine. The scraping unit scrapes a lint on the lint filter and compresses the lint in a storage zone (18). The lint filter has a visualization unit (28) for signaling filling of the storage zone by the scraped lint. The scraping unit prevents closing of an access door to the drum when the storage zone is filled.

Description

The present invention relates to a clothes drying machine equipped with a lint filter.

It relates generally to the field of clothes drying machines or washer-dryers in which the laundry is placed in a rotary drum traversed by a hot air flow for extracting moisture from the laundry and the fluff formed on the laundry.

A hot air circulation circuit, open or closed, allows to introduce drying air into the drum and to evacuate this air after passing through the laundry.

Known drying machines have a filter disposed in the drying air circuit to stop the fluff. This filter clogs up quickly and prevents normal circulation of drying air. These drying machines have the disadvantage of frequently cleaning the filter by the user to maintain the drying efficiency and good performance of these devices.

Also known is a tumble dryer described in the document EP0722519 . This tumble dryer features an annular lint filter that surrounds the tumble dryer drum and surrounds the tumble dryer door. The heated air enters through an inlet at one end of the drum, passes through the laundry in the drum (taking the lint from the laundry as it passes), passes through the annular lint filter, and exits the dryer. During the operation of the dryer, the lint is deposited on the inner surface of the rotary filter and eventually accumulates to form a felted layer. A razor blade attached to the dryer body and aligned with the filter surface (at a fixed distance therefrom) detaches the felted layer of lint from the filter when the thickness of the fuzzy layer of lint is such that the razor blade comes in contact with it. This felted layer of fluff thus removed from the filter surface is then collected in a cavity located in the door of the dryer to be stored and then discarded.

However, this dryer has the disadvantage of modifying the structure of a traditional tumble dryer significantly. This machine dryer requires a rotational movement between the drum and a razor blade to drive the wad to an extractable reservoir. Such a device for removing lint from a filter is complex to implement and generates costly production costs.

Moreover, the surface of the filter to be peeled is necessarily flat, of circular shape and of large size.

This drying machine is used to remove the lint from the filter by peeling and the lint is discharged into a tank. The fluff remain airy after the filter peeling and require a large tank because the size of these fluff is bulky.

Such a device for recovering lint of laundry during a drying cycle by a circulation of drying air necessitates a modification of the air circuit of the machine for drying the laundry, and causes an expensive adjustment of said machine to achieve satisfactory drying performance.

The present invention aims to solve the aforementioned drawbacks and generally to reduce the stress associated with the elimination of the flock of linen amassed on the filter.

Furthermore, the dryer machine reduces the frequency of withdrawal of the laundry pack by the user outside the dryer machine.

To this end, the present invention is directed to a laundry drying machine comprising a drum, said drum being traversed by drying air from a drying air circuit, said drying air circuit comprising at least a fan, and said machine comprising at least one lint filter, said at least one lint filter comprising at least one lint scraping means.

According to the invention, said at least one scraper means moves relative to said at least one lint filter held in position in said machine, said at least one scraper means scrapes lint on said at least one lint filter, and said at least one scraping means compresses scraped lint in a storage area), and said at least one lint filter comprises a non-return device of said at least one wiper means depending on the filling level of the storage area compressed fluff.

Thus, the dryer machine can scrape the lint of laundry collected on a filter and compress these lint of laundry to store inside the machine. These lint of laundry are thus stored for several drying cycles before being removed by the user outside the dryer in a garbage can.

In addition, the traditional collection of lint with the fingers of the user against the lint filter is replaced by the friction of the scraping means moving along the lint filter, thus facilitating the operation.

The lint of laundry is compacted by the scraping means to minimize the storage space of these lint. Thus, the volume of the storage area can be reduced and / or the amount of stored lint of laundry larger.

The scraping means makes it possible to reduce the stress associated with the removal of lint from the fluff filter by allowing said fluff filter to be cleaned after several cycles of drying the laundry. The lint of laundry is thus stored in a storage area inside the dryer machine while several drying cycles of the laundry before disposal by the user in a bin.

The scraping means makes it easier to clean the fluff filter.

Preferably, the lint storage zone is formed in the lint filter and at one end of the latter allowing the drying air to pass through said filter during a subsequent drying cycle in order to guarantee a circulation of lint. air drying normal in the drying air circuit and amass new lint of laundry on said lint filter.

The lint filter comprising a scraping means according to the invention makes it possible to guarantee the drying of the laundry articles by an optimal circulation of the drying air in the drying air circuit. The fluff filter allows a passage of drying air without creating a loss of loads related to lint amassed on it and then compacted in a storage area.

In practice, the scraped and compacted lint storage area is outside a preferred air circulation zone of the at least one lint filter.

According to a preferred feature of the invention, said at least one scraper means moves in a translation movement within said at least one lint filter.

Thus, the lint is collected on the lint filter during a laundry drying cycle and the scraping means is operated at the end of the laundry drying cycle to clean the lint filter and to compress the lint to a desired temperature. end of said lint filter.

According to another preferred feature of the invention, said at least one fluff filter comprises at least one guide rail of said at least one scraper means positioned between at least two filter walls of said at least one fluff filter.

Thus, the scraper means of the filter extends between at least two filter walls to remove the lint amassed on these walls and to compress them in the storage area. The scraping means is guided by a rail mounted on the fluff filter to ensure optimum scraping of said filter walls. The scraping means thus follows the shape of the lint filter without any part of said lint filter being cleaned. The guiding rail of the scraping means makes it possible to hold the scraping means in place in the fluff filter in order to avoid the withdrawal of said scraping means during handling thereof to scrape said lint filter.

According to another preferred feature of the invention, said at least one lint filter comprises at least one visualization means signaling the filling of the storage area with scraped lint.

Thus, the user of the dryer is warned by a visual means of the amount of stuffed linen stored in the storage area. The display means enables the user to be notified when the compacted lint storage area needs to be emptied to maintain the drying performance of the dryer.

In practice, the user moves the scraping means on the lint filter to remove lint accumulated on said lint filter. The scraping means compresses the fluff in the storage area until the scraping means is stopped by the lint of compacted laundry in the storage area. The display device of the lint filter makes it possible to display the quantity of lint compacted and stored in the storage area and to warn the user if the storage area needs to be emptied.

The display means may be realized by a mark symbolizing the maximum level of lint compacted and stored in the permissible storage area for normal operation of the dryer.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the description below.

• o la figure 1 illustre schématiquement une machine à sécher le linge comprenant un filtre à peluches conforme à l'invention ;
• o la figure 2 est une vue en perspective d'un filtre à peluches ouvert conforme à l'invention ;
• o la figure 3 est une vue en coupe d'un filtre à peluches conforme à l'invention ;
• o la figure 4 est une vue de dessus d'un filtre à peluches et d'une porte fermée d'une machine à sécher le linge conforme à l'invention ;
• o la figure 5 est une vue de dessus d'un filtre à peluches et d'une porte ouverte d'une machine à sécher le linge conforme à l'invention ;
• o les figures 6A et 6B sont des vues de coupe suivant le plan de coupe BB de la figure 5 ;
• o les figures 7A, 7B, 7C et 7D sont des vues de coupe suivant le plan de coupe AA de la figure 5 ;
• o la figure 8 est une vue schématique d'une machine à sécher le linge pourvue d'un filtre à peluches relié à un ventilateur suivant un mode de réalisation de l'invention ; et
• o la figure 9 est vue en perspective d'un filtre à peluches entraîné par un dispositif motorisé selon l'invention.

In the accompanying drawings, given as non-limiting examples:

• o the figure 1 schematically illustrates a laundry drying machine comprising a fluff filter according to the invention;
• o the figure 2 is a perspective view of an open fluff filter according to the invention;
• o the figure 3 is a sectional view of a lint filter according to the invention;
• o the figure 4 is a top view of a lint filter and a closed door of a dryer according to the invention;
• o the figure 5 is a top view of a lint filter and an open door of a dryer according to the invention;
• o the Figures 6A and 6B are sectional views along the sectional plane BB of the figure 5 ;
• o the FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C and 7D are sectional views along the sectional plane AA of the figure 5 ;
• o the figure 8 is a schematic view of a clothes drying machine provided with a lint filter connected to a fan according to an embodiment of the invention; and
• o the figure 9 is perspective view of a lint filter driven by a motorized device according to the invention.

We will first describe with reference to the figure 1 a drying machine 1 equipped with a lint filter 2.

This dryer may be a household clothes dryer or a washer-dryer.

Of course, the present invention applies to all types of machine for drying clothes, including front loading.

This dryer 1 comprises a body 3 comprising an access opening 4 inside the body 3.

An access door 5 is adapted to close this opening 4 of the body 3 of the machine 1, especially during operation thereof.

In this embodiment, and in no way limiting, the access door 5 is pivotally mounted about an axis of rotation integral with the bodywork 3 of the machine 1.

The body 3 of the machine 1 is adapted to accommodate a drum 6 which is particularly suitable for drying laundry by a hot air circulation. The drum 6 is rotatable about an axis 7 during the different phases of the drying cycles of the machine.

It will be noted that the figure 1 is schematic and that many organs necessary for the operation of the machine have been omitted and do not need to be described in detail here.

In order to allow the introduction and removal of the laundry inside the rotary drum 6, it comprises in a known manner a door 5.

A control panel 8 is also provided in the upper part of the machine 1.

Of course, the dryer according to the invention comprises all the equipment and means necessary for the implementation of a conventional drying process in such a rotary drum machine.

The dryer 1 comprises a drying air circuit 9. The dryer air circuit 9 comprises at least one dryer air inlet duct 10 and a dryer air outlet duct 11 The air inlet duct 10 is connected to an air inlet 12 of the drum 6 and the air outlet duct 11 to an air outlet 13 of the drum 6. The drum 6 of the drying machine the laundry 1 is an integral part of the drying air circuit 9.

The drying machine 1 also comprises at least one fan 14 for driving a drying air flow F to pass into the air inlet 12 of the drum 6, to pass through said drum 6 containing the pieces of laundry and to out of the air outlet 13 of said drum 6. The drying of the laundry contained in the drum 6 is dried by the flow of air F through said drum 6 while said drum 6 is rotated to stir and lift the laundry.

The fan 14 is mounted in the drying air circuit 9 to suck air and force it to flow through the pipes 10 and 11 of said drying air circuit 9.

A heating element 15 is mounted in the air inlet duct 10 to heat the drying air to a predetermined temperature controllable by control means (not shown) of the laundry dryer 1. L drying air is introduced into the drum 6 through at least one air inlet opening 12 formed in the drum 6. The drum 6 contains the items of laundry to be dried and causes them to rotate during a drying cycle. The drying cycle removes moisture from the laundry items with moisture-laden drying air. The moisture-laden drying air is discharged through at least one outlet opening 13 of the drum 6 and then through the outlet duct 11.

In one embodiment of the invention, the laundry dryer 1 comprises at least one fluff filter 2 at said at least one drying air outlet opening 13 of the drum 6.

In a top-loading laundry dryer (not shown), the lint filter may be placed on a flange of the drum and preferably within the drum so that the user can remove and clean it. . Said at least one drying air outlet opening is formed on the flange of the drum comprising the fluff filter.

In a front-load laundry dryer illustrated in figure 1 , the lint filter 2 can be placed below the access door 5 to the drum 6. Said at least one drying air outlet opening 13 is formed through the access door 5 to the drum 6. In this way, the lint filter 2 is accessible to the user when opening the access door 5 of the drum 6 to be removed and cleaned.

The lint filter 2 is placed in a housing 16 formed in the drying air circuit 9. This housing 16 allows easy access by the user to remove said lint filter 2.

Said at least one lint filter 2 comprises at least one scraping means 17 for fluff. Said at least one scraper means 17 is movable relative to said at least one lint filter 2.

The scraper means 17 can be moved relative to the lint filter 2 to remove lint from it. The displacement of the scraper means 17 with respect to the lint filter 2 may be performed manually or automatically.

The compaction of the fluff by the scraping means 17 may be carried out in a vertical or horizontal movement of said scraping means 17.

Said at least one scraping means 17 moves relative to said at least one fluff filter 2 held in position in said machine 1.

Said at least one scraper means 17 scrapes the fluff on said at least one fluff filter 2 and said at least one scraper means 17 compresses scraped lint in a storage area 18.

Thus, the dryer 1 can scrape the lint of linen collected on a filter 2 and compress the lint of laundry to store inside said machine 1. These lint are thus stored for several drying cycles before being removed by the user outside the dryer 1 in a garbage bin.

The lint of laundry is compacted by the scraping means 17 to minimize the storage space of these lint. Thus, the volume of the storage area 18 can be reduced and / or the amount of stored lint of laundry larger.

The scraping means 17 makes it possible to reduce the stress associated with the elimination of the lint of linen collected on the fluff filter 2 by allowing said fluff filter 2 to be cleaned after several drying cycles of the laundry. The lint of laundry is thus stored in a storage area 18 inside the dryer 1 for several drying cycles of the laundry before disposal by the user in a bin.

The scraping means 17 makes it easier to clean the fluff filter 2.

The scraping means 17 makes it possible to scrape at least one filter wall 20 of a lint filter 2, to drive the lint to a storage area 18 and then to compress the lint in the storage area 18.

The scraping means 17 comprises a ridge parallel to said at least one filter wall 20 of the lint filter 2. In the case where the lint filter 2 comprises several filtering walls 20, the scraping means 17 may comprise as many ridges parallel to said filtering walls 20.

In this way, the scraping means 17 makes it possible to scrape the surface of said at least one filtering wall 20 uniformly.

The lint amassed on the lint filter 2 is compressed by said at least one scraping means 17 cooperating with a rigid element of the lint filter 2.

Thus, according to a first embodiment of the invention, the lint amassed on the lint filter 2 can be compressed by the doctoring means 17 against a wall of said lint filter 2. The wall of the lint filter 2 can for example be a vertical side wall 21.

According to a second embodiment of the invention, the lint amassed on the lint filter 2 can be compressed by the scraping means 17 against a wall separation device (not shown) placed inside said fluff filter 2.

According to a third embodiment of the invention, the lint amassed on the lint filter 2 can be compressed by a first scraping means 17 against a second scraping means 17 (not shown) placed inside said lint filter 2. The two scraping means 17 are movable inside the lint filter 2.

In one embodiment of the invention where the scraping means 17 moves in a horizontal movement with respect to said at least one filter wall 20, the scraping means 17 extends at least over the height of said at least one filtering wall 20 in order to scrape all the fluff collected on said at least one filter wall 20.

In another embodiment of the invention, said at least one scraper means 17 extends horizontally inside said at least one fluff filter 2.

Said at least one fluff filter 2 comprises at least one filtering vertical wall 20 scraped by said at least one scraper means 17 in a vertical translational movement.

Thus, the scraping means 17 moves in a vertical movement with respect to said at least one filter wall 20.

The scraping means 17 extends at least over the width of said at least one filtering wall 20 in order to scrape all the lint collected on said at least one filtering wall 20.

The lint filter 2 illustrated in Figures 2, 3 , 6A and 6B has a triangular section. The scraping means 17 may also have a triangular shaped section to ensure cleaning of the filter walls 20 over their entire surface. The edges of the doctoring means 17 are parallel to the filter walls 20 of the lint filter 2 so that these edges are in proximity to said filter walls 20 to remove lint.

The width of the scraper means 17 is of reduced size to avoid disturbing the air flow through the fluff filter 2. Said reduced width of the scraper means 17 ensures the rigidity thereof for scraping the lint amassed on the filtering walls 20. The scraping means 17 is adapted to scrape the fluff without folding or breaking when compacting the fluff.

The thickness of the scraping means 17 is defined by the distance between two filter walls 20 when the lint filter 2 consists of several filter walls arranged opposite each other. In this way, the scraping means 17 effectively scrapes and compresses the lint collected on the filter walls 20 of the lint filter 2.

The storage area 18 of the lint of laundry may be either inside the lint filter 2 or outside thereof.

Preferably, the lint storage zone 18 is formed in the lint filter 2 and at one end of the latter allowing the drying air to pass through said filter 2 during a subsequent drying cycle in order to guarantee circulation of normal drying air in the drying air circuit 9 and collecting new lint of linen on said lint filter 2.

The fluff filter 2 comprising a scraping means 17, according to the invention, makes it possible to guarantee the drying of the laundry articles by an optimal circulation of the drying air in the drying air circuit 9. The filter 2 lint allows a passage of drying air without creating a loss of loads related to lint amassed on it and then compacted in a storage area 18.

In practice, the storage area 18 for the scraped and compacted lint is outside a preferential air circulation zone of the at least one lint filter 2.

The preferred air circulation zone of said at least one fluff filter 2 is outside the storage zone 18 of the latter. The lint filter 2 is connected to a fan 14 by a pipe.

Thus, the volume of the storage area 18 of the lint filter 18 can reach half the volume of the lint filter 2.

In the case where the line 11 connecting the fluff filter 2 and the fan 14 is located on the left of the machine 1, the storage area 18 is located on the right of the fluff filter 2 and the preferred circulation area. air of said fluff filter is located on the left. This embodiment of the invention is illustrated on the figure 8 . The right-side airflow is less than the left-hand airflow of the fluff filter 2. Thus, the airflow should preferably be placed on the left side of the fluff filter and the storage area 18 of the fluff filter. fluff on the right side of said fluff filter 2.

Of course, the preferred air circulation zone and the storage area 18 of the lint filter 2 can be reversed in the case where the pipe 11 connecting the fluff filter 2 and the fan 14 is located on the right of the machine 1.

The air flow rate at the storage area 18 of the lint filter 2 may be zero because this storage area 18 constitutes a dead zone of the air circulation between the drum 6 and the fan 14. The circulation of air between the drum 6 and the fan 14 makes it possible to pass only the preferential zone of the lint filter 2.

The preferred air circulation zone of the fluff filter 2 is determined as a function of the position of the fan 14 and the duct 11 connecting said fluff filter 2 to said fan 14.

The lint storage area 18 can be either inside the fluff filter 2 between two vertical walls 20 of the latter or by a tank (not shown) connected to said fluff filter 2.

In one embodiment of the invention, the storage area 18 of the scraped lint is formed inside said at least one lint filter 2.

Thus, the size of the lint filter 2 with the scraper means 17 is minimum and allows a traditional lint filter to be exchanged with a lint filter according to the invention in the zone provided for this purpose in the air circuit. dryer 9 of the dryer 1.

In another embodiment of the invention, illustrated in FIG. figure 9 the lint filter is connected to a compacted lint storage tank.

Thus, the storage tank can be removed from the dryer to be emptied into a bin without the lint filter removed from the dryer.

In another embodiment of the invention (not shown), the scraped lint storage area is emptied by said at least one scraping means.

Thus, the lint gathered on the lint filter is compacted by the scraping means and the latter can be removed from the lint filter to empty the storage area without the lint filter being removed from the dryer. said lint filter is open. The scraping means is extracted from the lint filter and transports the compacted lint of linen to empty the storage area.

Said at least one scraping means 17 moves in translation movement within said at least one lint filter 2.

Thus, the lint is collected on the lint filter 2 during a laundry drying cycle and the scraping means 17 is operated at the end of the laundry drying cycle to clean the lint filter 2 and to compress the lint fluff at one end of said fluff filter 2.

The lint filter 2 can have various shapes and variations depending on the model of the dryer, while ensuring the cleaning performance of the lint filter 2 by the scraping means 17 and the compaction performance of the fluff by the means scraper 17 in the storage area 18.

The translation movement of the scraping means 17 may be carried out along a horizontal line or along a portion of a circle depending on the shape of the lint filter 2.

The fluff filter 2 comprises at least two vertical filter walls 20 for the lint of laundry arranged in facing relation. The vertical filtering walls 20 comprise meshes or holes making it possible to collect the lint of linen without obstruct the passage of drying air.

The section of the lint filter 2 may be V-shaped.

In this embodiment of the invention, the doctoring means 17 is a longitudinal element extending between the filtering walls 20. The scraping means 17 may be in the form of an "I" beam. The scraping means 17 comprises at least one edge bearing on each of the filtering walls 20 for scraping the lint of linen gathered on said filtering walls 20.

The filtering vertical walls 20 comprise filtering elements 19 which may be in the form of fabrics fixed on a plastic structure of the lint filter 2. The filtering elements 19 illustrated on FIG. figure 2 are of substantially rectangular shape but of course their shape is not limiting. The filter elements may be circular or any other form cooperating with the lint filter 2.

The fluff filter 2 also comprises two vertical walls 21 making it possible to close the latter so as to prevent the lint amassed on the filtering elements 19 from being able to disperse outside the lint filter 2.

The fluff filter 2 also comprises a top wall 22 for moving the scraping means 17.

The vertical filtering walls 20 may be hinged together. An axis of rotation 23 is provided at the bottom of the fluff filter 2 to open it.

Elastic snap-fastening means make it possible to keep the fluff filter closed while it is being used in the dryer and when it is removed for emptying.

The resilient snap-fastening means may be disengaged upon removal of the lint filter 2 from the dryer 1 to remove compacted lint from the storage area 18 and to clean the filter elements 19 from said lint filter 2.

The scraping means 17 makes it possible to drive the lint of linen gathered on the filter elements 19 of the lint filter 2 towards a vertical wall 21 of said lint filter 2 in order to compress and store them.

The shape of the scraper means 17 is adapted to cooperate with the shape of the lint filter 2, and particular to match the shape of the vertical filter walls 20 of said lint filter 2.

The scraper means 17 of the lint filter 2 comprises a handle 24 making it possible to manipulate said scraping means 17 during the cleaning of said lint filter 2 and the compaction of the fluff.

The handle 24 of the scraper means 17 protrudes from the top wall 22 of the filter with lint 2 so that the user can move said scraping means 17 along the filter elements 19.

The top wall 22 of the lint filter 2 is made in the form of grids to allow the introduction of the drying air flow F through the lint filter 2. The drying air circulates inside the filter. fluff 2 between the vertical filter walls 20, passes through the filter elements 19 by depositing the lint on them and then the drying air is discharged to the air outlet duct 11 of the drying air circuit 9.

In a preferred embodiment, said at least one scraper means 17 extends vertically inside said at least one fluff filter 2. Said at least one fluff filter 2 comprises two vertical filtering walls 20 scraped by said at least one scraper means 17 in a horizontal translation movement. Said at least one lint filter 2 opens by spreading said two vertical filtering walls 20 to remove scraped lint and compacted by said at least one scraping means 17 in the storage area 18.

Said at least one fluff filter 2 comprises at least one guide rail 25 of said at least one scraper means 17 positioned between at least two filter walls 20 of said at least one fluff filter 2.

Thus, the scraping means 17 of the filter 2 extends between at least two filter walls 20 to remove the lint amassed on these walls 20 and to compress them in the storage area. The scraping means 17 is guided by a rail 25 mounted on the fluff filter 2 to ensure optimum scraping of said filtering walls 20. The scraping means 17 thus follows the shape of the fluff filter 2 without a part of said filter with lint 2 is not cleaned. The guiding rail 25 of the scraper means 17 makes it possible to hold the scraper means 17 in place in the fluff filter 2 in order to avoid the withdrawal of said scraping means 17 during the handling thereof to scrape said filter. soft toys 2.

The guide rail 25 of the lint filter 2 is placed between the vertical filter walls 20 and formed in the top wall 22.

The top wall 22 comprises two stops 26 for limiting the stroke of the scraping means 17 inside the fluff filter 2 and preventing said scraping means 17 from leaving the guide rail 25.

The stops 26 also make it possible to remove the lint filter 2 from its housing 16 formed in the drying air circuit 9.

The guide rail 25 is substantially rectilinear to simplify the shape of the lint filter 2.

The scraping means 17 comprises a stop 27 for holding said scraping means 17 inside the fluff filter 2. Said abutment 27 of the scraping means 17 is supported on the top wall 22. Thus, the scraping means 17 can not be withdrawn from the guide rail 25 involuntarily.

Said at least one lint filter 2 comprises at least one display means 28 signaling the filling of the storage area 18 with the scraped lint.

Thus, the user of the clothes dryer 1 is warned by a visual means 28 of the amount of lint of laundry stored in the storage area 18. The display means 28 makes it possible to signal to the user when the compacted lint storage area 18 must be emptied in order to maintain the drying performance of the dryer 1.

In practice, the user moves the scraper means 17 on the lint filter 2 to remove the lint collected on said lint filter 2. The scraper means 17 compresses the lint in the storage area 18 until the scraping means 17 is stopped by the lint of laundry compacted in the storage area 18. The display means 28 of the lint filter 2 makes it possible to display the quantity of fluff compacted and stored in the storage area 18 and to warn the user if the storage area 18 is to be emptied.

The display means may be realized by a mark symbolizing the maximum level of lint compacted and stored in the storage area 18 eligible for normal operation of the dryer 1.

The scraping means 17 returns to its initial position after each compaction of the fluff at a left end of the fluff filter 2, as illustrated in FIG. figure 2 . While the storage area 18 of the fluff filter 2 is located at the opposite end, to the right, of said fluff filter 2.

If the scraper means 17 does not return to the initial position, that is to say that the scraping means 17 has remained on the right of the lint filter 2, the next manipulation of the scraping means 17 will be performed at the same time. and the lint scraped by scraping means 17 will be conveyed to the preferred air circulation area of the lint filter 2. Therefore, the air flow will be decreased and the drying of the clothes will be less effective.

If the scraping means 17 is in the middle of the lint filter 2, the lint scraped by the scraping means 17 will be distributed on either side of the lint filter during the actuation of said scraping means 17. Some of the lint will be transported to the preferred air circulation area of the lint filter 2. As a result, the air flow will be decreased and drying of the laundry items will be less effective.

In case of misplacement of the scraping means 17, that is to say in outside the initial position of said scraping means 17, said scraping means 17 will not result in all the lint in the storage area 18 of the lint filter 2.

When the scraper means 17 can not cross the mark signaling the maximum level of lint compacted in the storage area 18, the display means 28 of the lint filter 2 makes it possible to observe that the storage area 18 is full and that the fluff filter 2 must be emptied to perform a new drying cycle.

The display means 28 makes it possible to immediately display the filling of the lint filter 2 and to know if it must be emptied.

As long as the scraping means 17 makes it possible to compress lint of laundry in the storage zone 18 without said scraping means 17 not exceeding the mark of the signaling means 28 indicating the maximum level of lint that can be stored, the machine drying the laundry 1 can be put into operation to perform laundry drying cycles.

The display means 28 makes it possible to visualize the level of compacted fluff in the storage zone 18.

Said at least one fluff filter 2 comprises at least one return means (not shown) of the at least one scraper means 17 towards an initial position.

The initial position of the scraping means is outside the storage area 18 and preferably at one end of the guide rail 25 of the fluff filter 2. A first end of the guide rail 25 is the initial position of the scraping means 17 and a second end of the guide rail 25 is the maximum compaction position of the lint in the storage area 18.

The return means of the scraping means 17 can be made by a spring or by the use of an elastic material for said scraping means 17.

In this way, the scraping means 17 always returns to the same position automatically.

Therefore, the return means of the scraper means 17 ensures a safe operation of the dryer 1. The return to the initial position of the scraping means 17 by the biasing means makes it possible to ensure that the drying air circuit 9 is not obstructed, that the items of laundry will not be retained and caused their tearing during the rotation of the drum 6, or that any element of the dryer 1 does not will not be damaged when starting the dryer 1.

The scraping means 17 prevents the access door 5 from closing to the drum 6 if said scraping means 17 have not returned to their initial position by the effect of the recall. In this way, the clothes dryer 1 can not function until the fluff filter 2 is properly replaced.

Said at least one fluff filter 2 may comprise a non-return device of said at least one scraping means 17 as a function of the level of filling of the storage area 18 of the compressed fluff.

Thus, the non-return device (not shown) makes it possible to block the scraping means 17 inside the fluff filter 2 when the maximum level of compressed fluff is reached in the storage area 18. Such a non-return device allows to alert the user of the filling level of the storage area 18 compressed fluff to empty it.

In one embodiment of the invention, a non-return device (not shown) of the doctoring means 17 may be installed on the guide rail 25 to prevent the initial return of said scraping means when the storage area 18 is fulfilled.

A non-return device of the scraping means 17 may be a succession of notches mounted on the guide rail 25. When the scraping means can not return to the initial position because the amount of compacted fluff is too great, the scraping means 17 is blocked by the notches of the guide rail 25.

This position of the scraping means 17 prevents the closing of the access door 5 of the drum 6 and therefore the user is warned that he must empty the storage area 18. After emptying the fluff filter 2 by removing the vertical walls 20, the scraper means 17 can return to the initial position.

The notches mounted on the guide rail 25 are arranged between the initial position of the scraping means and the signaling means 28 preceding the storage area 18. Preferably, the notches mounted on the guide rail 25 are positioned just before the means of visualization 28 indicate the maximum level of filling of the storage area 18.

If the scraping means 17 can compress the fluff in the storage area 18 of the fluff filter 2, a new laundry drying cycle can be performed by the machine 1 without the fluff filter 2 being emptied. In addition, the scraping means 17 can return to the initial position by pulling on the latter and passing through the notches mounted on the guide rail 25.

If the scraping means 17 can not compress the fluff in the storage area 18 of the fluff filter 2, the scraping means 17 is blocked by the notches mounted on the guide rail 25. The scraping means 17 can not be disengaged. unblocked notches mounted on the guide rail 25 since the user does not benefit from the storage area 18 to give a pulse to said scraping means 17 having a force greater than that of said notches. Therefore, the lint filter 2 must be emptied of lint compressed in the storage area 18 to release the scraping means 17.

In the case of front loaders, a fluff filter 2 without means for returning the scraping means 17 to its initial position may comprise a device (not shown) preventing the access door 5 from closing to the drum 6. This device may comprise a counterform formed in the inner wall of the access door 5 to the drum 6 in order to block the latter by bringing the scraping means 17 into contact with said counter form of the access door 5 to the drum 6. .

Said at least one scraping means 17 prevents the closing of an access door 5 to the drum 6 when the storage area 18 of the scraped lint is filled.

Thus, the dryer 1 can not be operated with the lint filter 2 obstructed by the compacted lint. In this way, a laundry drying cycle can not be started with a drying air circulation having a reduced efficiency.

The user is obliged to empty the storage area 18 of the compacted fluff to start a drying cycle under normal operating conditions of the dryer 1.

A lint filter according to the invention thus makes it possible to prevent the clothes drying machine 1 from indicating a malfunction on the control panel 8 by a signaling means (not shown) and stopping the laundry drying cycle. waiting for troubleshooting for the fault found.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described in which the lint filter comprises scraping means provided with a return means, with reference to the Figures 4 to 7 .

The fluff filter 2 is equipped with scraping means 17 for manually compressing the fluff in a storage area 18 and preferably at one end of said fluff filter 2.

The return means 29 of the scraper means 17 is a spring or a return elastic.

The access door 5 to the drum opens and closes by rotating about an axis of rotation 34, shown in FIG. figure 5 .

The FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C and 7D illustrate the different actions exerted on the scraping means 17 of the lint filter 2.

The scraping means 17 takes at least three positions P1, P2 and P3 determined as a function of the opening or closing of the access door 5 to the drum 6.

To the Figures 7A and 7B , the scraping means 17 is moved from left to right to compress the lint amassed between the two filter walls 20 of the lint filter 2 in the storage area 18. When compaction of lint in the storage area 18, the return means 17 is elongate.

When the lint compacting operation at a first end 31 of the lint filter 2 is performed by the scraping means 17, said scraping means 17 is brought back and held in a position P1 of said lint filter 2. Maintaining the means scraper 17 in position P1 is provided by an elastic snap-fastening element 30.

To the figure 5 the access door 5 to the drum 6 is opened and the scraper means 17 in position P1 is held by the resilient detent element 30 following a compacting operation of the fluff in the fluff filter 2 and before closing of said access door 5.

To the Figure 6A the scraping means 17 is not held by the resilient snap-fastening element 30.

To the Figure 6B the scraper means 17 is held by the elastic detent element 30.

The compaction of the fluff in the storage area 18 of the fluff filter 2 is performed by the user by moving the scraping means 17 and having previously opened the access door 5 to the drum 6.

When compaction of the lint in the storage area 18 of the lint filter 2, the scraper means 17 passes beyond the elastic detent element 30.

The closing of the access door 5 to the drum 6 is allowed when the scraping means 17 is in position P1, that is to say that the scraping means 17 is held by the resilient snap-fastening element 30.

The access door 5 to the drum 6 comprises at least two stops 32 and 33 cooperating with the scraping means 17 of the lint filter 2.

The scraping means 17 is locked in a position P1 by an elastic snap-on element 30 following the compaction of the fluff in the storage area 18 of the fluff filter.

In the case where the scraping means 17 is not located in the P1 position, the access door 5 to the drum 6 is blocked by a first stop 33 integrated in said access door 5 coming into contact with the scraping means. 17.

To the figures 5 and 7C the closing of the access door 5 makes it possible to release the scraping means 17 of the elastic locking element 30 by a second abutment 32 also integrated on said access door 5.

The scraping means 17 is unlocked from the position P1 by a stop 32 integrated on the access door 5.

As soon as the scraping means 17 is released from the elastic detent element 30, the return means 29 pulls the scraping means 17 to an operating position P2 of the machine 1.

The access door 5 is thus closed and the scraping means 17 comes into contact with the first stop 33 of said access door 5, as illustrated in FIG. figure 4 .

When closing the access door 5, the scraping means 17 is automatically driven to the operating position P2 of the machine 1.

To the Figure 7D , the opening of the access door 5 releases the scraping means 17 of the first stop 33, the return means 29 pulls the scraping means 17 to a rest position P3. In this rest position P3, the scraping means 17 prohibits the closing of the access door 5.

The scraping means 17 moves from the position P2 to the position P3 during the opening of the access door 5 prohibiting the closure of said access door 5 before compacting the fluff in the storage area 18 of the filter soft toys 2.

This embodiment of the invention makes it possible to remind the user to clean the fluff filter 2 at each drying cycle of the machine 1 since the scraping means 17 is positioned to prevent the closing of the access door 5 on the drum 6.

The dryer 1 equipped with a fluff filter 2 having a scraping means 17 as described above avoids the engagement of a safety thermostat related to the fouling of the fluff filter 2 in case not cleaning said filter 2 or in the case of full filter 2 by blocking the closure of the access door 5 to the drum 6 in the two cases mentioned.

Thus, a front loader laundry drying machine according to the invention, and as described above, avoids increasing the duration of a laundry drying cycle or a risk of engagement of the laundry. a safety thermostat.

In improved embodiments of the invention, said at least one scraper means 17 may be driven by the rotational movement of the drum 6 or by the opening movement of an access door 5 to the drum 6, or again by a motor 35 or by the movement of the laundry.

Thus, the lint filter 2 is cleaned automatically by the scraper means 17 scraping the lint amassed on the filter elements 19 of said filter 2 and compacting the lint scraped in the storage area 18.

In this way, the lint filter 2 is cleaned at each drying cycle of the laundry by the automated drive of the scraping means 17.

In one embodiment of the invention where the scraping means 17 is driven by the rotational movement of the drum 6, the drum 6 is rotated by a motor not shown. When driving the drum by the motor, the The laundry is set in motion and can move the scraping means 17 in a right-left or left-right direction. So that the laundry moves the scraping means 17, the latter comprises a projecting portion (not shown) located inside the drum to allow the laundry to support or to hook on this projecting portion. The direction of movement of the scraper means 17 is a function of the direction of rotation of the drum 6. The direction of movement of the scraper means 17 may be allowed in one direction to avoid compressing the lint at both ends of the lint filter 2. The scraping means 17 may also comprise a return means for returning to the initial position after each compaction of the lint in the storage area 18 of the lint filter 2.

In one embodiment of the invention where the scraping means 17 is driven by the access door 5 to the drum 6. The scraping means 17 may be connected to the access door 5 of the drum by a cable (not represent). The opening of the access door 5 to the drum 6 makes it possible to move the scraping means 17, for example from right to left, by exerting a traction force on said scraping means 17. During the opening movement of the 5 access door, the cable connected to the scraping means 17 is stretched and the force exerted on the scraper means 17 moves to compress the lint in the storage area 18 of the lint filter 2. When the access door 5 to the drum 6 is closed, the cable connecting the scraper means 17 to the access door 5 relaxes. The scraping means 17 may also comprise a return means for returning to the initial position after each compaction of the lint in the storage area 18 of the lint filter 2.

In another embodiment of the invention where the scraping means 17 is motorized, this scraping means 17 can be driven by means of a worm extending along the length of the fluff filter 2, or by a rack and pinion system, or by a crank link system.

One embodiment of the invention where the scraping means 17 is motorized is illustrated in FIG. figure 9 . The scraper means 17 is driven by a motor 35 and a cable 36. The motor 35 pulls the scraping means 17 towards the storage area 18. The storage area 18 is illustrated in this embodiment such as a reservoir external to the lint filter 2. The compressed lint storage tank 18 cooperates with the lint filter 2 so as to avoid any leakage between the storage tank 18 and the lint filter 2. The scraping means 17 is moved between two stops 26 limiting the race of it.

The return of the scraping means 17 in the initial position can be provided by a return spring (not shown).

The motor 35 can make it possible to compress the fluff in the zone of storage 18 one or more times during a laundry drying cycle of the machine 1.

The lint filter according to the invention makes it possible to produce simple drying machines that are easy to industrialize and economical. Moreover, these clothes drying machines according to the invention are practical and simple in their use.

In the exemplary embodiments of the invention illustrated in FIGS. Figures 1 to 3 , the scraper means 17 moves in a horizontal movement inside the lint filter 2. The scraper means 17 is thus moved in a right-to-left or left-to-right movement during the removal of the lint accumulated on the fluff filter 2 and compaction of these fluff for storage.

In alternative embodiments not shown, the scraping means moves in a vertical movement inside the lint filter. The scraping means thus moves, in this case, in a movement from top to bottom or from bottom to top when removing the lint gathered on the fluff filter and compaction of these fluff for storage. Such alternative embodiments of the invention are particularly possible for a top-loading laundry-drying machine provided with a lint filter having a vertical filter wall.

Claims (20)

A clothes drying machine (1) comprising a drum (6), said drum (6) being traversed by drying air from a drying air circuit (9), said drying air circuit (9) comprising at least one fan (14), and said machine (1) comprising at least one lint filter (2), said at least one lint filter (2) comprising at least one scraper means (17) fluff, characterized in that said at least one scraping means (17) moves relative to said at least one fluff filter (2) held in position in said machine (1), and in that said at least one fluffing means (2) scraping (17) scrapes the fluff on said at least one lint filter (2) and said at least one scraper means (17) compresses the scraped lint in a storage area (18), and in that said at least one fluff filter (2) comprises a non-return device of said at least one scraper means (17) depending on the filling level of the storage area ( 18) compressed fluff. A clothes drying machine according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one scraper means (17) moves in translation movement within said at least one lint filter (2). A clothes drying machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said at least one lint filter (2) comprises at least one guide rail (25) of said at least one scraper means (17) positioned between at least one two filter walls (20) of said at least one lint filter (2). A clothes drying machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said at least one lint filter (2) comprises at least one biasing means of said at least one scraper means (17) in the direction of 'an initial position. A clothes drying machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said at least one lint filter (2) comprises at least one display means (28) signaling the filling of the storage area (18). ) by the scraped stuffed animals. A clothes drying machine as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said at least one scraping means (17) prevents closure of an access door (5) to the drum (6) when the storage area (18) scraped lint is filled. A clothes drying machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the storage area (18) of the scraped lint is emptied by said at least one scraping means (17). A clothes drying machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the storage area (18) of the scraped lint is provided within said at least one lint filter (2). A clothes drying machine as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said at least one scraping means (17) is driven by the rotational movement of the drum (6) or by the opening movement of the drum (6). an access door (5) to the drum (6). A clothes drying machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the scraping means (17) is motorized. Machine drying machine according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that said at least one scraping means (17) extends vertically within said at least one lint filter (2), in that said at least one lint filter (2) comprises two filter vertical walls (20) scraped by said at least one scraping means (17) following a horizontal translational movement, and in that said at least one lint filter (2) opens by separating said two vertical filter walls (20) to remove scraped lint and compacted by said at least one scraping means (17) in the storage area (18). Machine drying machine according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that said at least one scraping means (17) extends horizontally within said at least one lint filter (2), in that said at least one lint filter (2) comprises at least one vertical filtering wall (20) scraped by said at least one scraping means (17) in a vertical translation movement. A clothes drying machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the lint collected on the fluff filter (2) is compressed by said at least one scraper means (17) cooperating with a rigid member of the fluff filter (2). A clothes drying machine according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the storage area (18) of the scraped and compacted fluff is outside a preferential air circulation zone of the at least one filter with lint (2). A clothes drying machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the scraping means (17) takes at least three positions (P1, P2, P3) determined according to the opening or closing of the access door (5) to the drum (6). Drying machine according to claim 15, characterized in that the door access (5) to the drum (6) comprises at least two stops (32, 33) cooperating with the scraper means (17) of the lint filter (2). A clothes drying machine according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that the scraping means (17) is locked in a position (P1) by an elastic detent element (30) following the compaction of the fluff in the storage (18) of the lint filter. A clothes drying machine according to claim 17, characterized in that the scraping means (17) is released from the position (P1) by an abutment (32) integrated on the access door (5). A clothes drying machine as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that the scraper means (17) is locked in a position (P2) by an abutment (33) integral with the access door (5). ) when closing the access door (5). A clothes drying machine according to one of claims 15 to 19, characterized in that the scraping means (17) moves from the position (P2) to the position (P3) when the door is opened. access (5) prohibiting the closing of said access door (5) before compaction of the lint in the storage area (18) of the lint filter (2).

Images