A drying apparatus is disclosed. The drying apparatus comprises: a drum; a compressor for compressing a refrigerant; a first temperature sensor provided at an air discharge port of the drum; a second temperature sensor provided at a refrigerant discharge port of the compressor; and a processor which, when a drying cycle for an object to be dried begins, compares a first temperature sensed by the first temperature sensor with a predetermined threshold temperature so as to obtain an operation frequency of the compressor, and when a second temperature sensed by the second temperature sensor reaches a predetermined first target temperature, adjusts the operation frequency of the compressor on the basis of a third temperature calculated on the basis of the first temperature and the second temperature.

A drum for a combination washer dryer can include a plurality of sections. The sections can be interconnected by a plurality of flexible gaskets. The drum can be configured to expand and contract radially. The drum can radially expand to dry wet laundry during a drying phase following a washing phase in which laundry is washed.

A dryer includes a main body; a drum in the main body, the drum being rotatable and configured to receive an object to be dried by the dryer; a driving motor configured to rotate the drum; an input module configured to receive a command to perform a dry mode or a dehumidification mode from a user; a heat exchanger in the main body; and a controller configured to: in response to receiving the command to perform the dry mode, control the driving motor to rotate the drum at a first rotation speed, and in response to receiving the command to perform the dehumidification mode, control the driving motor to rotate the drum at a second rotation speed different from the first rotation speed.

An energy efficient autonomous laundry system includes a plurality of combination washing and drying machines each one of which includes heated and cold side heat exchangers disposed in series within a dedicated closed air loop at each machine, a heat pump providing separate streams of heated and cooled fluid to the heat exchangers, one or more sensors disposed in the closed air loop, and a controller in operative communication with all of these system components. The controller is configured to receive an output signal of one or more air sensors in the closed air loop, analyze the output signal, determine, based on the analysis, whether the at least one air characteristic is within a range of values for at least one of air temperature, air flow, and air humidity, and adjust one or more controls, including controls for adjusting at least one of air temperature, air flow, and air humidity.

In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a clothes dryer includes: a refrigerant pressure sensor provided in at least one of a first pipe connecting an expander to an evaporator or a second pipe connecting the evaporator to a compressor; a refrigerant temperature sensor provided in the second pipe; an electronic expansion valve configured to control a refrigerant; and a controller configured to control the electronic expansion valve based on detection values of the refrigerant pressure sensor and the refrigerant temperature sensor.

Disclosed is a multifunctional storage system including a machine chamber and a compartment, in which clothes are received, the multifunctional storage system including: a heat pump unit located in the machine chamber and including an evaporator, a condenser, a compressor, and a pressure controller; a moisture supply unit coupled to the heat pump unit and including a humidification filter; and a fan unit configured to circulate air in the machine chamber from the evaporator toward the condenser, wherein the moisture supply unit is coupled to a front end of the evaporator with reference to a circulation direction of the air, and wherein moisture is supplied to the humidification filter according to a preset condition, and loads of the evaporator and the condenser are increased as the moisture is supplied to the air when the air passes through the humidification filter.

Disclosed herein is a method of controlling a laundry treating apparatus, if a user selects a uniform course, including performing a preheating operation of a heater to generate steam, performing a first cooling operation to operate a blower unit and a moving hanger after the preheating operation has been terminated, performing a steam operation to operate the blower unit and a steam unit and to circulate steam to a treating chamber after the first cooling operation has been terminated, performing a standby operation to operate the blower unit after the steam operation has been terminated, performing a second cooling operation to operate the blower unit after the standby operation has been terminated, and performing a drying operation to operate the blower unit and a heat pump unit and to provide heat to the treating chamber to dry the treating chamber after the second cooling operation has been terminated.

A dryer according to the disclosure may detect current flowing through a motor for rotating a drum, detect humidity of a drying material accommodated in the drum, compare the detected humidity to a plurality of pieces of reference humidity and compare the detected current to a plurality of pieces of reference current to obtain a drying load, control a revolutions per minute (rpm) of the motor, a frequency of a compressor provided in a heat pump, and a degree of superheat of an evaporator provided in the heat pump based on the drying load, perform a drying process, detect humidity of the drying material while the drying process is performed, and finish the drying process in response to the detected humidity determined to be target humidity.

A method controls a laundry treatment apparatus that includes a drum in which a target object to be dried is put, a drum motor to drive the drum, an air duct to guide air into the drum, a heat pump provided in the air duct to dehumidify and heat the air, a blower fan to move the air of the air duct, and a blower motor to drive the blower fan. The method includes a drum driving step for repeatedly driving the drum by accelerating and decelerating the drum, a steam supply step for supplying or stopping steam for a predetermined time during execution of the drum driving step, and an air supply step for circulating internal air of the drum during execution of the drum driving step. The circulation of the internal air of the drum is stopped during execution of the steam supply step.

A dryer comprising: a user interface configured to receive input for a drying course; a communication interface; a drum; a hot air supply device to supply hot air to the drum; a sensing device, enabled to self-generate power based on a movement of the sensing device inside the drum while the drum is being rotated and transmits sensing data according to a voltage generated according to the self-power generation to the communication interface; and a processor to control an operation of the hot air supply device on the basis of the input for the drying course received through the user interface, where the control of the operation of the hot wind supplying device by the processor includes determining an operation time during which the hot air supply device operates to supply the hot air to the drum on the basis of the sensing data.