A clothes treatment apparatus includes a cooling water pipe that is placed within a condensing duct to condense humidity contained in a circulating air current. The latent heat generated from the condensation of humidity causes the temperature of the cooling water in the cooling water pipe to rise. A thermoelectric pump mechanism collects heat from the higher-temperature cooling water and uses it in heating the circulating air.

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.

A laundry appliance includes a blower that directs process air through an airflow path. A rotating drum holds articles to be processed. A heat pump system has a condenser and an evaporator. The evaporator dehumidifies the process air that is delivered from the drum and the condenser heats the process air that is delivered from the evaporator. A phase change material retains heat from the condenser that is directed away from the process air, and the captured heat of the phase change material is utilized during a subsequent laundry cycle.

A laundry appliance includes a blower that directs process air through an airflow path. A rotating drum holds articles to be processed. A heat pump system has a condenser and an evaporator. The evaporator dehumidifies the process air that is delivered from the drum and the condenser heats the process air that is delivered from the evaporator. A thermal storage mechanism retains heat at least from the condenser that is directed away from the process air to define captured heat, and the captured heat of the thermal storage mechanism is utilized during a subsequent laundry cycle. A secondary heater is powered by an external source that delivers thermal energy to the thermal storage mechanism.

A washing machine including a main body; a tub disposed inside the main body; a drum rotatably disposed inside the tub; a drying device including a compressor so that the drying device is configured to remove moisture from air discharged from the tub, heat the air from which the moisture was removed, and supply the heated air to the tub; and a support device disposed between the tub and the drying device. The support device may include a first support member longitudinally extending along a front and back direction of the main body, and a second support member longitudinally extending along a left and right direction of the main body, wherein at least one of the first support member and the second support member passes below the compressor, so that the first support member and the second support member are thereby configured to support the drying device above the tub.

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.

The present invention relates drying clothes and other fabrics. The present invention further relates to a cold-air system for removing moisture from fabric. The present invention even further relates to a system for drying fabrics in a closed, non-exhausted system. The present invention even further relates to a free-standing, low energy appliance for drying fabrics.