Ambient air dehumidification system for a condenser or heat pump laundry appliance

Abstract

A laundry appliance includes a drum that is rotatably mounted within a cabinet and defines a chamber for receiving articles of clothing. Primary and ambient air duct systems provide fluid communication between a conditioning system and at least one of the chamber of the drum and an ambient environment, respectively. A blower fan urges air through the conditioning system and a damper system is operably coupled to the ambient air duct system for selectively regulating a flow of ambient air. A controller is configured to receive a command to initiate a dehumidification cycle, operate the conditioning system and the blower, and regulate the damper system to permit the flow of ambient air to pass through conditioning system and through the ambient air duct system, thereby dehumidifying the ambient environment.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A laundry appliance comprising:
 a cabinet;   a drum rotatably mounted within the cabinet, the drum defining a chamber for receipt of articles for drying;   a conditioning system configured to heat and remove moisture from air flowing therethrough;   a primary duct system for providing fluid communication between the chamber and the conditioning system, wherein the primary duct system, the conditioning system, and the drum define a process air flowpath;   an ambient air duct system for providing fluid communication between an ambient environment and the conditioning system, wherein the ambient air duct system and the conditioning system at least partially define an ambient air flowpath;   a blower fan operable to move at least one of a flow of process air through the process air flowpath or a flow of ambient air through the ambient air flowpath;   a damper system operably coupled to the ambient air duct system for selectively regulating the flow of ambient air; and   a controller operably coupled to the conditioning system, the blower fan, and the damper system, the controller being configured to:
 receive a command to initiate a dehumidification cycle; and 
 regulate the damper system to permit the flow of ambient air to pass through the conditioning system and through the ambient air duct system. 
   
     
     
         2 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the ambient air duct system comprises:
 an intake vent for receiving the flow of ambient air from the ambient environment; and   a discharge vent for discharging the flow of ambient air to the ambient environment.   
     
     
         3 . The laundry appliance of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a door pivotally mounted to the cabinet for providing selective access to the chamber, wherein the discharge vent is defined in the door.   
     
     
         4 . The laundry appliance of  claim 2 , wherein the damper system comprises:
 an inlet damper operably coupled to the intake vent for selectively regulating the flow of ambient air through the intake vent; and   an outlet damper operably coupled to the discharge vent for selectively regulating the flow of ambient air through the discharge vent.   
     
     
         5 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an air filter positioned within the ambient air duct system for filtering the flow of ambient air.   
     
     
         6 . The laundry appliance of  claim 5 , wherein the air filter is a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter. 
     
     
         7 . The laundry appliance of  claim 5 , wherein the air filter is positioned proximate an intake vent upstream of an evaporator of the conditioning system. 
     
     
         8 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a humidity sensor, wherein the controller is further configured to:
 measure an ambient humidity using the humidity sensor; and   initiate the dehumidification cycle when the ambient humidity exceeds a predetermined humidity threshold.   
     
     
         9 . The laundry appliance of  claim 8 , wherein the humidity sensor is positioned proximate an intake vent upstream of an evaporator of the conditioning system. 
     
     
         10 . The laundry appliance of  claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine that the conditioning system has been operating to reduce the ambient humidity for longer than a predetermined amount of time;   determine that the ambient humidity has not dropped by a predetermined amount within the predetermined amount of time; and   notify a user of a fault in the conditioning system or the humidity sensor.   
     
     
         11 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a condensate collection tank for collecting condensed water from the conditioning system; and   a drain pump in fluid communication with condensate collection tank for selectively discharging the condensed water to an external drain.   
     
     
         12 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a user interface panel positioned on the cabinet for facilitating user interaction with the laundry appliance, wherein the command to initiate the dehumidification cycle is received from a user through the user interface panel.   
     
     
         13 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is in operative communication with a remote device through an external network, and wherein the command to initiate the dehumidification cycle is provided through the remote device. 
     
     
         14 . The laundry appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the laundry appliance is a heat pump dryer appliance or a combination washer and heat pump dryer appliance. 
     
     
         15 . A method of operating a laundry appliance, the laundry appliance comprising a drum rotatably mounted within a cabinet, the drum defining a chamber for receipt of articles for drying, a conditioning system configured to heat and remove moisture from air flowing therethrough, a primary duct system providing fluid communication between the chamber and the conditioning system, an ambient air duct system providing fluid communication between an ambient environment and the conditioning system, a blower fan operable to move at least one of a flow of process air or a flow of ambient air, and a damper system operably coupled to the ambient air duct system for selectively regulating the flow of ambient air, the method comprising:
 receiving a command to initiate a dehumidification cycle; and   regulating the damper system to permit the flow of ambient air to pass through the conditioning system and through the ambient air duct system.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the ambient air duct system comprises:
 an intake vent for receiving the flow of ambient air from the ambient environment; and   a discharge vent for discharging the flow of ambient air to the ambient environment.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the damper system comprises:
 an inlet damper operably coupled to the intake vent for selectively regulating the flow of ambient air through the intake vent; and   an outlet damper operably coupled to the discharge vent for selectively regulating the flow of ambient air through the discharge vent.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the laundry appliance further comprises:
 an air filter positioned within the ambient air duct system for filtering the flow of ambient air.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the laundry appliance further comprises a humidity sensor, the method further comprising:
 measuring an ambient humidity using the humidity sensor; and   initiating the dehumidification cycle when the ambient humidity exceeds a predetermined humidity threshold.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 determining that the conditioning system has been operating to reduce the ambient humidity for longer than a predetermined amount of time;   determining that the ambient humidity has not dropped by a predetermined amount within the predetermined amount of time; and   notifying s user of a fault in the conditioning system or the humidity sensor.