Variable timer runout control for dryer

Claim 5

A fabric drying apparatus comprising: a chamber for receiving a fabric load to be dried; heating means for supplying heat to said chamber; and control means for controlling the drying operation, said control means comprising: sensing means for sensing the moisture content of the fabric in said chamber, and means responsive to the period of time required before a preselected moisture content is sensed for extending the drying operation by an interval which is dependent upon said period of time, including means for producing timing pulses, means responsive to said timing pulses to accumulate time and responsive to said sensing means to stop accumulating time, and means for transforming the accumulated time into an interval for extending the drying operation. 20

Claim 6

A fabric drying apparatus comprising: a chamber for receiving a fabric load to be dried; heating means for supplying heat to said chamber; and control means for controlling the drying operation, said control means comprising: sensing means for sensing the moisture content of the fabric in said chamber, and means responsive to the period of time required before a preselected moisture content is sensed for extending the drying operation by an interval which is dependent upon said period of time, including means for producing timing pulses, means responsive to said timing pulses to accumulate time and responsive to said sensing means to stop accumulating time, and means for transforming the accumulated time into an interval for extending the drying operation. 20

Claim 7

A fabric drying apparatus according to claim 3, including means for presetting the drying operation for a maximum drying time and means connected to said time accumulating means for terminating the drying operation upon the accumulation of the preset maximum time.

Claim 8

In a dryer control of the type including an indexable memory device having a plurality of states which correspond to a program of dryer operations, means for indexing said memory, moisture sensing means, and a source of timing signals used to control dryer operations which are not sensed, the improvement comprising: a first time accumulating circuit operable to accumulate and store a signal indicative of the time required for the sensing means to indicate that the fabric load has attained a predetermined apparent moisture content; a second time accumulating circuit operable to accumulate time after the sensing means indicates said moisture level has been obtained; and circuit means connected to said first and second time accumulating circuits and operable to produce a signal for indexing said memory to terminate the drying operation when said second time accumulating circuit has accumulated an amount of time which is dependent upon the amount of time stored in said first time accumulating circuit.

Claim 9

In a dryer control of the type including an indexable memory device having a plurality of states which correspond to a program of dryer operations, means for indexing said memory, moisture sensing means, and a source of timing signals used to control dryer operations which are not sensed, the improvement comprising: a first time accumulating circuit operable to accumulate and store a signal indicative of the time required for the sensing means to indicate that the fabric load has attained a predetermined apparent moisture content; a second time accumulating circuit operable to accumulate time after the sensing means indicates said moisture level has been obtained; and circuit means connected to said first and second time accumulating circuits and operable to produce a signal for indexing said memory to terminate the drying operation when said second time accumulating circuit has accumulated an amount of time which is dependent upon the amount of time stored in said first time accumulating circuit.

Claim 10

The dryer control of claim 5 wherein said first and second time accumulating circuits comprise first and second digital counters respectively, and said circuit means comprises a logic circuit including a plurality of logic gates.

Claim 11

The dryer control as defined in claim 6, wherein said first and second counters are connected to said source of timing signals and said logic circuit means is connected to said memory indexing means.

Claim 12

A fabric drying apparatus comprising: a chamber for receiving a fabric load to be dried; heating means for supplying heat to said Chamber; and control means for controlling the drying operation, said control means comprising: sensing means for sensing the moisture content of the fabric in said chamber; and means responsive to the period of time required before a preselected moisture content is sensed for extending the drying operation by an interval which is dependent upon said period of time, including pulse means for producing timing pulses, means responsive to said timing pulses to accumulate time and responsive to said sensing means to stop accumulating time including first timing means for timing a first period, second timing means for timing intervals greater than said first period in conjunction with said first timing means, and means for resetting said first timing means upon timing of said first period, said first and second timing means providing digital outputs corresponding to the time accumulated thereby, means for reading the digital outputs of said first and second timing means, including means for transforming said outputs into a corresponding proportional time interval, and means for extending the energization of said heating means for said proportional time interval.

Claim 13

A fabric drying apparatus comprising: a chamber for receiving a fabric load to be dried; heating means for supplying heat to said Chamber; and control means for controlling the drying operation, said control means comprising: sensing means for sensing the moisture content of the fabric in said chamber; and means responsive to the period of time required before a preselected moisture content is sensed for extending the drying operation by an interval which is dependent upon said period of time, including pulse means for producing timing pulses, means responsive to said timing pulses to accumulate time and responsive to said sensing means to stop accumulating time including first timing means for timing a first period, second timing means for timing intervals greater than said first period in conjunction with said first timing means, and means for resetting said first timing means upon timing of said first period, said first and second timing means providing digital outputs corresponding to the time accumulated thereby, means for reading the digital outputs of said first and second timing means, including means for transforming said outputs into a corresponding proportional time interval, and means for extending the energization of said heating means for said proportional time interval.

Claim 14

A fabric drying apparatus comprising: a chamber for receiving a fabric load to be dried; heating means for supplying heat to said chamber; and control means for controlling the drying operation, said control means comprising: sensing means for sensing the moisture content of the fabric in said chamber; and means responsive to the period of time required before a preselected moisture content is sensed for extending the drying operation by an interval which is dependent upon said period of time, including timing means for timing the drying operation up to the point in time when said sensing means senses said preselected moisture content, including a source of repetitive timing pulses, and a digital counter for receiving said pulses and storing a digital signal indicative of the time interval required to achieve said preselected moisture content, means for transforming the time accumulated by said timing means into an interval of time for addition to the accumulated time, including a plurality of logic gates for reading said digital time signal and producing a signal to terminate the drying operation after an interval which is determined by said digital time signal, and means for continuing energization of said heating means for said added time interval.

Claim 15

A fabric drying apparatus comprising: a chamber for receiving a fabric load to be dried; heating means for supplying heat to said chamber; and control means for controlling the drying operation, said control means comprising: sensing means for sensing the moisture content of the fabric in said chamber; and means responsive to the period of time required before a preselected moisture content is sensed for extending the drying operation by an interval which is dependent upon said period of time, including timing means for timing the drying operation up to the point in time when said sensing means senses said preselected moisture content, including a source of repetitive timing pulses, and a digital counter for receiving said pulses and storing a digital signal indicative of the time interval required to achieve said preselected moisture content, means for transforming the time accumulated by said timing means into an interval of time for addition to the accumulated time, including a plurality of logic gates for reading said digital time signal and producing a signal to terminate the drying operation after an interval which is determined by said digital time signal, and means for continuing energization of said heating means for said added time interval.