JP2000002476A - Cold storage refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit ice making within a substantially given ice making time in spite of the operating condition of a cold storage refrigerator by a method wherein quick ice making operation of the cold storage refrigerator is effected based on the command of quick ice making, in the cold storage refrigerator equipped with an automatic ice making device in the refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator. SOLUTION: A quick ice making switch 13 as a means for starting and commanding a quick ice making function for quickening the ice making time compared with that of a normal operation is provided in a refrigerating chamber 15. When it is judged that the quick ice making switch 13 is put ON, the quick ice making operation is started while rotating a compressor with a speed higher than that of a normal operation by a function that the rotation of the compressor is controlled by the value of DC voltage impressed on the motor compressor 14. A controller 12 switches the DC voltage impressed on the compressor stepwisely so as to quicken the operating speed of the motor compressor 14 for the refrigerator, compared with that of the normal operation by putting the quick ice making switch 13 ON in such a manner.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator having an automatic ice making device, and more particularly to a refrigerator having an automatic ice making device capable of reducing the ice making time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a method of controlling an automatic ice making device in a refrigerator of this type will be described with reference to FIGS. First, in FIG. 7, reference numeral 21 denotes an automatic ice making device,
Reference numeral 22 denotes an ice tray, 23 denotes an ice tray temperature detection sensor, 24 denotes a water supply device, 25 denotes a water supply tank, 26 denotes an ice storage box, and 27 denotes an ice detection lever for detecting the amount of ice in the ice storage box 26. Further, reference numeral 28 in the drawing denotes an evaporator, 29 denotes a defrost heater provided near the evaporator to remove frost attached to the evaporator,
Reference numeral 30 denotes a fan for circulating cool air in the refrigerator, 31 denotes a fan motor for circulating cool air in the refrigerator for driving the fan for cool air in the refrigerator, and 32 denotes a control for a cooling operation and an automatic ice making operation. Is a control device for performing the control, and 33 is a compressor.
In the refrigerator shown in this figure, the upper part is a refrigerator compartment and the lower part is a freezer compartment.

In the refrigerator having the above-described structure, the amount of ice in the ice storage box 26 is detected by an ice detecting lever 27, and the amount is equal to or less than a specified amount (hereinafter, referred to as full ice). When the temperature of the ice tray temperature detection sensor 23 that is attached to the bottom of the back side bottom surface of the main body 22 and detects the temperature of the ice tray 22 main body is lower than or equal to a set value, the automatic ice making device 21 performs a deicing operation (for example, , The ice tray 22 is twisted). Thereafter, the water supply device 24 is operated to supply water to the ice tray 22 from a water supply tank 25 provided in the refrigerator compartment, and the same operation as described above is repeated.

[0004] The above-described automatic ice making operation is shown by a flowchart in FIG. First, step S31
Is used to determine whether the ice in the ice storage box is below full ice. Therefore,
If it is less than full ice, the process proceeds to step S32, and it is determined whether the temperature of the ice tray temperature detection sensor 33 has reached a predetermined temperature or less. Therefore, if the temperature has reached the predetermined temperature or lower, it is determined that ice has been generated in the ice tray, and the control of performing the water supply operation after the ice release operation in step S33 is repeated. . A control method of this type is already known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-260307.

[0005]

However, the configuration of the automatic ice making device in the refrigerator according to the prior art as described above has the following problems.

[0006] One ice-making time is easily influenced by the load applied to the refrigerator. This is because, for example, when the refrigerator is in a light load state (for example, low outside air temperature / humidity, door opening / closing frequency, food in the refrigerator low, etc.), the operation rate and rotation speed of the compressor, Even if the operating rate and the number of revolutions of the circulation fan motor are low, it is sufficient, so that the cooling capacity is reduced and the time required for ice making becomes extremely slow. And if you need ice but there is no ice in the bin,
There was a problem that new ice could not be formed without waiting for a long time (about 1 to 2 hours or more).

Similarly, when a relatively large amount of ice is required, an enormous amount of time is required because ice making time for performing the ice making operation a plurality of times is required. In addition, in the automatic ice making apparatus according to the prior art, the ice making time is not uniform every time, and the variation is large.

Conventionally, as a method of changing the number of revolutions of a compressor for performing rapid freezing or rapid ice making, a so-called PW method is used.
There was M control. However, in the case of the PWM control, an electric motor that rotationally drives the compressor must be designed for a high-speed range in order to rotate the compressor at a high speed. However, there is a problem that energy cannot be saved because the efficiency in a low-speed range becomes worse.

Also, in the above-mentioned refrigerator-freezer having an automatic ice making device, no consideration is given to adjusting the amount of water supplied to the automatic ice making device when the ice making speed is increased. That is, the size of one piece of ice that can be made on an ice tray is determined by the cell size and water supply amount set by each manufacturer. Therefore, it was impossible to adjust the ice making time by adjusting the amount of water supplied to each cell.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned conventional refrigerator,
The operating rotation speed of the fan motor 31 for circulating cool air was constant. Therefore, the operation speed of the compressor is varied at a high speed by an inverter device or the like, so that the refrigerating capacity of the refrigerating cycle is temporarily increased, however, the cool air in the refrigerator is efficiently supplied to each storage room. Did not. Therefore, the ice making time of the refrigerator cannot be shortened.

Therefore, in the present invention, in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, regardless of the operation state of the refrigerator-freezer,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator that can make ice in a relatively short time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator which can make ice in a substantially constant ice making time regardless of the operation state of the refrigerator.

[0013]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electric compressor having at least a freezer compartment in a refrigerator and being rotated by an electric motor.
An evaporator connected to the electric compressor to form a refrigeration cycle and disposed in the freezing chamber, and a refrigerator including an automatic ice making device provided in the freezing chamber,
Further, there is provided a refrigerator-freezer provided with means for instructing rapid ice-making by the automatic ice-making device, and control means for performing a rapid ice-making operation in the refrigerator based on a rapid ice-making instruction from the rapid ice-making instruction means. Is done.

According to the present invention, in the refrigerator described above, the control device increases the rotation speed of the electric compressor based on a quick ice making instruction from the quick ice making instruction means.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the refrigerator described above, the control device controls the rotation of the electric motor that rotates the electric compressor by pulse voltage amplitude control.

In addition, according to the present invention, in the refrigerator described above, the control device reduces the amount of water supplied to the ice tray of the automatic ice making device to be smaller than usual. refrigerator.

According to the present invention, in the refrigerator described above, a cooling air circulating fan for circulating cool air generated in the refrigeration cycle into the refrigerator near the freezer compartment. The control device increases the number of revolutions of the internal cold air circulation fan based on a rapid ice making instruction from the rapid ice making instruction means.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a refrigerator-freezer according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an automatic ice making device;
Is an ice tray, 3 is an ice tray temperature detection sensor, 4 is a water supply device, 5 is a water supply tank, 6 is an ice storage box, 7 is an ice storage box 6
FIG. 2 shows an ice detecting lever for detecting the amount of ice. Reference numeral 8 in the figure denotes an evaporator, 9 denotes a defrost heater provided near the evaporator to remove frost attached to the evaporator, 10
Is a fan for circulating cool air in the refrigerator for circulating cool air in the refrigerator, 11 is a fan motor for circulating cool air in the refrigerator for driving the fan for circulating cool air in the refrigerator, and 12 is a DC voltage applied to the electric compressor. A control device for performing compressor operation speed control for performing stepwise control, automatic ice making operation control, fan motor operation speed control for cooling air in the refrigerator, and cooling operation control, 1
Reference numeral 3 denotes a rapid ice making switch as a means for initiating and instructing a rapid ice making function (a function provided to the control device 12) for making the ice making time faster than in the normal operation, and 14 denotes a rotary drive device. This is an electric compressor incorporating an electric motor. Further, reference numeral 15 denotes a refrigerator compartment, 16 denotes an independent ice making room or an ice making corner, and 17 denotes a freezing room.

The quick ice making switch 13 is provided in the refrigerator compartment 15 in FIG. 4 for explanation, however, the present invention is not limited to this. It can also be attached to the outer surface of the car.

In the refrigerator having the above-described structure, the rapid ice making function according to the present invention varies the operating speed of the electric compressor 14 and the fan motor 11 for circulating cool air in the refrigerator.
Then, the refrigeration capacity of the refrigeration cycle and the amount of air supplied to the automatic ice making device 1 are temporarily increased.
7, the ice making time is shortened.

According to the present embodiment, examples of the means for variably controlling the operating speed of the electric compressor 14 include:
The control is performed by combining the PWM control (pulse voltage width control) in the inverter circuit and the PAM control (pulse voltage amplitude control) in the converter circuit. As a specific method, rotation control is performed by pulse voltage amplitude control in the number of rotations of the compressor, particularly in a low-speed range usually used in refrigerators and refrigerators. In this control method, FIG.
(A), as shown in FIG.
40V), and the specified compressor speed is stabilized by PWM control (control of pulse width W) of the inverter circuit.

Then, during the rapid ice making operation, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, a high voltage (for example, 280 V) is set by pulse voltage amplitude control, and the specified compressor speed is stabilized by PWM control (control of pulse width W) of the inverter circuit.

As another method, the above-described PWM control is performed in a low-speed range of the compressor rotation speed which is normally used. On the other hand, in the rapid ice making operation, the PWM control is performed as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the DC voltage may be simply increased by pulse voltage amplitude control to a DC voltage (for example, 250 V) at which the number of revolutions of the compressor is increased. However, in this case, the PWM control of the inverter circuit is not performed because the pulse voltage amplitude control stabilizes at the specified rotation speed of the compressor.

Next, FIG. 1 shows the control of the control device 12 in the refrigerator-freezer according to one embodiment of the present invention, that is, FIG.
Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the rapid ice making operation control. In the figure, first, in step S1, a process of a normal ice making operation is performed. Thereafter, in step S2, it is determined whether or not the rapid ice making switch (reference numeral 13 in FIG. 3) has been turned on. Here, if it is determined that the rapid ice making switch 13 is turned on (Y), the process proceeds to step S3, and the compression is performed according to the level of the DC voltage applied to the electric compressor 14, as described in FIG. With the function of controlling the operation speed of the compressor (that is, the pulse voltage amplitude control (PAM control)), the compressor speed is rotated at a higher speed than in the normal operation, thereby starting the rapid ice making operation. If it is determined in step S2 that the quick ice making switch has not been turned on (N), the process returns to step S2.
The process returns to step S1.

Subsequently, in step S4, it is determined whether or not the temperature detected by the ice tray temperature detecting sensor 3 has reached a predetermined temperature (set to a temperature at which all the water supplied to the ice tray 2 is frozen). Perform monitoring. If it is determined that the temperature detected by this sensor has become equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature (Y), the process proceeds to step S5, where the automatic ice making device 1 performs a deicing operation, and then performs a water supply operation. Do. next,
In step S6, it is determined whether or not the rapid ice making operation mode has been released. If it is determined that the rapid ice making operation mode has been released (Y), the above step S1 is performed again.
To return to. If it is determined in step S6 that the quick ice making operation mode has not been canceled (N), the flow returns to step S4, and this step S4 determines the detection temperature of the ice tray temperature detection sensor 3. The determination operation is repeated until it is determined that the temperature has become equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature.

As described above, the control unit 12
Turns on the rapid ice making switch 13 to gradually change the DC voltage applied to the compressor so that the operation speed of the electric compressor 14 of the refrigerator becomes faster than the normal operation. A function (pulse voltage amplitude control) for controlling the operation rotation speed of the machine 14 is provided.

Thus, when ice is needed, the ice storage box 6
When there is no ice or when a certain amount of ice is required, the cooling capacity is improved by increasing the number of revolutions of the electric compressor 14 (rapid ice making operation), and one ice making time is about the same as the conventional one. It takes only half the time (about 0.5 to 1 hour). Also,
When the rapid ice making switch 13 is turned on, the electric compressor 14 operates at a predetermined high-speed rotation, so that one ice making time is usually limited by the load (outside air temperature, door opening / closing frequency) applied to the refrigerator. , Load in the refrigerator).
Therefore, even in a plurality of ice-making operations, the ice-making ability is reduced, so that an enormous amount of time is not required, and non-uniformity (variation) of the ice-making time for each time can be reduced.

Further, the DC voltage to the electric compressor 14 is switched stepwise, that is, the pulse voltage amplitude (PAM)
By controlling the operating rotation speed by the control, it is not necessary to design the electric motor for rotating the compressor that rotates at high speed in accordance with the high-speed range, even in the case of the PWM control. Efficiency in the low-speed range can be maintained high, and energy can be saved.

Next, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a rapid ice making operation control in a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the case of the refrigerator-freezer according to the other embodiment, similarly to the above, first, step S
At 11, the normal ice making operation is performed. Thereafter, in step S12, it is determined whether or not the rapid ice making switch 13 has been turned on. And this quick ice making switch 1
3 is turned on (Y), further, in step S14, the ice tray temperature detection sensor 3 is turned on.
It monitors whether or not the temperature detected from the temperature has reached a predetermined temperature (set to a temperature at which all the water supplied to the ice tray 2 is frozen). Note that in step S12 above,
If it is determined that the quick ice making switch 13 is not turned on (N), the process returns to step S11 again.

If it is determined in step S14 that the temperature detected by the ice tray temperature detecting sensor 3 has reached a predetermined temperature (ice-making end temperature) or lower, the process proceeds to step S15, in which the automatic ice-making apparatus operates. Perform ice release operation.
Next, in step S16, it is determined whether or not the rapid ice making operation mode has been canceled. If the quick ice making operation mode is still in progress (not canceled (Y)), step S1 is executed.
The water supply operation is performed with a smaller amount of water (for example, about 70% of the normal amount) than during normal ice making, and the process returns to step S14 again. If it is determined in step S16 that the rapid ice making operation mode has been canceled (N), the process returns to step S11 again.

As described above, during the rapid ice making function operation after the rapid ice making switch 13 is turned on, or during the predetermined number of ice making operations during the rapid ice making function operation,
The control device 12 executes control such that the amount of water supplied to each cell of the ice tray 2 in the freezing room 17 is smaller than usual (about 70% of the normal amount), so that the ice is made for ice making. The required time is shortened, and as described above, it is possible to provide a refrigerator-freezer equipped with an automatic ice making device having a short ice making time.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the rapid ice making operation control of the control device 12 in the refrigerator-freezer according to still another embodiment of the present invention. In addition,
As is clear from this flowchart, this quick ice making operation control is basically the same as the control content shown in FIG. However, in the step 23, the rotation speed of the motor 11 for rotating the fan 10 for circulating cool air is increased at the high speed instead of the high speed rotation of the electric compressor 14 by the pulse voltage amplitude waveform control of FIG. More specifically, the voltage applied to the internal cooling air circulation fan motor 11 is increased by a factor of about 1, and the normal rotation speed of about 2,000 rpm is increased by about 10%.

Thus, the refrigerating capacity of the refrigerating cycle is
In particular, it is possible to provide a refrigerator that can efficiently supply cold air to an independent ice making room or an ice making corner in a freezing room, and can shorten the ice making time during a rapid ice making operation.

In the above embodiment, as a specific means for performing the rapid ice making operation during the rapid ice making operation, the operation of the electric compressor 14 at a predetermined high speed in FIG. In FIG. 2, the amount of water supplied to the ice tray 2 is set to be smaller than usual, and in FIG. 3, the number of rotations of the fan motor 11 for circulating cool air is increased. These can be applied in combination. Thus, it is apparent that it is possible to provide a refrigerator-freezer which can further shorten the rapid ice making operation during the rapid ice making operation.

In the operation control shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the rapid ice making operation mode is the quick ice making switch 1
3 has been described as a period from when it is turned on to when it is turned off. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a predetermined time after the above-mentioned rapid ice making switch 13 is turned on. Alternatively, a predetermined number of ice-making times may be used.

As described above, the refrigerating refrigerator according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention is configured such that, by turning on the rapid ice making switch, the operation speed of the electric compressor is increased so as to be faster than the normal operation. The controller is provided with a function (pulse voltage amplitude control) of controlling the operating speed of the compressor by switching the DC voltage applied to the compressor stepwise. In this way, when ice is needed, the ice storage box does not have ice, or when a certain amount of ice is needed, etc., one ice-making time requires a load applied to the refrigerator (outside air temperature, door opening / closing). Frequency and internal load) are not affected by the operation rate or rotation speed of the compressor.
One ice making time is about half the time of conventional one (about 0.5 to 1 hour), no enormous time is required for multiple ice making, and each ice making time varies. And a refrigerator which can be reduced in size.

As means for making the operating speed of the electric compressor faster than the normal operation, the DC voltage is set to a low voltage by pulse voltage amplitude control in a low speed range of the normally used compressor speed. By stabilizing the specified compressor speed by PWM control of the inverter circuit,
The compressor motor is designed to operate at high speed at a low speed, which is mainly used, to save energy. At the time of rapid ice making operation, similarly, a high voltage is set by pulse voltage amplitude control, and the specified compressor speed is stabilized by PWM control of the inverter circuit so that the compressor can be operated at high speed. Become.

According to another embodiment of the present invention,
After turning on the rapid ice making switch, the control device has a control function to reduce the amount of water to be supplied to each cell of the ice tray less than usual only during the rapid ice making function operation or for a preset number of ice making operations. It is a thing. As a result, the size of the cell of the ice tray can be reduced, so that it is possible to provide a refrigerator-freezer equipped with an automatic ice making device having a short ice making time as described above.

Further, by turning on the rapid ice making switch, the cool air circulation in the refrigerator is set so that the operation speed of the fan motor for cooling air in the refrigerator becomes faster than the normal operation in order to synchronize with the operation speed of the compressor. The control device is provided with a function of controlling the operation rotation speed of the fan motor. As a result, the operating speed of the compressor can be varied at a high speed, and the refrigeration capacity of the temporarily increased refrigeration cycle can be efficiently supplied to the independent ice making room or the ice making corner. A significantly shortened refrigerator-freezer can be provided.

[0040]

As described above in detail, according to the refrigerator of the present invention, it is possible to perform ice making in a relatively short and substantially constant ice making time as required, irrespective of the operation state. Thus, it is possible to provide a refrigerator-freezer excellent in its convenience.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating rapid ice making control in a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating rapid ice making control in a refrigerator-freezer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating rapid ice making control in a refrigerator-freezer according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a schematic structure of a refrigerator-freezer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining PWM control (pulse voltage width control) and PAM control (pulse voltage amplitude control) of a converter circuit, which are means for variably controlling the number of revolutions of the electric compressor in the refrigerator of the present invention. It is.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a conventional rapid ice making control of a refrigerator-freezer.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the periphery of an automatic ice making device of a conventional refrigerator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Automatic ice making device 2 ... Ice tray 3 ... Ice tray temperature detection sensor 4 ... Water supply device 5 ... Water supply tank 6 ... Ice storage box 7 ... Ice detection lever 8 ...・ Evaporator 9 ・ ・ ・ Defrost heater 10 ・ ・ ・ Cooler for circulating cool air in the refrigerator 11 ・ ・ ・ Fan motor for circulating cool air in the refrigerator 12 ・ ・ ・ Control device 13 ・ ・ ・ Rapid ice making switch 14 ・ ・ ・ Compressor 15: Refrigerator 16: Independent ice making room or ice making corner 17: Freezer 21: Automatic ice making device 22: Ice tray 23: Ice tray temperature detection sensor 24: Water supply device 25 ... water supply tank 26 ... ice storage box 27 ... ice detection lever 28 ... evaporator 29 ... defrost heater 30 ... fan for cooling air circulation in the refrigerator 31 ... circulation of cold air in the refrigerator Fan motor 32 ・ ・ ・ Control device 33 ・ ・ ・ Quick ice making switch 3 ... compressor

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Nobuaki Arakawa 800, Tomita, Ohira-cho, Ohira-cho, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi F-term (ref.) In the Cooling Division, Hitachi, Ltd. MA13 MA14 NA03 NA16 PA03 3L110 AA07 AC01 AC03

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electric compressor having at least a freezing chamber in a refrigerator and rotated by an electric motor, and an evaporator connected to the electric compressor to form a refrigeration cycle and disposed in the freezing chamber. Vessel, in a refrigerator including an automatic ice making device provided in the freezer compartment, further, means for instructing rapid ice making by the automatic ice making device,
Control means for performing a quick ice making operation in the refrigerator based on a quick ice making instruction from the quick ice making instruction means. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the control device increases the rotation speed of the electric compressor based on a quick ice making instruction from the quick ice making instruction means. Freezer refrigerator. 3. The refrigerator-freezer according to claim 2, wherein the control device controls the rotation of the electric motor that rotates the electric compressor by pulse voltage amplitude control. 4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the control device reduces an amount of water supplied to an ice tray of the automatic ice making device to be smaller than usual. 5. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising: a cold air circulation fan for circulating cool air generated by the refrigeration cycle in the refrigerator near the freezing chamber. The refrigerating refrigerator is characterized in that the control device increases the number of revolutions of the internal cooling air circulation fan based on an instruction for quick ice making from the quick ice making instruction means.