JP2002130919A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the reliability of a drainage route in a refrigerator having a plurality of storage chambers respectively provided with coolers. SOLUTION: A stable drainage action which is free from interactions is obtained in a refrigerator by respectively installing first, second, and third coolers 35, 43, and 48 to a cold storage chamber 32, a vegetable compartment 33, and a freezer compartment 34, and leading the drainage route to a vapor pan 40 provided on the outside of the refrigerator independently from first, second, and third drain pipes 39, 47, and 53 buried in an heat insulating material 31.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drainage structure of a refrigerator having a plurality of coolers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a refrigerator having one conventional cooler. As shown in FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator main body, and a heat insulating material 2 forms a storage room therein.
The storage room is composed of a refrigerator room 3, a vegetable room 4, a switching room 5, and a freezing room 6 from the top. Reference numeral 7 denotes a cooler provided at the rear of the freezer 6, and reference numeral 8 denotes a water receiving tray provided at a lower portion of the cooler 7. Reference numeral 9 denotes a drain pipe led from the water receiving tray 8 to the outside of the refrigerator, and communicates with an evaporation tray 10 provided outside the refrigerator.

[0003] In the above configuration, defrosted water from the cooler 7 in which the frost has been defrosted is received by the water receiving tray 8 and stored in the evaporating tray 10 through the drain pipe 9. In this case, there was only one cooler 7 and a refrigeration cycle for cooling all the storage rooms 3, 4, 5, and 6 to a predetermined temperature, so that there was only one drain pipe 9.

[0004] In recent years, in order to improve the temperature distribution in the storage compartment, a specification having two coolers, which are divided into a refrigerator compartment zone and a freezer compartment zone, is becoming mainstream.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a refrigerator having two conventional coolers. As shown in FIG. 4, reference numeral 11 denotes a refrigerator main body, and a storage room is formed inside by a heat insulating material 12. The storage room is composed of a refrigerator compartment 13, a vegetable compartment 14, and a freezer compartment 15 from the top. Reference numeral 16 denotes a first cooler provided on the upper rear side of the refrigerator compartment 13, and 17 denotes a first cooler 16
It is the 1st water tray of the defrost water provided in the lower part of. Reference numeral 18 denotes a first drain pipe which extends below the first water receiving tray 17, is embedded in the heat insulating material 12, and communicates with the evaporating dish 19 provided in the lower part of the refrigerator main body 11. Reference numeral 20 denotes a second cooler provided at the rear of the freezing compartment 15, and reference numeral 21 denotes a second water receiving tray provided at a lower portion of the second cooler 20. Reference numeral 22 denotes a second drain pipe led from the water receiving tray 21 to the outside of the refrigerator, and communicates with the evaporation tray 19 provided outside the refrigerator.

In the above configuration, the defrosted water from the first cooler 16 and the second cooler 20 that has defrosted is the first cooler 16 and the second cooler 20.
Is received by the water receiving tray 17 and the second water receiving tray 21, and is stored in the evaporating tray 19 through the first drain pipe 18 and the second drain pipe 22. In this case, the first cooler 16 of the first refrigeration cycle that cools the storage chambers 13 and 14 to a predetermined temperature, and the second cooler 20 of the second refrigeration cycle that cools the storage chamber 15 to a predetermined temperature. , The evaporating dish 19 has 2
The drainage pipe of the book communicates.

[0007]

However, low-temperature management is effective for preserving vegetables. However, in the above-described conventional configuration, cooling of the vegetable compartment 14 depends on cooling of the refrigerator compartment 13 and is not sufficient. High cooling capacity could not be demonstrated. In addition, a device provided with a dedicated cooler in the vegetable room has not been proposed. Therefore, the drainage mechanism from the vegetable compartment 14 is not known.

In the present invention, the vegetable room is cooled by a special cooler,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator having a function of discharging the defrost water from the cooler.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator having a plurality of storage chambers in a vertical direction and a cooler in each of the storage chambers. Since the evaporating dish provided outside is provided with a drain pipe for discharging the defrost water of the cooler, the defrost water generated in the cooler is drained for each room.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, since the paths for discharging the defrost water to the evaporating dish are independent paths, the mutual influence of the space through the respective drain paths is eliminated. Is done.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a drain pipe of at least one storage room is connected to a drain pipe of another storage room, and the drainage in the heat insulating material is provided. Tube paths are shortened.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect of the invention, the exhaust pipe paths are respectively buried in a heat insulating material at the rear of the storage room and provided at the rear of the lower storage room. Is drained to an evaporating dish provided below, and a drainage operation is performed along a rational route without infringing the space inside the refrigerator and spoiling the external appearance outside the refrigerator.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the fourth aspect, a refrigerator compartment is provided at an upper portion, a vegetable compartment is provided at a central portion, and a freezing compartment is provided at a lower portion. And evaporate.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the refrigerator according to the fifth aspect, the drainage pipes of the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment are connected, and the path of the drainage pipe from the refrigerator compartment in the heat insulating material is shortened. . In addition, the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment are not affected by temperature because the temperature ranges are similar to each other.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 30 denotes a refrigerator main body, and a storage room is formed inside by a heat insulating material 31. The storage room is composed of a refrigerator room 32, a vegetable room 33, and a freezer room 34 from the top. Reference numeral 35 denotes a first cooler provided on the upper rear side of the refrigerator compartment 32, and reference numeral 36 denotes a first blower provided on the upper part of the first cooler 35.

Further, the heat insulating material 31 is provided on the back of the first cooler 35.
A planar heater 37 serving as a defrost heater of the first cooler 35 is provided therein. Reference numeral 38 denotes a first water receiving tray provided at a lower portion of the first cooler 35. Reference numeral 39 denotes a first drain pipe which extends below the first water receiving tray 37 and is embedded in the heat insulating material 31 and communicates with the evaporating dish 40 of the defrosted water provided at the lower part of the refrigerator main body 30.

A plurality of shelves 41 are provided in the refrigerator compartment 32. A storage compartment 42 is provided below the refrigerator compartment 32. Reference numeral 43 denotes a second cooler provided on the upper part of the vegetable compartment 33, which is made of, for example, a material having good heat conductivity such as an aluminum plate. Reference numeral 44 denotes a second water receiving tray provided at a lower rear portion of the second cooler 43.

The refrigerator compartment 32 and the vegetable compartment 33 are provided with a partition plate 45.
The refrigerator compartment 32 is provided in front of the partition plate 45.
There is provided a communication hole 46 that communicates with the vegetable room 33.

Reference numeral 47 denotes a second drain pipe which extends below the second water receiving tray 44 and is embedded in the heat insulating material 31 and communicates with the evaporating tray 40. Reference numeral 48 denotes a third cooler provided at the rear of the freezing chamber 34, and a second blower 49 for blowing cool air is provided above. Reference numeral 50 denotes a defrost heater provided below the third cooler 48. The evaporating dish 40, the side and the compressor 51 are arranged behind the freezing room 34.

Reference numeral 52 denotes a third water receiving tray provided at a lower portion of the third cooler 48. Reference numeral 53 denotes a third drain pipe led from the third water receiving tray 52 to the outside of the refrigerator, and communicates with the evaporating tray 40.

Regarding the refrigerator configured as described above,
The operation will be described below.

The refrigerant compressed to a high pressure by the compressor 51 passes through a condenser (not shown) and a decompressor (not shown), and circulates to the first cooler 35 and the third cooler 48.

The cool air generated by cooling the surrounding air by the heat absorbing action of the first cooler 35 is discharged to the upper front surface of the refrigerator compartment 32 by the forced ventilation action of the first blower 36. The discharged cool air is stored in each of the shelves 41 and storage compartments 4 provided in the lower part.
After the cooling of the cooling unit 32, the cooling unit 32 returns to the first cooler 35 from a cold air inlet (not shown) provided at the lower rear of the refrigerator compartment 32.

The cool air discharged from the upper rear of the vegetable compartment 33 from the first cooler 35 via the first blower 36 passes through the upper surface while cooling the second cooler 43, and the cold room 32 It passes through a communication hole 46 provided in a partition plate 45 for separating the vegetable compartment 33 from the vegetable compartment 33 and is opened into the upper refrigerator compartment 32.

Then, it is led to a cool air inlet (not shown) provided at the lower rear of the refrigerator compartment 32 and returns to the first cooler 35.

Then, the operation of the first blower 36 is continued until the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 32 decreases to the set value, and then stopped until the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 32 rises to the set value. The room is kept cooled to a predetermined value (for example, 2 ° C.). As described above, since the refrigerator compartment 32 and the vegetable compartment 33 are independently cooled by the dedicated cooler, the vegetable compartment 33 can be maintained at a stable temperature without being directly affected by the refrigerator compartment 32 having a large storage load. Storage quality is obtained.

On the other hand, the cool air generated by cooling in the third cooler is discharged into the freezing chamber 34 by the forced ventilation of the second blower 49. The discharged cool air cools the inside of the freezing room 34 and then returns to the third cooler 48. This cooling operation is performed until the set value is cooled, and when the set value is reached, the compressor 51 and the second blower 49 are also stopped.

When the temperature rises to the set value, the compressor 51 and the second blower 49 are operated again. Thereafter, this operation is intermittently repeated, and the inside of the freezing room 34 is set to a predetermined value (for example, -18 ° C.). Cooling is maintained. Thus, the freezer 3
4 also has a third cooler 48 for exclusive use, and the refrigerator compartment 32 and the vegetable compartment 33
Since the cooling is performed independently of the cooling room 32, the storage temperature is high and stable storage quality can be obtained without being directly affected by the refrigerator compartment 32 having a large storage load.

After the above operation is repeated, the predetermined operation time of the compressor 51 is integrated (for example, 12 hours), and defrosting control is performed.

At this time, the first cooler 35 is defrosted by the planar heater 37 attached to the rear, and the first cooler 3 is cooled.
The defrosted water drops on the first water receiving tray 38 provided at the lower part of the refrigerator 5, and is guided to the evaporating tray 40 provided at the lower rear part of the refrigerator main body 30 through the first drain pipe 39.

The second cooler 43 above the vegetable compartment 33
Is attached to the second water receiving tray 44, passes through the second drain pipe 47, and is guided to the evaporating tray 40.

The water generated by defrosting the third cooler 48 by the defrost heater 50 is dropped on the third water receiving tray 52, passes through the third drain pipe 53, and is guided to the evaporating tray 40. I will

As described above, the first cooler 35, the second cooler 43, and the third cooler 48 are provided for each of the storage compartments of the refrigerator compartment 32, the vegetable compartment 33, and the freezer compartment 34. Since the drain pipe 39, the second drain pipe 47, and the third drain pipe 53 are disposed independently of each other to the evaporating dish 40, the influence of the mutual temperature between the rooms through the drain path, the clogging of foreign matter, etc. Can be eliminated, and the reliability at the time of defrosting can be ensured.

The first drain pipe 39, the second drain pipe 4
7. Since the third drain pipe 53 has all the paths buried in the heat insulating material 31, the refrigerator compartment 32, the vegetable compartment 33, and the freezing compartment 34
Because it is not exposed to the outside without inhibiting the internal volume of
It is possible to obtain an appearance design with a simple rear shape.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 54 denotes a refrigerator main body, and a storage room is formed inside by a heat insulating material 55. The storage room is composed of a refrigerating room 56, a vegetable room 57, and a freezing room 58 from the top. Reference numeral 59 denotes a first cooler provided on the upper rear side of the refrigerator compartment 56, and reference numeral 60 denotes a first blower provided on the upper part of the first cooler 59.

Further, a heat insulating material 55 is provided on the back of the first cooler 59.
A planar heater 61 serving as a defrost heater for the first cooler 59 is provided therein. Reference numeral 62 denotes a first water receiving tray provided at a lower portion of the first cooler 59. Reference numeral 63 denotes a first drain pipe, which extends below the first water receiving tray 62 and
5 is buried. In addition, the first drain pipe 63 communicates with a second water receiving tray 65 provided at a lower rear portion of a second cooler provided at an upper portion of the vegetable compartment. 66 is the second water pan 6
5 and buried in the heat insulating material 55,
7 is a second drain pipe communicating with 7. A plurality of shelves 68 are provided in the refrigerator compartment 56. A storage compartment 69 is provided below the refrigerator compartment 56.

The refrigerator compartment 56 and the vegetable compartment 57 are provided with a partition plate 70.
The refrigerator compartment 56 is provided at the front of the partition plate 70.
There is provided a communication hole 71 that communicates with the vegetable room 57.
72 is a third cooler provided behind the freezer compartment 58,
A second blower 73 for blowing cool air is provided above. Reference numeral 74 denotes a defrost heater provided below the third cooler 72. Further, behind the freezer compartment 58, an evaporating dish 67 and a compressor 75 are arranged side by side. Reference numeral 76 denotes a third water receiving tray provided under the third cooler 72.
Reference numeral 77 denotes a third drain pipe led from the third water receiving tray 76 to the outside of the refrigerator, and communicates with the evaporating tray 67.

The basic cooling system, the flow of the cool air, and the control of the defrosting are the same as those in the first embodiment. Therefore, the operation of the drain path of the defrost water will be described below.

The first cooler 59 is defrosted by a sheet heater 78 attached to the rear, and defrost water is dropped on a first water tray 62 provided below the first cooler 59. And the first
Through the drainpipe 63 of the first embodiment to the second water receiving pan 65.

The second cooler 64 above the vegetable compartment 57
The condensed water adhered to the second water receiving tray 65 is also dropped onto the second water receiving tray 65, and guided to the evaporating tray 67 through the second drain pipe 66.

The water generated by defrosting the third cooler 72 by the defrost heater 74 is dropped onto the third water receiving tray 76, passes through the third drain pipe 77, and passes through the evaporating tray 67. It is led to.

As described above, since the first drain pipe 63 communicates with the second water receiving pan 65, the defrost water and the dew condensation water in the vegetable compartment 57 are collected in one place in the refrigerator compartment 56 and drained. it can. For this reason, the length of the first drain pipe 63 buried in the heat insulating material 55 can be shortened, which leads to improvement in workability and reduction in cost and man-hour.

Further, since the number of drainage paths buried in the heat insulating material 55 is reduced, the flowability of the heat insulating material 55 at the time of foaming is hardly hindered, and the heat insulating property of the heat insulating box is stabilized.
Note that the first drainage pipe 63 approximates the temperature zone (0 to 5 ° C).
Since the refrigerator compartment 56 and the vegetable compartment 57 are communicated, there is no temperature influence.

[0047]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a refrigerator having a plurality of storage chambers in a vertical direction and a cooler provided in each of the storage chambers, a refrigerator is provided outside each of the storage chambers. Since the provided evaporating dish is provided with a drain pipe for discharging the defrost water of the cooler, the drainage processing of the defrost water generated in the cooler can be performed for each room.

Further, the invention described in claim 2 is the first invention.
In the invention described in (1), since the path through which the defrost water is discharged to the evaporating dish is an independent path, the mutual influence of the space through each drain path can be eliminated.

Further, the invention described in claim 3 is the first invention.
In the invention described in (1), the drain pipe of at least one storage room is connected to the drain pipe of another storage room, so that the route of the drain pipe in the heat insulating material can be shortened, and cost reduction and workability can be improved. . In addition, the number of drainage paths in the heat insulating material is reduced, so that the flowability at the time of foaming of the heat insulating material is hardly hindered, and the heat insulating performance of the heat insulating box can be stabilized.

The invention described in claim 4 is the same as the invention described in claim 2.
Alternatively, in the invention according to claim 3, each of the drainage paths is buried in a heat insulating material behind the storage room and drains water to an evaporating dish provided below a cooler provided behind the lower storage room. Reasonable drainage action can be performed without infringing the inner space and the outer appearance of the refrigerator.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, a refrigerator compartment is provided at an upper portion, a vegetable compartment is provided at a central portion,
Since the freezing compartment is provided at the lower part, the defrost water of the cooler provided in the vegetable compartment can be guided to the evaporating dish to perform the evaporating process.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the drainage pipes of the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment are connected to each other, and a drainage pipe route from the refrigerator compartment in the heat insulating material is provided. It can be shortened, and cost reduction and workability can be improved. Also,
The temperature ranges of the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment are similar to each other, so that the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment are not affected by the temperature.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of Embodiment 1 of a refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of Embodiment 2 of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator having one conventional cooler.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a refrigerator having two conventional coolers.

[Explanation of symbols]

 31, 55 Insulation material 32, 56 Cold room 33, 57 Vegetable room 34, 58 Freezer room 35, 59 First cooler 39, 63 First drain pipe 40, 67 Evaporating dish 43, 64 Second cooler 47 , 66 Second drain pipe 48, 72 Third cooler 53, 77 Third drain pipe

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3L045 AA04 BA01 CA02 DA02 EA01 HA03 PA04 3L048 AA09 BA01 BC02 BD03 CA01 CB03 CB06 DA03 GA02

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerator provided with a plurality of storage rooms in a vertical direction and a cooler in each of the storage rooms, wherein the defrost water of the cooler is discharged from each of the storage rooms to an evaporating dish provided outside the refrigerator. Refrigerator characterized by having a drainage pipe. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the paths of the drain pipes discharged to the evaporating dish are independent paths. 3. The drain of at least one storage room is connected to the drain of another storage room.
A refrigerator according to claim 1. 4. The drainage pipe according to claim 2, wherein the drainage pipes are respectively buried in a heat insulating material behind the storage room and drained to an evaporating dish provided below a cooler provided behind the lower storage room. Item 4. The refrigerator according to Item 3. 5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein a refrigerator compartment is provided at an upper portion, a vegetable compartment is provided at a central portion, and a freezing compartment is provided at a lower portion. 6. The refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein drain pipes of the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment are connected.