JP2002277139A - Cold insulation chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cold insulation capable finely adjusting a chamber temperature during a stop of a refrigerant compressor. SOLUTION: The cold insulation chamber comprises a refrigerant compressor 15 of a refrigerant circuit 7 operated or stopped according to temperature in a chamber 3; a vaporizer 9 of the refrigerant circuit 7 situated at a cooler 5 in the chamber 3 and cooling the chamber 3 through operation of the refrigerant compressor 15; a chamber fan 12 to supply chamber air and cause the chamber air to flow through the vaporizer 9; and a drain discharge part 34 to discharge drain D, flowing down from the surface of the vaporizer 9, to the outside of the chamber. Chamber humidity is adjusted by operating or stopping the chamber fan 12 during a stop of the refrigerant compressor 15. The so constituted cold insulation chamber is provided with a stop history computing means (the function of a control device 21) to compute a stop history of the refrigerant compressor 15. The chamber fan 12 is operated or stopped according to a stop history computed by the stop history computing means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cool box for storing, for example, flowers, fruits, vegetables, and grains at a low temperature, and more particularly to operating or stopping a fan in a refrigerator while a refrigerant compressor is stopped. The present invention relates to a cool box in which the humidity in the refrigerator is adjusted by making the refrigerator cool.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, as this kind of cold storage, there has been known a cold storage in which air in a refrigerator is cooled by an evaporator of a refrigerant circuit arranged in the refrigerator. The temperature in the cold storage is controlled by operating and stopping the refrigerant compressor of the refrigerant circuit by setting the thermostat. At this time, the in-compartment fan is operated and stopped in synchronization with the refrigerant compressor, and blows the in-compartment air to the evaporator to cool it. During the cooling operation, moisture in the air condenses on the surface of the evaporator, and the condensed moisture is discharged outside the refrigerator as drain water, so that the humidity in the refrigerator decreases. Such an operation mode is referred to as “low humidity mode operation” (for example,
Humidity 50% or less).

[0003] On the other hand, there is known an operation mode in which the internal fan is always operated during the operation of the cold storage, regardless of the operation / stop of the refrigerant compressor. In this case, the moisture on the evaporator surface adhering during the cooling operation is evaporated by the ventilation while the refrigerant compressor is stopped and returned to the inside of the refrigerator. Thereby, the humidity in the refrigerator returns to a high value. Such an operation mode is referred to as “high humidity mode operation”.
(For example, humidity of 80% or more).

[0004]

However, in each of the operation modes described above, the humidity in the refrigerator may be too low or too high because the humidity adjustment is rough. That is, it was not possible to control the humidity to an intermediate value (50 to 80%), and it was not possible to adjust the humidity to a value suitable for the object (for example, about 70%). In addition, in the case of the low humidity mode, if the internal fan is OFF for a long time, there is a possibility that the temperature and humidity in the internal compartment may be biased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a refrigerator which can finely adjust the humidity in the refrigerator while the refrigerant compressor is stopped.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a cold storage according to the present invention is provided with a refrigerant compressor of a refrigerant circuit that is operated or stopped according to the temperature in the refrigerator, and a refrigerator. Evaporator in the refrigerant circuit that cools the inside of the refrigerator by operating the refrigerant compressor, a fan in the refrigerator that blows air in the refrigerator and passes through the evaporator, and discharges drain water flowing down from the surface of the evaporator to the outside of the refrigerator Calculating a stop history of the refrigerant compressor in a cold storage having a drain discharge portion that is configured to adjust the humidity in the refrigerator by operating or stopping the fan in the refrigerator while the refrigerant compressor is stopped. Stop history calculating means,
The internal fan is operated or stopped in accordance with the stop history calculated by the stop history calculating means.

A refrigerant compressor of a refrigerant circuit that is operated or stopped according to the temperature in the refrigerator; an evaporator of a refrigerant circuit that is disposed in the refrigerator and cools the interior of the refrigerator by operating the refrigerant compressor; It has an internal fan that blows internal air and passes through the evaporator, and a drain discharge unit that discharges drain water flowing down from the surface of the evaporator to the outside of the internal refrigerator. In the cool box that is configured to adjust the humidity in the refrigerator by operating or stopping, a counter that counts the number of times the refrigerant compressor is stopped and the number of times that the refrigerant compressor is stopped counted by the counter are preset. First fan control means for stopping the internal fan when the set stop number is reached.

A refrigerant compressor of a refrigerant circuit that is operated or stopped in accordance with the temperature in the refrigerator; an evaporator of a refrigerant circuit that is disposed in the refrigerator and cools the interior of the refrigerator by operating the refrigerant compressor; It has an internal fan that blows internal air and passes through the evaporator, and a drain discharge unit that discharges drain water flowing down from the surface of the evaporator to the outside of the internal refrigerator. In a cool box configured to adjust the inside humidity by operating or stopping, a humidity sensor that detects the inside humidity, and the inside humidity detected by the humidity sensor is equal to or higher than a preset humidity. And a second fan control means for operating the in-compartment fan when the in-compartment fan stops and the detected in-compartment humidity falls below the set humidity.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view showing a cool box according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front sectional configuration diagram of the cool box. In each of the drawings, a cool box 1 according to this embodiment includes a box-shaped box body 2 having an open front surface, and a front opening of the box body 2 is sealed by opening and closing doors 4 and 4 so as to be openable and closable. In the storage 3 of the storage main body 2, for example, stored objects such as flowers, fruits, vegetables, and grains are stored.

A cooling unit 5 for cooling the inside 3 of the refrigerator main body 2 is provided on the upper surface of the refrigerator main body 2. Inside the box-shaped case 8 of the cooling unit 5, an evaporator 9 for exchanging heat with the cold of the refrigerant circuit to cool the inside air, and an inside fan 12 for blowing the inside air and passing through the evaporator 9. Has been deployed. The air passage 6 in the case 8 is divided into an air entrance space 10 and an air exit space 11 with an evaporator 9 as a boundary. Storage body 2
A suction port 23 connected to the entrance space 10 is formed on the upper surface of the suction port 23. An outlet 14 is formed on the upper surface of the cabinet main body 2 on the outlet side space 11 side. A temperature sensor 20 for detecting the temperature of the interior 3 and a humidity sensor 22 for detecting the humidity of the interior 3 are attached to the cabinet main body 2, respectively.

A drain discharge portion 34 for discharging drain water D out of the refrigerator is provided below the evaporator 9. The drain discharge part 34 includes a drain pan 24 that receives drain water D dropped from the surface of the evaporator 9, and a drain pipe 25 whose tip is drawn out of the refrigerator and whose end is connected to the drain pan 24. And the evaporator 9
, Together with the refrigerant compressor 15, the condenser 16, and the pressure reducing valve 18, are annularly connected by a refrigerant pipe 19 to form the refrigerant circuit 7. The refrigerant compressor 15 of the refrigerant circuit 7 is operated or stopped according to the temperature inside the refrigerator. The condenser 16 exchanges heat between the outside air sent from the outdoor blower 17 and the refrigerant.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 21 for controlling the refrigerant circuit 7 and the cooling unit 5 mainly comprises a central processing unit (hereinafter abbreviated as CPU) 26. The CPU 26 has the function of the counter 29 and the timer 3
0 function. The CPU 26 and a memory 27 capable of reading and writing data are connected to an input / output port 28 so that data communication is possible. A temperature sensor 20, a humidity sensor 22, and a data input means 31 (for example, a keyboard) are connected to a data input side of the input / output port 28 so that data communication is possible, and a driver 32 for driving the refrigerant compressor 15 is connected to a data output side. And a driver 33 for driving the in-compartment fan 12 are connected to enable data communication.

Next, an example in which brown rice, for example, is stored in the cool box 1 having the above configuration will be described. “Cooling operation” (general operation) First, when a detection signal from the temperature sensor 20 is input to the control device 21, the control device 21 uses the refrigerant compressor 15, the internal fan 12, By driving the outdoor blower 17 or the pressure reducing valve 18, a set temperature suitable for storing brown rice (a temperature previously set and input from the data input means 31 and stored in the memory 27, for example, 10
(−13 ° C.), the air is cooled by the evaporator 9 of the cooling unit 5 and circulated between the air and the inside 3 to control the inside temperature. During the cooling operation, the internal fan 12
Is operated and stopped in synchronization with the refrigerant compressor 15. Then, the air in the refrigerator 3 is introduced into the entrance space 10 from the suction port 23 and passes through the evaporator 9. At this time, the passing air is cooled by exchanging heat with the low-temperature refrigerant in the evaporator 9, and the contained water condenses on the surface of the evaporator 9. Thereafter, the cooling air is supplied to the outlet space 1.
The air is returned from the outlet 14 to the inside 3 through 1. On the other hand, the moisture condensed on the surface of the evaporator 9 drops as drain water D onto a drain pan 24 and is discharged to the outside through a drain pipe 25. As described above, the moisture in the air is removed as the drain water D, so that the humidity in the refrigerator 3 decreases. This cooling operation mode is referred to herein as “low humidity mode operation (for example,
Becomes 50% or less). "

In addition to the low-humidity mode operation, the refrigerator 1 is provided with operation modes for humidity adjustment, for example, a high-humidity mode operation, a medium-humidity mode operation, and a medium-high humidity mode operation, as shown in FIG. I have. These operation modes can be switched from outside by operating the data input means 31. The low-humidity mode operation and the high-humidity mode operation are the same operation modes as those in the conventional art.

"High-humidity mode operation (for example, the humidity of the interior 3 becomes 80% or more)" In this mode, the control device 21 always operates (ON) the interior fan 12 while the refrigerant circuit 7 is operating. ing. That is, since the in-compartment fan 12 is operated even while the refrigerant compressor 15 is stopped, moisture condensed on the surface of the evaporator 9 during the cooling operation is evaporated by the ventilation to the evaporator 9 and returned to the in-compartment 3. Thereby, the humidity of the compartment 3 is increased.

"Medium-humidity mode operation" In this mode, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 5, the number of stoppages of the refrigerant compressor for stopping the internal fan 12 is set to a multiple of two and stored in the memory 27. Therefore, when the refrigerant compressor 15 is turned ON / OFF for controlling the inside temperature of the refrigerator, the cumulative number of times the refrigerant compressor 15 has stopped is counted by the counter 29 and stored in the memory 27. Here, first, the first stop output S1 by the inside temperature control is issued to the driver 32, and the refrigerant compressor 15 is stopped. At this time, the in-compartment fan 12 is operated (ON), and the moisture on the surface of the evaporator 9 is returned to the in-compartment 3 to increase the in-compartment humidity. Also,
The stop output S1 is added as the cumulative number of stops by the counter 29 and is rewritten and updated in the memory 27. Then, after the operation of the refrigerant compressor 15 by the internal temperature control again, when there is the second (even number) stop output S2, the control device 2
1 transmits a stop command signal to the driver 33 to stop the in-compartment fan 12 until the next operation of the refrigerant compressor 15 starts. Thereby, the moisture on the surface of the evaporator 9 is not returned to the inside of the refrigerator 3. In other words, the control device 21 stops the internal fan 12 at a rate of once every two times the compressor is stopped, so that the internal space 3 can be maintained at a humidity of about 65%.

[Medium / High Humidity Mode Operation] On the other hand, this middle / high humidity mode operation has the same control mode as the above-mentioned "medium humidity mode operation", but as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the internal fan 12 is stopped. The number of compressor stops set to
It is a multiple of 3 times. In this case, after outputting the stop output S3, which is a multiple of 3 times, to the driver 32, the control device 21 transmits a stop command signal to the driver 33 to stop the in-compartment fan 12. That is, since the control device 21 stops the in-compartment fan 12 at a rate of one out of three times the number of times the refrigerant compressor is stopped, the interior 3 can be kept at a humidity of about 70%.

As described above, the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment
Is controlled by the number of times the refrigerant compressor 15 is stopped.
Is operated and stopped, so that even when the refrigerant compressor 15 is stopped, it is possible to finely adjust the in-compartment humidity suitable for the purpose of keeping cold or the type of the object to be stored. Further, switching between low-humidity mode operation, medium-humidity mode operation, medium-high humidity mode operation, and high-humidity mode operation can be freely selected by setting from the data input means 31. In addition, the internal fan 12
The air flows in the interior 3 by the operation of, so that the temperature and humidity in the interior can be homogenized even when the refrigerant compressor 15 is stopped.

As described above in "Medium-humidity mode operation" and "Medium-high humidity mode operation", the control device 21 of this embodiment is used.
Functions as the first fan control means of the present invention. When the number of stoppages of the refrigerant compressor 15 counted by the counter 29 reaches the preset number of stoppages from the data input means 31, the internal fan 12 To stop. That is, in the control device 21, the CPU 26, the memory 27,
The configuration including the counter 29 calculates the stop history of the refrigerant compressor 15 (for example, the number of stops of the refrigerant compressor 15 in the above description), and calculates the stop history for operating or stopping the internal fan 12 according to the calculated stop history. Means 35.

On the other hand, the refrigerator 1 can adjust the humidity while the refrigerant compressor 15 is stopped while detecting the humidity in the refrigerator by the humidity sensor 22. That is, when the humidity sensor 22 detects the humidity of the interior 3, the control device 21 functions as the second fan control unit of the present invention, and the humidity of the interior 3 detected by the humidity sensor 22 is used as the data input unit 31. When the humidity is equal to or higher than the set humidity (e.g., 70% humidity suitable for brown rice) preset and stored in the memory 27, the internal fan 12 is stopped to lower the internal humidity. On the other hand, when the detected humidity inside the storage falls below the set humidity, the internal fan 12 is operated to increase the inside humidity to approach the set humidity. As described above, by controlling the operation, the humidity in the refrigerator when the refrigerant compressor 15 is stopped can be more finely adjusted.

In the above embodiment, the cumulative number of stoppages of the refrigerant compressor is used as the stop history. However, the stop history of the present invention is not limited to this, and includes, for example, the cumulative stoppage time of the refrigerant compressor.

[0022]

As described above in detail, according to the cool box of the present invention, the internal fan is operated or stopped according to the stop history calculated by the stop history calculating means. Even while the compressor is stopped, it is possible to finely adjust the humidity in the refrigerator suitable for the purpose of keeping cool or the type of the object to be stored. Further, since the in-compartment fan is operated at an appropriate time even when the refrigerant compressor is stopped, air flows in the in-compartment, and the in-compartment temperature and the in-compartment humidity are homogenized.

In the case of a configuration in which the internal fan is stopped when the number of times the refrigerant compressor has stopped counting reaches the set number of stops, fine adjustment of the internal humidity while the refrigerant compressor is stopped can be performed with a very simple configuration. Can be realized.

Further, when the inside fan is stopped when the detected inside humidity is equal to or higher than the set humidity, and the inside fan is operated when the detected inside humidity falls below the set humidity, it is even more desirable. The humidity in the refrigerator can be finely adjusted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a cool box according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional configuration diagram of the cool box.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the cool box.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining control of a fan inside the refrigerator.

FIG. 5 is a signal output diagram when the cool box is operated in a middle humidity mode.

FIG. 6 is a signal output diagram when the cool box is operated in a middle and high humidity mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 cold storage 3 inside 7 refrigerant circuit 9 evaporator 12 inside fan 15 refrigerant compressor 20 temperature sensor 21 control device 22 humidity sensor 24 drain pan 25 drain pipe 26 CPU 27 memory 29 counter 34 drain discharge unit 35 stop history calculation means D Drain water S1, S2, S3 Stop output

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerant compressor of a refrigerant circuit that is operated or stopped according to a temperature in a refrigerator, an evaporator of a refrigerant circuit that is disposed in the refrigerator and cools the refrigerator by operating the refrigerant compressor, It has an internal fan that blows internal air and passes through the evaporator, and a drain discharge unit that discharges drain water flowing down from the surface of the evaporator to the outside of the internal refrigerator. In a cool box configured to adjust the humidity in the refrigerator by operating or stopping, the refrigerator includes stop history calculating means for calculating a stop history of the refrigerant compressor, and according to the stop history calculated by the stop history calculating means. A refrigerator that is configured to operate or stop a fan inside the refrigerator. 2. A refrigerant compressor of a refrigerant circuit that is operated or stopped in accordance with a temperature in the refrigerator, an evaporator of a refrigerant circuit disposed in the refrigerator and cooling the interior of the refrigerator by operating the refrigerant compressor, It has an internal fan that blows internal air and passes through the evaporator, and a drain discharge unit that discharges drain water flowing down from the surface of the evaporator to the outside of the internal refrigerator. In the cool box that is configured to adjust the humidity in the refrigerator by operating or stopping, a counter that counts the number of times the refrigerant compressor is stopped and the number of times the refrigerant compressor is stopped counted by the counter are preset. And a first fan control means for stopping the internal fan when a set stop count is reached. 3. A refrigerant compressor of a refrigerant circuit that is operated or stopped according to a temperature in the refrigerator, an evaporator of a refrigerant circuit disposed in the refrigerator and cooling the interior of the refrigerator by operating the refrigerant compressor, It has an internal fan that blows internal air and passes through the evaporator, and a drain discharge unit that discharges drain water flowing down from the surface of the evaporator to the outside of the internal refrigerator. In a cool box configured to adjust the inside humidity by operating or stopping, a humidity sensor for detecting the inside humidity, and the inside humidity detected by the humidity sensor is equal to or higher than a preset humidity. And a second fan control means for operating the internal fan when the internal fan is stopped and the detected internal humidity becomes lower than the set humidity at the time of (1).