JP2005076920A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly make ice in consideration of a relationship to temperature control of a refrigerating chamber because the refrigerating chamber becomes too cold by operating a compressor even under a condition that a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber are sufficiently cooled, and perform control suitable for quickly making a certain large amount of ice by quickly making ice several times in a refrigerator with a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber for quickly making ice by continuously operating a compressor and a fan for forcedly circulating cool air for a predetermined time. <P>SOLUTION: Temperature in a freezing chamber is set lower than temperature in a normal freezing chamber by an operation command, and a blower for circulating cool air is continuously operated into a quick ice making mode under a condition that cooling in the refrigerating chamber is substantially limited. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation control device for an automatic ice maker installed in a freezer compartment, and more particularly to a control technology for a refrigerator that performs rapid ice making with an automatic ice maker.

A freezing room and an ice making room are provided in the freezing room, and a shutter that switches the cold air passage is provided to guide the cold air blown from the cold air forced circulation fan to either one of these rooms. In some cases, the compressor and the cool air forced circulation fan are continuously operated for a predetermined time by turning on the continuous operation switch in a state where the cold air is switched to the ice making chamber (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-63-65263 (first to third pages, FIGS. 1 to 3)

  In the invention of Patent Document 1, rapid ice making is performed by continuously operating the compressor and the cold air forced circulation fan for a predetermined time. However, the compressor operates even when the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment are sufficiently cooled. Therefore, the refrigerator compartment becomes too cold, which is a problem. For this reason, if ice is to be made rapidly to some extent, rapid ice making is performed several times, and in that case, too much cooling becomes a problem.

  In view of these points, the present invention achieves rapid ice making in consideration of the relationship with the temperature control of the refrigerator compartment in a refrigerator equipped with a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment. It achieves control suitable for making many rapidly.

  The invention of claim 1 includes a freezing room and a refrigeration room, and an automatic ice making machine that forms an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing is installed in the freezing room, and is cooled by a cooler installed in the cooler room Is circulated into the freezer compartment by a blower and made by the automatic ice maker, and the temperature setting in the freezer compartment is set to a temperature lower than the normal freezer compartment temperature by an operation command and the refrigerator compartment is cooled. Is provided with a quick ice making mode in which the blower is continuously operated in a substantially restricted state.

  In the invention of claim 2, an automatic ice maker that forms an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing is installed in the freezer compartment, and the cool air cooled by the cooler installed in the cooler compartment is circulated into the freezer compartment by a blower. The automatic ice maker is controlled to shift to the deicing operation when the temperature sensing device provided in the ice tray detects the ice making end temperature, and the normal ice making mode is used. A rapid ice making mode, and in the rapid ice making mode, when the temperature sensing device senses that the temperature has been cooled to a high temperature before reaching the ice making end temperature, the cooling of the freezing chamber is substantially accelerated. The blower is continuously operated until the temperature sensing device senses the ice making end temperature.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the apparatus includes a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment, the refrigerator compartment and the refrigerator compartment are provided with corresponding coolers and blowers, respectively, and the automatic ice maker is provided in the refrigerator compartment. Cold air that has been installed and cooled by a cooler corresponding to the refrigerating room is circulated into the refrigerating room by a blower corresponding to the refrigerating room to cool the refrigerating room, and cooled by a cooler corresponding to the freezing room Is circulated into the freezer compartment by the blower corresponding to the freezer compartment, and the ice making is performed by the automatic ice maker. The cooling promotion of the freezer compartment substantially reduces the flow of refrigerant to the cooler corresponding to the refrigerator compartment. It is performed by controlling to stop and flow the refrigerant to the cooler corresponding to the freezer compartment.

  The invention of claim 4 is the invention of claim 2, further comprising a freezing room and a refrigeration room, wherein the automatic ice maker is installed in the freezing room, and the cool air cooled by a single cooler is connected to the freezing room by a blower. The temperature of the refrigerating room is circulated to the refrigerating room, and the temperature of the refrigerating room is controlled by the operation of the cold air control device, and the cooling of the freezing room is accelerated by the cold air supply control device. It is performed by substantially stopping the supply of cold air to the refrigerator compartment and continuously operating the blower.

  The invention of claim 5 comprises an automatic ice making machine comprising a freezing room and a refrigerating room, the refrigerating room and the refrigerating room each having a corresponding cooler and blower, and forming an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making and deicing. A cooler installed in the freezer compartment, cooled by a cooler corresponding to the refrigerator compartment, circulated into the refrigerator compartment by a blower corresponding to the refrigerator compartment to cool the refrigerator compartment, and a cooler corresponding to the freezer compartment The cold air cooled in step 1 is circulated into the freezer compartment by a blower corresponding to the freezer compartment, and the automatic ice maker makes ice, and the temperature in the refrigerator compartment is a predetermined set temperature based on the operation of the temperature sensing device. The flow of the refrigerant to the cooler corresponding to the refrigerator compartment is controlled so that the set temperature of the refrigerator compartment is changed to a high temperature setting by an operation command, and the blower corresponding to the freezer compartment is continuously operated. Shifts to quick ice-making mode, characterized by returning to the high temperature setting of upper limit temperature normal set temperature before the change to end the temperature setting high the cooling chamber upon reaching a predetermined temperature higher temperature than.

  The invention of claim 6 comprises a freezing room and a refrigerating room, and circulates the cold air cooled by a single cooler to the freezing room and the refrigerating room by means of a blower. An automatic ice making machine is installed in the freezer compartment, and the temperature in the refrigerator compartment is controlled so that the circulating cold air to the refrigerator compartment becomes a predetermined set temperature by the operation of the cool air control device, When the set temperature of the refrigerator compartment is changed to a high temperature setting, the mode is shifted to the rapid ice making mode in which the blower corresponding to the freezer room is continuously operated, and the temperature reaches a predetermined temperature higher than the upper limit temperature of the high temperature setting. It is characterized in that the high temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment is terminated and the normal setting temperature before the change is restored.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first to sixth aspects of the invention, the quick ice making mode is completed by repeating the ice making operation a predetermined number of times based on a switch operation that issues the operation command.

  The invention of claim 8 is the invention of claims 1 to 7, further comprising an electric compressor that forms a refrigeration cycle in which refrigerant circulates together with the cooler, and in the rapid ice making mode, the rotational frequency of the electric compressor is increased. It is characterized by driving.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the first to eighth aspects of the invention, the rapid ice making mode is controlled to increase the rotational speed of the blower.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the third to ninth aspects of the present invention, there are provided three selection means for setting the temperature of the refrigerating room: strong cooling, medium cooling, and weak cooling. In the quick ice making mode, the refrigerating room The temperature setting is controlled so as to be performed at a low cold setting.

  The invention of claim 1 limits the temperature of the refrigerator compartment, lowers the temperature setting of the freezer compartment, and continuously operates the blower that circulates cold air into the freezer compartment, thereby shortening the ice making time by the automatic ice maker. Therefore, it is effective when there is a great demand for ice or when it is desired to make ice quickly in advance.

  Since the invention of claim 2 can cool the ice making speed by promoting cooling of the freezer and continuous operation of the blower when cooled to a predetermined temperature (for example, -11 ° C.) or less before reaching the ice making end temperature, The ice making time is reduced by an automatic ice making machine, which is effective when there is a great demand for ice or when it is desired to make ice quickly in advance.

  The invention of claim 3 is a two-cooler system of a freezer cooler and a refrigerator freezer when cooled to a predetermined temperature (for example, −11 ° C.) or less before reaching the ice making end temperature. The ice making speed can be increased with the continuous operation of the blower so that the refrigerant flow is stopped and the freezer cooler is sufficiently cooled. This is effective when there is a great demand for ice or when it is desired to make ice quickly in advance.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in a single cooler system, when cooling to a predetermined temperature (for example, −11 ° C.) or less before reaching the ice making end temperature, the supply of cold air to the refrigerator compartment is substantially stopped. The cooling of the cooler is promoted and the ice making speed can be increased with the operation of the blower, so the ice making time can be shortened by the automatic ice making machine, and when ice demand is high or ice is made quickly in advance Effective when you want to keep it.

  The invention of claim 5 is a two-cooler system of a freezer cooler and a refrigerator freezer, in which the temperature setting of the refrigerator is set to a high temperature and ice making is performed with continuous operation of the freezer fan, Even during ice making, when the refrigerator compartment temperature rises to a predetermined temperature (for example, a temperature higher by 2 ° C.) than this high temperature setting, the high temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment is terminated and the normal setting temperature before the change is restored. Thereby, the raise of the refrigerator compartment temperature can be suppressed.

  In the invention of claim 6, in a single cooler system, ice making is performed with continuous operation of the blower with the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment set to a high temperature setting, and even during the ice making, the temperature setting is higher than the predetermined temperature setting. When the refrigeration room temperature rises to a temperature (for example, 2 ° C. higher temperature), the high temperature setting of the refrigeration room is terminated and the normal setting temperature before the change is restored, thereby suppressing the increase of the refrigeration room temperature. it can.

  In the invention of claim 7, if the ice making operation in the rapid ice making mode is small, the amount of ice is small, and if the rapid ice making mode is too long, the power consumption increases and a lot of ice is produced and wasted. By setting the operation to be repeated, for example, three times, a refrigerator capable of producing an appropriate amount of ice and saving power can be provided.

  In the invention of claim 8, since the cooling of the cooler can be improved satisfactorily by increasing the rotational speed of the compressor of the refrigeration cycle, an effective ice making can be obtained.

  According to the ninth aspect of the invention, the ice making time can be shortened by increasing the rotational speed of the blower, so that effective ice making can be obtained.

  In the invention of claim 10, since the temperature of the refrigerator is difficult to decrease when the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment is a strong cooling setting, the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment is set to the highest temperature setting state in the rapid ice making mode, and the temperature of the refrigerator is low. By doing so, the ice making time can be shortened, so that effective ice making can be obtained.

  Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible to shorten the ice making time by the automatic ice making machine in a state where the over-cooling of the refrigerator compartment as in the prior art is solved and the temperature rise of the refrigerator compartment is suppressed. This is effective when there is a lot of demand for ice or when you want to make ice quickly in advance. In addition, rapid ice-making is effectively performed by increasing the number of revolutions of the refrigerant compressor and blower, detecting the ice-making condition, and reducing the temperature in a short time, and suppressing the temperature increase in the refrigerator compartment. Take measures to do. In addition, since power consumption is higher in the quick ice making mode than in normal cooling operation, considering the relationship between the amount of ice produced and the power consumption, this quick ice making mode repeats the ice making cycle a predetermined number of times. It is going to end.

  The present invention suppresses the temperature increase in the refrigerator compartment, sets the temperature in the freezer compartment where the automatic ice making machine is set to a lower temperature than the normal freezer compartment temperature, and operates the cold air circulation blower to operate the ice making machine with the automatic ice making machine. The selection operation is performed so that a lot of ice can be made in a short time by shortening the time.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1 is a front view of the refrigerator of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view of the refrigerator of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the refrigerator main body of the present invention as viewed from the front, and FIG. FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a refrigeration cycle diagram of the refrigerator of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a side view showing the configuration of the automatic ice maker part of the present invention in partial cross section, and FIG. It is temperature setting explanatory drawing of the refrigerator compartment of a refrigerator.

  The refrigerator according to Example 1 has a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment, and an automatic ice maker is installed in the freezer compartment. Here, reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator according to the present invention, which has a configuration in which the inside of the main body 2 having a full opening is partitioned to form a plurality of storage chambers, and the front surfaces of these storage chambers can be opened and closed by doors. The refrigerator main body 2 has a heat insulating structure in which a foam heat insulating material 2C is filled between an outer box (outer wall plate) 2A and an inner box (inner wall plate) 2B. In the refrigerator main body 2, a refrigerator compartment 3, a vegetable compartment 4, an upper freezer compartment 5, a lower freezer compartment 6, and an ice making compartment 7 are partitioned from the top. The ice making room 7 is a kind of freezing room and can also be called a freezing room for ice making. The upper freezer compartment 5 can also be referred to as a switching compartment because it can be manually operated by a cold air amount adjusting device to be a refrigerator compartment. A specific low temperature chamber 9 partitioned by the upper refrigerator compartment 3 and a partition plate (partition wall) 8 is provided at the bottom of the refrigerator compartment 3.

  The front opening of the refrigerator compartment 3 is opened and closed by a revolving refrigerator door 10 that is rotated laterally by a hinge device on one side of the refrigerator body 2. The front opening of the vegetable compartment 4 is closed by a pull-out door 11 that is drawn forward together with a vegetable container 15 supported so as to be able to be pulled out in the front-rear direction by a support device 21 using left and right rails and rollers provided in the vegetable compartment 4. Yes. The upper freezer compartment 5 and the lower freezer compartment 6 are each drawn out forward together with the containers 16 and 17 supported so as to be able to be drawn out in the front-rear direction with respect to the left and right rails provided in the freezer compartment. The doors 12 and 13 are closed.

  In the ice making chamber 7, an automatic ice making machine 18 is provided at the upper part, and an ice storage container 19 is arranged at the lower part. As with the vegetable compartment 4, the ice storage container 19 is supported so that it can be pulled out in the front-rear direction with respect to the left and right rails provided on the left and right walls in the ice making chamber 7, and the drawer that opens and closes the front opening of the ice making chamber 7. It is a mechanism that is pulled forward together with the ceremony door 14. 20 is a water supply container for storing ice making water to be supplied to the automatic ice making machine 18. The water supply container 20 is disposed in a small chamber formed beside the specific low temperature chamber 9 in the refrigerating chamber 3, and the front door 10 of the refrigerating chamber 3 is opened to the front. It can be taken out freely. The water supply container 20 is cooled at the temperature in the refrigerator compartment 3, and the ice making water in the water supply container 20 is sucked up by the pump 71 and supplied to the ice tray 22 of the automatic ice making machine 18 through the water supply pipe 72.

  24 is a refrigerant compressor for the refrigeration cycle, and 25 is a refrigerant condenser for the refrigeration cycle. Reference numeral 26 denotes an evaporating dish for evaporating defrosted water, which will be described later, by the heat of the condenser 25. The evaporating dish 26 is placed on the condenser 25 and can be pulled out from the lower front of the refrigerator body 2. The compressor 24, the condenser 25, and the evaporating dish 26 are installed in a machine room 28 provided at the lower part of the refrigerator body 2. Reference numerals 29 and 30 denote refrigerant evaporators (coolers) of the refrigeration cycle. 31 is a first blower that circulates the cool air cooled by the first evaporator (cooler) 29 installed in the cooler chamber 29A to the upper freezer chamber 5, the lower freezer chamber 6, and the ice making chamber 7, and 32 is in the cooler chamber 30A. This is a second blower that circulates cold air cooled by the installed second evaporator (cooler) 30 to the refrigerator compartment 3, the vegetable compartment 4, and the specific low temperature compartment 9. Reference numeral 33 denotes a defrosting glass tube heater of the first evaporator (cooler) 29, and 34 denotes a defrosting glass tube heater of the second evaporator (cooler) 30. The defrosted water from the first evaporator (cooler) 29 and the defrosted water from the second evaporator (cooler) 30 are respectively led to the evaporating dish 26 through the drain pipe and evaporated there. Reference numeral 35 denotes a cold air duct through which the cold air cooled by the second evaporator (cooler) 30 is guided from the second blower 32, and is widely arranged on the upper wall of the refrigerator compartment 3, and its front end is a front opening of the refrigerator compartment 3. It communicates with the cold air outlet 36 formed on the upper surface. The cold air blown out from the cold air outlet 36 forms a cold air curtain 37 that flows from the top to the bottom as indicated by the arrow in the front opening of the refrigerator compartment 3. The cold air cooled by the first evaporator (cooler) 29 and the cold air cooled by the second evaporator (cooler) 30 are circulated as indicated by arrows by the first blower 31 and the second blower 32, respectively, and each chamber is circulated. Cool to a predetermined temperature.

  In such a configuration, the temperature of each chamber is maintained at about 3-4 ° C. in the refrigerator compartment 3 and about 2-6 ° C. in the vegetable compartment 4, and the upper freezer compartment 5, the lower freezer compartment 6 and the ice making compartment 7 are In the normal cooling mode, the temperature is maintained at about -18 ° C to -20 ° C. Moreover, it is 5-8 degreeC on the storage shelf 38 provided inside the refrigerator compartment door 10. FIG. The specific low-temperature chamber 9 is a chilled chamber of about 1 ° C. higher than 0 ° C., an ice greenhouse of about 0 to 1 ° C. lower than 0 ° C. and higher than the freezing temperature of food, It may be a partial freezing chamber at about −3 ° C. so that a thin ice layer is formed on the surface. As described above, the specific low temperature chamber 9 is used for refrigerated storage of food in a specific temperature range, and requires stricter temperature control than other rooms.

  With respect to the formation of a cold air circulation path in which the cold air cooled by the second evaporator (cooler) 30 is circulated to the refrigerator compartment 3 and the vegetable compartment 4 by the second blower 32, a duct shown in FIG. A configuration is provided. In this, 40 is a back plate of the refrigerator compartment 3, 41 is a first duct member which is a cold air passage member, and 42 is a second duct member which is a cold air passage member. The second duct member 42 is formed of foamed polystyrene, and is fitted and held between a pair of left and right ribs formed on the back side of the back plate 40. The back plate 40, the first duct member 41, and the second duct member 42 constitute a cold air passage member, and a combination of these is provided between the left and right portions 41 </ b> A of the first duct member 41 and the left and right portions 42 </ b> A of the second duct member 42. The cold air passages 43 </ b> A and 43 </ b> B are formed on the back side of the back plate 40 of the refrigerator compartment 3. Reference numeral 44 denotes a duct member serving as a cold air passage member which is disposed on the upper surface of the ceiling plate 45 of the refrigerator compartment 3 and forms the cold air duct 35 together with the ceiling plate 45.

  The cold air cooled by the second evaporator (cooler) 30 is circulated between the refrigerator compartment 3 and the vegetable compartment 4 by the second blower 32. In the path, a part of the cold air that has passed through the second blower 32 is blown out from the cold air outlet 36 through the cold air duct 35 from the front supply port 46. Further, the other part of the cool air that has passed through the second blower 32 passes through the left and right cool air passages 43A and 43B on the back side of the back plate 40 of the refrigerating chamber 3, and the cold air outlet 39 formed in the back plate 40 of the refrigerating chamber 3. Then, a part of the cold air is blown out from the cold air outlet 39A to the specific low temperature chamber 9 while flowing downward through the cold air passages 43A and 43B.

  The cold air that has flowed further downward in the left and right cold air passages 43 </ b> A and 43 </ b> B is supplied from the cold air outlet 50 to the cold air passage 51 formed between the refrigerator compartment 3 and the vegetable compartment 4. The cold air passage 51 is formed between the partition plate 52 between the refrigerator compartment 3 and the vegetable compartment 4 and the ceiling plate 53 of the vegetable compartment 4. The partition plate 52 constitutes the bottom wall of the refrigerator compartment 3. The ceiling board 53 of the vegetable compartment 4 is disposed at a position that substantially closes the top opening of the vegetable container 15, and is supported on the left and right walls of the vegetable compartment 4 so as to be removable forward of the vegetable compartment 4. Further, the cold air in the refrigerator compartment 3 flows from the cold air outlet 56 formed in the partition plate 52 to the cold air passage 51.

  The cold air supplied to the cold air passage 51 flows from the outlet 54 at the front end of the cold air passage 51 to the vegetable compartment 4 and is formed around the vegetable container 15 from the space formed between the vegetable container 15 and the door 11. It passes through the space and is sucked from a cold air suction port 55 formed on the back of the vegetable compartment 4.

  Between the left and right cold air passages 43 </ b> A and 43 </ b> B on the back side of the refrigerator compartment 3, a cold air passage 57 for cold air return is formed between the back plate 40 and the main body 2. The cold air sucked from the cold air suction port 55 flows into the cold air passage 57 and flows into the lower side of the second evaporator (cooler) 30 and is cooled again by the second evaporator (cooler) 30 to be circulated as described above. I do. A filter 60 is formed in a honeycomb shape or a corrugated shape through which the return cold air in the cold air passage 57 passes to form a plurality of passage holes, and is coated with a photocatalyst titanium oxide. Reference numeral 63 denotes a lamp that irradiates the filter 60 with ultraviolet rays, and is attached so as to penetrate the back plate 40 of the refrigerator compartment 3 so as to face the filter 60. In this configuration, the titanium oxide of the filter 60 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from the lamp 63 to decompose and deodorize methyl mercaptan in the return cold air flowing through the cold air passage 57.

  The automatic ice making machine 18 forms an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing. That is, ice is generated in the ice tray 22 by the cold air circulated into the ice making chamber 7 in a state where a certain amount of water is supplied from the water supply container 20 to the ice tray 22 in the water supply operation (water supply step). The ice making operation (ice making process) is started. The generation state of the ice in the ice tray 22 is controlled so that, for example, when the temperature sensing device 87 provided in the ice tray 22 senses the ice making end temperature, the ice making operation shifts to the deicing operation (deicing process). In this deicing operation, the ice tray 22 is rotated to the reverse position by the electric mechanism 18A, and in this state, the side farther from the electric mechanism 18A of the ice tray 22 is brought into contact with the stopper to further rotate the electric mechanism 18A side. In this operation, the generated ice is detached from the ice tray 22 and dropped into the ice storage box 19 below and stored. After the deicing is completed, the ice making tray 22 is reversed and returned to the original state by the electric mechanism 26, and the ice making process is started in which ice making water is supplied again to generate ice in the ice making plate 22.

  In such an ice making cycle, the ice storage amount detection lever 75 moves downward for each ice removal operation (deice process) to detect the ice storage amount in the ice storage box 19. That is, during the operation of twisting the ice tray 22 from the reversal position or during the operation of reversing the ice tray 22 to its original state, the electric storage mechanism 18A lowers the ice storage amount detection lever 75 to reduce the amount of ice in the ice storage box 19. To detect. When the ice K accumulates in the ice storage box 19 and reaches a predetermined ice storage amount, the ice storage amount detection lever 75 is prevented from descending by the ice K. Therefore, the switch is operated by the cam mechanism that operates the ice storage amount detection lever 75, and the ice storage box It is detected that the inside 19 has reached a predetermined ice storage amount. The detection stops the next ice making process.

  Reference numeral 76 denotes a capillary tube as a pressure reducing device for refrigerant flowing into the first evaporator (cooler) 29, and 77 denotes a capillary tube as a pressure reducing device for refrigerant flowing into the second evaporator (cooler) 30. 78 is a refrigerant flow path switching valve as a refrigerant flow path switching means for switching the flow of the refrigerant between the first evaporator (cooler) 29 side and the second evaporator (cooler) 30 side. This is a three-way valve that operates to switch the refrigerant passage between the first evaporator (cooler) 29 side and the second evaporator (cooler) 30 side. The form of this switching valve may be either an electromagnetic valve type or an electric valve type operated by an electric motor.

  Reference numeral 81 denotes a temperature sensing device that substantially senses the temperature of the freezing room (freezing room 5, 6 or ice making room 7), and senses the temperature of the freezing room 5, freezing room 6, ice making room 7, or cooler 29. Is provided. A temperature sensing device 82 substantially senses the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3, and is provided so as to sense the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3 or the temperature of the cooler 30. 83 is a defrosting end sensor for detecting the defrosting end temperature of the cooler 29, 84 is a frosting amount detection sensor for detecting the frosting amount of the cooler 30, and 85 is an electric heater for defrosting of the cooler 29. Reference numeral 80 denotes a microcomputer-type control device, which includes a temperature sensor 81 for freezing compartment, a temperature sensing device 82 for refrigerator compartment, a defrosting end sensor 83, a frosting amount detection sensor 84, a rapid ice making switch 86, and the temperature of the ice tray 22 Operations of the compressor 24, the blowers 31 and 32, the defrosting electric heater 85, the refrigerant flow switching device 78, and the like are controlled by signals from the sensing device 87 and the like.

  First, a normal cooling operation cycle will be described. Here, since the temperature sensing device 81 is in a state of substantially sensing the temperature of the freezer compartment (freezer compartment 5, 6 or ice making chamber 7), from the description of the present invention, the freezer compartment is the ice making compartment 7. This will be explained as a representative. In a state where the freezing room, that is, the ice making room 7 and the refrigerating room 3 are not cooled to a predetermined lower limit temperature, the compressor 24, the blower 31 and the blower 32 are operated (ON), and the refrigerant passage 79B is opened by the refrigerant flow switching device 78. The closed refrigerant passage 79A is opened, the refrigerant is decompressed by the capillary tube 77, flows from the cooler 30 to the cooler 29, and returns to the compressor 24. When the refrigerator compartment 3 is lowered to a predetermined lower limit temperature by this operation, the refrigerant passage switching device 78 is operated based on the temperature sensing of the refrigerator compartment temperature sensing device 82 to close the refrigerant passage 79A and supply the refrigerant to the cooler 30. Then, the refrigerant bypasses the cooler 30, is depressurized from the refrigerant passage 79 </ b> B by the capillary tube 76, flows to the cooler 29, and returns to the compressor 24. However, the blower 32 continues to operate and performs a moisture operation with humidified air described later. When the ice making chamber 7 is cooled to a predetermined lower limit temperature, the refrigerant flow switching device 78 operates based on the temperature sensing of the freezer temperature sensing device 81 to close the refrigerant passage 79B, and the compressor 24 and the blower. 31 is stopped (OFF).

  The compressor 24 and the blower 31 are operated (ON) again when one or both of the freezer temperature sensor 81 and the refrigerator temperature sensor 82 sense a predetermined upper limit temperature. When the freezer temperature sensing device 81 senses a predetermined upper limit temperature first, the refrigerant flow switching device 78 is operated to open the refrigerant passage 79B and flow the refrigerant to the cooler 29, thereby promoting the cooling of the ice making chamber 7. The Further, when the cold room temperature sensing device 82 senses the predetermined upper limit temperature first, the refrigerant flow path switching device 78 operates to open the refrigerant passage 79A and flow the refrigerant from the cooler 29 to the cooler 30, thereby making the ice making chamber 7 And cooling of the refrigerator compartment 3 is promoted. By such control, the temperature range of the ice making chamber 7 is controlled from the lower limit temperature −18 ° C. to the upper limit temperature −22 ° C. so that the average temperature becomes −20 ° C., for example. The lower limit temperature is controlled at 1.8 ° C. to the upper limit temperature at 4.2 ° C. so that the temperature becomes 0 ° C. In such operation, the vegetable compartment 4 is cooled to a range of 4 ° C. to 6 ° C. by the cold air flowing through the cold air passage 51. The temperatures of the refrigerator compartment 3, the vegetable compartment 4, the freezer compartment (freezer compartment 5, 6 or ice making compartment 7) and the specific low temperature compartment 9 are cooled to a predetermined temperature range by the amount of cool air distributed and supplied to each.

  Next, the humidification operation (or moist operation) of the refrigerator compartment 3, the vegetable compartment 4, and the specific low temperature compartment 9 will be described. Humidification operation (or moisture operation) is performed by the refrigerant flow switching device 78 based on the detection of the cold room temperature sensing device 82 when the cold room 3 or the cold room cooler 30 is lowered to a predetermined temperature by cooling. The refrigerant flow path 79A to the room cooler 30 is closed, and the air in the refrigerator room 3, the vegetable room 4 and the specific low temperature room 9 is circulated to the refrigerator room cooler 30 by the operation of the blower 32, and the refrigerator 30 cooler room 30 is cooled. The air humidified by the melting of the frost attached to the water is circulated again to the refrigerator compartment 3, the vegetable compartment 4, and the specified low temperature chamber 9, and the refrigerator compartment 3, the vegetable compartment 4 and the specified low temperature chamber 9 are humidified (or moistened). The humidifying operation (or moist operation) mode is set. In the humidification operation (or moisture operation) mode, when the freezer temperature sensor 81 does not detect a predetermined lower limit temperature, the compressor 24 and the blower 31 are operated (ON) to promote cooling of the ice making chamber 7. Is made.

In order to effectively perform the humidification operation (or moist operation), the refrigerator 30 for the refrigerator compartment needs to maintain a sufficient frosting state. For this reason, the frost formation amount detection sensor 84 which detects the frost formation amount of the refrigerator 30 for refrigerator compartments is provided, and, thereby, the refrigerator 30 for refrigerator compartments has more than the maximum amount of frost formation (this is a preset value). It is preferable that a sufficient amount of frost formation is maintained for humidifying the air necessary for the humidification operation, although the amount is sufficiently small. Therefore, as a method of controlling the frost formation amount of the refrigerator 30 for the refrigerator compartment, the operation of the electric compressor 24 and the refrigerant flow switching device are ensured so that a frost formation amount of approximately 50% or less of the maximum frost formation amount is ensured. There is a way to control 78.

  For this reason, when the refrigerant flows from the refrigerating room cooler 30 to the refrigerating room cooler 29 through the refrigerant flow switching device 78, when the frosting amount of the refrigerating room cooler 30 reaches a predetermined value. That is, when the frost amount detection sensor 84 detects a frost amount having a predetermined thickness, for example, 50% of the maximum frost amount, or by means for predicting the frost amount, the maximum frost amount 50 is detected. %, The refrigerant flow switching device 78 switches the refrigerant so that it bypasses the refrigerator 30 and flows to the refrigerator 29, and adheres to the refrigerator 30. The humidified operation (or moist operation) mode in which the air humidified by the melting of frost is circulated to the refrigerating chamber 3 by the cold air circulation blower 32 so as to be in a humidified state (or moist state). Also in this case, as described above, the compressor 24 and the cold-air circulation blower 31 are controlled by the temperature detection of the freezer temperature sensor 81.

  In the defrosting mode of the cooler 29, when the integrated value of the operation time of the compressor 24 reaches a predetermined value, the compressor 24 and the blower 31 are stopped (OFF), and the electric heater 85 is energized to remove the cooler 29. Do frost. The end of the defrosting of the cooler 29 is when the defrosting end sensor 83 detects that the defrosting end temperature (for example, 8 ° C.) that the cooler 29 has risen and stops energizing the electric heater 85 (OFF). is there. When the temperatures of the refrigerator compartment 3 and the ice making chamber 7 are higher than a predetermined upper limit temperature at the end of defrosting, the compressor 24 and the fans 31 and 32 are operated (ON), and the refrigerant flow switching device 78 is turned on. As a result, the refrigerant flows from the refrigerating room cooler 30 to the freezing room cooler 29 and the cooling of the ice making chamber 7 and the refrigerating chamber 3 is promoted, and a normal cooling operation is performed.

In the present invention, the ice making time by the automatic ice making machine 18 is shortened to provide a quick ice making mode that is effective when there is a great demand for ice or when it is desired to make ice quickly in advance.
By limiting the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3 to lower the temperature setting of the freezer compartment, that is, the ice making compartment 7, and continuously operating the blower 31 that circulates the cold air into the ice making compartment 7, the refrigerator compartment 3 as in the prior art is overcooled. The ice making time by the automatic ice making machine 18 is shortened. And the ice making time by the automatic ice maker 18 in the state by which the temperature rise of the refrigerator compartment 3 was suppressed is aimed at.

  For this purpose, an automatic ice making machine 18 having a freezing room, that is, an ice making room 7 and a refrigerator room 3 and forming an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing is installed in the ice making room 7, and a cooler 29 installed in the cooler room. The cold air cooled in the above is circulated into the ice making chamber 7 by the blower 31 and is made by the automatic ice making machine 18, and the cooling of the refrigerating chamber 3 is substantially cooled by an operation command based on the ON of the rapid ice making switch 86. In a limited state, the temperature setting in the ice making chamber 7 is set to a temperature (for example, −30 ° C.) lower than a normal temperature in the ice making chamber 7 (for example, −20 ° C.), and a transition is made to the rapid ice making mode in which the blower 31 is continuously operated. .

  As a specific means, when the quick ice making switch 86 is manually turned ON, the control device 80 is controlled by the temperature detection of the freezer temperature sensor 81 (for example, normal cooling at which the average temperature becomes -20 ° C.). Change the setting) downward in terms of temperature. That is, the temperature setting of the freezing room (freezing room 5, 6 or ice making room 7) controlled by the temperature detection of the freezing room temperature sensing device 81 is shifted to the low temperature side, and a low temperature setting state (for example, the average temperature is − The compressor 24 is controlled to be turned on and off at a setting of 30 ° C. That is, when the rapid ice making switch 86 is turned on, if the cooling operation is already in progress, the cooling operation is performed until the temperature of the freezer compartment becomes the temperature that has been changed to this low setting.

  If the cooling operation is stopped when the rapid ice making switch 86 is turned on, the temperature of the freezer compartment at this time is near the temperature before the setting is changed. Therefore, the detected temperature of the freezer compartment should be higher than the low-changed temperature. For this reason, the control unit 80 starts the cooling operation, and performs the cooling operation until the temperature of the freezer compartment becomes the temperature that has been changed to this low setting. At this time, only the temperature of the freezer compartment has been changed, and the temperature of the refrigerator compartment has not been changed. Therefore, there is a case where cooling is not necessary for the refrigerator compartment. In this case, the refrigerant flow switching device 78 is operated by the control unit 80 to close the refrigerant passage 79A and stop the supply of the refrigerant to the cooler 30, and the refrigerant bypasses the cooler 30 and passes from the refrigerant passage 79B to the capillary. The pressure is reduced by the tube 76, flows to the cooler 29, and returns to the compressor 24. At this time, the cold air circulation blower 32 is stopped (OFF), but the cold air circulation blower 31 is in an operation state maintained in an ON state, that is, a continuous operation state. In the rapid ice making mode, the compressor 24 is ON / OFF controlled by the controller 80 based on the temperature detection of the freezer temperature sensor 81.

  Due to this state, the temperature setting of the freezer compartment (freezer compartment 5, 6 or ice making compartment 7) is set to a low temperature, so that the operation of the compressor 24 becomes longer than the normal cooling operation, and the freezer compartment cooler 29 The cooled cold air acts so as to freeze the water supplied into the cell 22A of the ice tray 22 by the cold air circulation blower 31, and the ice making time in the ice tray 22 is increased. Is shorter than in normal ice making mode. The operation of the automatic ice maker 18 in the water supply, ice making, and deicing ice making cycle is as described above.

  The rapid ice making mode is set so that the water supply, ice making, and deice ice making cycles of the automatic ice making machine 18 are performed a plurality of times and finished. In the embodiment, the ice making operation is set to be performed three times. When a predetermined amount of ice is stored in the ice storage box 19, the automatic ice maker 18 stops its operation, but the operation also stops when the quick ice making mode is entered in this state. Further, when a predetermined amount of ice is not stored in the ice storage box 19, the automatic ice making machine 18 is in operation, and therefore, when the quick ice making mode is entered in this state, the ice making operation is performed a plurality of times and finished. To come.

  Further, instead of setting the freezer room (freezer room 5, 6 or ice making room 7) controlled by the temperature detection of the freezer temperature sensing device 81 as described above to a low temperature setting state, the temperature setting of the refrigerator room 3 is set. Changing to a higher temperature setting is also effective. Specifically, when the quick ice making switch 86 is turned on, the control device 80 operates to change the operating point controlled by the temperature detection of the cold room temperature sensing device 82 upward in temperature. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the temperature setting T1 of the refrigerating room 3 controlled by the temperature detection of the refrigerating room temperature sensing device 82 is shifted to the high temperature side, and the refrigerant flow switching device 78 is set in the high temperature setting state T2. In such a manner that the refrigerant flows to the cooler 30 is relatively short and the refrigerant flows to the freezer cooler 29 is relatively long so that the freezer cooler 29 is sufficiently cooled. To be done.

  For example, at this temperature setting T1, the temperature in the refrigerator compartment 3 is controlled to be within the range of the lower limit temperature 1.8 ° C to the upper limit temperature 4.2 ° C so that the average temperature is 3 ° C. The control device 80 is operated so that the temperature in the refrigerator compartment 3 is controlled in the range of the lower limit temperature 3.8 ° C. to the upper limit temperature 6.2 ° C. so that the average temperature is 5 ° C. In this case, when the temperature of the refrigeration chamber rises to a temperature T3 that is higher than the upper limit temperature 6.2 ° C. by a predetermined temperature, for example, 2 ° C., even if the automatic ice maker 18 is in the middle of ice making, the temperature setting of the refrigeration chamber is high. The temperature of the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 3 is suppressed by returning to the normal set temperature before the change. This is because even if the temperature of the refrigerator compartment rises to a high temperature T3, the food temperature does not immediately rise to the high temperature T3, so that the rise of the food temperature is suppressed. In the rapid ice making mode, the compressor 24 is ON / OFF controlled by the controller 80 based on the temperature detection of the freezer temperature sensor 81.

  In this way, the refrigerant flow switching device 78 operates to close the refrigerant passage 79A and stop the supply of the refrigerant to the cooler 30, and the refrigerant bypasses the cooler 30 and passes from the refrigerant passage 79B to the capillary tube 76. The state where the pressure is reduced and flows to the cooler 29 and returns to the compressor 24 is longer than that in the normal cooling mode before the rapid ice making mode, and the freezer cooler 29 is sufficiently cooled. It becomes. The cold air cooled by the freezer cooler 29 acts to freeze the water supplied into the cell 22A of the ice tray 22 by the cold air circulation blower 31, and the ice making time in the ice tray 22 is the normal ice making mode. Shorter than The operation of the automatic ice maker 18 in the water supply, ice making, and deicing ice making cycle is as described above.

  In this case, in the refrigerator 1 provided with the selection means for manually switching the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment 3 to the temperature setting of 20 steps from strong cooling to intermediate cooling to weak cooling, rapid ice making is possible even in the strong cooling operation state. If the control device 80 is operated so that the temperature setting is performed at the low cold setting when the mode is switched, the period in which the refrigerant flows relatively to the refrigerator 30 cooler as described above is relatively short. Since the period during which the refrigerant flows into the cooler 29 becomes longer, the freezer cooler 29 is sufficiently cooled than in the normal cooling mode.

  In the present invention, even when the quick ice making switch 86 is turned on to switch to the quick ice making mode, the freezing room, that is, the ice making room 7 is not immediately promoted to be cooled, but the ice making tray 22 of the automatic ice making machine 18 is provided. When the temperature sensing device 87 senses a high predetermined temperature, for example, −11 ° C. before reaching the ice making end temperature, the freezing room, that is, the ice making chamber 7 is substantially accelerated to cool, and the temperature sensing device 87 performs this −11 ° C. The freezer compartment blower 31 is continuously operated until the ice making end temperature, which is a sufficiently lower temperature, is detected. As a result, ice making progresses to some extent, and when a large amount of ice making time is left before ice is formed in the ice tray 22 (when the temperature is lowered to −11 ° C.), a substantial freezing room, that is, an ice making room. 7 is started, and the temperature sensing device 87 senses the ice making end temperature (a temperature sufficiently lower than −11 ° C.) and continuously operates the freezer room blower 31 until the ice making operation is started. The ice making cycle can be performed in a shorter time. In the rapid ice making mode, the compressor 24 is ON / OFF controlled by the controller 80 based on the temperature detection of the freezer temperature sensor 81.

  Further, when the quick ice making mode is entered by the operation command of the switch 86, the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3 has risen to the set upper limit temperature T3 so that the temperature of the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 3 does not rise too much. At the time, the control device 80 is provided with means for finishing the high temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment and returning it to the normal set temperature before the change. As one of the methods, in the refrigerator 1 provided with a selection means for manually switching the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment 3 to three temperature settings of strong cooling, intermediate cooling, and weak cooling, the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment 3 is set. Is set to a strong cooling setting, for example, the temperature is controlled in the range of the lower limit temperature 1.8 ° C. to the upper limit temperature 4.2 ° C. so that the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3 becomes an average of 3 ° C. 80 operates so that the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3 is controlled within the range of the lower limit temperature of 3.8 ° C. to the upper limit temperature of 6.2 ° C. so that the average temperature is 5 ° C. In this case, when the temperature of the refrigerator compartment rises to a temperature T3 that is higher than the upper limit temperature 6.2 ° C. by a predetermined temperature, for example, 2 ° C., the high temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment is set even when the automatic ice making machine 18 is in the middle of ice making. The rise in the temperature of the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 3 is suppressed by returning to the normal set temperature before the change.

  In each of the above control modes, in the rapid ice making mode, by setting the rotation speed of the compressor 24 to a high state, the refrigerant circulation amount is increased so that the cooling by the freezer cooler 29 is sufficiently performed. It is also effective to do. In this case, when the compressor 24 is in the normal cooling operation mode, for example, the control device 80 is configured to be inverter-controlled to change the input voltage of the electric motor of the compressor 24 continuously or stepwise in the range of 25 Hz to 68 Hz. In the rapid ice making mode, the ice making time can be shortened by setting the operation state at the highest frequency of 68 Hz.

  Further, in each of the above control modes, in the rapid ice making mode, it is also effective to increase the ice making speed by increasing the amount of cold air circulation by continuously increasing the rotation speed of the cold air circulation blower 31 and operating it continuously. In this case, when the rotation speed of the cool air circulation blower 31 for 1 minute is 1300 rpm in the normal cooling operation mode, it is set to 1600 rpm in the rapid ice making mode.

  FIG. 9 is a longitudinal side view of the refrigerator of the present invention according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator of the present invention according to the second embodiment. This refrigerator is a single cooler system, and the same functional parts as those in FIGS. 1 to 8 are indicated by the same reference numerals. The refrigerator 1 includes a freezing room (freezing room 5, 6 or ice making room 7) and a refrigerating room 3, and cold air cooled by a single cooler 29 is blown by a blower 31 to the freezing room (freezing room 5, 6 or ice making room). 7) and an automatic ice maker 18 that circulates to the refrigerator compartment 3 and forms an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing, is installed in the freezing compartment, that is, the ice making compartment 7, and the temperature in the refrigerator compartment 3 is refrigerated. Circulating cold air to the chamber 3 is controlled to a predetermined set temperature by the operation of the cold air control device 70. The cold air control device 70 is also called a damper device, and opens and closes the cold air passage by an electric motor or an electromagnetic solenoid device.

  The refrigerator 1 has a configuration in which the inside of the refrigerator main body 2 having a full opening is partitioned to form a plurality of storage chambers, and the front surfaces of these storage chambers can be opened and closed by doors. The refrigerator body 2 has a heat insulating structure in which a foam heat insulating material is filled between an outer box (outer wall plate) and an inner box (inner wall plate). In the refrigerator main body 2, an ice making chamber 7 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 8 is partitioned next to the refrigerator compartment 3, the vegetable compartment 4, the upper freezer compartment 5, the lower freezer compartment 6, and the upper freezer compartment 5. Is provided.

  Reference numeral 24 is a refrigerant compressor for the refrigeration system, and 25 is a refrigerant condenser for the refrigeration system. Reference numeral 26 denotes an evaporating dish for evaporating defrosted water, which will be described later, by the heat of the condenser 25. The evaporating dish 26 is placed on the condenser 25 and can be pulled out from the lower front portion of the refrigerator-freezer main body 2. The compressor 24, the condenser 25, and the evaporating dish 26 are installed in a machine room 28 provided at the lower part of the refrigerator body 2. 29B is a refrigerant evaporator (cooler) of the refrigeration system. A blower 31 </ b> A circulates cold air cooled by the evaporator (cooler) 29 to each chamber, and 33 is a glass tube heater for defrosting the evaporator (cooler) 29. The defrosted water in the evaporator (cooler) 29B is led to the evaporating dish 26 through the drain pipe and is evaporated there.

  The cold air cooled by the evaporator (cooler) 29B is circulated to the upper freezer room 5, the lower freezer room 6, and the ice making room 7 by the blower 31A, and flows into the upper cold air passage 35C on the back side of the vegetable room 4. Then, the refrigerating room back portion 35B is supplied to the refrigerating room 3 through the corresponding cold air outlets 36 and 39 through the refrigerating room upper air passage 35A. After the cold air in the refrigerator compartment 3 flows into the cold air passage 51 between the bottom wall 52 of the refrigerator compartment 3 and the upper wall 53 of the vegetable compartment 4 from the suction port 56 and flows into the vegetable compartment 4 from the front end of the cold air passage 51. Then, the air is sucked from the cold air suction port 55 on the back side of the vegetable compartment 4 and returns to the lower side of the cooler 29B through the return passage 73 on the back side so as to be cooled again.

  The configuration and operation including the ice making chamber 7 and the automatic ice making machine 18 are the same as those in the first embodiment. 81A is a temperature sensing device that substantially senses the temperature of the freezing room (freezing room 5, 6 or ice making room 7), and senses the temperature of the freezing room 5, freezing room 6, ice making room 7 or cooler 29B. Is provided. 82A is a temperature sensing device that senses the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3 substantially. 83A is a defrosting end sensor for detecting the defrosting end temperature of the cooler 29B, and 85A is an electric heater for defrosting of the cooler 29B. Reference numeral 80A denotes a microcomputer-type control device, which is a signal from the temperature sensor 81A for the freezer, the temperature sensor 82A for the refrigerator compartment, the defrosting end sensor 83A, the quick ice making switch 86, the temperature sensor 87 of the ice tray 22, and the like. Thus, the operations of the compressor 24, the fans 31 and 32, the defrosting electric heater 85, the refrigerant flow switching device 78, and the like are controlled.

  Here, since the temperature sensing device 81A is in a state of substantially sensing the temperature of the freezer compartment (freezer compartment 5, 6 or ice making chamber 7), from the description of the present invention, the freezer compartment is the ice making compartment 7. This will be explained as a representative. The second embodiment includes a freezing room, that is, an ice making room 7 and a refrigerating room 3, and an automatic ice making machine 18 is installed in the ice making room 7, and the cold air cooled by a single cooler 29B is sent to the freezing room (freezing) by a blower 31A. Chamber 5, 6 or ice making chamber 7) and the refrigerating chamber 3, and the temperature in the refrigerating chamber 3 is controlled by the operation of the cool air control device 70, and the refrigerating air to the refrigerating chamber 3 is controlled. The cooling of the chamber is promoted by substantially restricting the cold air supply to the refrigerator compartment 3 by the cold air supply control device 70 and continuously operating the blower 31A.

  First, a normal cooling operation cycle will be described. Here, since the temperature sensing device 81 is in a state of substantially sensing the temperature of the freezer compartment (freezer compartment 5, 6 or ice making chamber 7), from the description of the present invention, the freezer compartment is the ice making compartment 7. This will be explained as a representative. In a state where the freezing room, that is, the ice making room 7 and the refrigerating room 3 are not cooled to a predetermined lower limit temperature, the compressor 24A and the blower 31A are operated (ON), and the refrigerant is compressed by the compressor 24A and condensed by the condenser 25. Then, the pressure is reduced by the capillary tube and flows to the cooler 29 </ b> B and returns to the compressor 24 for circulation. The cool air control device 70 opens the cool air passage 35C, and the cool air cooled by the cooler 29B by the blower 31A is supplied to the refrigerator compartment 3 through the cool air passages 35B and 35A.

  The temperature control of the refrigerator compartment 3 is performed by the cold air control device 70 opening and closing the cool air passage 35C by the operation of the control device 80A based on the temperature detection of the refrigerator temperature sensor 82A. The temperature control of the freezing room (freezing room 5, 6 or ice making room 7) is performed by operating (ON) and stopping the compressor 24A and the blower 31A by the operation of the control device 80A based on the temperature sensing of the freezer temperature sensing device 81A. (OFF) is performed.

In the present invention, the ice making time by the automatic ice making machine 18 is shortened to provide a quick ice making mode that is effective when there is a great demand for ice or when it is desired to make ice quickly in advance.
By limiting the temperature of the refrigerating room 3 to lower the temperature setting of the freezing room, that is, the ice making room 7, and continuously operating the blower 31 </ b> A that circulates cold air into the ice making room 7, the refrigerating room 3 is overcooled as in the prior art. The ice making time by the automatic ice making machine 18 is shortened. And the ice making time by the automatic ice maker 18 in the state by which the temperature rise of the refrigerator compartment 3 was suppressed is aimed at.

  For this purpose, an automatic ice making machine 18 having a freezing room, that is, an ice making room 7 and a refrigerator room 3 and forming an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing is installed in the ice making room 7, and a cooler installed in the cooler room 29A. The cold air cooled by 29B is circulated into the ice making chamber 7 by the blower 31A and is made by the automatic ice making device 18, and the cooling of the refrigerating chamber 3 is substantially cooled by an operation command based on the ON of the rapid ice making switch 86. The temperature setting in the ice making chamber 7 is set to a temperature (for example, −30 ° C.) lower than the normal temperature in the ice making chamber 7 (for example, −20 ° C.) and the blower 31 is continuously operated to move to the rapid ice making mode. To do.

  As a specific means, when the rapid ice making switch 86 is turned on, an operating point (for example, a normal cooling setting in which the average temperature becomes −20 ° C.) is controlled by the control device 80A by temperature detection of the freezer temperature sensing device 81A. Change downward in temperature. That is, the temperature setting of the freezing room (freezing room 5, 6 or ice making room 7) controlled by temperature detection of the freezer temperature sensing device 81A is shifted to the low temperature side, and a low temperature setting state (for example, the average temperature is − The compressor 24A is controlled to be turned ON / OFF at a setting of 30 ° C. Further, the cold air circulation blower 31A is in an operation state maintained in an ON state, that is, a continuous operation state. Due to the temperature drop of the cooler 29B due to this cooling operation, the cooling of the refrigerator compartment 3 becomes faster than in the normal cooling operation state, and the time for the cool air control device 70 to close the cool air passage 35C becomes longer.

  Thus, since the temperature setting of the freezing room (freezing room 5, 6 or ice making room 7) is a low temperature setting, the operation of the compressor 24A is longer than the normal cooling operation, and the cooling of the cooler 29A is reduced. The cooled cold air is sufficiently performed so that the water supplied into the cell 22A of the ice tray 22 by the cold air circulation fan 31A is frozen, and the ice making time in the ice tray 22 is normally ice-making. Shorter than in mode. The operation of the automatic ice maker 18 in the water supply, ice making, and deicing ice making cycle is as described above.

  The rapid ice making mode is set so that the water supply, ice making, and deice ice making cycles of the automatic ice making machine 18 are performed a plurality of times and finished. In the embodiment, the ice making operation is set to be performed three times. When a predetermined amount of ice is stored in the ice storage box 19, the automatic ice maker 18 stops operating. In this state, when the rapid ice making mode is entered, an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing is performed. Is done multiple times and ends. Further, when a predetermined amount of ice is not stored in the ice storage box 19, the automatic ice making machine 18 is in operation, and therefore, when the quick ice making mode is entered in this state, the ice making operation is performed a plurality of times and finished. To come.

  Further, instead of setting the freezing room (freezing room 5, 6 or ice making room 7) controlled by the temperature detection of the freezing room temperature sensing device 81A as described above, the temperature setting of the refrigerating room 3 is set. Changing to a higher temperature setting is also effective. Specifically, when the rapid ice making switch 86 is turned on, the control device 80A operates to change the operating point controlled by the temperature detection of the cold room temperature sensing device 82A upward in temperature. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the temperature setting T1 of the refrigerating room 3 controlled by the temperature detection of the refrigerating room temperature sensing device 82A is shifted to the high temperature side, and the cold air control device 70 is cooled in the high temperature setting state T2. The passage 35C is opened and closed so that the cooler 29B is sufficiently cooled.

  If this example is described, as shown in FIG. 8, in this temperature setting T1, the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3 is controlled in the range of the lower limit temperature 1.8 ° C. to the upper limit temperature 4.2 ° C. so that the average temperature is 3 ° C. When the quick ice making mode is entered, the control device 80A is operated to control the temperature in the refrigerator compartment 3 within the range of the lower limit temperature 3.8 ° C. to the upper limit temperature 6.2 ° C. so that the average temperature is 5 ° C. So that In this case, when the temperature of the refrigerator compartment rises to a temperature T3 that is higher than the upper limit temperature 6.2 ° C. by a predetermined temperature, for example, 2 ° C., the high temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment is set even when the automatic ice making machine 18 is in the middle of ice making. The rise in the temperature of the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 3 is suppressed by returning to the normal set temperature before the change. In the rapid ice making mode, the compressor 24A is ON / OFF controlled by the controller 80A based on the temperature detection of the freezer temperature sensor 81A.

  In this way, the return cold air from the refrigerating chamber 3 has less effect of suppressing the cooling of the cooler 29B, and the cooler 29B is more effectively cooled than in the normal cooling mode before the rapid ice making mode. Will be done. The cold air cooled by the freezer cooler 29 acts to freeze water supplied into the cell 22A of the ice tray 22 by the cold air circulation blower 31A, and the ice making time in the ice tray 22 is the normal ice making mode. Shorter than The operation of the automatic ice maker 18 in the water supply, ice making, and deicing ice making cycle is as described above.

  In this case, in the refrigerator 1 provided with a selection means for manually switching the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment 3 to three temperature settings of strong cooling, intermediate cooling, and weak cooling, the rapid ice making mode is also performed in the strong cooling operation state. When the control device 80A is operated so that the temperature setting is performed at the low-cooling setting at the time of switching to, the cooler 29B is sufficiently cooled compared to the case of the normal cooling mode.

  In the present invention, even when the quick ice making switch 86 is turned on to switch to the quick ice making mode, the freezing room, that is, the ice making room 7 is not immediately accelerated, but the ice making of the automatic ice making machine 18 as described above. When the temperature sensing device 87 provided on the tray 22 senses a high predetermined temperature before reaching the ice making end temperature, for example, −11 ° C., the temperature sensing device 87 substantially accelerates cooling of the freezing room, that is, the ice making chamber 7. The freezer compartment blower 31 is continuously operated until 87 detects the ice making end temperature. As a result, when the ice making progresses to some extent and a lot of ice making time is left until hard ice is generated in the ice tray 22, the cooling of the freezing chamber, that is, the ice making chamber 7 is started to be accelerated. By continuously operating the blower 31A until the sensing device 87 senses the ice making end temperature and enters the deicing operation, an ice making cycle with a shortened ice making time can be performed. In the rapid ice making mode, the compressor 24A is ON / OFF controlled by the controller 80A based on the temperature detection of the freezer temperature sensor 81A.

  Further, when the quick ice making mode is entered by the operation command of the switch 86, the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3 has risen to the set upper limit temperature T3 so that the temperature of the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 3 does not rise too much. At this time, the controller 80A is provided with means for forcibly terminating the rapid ice making mode. As one of the methods, in the refrigerator 1 provided with a selection means for manually switching the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment 3 to three temperature settings of strong cooling, intermediate cooling, and weak cooling, the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment 3 is set. Is set to a strong cooling setting, for example, the temperature is controlled in the range of the lower limit temperature 1.8 ° C. to the upper limit temperature 4.2 ° C. so that the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3 becomes an average of 3 ° C. 80A operates, and the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 3 is controlled within the range of the lower limit temperature of 3.8 ° C. to the upper limit temperature of 6.2 ° C. so that the average temperature is 5 ° C. In this case, when the temperature of the refrigerator compartment rises to a temperature T3 that is higher than the upper limit temperature 6.2 ° C. by a predetermined temperature, for example, 2 ° C., the high temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment is set even when the automatic ice making machine 18 is in the middle of ice making. By terminating and returning to the normal set temperature before the change, and ending the rapid ice making mode and returning to the normal cooling mode, an increase in the temperature of the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 3 is suppressed.

  Further, in each of the above control modes, in the rapid ice making mode, it is also effective to increase the refrigerant circulation amount so that the cooling by the cooler 29B is sufficiently performed by setting the rotational speed of the compressor 24A to a high state. It is. In this case, when the compressor 24A is configured to be continuously or stepwise inverter-controlled in the normal cooling operation mode by the controller 80, for example, in the range of 25 Hz to 68 Hz, in the quick ice making mode, the highest frequency is 68 Hz. By making the operation state, the ice making time can be shortened.

  Furthermore, in each of the above control modes, in the rapid ice making mode, it is also effective to increase the ice making speed by increasing the amount of cold air circulation by continuously operating by increasing the rotation speed of the cold air circulation blower 31A. In this case, when the rotation speed of the cold air circulation blower 31A for 1 minute is 1300 rpm in the normal cooling operation mode, it is set to 1600 rpm in the rapid ice making mode.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be conceived without departing from the technical scope of the present invention, and include various embodiments related thereto.

  As described above, since the ice making promotion is performed by promoting the cooling of the freezing room, that is, the ice making room 7 while restricting the cooling of the refrigerating room, the type in which the automatic ice making machine is installed in a partial region of the freezing room However, even if the form of the automatic ice maker changes, it can be applied to various types of refrigerators. For this reason, the present invention can be applied to a type in which an automatic ice making machine having a large amount of ice produced by one ice making is installed in a freezing room or an ice making room of a commercial refrigerator.

It is a front view of this invention refrigerator. (Example 1) It is a vertical side view of this invention refrigerator. (Example 1) It is explanatory drawing which looked at the refrigerator main body of this invention from the front. (Example 1) It is a disassembled perspective view of the duct component part of this invention refrigerator. (Example 1) It is a refrigerating cycle figure of this invention refrigerator. (Example 1) It is a control block diagram of this invention refrigerator. (Example 1) It is a side view which shows the structure of the automatic ice maker part of this invention by a partial cross section. (Example 1) (Example 2) It is temperature setting explanatory drawing of the refrigerator compartment of this invention refrigerator. (Example 1) (Example 2) It is a vertical side view of this invention refrigerator. (Example 2) It is a control block diagram of this invention refrigerator. (Example 2)

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Refrigerator 2 ... Refrigerator main body 3 ... Refrigeration room 4 ... Vegetable room 5 ... Upper freezing room 6 ... Lower freezing room 7 ... Ice making room 18 ... Automatic ice making machine 20 · · Water supply container 22 · · Ice trays 24, 24A · · · compressors 29, 30, 29B · · Coolers 31, 31A, 32 · · Blower 70 · · Cold air control device 78 · · Refrigerant flow switching device 80, 80A ... Control device 81, 81A ... Freezing room temperature sensing device 82, 82A ... Cold room temperature sensing device 86 ... Rapid ice making switch 87 ... Ice tray temperature sensing device

Claims (10)

  An automatic ice maker equipped with a freezing room and a refrigeration room and forming an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing is installed in the freezing room, and the cold air cooled by the cooler installed in the cooling room is sent to the freezing room by a blower Circulating and making ice in the automatic ice maker, the temperature setting in the freezer compartment is set to a temperature lower than the normal freezer compartment temperature by the operation command, and the cooling of the refrigerator compartment is substantially limited A refrigerator equipped with a quick ice making mode for continuously operating the blower.   An automatic ice maker that forms an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing is installed in the freezer compartment, and the cool air cooled by the cooler installed in the cooler compartment is circulated into the freezer compartment by a blower, and the automatic ice maker The automatic ice maker is controlled to shift to a deicing operation when the temperature sensing device provided in the ice tray senses the ice making end temperature, and has a normal ice making mode and a quick ice making mode, In the rapid ice making mode, the temperature sensing device has completed the ice making by substantially accelerating the cooling of the freezer from the time when the temperature sensing device sensed that the temperature has been cooled to a high temperature before reaching the ice making completion temperature. A refrigerator characterized in that the blower is continuously operated until temperature is sensed.   A freezer room and a refrigerator room are provided, and the freezer room and the refrigerator room are respectively provided with a corresponding cooler and a blower, and the automatic ice maker is installed in the freezer room and cooled by a cooler corresponding to the refrigerator room. Cold air is circulated into the refrigerator compartment by a blower corresponding to the refrigerator compartment to cool the refrigerator compartment, and cold air cooled by a cooler corresponding to the freezer compartment is circulated into the refrigerator compartment by a blower corresponding to the freezer compartment. Then, the ice making is performed by the automatic ice maker, and the cooling promotion of the freezing chamber substantially stops the flow of the refrigerant to the cooler corresponding to the refrigerating chamber, and the cooler corresponding to the freezing chamber The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the refrigerator is performed by controlling the refrigerant to flow through the refrigerator.   The automatic ice maker is installed in the freezer compartment, the cold air cooled by a single cooler is circulated to the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment by a blower, and the temperature in the refrigerator compartment is the temperature of the refrigerator compartment Circulating cold air to the room is controlled by the operation of the cold air control device, and the cooling promotion of the freezer room substantially stops the cold air supply to the refrigerator compartment by the cold air supply control device and The refrigerator according to claim 2, which is performed by continuously operating the blower.   A freezing room and a refrigeration room are provided, and the freezing room and the refrigeration room are respectively provided with a corresponding cooler and blower, and an automatic ice maker that forms an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing is installed in the freezing room, The cold air cooled by the cooler corresponding to the refrigerator compartment is circulated into the refrigerator compartment by a blower corresponding to the refrigerator compartment to cool the refrigerator compartment, and the cold air cooled by the cooler corresponding to the freezer compartment is frozen. The automatic ice maker circulates into the freezer compartment by a blower corresponding to the room, and the temperature in the refrigerator compartment is set to a predetermined set temperature based on the operation of the temperature sensing device. The flow of the refrigerant to the cooler corresponding to is controlled, the set temperature of the refrigerator compartment is changed to a high temperature setting by an operation command, and the rapid ice making mode in which the blower corresponding to the freezer is continuously operated Line and, upon reaching a predetermined temperature higher temperature than the upper limit temperature of the high temperature setting, a refrigerator, characterized in that return to normal set temperature before the change to exit the high temperature setting of the refrigerating chamber.   An automatic ice maker comprising a freezing room and a refrigeration room, which circulates cold air cooled by a single cooler to the freezing room and the refrigeration room by a blower, and forms an ice making cycle of water supply, ice making, and deicing It is installed in the freezer compartment, and the temperature in the refrigerator compartment is controlled so that the circulating cold air to the refrigerator compartment becomes a predetermined set temperature by the operation of the cool air control device, and the set temperature of the refrigerator compartment is high by the operation command When the temperature setting is changed and a rapid ice making mode in which the blower corresponding to the freezer is continuously operated is reached and reaches a predetermined temperature higher than the upper limit temperature of the high temperature setting, the high temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment The refrigerator which is finished and returns to the normal set temperature before the change.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the quick ice making mode is completed by repeating the ice making operation a predetermined number of times based on a switch operation for issuing the operation command.   The electric compressor which forms the refrigerating cycle with which a refrigerant | coolant circulates with the said cooler is provided, and it operates by raising the rotation frequency of this electric compressor in the said rapid ice making mode. The refrigerator described.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the rapid ice making mode is controlled so as to increase a rotational speed of the blower.   The temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment is provided with selection means of three settings of strong cooling, intermediate cooling, and weak cooling, and the rapid ice making mode is controlled so that the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment is performed at the low cooling setting. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 3 to 9.

Images