JP2005134043A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator improving productivity and reducing costs by a simple composition, improving cooling efficiency of food in a container, and reducing electric energy consumption by providing a composition allowing quick cooling of a container interior without newly providing a quick cooling chamber. <P>SOLUTION: Return cold air is returned via a first cold air return duct 19b attached with a damper 50a, and the return cold air is controlled by opening and closing of the damper 50a. Pluralities of ventilation holes 24a are provided in a bottom face front part and a front face lower part of a lower part container 24, cold air entering the lower part container 24 is sent out of the lower part container 24 through the ventilation holes 24a. A guide part is provided covering rear sides of a front face lower part and a bottom face of the lower part container 24 with a certain space provided in between, and it is formed in the rear with a cold air return opening 40a returning the cold air. A second cold return duct 19a is provided for returning the cold air discharged from the ventilation holes 24a of the lower part container 24 via the cold air return opening 40a in the rear. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a structure of a method for circulating cold air to a container disposed in a storage chamber.

  For example, the refrigerator is divided into a refrigerator compartment 7, a vegetable compartment 8, and a freezer compartment 9 as shown in FIG. 1, and as shown in FIG. 6, the freezer compartment 9 has an upper drawer container (hereinafter referred to as an upper container). ) 23 and a drawer container (hereinafter referred to as a lower container) 24 at the lower part, and the cool air generating chamber 19 for generating cool air and the cool air are supplied to the rear of the freezer compartment 9 where the upper container 23 and the lower container 24 coexist. A cold air supply duct 21 is provided, and the cold air supply duct 21 is provided with cold air outlets 21 a and 21 b for blowing cold air to the respective containers 23 and 24. The cold air circulated in the containers 23 and 24 passes through the vicinity of the door 22, passes through the bottom surface of the lower container 24, and returns to the lower side of the cold air generation chamber 19 from the cold air return duct 31 behind the lower container 24. (For example, see Patent Document 1).

In addition, there is another conventional example in which a freezing chamber 9A having an upper container 23 in the upper part of the freezing room 9 and a switching room 9B having a lower container 24 that can be switched to a temperature zone other than freezing and freezing are provided in the lower part. Yes (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
As shown in FIG. 7, the cooler 18 is provided behind the freezer compartment 9, and the partition plate 27 is provided in front of the cooler 18 to form the cold air generating chamber 19.

  A partition plate 28 provided with a blower 20 is provided in front of the cold air generation chamber 19 to form a blower chamber 25, which is composed of partition plates 28 and 29 in front of the blower chamber 25, and has cold air outlets 29a and 28d on the upper and lower sides. A cold air supply duct 21 having a damper 30 is provided in the lower cold air outlet passage 28e, and a cover 32 having an open upper portion is provided on the front surface of the partition plate 29 to form a cold air passage 33 communicating with the upper return duct 32a. It was.

  A frame 34 that includes a packing 35 and a support portion 34b that supports the upper container 23 so that the upper container 23 can be inserted and removed freely is located in front of the lower cold air outlet 28d. A packing 36 is provided between the left and right center of the rear surface of the door 22, the upper container 23 is provided above the frame 34, the lower container 24 is provided at the lower part, the upper part is a freezing chamber 9A, and the lower part is a switching room 9B. A return duct 29d for returning the cool air in the switching chamber 9B to the cool air generating chamber 19 is provided behind 9B.

  However, in the former, cold air is blown out from the cold air outlets 21a and 21b toward the inside of the container. Since it is a circulation system and also cools every corner of the room that does not need to be cooled (other than inside the container), for example, when food with a high temperature is put into the container, it is cooled in the cooling of the whole room. Therefore, it takes time for cooling, and as a result, a large amount of electric power is used, and there is a problem that cooling efficiency and energy may be lost.

  In addition, there is a quick cooling chamber for rapidly cooling foods with high temperature, and the cooling speed is increased by increasing the rotation speed of the blower or compressor. It has a disadvantage that it is structurally complicated, increases the number of parts and the number of work steps, and increases costs.

  In the latter case, a freezing chamber 9A having an upper container 23 in the upper portion and a switching chamber 9B having a lower vessel 24 that can be switched to a temperature zone other than freezing and freezing in the lower portion are configured. On the 24th side, even if the damper 30 in the lower cool air outlet passage 28e is fully opened, the cool air is supplied to the upper container 23, so the amount of cool air supplied does not increase and rapid cooling cannot be performed. When the damper 30 is fully closed, the amount of cold air supplied to the upper container 23 is increased, but the amount of cold air supplied to the lower container 24 is stopped, so that there is a possibility that the cooling temperature as the switching chamber cannot be maintained. Even if a damper is provided on the cold air outlet 29a side, if the damper is closed, the amount of cold air supplied to the lower container 24 side increases and rapid cooling becomes possible, but the amount of cold air supplied to the upper container 23 stops, Since the cooling temperature of the container 23 becomes high and the appropriate temperature cannot be maintained, a function for rapidly cooling food with a high temperature cannot be added.

JP 2003-75048 A (pages 4-5, FIG. 1) JP 2001-263908 A (pages 3-5, FIG. 3)

  In the present invention, in view of the above-described problems, some containers are provided with the function without providing a rapid cooling chamber, and a necessary portion can be cooled, i.e., the inside of the container can be rapidly cooled rather than cooling in the whole room. By adopting a simple structure, it is possible to improve productivity and reduce costs, eliminate the voluntary nature of cold air propagation and circulation, improve the cooling efficiency of food in the container, and consume power. It aims at providing the refrigerator which enabled it to reduce.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention divides the inside of a heat insulating box formed by filling a heat insulating material between an outer box and an inner box into a plurality of storage chambers by a heat insulating partition, and the container is provided in at least one storage chamber Are provided with a cold air supply duct, a cold air return duct, and a cold air circulation means for circulating cold air between the upper and lower containers, and the cold air circulated in the upper and lower containers is supplied to each cold air return duct. To return,
A damper for opening and closing the cold air return duct is provided in the cold air return duct of the upper container.

  As the cold air circulation means between the upper and lower containers, each container is provided with a vent hole, and the lower container is provided with a guide portion that covers the vent hole to form a cold air return port, and the cold air return port of the guide portion. A cold air return duct for the lower container is provided on the side of the storage chamber facing the front.

  If it is a refrigerator like this invention, without providing a quick cooling room, it has the function which makes some containers have the function, and can cool a required part rather than the cooling of the whole room, ie, rapid cooling in a container, In this way, with a simple configuration, the productivity is improved and the cost is reduced, the voluntary circulation and circulation of cold air is eliminated, the cooling efficiency of food in the container is improved, and the power consumption is reduced. It becomes a refrigerator that can be made.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail as examples based on the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a flow of cold air according to the embodiment of the present invention. The main part expansion side sectional view (A) of the refrigerator which shows this, and the principal part enlarged side sectional view (B) which shows the flow of the cold air when the damper is attached to the cold air outlet, FIG. It is a perspective view of the container which shows embodiment, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the guide part which shows embodiment of this invention.
In addition, the code | symbol of the same part as the past shall be the same.

FIG. 1 shows the internal structure of a cold air forced circulation refrigerator from the side.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a heat insulating box made of a steel plate outer box 2, a synthetic resin inner box 3, a heat insulating material 4 and the like, and the inside is refrigerated in order from the top by two heat insulating partitions 5 and 6. The room 7, the vegetable room 8, and the freezer room 9 are divided into storage rooms.

  A cool air generation chamber 10 provided behind the vegetable room 8 includes a cooler 11 that generates cool air to the refrigerating room 7 and the vegetable room 8, and the cool air is sent to the cool air supply path 12 from the refrigerating room 7 to the vegetable room 8. Further, a blower 13 that circulates to the lower part of the cold air generating chamber 10 is arranged, a door 14 pivotally supported to be opened and closed is provided in the refrigerator compartment 7, and a support 16 that supports the drawer container 15 is provided in the vegetable compartment 8. A drawer type door 17 is provided.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main part showing the form of the drawer-type door 22 in front of the freezer compartment 9. The door 22 in front of the freezer compartment 9 is an integrated drawer type, and a drawer container (hereinafter referred to as a drawer container) The upper container 23) is placed in the lower part, and a drawer container (hereinafter referred to as the lower container) 24 is arranged, the side bottom surface of the upper container 23 slides on the upper side of the lower container 24, and the lower container 24 is detachable. A support tool 26 is provided for support. When the door 22 is pulled, the lower container 24 and the upper container 23 are pulled out while being supported by the support 26, and the upper container 23 is pushed rearward so that the upper part of the lower container 24 is opened and food can be taken in and out. It has become.

  FIG. 3A is an enlarged view of a main part in order to explain the embodiment of the present invention in more detail. A cooler 18 is installed in the rear of one room partitioned as the freezer compartment 9, and a first partition plate 28 is installed in front of the cooler 18, so that a cool air generation chamber provided with the cooler 18 is provided. 19 is done.

  A cool air supply duct 21 that takes in the cool air generated by the cooler 18 with a blower 20 for forced cooling circulation and supplies the cool air to the upper container 23 and the lower container 24 is provided in front of the cool air generation chamber 19. 21 includes a first partition plate 28 and a second partition plate 29 erected in front of the first partition plate 28.

  A cool air outlet 21a for blowing cool air into the upper container 23 is provided at the upper part of the second partition plate 29, and a cool air outlet 21b for blowing cool air into the lower container 24 is provided at the lower part of the second partition plate 29. ing. Further, the cold air circulated through the upper container 23 is returned through the first cold air return duct 19b formed so as to return the cold air to the lower part of the cold air generation chamber 19, and the present invention returns to the first cold air return. A damper 50a is attached to the duct 19b, and the return cold air is controlled by opening and closing the damper 50a.

  Further, a plurality of vent holes 23a, 24a are provided in the bottom front part and the lower front part of both containers 23, 24, respectively, and the cold air that has entered the containers 23, 24 passes through the vent holes 23a, 24a. The vent hole 24a is formed larger than the vent hole 23a, and the cool air blown out from the cold air outlet 21b into the lower container 24 and passes through the vent hole 24a is discharged from the cold air outlet 21a to the upper container 23. The amount of cold air is configured to be larger than the amount of cold air that is blown in and passes through the vent hole 23a.

  And the guide part 40 which formed the cold air return port 40a which covers the front lower part and the back side of the bottom face of the lower container 24 by providing a certain space and returns the cold air to the rear is provided. The space (cold air passage) formed by the guide portion 40 guides the cool air discharged from the vent hole 24a of the lower container 24 to the rear cool air return port 40a. Further, the rear portion of the guide portion 40 is formed narrow toward the cold air return port 40a, and a plurality of guide pieces 40b are provided on the inner bottom surface of the guide portion 40 (see FIG. 5) so as to smoothly guide the flow of the cold air. ing.

  A second cold air return duct 19a is provided for returning the cold air from the cold air return port 40a formed by the guide portion 40 to the lower part of the cold air generating chamber 19, and the second cold air return duct 19a is returned to the upper container 23. The cool air return port 40a is provided adjacent to one end of the second cool air return duct 19a when the door is closed, and circulates through the lower container 24. The cool air is returned to the lower part of the cool air generation chamber 19 behind the freezer compartment 9. When joining the cold air return port 40a and the second cold air return duct 19a, a packing 70 is attached to the entrance of the second cold air return duct 19a to enhance the sealing performance of the joint.

FIG. 4 shows the containers 23 and 24 obliquely from the rear. The characteristics of the drawer containers 23 and 24 are that the rear wall is lowered and cold air is supplied to the containers 23 and 24 from the cold air outlets 21a and 21b. It was made easier.
Also, a plurality of protrusions 23b, 24b are formed on the front bottom surfaces of the containers 23, 24 and the inside of the lower portion of the front surface so that the air holes 23a, 24a are not blocked when food is added.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of locking claws 40c are provided at the upper end of the side wall of the guide portion 40, and as shown in FIG. 4, the lower container 24 is provided with a recess 24c at a position corresponding to the locking claws 40c. The locking claw 40 c of the guide part 40 is locked to the concave part 24 c of the lower container 24, and the guide part 40 is attached to the lower container 24. Instead of attaching the guide part 40 to the lower container 24 as a separate part, the guide part 40 may be formed integrally with the lower container 24. (Not shown)
Further, a deodorizing device 60 is disposed on the second cold air return duct 19a side (or in the vicinity of the cold air return port 40a) of the lower container 24, and odorous food is introduced into the lower container 24 side to deodorize the odor. May be.

Next, the cold air circulation method of the present invention will be described.
For example, when a food with high temperature is put into the lower container 24 and the food is to be rapidly cooled, an operation unit for instructing rapid cooling is provided on the operation display unit (not shown). When the quick cooling instruction is issued, as shown in FIG. 3A, the damper 50a of the first cold air return duct 19b is closed, and the cold air returning from the upper container 23 to the first cold air return duct 19b stops, and the upper container The cold air is supplied to 23 only from the vent hole 23a of the upper container 23. Since the vent hole 23a is formed smaller than the vent hole 24a of the lower container 24, it is blown out from the cold air outlet 21a into the upper container 23. The amount of cold air is small, the flow of cold air to the upper container 23 side is suppressed, and the cold air is mainly blown into the lower container 24 from the cold air outlet 21b and is concentrated and supplied to the lower container 24 side. Cool air amount to be blown is increased, increasing the circulation amount of cool air, it is possible to rapidly cool the food in the lower container 24. If the rotational speed of the blower 20 is increased at the same time, the effect can be further enhanced.

  Further, the return cold air discharged from the vent hole 24a of the lower container 24 is formed with a cold air passage for the return cold air by the guide portion 40 and is guided to the cold air return port 40a, so that the flow of the cold air is forced and the flow is fast. Thus, the suction force from the second cold air return duct 19a is increased, the amount of cold air is increased, and the cooling effect is improved. Since the cooling air can be centrally controlled without diffusing the returning cold air by the guide portion 40, the efficiency can be improved by applying the cold air only to the food in the lower container 24. Furthermore, since the guide portion 40 exists between the main body and the main body, the amount of return cold air to the outside is reduced.

  Even when the lower container 24 is being rapidly cooled, since the upper container 23 has the air holes 23a, the flow of the cold air into the upper container 23 does not stop, and an appropriate amount of cold air blows out from the cold air outlet 21a. Since the cool air from the upper container 23 flows into the lower container 24 through the vent hole 23a of the upper container 23, the temperature of the upper container 23 can be maintained at an appropriate temperature.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the damper 50b is attached to the cold air outlet 21a. In this case, the damper 50b is opened and used during normal cooling, but the lower part is used for rapid cooling. A food having a high temperature is put in the container 24 and the damper 50b is closed. The amount of cold air from the cold air outlet 21b that blows out the cold air to the lower container 24 is increased and rapid cooling is performed, but the supply of the cold air to the upper container 23 is stopped and the proper temperature is maintained because the damper 50b of the cold air outlet 21a is closed. Can not do. From the above, it can be seen that rapid cooling cannot be performed by providing a damper on the cold air outlet side.

  When the refrigeration cycle (compressor) stops during the rapid cooling, the blower 20 is stopped and the damper 50a of the first cold air return duct 19b is kept closed. In addition, when an instruction for quick cooling is issued from the operation unit when the refrigeration cycle (compressor) is stopped, after the start-up protection of the refrigeration cycle (compressor) is confirmed, the food is rapidly cooled simultaneously with the start of the refrigeration cycle (compressor). Like to do.

  Furthermore, by providing dampers (not shown) that can be opened and closed by switching each of the cool air return ducts 19a and 19b (not shown), during the normal cooling operation, the damper on the first cold air return duct 19b side is opened. Since the damper on the side of the second cool air return duct 19a is closed, the cool air stays in the space between the bottom surface of the lower container 24 and the cover 40, and a certain heat insulating effect acts on the lower container 24 itself and the cooling capacity is increased. Can last. During the rapid cooling, the damper on the first cold air return duct 19b side is closed and the damper on the second cold air return duct 19a side is opened.

  In the above-described embodiment, the cold air circulation to each container in the freezer compartment 9 is performed. However, a guide portion is provided at the lower portion of the container in the other chamber, for example, the chilled case, and the cold air is returned from the cold air return port of the guide portion. In addition, the food in the chilled case may be rapidly cooled (not shown). In the embodiment, the cold air supply to the upper container 23 is the cold air outlet 21a at the rear of the upper container 23. However, the upper end of the second partition plate 29 is bent forward and extended to the upper part of the upper container 23. A cool air passage may be formed between the heat insulating partition 6 and a plurality of cool air outlets (not shown) for blowing out cool air from above the upper container 23 into the upper container 23 may be provided.

  In the above-described configuration, the supply of cold air to the upper container 23 and the lower container 24 is blown out from the rear cold air outlets 21a and 21b into the containers 23 and 24, and the return cold air from the containers 23 and 24 is The cool air return ducts 19 a and 19 b provided behind the lower container 24 are returned to the lower part of the cool air generation chamber 19. When the damper 50a of the first cold air return duct 19b is closed, the cold air is supplied only to the lower container 24, and the cold air that has entered the lower container 24 flows into the guide portion 40 through the vent hole 24a, thereby returning to the second cold air. The cold air is returned from the duct 19a to the lower part of the cold air generating chamber 19, and the food in the lower container 24 can be concentrated and cooled. Is put into the lower container 24, the damper 50a is closed, and the cool air is returned only to the second cool air return duct 19a, thereby enabling rapid cooling and providing a room for rapid cooling of warm food with a rapid cooling chamber. The configuration of the cold air supply to each of the containers 23 and 24 is simple, the number of parts and work man-hours are increased, the disadvantage of increasing the cost can be eliminated, and wasted Since efficiently cool the food product, it is possible to eliminate the problems cooling efficiency and energy are likely to be lost.

It is a sectional side view of the refrigerator which shows one Example of this invention. It is a principal part perspective view which shows embodiment of this invention. It is the principal part expanded side sectional view (A) of the refrigerator which shows embodiment of this invention, and the principal part enlarged side sectional view (B) of the refrigerator which shows the flow of the cool air at the time of attaching a damper to a cold air blower outlet. It is a perspective view of the container which shows embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the guide part which shows embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part expanded side sectional view of the refrigerator which shows embodiment of a prior art example. It is a principal part expanded side sectional view of the refrigerator which shows embodiment of another prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

18 cooler 19 cool air generation chamber 19a, 19b cool air return duct 20 blower 21 cool air supply duct 21a, 21b cool air outlet 22 door 23 drawer container (upper container)
24 Drawer container (lower container)
23a, 24a Ventilation holes 23b, 24b Protrusions 24c Recesses 28 First partition plate 29 Second partition plate 40 Guide portion 40a Cold air return port 40b Guide piece 40c Locking claws 50a, 50b Damper 60 Deodorizer 70 Packing

Claims (2)

The inside of the heat insulating box formed by filling a heat insulating material between the outer box and the inner box is partitioned into a plurality of storage chambers by a heat insulating partition, and the container is provided vertically in at least one storage chamber, a cold air supply duct, A return duct and a cold air circulation means for circulating cold air between the upper and lower containers are provided to return the cold air circulated in the upper and lower containers to the respective cold air return ducts.
A refrigerator comprising a cool air return duct of the upper container provided with a damper for opening and closing the cold air return duct.   As the cold air circulation means between the upper and lower containers, each container is provided with a vent hole, and the lower container is provided with a guide portion that covers the vent hole to form a cold air return port, and the cold air return port of the guide portion. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a cold air return duct of the lower container is provided on the side of the storage room facing the refrigerator.

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