JP2005156147A - Manufacturing method and sales management system for cold storage - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method and a sales management system for a cold storage capable of eliminating a production-to-order system requiring a cooling test before delivery. <P>SOLUTION: Heat-insulated box bodies having various kinds of specifications predetermined to be used as a refrigerator, a cold storage or a refrigerating cold storage, and a cooling unit manufactured to exhibit a prescribed cooling capacity for any of a heat-insulated box body group are prepared. The heat-insulated box body of the required specification out of the heat-insulated box body group, and the cooling unit are conveyed to a field, and the heat-insulated box body and the cooling unit are combined in the field to serve as the cold storage. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a cooling storage and a sales management system thereof.

  For example, a commercial refrigerator, a freezer, or a cold storage such as a refrigerator with an integrated function has been conventionally manufactured and sold as follows.

  As shown in FIG. 15, a customer A such as a restaurant looks at a catalog or the like, and inquires a sales representative B of a sales company about a product that satisfies a required specification, and the sales representative B contacts a manufacturing management department C of a factory. Then, after inquiring about the delivery date, price, etc. of the product and negotiating with the customer A, an agreement is obtained.

  By the way, the cooling storage is basically composed of a heat insulating box and a cooling device for cooling the inside. Among these, there are many types of heat insulating boxes according to differences in cooling specifications such as refrigeration and freezing, differences in shape specifications such as vertical and horizontal types or the number of doors, differences in storage capacity, and the like. And since the dedicated cooling device is required according to the cooling specification and storage volume of each heat insulation box, the number of types close | similar to the number of types of heat insulation boxes is required. For this reason, it is difficult to design and produce all of these in advance and keep them in stock. Therefore, for models other than those that can be expected to be sold above a certain level, it is necessary to adopt a momentary production system and shorten delivery times. In addition, there was a limit to reducing manufacturing costs. Moreover, every time an order is received, a heat insulation box and a cooling device are designed and newly manufactured, and this is combined with the heat insulation box to produce a cooling storage. As a result, a cooling test for confirming whether or not the product is to be shipped must be performed one by one, which causes a problem that the delivery time is further delayed.

In addition, as shown in Patent Document 1, an invention has been proposed in which the heat insulation box is assembled and assembled at the installation site of the cooling storage to reduce the conveyance cost. However, even with such an assembly type, each time an order is received, a cooling device corresponding to the heat insulation box is designed, and this is assembled to the heat insulation box (this can be done at the installation site, even if this is done in the factory). However, since a cooling test must be performed, it does not contribute to shortening the delivery time and cost.
JP-A-6-347159

  The present invention has been completed on the basis of the above circumstances, and a manufacturing method of a cooling storage and sales of the cooling storage that can eliminate the order-made production method in which the cooling test before shipment is essential as described above. The purpose is to provide a management system.

  As a means for achieving the above object, the manufacturing method of the cooling storage of claim 1 includes a heat insulation box selected from a group of heat insulation boxes having various specifications determined in advance, and the heat insulation box group. A cooling unit that is manufactured so as to exhibit a predetermined cooling capacity for any of the above is transported to the installation site of the cooling storage, and the heat insulating box and the cooling unit are combined at the installation site It is characterized by a cold storage and shelving.

  The invention of claim 2 is the invention of claim 1, wherein the cooling unit is configured by circulatingly connecting a compressor, a condenser, an expansion mechanism and an evaporator with refrigerant piping, and the expansion mechanism is suitable for refrigeration. It is characterized in that it has characteristics intermediate between those suitable for refrigeration.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the expansion mechanism is a capillary tube, and the capillary tube has an intermediate flow rate characteristic between one suitable for refrigeration and one suitable for freezing, and the evaporation An accumulator is provided on the outlet side of the evaporator, and a heat exchange section capable of exchanging heat with the refrigerant pipe on the outlet side of the evaporator is provided in the first half region of the capillary tube. Has characteristics.
The capillary tube of the present invention is defined as a capillary tube having a flow characteristic intermediate between the flow characteristic of the capillary tube suitable for refrigeration and the flow characteristic of the capillary tube suitable for freezing. Here, the capillary tube suitable for refrigeration means that when the cooling unit is operated at room temperature in combination with the heat insulation box, the equilibrium temperature in the refrigerator (the cooling capacity of the cooling unit and the heat load of the heat insulation box balance). A capillary tube having a flow rate characteristic in which (temperature) is about 0 to −10 ° C. The capillary tube suitable for freezing is a capillary tube having a flow rate characteristic in which the equilibrium temperature in the cabinet is about −15 to −25 ° C. Accordingly, when the cooling unit is operated under the same conditions, the capillary tube having intermediate flow characteristics for refrigeration and freezing of the present invention has, for example, an equilibrium temperature of about −10 to −20 ° C. It is preferable that the flow rate characteristic is as follows.

  The invention of claim 4 is the invention of claim 2 or 3, wherein the compressor is a variable capacity compressor, and the cooling unit is separated from a set temperature which is a cooling target temperature in the heat insulation box. Storage means in which pull-down cooling characteristics indicating a temporal change mode of a target temperature drop in a pull-down cooling region, which is a temperature region from the high temperature to the vicinity of the set temperature, are stored as data; Operation control means for changing the capacity of the compressor based on the output from the temperature sensor for detecting the temperature so that the internal temperature drops in accordance with the pull-down cooling characteristic read from the storage means is provided. It is characterized by

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, the compressor is a variable capacity compressor, and the cooling unit has a predetermined internal temperature in the heat insulating box. The compressor is operated when an upper limit temperature that is higher than the set temperature by a predetermined value is reached, and when the lower limit temperature that is lower than the set temperature by a predetermined value is reached, the operation is stopped repeatedly. A storage means that is set to perform control cooling that is maintained at substantially the set temperature, and that stores control cooling characteristics indicating the temporal variation of the target temperature drop in the control cooling area as data; and Based on the output from the temperature sensor that detects the temperature, the compression is performed so that the internal temperature drops following the control cooling characteristic read from the storage means. Having characterized in that the operation control means for varying the capacity is provided.

  According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the invention according to any of the second to fifth aspects, the cooling unit can be individually controlled for operation based on a plurality of cooling specification programs having different internal cooling temperatures. Determining means for determining the cooling specification of the heat insulating box of the other party to which the cooling unit is mounted, and a program corresponding to the cooling specification determined by the determining means among the programs based on the determination signal of the determining means And selecting means that can be executed.

  The invention of claim 7 is a sales management system for selling to a customer a cooling storage unit comprising a heat insulating box combined with a cooling unit, and based on an order from the customer, the shape of the cooling storage unit, refrigeration / freezing Requirement specification input means for inputting required specifications from customers such as storage / freezer type, storage capacity, etc., and the requirement specifications input by the requirement specification input means and customer information for ordering them An order database stored in association with an identification code, a shape of the plurality of heat insulation boxes, a type such as refrigeration / freezing / refrigeration / refrigeration, and a necessary number of cooling units, and an identification code of the heat insulation box The heat insulation box database stored in association with each other, and for each order identified by the order identification code, the heat insulation box database is searched based on the required specifications. A heat insulating box body search means for determining the number of heat insulation box bodies and cooling units corresponding thereto, and the heat insulation box bodies selected by the heat insulation box body search means and the number of cooling units corresponding thereto are shipped. Originally, it is characterized in that it comprises shipping instruction means for contacting with customer information recorded in the order database.

<Invention of Claim 1>
Since the cooling unit of the present invention is manufactured so that a predetermined cooling capacity can be exhibited for any of the predetermined heat insulating box groups, the cooling unit is mounted on the actually combined heat insulating box body and the cooling test is performed. Even if not, the cooling test can be completed in combination with, for example, a test heat insulation box. As a result, the heat insulating box and the cooling unit to be combined with it can be manufactured separately and transported to the installation site of the cooling storage, and they can be combined at the installation site to be completed as a cooling storage. This makes it possible to manufacture the heat insulation box and the cooling unit in different factories.For example, a heat insulation box that is large and has high transportation costs is manufactured in an area where there are many customers. It can also be manufactured in low cost areas.

  Further, if the cooling storage is constituted by a combination of such a cooling unit and a heat insulation box, a heat insulation box selected from a group of heat insulation boxes having various specifications determined in advance, and the heat insulation A cooling unit capable of exhibiting a predetermined cooling capacity for any of the box groups is produced at the factory, and these are transported to the installation site of the cooling storage, and at the installation site, the heat insulating box and the cooling unit You can adopt a sales method that combines Thereby, a delivery date can be shortened significantly compared with the conventional order sales form.

  In addition, the above cooling unit is kept in stock at the sales office of the sales company (sales department), and when a customer receives an order for a cooling storage from the customer, the insulation box corresponding to the ordered specification is received from the factory. It is possible to adopt a sales method in which the cooling unit is transported to the installation location and the cooling unit is transported from the sales office.

<Invention of Claim 2>
Since an expansion mechanism with an intermediate characteristic between refrigeration and freezing is used and an accumulator is provided on the outlet side of the evaporator to obtain a narrowing effect, it can be adapted to a low flow refrigeration region. Units can be shared.
<Invention of Claim 3>
Since the expansion mechanism is a capillary tube, and the heat exchange part in the capillary tube is set in the first half region to reduce the total resistance in the tube, it can be adapted to a high flow refrigeration region. The cooling unit can be shared while being used.

<Invention of Claim 4>
Conventionally, temperature characteristics of pull-down cooling have been regarded as important in commercial refrigerators (the same applies to freezers and refrigerators). For example, for cooling from a high internal temperature of 20 ° C, in addition to initial operation after installation, turn off the power for maintenance, etc., restart several hours later, open the door for several minutes when food is carried in, or hot food If you put it in, etc., it is almost limited, but considering that the doors are frequently opened and closed and the ambient temperature is relatively high, the refrigerator for business use tends to rise in temperature, The temperature drop characteristic is sufficiently taken into consideration as the restoring force at that time.

Therefore, a performance test at the time of pull-down cooling is indispensable, but according to the present invention, at the time of pull-down cooling, a pull-down cooling characteristic indicating a temporal change mode of a target temperature drop is stored in advance as data, The capacity of the compressor is controlled so that the internal temperature drops following the pull-down cooling characteristics.
In other words, pull-down cooling is performed according to predetermined pull-down cooling characteristics regardless of the conditions such as the volume of the other heat insulating box. Therefore, the performance test at the time of pull-down cooling can be performed using, for example, a test heat insulation box regardless of the actual heat insulation box to be mounted. The degree of freedom can be greatly increased.

<Invention of Claim 5>
During operation of the compressor during control cooling, the compressor capacity is controlled so that the internal temperature drops in accordance with the control cooling characteristics stored in advance. By setting the control cooling characteristic to a gentle gradient, the compressor can be cooled while operating at a low capacity, that is, while saving energy. On the other hand, by setting the control cooling characteristic to reach the lower limit temperature appropriately, the operation of the compressor can be stopped reliably, and this causes a kind of defrosting action in the evaporator, resulting in a large amount of frost formation. It is prevented in advance.

<Invention of Claim 6>
While the cooling unit is formed so as to be compatible with a plurality of cooling specifications with different internal cooling temperatures, the control means stores all the operation programs for each cooling specification. When the cooling unit is attached to the heat insulation box, the determination means determines the cooling specification of the heat insulation box, and the control means selects and executes the corresponding program based on the determination signal.
Therefore, a common cooling unit including the control means can be attached to cooling storages having different cooling specifications, and can be accurately operated with a program corresponding to each cooling specification.

<Invention of Claim 7>
When an order for a cooling storage is received from a customer and the requested specification is input to the required specification input means, a record is recorded in the order database. Then, the necessary heat insulation box body and the necessary number of cooling units are retrieved from the heat insulation box body database, and the number of the heat insulation box bodies and the corresponding cooling units are automatically notified to their shipping sources.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The cooling storage which is the premise of the manufacturing method and sales management system 100 of the present embodiment will be described in detail later, and is configured by mounting a cooling unit on a main body made of a heat insulating box. The main body is selected by the customer from a group of pre-determined specifications (insulation box), and the cooling unit is designed to provide the required cooling capacity for any of the main body groups. -It is a common product that is manufactured. Various specifications of the main body group include cooling specifications for refrigeration, refrigeration or both refrigeration / refrigeration, vertical and horizontal types, number of doors, width dimensions, depth dimensions, storage capacity, etc. Cooling storages are listed in catalogs or Internet homes for sale.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sales management system 100 of the present embodiment includes a heat insulation box database (hereinafter referred to as “box DB”) 101. This box DB 101 stores the specifications of various heat insulation boxes and the required number of cooling units in association with the identification codes of the heat insulation boxes, and the data structure and data contents are as shown in FIG. 2, for example. It is. That is, one record is configured for each type of main body (insulated box), and each record includes “box ID”, “cooling specification”, “vertical / horizontal”, “number of doors”, “door type”, The fields “width dimension”, “depth dimension”, “effective internal volume”, and “number of required cooling units” are provided. “Box ID” is an identification code of the heat insulation box, “Cooling specification” indicates a type for freezing / refrigeration or freezing / refrigeration, and “Vertical / horizontal” indicates whether the heat insulating box is vertically long or horizontally long ( "Number of doors" is the number of front doors, "door type" is the type of whether the door is a stainless steel opaque door or a transparent door with a glass part in it, "width" “Dimension” indicates the maximum outer width of the heat insulation box, “Depth” indicates the maximum depth of the heat insulation box, and “Effective internal volume” indicates the usable volume in the heat insulation box. In the “necessary cooling unit number” field, the number of cooling units necessary for cooling the main body with the specification shown in the “cooling specification” is entered.

  Now, when the customer A intends to purchase a cooling storage such as a refrigerator or a freezer, the customer A consults with a sales representative X of a sales company or determines a desired specification based on a catalog or the like. Then, the salesperson X who is informed of the desired specifications from the customer A inputs the requested specifications and customer information from the customer A to the order receiving computer 102 corresponding to the requested specification input means. When such information is input to the order receiving computer 102, a record having a data structure as shown in FIG. That is, “order ID” as an order identification code is set as a different value for each record, and customer information such as “customer name” and “shipping destination” is recorded together with “sales representative”. Further, the required specifications transmitted from the customer A are entered in the fields of “cooling specification”, “vertical / horizontal”, “number of doors”, “door type”, “width dimension”, and “effective internal volume”.

On the other hand, in the sales management system 100, a heat insulation box searching means 104 is configured by software executed by a CPU (not shown), and the salesperson X performs a search execution operation on the order receiving computer 102. The heat insulation box body searching means 104 searches for a heat insulation box body that matches the required specifications input for the corresponding order ID, and the values of “box ID” and “number of necessary cooling units” of the heat insulation box body and the “order ID” "Is given to the shipping instruction means 105.
For example, for an order with the order ID “3111303” (see FIG. 3), the required specifications are “cooling specification” = refrigeration, “vertical / horizontal” = vertical, “number of doors” = 2, “door type” = Stainless steel, “width dimension” = 625 mm, “effective internal volume” = 437 L. Therefore, since the “box ID” that matches the required specification of the order ID is retrieved as “RF0002” from the contents of the box DB 101, “box ID” = “RF0002”, “required cooling unit” is displayed in the shipping instruction means 105. Each value of “number” = “2” and “order ID” = “3111303” is sent. When there is no heat insulation box that matches the required specifications, a message to that effect is displayed on the display, prompting re-input.

  Next, the shipping instructing unit 105 accesses the order receiving DB 103 to acquire values of “customer name”, “shipping destination”, and “number of orders” by using “order ID” as a key, and based on these, the insulated box body is selected. A shipping slip 107 in which “box ID”, “customer name”, “shipping destination”, and the number of shipments (= “number of orders”) are recorded is transmitted to the box factory 106 to be manufactured. At the same time, the cooling unit factory 108 that manufactures the cooling unit is provided with a shipping slip 109 in which “customer name”, “shipping destination” and the number of ships (= “number of orders received” × “number of required cooling units”) are recorded. Send.

  As a result, the box factory 106 sends out to the customer A only the number of shipments for which the heat insulating box corresponding to the “box ID” is designated based on the shipping slip 107. Independently of this, from the cooling unit factory 108, the cooling units in stock based on the shipping slip 109 are sent to the customer A by the designated number of ships. Then, at the installation location at customer A, the serviceman assembles the required number of cooling units into the heat insulation box, and sets the cooling units to operate according to a predetermined refrigerator-freezer program. Completed as a freezer refrigerator.

  In the cooling unit factory 108, the manufactured cooling unit is assembled in a test heat insulation box (not necessarily the same as the heat insulation box to be combined) and operated based on a predetermined cooling test program. It has been confirmed that the cooling test has been performed, whereby the cooling unit operates normally and exhibits a predetermined cooling function based on the set program.

  Therefore, if the refrigerator is manufactured as in the present embodiment, it is not necessary to perform the cooling test of the cooling unit again after the cooling unit is assembled to the heat insulating box at the refrigerator installation place in the customer A. An operation confirmation test may be performed, and the assembling work is completed very easily.

  Next, the refrigerator-freezer of this embodiment manufactured by the manufacturing method mentioned above and sold by the above-mentioned sales management system is explained in full detail below.

  The refrigerator-freezer is a four-door type, and as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, includes a main body 10 made of a heat insulating box having a front surface opened. The front opening is partitioned by a cross-shaped partition frame 11. In addition, four entrances 12 are formed, and a substantially 1/4 interior space corresponding to the entrance 12 at the upper right portion when viewed from the front is partitioned by a heat insulating partition wall 13 to form a freezer compartment 16. The remaining approximately 3/4 of the area is the refrigerator compartment 15. Each doorway 12 is fitted with a heat insulating door 17 so as to be swingable.

  On the upper surface of the main body 10, a machine room 20 is configured by, for example, a panel 19 (see FIG. 7) standing around. A rectangular opening 21 having the same size is formed on the upper surface of the main body 10 serving as the bottom surface of the machine room 20, corresponding to the ceiling wall of the refrigerator compartment 15 and the ceiling wall of the freezer compartment 16. . A cooling unit 30 is individually attached to each opening 21.

  Although the cooling unit 30 will be described in detail later, as shown in FIG. 6, the compressor 32, the condenser 33 with the condenser fan 33 </ b> A, the dryer 34, the capillary tube 35 and the evaporator 36 are connected by a refrigerant pipe 37. The refrigeration circuit 31 is configured by circulating connection. In addition, a heat insulating unit base 38 that covers the opening 21 described above is provided, and the evaporator 36 among the constituent members of the cooling unit 30 is on the lower surface side of the unit base 38 and the other constituent members are on the upper surface side. It is attached.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, a drain pan 22 that also serves as a cooling duct is stretched downward on the ceiling of the refrigerator compartment 15 and the freezer compartment 16, and is evaporated between the unit base 38. A chamber 23 is formed. A suction port 24 is provided on the upper side of the drain pan 22, a cooling fan 25 is provided, and a discharge port 26 is formed on the lower side.

  Basically, when the cooling unit 30 and the cooling fan 25 are driven, the air in the refrigerator compartment 15 (freezer compartment 16) flows from the suction port 24 into the evaporator compartment 23, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. The refrigeration chamber 15 is circulated in such a manner that cold air generated by heat exchange while being sucked in and passed through the evaporator 36 is blown out from the discharge port 26 to the refrigeration chamber 15 (freezer chamber 16). The inside of the (freezer compartment 16) is cooled.

In the present embodiment, the cooling unit 30 is designed to be used in common with various main bodies (all main bodies described in the box DB 103), and therefore the following measures are taken.
First, the cooling capacity of the cooling unit 30 is determined by the capacity of the compressor. For example, in a compressor having the same capacity, the refrigeration side having a lower evaporation temperature can cool only a smaller volume than the refrigeration side. If it is 15 or the freezer compartments 16, naturally the one where a capacity | capacitance is large needs a big cooling capacity.
That is, the required cooling capacity varies depending on conditions such as refrigeration, freezing, or the size of the internal volume, so the compressor has the largest capacity among the heat insulating boxes that may be combined. Inverter compressor 32 that can cope with the above and can control the rotational speed (that is, cooling capacity) is used.

Next, the capillary tube 35 is devised. Specifically, in FIG. 6, the capillary tube 35 corresponds to a portion extending from the outlet of the dryer 34 to the inlet of the evaporator 36, and a spiral portion 35A is formed in the central portion to increase the length. In this embodiment, the total length of the capillary tube 35 is set to 2000 to 2500 mm. Incidentally, the length of the refrigerant pipe 37 from the outlet of the evaporator 36 to the suction port of the inverter compressor 32 is about 700 mm.
Conventional capillary tubes that used high flow characteristics for refrigeration and low flow characteristics for refrigeration were used in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the capillary tube 35 is used for refrigeration and refrigeration. The one having an intermediate flow rate characteristic is used.
Here, the capillary tube suitable for refrigeration means that when the cooling unit is operated at room temperature in combination with the heat insulation box, the equilibrium temperature in the refrigerator (the cooling capacity of the cooling unit and the heat load of the heat insulation box balance). A capillary tube having a flow rate characteristic in which (temperature) is about 0 to −10 ° C. The capillary tube suitable for freezing is a capillary tube having a flow rate characteristic in which the equilibrium temperature in the cabinet is about −15 to −25 ° C. Accordingly, when the cooling unit is operated under the same conditions, the capillary tube having intermediate flow characteristics for refrigeration and freezing of the present invention has, for example, an equilibrium temperature of about −10 to −20 ° C. It has the flow characteristic which becomes.

If the capillary tube 35 has an intermediate flow rate characteristic as described above, there is a concern that the flow rate of the liquid refrigerant is insufficient in the refrigerated region. In order to solve this problem, the following measures are taken.
In this type of refrigeration circuit, a heat exchange device is formed by soldering the refrigerant pipe 37 on the outlet side of the evaporator 36 and the capillary tube 35. Although it functions to evaporate the mist liquid refrigerant that has not been completely evaporated, in this embodiment, when the heat exchange device 40 is formed between the capillary tube 35 and the refrigerant pipe 37, the capillary tube 35 side The heat exchange section 40A is set in a predetermined area at the upstream end of the spiral section 35A. The position of the heat exchange part 40A can be said to be a position close to the inlet side when viewed from the full length of the capillary tube 35.

  The capillary tube 35 has a large pressure difference between the inlet and the outlet. As shown in FIG. 8A, the flow resistance is a portion where the liquid refrigerant begins to boil in the tube (approximately the central portion of the entire length). The pressure increases rapidly, and the pressure drops greatly from there toward the downstream (exit side). Until now, the heat exchange part of the capillary tube 35 was set at a position rather close to the outlet in the latter half region of the entire length, and therefore heat exchange was performed after starting evaporation (boiling) in the tube. This is because the capillary tube 35 is cooled on the downstream side from the heat exchange position, causing condensation or rusting, so that the heat exchange position is brought to the outlet side as much as possible and exposed in a cooled state. This is to suppress the length of the portion as much as possible.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, as described above, the heat exchanging part 40A of the capillary tube 35 is set at a position close to the inlet, that is, the liquid refrigerant is brought before the position where the liquid refrigerant starts to evaporate. By taking a large value, the boiling start point in the tube can be shifted to the downstream side of the capillary tube 35 as shown in FIG. This results in a reduction in the total resistance of the capillary tube 35 and substantially increases the flow rate of the liquid refrigerant. This eliminates the problem of insufficient flow when the capillary tube 35 having an intermediate flow rate characteristic is used in the refrigerated region.

In order to obtain the effect of shifting the boiling start point in the tube to the downstream side of the capillary tube 35, the heat exchange part 40A on the capillary tube 35 side is moved to the first half of at least the entire length before the position where the liquid refrigerant starts to evaporate. What is necessary is just to provide in an area | region, More preferably, it is the 1/3 area | region (area | region with many liquid states) of an entrance side.
In addition, if the heat exchanging portion 40A of the capillary tube 35 is provided at a position close to the inlet, a long dimension portion thereafter is exposed in a cooled state, and therefore, that portion is separated from the refrigerant pipe 37 as much as possible. And it is desirable to encapsulate with a heat insulating tube (not shown). Thereby, condensation and rust are prevented.

  On the other hand, when the capillary tube 35 has an intermediate flow rate characteristic, insufficient throttling in the freezing region is dealt with by providing an accumulator 42 (liquid separator) immediately after the evaporator 36. Providing the accumulator 42 provides an adjustment volume for storing the liquid refrigerant in the refrigeration circuit 31.

  In the refrigeration region, the refrigerant pressure in the evaporator 36 is low (the refrigerant evaporation temperature is low) and the density of the refrigerant gas is low compared to the pull-down region (rapid cooling region) and the refrigeration region. The resulting refrigerant circulation is small. As a result, the liquid refrigerant is left in the refrigeration circuit 31, but the excess liquid refrigerant is stored in the accumulator 42, so that the liquid refrigerant does not circulate excessively in the capillary tube 35 and the like, and substantially. The capillary tube 35 has an effect of restricting the flow rate. Thereby, the problem of insufficient narrowing when the capillary tube 35 having an intermediate flow rate characteristic is used in the freezing region is solved.

  That is, in this embodiment, after using the capillary tube 35 having an intermediate flow rate characteristic, an accumulator 42 is provided immediately after the outlet of the evaporator 36 to obtain a narrowing effect, thereby reducing the flow rate of the liquid refrigerant, that is, low In addition, the flow rate of the liquid refrigerant is increased by reducing the total resistance in the tube by setting the heat exchanging portion 40A in the capillary tube 35 on the side closer to the inlet, so that the flow rate of the liquid refrigerant is increased. And adapted to fit in refrigerated areas.

In addition, when providing the accumulator 42, if it is provided in the refrigerant | coolant piping 37 in the downstream of the heat exchange part 40B, a refrigerant | coolant may flow into a heat exchange part 40B in a gas-liquid mixed state, and a liquid refrigerant evaporates at this time. . In other words, the evaporation of the liquid refrigerant that should originally be performed in the evaporator 36 is performed as an extra work in the heat exchanging unit 40B, which leads to a decrease in cooling capacity when viewed from the entire refrigeration circuit 31.
In this respect, in this embodiment, the accumulator 42 is provided immediately after the outlet of the evaporator 36, that is, on the upstream side of the heat exchanging part 40B in the refrigerant pipe 37, so that only the gas refrigerant flows through the heat exchanging part 40B. Since an excessive evaporation effect does not occur within 40B, the original cooling capacity can be secured for the entire refrigeration circuit 31.

Further, since the heat exchanging portion 40A in the capillary tube 35 is set on the side closer to the inlet, there is a concern that the flow rate of the liquid refrigerant may increase on the refrigeration side, but there is no fear as described below.
In the refrigeration circuit 31 including the capillary tube 35, the refrigerant is basically held in such a manner that the refrigerant is held between the high-pressure side and the low-pressure side. Conceptually, the refrigerant is condensed in the refrigeration region (including the pull-down region). In the evaporator 33 and then in the evaporator 36, in the refrigeration region, the refrigerant is mostly in the evaporator 36 and the accumulator 42, and conversely in the condenser 33, a small amount. Therefore, in the refrigeration region, the refrigerant flows into the capillary tube 35 as a complete liquid flow. However, in the refrigeration region, the flow rate itself is considerably reduced because it flows by gas-liquid mixing, and therefore at a position close to the inlet of the capillary tube 35. Even if it is supercooled by heat exchange, it will not lead to an increase in flow rate.

  On the contrary, the provision of the accumulator 42 may cause a decrease in the flow rate even in the refrigerated region (including the pull-down region). However, for the opposite reason, in the refrigerated region (including the pull-down region), compression is performed. It is considered that there is a large amount of refrigerant circulated by the machine 32, there is little liquid refrigerant remaining in the refrigeration circuit 31, and there is little room for storage in the accumulator 42.

  As described above, the cooling unit 30 is structurally shared between the refrigeration unit and the freezing unit, while the operation control is performed individually. This is based on the recognition that when the cooling unit 30 is used in common, the temperature characteristics during pull-down cooling, for example, may vary greatly depending on conditions such as refrigeration and freezing, or the size of the internal volume.

  In a cooling unit loaded with an inverter compressor, it is normal to perform the maximum allowable high-speed operation at the time of pull-down cooling. However, when pull-down cooling is performed under the same conditions where food is not put in the refrigerator, a heat insulating box ( As shown in FIG. 9, there is a clear difference in the temperature curve in the chamber when the chamber volume is large, intermediate, or small. The difference in the degree of temperature drop is due to the fact that when the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the box is the same, it is proportional to the surface area of the heat insulating box, and the larger the box, the larger the heat capacity of the inner wall material and the shelf network in the box.

On the other hand, in commercial refrigerators (the same applies to freezers and refrigerators), the temperature characteristics of pull-down cooling are regarded as important. For example, for cooling from a high internal temperature of 20 ° C, in addition to initial operation after installation, turn off the power for maintenance, etc., restart several hours later, open the door for several minutes when food is carried in, or hot food If you put it in, etc., it is almost limited, but considering that the doors are frequently opened and closed and the ambient temperature is relatively high, the refrigerator for business use tends to rise in temperature, The temperature drop characteristic is sufficiently taken into consideration as the restoring force at that time.
Therefore, the performance test at the time of pull-down cooling is indispensable. However, as described above, the cooling rate largely depends on the heat insulation box. Therefore, for this performance test, the cooling unit and the heat insulation box on which it is mounted. It is necessary to carry out in a combined state. Therefore, there is a problem that the complexity of the performance test cannot be eliminated even if the corner cooling unit is used in common.

Therefore, in this embodiment, means for controlling the temperature of the inside of the cabinet along a predetermined temperature curve without depending on the heat insulating box at the time of pull-down cooling is taken.
As an example, as shown in FIG. 10, a control unit 45 that includes a microcomputer or the like and executes a predetermined program is provided, and the electrical equipment provided on the upper surface of the unit base 38 on which the cooling unit 30 is mounted. It is stored in the box 39. An internal temperature sensor 46 for detecting the internal temperature is connected to the input side of the control unit 45.
The control unit 45 is provided with a data storage unit 49 together with the clock signal generation unit 48. In the data storage unit 49, an ideal temperature curve at the time of pull-down cooling, as shown in FIG. Is selected and stored. Thus, when the ideal curve is the straight line a, the target internal temperature drop (temperature change per unit time: ΔT / Δt) becomes a constant value A regardless of the internal temperature.
An inverter compressor 32 is connected to the output side of the control unit 45 via an inverter circuit 50.

As the operation, pull-down control is started when the internal temperature exceeds the internal set temperature by a predetermined value or more, and the internal temperature is detected at predetermined time intervals.
As shown in FIG. 12, the actual temperature drop degree B is calculated at each detection timing, and this calculated value B is compared with the target value A read from the data storage unit 49 to calculate the calculated value. If B is less than or equal to the target value A, the rotational speed of the inverter compressor 32 is increased via the inverter circuit 50. Conversely, if the calculated value B is larger than the target value A, the rotational speed of the compressor 32 is decreased. This is repeated at predetermined time intervals to perform pull-down cooling along the ideal curve (straight line a).

  After the above-described pull-down cooling, both the refrigeration and the freezing are controlled cooling in which the internal temperature is maintained near a preset temperature, but with the inverter compressor 32 as described above, The following advantages are obtained. That is, when the control cooling is performed so that the speed (the number of rotations) of the inverter compressor 32 is gradually reduced in the vicinity of the set temperature, the temperature drop becomes extremely slow. It becomes overwhelmingly long, in other words, the number of times the compressor is switched on and off is greatly reduced, and since it is operated at a low speed, it leads to higher efficiency and energy saving.

  In the above, the cooling capacity when the inverter compressor 32 is operated at a low speed needs to be set so as to exceed the assumed standard heat load. This is because if there is only a cooling capacity that does not satisfy the assumed heat load, the internal temperature does not decrease to the set temperature, and is thermally balanced and stays in front of it. When the cooling unit 30 is shared including the inverter compressor 32 as in the present embodiment, it is necessary to consider the heat insulation amount that is the largest among the heat insulation boxes that are installed as counterparts as the heat load. is there.

  By the way, especially in commercial refrigerators (the same applies to freezers), special consideration is given to suppressing variations in the temperature distribution in the refrigerator so that the food can be stored at a constant quality. Since the air circulation function is also achieved, the motor generates a relatively large amount of heat. In addition, when conditions such as the heat capacity of food, ambient temperature, and door opening / closing frequency overlap, sometimes the heat load becomes larger than expected, and the temperature inside the cabinet becomes low despite the inverter compressor 32 being operated at a low speed. There is a possibility that the on-time may become abnormally long due to the minute change even if the temperature stays before the set temperature or even if the temperature drops.

  As a function of the refrigerator, it can be said that there is no problem if it stays at a temperature very close to the set temperature. However, in the refrigerator, it is not much that the operation is continued with the inverter compressor 32 turned on. Not good. This is because, while the operation is continued, frost continues to adhere to the evaporator 36 due to intruding air from outside the box accompanying the opening and closing of the door 17 and water vapor coming from the food. On the other hand, when the inverter compressor 32 is appropriately turned off, the evaporator 36 is heated to 0 ° C. or higher to be defrosted. Therefore, having an appropriate off time means that the heat of the evaporator 36 in the refrigerator. It is considered preferable to maintain the exchange function.

Therefore, in this embodiment, during the control cooling, a control means is provided that realizes energy saving by taking advantage of the use of the inverter compressor 32 and further ensures an off time.
Briefly, during the operation of the inverter compressor 32 in the control region, the drive of the inverter compressor 32 is controlled so that the internal temperature follows the ideal temperature curve as in the pull-down region described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, this temperature curve is set as a straight line a1 having a gentler slope than the ideal curve (straight line a) during pull-down cooling. Even in the ideal curve a1, the target degree of temperature drop in the cabinet is constant, but is smaller than the ideal curve a.
The ideal curve a1 is similarly stored in the data storage unit 49 and is used when the control cooling program stored in the control unit 45 is executed.

  The control operation of the control cooling is basically the same as that during pull-down cooling. When the internal temperature is lowered to the upper limit temperature Tu higher than the set temperature To by the pull-down cooling, the control control is shifted to. Here, the internal temperature is detected at predetermined time intervals, the actual internal temperature drop is calculated at each timing, and the target value of the internal temperature drop in the ideal temperature curve a1 (constant) ), The rotational speed of the inverter compressor 32 is increased if the calculated value is less than or equal to the target value, and conversely, if the calculated value is larger than the target value, the rotational speed of the compressor 32 is decreased and this is a predetermined time. Repeated at intervals, the temperature slowly drops along the ideal curve (straight line a1).

When the internal temperature falls to the lower limit temperature Td lower than the set temperature To by a predetermined value, the inverter compressor 32 is turned off, the internal temperature gradually rises, and when the internal temperature returns to the upper limit temperature Tu, the temperature curve a1 again. The temperature control is performed in accordance with the above, and by repeating this operation, the interior of the cabinet is maintained substantially at the set temperature To.
According to the control during the control cooling, the inverter compressor 32 can be used for energy-saving cooling, and the inverter compressor 32 can be stopped for a certain amount of time appropriately. The frost function can be exhibited to prevent frost formation in large quantities.

Thus, for example, on the refrigeration side, an operation program for controlling the drive of the inverter compressor 32 so as to follow the temperature characteristic X (see FIG. 14) including the ideal curves a and a1 from pull-down cooling to control cooling is provided. It is done.
On the other hand, even if the basic control operation is the same on the refrigeration side, the set temperature in the refrigerator is different, and the operation time of the inverter compressor 32 is shorter than that on the refrigeration side in order to suppress frost formation as much as possible during control cooling. Thus, since the ideal curve is naturally different, on the refrigeration side, for example, an operation program for controlling the drive of the inverter compressor 32 so as to follow the temperature characteristic Y of FIG.
Therefore, the control unit 45 stores separate operation programs including target temperature curves for refrigeration and refrigeration, and in which of the refrigeration room 15 and the freezing room 16 the cooling unit 30 is installed. Thus, the operation program corresponding to each is executed.

  The refrigerator-freezer of the present embodiment has the above-described structure, and as described above, the main body 10 including the heat insulating box and the two common cooling units 30 are separately carried into the installation site. At the installation site, they are respectively attached to the openings 21 in the ceiling of the refrigerator compartment 15 and the freezer compartment 16. After that, for each of the refrigerator compartment 15 and the freezer compartment 16, the internal set temperature is inputted, and a control attached to the cooling unit 30 attached to the refrigerator compartment 15 side by a switch (not shown) provided in the electrical box 39 or the like. In the unit 45, the operation program for the refrigerator compartment 15 is selected, while in the control unit 45 attached to the cooling unit 30 attached to the freezer compartment 16 side, the operation program for the freezer compartment 16 is selected.

  The refrigerator compartment 15 and the freezer compartment 16 are controlled to be cooled based on individual operation programs.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the capillary tube 35 having an intermediate flow rate characteristic between refrigeration and freezing is used, and an accumulator 42 is provided immediately after the outlet of the evaporator 36 to obtain a narrowing effect. Since the heat exchanger 40A in the capillary tube 35 is adapted to the side closer to the inlet by reducing the total resistance in the tube by adapting to the low flow freezing region, The cooling unit 30 for refrigeration and refrigeration, which has been separated separately, can be shared. In addition, in order to obtain an appropriate cooling capacity determined by conditions such as the size of the internal volume, the inverter compressor 32 is used.
Therefore, according to conditions such as refrigeration and freezing, or the size of the internal volume, it is possible to share the cooling units 30 that have been prepared in the past up to a considerable range. As a result, many processes such as the design, production, and management of the cooling unit 30 can be simplified, and a significant cost reduction can be achieved.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention, and further, within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention other than the following. Various modifications can be made.

  (1) In the above embodiment, specific specifications of “cooling specification”, “vertical / horizontal”, “number of doors”, “door type”, “width dimension”, “effective internal volume” are required specifications in the order database. The specification is recorded, but not limited to this, when the customer decides the required model by looking at the catalog in the book or Internet website, the model identification code representing that model is used as the required specification. It may be recorded. In this case, the model identification code and the identification code of the heat insulation box may be recorded in the heat insulation box database in association with each other.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the design is such that one type of cooling unit can be used in common for all the boxes recorded in the box DB. However, the heat insulating box group recorded in the box DB is a group of a plurality of groups. It is good also as a structure which makes it divide | segment into, and makes 1 type of cooling unit correspond to each group.

  (3) In the above embodiment, the case where an inverter compressor is used as a compressor is exemplified as means for adjusting the cooling capacity of the cooling unit. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of cylinders driven according to the load is not limited to this. Other variable capacity compressors such as a compressor with an unload function for adjusting the pressure may be used.

  (4) As another means for adjusting the cooling capacity of the cooling unit, the amount of refrigerant in the refrigeration circuit may be controlled. For example, a bypass circuit is provided so that the refrigerant discharged from the condenser can be returned to the compressor without passing through the evaporator, or the refrigerant discharged from the discharge side of the compressor can be returned to the suction side of the compressor without passing through the evaporator. If it is made to return, it is possible to reduce the cooling capacity.

  (5) As an expansion mechanism of the cooling unit, a temperature type expansion valve having a large flow rate variable width may be used.

  (6) The type of cooling specification is not limited to the refrigeration and freezing exemplified in the above embodiment, but may be one having a cooling temperature in the refrigerator different from refrigeration or freezing such as constant temperature and high humidity cooling or freezing. Moreover, the cooling specification discriminated for the same cooling unit may be three or more.

1 is an overall block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. Table showing data structure of insulated box database Table showing the data structure of the order database The perspective view of the refrigerator-freezer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The exploded perspective view Refrigeration circuit diagram Partial sectional view with cooling unit installed Graph showing pressure change in capillary tube Graph showing temperature curve in pull-down area Block diagram of the control mechanism of the inverter compressor Graph showing ideal temperature curve during pull-down cooling Flow chart showing control operation of inverter compressor Graph showing temperature change in control area A graph comparing the temperature characteristics of the refrigerator on the refrigerator side The block diagram which shows the manufacturing method and sales form of the conventional cooling storage

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 ... Cooling unit 31 ... Refrigeration circuit 32 ... Inverter compressor (compressor) 33 ... Condenser 35 ... Capillary tube 36 ... Evaporator 37 ... Refrigerant piping 40 ... Heat exchange apparatus 40A ... Heat exchange part (of capillary tube 35) 40B ... Heat exchange part (of refrigerant pipe 37) 42 ... Accumulator 100 ... Sales management system 101 ... Heat insulation box database 102 ... Required specification input means 103 ... Order database 104 ... Heat insulation box search means 105 ... Shipment instruction means

Claims (7)

A heat insulating box selected from a group of heat insulating boxes of various specifications determined in advance, and a cooling unit manufactured so as to exhibit a predetermined cooling capacity for any of the heat insulating box groups; Is transported to the installation site of the cooling storage, and the insulation box and the cooling unit are combined to form the cooling storage at the installation site. The cooling unit is configured by circulatingly connecting a compressor, a condenser, an expansion mechanism, and an evaporator with refrigerant piping, and the expansion mechanism is intermediate between those suitable for refrigeration and those suitable for refrigeration. The manufacturing method of the cold storage of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. The cooling unit is configured by circulatingly connecting a compressor, a condenser, a capillary tube and an evaporator with refrigerant piping, and the capillary tube is intermediate between those suitable for refrigeration and those suitable for freezing. And an accumulator is provided on the outlet side of the evaporator, and heat exchange is possible between the first half region of the capillary tube and the refrigerant pipe on the outlet side of the evaporator. The method for manufacturing a cold storage according to claim 1, wherein a heat exchange section is provided. The compressor is a variable capacity compressor, and the cooling unit includes a pull-down that is a temperature range from a high temperature away from a set temperature that is a target cooling temperature in the heat insulation box to a vicinity of the set temperature. Based on the storage means in which the pull-down cooling characteristic indicating the temporal change mode of the target temperature drop in the cooling region is stored as data, and the output from the temperature sensor for detecting the internal temperature in the heat insulation box, The operation control means for changing the capacity of the compressor so that the temperature drops in accordance with the pull-down cooling characteristic read from the storage means is provided. Manufacturing method of a cooling storage. When the compressor is a variable capacity compressor and the cooling unit reaches an upper limit temperature in which the internal temperature in the heat insulation box is higher than a preset temperature by a predetermined value, the compressor When the lower limit temperature lower than the set temperature is reached by a predetermined value, the control is set to perform control cooling to keep the interior at the set temperature by repeating the operation, and the Based on the storage means in which the control cooling characteristic indicating the temporal change mode of the target temperature drop in the control cooling region is stored as data, and the output from the temperature sensor for detecting the internal temperature, the internal temperature is Operation control means for changing the capacity of the compressor so as to descend in accordance with the control cooling characteristic read from the storage means. Method for producing a cooling storage according to any one of claims 2 to 4 and symptoms. The cooling unit can be individually controlled for operation based on a plurality of cooling specification programs with different internal cooling temperatures, and the cooling specification of the mating heat insulation box to which the cooling unit is attached is determined. And determining means for selecting and executing a program corresponding to the cooling specification determined by the determining means based on the determination signal of the determining means. The manufacturing method of the cooling storehouse in any one of Claim 2 thru | or 5. A sales management system for selling a cooling storage unit, which is a combination of a cooling unit and an insulation box, to a customer,
Requirement specification input means for inputting the required specifications from the customer such as the shape of the cooling storage, the type of refrigeration / freezing / refrigerated refrigeration and the storage capacity based on the order from the customer;
The order specification database that stores the requirement specification input by the requirement specification input means and the customer information that ordered the requirement specification in association with the order identification code;
A heat insulating box database for storing the shape, the type of refrigeration, freezing, refrigerated freezing, and the like and the number of necessary cooling units in association with the identification code of the heat insulating box, for the plurality of heat insulating boxes;
For each order identified by the order identification code, a heat insulation box search means for searching the heat insulation box database based on the required specifications and determining the number of necessary heat insulation boxes and the corresponding cooling units. ,
A shipping instructing means for contacting the heat insulating box selected by the heat insulating box searching means and the number of cooling units corresponding to the heat insulating box with the customer information recorded in the ordering database. Sales management system for cooling storage.

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