JP2005214505A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator capable of securing cooling by an evaporator on one side even if refrigerant is collected on an evaporator side on the other side when flow rate of refrigerant into the evaporator on one side is restricted and adjusted. <P>SOLUTION: A controller 22 controls a refrigerating cycle device 10 based on the detected state of a temperature sensor 23 in a freezing chamber and a temperature sensor 24 in a refrigerating chamber. Here, the controller 22 adjusts flow rate of refrigerant into the refrigerating evaporator 5 in a restricted condition by controlling opening of an adjusting valve 12 so that overheat amount which is a difference between outlet temperature and inlet temperature of the refrigerating evaporator 5 becomes target overheat amount. In this case, the controller determines that refrigerant is collected on an freezing evaporator 4 side when the overheat amount of the refrigerating evaporator 5 is higher than normal amount and returns to normal control after recovering the refrigerant collected on the freezing evaporator 4 side by driving a compressor 9 while a port of the adjusting valve 12 is fully closed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator of a type in which a refrigerant is simultaneously supplied to a freezer evaporator and a refrigerator refrigerator.

  Refrigerators that are widely used for home use are generally equipped with compartments for the freezing temperature zone and compartments for the refrigeration temperature zone. In a refrigerator that cools the interior with a single evaporator, the freezing compartment and the refrigeration compartment are used. The distribution of the cold air to the compartment is controlled by a damper or the like, and the on / off of the compressor is controlled according to the entire load. In the type in which the rotation speed of the compressor is controlled by an inverter, the rotation speed is further finely controlled. In the refrigerator having such a configuration, the refrigerant is evaporated so that the outlet temperature of the evaporator becomes the temperature of the freezing compartment.

  Further, in recent years, a type in which a refrigeration evaporator and a refrigeration evaporator are provided in a refrigeration compartment and a refrigeration compartment, respectively, and a refrigeration evaporator and a refrigeration evaporator are connected in series. Although it is possible to cool two compartments, a refrigeration compartment and a refrigeration compartment at the same time, the suction pressure of the compressor is limited to the pressure of the refrigeration evaporator with a low evaporation temperature, so the efficiency of the refrigeration cycle It is difficult to increase.

On the other hand, in the case where the refrigeration evaporator and the refrigeration evaporator are connected in parallel and are alternately cooled, the evaporation temperature of the refrigeration evaporator for cooling the refrigeration chamber is increased by adding a check valve or the like. Although the efficiency of the refrigeration cycle can be increased by controlling to be higher, the compartments in the two temperature zones could not be cooled at the same time.
JP 2001-12634 A JP 2002-147896 A JP 2001-278934 A

In a configuration in which a refrigeration evaporator and a refrigeration evaporator are connected in parallel, a refrigerant flow rate adjusting device is provided that divides the refrigerant supplied from the condenser to the two evaporators and can adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant. It has been considered that a refrigerant is supplied to the refrigerator and the refrigeration evaporator at the same time to cool the compartments in two temperature zones at the same time.
In such a configuration, the refrigerant is divided into the freezing evaporator and the refrigeration evaporator by the flow resistance of the capillary tube connecting the condenser and the evaporator, and the capillary tube is divided depending on the state of each evaporator. Since it is difficult to control the flow rate of the flowing refrigerant, the cooling capacity of each evaporator cannot be controlled.

  Therefore, the present applicant has developed a control valve that can adjust the refrigerant flow rate ratio (ratio to the maximum flow rate) to the refrigeration evaporator and the refrigeration evaporator according to the opening degree of the valve body. It is considered to adjust the refrigerant flow rate to one evaporator according to the degree. That is, for example, by adjusting the flow rate of refrigerant to the refrigeration evaporator (maximum refrigerant flow to the refrigeration evaporator), it is intended to realize simultaneous flow to the refrigeration evaporator and the refrigeration evaporator. is there.

  By the way, when the refrigerant flow rate to one evaporator is throttled and adjusted, it is more reasonable to throttle and adjust the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator for cooling the refrigerator compartment having a large temperature change. In this case, the flow path resistance to the refrigeration evaporator is made smaller than the flow path resistance to the refrigeration evaporator so that the refrigerant easily flows into the refrigeration evaporator, and the flow rate of the refrigerant is throttled. At this time, the refrigerant evaporation temperature of the refrigeration evaporator is lower than the refrigerant evaporation temperature of the refrigeration evaporator. Can be reliably supplied.

  However, depending on the operating condition of the refrigeration cycle, the temperature of the refrigeration evaporator may decrease and the pressure may be lower than normal, or the temperature of the refrigeration evaporator may increase and the pressure may be higher than normal. There are things to do. In such a case, the refrigerant is less likely to flow into the refrigeration evaporator, while the refrigerant is more likely to flow into the refrigeration evaporator, while the refrigerant is more likely to flow into the refrigeration evaporator. There is a possibility that the refrigerant will accumulate on the refrigeration evaporator side, and it will be difficult to adjust the throttle of the refrigerant to the refrigeration evaporator.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to allow refrigerant to accumulate on the other evaporator side when the refrigerant flow rate to one evaporator is throttled according to the opening of the valve body. Even if it becomes a state, it is providing the refrigerator which can perform cooling by one evaporator reliably.

  The refrigerator of the present invention is provided with a condenser for liquefying the gaseous refrigerant discharged from the compressor, has two valve ports through which the refrigerant flowing in from the condenser flows out, and the refrigerant flow rate flowing out through those valve ports Is provided as a flow rate ratio with respect to the refrigerant flow rate when the valve port is fully open, and a refrigerant evaporator and a refrigeration evaporator into which the refrigerant flowing out from each valve port of the refrigerant flow rate control unit flows respectively. And the control means for performing the refrigeration cycle operation based on the cooling state of the refrigeration compartment and the refrigeration compartment cooled by the refrigeration evaporator and the refrigeration evaporator, and the control means comprises the refrigerant flow rate There is a predetermined condition that can be considered that the state in which the refrigerant flow to at least one of the evaporators is throttled and adjusted and the refrigerant to the one of the evaporators is difficult to flow is generated with respect to the adjusting means. When standing is to return from the recovered refrigerant by driving the compressor in a state of fully closed the valve port to at least the other evaporator to normal control (claim 1).

  In the above-described configuration, after providing the superheat amount detecting means for detecting the superheat amount indicating the evaporation state of the refrigerant in one evaporator, the control means uses the superheat amount detection means with respect to the refrigerant flow rate adjusting means. When the superheat amount is larger than the target superheat amount, the refrigerant flow rate ratio to one evaporator is controlled to be large, and when the superheat amount is smaller than the target superheat amount, the refrigerant flow rate to one evaporator is controlled. While controlling so that a ratio may become small, when the superheat amount is larger than a normal value, you may make it judge that the said predetermined condition was materialized (Claim 2).

When the refrigerant is supplied to one evaporator, the control means supplies the refrigerant to one evaporator until a predetermined time elapses or until the amount of superheat by the overheat amount detecting means decreases to a normal value. It is desirable to continue (Claim 3).
In addition, it is desirable that the control means drives the cold air circulation fan when recovering the refrigerant after providing the cold air circulation fan for promoting the evaporation of the refrigerant in the other evaporator.

  In addition, after providing a temperature sensor for detecting the outlet temperature of the other evaporator, the control means detects when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor exceeds a set temperature or when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor decreases. It is desirable to stop driving the cold-air circulation fan when it starts to rise.

  If a situation occurs in which it is difficult for the refrigerant to flow to one evaporator, excess refrigerant will accumulate on the other evaporator side, and the amount of refrigerant supplied to one evaporator will be insufficient. According to the invention of Item 1, when such a state occurs, the refrigerant is recovered by driving the compressor with the valve port to at least the other evaporator fully closed, and then returns to the normal control. Since it did, it can prevent that the refrigerant | coolant flow rate to one evaporator runs short.

According to the invention of claim 2, when the refrigerant flow rate to one evaporator is insufficient, the amount of superheat becomes higher than the normal value, so that the refrigerant flow rate to one evaporator is based on that. The refrigerant can be recovered by detecting the shortage.
When the refrigerant is supplied to one evaporator having a high superheat amount, the refrigerant shortage state of one of the evaporators continues, but according to the invention of claim 3, until a predetermined time elapses or the amount of superheat By continuing the supply of the refrigerant to one evaporator until the amount of superheat by the detecting means decreases to the normal value, the refrigerant can be sufficiently supplied to one evaporator and reliably cooled.

According to the invention of claim 4, since the evaporation of the refrigerant in the other evaporator can be promoted, the refrigerant recovery efficiency can be increased.
According to the invention of claim 5, when the refrigerant in the other evaporator has sufficiently evaporated, the outlet temperature becomes higher than usual, or the outlet temperature starts to rise from lowering. When such a state is reached, it is possible to prevent the refrigerant in the other evaporator from being excessively evaporated by stopping the driving of the cold air circulation fan.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the refrigerator. In FIG. 2, the refrigerator main body 1 forms a storage compartment inside the heat insulating box, and is divided into a plurality of storage compartments such as a freezer compartment 2 in a freezer compartment and an ice making room, and a refrigerator compartment 3 in a refrigerator compartment and a vegetable compartment by a partition wall. It is divided.
Each storage chamber is cooled and held at a predetermined set temperature by a freezing evaporator 4, a refrigerated evaporator 5, and cold air circulation fans 6, 7 arranged for each freezing section 2 or refrigerated section 3. The evaporators 4 and 5 are cooled by the refrigerant supplied from the compressor 9 installed in the machine room 8 at the lower back of the main body.

  FIG. 1 shows a refrigeration cycle apparatus in a refrigerator. In FIG. 1, a refrigeration cycle apparatus 10 includes a compressor 9, a condenser 11, a control valve (corresponding to a refrigerant flow rate adjusting means) 12 for adjusting a refrigerant flow rate in a refrigerant flow path, and a refrigerating evaporation connected in parallel. The apparatus 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 are connected in a ring shape. The condenser 11 has a flat shape and is disposed in the outer bottom space of the refrigerator body 1 in front of the machine room 8. The refrigerant liquefied by the condenser 11 is supplied to the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 via the control valve 12 via the refrigeration side capillary tube 15 and the refrigeration side capillary tube 16, respectively. The Each of the evaporators 4 and 5 cools the storage chamber to a predetermined air temperature by lowering the temperature by evaporating the refrigerant and performing heat exchange by blowing air from the cold air circulation fans 6 and 7. The refrigerant evaporated in the refrigeration evaporator 4 returns to the compressor 9 again via the refrigeration side suction pipe 18 via the accumulator 17, and the refrigerant evaporated in the refrigeration evaporator 5 passes through the refrigeration side suction pipe 19. Thus, it is configured to return directly to the compressor 9.

Defrosting heaters 20 and 21 are provided corresponding to the respective evaporators 4 and 5 and are attached to the respective evaporators 4 and 5 by energizing the heaters 20 and 21 each time a predetermined time elapses. I try to thaw the frost.
The control device 22 controls the above-described refrigeration cycle apparatus 10 based on the detected temperatures of the freezer compartment temperature sensor 23 and the refrigerator compartment temperature sensor 24, and in addition to the normal refrigeration cycle operation, the refrigeration evaporation. The refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator based on the detected temperature of the outlet temperature sensor 25 that also functions as a superheat amount detection means attached to the outlet pipe of the refrigerator 4 and the outlet temperature sensor 26 attached to the outlet pipe of the refrigeration evaporator 5 Based on the difference between the detected temperature of the inlet temperature sensor 27 and the detected temperature of the outlet temperature sensor 26, a defrosting operation for thawing frost adhering to the evaporator 5 is executed and further detected on the inlet pipe of the refrigeration evaporator 5. The amount of superheat (superheat amount) of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is calculated, and the refrigerant flow rate ratio of the control valve 12 to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is controlled based on the amount of superheat. Control has become a feature of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the compressor 9. In FIG. 3, the compressor 9 is a reciprocating two-stage compressor in which the compression elements are constituted by a low pressure stage side compression section 28 and a high pressure stage side compression section 29, and the compressor 9 includes an electric motor 31 housed in a sealed case 30. The connecting rod 34 is configured to reciprocate in the illustrated horizontal direction by an eccentric shaft 33 that rotates eccentrically with the rotation of the rotating shaft 32.
A piston 36 is caulked and fixed to the tip of the connecting rod 34 by a ball joint 35, and refrigerant is alternately sucked into the low-pressure stage compression section 28 and the high-pressure stage compression section 29 by the reciprocating motion of the piston 36 in the cylinder 37. Compressed and discharged, the adoption of the pole joint 35 in the compression part improves the volumetric efficiency and suppresses the expansion of the external space of the two-stage compressor that originally requires two compression parts Yes.

  The suction port 28a of the low-pressure stage side compression unit 28 is connected to the end of the refrigeration side suction pipe 18 connected from the refrigeration evaporator 4 via the accumulator 17, and the discharge port 28b of the low-pressure stage side compression unit 28 is compressed. An opening is made in the sealed case 30 so as to discharge the gaseous refrigerant. Further, the suction port 29a of the high-pressure stage compression unit 29 opens into the sealed case 30 so as to suck the gaseous refrigerant in the sealed case 30, and the discharge port 29b of the high-pressure stage compression unit 29 is connected to the condenser 11. Connected to the discharge pipe.

The accumulator 17 connected to the discharge side of the refrigeration evaporator 4 separates the gas and liquid, stores the liquid refrigerant that could not be evaporated by the refrigeration evaporator 4, and sends out only the gaseous refrigerant. This prevents the trouble caused by the liquid refrigerant flowing into the cylinder 37. In this embodiment, the liquid refrigerant is provided only at the rear stage of the refrigeration evaporator 4.
The refrigeration-side suction pipe 19 from the refrigeration evaporator 5 is connected so as to be introduced into a space portion serving as an intermediate pressure stage in the sealed case 30 of the compressor 9. Therefore, since the refrigerant sucked from the refrigeration evaporator does not flow directly into the cylinder 37 of the compressor 9, it is not particularly necessary to provide an accumulator at the subsequent stage of the refrigeration evaporator 5, and a small-sized one may be used. . The gaseous refrigerant sucked from the refrigeration side suction pipe 19 on the refrigeration evaporator 5 side is communicated with the gaseous refrigerant discharged into the sealed case 30 from the discharge port 28b of the low pressure stage side compression section 28. The air is sucked into the suction port 29a of the compression unit 29 and compressed.

  The control valve 12 is provided on the outlet side of the condenser 11 that receives and liquefies the discharge gas from the compressor 9, switches the refrigerant flow path to the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5, and In this embodiment, the refrigerant flow rate ratio (opening ratio with respect to the fully opened state) is controlled. During normal control, the refrigerant flow rate ratio to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is controlled and the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 4 is controlled. The ratio is controlled to 100% (fully open). In this case, a sufficient amount of refrigerant is supplied to the refrigeration evaporator 4 in a state where the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is throttled and adjusted.

FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the control valve 12. As shown in FIG. 4, a refrigerant inlet 40 from the condenser 11 (actually a dryer) is formed in a valve seat 39 provided on the bottom surface of the valve case 38, and the refrigeration evaporator 4. A refrigeration side valve port 41 that is a refrigerant outlet to the side and a refrigeration side valve port 42 that is a refrigerant outlet to the refrigeration side evaporator 5 are formed.
The disc-shaped valve body 43 is rotatably supported by a rotating shaft 46 so as to be in sliding contact with the valve seat 39, and the basic structure is similar to a three-way valve. A stopper 44 is attached to the side surface of the valve body 43, and the rotation initial position and the rotation end position of the valve body 43 are determined by contacting the stopper 44 with a restricting portion 45 attached to the valve seat. .

  A thick-walled step 43a is integrally formed on the lower surface of the valve body 43 (the surface facing the valve seat 39). The thick-walled step 43a is connected to the freezing side valve port 41 and the refrigeration side valve port 42. It can be fully closed. Refrigeration having a V-shaped cross section over a predetermined angle from the end of the thick-walled step 43a on the rotation trajectory facing the valve ports 41 and 42 on the back surface (sliding contact surface with the valve seat 39) of the thick-walled step 43a. The side groove portion 47 and the refrigeration side groove portion 48 are each formed in an arc shape, and the freezing side groove portion 47 communicates with the freezing side valve port 41 in a state where the valve body 43 is located in a predetermined rotation range, The refrigeration side groove portion 48 is opposed to and communicates with the refrigeration side valve port 42.

The valve body 43 is magnetically coupled so as to rotate in synchronization with the rotation of a stepping motor (not shown) provided on the upper surface of the valve case 38, and is controlled to rotate in an open loop at a pulse position of 0 to 85 by the stepping motor. It is what is done.
FIG. 4 shows an initial position where the stopper 44 is in contact with the restricting portion 45, and the number of pulses of the stepping motor is set to 0 pulse at the initial position.

  The stepping motor rotates the valve body 43 in the direction of arrow A from the initial position shown in FIG. 4 by a pulse signal from the control device 22, and the freezing side groove 47 of the valve body 43 is frozen at a predetermined pulse position. When the side valve port 41 communicates, the refrigerant flowing into the valve case 38 from the inflow port 40 flows out of the refrigeration side valve port 41 communicating with the refrigeration side groove portion 47, and passes through the refrigeration side capillary tube 15. Thus, the temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 4 is lowered by flowing into the refrigeration evaporator 4 and evaporating.

On the other hand, when the refrigeration side groove portion 48 and the refrigeration side valve port 42 communicate with each other in the same manner, the refrigerant flowing into the refrigeration side groove portion 48 communicates with the refrigeration side valve port 42 through the refrigeration side capillary tube 16 for refrigeration. By flowing into the evaporator 5 and evaporating, the temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 5 decreases.
In this case, the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing out from the freezing side valve port 41 and the refrigeration side valve port 42 varies depending on the size of the cross-sectional areas of the freezing side groove portion 47 and the refrigeration side groove portion 48 facing each valve port 41, 42, The refrigerant flow rate increases as the cross-sectional area increases as shown in FIGS.

  Here, the cross-sectional area of the freezing side groove portion 47 is set so as to be constant from the start end portion (tip in the rotation direction of the valve body 43) to the intermediate portion regardless of the position in the rotation direction of the valve body 43, and the intermediate portion thereof. To the end portion (the open end edge of the thick walled portion 43a) is set to have a constant cross-sectional area larger than the cross-sectional area on the start end side. In addition, the cross-sectional area of the refrigeration side groove portion 48 is set to increase from the start end portion to the end portion, and in particular, the degree of increase in cross-sectional area is set small from the start end portion to a predetermined intermediate portion, The degree of increase is set large from the middle part to the terminal part. Furthermore, the start end portion of the refrigeration side groove portion 48 is formed in such a shape as to ensure a predetermined flow rate ratio from the fully closed state at a stretch in a state where the end portion of the refrigeration side groove portion 48 and the refrigeration side valve port 42 start to communicate. ing.

With the configuration as described above, the control valve 12 can finely control flow path switching and flow rate adjustment as will be described later, so that the refrigerant flow rate ratio can be linearly changed by rotation control using a stepping motor.
6 shows the rotational position of the valve body 43 of the control valve 12 and the positional relationship between the refrigeration side valve port 41 and the refrigeration side valve port 42. FIG. 7 shows the rotational position of the valve body 43 of the control valve 12 and the refrigeration side valve. The relationship with the flow rate ratio of the opening 41 and the refrigeration side valve opening 42 is shown.

(A) 4 pulse positions (FIG. 6 (a), FIG. 7 (a))
During rapid refrigeration operation, the valve body rotating clockwise in the figure is at the 4-pulse position, the refrigeration side groove portion 48 and the refrigeration side valve port 42 are matched, and the refrigerant flows only into the refrigeration evaporator 5; Only the refrigeration evaporator 5 is cooled (b) 20 pulse positions (FIGS. 6B and 7B)
For example, when both the freezing compartment 2 and the refrigeration compartment 3 are in a predetermined cooling temperature state, the valve body 43 is at the position of 20 pulses, the freezing side groove 47 and the freezing side valve port 41, and the refrigerating side groove 48 and the refrigerating side. It does not match the valve port 42, and the valve ports 41, 42 to both the freezing evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 are in a fully closed state by the thick step 43 a of the valve body 43, and the refrigerant does not flow. There is no cooling effect.

(C) 29 pulse positions (FIG. 6 (c), FIG. 7 (c))
When the freezer compartment temperature sensor 23 detects that the temperature of the freezer compartment 2 has risen due to the passage of time in the freezing operation stop state or the opening of the freezer compartment door, the valve body 43 rotates to the position of 29 pulses. Then, since the freezing side groove 47 is in communication with the freezing side valve port 41, the refrigerant flows to the freezing evaporator 4 side by about 20%. At this time, the refrigeration side groove portion 48 and the refrigeration side valve port 42 are still not in communication with each other, and no refrigerant is supplied to the refrigeration evaporator 5.

(D) 41 pulse positions (FIGS. 6D and 7D)
At the time of quick freezing operation, the valve body 43 rotates to the position of 41 pulses, the refrigeration side valve port 42 completely escapes from the thick step 43a of the valve body 43, and the refrigeration side valve port 42 is fully opened. The evaporator 4 and thus the freezing compartment 2 can be concentrated and cooled.
(E) 49 pulse positions (FIG. 6 (e), FIG. 7 (e))
When the temperature of the refrigeration section 3 rises, the valve body 43 rotates to the position of 49 pulses, and the terminal portion of the refrigeration side groove portion 48 is in communication with the refrigeration side valve port 42. Therefore, the minimum flow rate ratio 5 % Refrigerant flow is generated and the cooling action on the refrigeration evaporator 5 side is started. Also at this time, the refrigeration evaporator 4 maintains the refrigerant outflow state by being fully opened.

(F) 62 pulse positions (FIG. 6 (f), FIG. 7 (f))
When the valve body 43 is in the 62 pulse position, the intermediate position of the narrow region of the refrigeration side groove portion 48 is in communication with the refrigeration side valve port 42 and the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is in an intermediate state. The cooling capacity of the refrigeration evaporator 5 can be finely adjusted by adjusting the flow rate smoothly during this period.
(G) 71 pulse positions (FIG. 6 (g), FIG. 7 (g))
The end position of the narrow region of the refrigeration side groove 48 faces the refrigeration side valve port 42 and is in an end state in which the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 increases linearly.

(H) 82 pulse positions (FIG. 6 (h), FIG. 7 (h))
When it is necessary to cool both the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 at the same time, the valve body 43 rotates to the position of 82 pulses, and both the refrigeration side groove 47 and the refrigeration side groove 48 have a thickness of the valve body 43. It escapes from the meat step part 43a, both the valve ports 41 and 42 are fully opened, and a refrigerant is simultaneously supplied to the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 to exhibit a cooling action.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the valve body 43 is provided with a region (indicated by an arrow B in the figure) where the refrigerant flow rate ratio to the refrigeration evaporator 4 is constant at about 20%. This is to ensure that the refrigerant flow rate ratio to the refrigeration evaporator 4 is about 20% regardless of the displacement of the valve element 43 at the 29 pulse position. In addition, the flow rate ratio rises gradually according to the increase in the rotation of the valve body 43 until the refrigerant flow rate ratio to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is up to 71 pulses, whereas at the rotational position where the number of pulses exceeds 71, the valve The flow rate ratio corresponding to the increase in the rotation of the body 43 increases rapidly. That is, in the control of the refrigerant flow rate ratio to the refrigeration evaporator 4, it means that the valve element 43 of the control valve 12 has an inflection point (indicated by an arrow C in FIG. 7) when positioned at the pulse number 71. doing. In order to perform finer control of the refrigerant flow rate, it is only necessary to increase the number of pulses in the throttle region (pulse numbers 45 to 71) shown in FIG. 7 to reduce the adjustment amount of the refrigerant flow rate per pulse. This is because the number of pulses for rotating the valve body 43 is limited, and it is difficult to increase the number of pulses.

Here, it is necessary to finely adjust the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 in the range where the refrigerant flow rate is small, and by devising the flow path of the valve body 43, 43 until 45 to 71 pulses, the increase change amount of the refrigerant flow rate per pulse of the valve body 43 is suppressed, and the increase change amount of the refrigerant flow rate per pulse is increased by 71 to 82 pulses.
Further, when the rotational position of the valve body 43 of the control valve 12 is 45 to 53 pulses, the area of the valve port to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is the minimum area of the throttle region, but the minimum area is, for example, the compressor 9 Is set to be larger than the area of the foreign matter that can pass through the strainer provided in. This is because if the refrigeration cycle contains foreign matter, such as metal powder when cutting the refrigerant pipe or scale during welding, these foreign matters may clog in the minimum flow path, but the minimum area is reduced. This is because the foreign matter can be prevented from being clogged at the refrigeration side valve port 42 to the refrigeration evaporator 5 of the control valve 12 by setting it larger than the foreign matter that can pass through the strainer.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the refrigeration side valve port 41 is substantially fixed to either fully open or fully closed, and the flow rate ratio to the refrigeration side valve port 42 is changed by the refrigeration side groove portion 48. The flow rate is adjusted linearly in the range of pulses 49-71.
The refrigeration side capillary tube 15 and the refrigeration side capillary tube 16 in the refrigeration cycle apparatus 10 make a temperature difference between the refrigerant evaporation temperatures in the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5. As a result, when the refrigerant is supplied to both the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 as described above, the refrigerant inevitably easily flows into the refrigeration evaporator 5 having a low resistance. In an extreme case, there is a situation in which the refrigerant does not flow in the refrigeration evaporator 4.

In order to improve this, in the control valve 12, the refrigerant flow control for cooling each of the refrigeration section 2 and the refrigeration section 3, and a so-called refrigeration evaporator 5 provided so that the refrigerant can easily flow to prevent one flow of the refrigerant. Control is added so that the flow rate of refrigerant into
In addition, the refrigerant flowing into the control valve 12 is the refrigerant condensed in the condenser 11, and gas and liquid are mixed. Since the flow velocity decreases when it flows into the control valve 12, the liquid is placed below the control valve 12. Refrigerant tends to accumulate. For this reason, when the valve seat of the control valve 12 is not horizontal, the valve port located on the lower side has a higher refrigerant liquid ratio. In this embodiment, since the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is basically controlled, when the refrigeration side valve port 42 is positioned higher than the refrigeration side valve port 41, the flow rate cannot be controlled. The amount of refrigerant increases, and it becomes impossible to control the refrigerant distribution by the valve element 43.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the control valve body 14 is provided so as to be inclined with respect to the mounting bracket 13, and the refrigeration side valve port 42 is provided in a state where the mounting bracket 13 is mounted in a horizontal position. It was made to be located below the freezing side valve port 41. With such a configuration, the ratio of the liquid refrigerant accumulated in the refrigeration side valve port 42 can be made higher than that of the refrigeration side valve port 41, and the refrigerant flow rate ratio to the refrigeration evaporator 5 can be controlled.

  On the other hand, the opening control of the valve opening in the control valve 12 is performed by fully opening or closing both the valve flow rate ratios to the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 and by closing the refrigeration valve opening 41. Various patterns can be selected such as fully opening the refrigeration side valve port 42, or covering the refrigeration side valve port 42 and fully opening the refrigeration side valve port 41. In this embodiment, the evaporation for refrigeration is possible. The refrigeration evaporator 5 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 are connected in parallel, and in normal control, the refrigeration side valve port 42 is controlled in a state where the refrigeration side valve port 41 is fully opened.

In this case, when the refrigeration side valve port 41 is fully open, the refrigeration side evaporator 4 can obtain almost a predetermined refrigeration capacity without being substantially affected by the refrigerant flow rate by adjusting the throttle of the refrigeration side valve port 42. As for the cooling capacity of the refrigeration evaporator 5, a predetermined cooling capacity can be obtained by adjusting the throttle of the refrigeration side valve port 42 and adjusting the rotation speed of the compressor 9.
That is, the refrigerant flowing out from the freezing side valve port 41 is reduced in pressure when passing through the freezing side capillary tube 15 set to have an evaporation temperature corresponding to the cooling temperature in the freezing section 2, and is, for example, − in the freezing evaporator 4. Evaporates at around 25 ° C. Similarly, the refrigerant flowing out of the refrigeration side valve port 42 is reduced in pressure when passing through the refrigeration side capillary tube 16 set so as to have an evaporation temperature corresponding to the cooling temperature in the refrigeration section 3, and is stored in the refrigeration evaporator 5. For example, it evaporates at about -5 ° C.

  Next, the operation of the refrigeration cycle apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. When the compressor 9 is driven by turning on the power, the gaseous refrigerant compressed to high temperature and high pressure is discharged to the condenser 11 and liquefied before reaching the control valve 12. The control valve 12 can be set in various patterns as described above, but when the power is turned on, both the freezing compartment 2 and the refrigerating compartment 3 are in an uncooled state, so that both the valve ports 41 and 42 are fully opened. The refrigerant flows into the refrigeration side capillary tube 15 and the refrigeration side capillary tube 16 and is depressurized, flows into the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5, and evaporates at each evaporation temperature. 3 is cooled to a predetermined temperature.

At this time, the control valve 12 is refrigerated where the refrigerant easily flows in order to eliminate the single flow of the refrigerant to the refrigeration evaporator 5 due to the difference in flow path resistance between the capillary tubes 15 and 16 for forming the evaporation temperature difference as described above. The refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 is controlled so as to maintain a good balance by slightly reducing the refrigerant flow rate to the evaporator 5.
The refrigerant from the refrigeration evaporator 4 flows into the accumulator 17, and when the liquid refrigerant that could not be evaporated remains in the refrigerant from the refrigeration evaporator 4, the refrigerant is stored in the accumulator 17, and only the gaseous refrigerant is stored. The refrigerant is sucked from the refrigeration side suction pipe 18 into the low pressure stage side compression unit 28 of the compressor 9. Further, the gaseous refrigerant evaporated in the refrigeration evaporator 5 is introduced into the sealed case 30 that is at an intermediate pressure of the compressor 9 via the refrigeration side suction pipe 19.

The gaseous refrigerant sucked into the low-pressure stage compression section 28 of the compressor 9 from the refrigeration evaporator 4, compressed and discharged into the sealed case 30 is transferred from the refrigeration evaporator 5 to the medium pressure space of the sealed case 30. The refrigeration cycle is formed by merging with the gaseous refrigerant flowing into the refrigerant and sucked into the high-pressure stage compression unit 29, compressed and discharged to the condenser 11.
Therefore, according to the refrigeration cycle apparatus 10 having the above-described configuration, the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator each provided with capillary tubes 15 and 16 that have evaporation temperatures that match the set temperatures of the refrigeration compartment 2 and the refrigeration compartment 3. Since the evaporator 5 is installed, the refrigeration side from the refrigeration evaporator 5 is compared to a configuration in which it is difficult to provide a difference in evaporation temperature by using a single-stage compressor, which is limited by the pressure of the refrigeration evaporator 4. By connecting the suction pipe 19 to the medium pressure space in the sealed case 30 of the compressor 9, the evaporation temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is made higher than the refrigeration evaporator 4 in accordance with the internal cooling temperature. In addition, since the input load of the compressor 9 is reduced, the refrigeration cycle efficiency can be increased and the power consumption can be reduced.

Here, the distribution of the refrigerant flow rate is performed by obtaining the difference between the detected temperatures of the outlet temperature sensors 26 and 27 attached to the outlet pipe and the inlet pipe of the refrigeration evaporator 5.
That is, when the load is large, the amount of heat exchange increases and the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the refrigeration evaporator 5 decreases, and all the refrigerant evaporates in the refrigeration evaporator 5. Since the refrigerant state in the outlet pipe 5 is only a gas refrigerant and is in an overheated state (superheat state) without liquid refrigerant, the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of the refrigeration evaporator 5 becomes large.

  Therefore, the opening degree of the control valve 12 is controlled so that the difference in temperature between the outlet and the inlet of the refrigeration evaporator (hereinafter referred to as superheat amount) becomes a predetermined temperature, for example, 4 ° C. Thus, it is possible to optimize the refrigerant distribution in the refrigeration cycle while preventing liquid back to the compressor 9. When the amount of superheat becomes greater than 5 ° C., for example, it is determined that the overheating state of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is excessive, the refrigerant distribution to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is increased, the flow rate is increased, and the refrigeration evaporator 5 By making the refrigerant in the evaporator 5 into a gas-liquid two-phase state, it is possible to maintain the heat exchange performance in the refrigeration evaporator 5. Further, when the amount of superheat becomes 3 ° C. or less, for example, it is determined that the overheating state of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is insufficient, the refrigerant distribution to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is reduced, the flow rate is reduced, and the refrigeration is performed. By making the refrigerant in the evaporator 5 into a gas-liquid two-phase state, liquid back to the compressor 9 can be prevented.

  Next, in order to show the operation of the control device 22, the control device 22 performs superheat control related to the present embodiment in addition to performing control of normal refrigeration cycle operation, and performs other control. These controls are executed at the same time, and their control will be described with reference to a flowchart or a timing chart.

(Super heat control (basic))
FIG. 10 schematically shows the basics of superheat control by the control device 22. As shown in FIG. 10, when one minute has passed (S101: YES), the controller 22 takes in the inlet / outlet temperature data of the refrigeration evaporator 5 (S102), and the temperature difference between them (outlet temperature-inlet). The amount of superheat is calculated from the temperature), and the difference ΔT between the amount of superheat and the target temperature for heating (set to 4 ° C. in this embodiment) is determined (S103). Then, it is determined whether ΔT obtained in this way is 5 ° C. or higher which is 1 ° C. higher than the target superheat amount in consideration of an error (S104), or 3 ° C. or lower which is 1 ° C. lower than the target superheat amount (S105). Here, when the superheat amount is 3 ° C. to 5 ° C., it is determined that the superheat amount of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is appropriate, and the process returns to Step 101 without doing anything. On the other hand, when the superheat amount is 5 ° C. or more (S104: YES), it is determined that the superheat amount of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is large and the refrigerant flow rate is insufficient, and the valve body 43 of the control valve 12 rotates. The position is increased by one pulse (S106, see FIG. 11). Thereby, since the flow rate ratio to the refrigeration evaporator 5 in the control valve 12 increases, the refrigerant | coolant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 increases.

  Such control for increasing the refrigerant flow rate is performed every minute when the amount of superheat is 5 ° C. or higher, and in such a control state, the refrigeration side valve port 42 of the control valve 12 is gradually opened and the refrigerant flow is increased. Although the flow rate gradually increases, when the rotational position of the valve body 43 reaches 60 pulses, it is determined by the upper limit processing (S107) that the refrigerant supply amount is the upper limit, and the superheat amount is 5 ° C. or more. Also prohibit the rise of the pulse.

  As a result of the above operation, as shown in FIG. 11, the increase in the amount of superheat is suppressed and decreases, and finally the amount of superheat becomes less than 5 ° C., and the control over the control valve 12 is stopped. In this case, in the normal state where the amount of superheat is 3 to 5 ° C., the rotation position of the valve body of the control valve 12 is normally 60 pulses, so that the refrigerant supply to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is maximized in the throttle region. As shown in FIG. 11, the amount of superheat becomes 3 ° C. or less.

  Here, the rotational position of the valve body 43 of the control valve 12 is set to the upper limit of 60 pulses because the opening degree of the valve body of the control valve 12 is increased when the overheating amount of the refrigeration evaporator is large as described above. Although the amount of superheat is controlled to be small by increasing the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5, as a characteristic of the refrigeration cycle, the temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is high at an early stage when the refrigerant begins to flow. Therefore, the refrigerant flowing into the refrigeration evaporator 5 evaporates near the inlet. For this reason, the state where the amount of superheat of the evaporator 5 for refrigeration continues large and the amount of overheat becomes small after that is shown. That is, since the response of the refrigeration cycle is slow, even if the opening degree of the valve body 43 of the control valve 12 is increased, the state of a large amount of overheating continues, so the operation of further increasing the opening degree of the valve body 43 is continued. To do. In such a state, the amount of superheat of the refrigeration evaporator 4 becomes small, and when the opening degree of the valve body 43 is lowered, the opening degree of the valve body 43 is excessively large. It takes time to suppress the supply of the refrigerant to the refrigerant or causes the refrigerant to flow out of the refrigeration evaporator 4 as a liquid. For this reason, the upper limit is provided in the opening degree of the valve body of the control valve 12, and it prevents that the overheat amount overshoots excessively.

On the other hand, when the amount of superheat becomes 3 ° C. or less (S105: YES), the control device 22 lowers the valve body 43 of the control valve 12 by one pulse (S108, see FIG. 11). Thereby, since the flow rate ratio to the refrigeration evaporator 5 in the control valve 12 decreases, the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 decreases.
Such control for reducing the refrigerant flow rate is performed every minute when the target superheat amount is 3 ° C. or less. In such a control state, the refrigerating side valve port 42 of the control valve 12 is fully closed and the refrigerant is cooled. Since the flow rate gradually decreases, the amount of superheat increases by promoting the evaporation of the refrigerant by the refrigeration evaporator 5.

  Through the control as described above, the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is throttled and adjusted by the control device 22 based on the difference between the superheat amount and the target superheat amount of 4 ° C., so that the superheat amount is equal to the target superheat amount. The temperature fluctuates around 4 ° C., and the amount of superheat of the refrigeration evaporator 5 can be adjusted appropriately.

  By the way, since the operating state of the refrigeration cycle apparatus 10 is greatly affected by the surrounding environment, depending on the surrounding environment, the valve body of the control valve 12 may be controlled to the lower limit position of 49 pulses, and the rotation of the valve body 43 When the position reaches 49 pulses, lowering of the pulses is prohibited by the lower limiter control (S109) even if the superheat amount is 3 ° C. or less.

In this way, when the valve body of the control valve 12 is controlled to the lower limit position, the flow rate of the refrigerant is extremely reduced. Therefore, the refrigeration is caused by a slight displacement of the valve body 43 or a variation in the shape of the valve body 43. There is a possibility that the refrigerant flow rate to the evaporator 5 may vary greatly from the target refrigerant flow rate.
However, in this embodiment, when the control valve 12 is positioned at the lower limit position of the valve body, the refrigerant flow rate ratio is secured 5% of the fully opened state, so that the refrigeration evaporator 4 is used during normal control. The overheating state of the refrigeration evaporator 4 can be appropriately controlled within the refrigerant constriction region.

  The control valve 12 uses a magnetic coupling that drives a rotor provided in a hermetically sealed container with a stator outside the container in order not to cause refrigerant leakage. In order to control the position of the stator, a stepping motor is generally used. For this reason, if the rotation direction of the valve body is changed by minute play between the rotor and the valve body, hysteresis will occur that the valve body does not move, or there is a deviation when combining the stator and the container. However, in this embodiment, a constant flow rate ratio can be reliably obtained by providing a throttle state, that is, a region where the refrigerant flow rate ratio does not change. be able to.

(Superheat control (refrigerant flow restriction control 1))
When reducing the flow rate of the refrigerant to the refrigeration evaporator 5 by reducing the opening of the control valve 12, it is desirable to set the amount of descent of the control valve 12 to 3 pulses, for example, as shown in FIG. 12 (S201).
Here, the speed of decreasing the refrigerant flow rate (3 pulses / minute) is higher than the speed of increasing the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 (1 pulse / minute). As a characteristic, since the temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is high at the initial stage when the refrigerant starts to flow, the refrigerant flowing into the refrigeration evaporator 5 evaporates near the inlet, overheats at the outlet, and then the temperature of the outlet decreases. Behaves like At this time, even if the opening degree of the refrigeration side valve port 42 of the control valve 12 is reduced, a delay occurs because of the combined use with the refrigeration side capillary tube 16, and the phenomenon that the refrigeration side valve port 42 is not sufficiently throttled is shown. Because.

As a result of the above operation, as shown in FIG. 12, the rate of decrease in the amount of superheat is suppressed and increases, and when the amount of overheat finally exceeds 3 ° C., the control over the control valve 12 is stopped.
Accordingly, since the superheat control can increase the limit amount of the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5, it is possible to cope with the stoppage of the refrigerant supply to the refrigeration evaporator 5.

(Superheat control (refrigerant flow restriction control 2))
As a method of reducing the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 by reducing the opening of the control valve 12, the control interval for reducing the refrigerant flow rate may be shortened.
That is, as shown in FIG. 13, when 10 seconds have elapsed (S301: YES), the control device 22 sets the falling time flag and increases the rising time at an interval of 1 minute, that is, once every six times. The flag is set (S302), and the superheat amount is controlled so as to become the target superheat amount as in the superheat control described above (when the valve body of the control valve 12 is raised by one pulse, every minute).

  Here, when the amount of superheat becomes 3 ° C. or less (S306: YES), the control device 22 checks whether the descent time flag is set (S311), and when it is set (S311: YES). That is, when 10 seconds have elapsed, the valve body 43 of the control valve 12 is lowered by one pulse (S313). Thereby, since the refrigerant | coolant flow rate ratio to the evaporator 5 for refrigeration reduces, the refrigerant | coolant flow rate to the evaporator 5 for refrigeration reduces.

Such control for decreasing the refrigerant flow rate is performed every 10 seconds with the target superheat amount being 3 ° C. or less, and in such a control state, the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is gradually reduced. Therefore, the evaporation by the refrigeration evaporator 5 is promoted, the superheated state of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is promoted, and the amount of superheat increases.
Therefore, the amount of the refrigerant supply to the refrigeration evaporator 5 can be increased, so that it is possible to cope with the stoppage of the refrigerant supply to the refrigeration evaporator 5.

(Upper limit change control)
In this embodiment, since the refrigerant flow rate ratio to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is controlled by the opening degree of the control valve 12, the pressure loss is caused by the refrigerant flowing into the refrigeration side valve port 42 having a very small channel area. Arise. For this reason, when the refrigerant flow rate is large, that is, when the rotational speed of the compressor 9 is high, the resistance increases. As the rotational speed of the compressor 9 increases, the efficiency of the refrigeration cycle apparatus 10 decreases due to pressure loss.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, when the room temperature is 20 ° C. or higher, which is the normal temperature, the control device 22 increases the upper limit when the compressor 9 has a high rotation speed, and increases the upper limit value when the rotation speed is low. By reducing the flow rate, it is possible to prevent the problem that the throttle flow is not excessive when the refrigerant flow rate is high and that the throttle flow rate is excessively open when the refrigerant flow rate is low, and the throttle adjustment is appropriately executed.
In this case, when the room temperature is less than 20 ° C., which is determined to be a medium room temperature or a low room temperature, similarly, when the upper limit is increased according to the rotational speed of the compressor 9, the refrigerant supply amount to the refrigeration evaporator 5 Therefore, when the room temperature is low, the upper limit value is not changed according to the rotation speed of the compressor 9.

In addition, the cooling capacity of the refrigeration cycle is greatly affected by the room temperature where the refrigerator is installed. When the room temperature is low, the load on the refrigeration cycle is reduced and the amount of refrigerant in the refrigeration evaporator 5 becomes excessive. If the above-described upper limiter control is performed in a state where the room temperature is low, the amount of refrigerant in the refrigeration evaporator 5 becomes excessive, and there is a risk of liquid back to the compressor 10.
Therefore, when the outside air temperature is determined to be low room temperature, for example, 11 ° C. or less as shown in FIG. 16, the control device 22 lowers the upper limit value from the normal 60 pulses to 53 pulses, The maximum refrigerant supply amount is limited more than usual.

  By performing various controls in addition to the superheat control as described above, the amount of superheat of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is adjusted appropriately, and the cooling operation of the refrigeration evaporator 5 as well as the refrigeration evaporator 4 can be effectively exhibited.

(Return control 1)
Now, although the amount of superheat of the refrigeration evaporator 5 can be appropriately controlled by adjusting the flow rate of the refrigerant flow to the refrigeration evaporator 5 as described above, the refrigeration side valve port 42 is set to the lower limit of 49 pulses. Since the refrigerant is not supplied to the refrigeration evaporator 5 when the squeezed out, the amount of superheat of the refrigeration evaporator becomes excessively large, and then the refrigeration side valve port 42 is gradually opened. It takes time for the refrigerant to flow to the outlet 5, and it takes time to reduce the amount of superheat of the refrigeration evaporator 5 to the target amount of superheat.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the supply of the refrigerant to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is quickly performed by executing the return control simultaneously with the superheat control described above.
FIG. 17 shows the return control by the control device 22. This return control is executed in parallel with the above-described superheat control. However, when both are executed simultaneously, the return control is executed with priority.

In FIG. 17, the controller 22 takes in the temperature data of the inlet / outlet of the refrigeration evaporator 5 every time one minute elapses (S401: YES) (S402). These operations also serve as the above-described super heat control operations.
Subsequently, after the acquired temperature data is accumulated in the temperature data buffer (S403), it is determined whether the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is increased by 0.8 ° C. compared to one minute before (S404). ). At this time, if the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is insufficient as a result of reducing the refrigerant supply amount to the refrigeration evaporator 5, the outlet temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 5 rises and the difference from the inlet temperature rapidly increases. As a result, the amount of superheat suddenly increases.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 18, when the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of the refrigeration evaporator has increased by 0.8 ° C. compared to one minute ago (S404: YES), the control valve 12 is increased to a predetermined return value all at once. (S405). This return value is set to 65 pulses, for example, which is higher than the normal upper limit value (60 pulses) of the superheat control described above. This is because if the upper limit value at the time of superheat control is set to a return value, the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 becomes insufficient, and the refrigeration evaporator 5 cannot be rapidly cooled.

Since the refrigerant is supplied to the refrigeration evaporator 5 at once by raising the control valve 12 to the return value in this way, the refrigeration evaporator 5 is cooled in a short time and the refrigeration evaporator 5 The temperature difference at the inlet / outlet, that is, the amount of superheat, rapidly decreases.
Subsequently, it is determined whether this is the first return control (S406). In this case, in the first return control (S406: NO), the process returns to step S401 without doing anything. This is because when the refrigerant is supplied to the refrigeration evaporator 5 where the refrigerant flow rate is insufficient, the behavior of the refrigerant is not stable. This is because the present control is stopped until the return value rises at once (see FIG. 19).

  When the second return control is executed (S406: YES), it is determined whether ΔT is positive or negative during the return (S408). At this time, when ΔT becomes negative (S408: NO), it is determined that the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is too large, and 1 is subtracted from the return value (65 pulses in the example of FIG. 19) 64 pulses). As a result, the next time it rises to the return value, the amount of refrigerant supplied to the refrigeration evaporator 4 decreases, so that the amount of superheat of the refrigeration evaporator 5 can be controlled appropriately. When ΔT becomes positive (S408: YES), it is determined that the refrigerant flow rate is insufficient, and 1 is added to the return value (64 pulses → 65 pulses in the example of FIG. 19). As a result, the next time the control increases to the return value, the amount of refrigerant supplied to the refrigeration evaporator 4 increases, so that the amount of superheat in the refrigeration evaporator 5 can be appropriately controlled.

  Moreover, as a result of executing such control, even if a problem occurs in which the flow rate of the refrigerant decreases due to clogging of the foreign matter in the valve opening of the control valve 12, the foreign matter can be obtained by opening the valve opening of the regulating valve 12 at once. Can be swept away, and the refrigerant can flow smoothly.

(Return control 2)
Although the above-described return control 1 can detect and respond to the extreme decrease in the refrigerant supply amount due to the refrigeration side valve port 42 of the control valve 12 being fully closed, the rise in the outlet temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 5 When the degree is small, the return control 1 cannot be executed, the control by the normal superheat control is performed, and the refrigerant supply to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is delayed.

Therefore, the control device 22 causes the refrigerant supply to the refrigeration evaporator 5 to be extremely lowered, the inlet temperature thereof rises, approaches the temperature of the refrigeration chamber, and the temperature difference between them is a predetermined value as shown in FIG. When it becomes tk, for example, 5 ° C. or less, it is determined that the amount of refrigerant supplied to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is extremely reduced, and the opening degree of the control valve 12 is increased at once as in the return control 1 described above.
With the above operation, even if it is not possible to detect that the refrigerant supply amount to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is extremely decreased by the return control 1, the return control 2 supplies the refrigerant to the refrigeration evaporator 5 all at once. Delay can be prevented.

  It should be noted that the return control may be executed when the control device 22 fully closes the refrigeration side valve port 42 in the control valve 12. In this case, it should be noted that although it can be carried out easily because it can be carried out without using a temperature sensor, it does not guarantee that the refrigerant flow into the refrigeration evaporator 5 has completely stopped. There is.

(Return value change control)
Also in this return control, similarly to the super heat control described above, when the rotation speed of the compressor 9 is high, for example, the return value of 65 pulses is changed to 70 pulses high, and when the room temperature is low, the return value The change is not executed, and pressure loss when the rotational speed of the compressor 9 is high is prevented, and the problem of excessive supply of refrigerant to the refrigeration evaporator 5 when the room temperature is low is prevented. Can do.

(Temperature sensor calibration control 1)
In this embodiment, the amount of superheat of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is obtained from the temperature difference detected by the temperature sensors 26 and 27 installed at the entrance and exit of the refrigeration evaporator 5, and the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is controlled. Therefore, if the detection error of the temperature sensors 26 and 27 is large, the control of the refrigerant flow rate becomes uncertain. For example, when the accuracy of the temperature sensors 26 and 27 is ± 1k, the error of the temperature difference obtained from the temperatures detected by the two temperature sensors 26 and 27 is ± 2k at the maximum.

By the way, the data required in the present embodiment is the temperature difference between the entrance and exit of the refrigeration evaporator 5 and not the absolute value thereof. In the uncooled state before the refrigerator starts, the two temperatures Calibration is performed so that the detected temperature difference between the sensors 26 and 27 becomes zero, and the accuracy of the temperature difference during actual operation is increased.
Such calibration of the temperature sensor may be performed in the process of the production line, or may be performed in an initial state where the refrigerator is installed. The important point is that the refrigerator is not operated for a long time and needs to be executed in a state where the two temperature sensors 26 and 27 can be regarded as having the same temperature.

(Temperature sensor calibration control 2)
The evaporators 4 and 5 of the refrigerator are below the freezing point during the cooling operation, and the moisture in the refrigerator is attached as frost. Therefore, the defrosting operation is performed to remove the frost attached to the evaporator every predetermined time. ing.
FIG. 21 shows the inlet temperature and outlet temperature of the evaporators 4 and 5 during general defrosting. As shown in FIG. 21, when the defrosting operation is started and the defrosting heaters 20 and 21 are energized, the temperature is increased from the temperature below the freezing point during the defrosting operation, and the frost starts to melt at 0 ° C. . Here, while the frost adhering to each of the evaporators 4 and 5 is being thawed, the state of 0 ° C. continues, and when most of the frost has been melted, the temperature rises again. In this case, the time for which 0 ° C. lasts varies depending on the heating capacity and the amount of frost. At this time, the temperature sensors 25 and 26 attached to the outlet pipes of the evaporators 4 and 5 also continue at 0 ° C. for a certain time. Therefore, when the temperature from the temperature sensors 25 and 26 attached to the evaporators 4 and 5 is maintained at 0 ° C. during defrosting, the temperature detected by the temperature sensors 25 and 26 is corrected by assuming that the temperature is 0 ° C. The detection accuracy of the temperature sensors 25 and 26 can be increased.

  Further, as described above, the detection accuracy of the outlet temperature sensor 26 of the refrigeration evaporator 5 can be increased. As a result, the detection accuracy of the inlet temperature sensor 27 of the refrigeration evaporator 5 using the above-described temperature sensor correction 1, As a result, the detection accuracy of the amount of overheating, which is the difference between the detected temperatures of the two temperature sensors 26 and 27, can be improved.

(Refrigerant leak detection control)
When the refrigeration side valve port 42 of the control valve 12 is closed, the refrigerant originally does not flow into the refrigeration evaporator 5, so the temperature including the inlet / outlet of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is stored in the refrigerator compartment. It rises to approach the internal temperature. On the other hand, when a small flow rate of refrigerant flows through the inlet of the refrigeration evaporator 5, the inlet temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 5 decreases. Therefore, by detecting the inlet temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 5 with the valve ports 41 and 42 of the control valve 12 being fully closed, it is possible to detect that the refrigerant has leaked from the valve ports 41 and 42 of the control valve 12. it can. In this case, since the refrigerant flow rate from the valve ports 41 and 42 of the control valve 12 is extremely small, it is difficult to detect the influence at the outlet of the refrigeration evaporator 5.

  When the refrigerant leaks in the valve ports 41 and 42 of the control valve 12, the cause is that the valve body 43 or the valve seat 39 is damaged, and the refrigerant leaks due to the damage, or the valve body 43 and the valve There may be a case where a small foreign object is caught between the seat 39 and cannot be fully closed. When this foreign matter is a factor, when the refrigerant leak is detected, the refrigerant leak can be eliminated by moving the valve body 43 to flush away the foreign matter.

  Further, when an open loop control stepping motor is used to rotate the valve body 43 as in this embodiment, the valve body 43 is moved to the initial position even when the valve body position is shifted due to, for example, a foreign object. Can be reliably positioned.

(Refrigerator evaporator cooling priority control)
In the main refrigeration cycle in which two evaporators are connected in parallel, when the refrigerant of one evaporator is sufficient, the refrigerant of the other evaporator may become insufficient. Therefore, by controlling the refrigerant flow rate to the evaporator having a sufficient refrigerant flow rate, it is possible to prevent the other refrigerant flow rate from being insufficient, so that the refrigerant can easily flow into one evaporator and the refrigerant flow rate at the inlet portion. It is possible to adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant to the other evaporator by adjusting.

  In this embodiment, the resistance of the refrigerant flow path to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is reduced, the refrigerant is set to flow easily from the refrigeration evaporator 4 to the refrigeration evaporator 5, and the refrigerant flow path to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is set. By controlling this, the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is throttled and adjusted, and at the same time, the refrigerant supply to the refrigeration evaporator 4 is realized. Here, since the refrigerant flow rate is determined by the flow path resistance of each capillary tube 15 and 16 and the pressure difference between the high pressure side and the evaporator, the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator 4 having a large pressure difference is reduced. In this case, the flow path resistance is determined in consideration of the pressure difference. For example, when isobutane (R600a) is used as the refrigerant, the condensation temperature of the condenser 11 is 5 ° C. and the pressure is 0.46 MPa (high pressure side), and the evaporation temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is 0.13 MPa (medium) Pressure side), the evaporation temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 4 is 0.06 MPa at −25 ° C., so the pressure difference between the high pressure side and the medium pressure side is 0.33 MPa, and the pressure difference between the high pressure side and the low pressure side is 0.40 MPa. Thus, the refrigerant easily flows into the refrigeration evaporator 5 by loosening the refrigeration side capillary tube 16 because the refrigerant flows easily into the refrigeration evaporator 4 having a large pressure difference.

  By the way, in the refrigerator, in order to remove the frost attached to the cooler at regular intervals, the heater is energized to perform a defrosting operation in which the frost is melted, and the temperature of the evaporator at that time is naturally a positive temperature. It becomes. In this case, both the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 have a positive temperature. In this case, when the temperature of the evaporator becomes, for example, 10 ° C., the pressure of the evaporator becomes 0.22 MPa. Therefore, the pressure difference between the high pressure side and the freezing evaporator 4, the high pressure side, and the refrigerating evaporator 5 The pressure difference becomes smaller than that during normal control.

In such a state, since the pressure difference between the high-pressure side and the evaporator side is approximately the same between the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5, the refrigeration evaporator 5 having a low flow resistance of the refrigeration-side capillary tube 16 is small. As shown in FIG. 22, the refrigerant easily flows through the refrigeration evaporator 4.
Therefore, for the first fixed time after the defrosting operation, as shown in FIG. 23, the refrigerant is supplied only to the refrigeration evaporator 4, and when the temperature and pressure of the refrigeration evaporator 4 become low, the refrigeration evaporator 5 is also supplied. By flowing, the refrigerant can flow to both the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5. In this case, since the compressor 9 is driven in a state where the refrigeration side valve port 42 of the control valve 12 is fully closed, if the refrigerant has accumulated in the refrigeration evaporator 5, the refrigerant is supplied to the compressor 9. Can be recovered.

Here, in order to return the temperature and pressure of the refrigeration evaporator 4 to a state equivalent to that during normal control, the operation of the cold-air circulation fan 6 for the refrigeration section 2 is stopped for a certain time, for example, 5 minutes, and the refrigeration evaporator By not performing heat exchange between 4 and the internal air, the temperature of the freezing evaporator 4 can be reduced in a short time.
In addition, by executing this control, the air in the vicinity of the refrigeration evaporator 4 whose temperature has been increased after defrosting is not sent into the refrigeration compartment 2 and temperature rise in the refrigeration compartment 2 can be prevented. .

Instead of executing this control by time control, the temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 4 is detected by the outlet temperature sensor 25 for detecting the completion of defrosting attached to the refrigeration evaporator 4, It may be detected that the refrigeration evaporator 4 has dropped to a certain temperature, the operation of the cold-air circulation fan 6 for the refrigeration section 2 is terminated, and the refrigerant may also flow through the refrigeration evaporator 5.
Now, after completion of the defrosting operation, the internal temperature becomes higher than usual due to the non-cooling during the defrosting and the heating by the defrosting heaters 20 and 21, and it is necessary to cool the food quickly in order to preserve the food. In particular, it is necessary to preferentially cool the freezing compartment 2 that stores food at a low temperature. For this reason, after the cooling of only the freezing section 2, when the refrigerant is caused to flow also into the refrigeration evaporator 5, the target superheat amount for controlling the flow of the refrigerant to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is made larger than that during normal control. Yes. In other words, by tightly constricting the refrigeration evaporator 5 and making it difficult for the refrigerant to flow to the refrigeration evaporator 5, more refrigerant flows through the refrigeration evaporator 4 to quickly cool it. This control is performed for a certain period of time or until the temperature of the freezing compartment 2 reaches a certain temperature, for example, −10 ° C.

(Refrigerant recovery control 1)
Depending on the operating state of the refrigeration cycle device 9, for example, when the temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 4 becomes lower than usual, or when the temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 5 becomes higher, the pressure between the high pressure and the refrigeration evaporator 4 is increased. Since the difference is larger than the pressure difference between the high pressure and the refrigeration evaporator 5, it is difficult for the refrigerant to flow into the refrigeration evaporator 5, while the refrigerant easily flows into the refrigeration evaporator 4. For this reason, excess refrigerant accumulates in the refrigeration evaporator 4 or the accumulator 17 that follows, and there is a risk that it will be difficult to adjust the refrigerant throttling based on the amount of overheating of the refrigeration evaporator 5.

  In this state, as shown in FIG. 24, since the refrigerant flows into the refrigeration evaporator 5 only a little, the refrigerant completely evaporates at the outlet of the refrigeration evaporator 5, and the outlet of the refrigeration evaporator 5 is compared with the inlet. Since the temperature becomes excessively high, such a state can be detected based on the amount of overheating. At this time, since the temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 4 is lower than usual as described above, it can also be set as a detection condition. After detecting such a state, after a certain time, for example, 5 minutes, the control valve 12 is fully closed (both the freezing side valve port 41 and the refrigeration side valve port 42 are fully closed) as shown in FIG. After the refrigerant is collected in the high-pressure side compressor 9, the refrigerant can flow into the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the refrigeration evaporator 5 by returning to the normal control.

(Refrigerant recovery control 2)
Even when only the refrigeration side valve port 42 to the refrigeration evaporator 4 is fully closed as shown in FIG. 26, the refrigerant in the refrigeration evaporator 4 or the subsequent accumulator 17 is sucked into the low pressure stage of the compressor 9. The refrigerant can be recovered. In this case, since the distribution of the refrigerant is on the high pressure side and the medium pressure side of the refrigeration evaporator 5, it is assumed that the refrigerant flowing through the refrigeration evaporator 5 becomes excessive. Therefore, when it is detected that the refrigerant has sufficiently flowed into the refrigeration evaporator 5, specifically, the amount of overheating, which is a difference in temperature detected by the temperature sensors 26 and 27 installed at the entrance and exit of the refrigeration evaporator 5, has been reduced. It is desirable to determine that the refrigerant has sufficiently flowed at the time and end this operation mode.

Here, since the refrigerant is recovered from the refrigeration evaporator 4 or the accumulator 17, the refrigerant in the refrigeration evaporator 4 or the accumulator 17 is evaporated and recovered. At this time, absorption of the refrigerant can be promoted by operating the cold air circulation fan 6 for the refrigeration section 2.
The reason why the refrigerant stays in the refrigeration evaporator 4 or the accumulator 17 is that the pressure and temperature of the low-pressure portion on the refrigeration compartment 2 side are low. The end of refrigerant recovery is detected from the temperature of the refrigeration compartment 2 side cycle. In other words, when the refrigerant is sufficient and the inlet is fully closed and the refrigerant is recovered, the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle evaporates and the temperature decreases. If recovery is further continued, the refrigerant that evaporates decreases and the temperature starts to rise. This temperature change may be measured by the outlet temperature sensor 25 that detects the end of defrosting, and it may be detected that the temperature has risen above a certain temperature, or that the temperature has fallen to rise, and the refrigerant recovery is terminated. At this time, it is effective for promotion to move the cold-air circulation fan 6 for the freezing compartment 2 at the same time as in the above-described defrosting.

  According to such an embodiment, when the amount of superheat of the refrigeration evaporator 4 becomes higher than usual, the compressor 9 is driven with the valve port of the control valve 12 fully closed, thereby Since the refrigerant recovery control for returning to the normal control is performed after the gaseous refrigerant accumulated in the evaporator 4 and the accumulator 17 is collected in the compressor 9, the excess accumulated in the refrigeration evaporator 4 and the accumulator 17. As compared with the case where a fresh refrigerant is left as it is, it is possible to prevent a situation where the refrigerant supply to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is insufficient.

When this refrigerant recovery control is executed, the refrigerant supply to the refrigeration evaporator 5 is continued until the amount of superheat is reduced to the normal value. Can be cooled.
Further, when the refrigerant recovery control is executed, the cold air circulation fan 6 for the refrigeration compartment 2 is driven, so that the evaporation of the refrigerant in the refrigeration evaporator 4 can be promoted and the refrigerant recovery efficiency is increased. Can do.

  Furthermore, when the outlet temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 4 becomes higher than usual, or when the outlet temperature turns from rising to falling, the driving for the cold air circulation fan 6 for the refrigeration compartment 2 is stopped. It is possible to prevent the refrigerant in the refrigeration evaporator 4 from being excessively evaporated.

(Modification)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be modified or expanded as described below.
A single-stage compressor may be used as the compressor instead of the two-stage compressor. In this case, as shown in FIG. 27, a check valve 49 is provided on the outlet side of the refrigeration evaporator 5, a pressure difference is provided between the suction side of the compressor 9 which is the low pressure side, and the refrigeration evaporator 5 It is necessary to set the evaporation temperature to be higher than the evaporation temperature of the refrigeration evaporator 4.
In each of the above embodiments, the controller 22 calculates the difference between the target superheat amount and the actual detected superheat amount of the refrigeration evaporator 5, and controls the rotational position of the valve body 43 of the control valve 12 based on the difference. However, instead of this, the opening degree of the valve body may be controlled by PID control as shown in FIG. In this case, it is possible to control the superheat amount to the target superheat amount efficiently and in a short time with a simple circuit configuration.

Instead of adjusting the throttle of the refrigerant to the refrigeration evaporator 5, the refrigerant to the refrigeration evaporator 4 may be throttled and adjusted. In this case, the refrigerant flowing out of the refrigeration evaporator 4 is stored. It is necessary to provide an accumulator.
The control valve 12 may be configured such that the refrigeration side valve port 42 is lower than the refrigeration side valve port 41 in a state where the control valve 12 is mounted horizontally in the refrigerator.

  You may make it apply to the refrigerating cycle which used the combustible refrigerant | coolant, for example, isobutane, as a refrigerant | coolant. In this case, by controlling the refrigerant flow rates of the two evaporators 4 and 5, it is possible to prevent the refrigerant from being biased to one of the evaporators and the refrigerant flow rate required for the refrigeration cycle from increasing. Even when applied to a refrigeration cycle using a combustible refrigerant, the required combustible refrigerant flow rate can be minimized.

Schematic which shows the refrigerating system in one Example of this invention. Vertical section of the refrigerator Compressor longitudinal section Cross section of control valve Sectional drawing of the principal part which shows the communication state of the groove part and valve opening of the valve body of a control valve FIG. 4 equivalent diagram showing the positional relationship between the groove and the valve opening according to the opening of the valve body of the control valve (part 1) FIG. 4 equivalent view showing the positional relationship between the groove and the valve opening according to the opening of the valve body of the control valve (part 2) The figure which shows the relationship between the opening of the control valve and the flow rate ratio of the refrigerant (A) Front view of control valve, (b) Side view Schematic diagram showing the flow of refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle Flow chart showing superheat control of control device (part 1) The figure which shows the relationship between the opening of the control valve and the amount of superheat of the refrigeration evaporator Flow chart showing superheat control of control device (part 2) 11 equivalent figure Flow chart showing superheat control of control device (part 3) 11 equivalent figure The figure which shows an example of the setting value of an upper limit Flow chart showing return control of control device The figure which shows the relationship between the opening degree of the control valve at the time of return control, and the exit temperature of the refrigerator for refrigeration The figure which shows the relationship between the opening degree of the control valve at the time of return control, and the superheat amount of the evaporator for refrigeration 18 equivalent view showing different return control times The figure which shows the change of the entrance / exit temperature of the evaporator at the time of defrosting FIG. 9 equivalent view showing the flow of the refrigerant after the defrosting operation. FIG. 9 equivalent diagram showing the cooling priority control of the refrigeration evaporator FIG. 9 equivalent diagram showing a state in which the refrigerant flow rate to the refrigeration evaporator is reduced. FIG. 9 equivalent diagram showing the refrigerant recovery control FIG. 9 equivalent diagram showing different refrigerant recovery control times FIG. 9 equivalent diagram showing a modification of the present invention Diagram showing PID control

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 2 is a refrigeration section, 3 is a refrigeration section, 4 is a refrigeration evaporator, 5 is a refrigeration evaporator, 6 and 7 are cold-air circulation fans, 9 is a compressor, 11 is a condenser, and 12 is a control valve ( (Refrigerant flow rate adjusting means), 20 and 21 are heaters for defrosting, 22 is a control device (control means), 23 is a temperature sensor in the freezer compartment, 24 is a temperature sensor in the refrigerator compartment, 25 is an outlet temperature sensor, and 26 is Outlet temperature sensor (superheat amount detection means), 27 is an inlet temperature sensor (overheat amount detection means), 28 is a low pressure stage side compression section, 29 is a high pressure stage side compression section, 41 is a refrigeration side valve port, and 42 is a refrigeration side valve The mouth 43 is a valve body.

Claims (5)

A condenser for liquefying the gaseous refrigerant discharged from the compressor;
There are two valve ports through which the refrigerant flowing in from this condenser flows out, and the refrigerant flow rate flowing out through these valve ports is adjusted according to the opening of the valve body as the flow rate ratio to the refrigerant flow rate when the valve port is fully opened Possible refrigerant flow rate adjusting means;
A refrigeration evaporator and a refrigeration evaporator into which the refrigerant flowing out from each valve port of the refrigerant flow rate adjusting means flows, respectively;
Control means for performing a refrigeration cycle operation based on the cooling state of the refrigeration compartment and the refrigeration compartment cooled by the refrigeration evaporator and the refrigeration evaporator,
The control means throttles and adjusts the refrigerant flow rate to at least one evaporator with respect to the refrigerant flow rate adjustment means, and a predetermined condition that can be considered that a state in which the refrigerant does not flow easily to one evaporator has occurred. When the above is established, the refrigerator recovers the refrigerant by driving the compressor with at least the valve port to the other evaporator being fully closed, and then returns to normal control. An overheat amount detecting means for detecting an overheat amount indicating an evaporation state of the refrigerant in one evaporator;
The control means controls the refrigerant flow rate adjusting means so that when the superheat amount by the superheat amount detection means is larger than the target superheat amount, the refrigerant flow rate ratio to one evaporator becomes large. When the amount is smaller than the target superheat amount, the refrigerant flow rate ratio to one evaporator is controlled to be small, and when the superheat amount is larger than the normal value, it is determined that the predetermined condition is satisfied. The refrigerator according to claim 1.   When supplying the refrigerant to one evaporator, the control means continues to supply the refrigerant to one evaporator until a predetermined time elapses or until the superheat amount by the superheat amount detecting means decreases to a normal value. The refrigerator according to claim 2. A cold air circulation fan that promotes refrigerant evaporation in the other evaporator,
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control means drives the cold-air circulation fan when recovering the refrigerant. A temperature sensor for detecting the outlet temperature of the other evaporator;
The control means stops driving the cold-air circulation fan when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor becomes equal to or higher than a set temperature or when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor changes from a decrease to an increase. The refrigerator according to claim 4.

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