JP2005326038A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator having the safety to flash ignition and explosion with respect to a fire source existing around or at an upper part of the refrigerator, even when a flammable refrigerant leaks in a machine room of the refrigerator. <P>SOLUTION: When the flammable refrigerant leaks in a cooling unit 15, the leaked refrigerant is temporarily guided to a space 28 of the machine room 14 at an upper part of the cooling unit 15 by a unit cover 26, by closing a back face, side faces and a lower face of the machine room 14. The leaked refrigerant is diffused and diluted to a concentration lower than flammable concentration in the space 28, and exhausted from an air exhaust port 29 at an upper part of a front grill 19. As the exhausted air is diluted to the concentration lower than flammable concentration, the risks of flash ignition and explosion are eliminated even when the fire source exists in the environment, and the safety can be secured. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator using a combustible refrigerant.

  In recent years, refrigerators have been developed into flammable refrigerants that have extremely little influence on global warming in refrigerants used in the cooling cycle, and countermeasures are also taken when flammable refrigerant leaks in the development.

  In particular, the cooling unit in the machine room of the commercial refrigerator is not limited to a vertical type and a horizontal type, but can be attached to and detached from the refrigerator main body for convenience when installing the refrigerator and convenience for replacing the unit when a failure occurs.

  As a conventional horizontal refrigerator in which a machine room including a cooling unit is attached to a side surface of a cooling chamber, there is one that performs warm exhaust from the back of the machine room (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Hereinafter, the above-described conventional technique will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view in a machine room of a conventional refrigerator. As shown in the figure, a conventional refrigerator includes a refrigerator body 1, a machine room 2 provided on a side surface of the refrigerator body 1, a condenser 3 sequentially disposed in the machine room 2 from the front, an electric blower 4, And the compressor 5. An exhaust port 7 for warm exhaust is provided on the side surface 6 of the machine room 2. An exhaust port is also provided on the back surface 8 of the machine room 2. Exhaust ports are also provided on the installation surface of the unit base 9 where the condenser 3 and the compressor 5 are installed and the lower surface 10 of the machine room, and the front grill 11 is also provided with an exhaust port.

  About the refrigerator comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement is demonstrated below.

First, the air taken in from the inlet 12 of the front grill 11 by the rotation of the electric blower 4 exchanges heat in the condenser 3 and cools the compressor 5 to become warm exhaust, and the machine room side face 6 and the rear face. 8. Exhaust from an exhaust port provided on the lower surface 10. In that case, in the installation environment, it may be installed leaving a slight gap on the side surface and the back surface, and the warm exhaust gas may flow vigorously to the upper part of the refrigerator main body 1 due to a synergistic effect with the rising airflow.
JP 09-273856 A

  However, in the above-described conventional exhaust air passage configuration of the machine room, when the operation with the combustible refrigerant leaked continues, the combustible refrigerant is not sufficiently diluted in the machine room and is transmitted to the back and sides of the machine room. There is a risk that it will reach the top of the refrigerator body due to the rising airflow due to warm exhaust. At that time, if there is an ignition source in the upper part or the periphery of the refrigerator main body, there is a problem of causing ignition or explosion.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the conventional problems and to provide a safe refrigerator even when a combustible refrigerant leaks in a machine room.

  In order to solve the above conventional problems, the refrigerator of the present invention includes a unit cover that covers at least a condenser, an electric blower, a pipe, and a joint portion of the pipe.

  By covering the pipes and the joints with the unit cover, it is possible to prevent the refrigerant from leaking due to the damage caused by the contact of the pipes and the joints when the cooling unit is removed and installed. In particular, safety can be improved when a combustible refrigerant is used as the refrigerant.

  Even if flammable refrigerant leaks in the machine room, the leaked refrigerant moves to the back side of the machine room according to the unit cover, and after diffusing and diluting to a flammable concentration or less in the space inside the machine room above the unit cover. Because it is exhausted outside the machine room, it is possible to prevent rapid exhaust of high-concentration combustible refrigerant, and the leaked refrigerant is diluted below the combustible concentration with respect to the combustible concentration. On the other hand, the safety of ignition and explosion can be improved.

  The refrigerator of the present invention is provided with a unit cover and a space for diluting and diffusing leaked refrigerant in the machine room, so that it is possible to ensure safety against ignition and explosion even in the case of flammable refrigerant leakage.

  A first invention is provided with a unit cover that covers a condenser and a pipe that connects the condenser and the compressor in the cooling unit, and a machine room closed on the back, side, and bottom is disposed on the side of the cooling room, In the upper part of the cooling unit, a space for dilution / diffusion of leaked refrigerant is provided, and the unit cover protects the piping and joints and prevents leakage of the refrigerant against damage due to contact between the pipes and joints. This has the effect of improving the safety when using a flammable refrigerant as the refrigerant, and even in the event of a flammable refrigerant leak, the leaked refrigerant moves to the rear side of the machine room according to the unit cover, Since it diffuses and dilutes below the flammable concentration in the space inside the machine room and is exhausted outside the machine room, it can prevent exhaust of high concentration flammable refrigerant and improve safety against ignition and explosion You There is an effect.

  In particular, the second aspect of the present invention is that the unit cover of the first aspect is formed of a good conductor and the unit cover is used as a heat radiating plate of the electrical unit. The temperature rise can be suppressed, the safety of the control board can be ensured, and the operation life can be extended.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a front view of a refrigerator in the practice of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator machine room in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, the machine room 14 provided on the side surface of the refrigerator main body 13 is formed of a unit base 16 that supports the cooling unit 15, a closed back plate 17, a side plate 18, and a front grille 19 that covers the front of the machine room 14. . The closed bottom plate 20 of the machine room 14 is provided with a cooling unit 15 that can be removed from the refrigerator main body 13. The unit base 16 on which the main functional parts of the cooling unit 15 are arranged has a condenser 21, an electric blower 22, and a compression. The machine 23 is arranged in the same order as the discharge air path of the electric blower 22.

  In addition, the condenser 21 and the compressor 23 are functionally connected to each other at a joint portion 25 by a pipe 24. A flammable refrigerant is used for cooling. Furthermore, at least the condenser 21, the electric blower 22, the joint portion 25 of the compressor 23 and the pipe 24 are covered with a unit cover 26 having a size that is not spaced apart from the condenser 21 as much as possible.

  The closed side plate 18, back plate 17, and bottom plate 20 of the machine room 14 are taken into the machine room 14 from an air suction port 27 provided in the front grille 19, and the air flow is ensured at the upper part of the machine room 14. , Has the effect of guiding to the space 28 above the cooling unit 15.

  About the refrigerator 13 provided with the cooling unit 15 comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below.

  First, when the combustible refrigerant leaks in the compressor 23, the condenser 21, and other piping parts of the cooling unit 15, the back surface, the side surface, and the bottom surface of the machine room 14 including the cooling unit 15 are closed. The warm exhaust exhausted by the electric blower 22 through the air suction port 27 provided in the grill 19 and heat-exchanged by the condenser 21 and used for cooling the compressor 23 is located above the machine chamber 14 and the cooling unit. The warm exhaust is diffused in the space 28 to a flammable concentration or less and then exhausted from an air exhaust port 29 provided in the front grille 19. The warm exhaust exhausted in the space 28 has a function of increasing the safety of ignition and explosion by promoting the dilution of the concentration of the combustible refrigerant by reducing the exhaust speed in the space 28.

  Further, when the exhaust port is provided on the back surface 17 or the side surface 18 or the lower surface 20 of the machine room 14, when the refrigerant leaks, the leaked refrigerant jumps directly out of the machine room, and the flow after exhausting along with the warm exhaust air rises on the rising air flow and There is a risk of a flammable explosion by being guided to a fire source such as a fryer placed on the front grille. However, by providing an exhaust port on the front surface of the front grill 19, there is a possibility that the exhausted flow will be guided to the fire source on an ascending current. Less.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the back surface 17, the side surface 18, and the lower surface 20 of the machine room 14 are closed, and the cooling unit 15 is provided with the unit cover 26, thereby inducing the flow of exhaust gas and combustible. Even when the flammable refrigerant leaks, the concentration of the flammable refrigerant can be diffused low, and the safety when the flammable refrigerant leaks can be improved.

  In addition, by making the material of the unit cover 26 of the first embodiment a highly heat conductive material, in particular, the heat generated in the control board 31 in the electrical unit 30 disposed in contact with the unit cover 26 is described above. Since it becomes easy to discharge to the outside of the electrical unit 30 through the unit cover 26, the temperature rise of the control board 31 can be suppressed, and the safety of the control board 31 can be ensured and the service life can be extended. it can. The electrical unit 30 is connected to the electric blower 22 and the compressor 23 by a lead wire 32, and a sealing material is used to prevent leakage of flammable refrigerant from entering the portion of the electrical unit 30 through which the lead wire 32 passes. 33 is given.

  As described above, a refrigerator in which a machine room equipped with a unit cover in the cooling unit according to the present invention is disposed on the side surface of the cooling room is safer against ignition and explosion in the event of leakage due to the use of a flammable refrigerant. Therefore, the present invention can also be applied to uses such as a refrigerator in which the machine room is arranged in the lower part of the cooling room, or a display display cooler.

Front view of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Cross-sectional view of the machine room of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of the present invention 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a machine room of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Front sectional view of the machine room of the refrigerator in the first embodiment of the present invention. Longitudinal cross-sectional view of a conventional refrigerator machine room

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Refrigerator main body 14 Machine room 15 Cooling unit 21 Condenser 22 Electric blower 23 Compressor 24 Piping 26 Unit cover 28 Space 30 Electrical unit 31 Control board

Claims (2)

  A combustible refrigerant is used, and a condenser, the electric blower, and a compressor are arranged in this order in the blowing direction of the electric blower in the cooling unit, and the condenser, the electric blower, the compressor, the condenser, and the compressor are combined. A side cover and a back surface provided with a unit cover that covers the pipe to be circulated, and provided with a space for diffusing and diluting the leaked flammable refrigerant to a flammable concentration or less in the machine room when the flammable refrigerant leaks. The refrigerator which has arrange | positioned the machine room containing the said space by which the lower surface was closed, and the said cooling unit in the cooling chamber cooled by the cooling unit.   A unit cover is formed of a material having good heat conductivity, and an electrical unit having a control board capable of controlling an electric blower or a compressor is provided in the machine room, and the unit cover is used as a heat dissipation plate of the electrical unit. The refrigerator according to claim 1.