JP2005344941A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator capable of reducing bad influence on foods by warm air by optimizing the reverse rotation of a fan on the basis of the outside air temperature. <P>SOLUTION: The electric power is distributed to a defrosting heater until a detection temperature of a FD sensor reaches a defrost termination temperature (8°C), a F fan is stopped during the defrosting operation of an F evaporator, and the F fan is reversely rotated for a specific time (one minute), and further a set temperature or the specific time is set and changed on the basis of the outside air temperature (S12, S13), when the FD sensor detects the temperature higher than a set temperature (2°C) determined to be lower than the defrost termination temperature (8°C). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator that performs a defrosting operation using a defrosting heater.

  Conventionally, the cooling performance deteriorates due to moisture in the storage chamber adhering to the evaporator as frost. Therefore, the defrost heater is energized every time a predetermined period, for example, the cumulative operation time of the compressor exceeds 8 hours. A defrosting operation for heating the evaporator is performed. FIG. 8 is a time chart showing a conventional control method of the defrosting operation. When the defrosting operation is started at the timing tx, the cooling air supply fan is stopped and the evaporator is defrosted at the end temperature, for example, 10 When the temperature has reached or exceeds ° C., it is assumed that the frost attached at the timing of ty has been melted, the power supply to the defrost heater is cut off, and the defrost operation is terminated. In addition, the compressor is started to operate at the timing tz for the pressure balance in the refrigeration cycle.

In this case, in order to shorten the time required for defrosting, the fan is intermittently reversely rotated in the latter half of the defrosting operation to prevent the defrosting heater heat from diffusing into the storage chamber and sent back to the evaporator for defrosting. A control method has been considered that accelerates and suppresses the temperature rise in the freezer compartment (for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-18884

  However, since the warm air heated by the defrost heater rises, the upper temperature of the storage chamber becomes higher than the lower temperature as shown in FIG. In this case, the upper space of the storage room is heated during the defrosting operation, and even when the cooling operation is restarted, the cooling is slow and the relatively high temperature is maintained, so that the food is adversely affected. This problem is likely to occur when the height of the storage room is high, particularly in a freezer room having a low set temperature.

  In the configuration of Patent Document 1, since the fan is intermittently reversely rotated, the defrosting time is shortened. However, since the total rotation time becomes long, the warm air is excessively blown into the storage chamber and stored instead. The average indoor temperature may increase. In general, the time until defrosting is completed differs depending on the amount of frost formed on the evaporator, but the reverse rotation of the fan is performed after a predetermined time t, so the reverse rotation of the fan is not performed or the reverse rotation is too long. As described above, the storage room temperature may increase.

  Furthermore, since the temperature rise of the storage chamber at the time of defrosting operation becomes dull generally with the fall of outside air temperature, the defrosting operation time becomes long. For this reason, it is desirable that the timing of reverse rotation of the fan is too early, or the reverse rotation time of the fan is set to an appropriate value depending on the outside air temperature.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to reliably uniformize the temperature rise in the storage room during the defrosting operation and to suppress the adverse effects on food caused by warm air.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a refrigerator according to the present invention includes a refrigeration cycle in which a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator are connected in an annular shape, a fan that blows cool air generated by the evaporator to a storage chamber, and the evaporation A defrost heater for heating the deaerator, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the evaporator or the vicinity thereof, and energizing the defrost heater until the temperature detected by the temperature sensor reaches the defrost end temperature. In the refrigerator in which the fan is stopped during the defrosting operation, the fan is predetermined when the temperature sensor detects a temperature equal to or higher than a set temperature set lower than the defrosting end temperature. While rotating backward, the predetermined time is set and changed based on the outside temperature.

  According to the above invention, during the defrosting operation, the fan is reversely rotated at an appropriate time and timing according to the outside air temperature, and the warm air staying in the upper part of the storage room is recovered to the evaporator side. Can be made uniform, and by optimizing the reverse rotation of the fan based on the outside air temperature, adverse effects on food due to warm air can be suppressed.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 4 is a front view showing a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a front view in which the door of the refrigerator in FIG. 4 is omitted, and FIG. 6 is AA in FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows a line.

  The refrigerator body 1 is provided with a refrigerated storage chamber 10 and a refrigerated storage chamber 20 divided into left and right, and the two storage chambers make the flow of cold air independent of each other. A machine room 31 is provided at the bottom of the back surface of the refrigerator body 1, and a compressor 33, a heat radiating fan (not shown), a condenser 34, and the like are provided.

  In the freezing storage room 10, a first freezing room 11, an ice making room 12 equipped with an automatic ice making device 13, and a second freezing room 14 are arranged in this order from the top, and each opening is closed freely. Rotating doors 11a, 12a and 14a are provided. On the back surface of the second freezer compartment 14, an evaporator 15 for a freezer compartment (hereinafter referred to as F-eva) and a fan 16 for a freezer compartment (hereinafter referred to as F-fan) are arranged above the F-evacuator 15. The cold air generated from the F-evapor 15 is sucked upward by the rotation of the F-fan 16 through the duct 17 provided on the back surface, and is supplied from a plurality of outlets 18 formed in each storage chamber. It has become. The cold air that has cooled each chamber is sucked into the F-evapor 15 side from the suction port 19 formed in the lower back of the second freezing chamber 14, and is again heat-exchanged with the F-evapor 15 and blown out into each chamber.

  A temperature sensor 53 (hereinafter referred to as F sensor) for detecting the temperature in the storage room is attached to the back surface of the first freezer compartment 11, and the compressor 33, the F fan 16, and the like are controlled based on the detected temperature of the F sensor 53. Then, the freezer storage chamber 10 is cooled to a set temperature.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a defrosting heater 40 is attached to the F EVA 15, and the F EVA 15 is defrosted by being energized. This defrost heater is comprised from the glass tube heater which utilizes radiant heat, and the pipe heater which mainly utilizes heat conduction, for example, and is set as the pipe heater in this embodiment.

  In the refrigerated storage room 20, a rotary opening type refrigerated room 21, a drawer type vegetable room 22 and a bottle room 23 are disposed in order from the top, and each opening has a door 21a which can be opened and closed. 22a and 23a are provided. On the back surface of the bottle chamber 23, an evaporator 24 for a refrigerated storage room (hereinafter referred to as “R EVA”) and a fan 25 for a refrigerated storage room (hereinafter referred to as “R fan”) are arranged in front and rear. The cold air generated from the R evaporator 24 is sucked upward by the rotation of the R fan 25 through a duct 26 provided on the back surface, and is supplied into the room from a plurality of outlets 27 formed in the refrigerator compartment 21. Yes. The cold air that has finished cooling the refrigerator compartment 21 is sucked into the R EVA 24 side from the suction port 28 formed on the back surface of the bottle chamber 23 through the vegetable chamber 22 and the bottle chamber 23, and exchanges heat with the R EVA 24 again. It is blown out into the room.

  A temperature sensor 54 (hereinafter referred to as R sensor) for detecting the temperature in the storage room is attached to the back of the refrigerator compartment 21, and the compressor 33 and the R fan 25 are rotationally controlled based on the detected temperature of the R sensor 54. The refrigerated storage room 20 is cooled to a set temperature.

  In the refrigeration cycle 32 according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7 which is a schematic diagram, a condenser 34 and a three-way valve 35 which is a flow path switching device are sequentially connected to the discharge side of the compressor 33. A pipe connecting the refrigeration capillary tube 36, the F evaporator 15 and the accumulator 37 in order is connected to one of the outlet sides of the 35, and a pipe connecting the second capillary tube 38 and the R evaporator 24 is connected to the other. ing. The outlet side piping of the R EVA 24 is connected to the inlet side of the F EVA 15, and the outlet side piping of the accumulator 37 is connected to the suction side of the compressor 33.

  The accumulator 37 is provided with a refrigeration defrost sensor 51 (hereinafter referred to as FD sensor) for detecting the outlet side pipe temperature of the F-evapor 15. Refrigeration defrost sensor 52 (hereinafter referred to as RD sensor) is attached.

  Next, a normal cooling operation will be described. When the detected temperature of the F sensor 53 reaches an ON temperature, for example, −18 ° C. or higher, the three-way valve 35 is operated so that the refrigerant flows to the F EVA 15 side to cool the refrigerated storage chamber 10 (hereinafter referred to as F cooling mode). Called). On the other hand, when the detected temperature of the R sensor 54 becomes an ON temperature, for example, 5 ° C. or more, the refrigerated storage chamber 20 is cooled by operating the three-way valve 35 so that the refrigerant flows to the R EVA 24 side (hereinafter referred to as R cooling mode). Called). In this R cooling mode, the R fan 25 is rotated to supply cold air to the refrigerated storage chamber 10, and the F fan 16 is stopped. In the F cooling mode, the F fan 16 is rotated to supply cold air to the refrigeration storage chamber 10, and the R fan 25 defrosts the R evaporator 24, so that the detected temperature of the RD sensor 52 becomes a predetermined temperature, for example, 3 ° C. Rotate until it rises.

  In this case, when the detected temperature of the F sensor 53 becomes an OFF temperature, for example, −20 ° C. or less during the F cooling mode, the mode shifts to the R cooling mode, and the detected temperature of the R sensor 54 becomes the OFF temperature, for example, 1 ° C. during the R cooling mode. When it becomes below, it shifts to F cooling mode. Even if the temperature does not reach the OFF temperature, if one of the cooling times is long, the other may be insufficiently cooled. With these configurations, the refrigerated storage chamber 10 and the refrigerated storage chamber 20 are alternately cooled, and are held at each set temperature on average.

  Next, the defrosting operation of the F-evaporator 15 will be described with reference to the time chart of FIG. 3 for a general case where the outside air temperature is 10 ° C. or higher. In addition, FIG. 3 also shows the temperature chart of the 1st freezer compartment located in the upper part of the freezer storage room 10, the temperature of the 2nd freezer compartment located in the lower part, and the detected temperature change of the FD sensor 51 in addition to the time chart. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the compressor 33 is stopped at a timing ta from the normal cooling operation, and the defrosting operation in which the defrost heater 40 is energized to heat the F-evaporator 15 is shifted to. This defrosting operation is performed at a predetermined cycle, and in the present embodiment, the operation integration time of the compressor 33 has passed 8 hours, and the transition is made when the F cooling mode ends. Before the defrosting operation, in order to suppress the temperature rise in the storage chamber due to the heating of the defrosting heater 40, the end set temperature of the F cooling mode is lowered stepwise to force the frozen storage chamber 10 and the like. Perform precooling operation to cool.

  When the defrost heater 40 is heated, the temperature detected by the FD sensor 51 gradually increases, and when the first set temperature, here 2 ° C., is reached, the F fan 16 rotates backward at a timing of tb for a predetermined time, here 1 minute. And stop at the timing of tc when one minute has passed.

  This is because when the air whose temperature has been increased by heat exchange with the F-evaporator 15 due to the heating of the defrost heater 40 rises in the duct 17, the upper part of the freezer storage room 10, here the storage room of the first freezer room 11. The temperature gradually increases as compared with the second freezer compartment 14. For this reason, it is for recovering the air of the 1st freezer compartment 11 to the F EVA 15 side, and preventing only the 1st freezer compartment 11 from rising in temperature.

  In this case, since the first set temperature is intended to make the upper and lower storage room space temperatures uniform, the temperature increase rate of the first freezer compartment 11 is higher than that of the second freezer compartment 14 by experiment. It is preferable to set the temperature during the process. Further, if the rotation time of the reverse rotation is too long, warm air is blown into the second freezer compartment 12 and the temperature rises remarkably. Therefore, it is preferable to set it for a short time, for example, 10 seconds to 2 minutes.

  Now, when the temperature detected by the FD sensor 51 rises and reaches a second set temperature set higher than the first set temperature, here 4 ° C., the F fan 16 is reversed for a predetermined time, here 1 minute at the timing of td. The F fan 15 is stopped at the timing of te after a predetermined time has elapsed. Similarly, when the temperature reaches a third set temperature set higher than the second set temperature, here 6 ° C., the F fan 16 is reversely rotated at a timing of tf for a predetermined time, here 1 minute, and at a timing of tg. 15 is stopped.

  The reason for providing a plurality of set temperatures so as to increase stepwise in this way is that the temperature difference between the upper and lower storage chamber spaces becomes larger even after the F fan 16 is reversely rotated by experiment. Then, it is because the temperature of the upper and lower storage spaces can be made uniform uniformly by collecting the warm air in the first freezer compartment 11 again. Further, since the F fan 16 is reversely rotated in response to an increase in the temperature detected by the FD sensor 51, it is possible to reliably collect warm air when there is a temperature difference between the upper and lower storage chamber spaces. This is because it is possible to prevent the temperature of the freezer compartment 14 from being increased due to unnecessary rotation.

  At the timing of th, if the detected temperature of the FD sensor 51 has reached the defrosting end temperature, here 8 ° C. or more, it is considered that the defrosting is completed or the defrosting is completed by the remaining heat thereafter, and the defrosting heater The power supply to 40 is cut off and the defrosting operation is terminated. In this case, the compressor 33 stops the compressor 41 until a predetermined time, for example, 6 minutes elapses, due to the pressure balance of the refrigeration cycle 32 and the like. At the timing of ti when a predetermined time has elapsed, the operation of the compressor 33 is started, and the F fan 16 is operated by normal rotation, and the normal cooling operation is performed.

  Next, a setting change of a predetermined time for reversely rotating the F fan 16 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 which is a flowchart showing one embodiment. In step 11, it is detected whether or not the defrosting operation is started (S11), and if the defrosting operation is started, the process proceeds to step 12.

In step 12, as shown in FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not the detected temperature of the outside air temperature sensor 55 that is disposed in the machine room 31 and detects the outside air temperature is a reference temperature that is regarded as a low outside air temperature, here 10 ° C. Detect (S12), if it is 10 ° C. or less, it is determined that the outside temperature is low, and the process proceeds to Step 13.

  In step 13, the predetermined time is lengthened, for example, the setting is changed from 1 minute to 2 minutes (S13). Generally, when the refrigerator is installed at a low outside air temperature, there is little heat leak from the outside air, so that the temperature rise in the refrigerated storage room 10 and the refrigerated storage room 20 is slow even during the defrosting operation. For this reason, the lower part of the F EVA 15 that is in close proximity via the freezer storage chamber 10 and the suction port 19 has a slow rise in temperature compared to the upper temperature, causing variations in defrosting and delaying the defrosting time. Will do.

  Therefore, when the outdoor temperature is low, the operation time for reverse rotation of the F fan 16 can be lengthened to prevent the lower part of the F EVA 15 from being exposed to the cold air from the freezer storage chamber 10. The temperature difference between the upper and lower portions of the F 15 can be reduced, and the temperature rise of the F EVA 15 is promoted, so that the defrosting operation time can be shortened. Moreover, even if the reverse rotation operation time is extended, the temperature of the frozen storage room 10 is not easily raised due to the low outside air temperature, and adverse effects on food can be prevented.

In step 14, since the outside air temperature is normal, it is set to a predetermined time as a reference time in advance, here 1 minute (S14). Note that, during the defrosting operation, when the FD sensor 51 reaches the set temperature as described above, the F fan 16 is rotated for the predetermined time changed in step 13 and step 14.
In step 15, it is detected whether or not the defrosting operation is finished (S14). If the defrosting operation is finished, the process returns to step 11 and waits until the defrosting operation is started again.

  According to the above-described invention, when the outside air temperature is low, the temperature difference between the upper and lower parts of the F-evapor 15 can be reduced and the defrosting operation time can be shortened by setting the predetermined time longer. Can do.

  Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step 21, it is detected whether or not the defrosting operation is started (S21), and if the defrosting operation is started, the process proceeds to step 22. In step 22, it is detected whether or not the detected temperature of the outside air temperature sensor 55 is a low outside air temperature, here, 10 ° C. or less (S22). Proceed to step 23.

  In step 23, the setting temperature is changed to a lower setting (S23). In this case, in the present embodiment, for example, the first to third set temperatures are set to values that are each -2K. This is because the lower temperature of the F EVA 15 is low and the defrosting operation is delayed at the time of low outside air temperature as described above, so that the set temperature is set low and the F fan 15 is rotated backward at an early stage. This is because the temperature difference between the upper and lower parts of the F-eva 15 can be quickly eliminated to prevent the defrosting operation from being delayed.

  Moreover, even if the air warmed by the F fan 16 reversely flows into the frozen storage room 10 at an early stage, the temperature in the storage room hardly rises due to the low outside air temperature, so that adverse effects on food can be suppressed. .

  In step 24, it is determined that the outside air temperature is a normal temperature, the set temperature is not changed (S24), and the process proceeds to step 25. In step 25, it is detected whether or not the defrosting operation is finished (S25), and when the defrosting operation is finished, the process returns to step 21.

  According to the above-described invention, when the outside air temperature is low, the temperature difference between the upper and lower parts of the F-evapor 15 can be reduced and the defrosting operation time can be shortened by setting the predetermined time longer. Can do.

In this case, it is preferable to increase the number of preset temperature stages. Specifically, the first to third set temperatures are increased to the first to fifth set temperatures, and the set temperatures are, for example, 0 ° C., 2 ° C., 4 ° C., 6 ° C., 8 ℃.
With this configuration, the temperature difference between the upper and lower parts of the F EVA 15 can be reduced in the early stage of the defrosting operation, and the F fan 16 is reversely rotated in the latter half of the defrosting operation. The upper and lower temperatures can be made uniform.

Furthermore, when the number of set temperature stages is increased, it is preferable to shorten the rotation time of the F fan 15, that is, the predetermined time, for example, from 1 minute to 40 seconds.
With this configuration, since the continuous operation time due to the reverse rotation of the F fan 16 is reduced during the defrosting operation, the temperature increase of the freezer storage chamber 10 can be suppressed, and the reverse rotation of the F fan 16 can be suppressed. Since the total time can be sufficiently secured by increasing the number of operations, the temperature of the upper and lower portions of the freezer storage chamber 10 can be made uniform.

  In this case, in order to suppress the warm air flowing into the refrigeration storage chamber 10 as much as possible by the reverse rotation of the F fan 16, the reverse rotation time of the F fan 16, that is, the predetermined time is shortened as the set temperature is increased. Also good.

  The above-described configuration is an embodiment of the present invention, and various changes can be made. In the present embodiment, the R eva 24 has been described by the defrosting method by the rotation of the R fan 25. However, the R eva 24 also performs the defrosting operation by the defrost heater 40 in the same manner as the F eva 15, and performs fan control of the present invention. You may go. Further, the refrigeration cycle 32 is not limited to the configuration described in the present embodiment, but a so-called parallel cycle in which the R EVA 24 and the F EVA 15 are connected in parallel, a refrigeration cycle using a two-stage compressor, or a single evaporator It may be a one-evaporation cycle that cools the refrigerator compartment 20 or the freezer compartment 10 by using the above. Furthermore, it is preferable that the defrosting start timing, the defrosting end temperature, the set temperature, the predetermined time, the predetermined cycle, and the like are appropriately changed according to the form of the refrigerator.

  The present invention can be applied to a refrigerator provided with a defrosting operation using a defrosting heater.

It is a flowchart which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows other embodiment of this invention. It is a time chart of the defrost operation which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the refrigerator which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the state which abbreviate | omitted the door of the refrigerator of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the AA line of the refrigerator of FIG. It is the schematic which shows the refrigerating cycle which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a time chart which shows the conventional defrost operation.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Refrigerator main body 10 ... Freezing storage room 11 ... 1st freezing room 12 ... Ice making room 14 ... 2nd freezing room 15 ... F Eva 16 ... F fan 17 ... Duct 19 ... Suction port 20 ... Refrigerated storage room 21 ... Refrigerated room 22 ... Vegetable room 23 ... Bottle room 32 ... Refrigeration cycle 33 ... Compressor 34 ... Condenser 40 ... Defrost heater 51 ... FD sensor 52 ... RD sensor 53 ... F sensor 54 ... R sensor 55 ... Outside air temperature sensor

Claims (5)

A refrigeration cycle in which a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator are connected in a ring; a fan that blows cool air generated by the evaporator to a storage chamber; a defrost heater that heats the evaporator; and the evaporator or the evaporator A temperature sensor that detects the temperature in the vicinity, and the defroster is deenergized by energizing the defrost heater until the temperature detected by the temperature sensor reaches the defrost end temperature. During this defrost operation, In the refrigerator for stopping the fan, when the temperature sensor detects a temperature equal to or higher than a set temperature set lower than the defrosting end temperature, the fan is rotated in reverse for a predetermined time, and the set temperature or the predetermined time is set. A refrigerator characterized in that the setting is changed based on the outside air temperature. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein when the outside air temperature is low, the predetermined time is set longer. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein when the outside air temperature is low, the setting temperature is set to be low. 4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of preset temperatures are provided, and when the preset temperature is lowered, the number of preset temperatures is increased. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein when the set temperature is lowered, the setting is changed to shorten the predetermined time.

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