JP2006046769A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator capable of appealing the storage environmental state of a vegetable chamber to a user in a visually confirmable manner by humidifying the inside of the vegetable chamber in a high humidity state by an ultrasonic generation means, regularly generating a number of mist-like water particles, and running off the mist out of the refrigerator at the time of opening a door so that the user can see the state in the vegetable chamber. <P>SOLUTION: This refrigerator comprises a cooling space 2 cooled by cold air circulation, the vegetable chamber 3 partitioned within the cooling space and having storage containers 15 and 16 cooled to a predetermined temperature indirectly by the cold air circulating in the circumference or by introducing part of the circulating cold air, and the ultrasonic generation means 20 supplying the mist-like water particles into the vegetable chamber to humidify it. The refrigerator is controlled so as to perform the humidifying operation at a frequency where the output of the ultrasonic generation means is maximum. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator equipped with a high humidity atmosphere vegetable room for storing food for a long period of time.

  In recent years, refrigerators have a tendency to place importance on long-term preservation of food and energy saving, which are the original objective functions of refrigerators, against the backdrop of not only diversification of cooling storage temperature but also environmental concerns and growing interest in economic efficiency. is there.

  In general, foods are often discarded without being eaten due to deterioration due to the passage of the storage period, even if they are stored in the refrigerator. Therefore, the function of keeping the taste, nutrients, and freshness of the ingredients over a long period of time when storing food is required.

  Drying, one of the causes of food deterioration, is effective when stored under conditions of low temperature fluctuation and high humidity, and the evaporating temperature of the cooler provided exclusively for the temperature zone of each room in the refrigerator is raised to increase the temperature. By reducing the difference from the air temperature, frost adherence to the cooler is reduced as much as possible, and a system that keeps the storage chamber at a high humidity and prevents food from drying is widely adopted.

  And in order to maintain the freshness of the vegetables, the inside of the container is indirectly cooled by cold air circulating around the outer periphery of the container with the vegetable container disposed in the vegetable room being a section of the refrigerated temperature zone, Alternatively, a method of cooling the inside of the container to a predetermined temperature by introducing a part of the circulating cold air together with indirect cooling is known, but since the inflow of cold air into the vegetable compartment is restricted, the humidity control becomes a proper control. When the amount of vegetables stored in the vegetable room is small, or when the moisture transpiration from the vegetable itself is small, it has been difficult to maintain a high humidity state.

On the other hand, it is equipped with humidifiers such as ultrasonic type, centrifugal type and high-pressure spray type suitable for preservation of fresh foods, and also uses a waterproof / breathable material that selectively permeates moisture to keep the refrigeration room at a low temperature and high temperature. A refrigerator that maintains an atmosphere of humidity has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1), and frost water in which frost around the evaporator is melted and cold air in the refrigerator are brought into contact with each other to generate steam mist. There is also a technical idea of humidifying vegetables with this steam mist (see Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-168774 JP-A-8-42960

  However, even in the configurations described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the user is in an appropriate state regarding the storage environment in the vegetable room such as the current temperature and humidity in the operating refrigerator, and in an appropriate state. It was difficult to understand whether or not it was possible to have confidence in the control.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and humidifies the vegetable room in a high humidity state by ultrasonic generation means, and always generates a lot of mist-like moisture particles. It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator that allows a user to visually recognize and appeal the storage environment by allowing the mist to flow out and making the state of the vegetable room visible to the user.

  In order to solve the above problems, a refrigerator according to the present invention is provided with a refrigerated space cooled by cold air circulation and a compartment provided in the refrigerated space, and is indirectly cooled or circulated by the cold air circulating around. A vegetable room provided with a storage container that is cooled to a predetermined temperature by introducing a section, and an ultrasonic generation means for supplying and humidifying mist-like moisture particles in the vegetable room. Control is performed so as to perform a humidifying operation at a frequency at which the output is maximized.

  According to the present invention, when the amount of stored vegetables in the room is small and the relative humidity is low, or when the relative humidity changes due to the operating state of the refrigeration cycle or the opening / closing of the door, the ultrasonic wave generating means is operated to create a high humidity environment. It can maintain the freshness of vegetables, etc. over a long period of time, and generates a sufficient amount of mist-like water particles by supplying the maximum input even when the oscillation frequency changes. The vegetable room environment can be appealed to the user and the refrigerator can be improved in the reliability of the control state by making the mist generated when the vegetable room door is opened.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention, in which a refrigerator compartment (2) is arranged at the top of a storage space inside a refrigerator main body (1) comprising a heat insulating box, and below the refrigerator compartment. A vegetable room (3) maintained at a relatively high temperature and high humidity is provided via a partition wall (4). Below the vegetable room (3), an ice storage room (5) and a temperature switching room (not shown) are arranged side by side through a heat-insulating partition wall, and the bottom part is divided into two stages, upper and lower. The freezer compartment (6) is arranged independently.

  The refrigerating room (2) closes the front opening of the room by a refrigerating room door pivotally supported on one side of the main body, and each storage room other than the refrigerating room (2) closes the front opening. A storage container is provided together with the door to be pulled out, and the drawer is made slidable back and forth by rails arranged on the side walls of each storage chamber.

  The refrigeration space and the refrigeration space are chilled by a refrigeration cooler (7) and a refrigeration cooler (8) installed on the back of each, and fans (9) (10) and ducts provided in the vicinity of each cooler. It is circulated and controlled to be cooled to a temperature set for each storage room, and the refrigerator room (1) has a machine room formed at the lower back of the lowermost refrigeration space. 7) A compressor (11) for supplying refrigerant to (8) is installed.

  The said structure WHEREIN: While providing the shelf in which the foodstuff is mounted in the said refrigerator compartment (2), it is controlled by the temperature range of about 0-3 degreeC on the upper part of the partition wall (4) which forms a refrigerator compartment bottom face. A chilled chamber is disposed, and a water supply tank (13) for supplying ice making water to an automatic ice making device (12) provided in the ice making storage chamber (5) is installed on the side of the chilled chamber.

  And in the vegetable room (3) which is a section of the refrigeration temperature zone, as shown in FIG. 2 which is a detailed sectional view, the vegetable room door (3a) which closes the front opening is placed in the rear lower part of the back of the room. A pair of left and right support frames that slide in engagement with rails formed on the side wall surface of the extended vegetable compartment (3) are attached, and a vegetable container (15) that stores vegetables is placed on the support frame. Thus, the vegetable container (15) can be freely pulled out together with the door (3a).

  The internal air temperature of the vegetable container (15) is set to 3-6 ° C, and the upper part is a small capacity with a shallow bottom to cool the internal temperature to 1-3 ° C and store low temperature vegetables etc. An upper container (16) is provided so that the items can be sorted.

  The cooling of the vegetable compartment (3) is a suction duct (cold air passage formed between the front lower part of the chilled compartment and the partition wall (4) as indicated by the arrow in the refrigerated compartment (2). 17) and circulating in the duct (17), the cooling partition wall (4) cools by the natural fall of the cool air from above, and a part of the cool air flowing through the suction duct (17) It is introduced directly into the vegetable room (3).

  And although the upper surface of the vegetable container (15) is open, when the vegetable compartment door (3a) is closed, the vegetable compartment (3) space excludes partly introduced air from the suction duct (17). Thus, the inside of the container is indirectly cooled from the outer periphery and maintained at a predetermined temperature.

  The cold air that has flowed through the suction duct (17) on the partition wall (4) returns to the refrigeration cooler (7) from the suction port, cools down, and is discharged again into the refrigerator compartment (2) space by the cooling fan (9). Circulate refrigerated space.

  Thus, a part of the lower surface of the front surface of the partition wall (4) is provided with a humidifier (20) comprising an ultrasonic vibrator (21) such as a disk vibrator type and a water storage tank (25), and a vegetable room (3). A humidity sensor (26) for detecting the relative humidity inside and driving the humidifier (20) is provided.

  As shown in detail in FIG. 4, the humidifier (20) stores the water storage tank (22) in a storage recess (4a) formed in the front of the partition wall (4), and a sponge or the like in the opening at the bottom of the tank. A porous water supply core (27) is disposed, and the ultrasonic vibrator (21) is, for example, a piezoelectric vibration element (22) in which a ceramic is formed in a disk shape. The plate (23) is fixedly formed, and the vibration energy is propagated to the diaphragm (23) and vibrated by applying an alternating voltage to the piezoelectric vibration element (22). Then, the diaphragm (23) is pressed against the water supply core (27) by the spring (28), whereby the water in the water supply core (27) is atomized into mist-like water particles (hereinafter referred to as mist). Is.

  In the partition wall (4) behind the storage recess (4a) provided with the humidifier (20), a control circuit part (29) is arranged adjacent to the humidifier (20), and the ultrasonic vibration An illuminating device (30) made up of LEDs (light emitting diodes) for illuminating the inside of the vegetable compartment (3) is disposed on the lower surface of the child (21) while controlling energization.

  The lighting device (30) is positioned so as to be higher than the lower surface of the diaphragm (21) of the humidifier that generates mist. As shown in FIG. 3, the vegetable container (15) is pulled out. When the vegetable compartment door (3a) is opened, it is energized to illuminate the vegetable compartment (3), and is further generated in the vegetable container (15) by the humidifier (20). It arrange | positions so that the done mist may be illuminated from back.

  The water storage tank (25) is housed and disposed in the housing recess (4a) exclusively for mist generation from the upper side, but is not limited to this, and although not particularly illustrated, the ice-making water tank ( 13) It is arranged in the lower part through a connecting pipe extending from the lower part and a gravity drop type valve element, and the valve element is stored in the water storage tank (13) at a predetermined position in the refrigerator compartment (2). The water for making ice in the tank may be introduced via a communication pipe and accumulated to a predetermined water level for use in generating mist. In this way, it is not necessary to provide a separate water tank exclusively for humidification by using the conventional water supply tank for ice making (13).

  If the vegetable compartment (3) is kept at a sufficiently high humidity, humidification is not necessary, so the humidifier (20) is not driven, and the humidity drops due to the door opening and closing and the continued cooling operation. This is detected and humidification control is performed to compensate for the humidity, and the humidifier (20) is driven when the vegetable compartment (3) is in principle cooled.

  In addition, if the ultrasonic vibration type humidifier (20) is adopted, it is possible to control the humidity in the vegetable room (3) by obtaining a quick response to the humidity or humidity change detected by the dew condensation sensor. It can be made more accurate.

  As described above, there are other types of humidifiers (20) such as an evaporative type, a spray type, and a centrifugal force type other than the ultrasonic type. However, in general evaporative type humidification, the inside of the refrigerator is low temperature. In order to obtain a necessary amount of humidification, a large space for securing a surface area necessary for evaporation is required. On the other hand, according to the humidifier (20) that generates mist-like water particles using the ultrasonic vibrator (21), the particle diameter is several tens of μm or less, which is a soot and mist level without phase change. Since minute water droplets are discharged, it is preferable in terms of securing the humidification amount, response speed, and miniaturization of the humidification mechanism.

  The humidity sensor (26) includes a resistance type, a capacitance type, a heat conduction type, and a ceramic heating type. For the purpose of the present invention, a capacitance change type humidity sensor or a resistance change type dew condensation sensor is suitable. In this embodiment, a capacitive humidity sensor with high accuracy and good durability is used to maintain a high humidity environment at a low temperature.

  When the relative humidity inside the vegetable compartment (3) is detected by the humidity sensor (26), for example, when the amount stored in the vegetable compartment is small and the amount of transpiration from the vegetable is small, the humidity is lower than the predetermined value. Since it is low, the humidifier (20) is controlled to be driven, and the generated mist is supplied into the vegetable compartment (3) as shown by the dotted line.

  In the normal closed state, the mist supplied into the vegetable compartment (3) flows into the lower vegetable container (15) in which the leafy vegetables are mainly stored from the front part of the upper container (16) and is stored. It humidifies the space in a high humidity atmosphere. Since the moisture particles generated from the humidifier (20) are in the form of a fine mist with a diameter of 10 μm or less, even if the moisture particles adhere to the stored food, they do not condense on the food surface and do not form water droplets. It does not hurt and feels good when touched by the hand. Especially for leafy vegetables, it can be effectively humidified by attaching moisture particles to the back and corners of the leaves with fine particles. is there.

  In order to store or take out stored items, when the vegetable compartment door (3a) is opened and the vegetable container (15) is pulled out as shown in FIG. 3, the humidifier (20) and the lighting device (30) The upper container (16) is located below, and the light of the LED (30) as the illuminating body passes through the extracted upper container (16) and the upper container (16) which is a transparent material. The interior of the lower container (15) can be illuminated, making it easier to check stored vegetables even at night.

  In this case, if the humidifier (20) is driven for a short period of time together with illumination by the lighting device (30) and is controlled to generate mist, the generated mist overflows the upper container (16) and the vegetable compartment ( 3) Since it flows so as to overflow from the front opening, the mist is made concrete, that is, in a visible state, coupled with the fact that the temperature in the vegetable room is low, and the lighting device (30) By turning on a certain LED, the overflowing mist is illuminated from the back, and even when the amount of mist is small due to humidity adjustment, the visibility can be further improved.

  This makes it easier to see the mist, so that the user can directly check the operating state in which the humidification is controlled, and usually the confirmation is made with the appeal to the user that the humidifying operation is in progress. It is possible to improve the user's confidence in these difficult control situations.

  Moreover, since the illuminating device (30) is provided in the front lower surface of the partition wall (4), it can illuminate the whole inside of the extracted upper container (16) and lower vegetable container (15). At the same time, it is positioned above the position of the diaphragm (23) in the humidifying device (20) to reduce the influence of mist, but it is necessary to have a waterproof structure such as providing a shade for placement in the mist atmosphere. There is.

  On the other hand, the humidifier (20) with the ultrasonic vibrator (21) can be adjusted individually or when the oscillation frequency changes due to mist water quality changes due to dirt on the diaphragm or filter deterioration, mist is effectively generated This will reduce the humidification and visual effects.

  That is, as described above, the ultrasonic transducer (21) generates the mist by vibrating the piezoelectric vibrating element (22), and has a natural frequency. And it is necessary to match the fixed frequency and the mechanical vibration of the humidifier (20) including the atomizing mechanism. However, as shown in FIG. The oscillation frequency value of the point varies as shown by a one-dot chain line, and the frequency area where the output is maximum is extremely narrow as indicated by the arrow width.

  Therefore, if the oscillation frequency is fixed, the maximum output position of the frequency waveform moves due to variations in the piezoelectric vibration element (22) itself, and the output corresponding to the indicated frequency drops, resulting in a significant reduction in the amount of mist. Will end up. Also, even if adjustment work is performed during product assembly, it changes due to deterioration over time, so it gradually shifts, and the oscillation frequency of the microcomputer also changes due to temperature and deterioration, thus preventing variations in the maximum output position due to oscillation frequency. It was difficult.

  In order to cope with this in the present invention, as understood from the block circuit of FIG. 6 and the control flowchart of FIG. 7, after detecting a power change by outputting a reference frequency from the microcomputer, the maximum output frequency is set to the piezoelectric vibration element ( 22) to give.

  Hereinafter, the control of the humidifier (20) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step 1 (S1), a frequency prepared in advance, for example, 100 kHz can be changed back and forth by 10%, and first, it is confirmed whether the oscillation frequency is the lowest frequency output, in this case 95 kHz or more. In step 2 (S2), it is confirmed whether or not the same frequency is the maximum frequency output, here 105 kHz. At this time, if the frequency is 105 kHz or less, the input or output power is read in step 3 (S3), the frequency step is increased by, for example, 1 kHz in step 4 (S4), and the process returns to step 2 (S2) again. .

  When the frequency reaches the maximum frequency output, in step 5 (S5), the frequency is sequentially scanned to search for the highest frequency at which the input or output becomes maximum. For example, as shown by the solid line in FIG. While selecting and determining 102 kHz, in step 6 (S6), the humidifier (20) is driven at a reference frequency output of 102 kHz to generate mist. As for the input / output, since mist generation uses a resonance phenomenon, the maximum input is the maximum output.

  In step 7 (S7), whether or not the input has decreased below a predetermined value during the humidifying operation is detected at regular intervals by timer control, and if it falls below the minimum power, an abnormality occurs in step 8 (S8) As a result, control is performed to stop the operation of the ultrasonic wave generating means.

  If the water supply from the water storage tank (25) is impossible during the humidification operation, or if the water absorption core (27) or other mechanism is disturbed, this control will cause the piezoelectric vibration element (22) to disappear. It detects that the resonance point changes, leading to a decrease in input. The ultrasonic humidification operation is stopped by the destruction of the ceramic piezoelectric vibration element (22) due to continued vibration without water. This is to prevent it.

  Therefore, regardless of the above, the humidifying operation may be stopped when an input of a certain value or more is not input after selecting the frequency that is the maximum input.

  When the humidification operation is stopped in step 8 (S8), retry is performed again from the initial stage in step 9 (S9).

  Further, if the input does not decrease in step 7 (S7), the process proceeds to step 10 (S10), and a predetermined humidification time, for example, 5 minutes, or until the humidification upper limit is reached by detection of the humidity sensor (26), The humidification operation is continued with the frequency obtained in step 5, but the process returns to step 1 (S1) as needed to control the frequency so that the input to the ultrasonic wave generating means is maximized.

  As described above, when the humidifier (20) is operated, the ultrasonic vibrator (21) can be driven at the optimum value by the oscillation frequency that is always the maximum output, and the effect of stable mist generation by feedback control. Can be humidified. In addition, when there is no water in the water storage tank (25), this is detected and the drive of the ultrasonic vibrator (21) is stopped, thereby destroying the piezoelectric vibration element (22) due to continued stress. It is possible to perform humidification control with high reliability, such as preventing and informing the user to replenish water.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention can be utilized for the refrigerator which has a vegetable compartment provided with the humidification apparatus.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerator which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the structure of the vegetable chamber principal part in FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which opened the vegetable compartment door of FIG. 2 and pulled out the container. It is a detailed longitudinal cross-sectional view of the humidifier part of FIG. It is a relationship graph of the transmission frequency and input power in an ultrasonic humidifier. It is a control block circuit of the ultrasonic humidifier of the present invention. It is a control flowchart which shows one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator body 2 Refrigerated room 3 Vegetable room 3a Vegetable room door 4 Partition wall 4a Storage recessed part 5 Ice making storage room 12 Automatic ice making apparatus 13 Water supply tank
15 Vegetable container 16 Upper container 17 Suction duct
20 Humidifier 21 Ultrasonic vibrator 22 Piezoelectric vibrator
23 Diaphragm 25 Water storage tank 26 Humidity sensor
27 Water supply core 28 Spring 29 Control circuit
30 Lighting equipment

Claims (7)

  A refrigerated space that is cooled by circulating cold air, and a storage container that is partitioned and provided in the refrigerated space and is cooled indirectly by the cold air circulating around it or cooled to a predetermined temperature by introducing a part of the circulating cold air And an ultrasonic generating means for supplying and humidifying mist-like moisture particles in the vegetable room, and performing a humidifying operation at a frequency at which the output of the ultrasonic generating means is maximized. A refrigerator characterized by control.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the frequency is changed at the start of oscillation of the ultrasonic wave generating means, and the humidifying operation is performed after selecting the frequency that becomes the maximum input.   3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the humidifying operation is stopped when an input of a predetermined value or more is not input after selecting a frequency that becomes the maximum input.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein when the input is reduced during the humidifying operation, the operation of the ultrasonic wave generating means is stopped considering that an abnormality has occurred.   The refrigerator according to claim 3 or 4, wherein when the operation of the ultrasonic generator is stopped, an abnormal state is notified.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the frequency is changed so that the input to the ultrasonic wave generation means becomes maximum during the humidifying operation. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic wave generating means is driven during the cooling operation of the vegetable compartment.

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