JP2007113854A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator improving quick freezing capacity and cooling speed without hindering ice making capacity by minimizing cold air circulation between a freezing chamber and an ice making chamber. <P>SOLUTION: The ice making chamber 5 provided with an automatic ice making device is independently arranged along with the freezing chamber 4 in a freezing space in a body 1. A fan 9 is provided for introducing cold air into the ice making chamber, and a damper 12 is provided for adjusting an introduced cold air amount. It is characterized by that the damper is normally opened, and opening and closing actions are carried out under predetermined conditions when quick freezing operation of at least the freezing chamber is carried out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with an automatic ice making device and provided with a quick freezing function.

  Recent refrigerators are equipped with a quick freezing operation mode that cools the freezer cooler by forcibly introducing cool air by cooling the freezer cooler by the user's arbitrary operation and continuously rotating the fan Is increasing.

  On the other hand, in recent refrigerators, an automatic ice making device that automatically supplies water from a water supply tank installed in a refrigeration room to an ice tray provided in an ice making room, which is an independent freezing temperature space, ices the ice, and stores the ice. It is common to have The ice making room is a freezing temperature space that is cooled by introducing cold air generated by a freezing cooler using a fan, like the freezing room, and is often arranged independently of other storage rooms. The ice making chamber and the freezing chamber are in communication with each other through a cold air duct, and both are affected by temperature.

Therefore, even if the ice making function is stopped, cold air flows into the ice making room through the duct.Therefore, a damper is provided in the cold air duct to the ice making room to eliminate the waste of cooling the unnecessary space. If it is not necessary to send cold air to the ice tray after closing, close the damper to increase the amount of cold air introduced into other storage rooms such as the freezer, refrigeration room, vegetable room, etc. Has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1 or 2).
JP 2000-292046 A JP 2001-280785 A

  As described above, since the ice making chamber and the freezing chamber communicate with each other via the cold air duct, if the quick freezing operation described above is performed during the ice making operation in which the damper to the ice making chamber is open, the freezing room cooling is performed. Ice-making room air whose temperature is higher than the temperature flows into the freezer compartment through the communication duct, and as a result, the temperature in the freezer compartment rises despite the quick freezing operation, and it is cooled together with the refrigerating capacity. There was a problem that the speed decreased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and minimizes the circulation of cold air between the freezing room and the ice making room so as to improve the quick freezing capacity and the cooling speed without impairing the ice making capacity. The purpose is to provide a refrigerator.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the refrigerator according to claim 1 of the present invention has an ice making chamber provided with an automatic ice making device together with a freezing chamber in a freezing space in the main body, and introduces cold air into the ice making chamber. A fan and a damper that adjusts the amount of cool air introduced are provided, and the damper is normally opened, and at least when the freezer compartment is operated for quick freezing operation, the damper is opened and closed under a predetermined condition. The refrigerator according to Item 2, in which a refrigerator compartment, a vegetable compartment, and a freezer compartment are arranged in this order from above, and an ice making compartment provided with an automatic ice making device is provided independently between the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment, and a refrigerator storage space The refrigeration storage operation and the refrigeration storage operation are alternately or simultaneously performed by each dedicated cooler to control the cooling to a predetermined temperature, and the freezer compartment quick freezing operation A fan that introduces cold air into the ice making chamber and a damper that adjusts the amount of introduced cold air, and the damper is controlled to be normally opened in the refrigeration cooling operation and closed in the refrigeration cooling operation, and at least When the freezing room is operated for quick freezing, the opening and closing operation is performed under a predetermined condition.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, when the quick freezing operation is performed, the ice making room is closed by closing the ice making room damper, the ice making room having a higher temperature than the freezing room is sealed, and the circulation of the cold air by the fan and the duct is interrupted. This can suppress the temperature rise, improve the quick freezing capacity and increase the cooling speed.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator with a door removed, with the interior of the refrigerator body (1) formed of a heat insulating box as a storage space at the top of the refrigerator compartment (2), below the vegetable compartment (3), The freezer compartment (4) is independently arranged at the bottom, and the ice making chamber (5) and the multi-temperature switching chamber (with a heat insulating partition wall between the refrigerator compartment (2) and the vegetable compartment (3) ( 6) are placed side by side. A dedicated door is provided at the front opening of each storage chamber and is closed so as to be freely opened and closed.

  In the rear part of the vegetable room (3), the cooler (7) for the frozen storage space such as the freezer room (4) and the ice making room (5) and the cool air generated by the cooler (7) are ducted (8). A fan (9) that circulates in the storage room through a refrigerator, and a cooler (10) for refrigerated storage space that cools the refrigerator room (2) and the vegetable room (3) on the back of the refrigerator room (2) And a fan (11), and alternately or both of the refrigeration and refrigeration coolers (7) and (10) by driving a refrigerant compressor installed in a machine room below the main body and switching control of a refrigerant flow path switching valve. At the same time, the refrigerant is flowed, and the cooled cold air is blown to the freezing side and refrigeration side storage chambers by the rotation of the fans (9) and (11), and each is controlled to be cooled to a predetermined temperature.

  A discharge opening of the duct to the ice making chamber (5) is provided with an ice making damper (12) that is normally open, and a freezing cooler (7) introduced through the damper (12). The automatic ice making device disposed in the ice making chamber (5) is normally made by the operation shown in the control flowchart of FIG.

  That is, ice is made by supplying water from a water supply tank installed in the refrigerator compartment (2) to an ice tray in the ice making chamber (5), and a sensor provided in the ice tray detects ice temperature of −12 ° C. or less. Is detected (Step 1), the ice storage amount is first detected (Step 2), and then the ice is removed by rotating and twisting the ice tray (Step 4). The ice falls into an ice storage box located at the bottom of the ice tray and is stored in ice.

  The ice storage amount detection (step 2), which is performed prior to the rotating ice removal operation, is performed by moving the detection lever up and down with respect to the ice in the ice storage box. For example, if the ice storage box is full of ice, this is detected by the detection lever coming into contact with the top surface of the ice. In this case, the ice removal operation is stopped and 90 minutes have passed. The operation of detecting the ice storage amount is repeated again (step 3). Note that the re-detection operation of the ice storage amount is performed even when the door of the ice making chamber (5) is opened, assuming that this is an operation of taking out ice.

  If a predetermined amount of ice is taken out from the ice storage box during the ice storage amount detection, and it is detected that the ice is not full, the deicing operation (step 4) is continued and the water supply operation for the next ice making ( If step 5) is performed, but no water remains in the water supply tank and a predetermined amount of water is not supplied to the ice tray, the temperature of the ice tray does not rise to the predetermined value, and the temperature sensor attached to the ice tray Does not detect an increase in temperature, for example, -9 ° C or higher (step 6), so it is determined that water has run out (step 7), and the subsequent ice making operation is interrupted. The presence or absence is detected. In this case, as in the ice storage amount re-detection operation, when the refrigerator compartment (2) is opened, this is regarded as a water supply operation to the water supply tank and the water supply operation is tried again. Yes.

  In other words, this ice making operation is automatically repeated as long as a predetermined amount of ice-making water is present in the water supply tank without detecting that the ice storage amount of the ice storage box exceeds a predetermined level. Conversely, if the water for ice making in the water supply tank runs out and the ice storage box becomes full, the subsequent ice making operation is stopped, and users who do not need ice in winter are forced to stop the operation. If the ice making function is stopped during the defrosting operation of the cooler or if the ice making function is stopped, the cause of the stoppage is canceled, that is, the water tank is refilled, the ice is taken out from the ice storage box, or used. The ice making function is suspended until the person performs the return operation.

  On the other hand, in the refrigerator control method, as shown in the schematic control timing chart of FIG. 3, the compressor is operated at a high speed by a user's arbitrary operation, and the refrigerant is cooled by flowing the refrigerant to the refrigeration cooler (7) side. In addition, a quick freezing operation mode is provided in which low temperature cold air of about −40 ° C. is forcibly introduced into the freezer compartment (4) by continuously rotating the freezing fan (9) for a predetermined time, for example, 150 minutes. ing. By this quick freezing operation, the freezer compartment is normally cooled to -21 to -25 ° C, and can be arbitrarily canceled as needed.

  Therefore, when the quick freezing operation mode is started during the ice making operation, the freezing fan (9) is rotated at a high speed together with the compressor to send low-temperature cold air into the freezing room (4), and the room is rapidly When the damper (12) of the ice making room is open at this time, it is placed on the back of the vegetable room (3) having a high set temperature. Therefore, the air in the duct (8), which has a relatively high temperature due to heat leakage, flows into the ice making chamber (5), and the temperature of the ice making chamber (5) rises.

  In addition, the cold air in the ice making room (5) having a relatively high temperature of about −15 ° C. compared to the freezing room (4) that is cooled to about −23 ° C. on average opens the damper (12) of the ice making room. When the refrigeration fan (9) is rotating, it flows into the freezer compartment (4) through the duct (8) by agitation of cold air, and the freezer compartment (4) is frozen in spite of the quick freezing operation. There is a problem that the force is weakened and the temperature lowering speed becomes slow.

  Therefore, as shown in the control flowchart of FIG. 4 in the first embodiment of the present invention, when the cooling operation state in the quick freezing operation mode is refrigerated space cooling, the damper (12) is closed to close the duct ( 8) Prevents cold air from flowing into the ice making chamber (5) and eliminates the flow of cold air between the ice making chamber (5) and the freezing chamber (4). The damper (12) is opened when the cooling operation is performed and not the refrigeration operation. By this control, the temperature of the freezer compartment (4) is easily lowered and the cooling speed is increased. As a result, as shown in FIG. It can be lowered by 5 degrees.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the control shown in FIG. 4, the damper (12) is opened during the freezing operation or the simultaneous freezing / refrigeration cooling operation, and the temperature in the ice making chamber (5) detected by the sensor is required for ice making. Even if it is lower than the ice storage temperature of about 15 ° C. or about −12 ° C. for storing ice, for example, −20 ° C., the damper (12) is opened and the cooling action is continued. The ice making chamber (5) will be cooled.

  On the other hand, as shown in the control flowchart of FIG. 5, even when the refrigeration cooling operation is not being performed, the upper limit temperature for storing ice, for example, −12 ° C. is set as the damper opening temperature, and −15 The damper was closed at ℃, and the opening and closing of the damper (12) was controlled according to the temperature in the ice making chamber (5).

  In other words, when the ice making chamber (5) is -15 ° C or lower, the damper (12) is closed and the ice making chamber (5) is opened if it is -12 ° C or higher. While maintaining storage and ice-making capacity, the cooling operation in the ice-making room (5) is eliminated, and at the same time, the air in the ice-making room (5) is circulated through the duct (8), so that the freezing room (4) Inhibition of the cooling action can be prevented, the inside of the ice making chamber (5) can be kept at a predetermined temperature, and the final temperature of the freezing chamber by the quick freezing operation is 4 to 6 degrees as compared with the conventional temperature. Can be lowered.

  Further, a third embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, when the damper (12) is opened during the freezing operation or the simultaneous freezing and refrigeration cooling operation, for example, the freezing cooling operation is detected by the sensor by continuing for 40 minutes. When the ice making temperature or the temperature of the ice storage chamber falls below a predetermined temperature, for example, when it falls to -20 ° C, the inside of the ice making chamber (5) It will continue to cool down in vain.

  On the other hand, as shown in the control flowchart of FIG. 6, even when the damper (12) is opened because it is not in the refrigeration cooling operation, the damper (12) in the refrigeration cooling operation is kept for a predetermined time, For example, after being opened for 30 minutes, it is controlled to be closed for 10 minutes, and by restricting the time for which the damper (12) is opened, the ice making chamber (5) is not cooled more than necessary, Inhibition of the cooling effect on the freezer compartment (4) due to the circulation of the air in the icemaker chamber (5) through the duct (8) can be reduced, and the ice compartment (5) is kept below a predetermined temperature. At the same time, the temperature in the freezer compartment due to the quick freezing operation can be lowered.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a refrigerator that includes an automatic ice making device and has a quick freezing function.

It is the front view which removed the door which shows schematic structure of the refrigerator of this invention. It is an ice-making operation control flowchart in the refrigerator of FIG. It is a control timing chart which shows the 1st Example of this invention. It is a control flowchart in FIG. It is a control flowchart which shows 2nd Example of this invention. It is a control flowchart which shows 3rd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator body 2 Refrigerating room 3 Vegetable room 4 Freezing room 5 Ice making room 7 Refrigerating cooler 8 Duct 9 Refrigerating cooling fan 10 Refrigerating cooler
12 Ice chamber damper

Claims (4)

  An ice making room equipped with an automatic ice making device is provided in the freezing space in the body independently, and includes a fan for introducing cold air into the ice making room and a damper for adjusting the amount of introduced cold air, and the damper is normally opened. In addition, a refrigerator characterized in that it opens and closes under a predetermined condition when at least a freezing room is operated for quick freezing operation.   A refrigerated room, a vegetable room, and a freezer room are arranged in order from above, and an ice making room equipped with an automatic ice making device is independently provided between the refrigerated room and the vegetable room, and each of the refrigerated storage space and the frozen storage space is provided. In the case where the refrigeration cooling operation and the refrigeration cooling operation are alternately or simultaneously performed by a dedicated cooler to control the cooling to a predetermined temperature and provide a quick freezing operation mode for the freezer, It is equipped with a fan to be introduced and a damper for adjusting the amount of cold air to be introduced. The damper is controlled to be normally opened in the refrigeration cooling operation and closed in the refrigeration cooling operation. A refrigerator characterized by being operated.   The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the damper is opened when the ice making chamber temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, and closed when the temperature is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature. 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the damper for the ice making room is controlled to be opened or closed every predetermined time during the cooling operation.

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