JP2009193422A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine suppressing the drop of a cooling-heating capacity which may occur if the coolant leaks from an electromagnetic valve closed during the stop of a heating operation and flows into and resides in a heating heat-exchanger so that less coolant circulates in the freezing cycle. <P>SOLUTION: The vending machine has a plurality of cooling and heating storage shelves 40a and 40b. A compressor 61, a condenser 62, an expansion means 63, a distributor 64 and a plurality of evaporators 65a, 65b and 65c constitute a coolant circulating circuit 81. The compressor, heating heat-exchangers 66a and 66b, an electronic expansion valve 79, the distributor 64 and the evaporators 65a, 65b and 65c constitute a heating-cooling circulation circuit 82. The opening of the electronic expansion valve 79 is adjusted, and the coolant is collected from the condenser and the heating heat-exchangers, so that the coolant circulation is optimized to perform an efficient heat pump operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine that sells a product such as a beverage in a container such as a can, a bottle, a pack, or a plastic bottle after being cooled or heated in a refrigerant circuit.

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions has become a challenge with recent global warming, and energy-saving vending machines have been developed. As one of the methods, a heat pump type vending machine that uses the heat of the condenser, which has been exhausted in the past, to heat the inside of the cabinet has attracted attention (for example, see Patent Document 1).
However, this vending machine uses the internal heat exchanger as an evaporator during cooling and as a condenser during heating, so the flow of refrigerant changes depending on the cooling and heating operation mode of the vending machine. As a result, there is a problem that the piping of the refrigeration circuit becomes complicated, resulting in high costs.
In addition, in order to reduce the manufacturing cost by using CO ₂ refrigerant, it is known that a refrigerant circuit is configured by providing two piping circuits for a cooling heat exchanger and a heating heat exchanger in one commodity storage. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2).
JP 2002-298210 A JP 2006-11493 A

However, when the refrigerant circuit described in Patent Document 2 is used at a temperature within the criticality, there are the following problems.
1) When the refrigerant leaks from the solenoid valve that is closed during the suspension of the heating operation, the leaked refrigerant flows into the heating heat exchanger. At this time, since the product storage is in a cooling atmosphere, the leaked refrigerant that has flowed into the heating heat exchanger is condensed and stored as a liquid, so that the amount of circulating refrigerant is reduced and the cooling heating capacity is reduced.
2) When the operation mode of cooling and heating is changed, the ratio of the capacity of the heat exchanger used on the cooling side and the heating side is changed, so that an appropriate amount of refrigerant differs in the operation mode. For this reason, since it cannot optimize in each operation mode, the power consumption as a whole increases.
In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, efficiently perform a heat pump operation, and provide a vending machine with low power consumption.

In order to achieve the above object, the vending machine according to claim 1 of the present invention has a plurality of product storages for cooling and heating, and selectively cools the product storages according to the cooling and heating operation mode. A vending machine that heats, a compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that is provided outside the refrigerator to condense the refrigerant, an expansion means that expands the refrigerant, a distributor that distributes the refrigerant expanded by the expansion means, A plurality of evaporators provided in the storage for evaporating the refrigerant constitute a cooling circulation circuit, the compressor, a heating heat exchanger disposed in the product storage together with the evaporator, and pressure adjusting means In the vending machine having a heating / cooling circulation circuit constituted by the distributor and the evaporator, the refrigerant circulation circuit is operated by the pressure adjusting means during operation in the cooling / heating mode for cooling or heating the product storage. Adjust the pressure of , Characterized in that for recovering the refrigerant that has accumulated in the condenser or the heating heat exchanger in the cooling circulation circuit or heating cooling circulation circuit.
The vending machine according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that, in claim 1, the pressure adjusting means is an electronic expansion valve.
The vending machine according to claim 3 of the present invention is the vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the opening of the electronic expansion valve is reduced and stored in the condenser immediately after switching from the single cooling operation to the simultaneous cooling and heating operation. The recovered refrigerant is collected in a heating / cooling circuit.

A vending machine according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the vending machine according to the second aspect, wherein the refrigerant is circulated through the cooling circuit at regular intervals during the simultaneous cooling and heating operation, and the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve is gradually increased. Then, the refrigerant stored in the heating heat exchanger is collected in a cooling circuit or a heating / cooling circuit.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the vending machine according to the second aspect of the present invention is the electronic expansion valve according to the second aspect, wherein when the cooling / heating mode is changed to the simultaneous cooling / heating operation, the refrigerant is circulated through the cooling circuit. Is gradually increased, and the refrigerant stored in the heating heat exchanger is collected in a cooling circuit or a heating / cooling circuit.
The vending machine according to claim 5 of the present invention is the vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the refrigerant is circulated through the cooling circuit each time the compressor is started, and the opening of the electronic expansion valve is gradually increased. The refrigerant stored in the heating heat exchanger is collected in a cooling circuit or a heating / cooling circuit.

The vending machine according to claim 1-2 according to the present invention is a vending machine that has a plurality of cooling and heating product storages and selectively cools or heats the product storages according to the cooling and heating operation mode. A compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that condenses the refrigerant outside the storage, an expansion means that expands the refrigerant, a distributor that distributes the refrigerant expanded by the expansion means, and a refrigerant that is provided inside the storage and evaporates the refrigerant. And a plurality of evaporators to form a cooling circuit, the compressor, a heating heat exchanger disposed in a product storage together with the evaporator, a pressure adjusting means (electronic expansion valve), In the vending machine having a heating / cooling circulation circuit composed of the distributor and the evaporator, the pressure of the refrigerant circulation circuit is controlled by the pressure adjusting means during operation in a cooling / heating mode for cooling or heating the product storage. Adjust the The refrigerant or the heating heat exchanger is recovered by the cooling circulation circuit or the heating / cooling circulation circuit to cool or heat the product storage box without interrupting the operation of the cooling / heating mode. Since the refrigerant stored in the heat exchanger can be recovered in the heating / cooling circulation circuit and the refrigerant circulation amount can be adjusted appropriately, the heat pump operation can be efficiently performed and the power consumption can be reduced.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the vending machine according to the second aspect of the present invention is the refrigerant stored in the condenser with the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve being reduced immediately after switching from the single cooling operation to the simultaneous cooling and heating operation. Is recovered in the heating / cooling circulation circuit, so that it is possible to recover the refrigerant that is insufficient in the simultaneous cooling and heating operation, that is, the refrigerant stored in the condenser to ensure an adequate amount of refrigerant circulation. Heat pump operation can be performed to reduce power consumption.

  The vending machine according to claim 4-6 according to the present invention is the vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the cooling and heating mode is changed between the cooling and heating simultaneous operation at every predetermined time during the cooling and heating simultaneous operation, or Each time the compressor is started, the refrigerant is circulated through the cooling circulation circuit, the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve is gradually increased, and the refrigerant stored in the heating heat exchanger is supplied to the cooling circulation circuit or the heating / cooling circulation circuit. By collecting the refrigerant, it is possible to return the refrigerant that leaks from the solenoid valve and is stored in the closed heating heat exchanger during simultaneous cooling and heating operation to the cooling circuit or heating and cooling circuit, so that the heat pump can be efficiently Operation can be performed and power consumption can be reduced.

Exemplary embodiments of a vending machine according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.
First, a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1 is a perspective view showing a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the vending machine shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a refrigerant circuit diagram according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is. 4 is a block diagram of the control device, FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a refrigerant flow in the operation mode CCC, FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing a refrigerant flow in the operation mode HCC, and FIG. 7 is an operation mode. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of the refrigerant | coolant of CHC. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the refrigerant recovery control, FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing a refrigerant flow when the refrigerant is recovered to the heating heat exchanger, and FIG. 10 is a refrigerant flow when the refrigerant is recovered to the condenser. FIG.
In these drawings, the vending machine has a main body cabinet 10 formed as a rectangular heat insulator having an open front surface, an outer door 20 and an inner door 30 provided on the front surface, and an interior of the main body cabinet 10 in two directions. The bottom plate 11 is partitioned and formed in a step, and the upper part is cooled by, for example, three independent product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c separated by two heat insulating partition plates 40w, and the lower part product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c are cooled or Cooling / heating of the vending machine by the temperature sensor Ta, Tb, Tc disposed inside the machine room 50 for storing the cooling / heating unit 60 for heating and the outer door 20 and in the product storages 40a, 40b, 40c. And control means 90 for controlling operation and the like.

More specifically, the outer door 20 is used to open and close the front opening of the main body cabinet 10 and is not shown in the figure. Product display room, selection button for selecting the product to be sold, money slot for inserting money, product outlet 21 for taking out the paid-out product, etc. Is arranged.
The inner door 30 opens and closes the front surfaces of the product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c to keep the products in the interior warm. The inner door 30 is a box-shaped structure that is divided into upper and lower stages and has a heat insulator inside. The upper inner door 30a is pivoted at one end to the outer door 20, and the other end is engaged with the outer door 20, and the upper inner door 30a is opened at the same time as the outer door 20 is opened to facilitate replenishment of goods. It is to make. The lower inner door 30b is in a closed state when one end pivots on the main body cabinet 10 and the other end is hooked on the main body cabinet 10 with a latch (not shown) and the outer door 20 is opened. It is possible to prevent the cool air or warm air in the storage cases 40a, 40b, and 40c from flowing out, and to open as necessary during maintenance.
The product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c are for storing products such as canned beverages and beverages containing plastic bottles while maintaining the desired temperature, and the capacity of the storage units is the product storage units 40c, 40a. , 40b in a large manner. In this embodiment, the product storage case 40c is exclusively used for cooling, and the product storage cases 40a and 40b are also used for cooling and heating. The product storage racks 40a, 40b, and 40c store the products in a manner that they are arranged in the vertical direction, and are provided with a product storage rack R that includes a product delivery mechanism for discharging the products one by one in response to a sales signal. There is a product carry-out chute 42 for carrying the discharged product S to the sales port 21 of the outer door through a carry-out door 31 installed in the inner door 30b.

The cooling / heating unit 60 includes a compressor 61, a condenser 62, an expansion valve 63, an accumulator 69, a cooling unit that connects the evaporators 65 a, 65 b, and 65 c in the warehouse with refrigerant pipes across the bottom plate 11, and a compressor 61, a heating / cooling unit for connecting the evaporators 65a, 65b, 65c and the heating heat exchangers 66a, 66b in the warehouse across the bottom plate 11 with refrigerant pipes across the bottom heat exchanger 76, the electronic expansion valve 79, and the bottom plate 11, and heating It has a heating part of heaters 80a and 80b. The cooling / heating unit 60 cools or heats the product S in the product storage rack R by circulating cold air or warm air in the cabinet according to the cooling / heating operation mode.
A fan 62f is installed at the rear of the condenser 62. The fan 62f sucks air from the front opening of the machine chamber 50, sucks heat of condensation by the condenser 62, and absorbs exhaust heat of the compressor 61. Thus, the air is exhausted to the rear opening of the machine room 50.
The evaporators 65a, 65b, and 65c are for cooling the product storages 40a, 40b, and 40c, and are installed at the lower part of each product storage. The heating heat exchangers 66a and 66b are installed after the evaporators 65b and 65c, and are used to heat the product storage boxes 40a and 40b. The evaporators 65a, 65b, 65c and the heating heat exchangers 66a, 66b are surrounded by a wind tunnel 67 in each product storage 40a, 40b, 40c, a fan 65f is installed behind them, and a duct 67d is installed behind them. Is installed. The cooling and heating in the product storage are performed by blowing the air cooled or heated by the evaporators 65a, 65b and 65c and the heating heat exchangers 66a and 66b to the product S in the product storage, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. As shown, it is performed by collecting from the duct 67d.

The accumulator 69 is a sealed container for allowing the refrigerant evaporated from the evaporators 65 a, 65 b, and 65 c to flow in, gas-liquid separation to store the liquid refrigerant, and returning the gas refrigerant to the compressor 61. The accumulator 69 is also a container for storing the refrigerant remaining in the refrigerant circulation of the circuit.
The heaters 80a and 80b are installed in front of the heating heat exchangers 66a and 66b, and the heating heat exchangers 66a and 66b are not used when the inside of the cooling side is cooled to an appropriate temperature by the simultaneous cooling and heating operation. In addition, the operation of the refrigerant circuit is stopped and the product storages 40a and 40b are heated.
The refrigerant circuit configuration of the cooling / heating unit 60 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The refrigerant circuit configuration includes a cooling circulation circuit 81 that only cools the inside of the warehouse and a heating and cooling circulation circuit 82 that simultaneously performs heating and cooling inside the warehouse (performs a heat pump operation).
The cooling circuit 81 is connected to the flow divider 64 via the compressor 61, the electromagnetic valve 68, the condenser 62, the check valve 71, and the expansion valve 63 (an expansion means or a capillary may be used). A circuit is connected to the evaporators 65a, 65b, and 65c via the valves 70a, 70b, and 70c, and the pipes from the evaporators 65a, 65b, and 65c are collected and returned to the compressor 61 via the accumulator 69.

On the other hand, the heating / cooling circulation circuit 82 is connected to the heating heat exchangers 66a and 66b in parallel from the compressor 61 via the electromagnetic valves 68a and 68b, and from the heating heat exchangers 66a and 66b via the check valves 71 and 71. Is connected to the flow divider 64 from the external heat exchanger 76 via the electronic expansion valve 79 as pressure adjusting means, and returns from the evaporators 65a, 65b, 65c to the compressor 61 via the accumulator 69. is there.
As the refrigerant, R134a is used as a refrigerant used within a critical pressure, for example, a fluorocarbon refrigerant.
The control means 90 controls the cooling or heating of the product storage boxes 40a, 40b, and 40c by the cooling and heating operation mode. As shown in FIG. 4, a CPU and a memory are provided inside, and control such as opening and closing of the solenoid valve of the refrigerant circuit is performed according to the cooling heating operation mode determined by the setting of the operation mode setting SW91. The operation mode indicates the cooling or heating operation of the product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c by C and H, and in the order of (40a, 40b, 40c) from the left side of the product storage unit, for example, all are cooling Is described as CCC mode, and when only the left product storage is heated, it is described as HCC mode. Further, the control means 90 controls the compressor 61, the electronic expansion valve 79, the electromagnetic valves 68, 68a, 70a, etc. according to the temperatures detected by the internal temperature sensors Ta, Tb, Tc, and the internal temperature by the thermocycle operation. Is maintained at an appropriate temperature. Further, as will be described later, the control means 90 performs refrigerant recovery control for recovering the refrigerant that leaks from the valves and is stored in the heating heat exchangers 66a and 66b when the heating solenoid valves 68a and 68b are closed.

When the operation mode is set to the CCC mode with such a configuration, the control means 90 opens the electromagnetic valves 68, 70a, 70b, 70c, closes the electromagnetic valves 68b, 68c, and fully opens the electronic expansion valve 79. As shown in FIG. 5, the high-temperature refrigerant compressed by the compressor 61 is condensed by the condenser 62 to become liquid refrigerant, expands by the expansion valve 63 and becomes a low-temperature gas-liquid two-phase flow, and is divided by the flow divider 64 in three directions. And are evaporated by the evaporators 65a, 65b, 65c, and the product storages 40a, 40b, 40c are cooled. The refrigerant that has become gas is separated into gas and liquid via an accumulator 69 that stores liquid refrigerant and returns to the compressor 61. In this cooling, the controller 90 controls the internal temperature to an appropriate temperature by the thermocycle operation by the internal temperature sensors Ta, Tb, and Tc.
When one room, for example, the product storage box 40a among the product storage boxes 40a, 40b, and 40c reaches an appropriate temperature, the electromagnetic valve 70a corresponding to the inside of the box is closed, and the cooling single operation of the two rooms is continued. Further, when one room reaches an appropriate temperature, the single cooling operation of one room is continued, and operation control is performed until all the rooms have the appropriate temperature. Note that, as described above, the single cooling operation may include all three rooms, two rooms, and one room.
Next, when the operation mode is set to the HCC mode in which the left chamber is heated, the control means 90 opens the electromagnetic valves 68a, 70b, 70c, closes the electromagnetic valves 68, 68b, 70a, and the electronic expansion valve 79. Is set to a predetermined opening. As shown in FIG. 6, the high-temperature refrigerant | coolant compressed with the compressor 61 flows into the heating heat exchanger 66a, is condensed, and heats the goods storage 40a. The high-temperature refrigerant condensed by the heating heat exchanger 66 a is further condensed by the external heat exchanger 76 and expanded by the electronic expansion valve 79. The refrigerant expanded by the electronic expansion valve 79 becomes a low-temperature gas-liquid two-phase flow, is divided by the flow divider 64 and is evaporated by the evaporators 65b and 65c, and the product storage boxes 40a and 40b are cooled. The refrigerant that has become gas in the evaporators 65 b and 65 c returns to the compressor 61. As described above, the cooling and heating simultaneous operation also keeps the interior at an appropriate temperature by the thermocycle operation.

During operation in the HCC mode, when the product storage 40a in the heating chamber reaches an appropriate temperature, the corresponding electromagnetic valve 68a is closed, and the electromagnetic valve 68 is opened to open two chambers (as in the CCC mode described above). The single cooling operation of the product storages 40b and 40c) is continued. During the operation, when the commodity storage 40a in the heating chamber falls below the appropriate temperature, the electromagnetic valve 68a in the heating chamber is opened again (the electromagnetic valve 68 is closed), and the cooling and heating simultaneous operation in the three chambers is performed. When the two product storages 40b and 40c in the cooling chamber reach an appropriate temperature, the cooling and heating simultaneous operation is stopped, the heater 80a is energized, and the heating single operation is performed.
By the way, as described above, when the single cooling operation is continued and the internal temperature of the heating chamber falls below the appropriate temperature, the control unit 90 switches to the simultaneous cooling and heating operation and performs the thermocycle operation. At this time, since the solenoid valve 68 is closed and the circuit flowing to the condenser 62 is shut off, the refrigerant flowing through the heating heat exchanger 66a and the evaporators 65b and 65c runs short. Therefore, in the present invention, the refrigerant is recovered from the condenser 62 to the heating / cooling circuit 82 as described later.
Further, although the heating-side electromagnetic valve 68b is closed, some high-temperature refrigerant may leak from the electromagnetic valve 68b due to the discharge pressure of the compressor 61. The leaked refrigerant flows from the electromagnetic valve 68b into the heating heat exchanger 66b. Since the internal storage 40b with the heating heat exchanger 66b is in a cooling operation, the refrigerant that has flowed in is condensed. The condensed refrigerant merges with the outlet side of the heating heat exchanger 66a and flows into the heating circulation circuit, but a part of the refrigerant is stored in the heating heat exchanger 66b and the refrigerant circulation amount of the circuit may be insufficient. . For this reason, in the present invention, the refrigerant is recovered from the heating heat exchanger 66b to the refrigerant circulation circuit (cooling circulation circuit 81 or heating / cooling circulation circuit 82) at regular intervals as described later.

Next, when the operation mode is set to the CHC mode in which the central chamber is heated, the control means 90 opens the electromagnetic valves 68b, 70a, 70c, closes the electromagnetic valves 68, 68a, 70b, and the electronic expansion valve 79. Is set to a predetermined opening. As shown in FIG. 7, the high-temperature refrigerant compressed by the compressor 61 flows into the heating heat exchanger 66b and is condensed to heat the commodity storage 40c. The high-temperature refrigerant condensed by the heating heat exchanger 66 b is further condensed by the external heat exchanger 76 and expanded by the electronic expansion valve 79. The refrigerant expanded by the electronic expansion valve 79 becomes a low-temperature gas-liquid two-phase flow, is divided by the flow divider 64 and is evaporated by the evaporators 65a and 65c, the product storage units 40a and 40b are cooled, and the evaporators 65a and 65c. The refrigerant turned into a gas returns to the compressor 61. As described above, the cooling and heating simultaneous operation also keeps the interior at an appropriate temperature by the thermocycle operation.
During operation in the CHC mode, when the product storage 40b in the heating chamber reaches an appropriate temperature, the electromagnetic valve 68b corresponding to the interior is closed, and the electromagnetic valve 68 is opened to open two chambers (product storage 40a, 40c). The single cooling operation is continued. During the operation, when the commodity storage 40b in the heating chamber falls below the appropriate temperature, the electromagnetic valve 68b in the heating chamber is opened again (the electromagnetic valve 68 is closed), and the cooling and heating simultaneous operation of the three chambers is performed.
As described above, when switching from the single cooling operation to the simultaneous cooling and heating operation, the circuit that flows through the condenser 62 is shut off by closing the solenoid valve 68, so the refrigerant circulation amount of the circuit is insufficient. The refrigerant leaking from the closed electromagnetic valve 68a flows into the heating heat exchanger 66b, condenses, merges with the outlet side of the heating heat exchanger 66b, and flows into the heating circuit. May be stored in the heating heat exchanger 66a, and the amount of refrigerant circulating in the circuit may be insufficient. Therefore, in the present invention, the refrigerant stored in the condenser 62 or the heating heat exchangers 66a and 66b is recovered in the cooling circulation circuit 81 or the heating / cooling circulation circuit 82.

Next, the refrigerant recovery control when the refrigerant circulation amount of the cooling circulation circuit 81 or the cooling heating circulation circuit 82 according to the present invention is insufficient will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8 by taking the HCC mode as an example.
First, the internal temperature is read from the internal temperature sensors Ta, Tb, and Tc (S11), and the operation state of cooling and heating of each chamber is determined (S12). If it is not the cooling and heating simultaneous operation (S13 / No), the process returns to the first step, and if it is the cooling and heating simultaneous operation (S13 / Yes), it is determined whether or not the switching is from the cooling single operation (S14).
If it is this condition (S14 / Yes), the following refrigerant | coolant adjustment is performed. First, the electromagnetic valve 68a on the inlet side of the heating heat exchanger 66a is opened (S15), and the electromagnetic valve 68 on the inlet side of the condenser 62 is closed (S16). At this time, the refrigerant passes from the compressor 61 through the heating heat exchanger 66a, the external heat exchanger 76, the electronic expansion valve 79, the distributor 64, and the condensers 65b and 65c as shown by the solid line arrows in FIG. It flows through the heating / cooling circuit 82 which returns to 61. Next, when the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 79 is reduced (S17), the flow rate of the refrigerant is limited and the electronic expansion valve 79 has a pressure lower than normal. Therefore, as shown by the broken arrow in FIG. The refrigerant is sucked from 62 through the expansion valve 63 and flows into the heating and cooling circuit 82. After the elapse of a predetermined time for completing the recovery of the refrigerant from the condenser 62 (S18), the electronic expansion valve 79 is returned to a predetermined opening (S19), and the process returns to the first step S1 to perform a normal cooling and heating simultaneous operation.

  If it is not at the time of switching from the cooling-only operation in step S14 (S14 / No), whether the operation time has been accumulated and a certain time has elapsed, or switching between the cooling and heating simultaneous operation modes has been performed. Is determined (S24). The switching of the cooling and heating simultaneous operation mode refers to a case where the cooling and heating mode is changed between the cooling and heating simultaneous operations such as switching from the HCC mode to the CHC mode and from the CHC mode to the HHC mode. If the operation time has not been accumulated for a certain period of time, or if switching between the cooling and heating simultaneous operation modes has not been performed (S24 / No), the process proceeds to the next determination step S34, where the operation time is accumulated and constant. If the time (for example, 2 hours) has passed or if switching between the cooling and heating simultaneous operation modes is performed (S24 / Yes), the following refrigerant adjustment is performed. First, the electromagnetic valve 68 on the inlet side of the condenser 62 is opened (S25), and then the electromagnetic valve 68a on the inlet side of the heating heat exchanger 66a is closed. At this time, the refrigerant flows through the cooling circuit 81 from the compressor 61 through the condenser 62, the expansion valve 63, the distributor 64, and the condensers 65b and 65c and back to the compressor 61 as indicated by the solid line arrows in FIG. Next, when the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 79 is fully opened (S27), since the pressure on the outlet side of the expansion valve 63 is low and the electronic expansion valve 79 is fully open, the heat exchange as shown by the broken line arrow in FIG. The refrigerant stored in the containers 66 a and 66 b is recovered by the cooling circulation circuit 81 via the external heat exchanger 76 and the electronic expansion valve 79. After elapse of a predetermined time (for example, several minutes) for completion of refrigerant recovery (S28), the electronic expansion valve 79 is returned to a predetermined opening (S29). Next, the opening and closing of the solenoid valve is returned (S30). Specifically, the solenoid valve 68 on the inlet side of the condenser 62 is closed, and the solenoid valve 68a on the inlet side of the heating heat exchanger 66a is opened. Returning to step S1, normal cooling and heating simultaneous operation is performed.

  Further, if the operation time is not accumulated in step S24 and the predetermined time has not elapsed, or if switching between the cooling and heating simultaneous operation modes is not performed (S24 / No), the process proceeds to the next determination step S34. In step S34, it is determined whether the compressor 61 has just been started. In other words, it is determined whether the thermocycle operation is started when the internal temperature deviates from a predetermined optimum temperature. If the compressor 61 is not just started (S34 / No), the process returns to the first step S1, and if the compressor 61 is just started (S34 / Yes), the following refrigerant adjustment is performed. First, the electromagnetic valve 68 on the inlet side of the condenser 62 is opened (S35), and then the electromagnetic valve 68a on the inlet side of the heating heat exchanger 66a is closed. At this time, the refrigerant flows from the compressor 61 through the condenser 62, the expansion valve 63, the distributor 64, and the condensers 65b and 65c through the cooling circuit 81 returning to the compressor 61 as indicated by the solid arrows in FIG. . Next, when the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 79 is fully opened (S37), since the pressure on the outlet side of the expansion valve 63 is low and the electronic expansion valve 79 is fully open, the heating heat exchanger is indicated by a broken line arrow in FIG. The refrigerant stored in 66a and 66b is collected in the cooling circuit 81 via the external heat exchanger 76 and the electronic expansion valve 79. After elapse of a predetermined time (for example, several tens of seconds) in which the refrigerant recovery is completed (S38), the electronic expansion valve 79 is returned to a predetermined opening (S39). Next, the opening and closing of the solenoid valve is returned (S40). Specifically, the solenoid valve 68 on the inlet side of the condenser 62 is closed, and the solenoid valve 68a on the inlet side of the heating heat exchanger 66a is opened. Returning to step S1, normal cooling and heating simultaneous operation is performed.

Further, as the pressure adjusting means, a fixed throttle means such as a plurality of capillaries and a bypass circuit may be connected in parallel and switched by an electromagnetic valve or the like. In the case of this pressure adjusting means, the pressure on the outlet side can be adjusted stepwise by switching the electromagnetic valve.
As described above, the control unit 90 adjusts the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 79 as the pressure adjusting unit and collects the refrigerant from the condenser 62 or the heating heat exchangers 66a and 66b, thereby reducing the refrigerant circulation amount. Since it adjusts appropriately, a heat pump operation can be performed efficiently and power consumption can be reduced.
Further, immediately after switching from the single cooling operation mode to the simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode, the control unit 90 reduces the opening of the electronic expansion valve 79 as the pressure adjustment unit, and heats the heat exchangers 66a and 66b from the condenser 62. By recovering the refrigerant, the refrigerant that is deficient in the simultaneous cooling and heating operation is recovered from the condenser 62 and the refrigerant circulation amount is appropriately secured. Therefore, the heat pump operation can be efficiently performed and the power consumption can be reduced. it can.
Further, the control means 90 is connected to the cooling circulation circuit every certain time during the simultaneous cooling and heating operation, when the cooling and heating mode is changed between the simultaneous cooling and heating operations, or every time the compressor is started. Circulating the refrigerant, opening the opening of the electronic expansion valve 79, and collecting the refrigerant from the heating heat exchangers 66a, 66b, leaking from the electromagnetic valves 68a, 68b, and the closed heating during the simultaneous cooling and heating operation Since the refrigerant stored in the heat exchangers 66a and 66b is returned to the refrigerant circuit, the heat pump operation can be performed efficiently and the power consumption can be reduced.

  As described above, the vending machine according to the present invention is suitable for cooling or heating a product such as a beverage contained in a container such as a can, a bottle, a pack, or a plastic bottle in a refrigerant circuit.

1 is a perspective view showing a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the vending machine shown in FIG. It is a refrigerant circuit figure concerning the example of the present invention. It is a block diagram of a control apparatus. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of the refrigerant | coolant of the operation mode CCC. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of the refrigerant | coolant of the operation mode HCC. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of the refrigerant | coolant of operation mode CHC. It is a flowchart of cooling recovery control. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of a refrigerant | coolant when collect | recovering a refrigerant | coolant to a heating heat exchanger. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of a refrigerant | coolant when collect | recovering a refrigerant | coolant to a condenser.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Main body cabinet 20 Outer door 30 Inner door 40a, 40b, 40c Product storage 60 Cooling / heating unit 61 Compressor 62 Condenser 63 Expansion valve (expansion means)
65a, 65b, 65c Evaporator 66a, 66b Heating heat exchanger 68, 68a, 68b Electromagnetic valve 71a, 71b, 71c Electromagnetic valve 76 External heat exchanger 79 Electronic expansion valve (pressure adjusting means)
90 Controller 91 Operation mode selection SW

Claims (6)

A vending machine having a plurality of product storages for cooling and heating, and selectively cooling or heating the product storages according to an operation mode of cooling and heating,
A compressor that compresses the refrigerant; a condenser that is provided outside the refrigerator to condense the refrigerant; an expansion means that expands the refrigerant; a distributor that distributes the refrigerant expanded by the expansion means; And an evaporator with a cooling circulation circuit,
A vending machine in which a heating / cooling circulation circuit is constituted by the compressor, the heating heat exchanger disposed in the commodity storage together with the evaporator, the pressure adjusting means, the distributor, and the evaporator. In
During operation in the cooling / heating mode for cooling or heating the commodity storage, the pressure of the refrigerant circulation circuit is adjusted by the pressure adjusting means, and the refrigerant stored in the condenser or the heating heat exchanger is cooled or heated. Vending machine characterized by being collected in a cooling circuit   The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the pressure adjusting means is an electronic expansion valve.   3. The refrigerant stored in the condenser is collected in the heating / cooling circulation circuit by reducing the opening of the electronic expansion valve immediately after switching from the cooling single operation to the cooling / heating simultaneous operation. Vending machine   Refrigerant is circulated through the cooling circulation circuit at regular intervals during simultaneous cooling and heating operation, and the degree of opening of the electronic expansion valve is gradually increased so that the refrigerant stored in the heating heat exchanger can be cooled or circulated by the cooling circulation circuit or heating / cooling circulation circuit. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the vending machine is collected.   When the cooling and heating mode changes between simultaneous cooling and heating operations, the refrigerant is circulated through the cooling circuit, the opening of the electronic expansion valve is gradually increased, and the refrigerant stored in the heating heat exchanger is cooled and circulated. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the vending machine is collected in a circuit or a heating / cooling circuit. Refrigerant is circulated through the cooling circuit every time the compressor is started, the opening of the electronic expansion valve is gradually increased, and the refrigerant stored in the heating heat exchanger is collected in the cooling circuit or heating / cooling circuit. The vending machine according to claim 2.

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