JP2009243869A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem on degradation of temperature detection accuracy of an infrared ray sensor caused by the fluctuation of an ambient temperature of the infrared ray sensor caused by accumulation of warm air in a recessed section of a ceiling surface in rising the steam from hot food and warm air accumulated in a case. <P>SOLUTION: As the circumference of the infrared ray sensor 13 is surrounded by an infrared ray collecting member 48 having high heat conductivity, the influence of disturbance caused by fluctuation of the ambient temperature of the infrared ray sensor 13 (for example, temperature fluctuation by door opening/closing and hot food), is absorbed by the infrared ray collecting member 48, thus the temperatures of the infrared ray sensor and the infrared ray collecting member are equalized, the temperature fluctuation around the infrared ray sensor 13 is suppressed, and the detection accuracy of the infrared ray sensor 13 is improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator using an infrared sensor.

  In recent years, as the demand for large-capacity refrigerators has increased, refrigerators designed to improve volumetric efficiency by reducing the ineffective space and refrigerators with various layouts from the viewpoint of usability have been released.

  In the refrigerator, in order to detect the temperature in the refrigerator, the air temperature in the refrigerator is conventionally measured with a thermistor. For example, when hot food is put, this hot The amount of cooling was adjusted by measuring the temperature of the air in the cabinet heated by the influence of food. However, since such a refrigerator does not measure the actual temperature of the food, it is not known whether the food could actually be cooled. Therefore, in order to cool the food, the food is cooled to the target temperature while cooling the surroundings, so that it may take time for the food itself to cool to the target temperature. For this reason, an infrared sensor is provided in the cabinet to detect the actual food temperature and perform a cooling operation (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Hereinafter, the conventional refrigerator will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 6 is a side longitudinal sectional view of a conventional refrigerator described in Patent Document 1. In FIG. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged side sectional view of FIG.

  As shown in the figure, the inside of the refrigerator main body 101 formed of a heat-insulated box is used as a storage space, the refrigerator compartment 102 at the top, the vegetable compartment 103 at the bottom, and the freezer compartment 104 at the bottom, respectively. Between the refrigerator compartment 102 and the vegetable compartment 103, a temperature switching chamber 105 and an ice making chamber (not shown) are arranged side by side through a heat insulating partition wall. A door is provided and can be opened and closed.

  At the rear of the vegetable room 103, a freezing cooler 106 such as a freezing room 104, a temperature switching room 105, an ice making room, and a cooling blower fan 107 that circulates the cold air generated by the freezing cooler 106 into the storage room are arranged. Further, a refrigeration cooler 108 and a refrigeration fan (not shown) for cooling the refrigeration chamber 102 and the vegetable compartment 104 are provided at a position in front of the freezing cooler 106, and a machine room below the main body is provided. The refrigerant is supplied to the refrigeration and refrigeration coolers 106 and 108 alternately or simultaneously by driving the compressor 109 installed in the compressor and switching control of the refrigerant flow path switching valve. Fans are blown to the storage compartments on the freezing temperature zone side and the refrigeration temperature zone side by the fan for cooling control to a predetermined temperature. The low-temperature cold air discharged from the freezing cooler 106 is diverted to the freezing chamber 104, the ice making chamber, and the temperature switching chamber 105 by the cooling air blowing fan 107, and is blown and cooled through dedicated ducts.

  The temperature switching chamber 105 is provided with an infrared sensor 112 attached to a recess 113 on the ceiling surface. A shutter mechanism 114 is provided at the opening of the recess 113, and when the opening of the temperature switching chamber 105 is detected, the shutter mechanism 114 operates to close the opening of the recess 113 and further close the door of the temperature switching chamber 105. , The shutter mechanism 114 operates to open the opening of the recess 113, cool air is blown into the room from the air outlet 110, and the temperature of the food 111 that is a load cooled by this cool air is detected by the infrared sensor 112. At the same time, the amount of cold air introduced into the room is adjusted by operating the refrigeration cycle so as to reach a preset temperature and by controlling the opening and closing of a cold air damper installed near the outlet 110 to bring the food 111 to a predetermined preset temperature. It is controlled to become.

In this way, efficient cooling operation control is performed by detecting the surface temperature of the target food 111 with the infrared sensor 112 and performing only the necessary cooling operation when necessary.
JP 2007-212053 A

  However, in the above conventional configuration, when the temperature switching chamber door is opened and hot food is stored, detection of opening of the temperature switching chamber door to prevent warm air from accumulating inside the case of the temperature switching chamber due to inflow of outside air. Since the shutter mechanism closes the opening of the recess and prevents the inflow of warm air into the recess, the temperature switching chamber must be equipped with a switch that detects the opening and closing of the door and a shutter mechanism that works in conjunction with it. It had a good structure. In particular, by providing a complex movable part that opens and closes with the opening and closing of the door, for example, when there is some foreign matter, condensed water, frost, etc. around the shutter mechanism, the movable part of the shutter mechanism is malfunctioning. The possibility of causing These problems, especially when installed in refrigerators that are expected to be used for a long period of time, such as an average age of 10 years, increase the possibility of malfunction due to repeated opening and closing of the door, thus reducing the reliability of the refrigerator. It had the problem of becoming a factor to make it happen.

  In addition, when a complicated configuration such as the above-described conventional configuration is used, in addition to increasing the possibility of failure, electric power for operating the motor and control device is also required, and an infrared sensor is installed with energy saving. There was also a problem that was difficult.

  When the present invention is mounted on a refrigerator premised on long-term use by suppressing the deterioration of detection accuracy due to the influence of disturbance around the infrared sensor (for example, fluctuation of ambient temperature due to opening and closing of the door, etc.) with a simpler configuration. Even so, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that is highly reliable and saves energy and improves the detection accuracy of an infrared sensor.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, a heat insulating box composed of a plurality of heat insulating compartments, a heat insulating partition for partitioning the heat insulating box, a storage compartment partitioned by the partition, and the storage compartment An infrared sensor having a temperature detection unit that detects the amount of infrared radiation emitted from the stored item, and an infrared condensing member that includes a through hole that surrounds the temperature detection unit and guides the radiation amount to the infrared sensor. And at least an inner wall surface of the infrared condensing member is formed so as to have a large heat holding force.

  In this way, in order to suppress the temperature fluctuation in the visual field range of the infrared sensor, the thermal holding power of the inner wall surface of the infrared light collecting member located in the visual field range of the infrared sensor is increased, so that the infrared light collecting member against the temperature fluctuation due to disturbance The temperature tracking performance of the infrared sensor can be relaxed, and the temperature stability of the infrared sensor's visual field range can be improved. It can be suppressed with a simpler configuration, and the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor can be improved.

  In addition, by reducing the temperature fluctuation of the infrared condensing member located around the infrared sensor in this way, it becomes possible to suppress the temperature fluctuation around the infrared sensor, and further the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor can be improved. Can be improved.

  The refrigerator of the present invention is mounted on a refrigerator that is premised on long-term use by suppressing the deterioration of detection accuracy due to the influence of disturbance around the infrared sensor (for example, fluctuation of ambient temperature due to door opening and closing, etc.) with a simpler configuration. Even if it is a case, the quality of the refrigerator provided with the infrared sensor can be improved by improving the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor with high reliability and energy saving.

  The invention according to claim 1 is housed in the heat insulation box composed of a plurality of heat insulation compartments, the heat insulation partition part partitioning the heat insulation box, the storage room partitioned by the partition part, and the storage room. An infrared sensor having a temperature detection unit for detecting the amount of infrared radiation radiated from the stored item, and an infrared condensing member having a through-hole surrounding the temperature detection unit to guide the radiation amount to the infrared sensor. In addition, at least the inner wall surface of the infrared condensing member is formed so as to increase the heat holding force.

  In this way, in order to suppress the temperature fluctuation in the visual field range of the infrared sensor, the thermal holding power of the inner wall surface of the infrared light collecting member located in the visual field range of the infrared sensor is increased, so that the infrared light collecting member against the temperature fluctuation due to disturbance The temperature tracking performance of the infrared sensor can be relaxed, and the temperature stability of the infrared sensor's visual field range can be improved. It can be suppressed with a simpler configuration, and the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor can be improved.

  In addition, since the temperature fluctuation of the infrared condensing member located around the infrared sensor is reduced in this way, it is possible to suppress the temperature fluctuation around the infrared sensor, and the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor is further improved. Can be improved.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the refrigerator of the invention according to claim 1, wherein the recess formed in the heat insulating partition, the infrared mounting case that houses the infrared sensor, and a part of the infrared mounting case Containing a condensing opening that penetrates in the same shape as the side surface of the infrared condensing member, and by embedding the infrared mounting case in the recess, the side surface of the infrared condensing member is surrounded by a resin member having a larger heat capacity. Thus, by improving the heat capacity and further reducing the temperature fluctuation of the infrared condensing member, the ambient temperature fluctuation of the infrared sensor can be further suppressed, and the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor can be further improved.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the refrigerator of the second aspect of the invention, the front end surface of the infrared condensing member is embedded in the same surface as the front end surface of the recess, so that warm air flows in by opening and closing the door. By passing only the front end surface of the infrared condensing member, it becomes the same surface that eliminates unevenness, so that inflow of warm air due to opening and closing of the door and food etc. are stored, and warm air accumulation of steam emitted from the food is eliminated Therefore, even when the door is opened, the temperature fluctuation is small, so it is possible to suppress false detections caused by sudden changes in ambient temperature, etc., and to improve the stability of infrared sensor detection accuracy. it can.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the refrigerator according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the infrared condensing member is made of a metal whose main component is good heat conductive aluminum. Therefore, even if there is an inflow of warm air due to opening and closing of the door, by using a metal mainly composed of aluminum that has good thermal conductivity, the heat response is accelerated, and the temperature of the through-hole of the infrared condensing member is increased. The gradient can be eliminated and the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor can be improved.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the infrared condensing member is formed by blending a resin and a powder oxide, and the powder. It is possible to ensure the electrical insulation stipulated by various laws and regulations concerning household electrical appliances without deteriorating the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor by having the characteristics of electrical insulation composed of 85% or more of oxides. .

  The invention according to claim 6 is the refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the through-hole has a height of 3 mm or more from a front end surface of the infrared sensor. For example, when the angle becomes wider, the temperature detection surface that detects the temperature with the infrared sensor also becomes larger, and the possibility of detecting a temperature other than the installation surface or food other than the food to be detected increases on the temperature detection surface. To do. As a result, the height of the through-hole is set to 3 mm or more, the viewing angle is limited, and the temperature detection surface is narrowed, so that erroneous detection of the infrared sensor can be minimized, and the detection accuracy is stable. Further improvement can be achieved.

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

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of the main part of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2a is a side sectional view of the infrared sensor mounting portion of the refrigerator in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 a, the freezer compartment 3, which is a part of the storage compartment of the refrigerator main body 2 composed of the heat insulating box 1, has a temperature zone due to the upper upper heat insulating partition 4 and the lower lower heat insulating partition 5. It is partitioned from different refrigerator compartment 6 and vegetable compartment 7. Further, an opening (not shown) of the freezer compartment 3 is provided with a partition 8 that connects the left and right ends of the opening.

  In the present embodiment, only the left and right ends of the opening are connected by the partition body 8, but the freezer compartment 3 is divided into upper and lower compartments, and either compartment can be set to another temperature zone, for example. In the case of using as the upper insulating partition 4 or the lower lower insulating partition 5 so as to divide the upper and lower compartments by the partition 8, it may be formed of an insulating partition over the entire cross section.

  In the cold air generation chamber 9 provided on the back surface of the freezer compartment 3, an evaporator 10 that generates cold air and a blower 11 that supplies and circulates the cold air to the refrigerator compartment 6, the freezer compartment 3, and the vegetable compartment 7 are arranged, respectively. A defrosting heater 12 that is energized during defrosting is disposed in the lower space of the evaporator 10. In addition, a cold air distribution chamber 19 is provided on the rear surface of the freezer compartment 3, and a cold air discharge port 21, a cold air discharge port 22, and a cold air discharge port 33 are provided as a plurality of cold air discharge ports continuously to the cold air distribution chamber 19. ing.

  A door 23 and a door 24 are provided at the opening of the freezer compartment 3, and the freezer compartment 3 is closed so that cold air does not flow out of the freezer compartment 3. Both the door 23 and the door 24 are drawer-type doors. When food is taken in and out, the door 23 and the door 24 are used by being pulled out toward the front side of the refrigerator, that is, the left side as shown in FIG. In addition, frame bodies 25 and 26 are provided behind the door 23 and the door 24, respectively. An upper container 27 and a lower container 28 are placed on the frames 25 and 26, respectively.

  A cold storage material 29 is placed on a detection surface which is a surface facing the infrared sensor 13 on the bottom surface of the upper container 27. The cold storage material 29 is set to a melting temperature of −15 ° C., which is lower than the freezing temperature of food that is generally frozen and higher than the temperature of the freezer compartment 3. Further, the filling amount of the regenerator material 29 is set to an amount that does not completely melt even when food is put on and placed on the regenerator material 29.

  Further, the inner wall surface of the upper heat insulating partition 4, which is the wall surface to which the infrared sensor 13 is attached, is formed of ABS resin. Similarly, the other inner wall surface of the freezer compartment 3 is also made of ABS resin, and the upper container 27 and the lower container 28 are made of PP resin made of a general resin similar in thermal characteristics to the ABS resin. .

  Further, a cold air suction port 30 for sucking cold air and leading it to the evaporator 10 is provided at the lower back of the freezer compartment 3.

  In addition, the food 31 is placed and stored on the cold storage material 29 by the user's hand.

  The infrared sensor 13 generally detects the amount of infrared rays radiated from an object in the visual field range, converts the infrared light receiving unit 40 to convert it into an electric signal, and measures the reference temperature of the ambient temperature of the infrared light receiving unit 40 to obtain an electric signal. And a thermistor 42 for converting into the infrared element unit 43.

  In the present embodiment, the purpose is to detect the temperature of the food 31, but the infrared sensor 13 detects the temperature of the food 31 and at the same time detects the temperature within the field of view of the infrared sensor 13. The amount of infrared rays emitted from the wall surface of the chamber 4, the food 31 stored in the freezer compartment 4, the cold storage material 29, and the like is detected. At that time, the ambient temperature of the infrared light receiving unit 40 is measured as a reference temperature.

  In addition, a control board (not shown) for controlling the refrigerator is electrically connected to the wire 46 to which the infrared element portion 43 is electrically connected, the connector 44, and the printed circuit board (not shown) 41. ) Wiring 45 and the connector 44 are electrically connected.

  And the infrared element part 43 outputs the voltage of the reference temperature of the thermistor 42, and the voltage of the infrared rays amount of the infrared light-receiving part 40 to a control board (not shown), The temperature of the detected measured object is output. The control means (not shown) makes a determination based on the calculated detected temperature.

  The infrared condensing member 48 covers the periphery of the infrared element unit 43 in a state of being in thermal contact with the infrared element unit 43, is provided without any gap with the substrate 45, and is an infrared ray of disturbance radiated from other than the food 31 and the cold storage material 29. In order to increase the detection intensity, a through hole 50 that restricts the viewing angle θ ° is provided so as to lead to the infrared light receiver 40. Thus, in this Embodiment in order to have a condensing function, by making the height of the rear-end part 50c from the inner wall surface 50a front-end | tip part 50b of the through-hole 50 of the infrared condensing member 48 into 3 mm or more, visual field It is provided so that the angle is 30 ° to 60 °. Here, when the height of the upper container 27 is approximately 110 mm, the viewing angle is preferably approximately 50 °.

  Here, in the through hole 50, the infrared detection intensity is the strongest in the center of the circle to be detected, and the detection intensity becomes weaker toward the end. Therefore, by narrowing the viewing angle of the infrared sensor, it is possible to increase the intensity of the infrared ray of the detected object such as food 31 that is in the visual field range of the infrared sensor, and to detect the temperature of the object more reliably and accurately. However, since a part of the viewing angle overlaps with the inner wall surface 50a and the tip end portion 50b of the through-hole 50, it is affected by the temperature of the inner wall surface 50a and the tip end portion 50b, thereby causing a false detection range. At least the inner wall surface 50a of the through-hole 50 of the infrared condensing member 48 located inside relaxes the temperature followability to such disturbance even when there is a temperature fluctuation due to disturbance such as inflow of warm air accompanying opening and closing of the door. It is desirable to enable stable detection, and in the present embodiment, the heat retaining force of the inner wall surface 50a of the through-hole 50 of the infrared condensing member 48. In order to increase, it is devised so as to increase the high and heat capacity thermal conductivity so that the heat retention of the infrared condensing member 48 itself is increased.

  Here, the heat retention force in the present invention represents the responsiveness of the temperature followability to the temperature variation when the ambient air is subjected to a thermal load such as a temperature variation, that is, the thermal load is applied. In this case, the direction in which the temperature followability is poor is the direction in which the heat retention force is increased, and the direction in which the followability is good is the direction in which the heat retention force is decreased. This heat capacity can be expressed, for example, by the amount of heat radiation per unit surface area of the surface of the member exposed to the air. Specifically, for example, even if the surface area of the infrared condensing member 48 exposed to the air is the same, if the infrared condensing member 48 has a large volume, the heat holding force increases, and even if the volume is the same. When a material having a large heat capacity is used, the heat retention force increases.

  About the refrigerator comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below.

  First, after turning on the power, the operation of the refrigeration cycle (not shown) is started, and the refrigerant flows through the evaporator 10 to generate cold air. The generated cold air is sent to the cold air distribution chamber 19 by the blower 11, distributed from the cold air discharge port 21 and the cold air discharge port 22, and discharged into the freezer compartment 3.

  The freezer compartment 3 is cooled to a predetermined temperature by the cold air discharged into the freezer compartment 3, and at the same time, the cold storage material 29 is also cooled. At this time, the freezer compartment 3 is adjusted to a temperature at which the food can be stored frozen for a certain period of time, for example, -20 ° C, but the heat storage material 29 uses a material whose melting temperature is set to -15 ° C. After the chamber 3 is sufficiently cooled and a predetermined time elapses, the regenerator 29 is completely frozen, and the cool air that has cooled the inside of the cooling chamber 3 enters the cool air generation chamber 9 through the cool air inlet 30 and the evaporator 10. Cooled again.

For detecting the temperature of the infrared sensor 13, for example, when the ambient temperature of the infrared sensor 13 serving as the reference temperature is 25 ° C., the voltage output from the infrared sensor 13 is V, the ambient temperature measured by the thermistor 42 is S, and the measurement range is When the average temperature of the amount of infrared rays for measuring the amount of infrared rays by the infrared light receiving unit 40 is B, it can be expressed by the relational expression “V = α (B ⁴ −S ⁴ )”. Here, α is a coefficient.

  Therefore, if there is no temperature difference between the ambient temperature S and the average temperature B of the amount of infrared rays, the infrared sensor 13 approaches the value of the output voltage V, and the reference temperature becomes the temperature S in the measurement range. If the temperature difference is large, the amount of infrared light detected by the infrared light receiving unit 40 increases, and the output voltage also increases.

  Therefore, if a warm food is introduced and the ambient temperature S of the infrared sensor 13 serving as the reference temperature also increases accordingly, the difference between the ambient temperature S and the average temperature B becomes small, and the warm food. Even when a food item is contained, it cannot be detected that a food having a relatively high temperature is introduced, and the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor 13 is lowered.

  As described above, if the temperature of the thermistor 42 does not fluctuate due to disturbance and can maintain a stable temperature, the infrared sensor 13 can detect the accurate temperature when warm food or the like enters.

  Next, the detection temperature of the infrared sensor 13 when the door 23 is closed is detected including the surface temperature of the regenerator 29 placed on the bottom surface of the upper container 27 which is a detection surface provided on the side facing the infrared sensor 13. To do. As described above, the surface detected by the infrared sensor 13 is formed of the cold storage material 29 having a cold storage function, so that the heat retention force on the detection surface can be increased. For example, even if there is a disturbance such as inflow of warm air, the detection surface of the infrared sensor has a high heat holding power, and the temperature followability to the disturbance can be relaxed. Therefore, higher detection accuracy can be obtained. In this case, the detection surface on which the regenerator material 29 is disposed is less susceptible to disturbance due to poor thermal follow-up due to variations in ambient temperature than the surface of the upper container 27 where the regenerator material 29 is not disposed. Temperature followability can be relaxed. In other words, the detection surface on which the regenerator material 29 is disposed has a smaller heat radiation amount per unit area than the surface of the upper container 27 where the regenerator material 29 is not disposed. Can be increased.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, the detection surface provided on the side facing the infrared sensor 13 and the inner wall surface 50a of the through-hole 50 of the infrared condensing member 48 that is located in the visual field range of the infrared sensor 13. By forming both the bottom surface of the upper container 27, that is, the entire visual field range of the infrared sensor 13 with a member having a large heat retention force, even if a temporary temperature fluctuation occurs due to a disturbance, it is within the visual field range of the infrared sensor. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately detect the temperature of the food 31 that is the object of temperature detection by the infrared sensor 13.

  When the user stores the food 31, for example, the door 23 is pulled out. At this time, the temperature detection of the infrared sensor 13 detects the temperature in the lower container 28. In the present embodiment, when the door 23 is opened, the inside of the lower container 28, which is the detection surface facing the infrared sensor, has a freezing temperature in the same temperature range as the bottom surface of the upper container 27, which is the original detection surface. Since it is a belt, the infrared sensor 13 detects the refrigeration temperature, so that high temperature detection is not performed and unnecessary quick refrigeration control can be prevented.

  When an infrared sensor is provided in a storage room having a drawer-type door in this way, if a door opening / closing sensor that detects opening / closing of the door is provided, false detection is performed by detecting the opening of the door and stopping detection of the infrared sensor. Although it is possible to prevent, in the case where the door opening / closing sensor is not provided as in this embodiment, in order to prevent erroneous detection due to the detection surface detected by the infrared sensor changing as the door is opened The adjacent storage chamber on the projection line of the detection surface in the detection direction of the infrared sensor is preferably a storage chamber in the same temperature range or a low temperature range as the storage chamber provided with the infrared sensor. If this adjacent storage room is a storage room in a high temperature zone, a high temperature is detected, so that a control is applied to accelerate cooling by applying a load to the refrigeration cycle, and wasteful energy is saved. Consume.

  Therefore, when the door opening / closing sensor is not provided as in the present embodiment, the storage room adjacent to the storage room provided with the infrared sensor on the projection line of the detection surface in the detection direction of the infrared sensor is provided with the infrared sensor. It is desirable to make it a storage room in the same temperature zone as the storage room or a low temperature zone, thereby preventing false detection when the door is opened and improving the detection accuracy to steadily cool the refrigeration load with energy saving Can be realized.

  Then, the door 23 is in an open state, the warm air of the outside air flows in from the opening surface of the door 23, the warm air flows along the upper heat insulating partition plate 4 of the ceiling surface of the freezer compartment 3, and the through-hole of the infrared condensing member 48 Because the tip 50b of the inner wall surface 50a and the tip 49a of the recess 49 are the same surface, even when the door is opened, the temperature fluctuation is small. Therefore, false detection due to a rise or fall due to a sudden change in ambient temperature. And the stability of the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor 13 can be improved.

  Moreover, although the temperature of the inner wall surface 50a tip 50b of the through hole of the infrared condensing member 48 rises, the infrared condensing member 48 penetrates through the infrared condensing member 48 even if warm air flows because the heat condensing force of the infrared condensing member 48 is large. A temperature gradient is hardly applied from the front end 50b to the rear end 50c of the inner wall surface 50a of the mouth, and the entire temperature of the infrared condensing member 48 is maintained at a constant temperature.

  And the infrared sensor 13 will be in a state without a temperature difference with ambient temperature, and it is possible to improve the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor 13.

  Here, a comparison of the heat holding force, that is, the heat followability due to the material of the infrared condensing member 48 when the door is opened and closed will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the infrared condensing member 48 has a high thermal conductivity and a high heat capacity so that the heat retention is higher than that of the ABS resin, which has been conventionally used as a material for the inner wall surface of the warehouse. A comparison was made between a material mainly composed of large aluminum, and a high thermal conductive resin material composed of a powder oxide having an electrically insulating property in addition to high thermal conductivity and heat capacity although the cost is slightly higher. Also, compare the powder metal resin material that is exposed in the air (no case) with the one that covers the periphery with a case with lower thermal conductivity than this condensing member (with case). An experiment was conducted.

  Specifically, the powder metal resin material is a high thermal conductive resin material that is mainly mixed with alumina and dispersed and mixed in a resin such as PPS, ABS, or LSP (liquid crystal polymer). The main component may be any one of silica, magnesia.

  The experimental condition is that, in a refrigerator installed at an outside temperature of 38 ° C., the door of the freezer room maintained at −17.5 ° C. is opened for 20 seconds (between 10 seconds and 30 seconds on the horizontal axis) and then closed. The temperature with the passage of time of the detected temperature detected by the infrared sensor provided in the freezer compartment is measured.

  According to FIG. 3, the ABS resin, which has been generally used in the prior art, gradually rises in temperature after rising to -3 ° C. or higher when the storage chamber maintained at -17.5 ° C. is opened for 20 seconds. However, even after 70 seconds from the closing of the door, the temperature did not fall below -15 ° C, and the temperature did not return to the original temperature. Although not compared in this experiment, similar temperature characteristics are obtained with PP resin or the like, which is a conventional general resin, as well as such ABS resin.

  In contrast, when the light collecting member is made of aluminum, the temperature temporarily rises to around −7 ° C. when the door is opened, but then the temperature rapidly decreases, and the original temperature is 20 seconds after the door is closed. The temperature was reduced to -17.5 ° C, which is the temperature. This is because the heat holding power of aluminum is large, so the temperature of the inner wall surface of the light collecting member that is temporarily in contact with the warm air such as air in the surface storage chamber and outside air rises, but the aluminum light collecting member body Since the temperature of -17.5 ° C. kept before opening the door was kept hot, after closing the door, the temperature was quickly conducted to the inner wall surface of the light collecting member and stored before opening the door. It seems that the detection temperature of the infrared sensor was rapidly reduced because the inner wall surface of the light collecting member was also lowered to the temperature of the light collecting member due to the cold heat.

  Next, in the case of powder metal resin, as with aluminum, the temperature temporarily rises to around -7 ° C when the door is opened, but then the temperature rapidly decreases, and at the original temperature 20 seconds after the door is closed. Since the temperature is lowered to a certain −17.5 ° C. and this also has a large heat holding power as described above, the inner wall surface of the light collecting member that is temporarily in contact with warm air such as air in the surface storage chamber and outside air However, after the door was closed, the temperature was kept on the surface of the light collecting member. It seems that the detection temperature of the infrared sensor quickly decreased because the inner wall surface of the light collecting member was also lowered to the temperature of the light collecting member due to the cold heat that was quickly conducted and stored before the door was opened.

  Next, when a case made of ABS resin is provided on the outer periphery of the powder metal resin as a heat retention promoting member, the temperature does not rise so much even when the door is opened, and the temperature after opening for 20 seconds is −15 ° C. And a rise of 2.5 ° C. Thereafter, 20 seconds after closing the door, the detection temperature of the infrared sensor is rapidly reduced to the original -17.5 ° C.

  This is because the outer peripheral portion is surrounded by the heat retention promoting member, so that the surface area that radiates heat when warm air flows in is further reduced and the heat radiation is suppressed, so that only the inner wall surface of the light collecting member is warmed. It seems that the inner wall surface temperature does not rise immediately due to the heat retention force of the entire light collecting member even if it is in contact with the light collecting member, and after closing the door, the light collecting member body was kept before the door was opened like the above aluminum Since the temperature of −17.5 ° C. was kept hot, after the door was closed, the temperature was quickly conducted to the inner wall surface of the light collecting member, and the cold heat stored in the light collecting member before the door was opened. It seems that the inner wall surface also decreased to the temperature of the light collecting member.

  Therefore, the infrared condensing member 48 has thermal conductivity and heat retention as compared with the conventional ABS resin, which is a general material for the condensing member and the inner wall surface, in order to increase the heat retention force. It is formed of a material having high strength, for example, a metal such as aluminum, titanium, stainless steel, iron, copper, or a material containing them. In particular, from the viewpoint of being lightweight, having high thermal conductivity and high heat capacity, and being partly exposed in the freezer compartment 3, it is preferable to use aluminum having high corrosion resistance as a main component.

Further, when the surface of the freezer 3 is partially exposed, the infrared sensor 13 malfunctions due to friction caused by a cloth or the like that the user cleans the inside of the refrigerator or static electricity generated by the human body or the element itself. In order to prevent destruction, among powder metal resins, it is a powder oxide resin that is electrically insulated and has high thermal conductivity and heat capacity. For example, any one of alumina, silica, and magnesia is the main component. , PPS, ABS, LSP (liquid crystal polymer), etc., can be used to improve the heat retention by using a material mixed and mixed. In this case, high heat retention and high thermal conductivity and It also has electrical insulation, and the blending ratio is preferably 80% or more by weight of powder oxide. The electrical insulation also has a specific resistance equivalent to that of a general resin member of 1.0 × 10 ^14. Ω ・ m or less There, it is possible to satisfy the electrical insulation properties are determined by various laws appliances.

  Further, when the temperature of the stored item stored in the storage chamber is detected by the infrared sensor 13, the temperature of the front end portion 50b and the rear end portion 50c of the inner wall surface 50a of the through hole of the infrared light collecting member 48 due to temperature fluctuation caused by opening and closing the door. Since the gradient is easily formed, the thermal conductivity is increased by setting the weight ratio of the powder oxide to approximately 85% or more, the thermal conductivity is 2 W / m · K or more, and the heat capacity per unit mass is 750 J / kg · ° C. or higher is desirable.

  As described above, at least the inner wall surface of the infrared condensing member 48 has less followability to temperature fluctuations than the wall surface of the ABS resin, which is the inner wall surface of the upper heat insulating partition plate, which is the wall surface to which the infrared sensor is attached. The heat retention is large.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the infrared mounting case 47 is used as a heat retention promoting member for further improving the heat retaining force of the infrared light collecting member 48, and the light collecting opening of the infrared mounting case 47 is surrounded by the infrared light collecting member 48. By surrounding with the part 51, the heat capacity is improved and the temperature fluctuation of the infrared condensing member 48 is further reduced.

  In this case, since the infrared mounting case 47 functions as a heat insulating member that surrounds the infrared condensing member 48 and prevents the outer surface of the infrared condensing member 48 from being exposed to the outside air, the infrared condensing member By reducing the contact area with 48 outside air and making the temperature change of the infrared condensing member at a constant temperature slow, followability to temperature fluctuations due to disturbance can be further relaxed, and heat retention is improved. The infrared mounting case 47 functions as a heat retention promoting member that can improve the heat retention force.

  In the present embodiment, at least the outer surface of the infrared condensing member 48 is covered with the infrared mounting case 47 as the heat retention promoting member, but this is formed of a member having a lower thermal conductivity than the infrared condensing member 48. Other configurations may be used. For example, a member such as rubber or butyl may be fitted around the infrared condensing member 48 to serve as a heat retention promoting member. In this case, it can also function as a seal member when mounting with other components. Is possible. Further, it may be formed of an ABS resin generally used on the inner wall surface of a refrigerator, and an infrared condensing member may be fitted therein. Furthermore, the structure that surrounds the periphery of the infrared condensing member 48 with a heat insulating member made of a material having low thermal conductivity makes it possible to further improve the heat holding power of the infrared condensing member 48, thereby further reducing the follow-up to temperature fluctuations. In addition, an infrared sensor having stable detection accuracy can be provided.

  By using the heat retention promoting member in this way, the inner wall surface of the infrared condensing member, which is the wall surface within the detection range of the infrared sensor, has a smaller amount of heat radiation per unit area than a general inner wall surface, that is, ABS resin. And an infrared sensor with stable detection accuracy can be provided.

  In addition to the above, by increasing the heat holding power of the food placement surface, which is a detection surface that is a large area in the wall surface within the detection range of the infrared sensor, than the general inner wall surface, that is, ABS resin, The amount of heat radiation per unit area can be reduced, and an infrared sensor having stable detection accuracy can be provided. In this way, it is possible to reduce the amount of heat radiation per unit area by increasing the heat holding power of all surfaces within the detection range of the infrared sensor than the ABS resin on the wall surface where the infrared sensor is provided. As a result, the temperature followability to the temperature fluctuation caused by the inflow of warm air can be reduced, that is, the temperature fluctuation on the detection surface of the infrared sensor can be suppressed, and the infrared sensor having stable detection accuracy can be provided.

  Further, the infrared mounting case 47 is provided with a condensing opening 51 penetrating in the same shape as the side surface of the infrared condensing member 48 in a portion located substantially at the center, and the infrared condensing member 48 is provided in the condensing opening 51. The infrared sensor 13 is mounted on the infrared mounting case 47 in the housed state. Further, the infrared light receiving unit 40 surface and the front end surface 48a of the infrared light collecting member 48 are parallel, and the front end surface 48a of the infrared light collecting member 48 extending into the freezer compartment 3 and the outer surface of the infrared mounting case 47 are provided on the same surface. By reducing the level difference, even if the door 23 and the door 24 are opened and closed, the wind easily flows along the upper heat insulating partition plate 4 on the ceiling surface of the freezer compartment 3, and the infrared condensing member 48 penetrates through the warm air pool. The inner wall surface 50a of the mouth 50 is provided so that a temperature gradient between the front end portion 50b and the rear end portion 50c is difficult to occur.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2b, in the present embodiment, the inner wall surface 50a of the infrared condensing member 48 has a trapezoidal cross section as if the apex of the conical shape is cut, the bottom is 2.5 mm in diameter, and the detection surface. The cross section with a diameter of 3.9 mm is a trapezoidal shape with a height of 4 mm and a surface area of 40.73 mm ² .

  Further, the infrared condensing member 48 is an upper heat insulating partition opposite to the side on which the food 31 serving as the detection surface is placed, rather than the arrangement surface 40a of the infrared light receiving unit 40 which is an infrared detection surface or the arrangement surface 42a of the thermistor 42. An infrared condensing member rear end surface 48b is formed extending to the side 4 and is a space surrounded by the infrared condensing member 48 on both sides with the infrared light receiving unit 40 and the thermistor 42 sandwiched inside the infrared condensing member 48. Is formed.

  As described above, the infrared light receiving unit 40 and the thermistor 42 are arranged in the space on the center side of the infrared light collecting member 48, so that the heat holding power of the infrared light collecting member 48 can be increased. It is directly related to suppressing the temperature fluctuation of 42 itself.

As described above, since the volume of the infrared condensing member 48 is 745.935 mm ³ , which is more than twice that of the portion exhibiting the condensing function, the surface area has a sufficiently large heat capacity with respect to 40.73 mm ² . It can be realized.

  Further, the volume of the infrared condensing member 48 is configured such that the back side of the arrangement surface 40 a of the infrared light receiving unit 40 is larger than the tip side of the arrangement surface 40 a of the infrared light receiving unit 40. That is, the volume on the rear end surface 48b side of the infrared light collecting member from the arrangement surface 40a of the infrared light receiving unit 40 is larger than the volume of the front surface 48a of the infrared light collecting member from the arrangement surface 40a of the infrared light receiving unit 40. By forming, the heat capacity of the rear end face 48b side of the infrared condensing member that is less susceptible to the influence of outside air can be increased, the temperature fluctuation due to the surrounding air is further reduced, and the condensing member having high thermal stability Can be formed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, at least the inner wall surface of the infrared condensing member 48 is formed so that the heat holding power per unit volume is larger than the wall surface of the storage chamber to which the infrared sensor is attached. is there.

  As a result, the inner wall surface of the infrared condensing member located in the infrared sensor visual field range in order to suppress temperature fluctuations in the visual field range of the infrared sensor can alleviate temperature followability to temperature fluctuations caused by disturbance such as inflow of warm air. The temperature stability of the infrared sensor's visual field range can be improved, and the detection accuracy can be reduced by the influence of disturbance (for example, door opening and closing and hot food) that changes the ambient temperature of the infrared sensor's temperature detector. It becomes possible to suppress the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor.

  In addition, when the metal mainly composed of aluminum or powder metal resin used in the present embodiment is used as a light collecting member, the inner wall surface temperature, that is, the surface temperature in contact with air, temporarily fluctuates. Because it immediately returns to the original state for any disturbance, even if there is a disturbance such as inflow of warm air, the detection surface of the infrared sensor also has a high thermal holding power, and the temperature followability to the disturbance can be relaxed Therefore, it was found that a higher detection accuracy can be obtained because it is less affected by temperature fluctuation due to disturbance and can maintain a stable temperature.

  Further, if there is a temperature difference between the temperature of the tip of the infrared condensing member 48 and the thermistor 42, the temperature of the tip of the infrared condensing member 48 is detected, and the temperature detected by the infrared sensor is the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor 13. In this embodiment, the temperature difference between the thermistor 42 and the inner wall surface of the infrared condensing member 48 and the tip 48a can be reduced, and an infrared sensor with improved detection accuracy is used. It becomes possible.

  In addition, at least the inner wall surface of the infrared condensing member 48 has less followability to temperature fluctuation than the wall surface of the ABS resin, which is the inner wall surface of the upper heat insulating partition plate, which is the wall surface to which the infrared sensor is attached, that is, heat retention. Since the force is large, it is less susceptible to temperature fluctuations due to disturbance, and a stable temperature can be maintained, so that higher detection accuracy can be obtained.

  Therefore, by surrounding the infrared sensor 13 with the infrared condensing member 48 having high thermal conductivity, the infrared condensing member 48 absorbs the influence of disturbance around the infrared sensor 13 (for example, door opening / closing and temperature fluctuation due to hot food). In addition, the temperature of the infrared sensor 13 and the infrared condensing member 48 becomes uniform, the temperature fluctuation around the infrared sensor 13 is reduced, the thermal influence due to disturbance is reduced, and the temperature fluctuation is suppressed, thereby detecting the infrared sensor 13. The accuracy can be improved.

  In the present invention, the amount of infrared rays emitted from a load such as food is detected in the upper container 27 detected by the infrared sensor 13, and the temperature calculated from the amount of infrared rays is equal to or higher than a certain temperature (upper limit set temperature: T0). In this case, the quick freezing control is automatically entered, and the quick freezing control is terminated when the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 128 after the setting of the quick freezing control is equal to or lower than a certain temperature (lower limit set temperature: T1). .

  As an operation of the quick freezing control, when the food enters and the detected temperature of the infrared sensor 13 detects T0 or more which is the start temperature, the refrigerator increases the rotation speed of the compressor (not shown) to thereby circulate the amount of refrigerant circulating. Raise the evaporator 10 temperature. Furthermore, the foodstuff 31 is cooled rapidly by increasing the cooling amount which circulates the cold air produced | generated by the evaporator 10 in the store | warehouse | chamber by raising the rotation speed of the cold air blower 11. FIG. After that, while continuously detecting the temperature of the food 31, after confirming the passage of the maximum ice crystal formation zone from 0 ° C. to −5 ° C., when the lower limit set temperature T 1 that is the end temperature is reached, the quick freezing control is automatically ended. The maximum ice crystal formation zone, which affects the freshness of food preservation, can be passed quickly by normal cooling operation, and after passing through the maximum ice crystal formation zone, even if it is normally cooled, it has little effect on the deterioration of freshness. There is no such thing as normal operation. In the present embodiment, T0, which is the start temperature of the quick freezing control, that is, the upper limit temperature, is −2.5 ° C., and T1, which is the end temperature of the quick freezing control, ie, the lower limit temperature, is −15 ° C. This is because the state varies depending on the food storage form and the form of the food itself.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the control of quick freezing (rapid freezing) is automatically performed and the cooling capacity is automatically improved, so that the refrigerator can be cooled by a cooling operation as required. In particular, for higher temperature inside the chamber due to load input and cooling to a load that you want to freeze quickly, it is faster and more efficient than operating a compressor at medium speed and slowly cooling the load. The time cooling can shorten the operation time as the actual power consumption of the refrigerator, so that it is possible to provide a refrigerator that further saves energy.

  When performing such automatic quick freezing, there is a problem that if the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor 13 is poor, the control of the quick freezing starts unnecessarily. In the present embodiment, the detection of the infrared sensor 13 is performed. Since the accuracy is further improved, automatic quick freezing can be performed with higher accuracy.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, the heat insulating box configured by a plurality of heat insulating compartments, the heat insulating partition that partitions the heat insulating box, the storage chamber partitioned by the partition, and the storage chamber are accommodated. An infrared sensor having a temperature detection unit for detecting the amount of infrared radiation radiated from the stored items, and an infrared condensing member having a through-hole surrounding the temperature detection unit and guiding the radiation amount to the infrared sensor. The infrared condensing member has a characteristic of higher thermal conductivity than that of the resin, and surrounds the infrared sensor with an infrared condensing member having a high thermal conductivity. Temperature fluctuations due to door opening and closing and hot foods are absorbed by the infrared condensing member, the temperature of the infrared sensor and infrared condensing member becomes uniform, the temperature fluctuation around the infrared sensor is reduced, and the temperature around the infrared sensor Fluctuation By suppressing, it is possible to improve the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor.

  In addition, a recess formed in the heat insulating partition, an infrared mounting case that houses the infrared sensor, and a condensing opening that penetrates a part of the infrared mounting case in the same shape as the side surface of the infrared condensing member. Infrared mounting case is embedded so that the side of the infrared condensing member is surrounded by a resin member with a larger heat capacity, thereby improving the heat capacity and further reducing the temperature fluctuation of the infrared condensing member. The accuracy can be further improved.

  Moreover, the front end surface of the infrared condensing member is embedded in the same surface as the front end surface of the recess, so that the inflow of warm air by opening and closing the door is allowed to pass only through the front end surface of the infrared condensing member, thereby eliminating the unevenness. As a result, temperature fluctuations are small even when the door is opened by storing inflow of warm air by opening and closing the door, storing food, etc., and eliminating the accumulation of warm air from the food. It is possible to suppress erroneous detection due to the rise and fall caused by, and to improve the stability of detection accuracy.

  In addition, the infrared condensing member is made of a metal mainly composed of aluminum with good heat conductivity, so that even if there is an inflow of warm air due to opening and closing of the door, it is a metal based on aluminum that has good heat conductivity. By using, the responsiveness by heat can be accelerated, the temperature gradient of the through-hole of the infrared condensing member can be eliminated, and the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor can be improved.

  In addition, the infrared condensing member is characterized by electrical insulation, which is made by blending resin and powder oxide and blending 85% or more of powder oxide, thereby reducing the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor. In addition, it is possible to ensure the electrical insulation defined by various laws and regulations concerning home appliances.

  In addition, since the through hole has a height of 3 mm or more from the tip surface of the infrared sensor, for example, when the angle is widened, the temperature detection surface where the temperature is detected by the infrared sensor also becomes large, and the temperature other than the installation surface is increased. There is an increased possibility that food other than the food to be detected or detected exists on the temperature detection surface. As a result, the height of the through-hole is set to 3 mm or more, the viewing angle is limited, and the temperature detection surface is narrowed, so that erroneous detection of the infrared sensor can be minimized, and the detection accuracy is stable. Further improvement can be achieved.

  In general, the infrared sensor 112 detects the amount of infrared radiation emitted from an object, and the vapor from the hot food causes condensation around the recess 113 and around the infrared sensor 112, and the condensation (water) is generated. Because it detects the thermal energy it has as the amount of infrared radiation, it detects the temperature of the dew (water) adhering to the periphery of the infrared sensor 112 rather than detecting the surface temperature of the food, and accurately detects the surface temperature of the food. In this embodiment, the infrared sensor surface and the storage room space communicate with each other without providing an inclusion such as a cover or a condenser lens between the infrared sensor and food. It is possible to prevent a decrease in detection accuracy of the infrared sensor due to the condensation water adhering to the inclusions.

(Embodiment 2)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that parts having the same configurations as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted, and detailed description of parts to which the same technical idea can be applied is omitted.

  The second embodiment can be combined with the components described in the other embodiments of the present invention, and can be applied at any time according to the purpose.

  FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of an essential part of the refrigerator in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The infrared sensor 13 provided in the freezer compartment 3 which is one of the storage rooms in the refrigerator generally detects the amount of infrared rays radiated from an object in the visual field range and converts it into an electrical signal. And a thermistor 42 that incorporates a thermistor 42 that measures a reference temperature of the ambient temperature of the infrared light receiver 40 and converts it into an electrical signal. Therefore, when food with a high temperature is put out of the visual field range of the infrared sensor 13, it cannot be detected.

  In the present embodiment, in order to improve the detection accuracy when the infrared sensor 13 is used, the first infrared sensor 13a provided on the front side and the second infrared sensor 13b provided on the rear side are provided. It has multiple infrared sensors.

  Also, a plurality of cold air discharge ports 21 for cooling the inside of the upper container 27 are provided, a first cold air discharge port 21a that mainly discharges cold air to the front side, and a second cold air discharge port that mainly discharges cold air to the rear side. 21b.

  Thus, the temperature on the front side of the upper container 27 in the upper container 27 in the freezer compartment 3 can be detected by the first infrared sensor 13a, and the temperature on the rear side of the upper container 27 can be detected by the infrared sensor 13b. Therefore, the temperature detected by the plurality of infrared sensors is compared by the control means, and it is determined in which region a load requiring cooling is applied.

  And when warm food is thrown into any place in the upper container 27, the area | region where the infrared sensor which is detecting the highest temperature among the some infrared sensors 13 is arrange | positioned is cooled intensively. In order to perform efficient cooling, it is possible to change the air volume of the plurality of discharge ports.

  Specifically, for example, when the infrared sensor that has detected the highest temperature among the infrared sensors 13 is the first infrared sensor 13a, it is determined that a warm object has been introduced to the front side, and the second cold air The discharge port 21b is closed by a damper, and the food put into the area on the front side of the upper container 27 can be rapidly cooled by discharging cold air intensively from the first cold air discharge port 21a. .

  By performing such rapid cooling, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the entire storage room from rising due to the heat effect from food at a high temperature and the freshness from being lowered due to the temperature rise of the food stored in advance. In addition, since the whole food in the storage room where the temperature has risen can be rapidly cooled by concentrating on the one having a higher temperature than the uniform cooling, energy-saving cooling is possible. In particular, if control is performed such that automatic cooling is performed automatically based on the temperature detected by the infrared sensor, rapid cooling can be performed only for the necessary load only at the necessary locations, thus realizing further energy saving and cooling storage. It can be carried out.

  Further, when performing such rapid cooling, as in the present embodiment, the bottom surface of the upper container 27, which is a detection surface provided on the side facing the infrared sensor 13, is formed of a member having a large heat holding force. Thus, even when a large heat load is increased by adding warm food, quick cooling can be performed more quickly.

  Also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the infrared condensing member that narrows the detection range of the infrared sensor has a large heat holding force, so that efficient rapid cooling with higher detection accuracy can be performed. Needless to say, you can.

(Embodiment 3)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that parts having the same configurations as those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted, and detailed description of parts to which the same technical idea can be applied is omitted.

  The third embodiment can be combined with the components described in the other embodiments of the present invention, and can be applied at any time according to the purpose.

  FIG. 5a is a side sectional view of an essential part of the refrigerator in the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5b is a plan view seen from above the freezer compartment of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

  The infrared sensor 13 provided in the freezer compartment 3 which is one of the storage rooms in the refrigerator generally detects the amount of infrared rays radiated from an object in the visual field range and converts it into an electrical signal. And a thermistor 42 that incorporates a thermistor 42 that measures a reference temperature of the ambient temperature of the infrared light receiver 40 and converts it into an electrical signal. Therefore, when food with a high temperature is put out of the visual field range of the infrared sensor 13, it cannot be detected.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the infrared sensor 13c that can swing the infrared sensor 13, that is, the detection range can be changed by a movable mechanism is used.

  This infrared sensor 13c receives at least infrared rays with respect to the width 27w of the upper container 27 around the center line 27a in the longitudinal direction of the bottom surface of the upper container 27 which is a detection surface detected by the infrared sensor 13c of the storage room, that is, the food placement surface. The entire infrared sensor 13c is moved so that the unit 40 is movable.

  Therefore, the dimension 27x in the width direction of the visual field range of the infrared sensor 13c with respect to the width dimension 27w of the upper container 27 is as follows.

27w / 2 ≦ 27x ≦ 27w
Thus, by narrowing the field of view 27 of the infrared sensor, it is possible to further improve the temperature detection accuracy when the input food enters, and more accurately determine in which region the load requiring cooling is input. Thus, cooling can be performed.

  And when warm food is thrown into any place in the upper container 27, the area | region where the infrared sensor which is detecting the highest temperature among the some infrared sensors 13 is arrange | positioned is cooled intensively. In order to perform efficient cooling, it is possible to change the air volume of the plurality of discharge ports.

  Specifically, for example, when the portion where the highest temperature is detected in the visual field range of the infrared sensor 13c is on the front side (that is, on the door 23 side), it is determined that a warm object has been put on the front side, The second cold air discharge port 21b is closed by a damper, and the cold food is intensively discharged from the first cold air discharge port 21a, thereby rapidly cooling the food put into the area on the front side of the upper container 27. Is possible.

  By performing such rapid cooling, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the entire storage room from rising due to the heat effect from food at a high temperature and the freshness from being lowered due to the temperature rise of the food stored in advance. In addition, since the whole food in the storage room where the temperature has risen can be rapidly cooled by concentrating on the one having a higher temperature than the uniform cooling, energy-saving cooling is possible. In particular, if control is performed such that automatic cooling is performed automatically based on the temperature detected by the infrared sensor, rapid cooling can be performed only for the necessary load only at the necessary locations, thus realizing further energy saving and cooling storage. It can be carried out.

  Further, in this embodiment, rapid cooling is performed by providing a plurality of discharge ports and concentrating cool air in a heavily loaded area. However, the wind direction can be changed even with a single discharge port. It is also possible to adjust the direction of the wind so that the cool air flows in a region with a large load with a variable device. In this case, it is not necessary to provide a plurality of discharge ports 21. It becomes possible to cool intensively.

  In the present embodiment, the entire infrared sensor 13c is moved in order to make the detection surface detected by the infrared sensor 13c in the storage room wider, but this purpose is to move the infrared detection surface. Therefore, for example, in the case where some light collecting member such as a cover is formed on the surface, only the opening of the light collecting member may be movable. By providing a configuration that allows only the aperture of the light collecting member to move without being moved, the burden on the electric wiring and the movable portion is reduced even in a low-temperature environment, and the infrared sensor 13c having a more reliable movable portion is provided. Can be provided.

  As described above, the infrared sensor of the refrigerator according to the present invention can improve detection accuracy without being affected by ambient disturbances (for example, door opening and closing and temperature fluctuation due to hot food), and various laws and regulations relating to home appliances. The specified electrical insulation is ensured and the product quality is improved, and it can be applied not only to household refrigerators, but also to commercial refrigerators and measuring instruments in environments with large ambient influences.

Side surface sectional drawing of the principal part of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of this invention Side surface sectional drawing of the infrared sensor attachment part of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of this invention Enlarged view of the main part of FIG. The figure which shows the temperature comparison of the infrared rays condensing part accompanying the opening in Embodiment 1 of this invention Side surface sectional drawing of the principal part of the refrigerator in Embodiment 2 of this invention Side surface sectional drawing of the principal part of the refrigerator in Embodiment 3 of this invention The top view seen from the freezer compartment of the refrigerator in Embodiment 3 of this invention Side sectional view of a refrigerator according to the prior art Partially enlarged side sectional view of FIG. 6 of a refrigerator according to the prior art

Explanation of symbols

1 Insulation box 2 Refrigerator body 3 Freezer room (storage room)
4 Upper heat insulation partition plate 5 Lower heat insulation partition plate 6 Refrigerated room (storage room)
7 Vegetable room (storage room)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 8 Partition 9 Cold-air production | generation room 10 Evaporator 11 Blower 12 Defroster heater 13 Infrared sensor 13a First infrared sensor 13b Second infrared sensor 21 Cold-air outlet 21a First cold-air outlet 21b Second cold-air outlet 22 Cold air outlet 23 Door 24 Door 25 Frame body 26 Frame body 27 Upper container 28 Lower container 29 Cold storage material 30 Cold air inlet 31 Food 32 Middle container 33 Cold air outlet 40 Infrared light receiving part 40a Infrared light receiving part arrangement surface 41 Substrate 42 Thermistor 42a Thermistor placement surface 43 Infrared element 44 Connector 45 Wiring 46 Wire 47 Infrared mounting case 48 Infrared condensing member 48a Infrared condensing member front end surface 48b Infrared condensing member rear end surface 49 Concavity 49a Concave front end surface 50 Through hole 50a Inner wall surface of the through hole 50b Tip of the through hole 51 Condensing aperture

Claims (6)

  Insulation box body composed of a plurality of heat insulation compartments, a heat insulation partition part for partitioning the heat insulation box body, a storage room partitioned by the partition part, and an amount of infrared rays radiated from storage items stored in the storage room An infrared sensor having a temperature detecting unit for detecting the temperature, and an infrared condensing member provided closer to the storage chamber than the infrared sensor, and at least the inner wall surface of the infrared condensing member has a large heat retention force. A refrigerator formed to be.   An infrared mounting case for housing the infrared sensor is provided, a part of the infrared mounting case is provided with a condensing opening that penetrates in the same shape as a side surface of the infrared condensing member, and the infrared mounting case is embedded in the recess The refrigerator according to claim 1.   The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the front end surface of the infrared condensing member is embedded in the same plane as the front end surface of the recess.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the infrared condensing member is made of a metal mainly composed of highly heat-conductive aluminum.   The said infrared condensing member mix | blended resin and powder oxide, and has the electrical insulation formed by mix | blending 85% or more of the said powder oxide. The refrigerator described.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the through-hole has a height of 3 mm or more from a tip surface of the infrared sensor.