JP2013204891A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve cooling efficiency by adjusting the flow rate of cold air to be supplied to respective compartments of storage room, suitably controlling temperatures in the respective storage rooms, decreasing the number of dampers controlling the flow rate of cold air, securely preventing the leakage of defrosting warm air, and making pressure loss of a cooling air path small.SOLUTION: An air direction controller 60 is provided outside the sending opening portion 13a of a cooling room 13, the sending opening portion 13a is closed by the air direction controller 60, and a part thereof is opened to make air flow. Consequently, the flow rate of air supplied to a storage room can be controlled without providing a damper to any of cooling air paths 14-17 and blow-off ports 21-24 of the air paths. Further, the exit portion of a cooling room 13 is closed by the air direction controller 60 during defrosting operation, so defrosting warm air can be prevented from flowing in the cooling air paths 14-17. Furthermore, cooling efficiency can be improved since pressure loss is small.

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator that cools and stores food or the like in a storage chamber, and more particularly to a refrigerator that can control the flow rate of cooling air by reducing the number of dampers.

  Conventionally, the refrigerator 100 shown in FIG. 10 is known as this kind of refrigerator.

  FIG. 10 is a front view showing the air path configuration of the refrigerator 100. In the refrigerator 100 according to the related art, the cool air supply air passage 101 that sends the cool air cooled by the cooler to the refrigerating chamber 111 is provided with the damper 105, and the opening degree of the damper 105 is adjusted, so that The flow rate of the flowing cold air is adjusted. Similarly, the cooling air passages 102, 103, 104 connected to the switching chamber 112, the freezing chamber 113, and the ice making chamber 114 are provided with dampers 106, 107, 108, respectively. By adjusting the opening, the amount of cold air supplied to each of the storage chambers 112, 113, 114 is adjusted (for example, Patent Document 1).

  Moreover, the refrigerator 200 shown in FIG. 11 is known as an example of another prior art.

  A conventional refrigerator 200 shown in FIG. 11 includes a cold air damper 203 that adjusts the flow rate of cold air in a duct 202 for supplying air cooled by a cooler 206 to a refrigerator room 201. Further, each discharge port 204 of the duct 202 is provided with a wind direction adjusting device 205, and the air direction adjusting device 205 can be independently opened and closed to adjust the amount of cool air blown from each discharge port 204 ( For example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2009-250476 A (page 6, FIG. 7) JP 2011-208906 A (pages 8-9, FIG. 4)

  However, in the refrigerator of the prior art in which a damper, a wind direction adjusting device or the like (hereinafter simply referred to as “damper”) is provided at the cooling air passage or the air outlet of the air passage, in order to appropriately control the temperature of each storage chamber, There was a problem of requiring a damper. That is, the conventional refrigerator 100 shown in FIG. 10 includes dampers 105, 106, 107, and 108 corresponding to the storage chambers 111, 112, 113, and 114, respectively. Further, in the conventional refrigerator 200 shown in FIG. 11, each discharge port 204 is provided with a wind direction adjusting device 205. Therefore, in the refrigerator of the prior art, a space for mounting each damper is required, and it is difficult to configure the air path in a compact manner.

  In addition, in the method of installing a damper at the cooling air passage or the air outlet of the air passage, the air passage at the damper mounting portion becomes narrower, and the flow resistance of the damper itself is also large, so the pressure loss of the cooling air increases. There is.

  Furthermore, in the method of providing a damper in the cooling air passage or the air outlet of the air passage, since the warm air during defrosting flows into the cooling air passage, the cooling air passage is heated by the defrost warm air. There is also. That is, in the refrigerator 100 shown in FIG. 10, the defrost warm air flows into the upstream side of the dampers 105, 106, 107, 108 of the cold air supply air passages 101, 102, 103, 104.

  In addition, when a large number of dampers are employed, the number of sealing portions as the whole damper increases, so that the sealing performance is reduced, and leakage of defrosting warm air to the storage chamber increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to adjust the flow rate of cool air supplied to each storage chamber of the storage chamber and appropriately control the temperature of each storage chamber. An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator capable of reducing the number of air volume adjusting devices for adjusting the flow rate of cool air and reducing the size of the cooling air passage.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that can reliably prevent warm air during defrosting from flowing into the storage chamber, reduce pressure loss in the cooling air passage, and improve cooling efficiency. There is to do.

  The refrigerator of the present invention includes a storage chamber, a cooling chamber formed with a feed opening and a return opening respectively connected to the storage chamber, and air flowing into the cooling chamber disposed inside the cooling chamber. In a refrigerator including a cooler for cooling and a blower provided in the feed opening, a wind direction control device is provided outside the cooling chamber of the feed opening, and the wind direction control device closes the feed opening. At the same time, the cooled air is allowed to flow by opening a part thereof.

  According to the refrigerator of the present invention, the wind direction control device is provided outside the feed opening portion of the cooling chamber, and the feed direction control device closes the feed opening portion and opens a part thereof to flow air. The flow rate of the air supplied to the storage chamber can be adjusted without providing a damper at the outlet of the passage or the air passage. As a result, the storage chamber can be controlled to an appropriate temperature.

  In addition, since the wind direction control device according to the present invention has a plurality of discharge openings that can be opened and closed corresponding to each of the plurality of storage chambers, the discharge openings are opened and closed according to the load situation of each storage chamber. By doing so, the flow rate of the cool air sent to each storage room can be adjusted.

  In addition, since each of the storage chambers divided into a plurality and the corresponding discharge openings are connected to each other by an air passage, the flow rate of the cool air sent to each storage chamber can be independently adjusted. As a result, each storage chamber can be maintained at a suitable temperature.

  Further, according to the refrigerator according to the present invention, the temperature of each storage chamber can be appropriately controlled without providing a damper at each cooling air passage or the air outlet of the air passage, so the number of dampers can be reduced, and the cooling air passage The pressure loss due to the damper can be reduced.

  Still further, in the wind direction control device according to the present invention, since the discharge opening is formed on the outer side in the rotational radius direction of the fan with respect to the feed opening of the cooling chamber, Air can flow into the cooling air passage through the discharge opening with a small flow resistance. Therefore, the pressure loss of the cooling air circulating in the refrigerator can be reduced and the cooling efficiency can be improved.

  Moreover, according to the refrigerator according to the present invention, since all the discharge openings of the wind direction control device are closed and the outlet of the cooling chamber is closed during defrosting, the air warmed by defrosting is prevented from flowing into the cooling air passage. can do. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cooling air passage from being warmed by the defrost warm air.

  In addition, the refrigerator according to the present invention stops the flow of defrosting warm air only at the outlet of the cooling chamber. Therefore, the refrigerator has fewer sealing portions and a reliable sealing with less leakage compared to the conventional method using a large number of dampers. Can be stopped.

It is a front external view of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a front view for demonstrating the cooling air path of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the structure of the cooling chamber part of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the wind direction control apparatus attachment part periphery of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the air blower and wind direction control apparatus of the refrigerator which concern on embodiment of this invention. (A) shows a state in which all the discharge openings of the wind direction control device are closed, and (B) shows a state in which the discharge opening for the refrigerator compartment and the discharge opening for the freezer compartment are opened. (C) shows a state in which all the discharge openings are opened. It is explanatory drawing which shows the result of having analyzed the air flow around an axial-flow fan. (A) shows the analysis result under the condition that the pressure difference between the discharge side and the suction side is 12 Pa. (B) is an analysis condition in which the pressure difference is 4 Pa and (C) is 2 Pa. It is a control block diagram of the wind direction control apparatus of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an air volume control flowchart of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the example of the refrigerator of a prior art. It is a front view which shows the example of the refrigerator of another prior art.

  Hereinafter, the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated in detail based on drawing.

  FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic structure of a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the refrigerator 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the cooling air passage configuration of the refrigerator 1. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing the structure of the cooling chamber 13 portion of the refrigerator 1. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the peripheral structure of the attachment portion of the wind direction control device 60 of the refrigerator 1. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the structure of the blower 50 and the wind direction control device 60. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the result of analyzing the air flow around the axial blower 50. FIG. 8 is a control block diagram of the wind direction control device 60. FIG. 9 is an air flow control flowchart of the refrigerator 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment includes a heat insulating box 2 as a main body, and forms a storage room for storing food and the like inside the heat insulating box 2. The interior of the storage room is divided into a plurality of storage rooms according to storage temperature and usage. As for the arrangement of each storage room, the uppermost stage is divided into the refrigerator compartment 3, the lower stage is divided into right and left, the ice making room 4 on the left side, the upper freezer room 5 on the right side, the freezer room 6 on the lower stage, and the vegetable room 7 on the lower stage It has become.

  The front surface of the heat insulation box 2 is opened, and the heat insulation doors 8a, 8b, 9, 10, 11, 12 are opened and closed at the openings corresponding to the storage chambers 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, respectively. It is provided freely. The refrigerator compartment doors 8a and 8b divide and block the front surface of the refrigerator compartment 3, and the left upper and lower parts of the refrigerator compartment door 8a and the upper right lower part of the refrigerator compartment door 8b are rotatably supported by the heat insulating box 2. . The ice making room door 9, the upper freezing room door 10, the freezing room door 11 and the vegetable room door 12 are each integrally combined with a storage container, which will be described later. It is supported.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the heat insulation box 2 which is the main body of the refrigerator 1 is arranged with a steel plate outer box 2a having an opening on the front surface and a gap in the outer box 2a. It is composed of a synthetic resin inner box 2c having an opening, and a polyurethane foam heat insulating material 2b filled and foamed in a gap between the outer box 2a and the inner box 2c. In addition, the back wall portion of the heat insulating box 2 is provided with a vacuum heat insulating material 2d.

  As described above, the storage room is divided into a plurality of storage rooms, and the cold storage room 3 and the ice making room 4 and the upper freezing room 5 positioned below the storage room 3 are partitioned by the heat insulating partition wall 34. Further, the ice making chamber 4 and the upper freezing chamber 5 are partitioned by a partition wall (not shown in the drawing). Furthermore, the ice making chamber 4 and the upper freezing chamber 5 and the freezing chamber 6 provided in the lower stage are divided by a partition wall 35. The freezer compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment 7 are separated by a heat insulating partition wall 36.

  Furthermore, a shelf 42 and a storage container 43 for storing food and the like are disposed inside the refrigerator compartment 3. Storage pockets 44 and 45 for storing beverage containers and the like are provided inside the refrigerator compartment doors 8a and 8b. The other storage chambers 4, 5, 6, and 7 are provided with storage containers 46, 47a, 47b, and 48 that can be pulled out integrally with the heat insulating doors 9, 10, 11, and 12, respectively. . The storage container disposed in the ice making chamber 4 does not appear in the drawing. The storage chambers 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 in the storage chamber also include other storage shelves and storage containers that do not appear in the drawings. For example, the refrigerator compartment 3 stores ice-making water. Containers and the like are also arranged.

  Further, a machine room 49 is provided on the lower back side of the refrigerator 1. Components such as a compressor 31 for compressing refrigerant, a radiator (not shown), and a heat radiating fan (not shown) are arranged in the machine chamber 49. The compressor 31, a radiator, a capillary tube (not shown) as decompression means, and a cooler 32 are sequentially connected by a refrigerant pipe to form a vapor compression refrigeration circuit. In the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment, isobutane (R600a) is used as the refrigerant. Further, as the pressure reducing means, instead of the capillary tube, other types of pressure reducing means, for example, a temperature type expansion valve, an electronic type expansion valve, a constant pressure type expansion valve, or the like may be employed.

  A cooling air passage 14 as a cold air supply air passage that guides the air cooled by the cooler 32 to the inside of the refrigerator compartment 3 is formed on the back surface and the top surface of the refrigerator compartment 3. The cooling air passage 14 is a space sandwiched between the air passage partition wall 38 made of synthetic resin and the inner box 2 c of the heat insulating box 2. Further, the air passage partition wall 38 is formed with an air outlet 21 for supplying the cold air flowing through the cooling air passage 14 to the inside of the refrigerator compartment 3.

  Similarly, cooling air passages 15 and 16 as cold air supply air passages are provided on the back and top surfaces of the ice making chamber 4 and the upper freezing chamber 5, and a cooling air passage 17 is provided on the back surface of the freezing chamber 6 respectively. Is formed. The cooling air passages 15, 16, and 17 are partitioned from the storage chambers 4, 5, and 6 by an air passage partition wall 39 made of synthetic resin. The air passage partition wall 39 has an air outlet 22 for supplying cold air to the ice making chamber 4, an air outlet 23 for supplying cold air to the upper freezing chamber 5, and an air outlet for supplying cold air to the freezing chamber 6. 24 are formed. In addition, each blower outlet 22, 23, 24 is arrange | positioned in the position which can supply cold air efficiently with respect to the food etc. which were accommodated in the storage containers 46, 47a, 47b.

  The freezer compartment 6 is provided with a return port 29 for returning the circulating cold air to the cooling chamber 13, and the vegetable compartment 7 is provided with a return port 30 for the same purpose.

  A wind direction control device 60 is provided on the discharge side of the feed opening 13a of the cooling chamber 13 described later. The cooling air passages 14, 15, 16, and 17 and the cooling chamber 13 are configured to communicate with each other via the air direction control device 60.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cooling air passage 14 that supplies the cold air to the refrigerator compartment 3 is configured to send the cold air to the uppermost portion in the central portion of the refrigerator compartment 3 and then descend from both sides. . Thereby, cold air can be efficiently supplied to the whole inside of the refrigerator compartment 3.

  In addition, the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment includes a connection air passage 18 for flowing the circulating cold air from the inside of the refrigerator compartment 3 to the vegetable compartment 7. A return port 26 through which cold air from the refrigerator room 3 flows is formed on the side of the refrigerator compartment 3 of the connecting air passage 18, and an outlet 25 for supplying cold air to the vegetable compartment 7 is provided on the vegetable compartment 7 side. It has been.

  The cooling air passage 15 and the cooling air passage 16 are partitioned by a partition wall that does not appear in the drawing. The cooling air passage 15 is on the back surface of the ice making chamber 4, and the cooling air passage 16 is on the back surface of the upper freezer compartment 5. Each is arranged. The cooling air passage 15 communicates with the ice making chamber 4 through the air outlet 22, and the cooling air passage 16 communicates with the upper freezer compartment 5 through the air outlet 23.

  The ice making chamber 4 is provided with a return port 27 for returning the circulating cold air to the cooling chamber 13 (see FIG. 2). The return port 27 is connected to the return air passage 19, and the return air passage 19 is connected to the return opening 13 b (see FIG. 2) of the cooling chamber 13.

  Similarly, the upper freezer compartment 5 is provided with a return port 28 connected to the return air passage 20. The return air passage 20 is connected to the return opening 13 b of the cooling chamber 13. That is, the return cold air from the ice making chamber 4 and the upper freezing chamber 5 flowing through the return air passages 19 and 20 merges with the return cold air from the return port 29 of the freezing chamber 6 and the return port 30 of the vegetable chamber 7 described above, and cooling. It will flow to the chamber 13.

  Each of the storage chambers 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 includes temperature detectors 73, 74, 75, 76, and 77 for detecting the temperature in the storage. In the present embodiment, the thermistors are employed as the temperature detectors 73, 74, 75, 76, 77. For example, instead of or in addition to these, other types of sensors such as an infrared temperature sensor are used. Can be used.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the cooling air passages 15 and 16 and the cooling air passage 14 are partitioned by an air passage partition wall 40. Further, the cooling air passages 15 and 16 and the cooling air passage 17 are partitioned by an air passage partition wall 41. Thereby, each cooling air path 14, 15, 16, and 17 forms the independent air flow path, respectively.

  The cooling chamber 13 is provided inside the heat insulating box 2 and behind the cooling air passages 15, 16, and 17. The cooling chamber 13 and the cooling air passages 15, 16, 17 or the freezing chamber 6 are partitioned by a cooling chamber partition wall 37 made of synthetic resin.

  Inside the cooling chamber 13, a cooler 32 for cooling the circulating cold air is disposed. The cooler 32 according to the present embodiment is a so-called fin-and-tube heat exchanger in which the inside of a circular tube as a heat transfer tube is a refrigerant flow path and the outside of the tube is an air flow path. In the cooler 32, the liquid refrigerant evaporates inside the heat transfer tube to cool the circulating air outside the tube. Of course, other types of heat exchangers such as a heat exchanger using a flat porous tube or a deformed tube may be employed as the cooler.

  A defrost heater 33 is provided below the cooler 32 as defrosting means for melting and removing frost adhering to the cooler 32. The defrost heater 33 is an electric resistance heating type heater. In addition, as a defrosting means, it is also possible to employ | adopt other defrost systems, such as an off-cycle defrost which does not use an electric heater, and a hot gas defrost, for example.

  In addition, a feed opening 13 a for sending out the cool air cooled by the cooler 32 is formed on the upper front surface of the cooling chamber 13, that is, the surface on the cooling air passages 15 and 16 side. On the other hand, below the cooling chamber 13, a return opening 13 b is formed for sucking the return cold air from the storage chamber into the cooling chamber 13.

  A blower 50 for circulating cold air is attached to the feed opening 13a. An air direction control device 60 is provided outside the feed opening 13a of the cooling chamber 13, that is, on the discharge side of the blower 50, so as to close the feed opening 13a.

  The blower 50 includes a rotary propeller fan 51 and a casing 53 in which a wind tunnel 53a is formed. The casing 53 is attached to the feed opening 13 a of the cooling chamber 13 and is a part that becomes a boundary between the suction side and the discharge side of the blower 50.

  The wind tunnel 53a formed in the casing 53 is a substantially cylindrical opening and serves as an air flow path. Further, the suction side of the wind tunnel 53a has a so-called bell mouth shape in which the inner diameter increases toward the end. Further, an appropriate rounded chamfer is also applied to the discharge side end portion of the wind tunnel 53a, that is, the intersection line portion between the wind tunnel 53a and the discharge side end surface 53c.

  And the fan 51 is arrange | positioned coaxially with the wind tunnel 53a inside the wind tunnel 53a. The discharge side end 51a of the fan 51 is disposed so as to be on the discharge side end of the wind tunnel 53a, that is, the discharge side end surface 53c of the casing 53, that is, on the outer side, that is, on the discharge side. Thereby, the flow resistance with respect to the discharge air which flows out to the rotation radius direction of the fan 51 can be made small.

  Further, in the air direction control device 60, the surface facing the cooling chamber 13, that is, the surface facing the blower 50 is formed in a concave shape. As a result, the wind direction control device 60 can contact the casing 53 outside the wind tunnel 53a and close the feed opening 13a without contacting the fan 51 protruding to the discharge side from the casing 53.

  Further, the side walls 61 and 64 of the wind direction control device 60 are configured to be independently opened and closed. Then, by opening the side wall 61, a refrigerating room discharge opening 61 a for flowing cold air to the refrigerating room 3 through the cooling air passage 14 is formed. On the other hand, by opening the side wall 64, a freezer discharge opening 64 a for flowing cold air to the freezer compartment 6 through the cooling air passage 17 is formed.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the attachment portion of the wind direction control device 60 as viewed from the front. As shown in FIG. 5, the side walls 62 and 63 of the wind direction control device 60 are also configured to be independently openable and closable. Then, by opening the respective side walls 62 and 63, the upper stage freezing for flowing the cold air to the upper freezing chamber 5 through the cooling opening 16 and the ice making chamber discharge opening 62 a for flowing the cold air to the ice making room 4 through the cooling air passage 15. A chamber discharge opening 63a is formed.

  In FIGS. 5 and 6, arrows V61, V62, V63, and V64 indicate cool air discharged from the discharge openings 61a, 62a, 63a, and 64a to the cooling air passages 14, 15, 16, and 17, respectively. The flow is schematically shown.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the structure of the blower 50 and the wind direction control device 60. 6A shows a state in which all the discharge openings 61a to 64a of the airflow direction control device 60 are closed, and FIG. 6B shows a state in which the refrigerating room discharge opening 61a and the freezer compartment discharge opening 64a are opened. . (C) has shown the state which opened all the discharge openings 61a-64a.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the blower 50 includes a fan motor 52 that rotates the fan 51. The fan motor 52 is fixed to the casing 53 by a support frame 54, and the fan 51 is attached to the rotation shaft of the fan motor 52.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 6B, a support column 66 is provided on the discharge side end surface 53 c of the casing 53. And the wind direction control apparatus 60 is being fixed to the casing 53 of the air blower 50 by the support | pillar 66. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, the airflow direction control device 60 includes a substantially rectangular plate-shaped base portion 65 and side walls 61, 62, 63, 64 erected on the peripheral edge of the base portion 65. And has a substantially box shape in which the side facing the blower 50 is a recess. Each of the side walls 61 to 64 is supported by the base portion 65 so that one side of the side walls 61 to 64 is freely rotatable. That is, each side wall 61-64 functions as an open / close lid that opens and closes each of the discharge openings 61a-64a independently. And each side wall 61-64 is opened and closed by the drive motor mentioned later.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, in a state where all the side walls 61 to 64 of the airflow direction control device 60 are closed, the inner ends of the side walls 61 to 64 abut against the outer peripheral portion 53b of the casing 53, and the air flow of the blower 50 It will block the road. That is, the air direction control device 60 closes the feed opening (see FIG. 4) of the cooling chamber 13 (see FIG. 4) and closes the air flow path.

  As shown in FIG. 6B, when the side wall 61 is opened, the refrigerating room discharge opening 61a is opened, and when the side wall 64 is opened, the freezer discharge opening 64a is opened. As shown in FIG. 6C, when the side wall 62 is opened, the ice making chamber discharge opening 62a is opened, and when the side wall 63 is opened, the upper freezer discharge opening 63a is opened. Not only the state shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C but also the side walls 61 to 64 can be opened and closed independently as necessary as described above.

  Moreover, the opening / closing mechanism of each side wall 61-64 is not limited to this Embodiment, For example, the side by the side of the casing 53 of each side wall 61-64 is rotatably supported, and the base | substrate part 65 side is supported. You may comprise so that it may open and close. It is also possible to employ a slide type opening / closing mechanism.

  Next, the air flow around the blower 50 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the result of analyzing the air flow around the axial blower 50. FIG. 7A shows the analysis result under the condition that the pressure difference between the discharge side and the suction side is 12 Pa, and FIG. 7B shows the analysis result under the condition that the pressure difference is 4 Pa and (C) is 2 Pa. 7A to 7C, reference numeral V denotes a wind speed vector distribution on the discharge side end surface 53c of the casing 53 (see FIG. 4 or FIG. 6B). Reference sign V1 represents the wind speed vector distribution on the surface S1 on the suction side (right side of the paper), and reference sign V2 represents the wind speed vector distribution on the surface S2 on the discharge side (left side of the paper). Each of the wind speed vectors V, V1, and V2 is expressed as a direction in which the direction of the arrow is the direction of each flow, and the length of the arrow is a length proportional to the speed of each flow. In each figure, horizontal lines M drawn above and below the fan 51 are used for calculation and can be ignored because they are not used to explain the analysis results.

  As shown in FIG. 7C, when the pressure difference between the discharge side and the suction side of the blower 50 is 2 Pa, the wind speed vector V on the discharge side of the blower 50 is slightly inclined in the vertical direction in the figure. You can see that it is facing the left side. The wind speed vector V2 on the discharge side surface S2 also protrudes to the left. That is, it can be seen that under the condition of a pressure difference of 2 Pa, the air flow on the discharge side of the blower 50 has a high speed in the rotation axis direction Z of the fan 51 and a low speed in the rotation radius direction R. In other words, the air discharged by the blower 50 mainly flows forward of the blower 50.

  However, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the pressure difference between the discharge side and the suction side of the blower 50 is 4 Pa, the wind velocity vector V on the discharge side of the blower 50 becomes slightly larger in the vertical direction in the figure. The wind speed vector V2 on the discharge side surface S2 is shortened. That is, when the pressure difference increases to 4 Pa, the air flow on the discharge side of the blower 50 increases the speed of the fan 51 in the rotational radius direction R.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7 (A), when the pressure difference is further increased to 12 Pa, the wind speed vector V on the discharge side of the blower 50 is directed substantially in the vertical direction in the figure. Further, the wind velocity vector V2 on the discharge side surface S2 is very short. That is, it can be seen that under the condition where the pressure difference is 12 Pa, the flow of air discharged from the blower 50 has a very low speed in the rotation axis direction Z of the fan 51 and a high speed in the rotation radius direction R. In other words, the air discharged from the blower 50 does not flow toward the front of the blower 50, that is, the Z direction, but flows toward the rotational radius direction R.

  7A to 7C, the air flow on the discharge side of the blower 50 forms a swirling flow around the rotation axis of the fan 51.

  As described above, the characteristics of the axial blower 50 have been described. However, in the refrigerator in which cold air is forcibly circulated in the closed circuit as in the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment, the pressure difference between the discharge side and the suction side of the blower 50 is It is about 10-12 Pa. That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, the cool air discharged by the blower 50 spreads in the rotational radius direction R of the fan 51 and flows.

  Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the wind direction control device 60 according to the present embodiment opens the side walls 61 to 64, and discharge openings for allowing cool air to flow between the base portion 65 and the cooling chamber 13. The parts 61a to 64a are formed. That is, the discharge openings 61a to 64a are formed on the outer side in the rotation radius direction R of the fan 51 with respect to the feed opening 13a. Accordingly, as described above, air can be flowed into the cooling air passages 14 to 17 through the discharge openings 61a to 64a without hindering the air flow on the discharge side of the blower 50 having a large flow speed in the rotational radius direction R. .

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 7A, the air flowing from the blower 50 toward the front surface is very small from the beginning, so even if the wind direction control device 60 is attached, the wind direction control device 60 reduces the air path resistance. The effect is very small.

  A discharge-side surface S3 shown in FIG. 7A indicates the position of the base portion of the wind direction control device 60. From this figure, it can be seen that if the discharge openings 61a to 64a are secured to the position of the surface S3, most of the air flow can pass through the openings without being obstructed.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 8, the structure of the control apparatus mainly related to the air volume control of the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. The refrigerator 1 includes a controller 70 that executes predetermined arithmetic processing and controls each device. The temperature detectors 73, 74, 75, 76, 77 provided in the respective storage chambers 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and the temperature detector 78 provided in the cooling chamber 13 are input signals to the controller 70. Connected to send.

  The controller 70 is connected to a setting input device 71 for setting the cold temperature of each storage room and a display device 72 for displaying the set temperature and the detected temperature of each storage room. Thereby, suitable temperature can be set according to the foodstuff etc. to store for every storage room, and cold storage temperature can be confirmed.

  In addition, drive motors 61b, 62b, 63b, and 64b are attached to the side walls 61, 62, 63, and 64, which are opening and closing lids of the wind direction control device 60, respectively. And the drive motors 61b-64b are connected to the controller 70, and open / close each side wall 61-64 independently in response to the output signal from the controller 70.

  Further, the compressor 31, the fan motor 52, and the defrost heater 31 are connected to the output terminal of the controller 70. The controller 70 is also connected with other input devices and output devices (not shown) such as various sensors, lighting, and a dew condensation prevention heater.

  Next, operation | movement of the refrigerator 1 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated. First, the basic operation of the cooling operation for cooling the storage chamber will be described. In the cooling operation, the cooling air circulating in the storage chamber is cooled by the above-described vapor compression refrigeration circuit. That is, the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant vapor is compressed into a high-temperature and high-pressure state by the compressor 31 shown in FIG. 2 and radiated by a radiator (not shown). Then, the liquid refrigerant that has been deprived of heat and condensed in the radiator is squeezed and expanded by a capillary tube (not shown) as decompression means, and flows to the cooler 32. In the cooler 32, the low-temperature and low-pressure liquid refrigerant exchanges heat with the circulating air and evaporates. As a result, the circulating air is cooled by the latent heat of vaporization of the refrigerant. The vapor refrigerant evaporated in the cooler 32 is again sucked into the compressor 31 and compressed. The operation described above is repeated continuously to cool the circulating air by the cooler 32 of the refrigeration circuit.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the air cooled by the cooler 32 is pushed out by the blower 50, and the feed opening 13 a of the cooling chamber 13 and the discharge openings 61 a, 62 a, 63 a of the airflow direction control device 60, It flows to each cooling air path 14, 15, 16, 17 via 64a.

  And the circulating cold air supplied to the inside of the refrigerator compartment 3 through the discharge opening 61a and the cooling air passage 14 flows from the return port 26 to the connection air passage 18, and is supplied from the blower outlet 25 to the vegetable compartment 7. The And the cold air which circulated through the vegetable compartment 7 returns to the inside of the cooling chamber 13 through the return opening 30 b of the cooling chamber 13 from the return port 30. Therefore, it is cooled again by the cooler 32.

  On the other hand, the cooling air discharged to the cooling air passage 15 through the discharge opening 62 a passes through the outlet 22 and is supplied to the ice making chamber 4. Then, the circulating cold air flows from the return port 27 to the return air passage 19 and returns to the inside of the cooling chamber 13 through the return opening 13 b of the cooling chamber 13.

  Further, the cooling air discharged to the cooling air passage 16 through the discharge opening 63 a passes through the outlet 23 and is supplied to the upper freezer compartment 5. Then, the circulating cold air flows from the return port 28 to the return air passage 20, and returns to the inside of the cooling chamber 13 through the return opening 13 b of the cooling chamber 13.

  Still further, the cooling air discharged to the cooling air passage 17 through the discharge opening 64 a is supplied from the outlet 24 to the freezer compartment 6. The air inside the freezer compartment 6 passes through the return port 29 and flows into the cooling chamber 13 through the return opening 13 b of the cooling chamber 13. As described above, the cold air cooled by the cooler 32 circulates in the storage chamber, and cold storage of food or the like is performed.

  Here, the wind direction control device 60 opens and closes the discharge openings 61 a, 62 a, 63 a, and 64 a independently in correspondence with the cooling loads of the storage chambers 3, 4, 5, and 6. The flow rate of the cooling air supplied to ˜6 is adjusted.

  Next, the control operation of the wind direction control device 60 will be described in detail with reference to the control flowchart shown in FIG. Here, as an example, the opening / closing control of the discharge opening 61a for the refrigerator will be described. First, in step S10, the controller 70 (see FIG. 8) determines whether or not the defrosting operation is being performed. If the defrosting operation is being performed (YES), the controller 70b (see FIG. 8) is turned on. The side wall 61 (see FIGS. 4 to 6) is closed by driving, and the discharge opening 61a for the refrigerator compartment is closed (step S20).

  On the other hand, if the controller 70 determines in step S10 that the defrosting operation is not being performed (NO), the controller 70 proceeds to step S30 and reads the set temperature T0, that is, the target internal cooling temperature T0. The set temperature T0 is a predetermined value set in advance or a value input by the setting input device 71 (see FIG. 8).

  Next, the controller 70 reads the internal temperature T detected from the refrigerator temperature detector 73 (see FIGS. 3 and 8) in step S40. Then, in step S50, the controller 70 compares the internal temperature T with a value obtained by adding a predetermined differential value D (dead zone D) to the set temperature T0. If the internal temperature T is high (YES), The discharge opening 61a is opened (step S60).

  On the other hand, if the internal temperature T is lower than the set temperature T0 in consideration of the differential value D in step S50 (NO), the controller 70 proceeds to step 70 without performing the opening / closing operation of the discharge opening 61a. That is, if the discharge opening 61a is in an open state, the flow proceeds to the next step while being open, and if it is closed, it is closed.

  In step S70, the controller 70 compares the internal temperature T with the set temperature T0. If the internal temperature T is low (YES), the controller 70 proceeds to step S80 and performs control to close the discharge opening 61a.

  On the other hand, if the internal temperature T is higher than the set temperature T0 (NO) in step S70, the controller 70 proceeds to step 70 without performing the opening / closing operation of the discharge opening 61a. That is, if the discharge opening 61a is in an open state, the flow proceeds to the next step while being open, and if it is closed, it is closed.

  Then, in step 90, the controller 70 determines whether or not the operation should be continued. In particular, if there is no abnormality that should stop the device (YES), the controller 70 returns to step S10 and performs the control described above. repeat.

  The discharge opening 61a is controlled in two states, that is, an open state and a closed state. However, the discharge opening 61a is controlled to a predetermined opening degree based on a deviation between the internal temperature T and the set temperature T0. It is also possible to employ proportional control.

  Thus, since the refrigerator 1 which concerns on this embodiment can adjust independently the flow volume of the cold air to supply according to the cooling load of each storage chambers 3-6, the food etc. which were stored in the inside of a store room, etc. Can be stored cold at an appropriate temperature.

  Moreover, according to the refrigerator 1 which concerns on this embodiment, since the temperature of each storage chamber 3-6 can be appropriately controlled, without providing a damper in each cooling air path 14-17 and the blower outlets 21-24 of an air path. The number of dampers can be reduced, the cooling air passage can be reduced in size, and the pressure loss due to the dampers can be reduced.

  Next, the operation during the defrosting operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 9. If the cooling operation is continued, frost adheres to the air-side heat transfer surface of the cooler 32, hinders heat transfer and closes the air flow path. Therefore, frost formation is determined from a decrease in the refrigerant evaporation temperature or the like, or is determined by a defrost timer or the like, and a defrosting operation for removing frost adhering to the cooler 32 is started.

  When performing the defrosting operation, the operation of the compressor 31 is stopped and the blower 50 is stopped. And as above-mentioned, as shown in FIG. 6 (A), the wind direction control apparatus 60 will be in the state which closed all the discharge opening parts 61a-64a by control operation shown to FIG.9 S10, S20. Then, the defrost heater 33 is energized.

  Then, the frost attached to the cooler 32 and the cooling chamber 13 is melted by the heat generated by the defrost heater 33. The water after melting the frost flows down to an evaporating dish (not shown) provided in the machine room 49 via a drain pipe (not shown) provided below the cooling chamber 13. And this water evaporates with the heat from the compressor 31 grade | etc., In the said evaporating dish.

  The heat generated by the defrost heater 33 warms the air in the cooling chamber 13. However, in the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment, as described above, the wind direction control device 60 uses the feed opening 13 a of the cooling chamber 13. Since it closes, warm air can be prevented from flowing out to the cooling air paths 14-17. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the inside of the cooling air passages 14 to 17 from being warmed by the defrost warm air. As a result, the cooling efficiency of the refrigerator 1 can be improved.

  Moreover, since the refrigerator 1 which concerns on this embodiment stops the flow of a defrost warm air only by the feed opening part 13a of the cooling chamber 13, there are few seal locations and a reliable sealing with few leaks is attained.

  When the defrosting of the cooler 32 is completed, energization of the defrost heater 33 is stopped, the compressor 31 is started, and cooling by the refrigeration circuit is started. Then, after detecting that the cooler 32 and the cooling chamber 13 have been cooled to a predetermined temperature, or after a predetermined time has elapsed with a timer or the like, the operation of the blower 50 is started, and according to the cooling load of the storage chamber Then, the discharge openings 61a to 64a of the wind direction control device 60 are opened. Thereby, the influence by defrost heat can be suppressed as much as possible, and cooling operation can be restarted.

  As described above, in the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment, the feed direction control device 60 closes the feed opening 13a of the cooling chamber 13 during defrosting, so that the defrosting can be performed without providing a damper in each cooling air passage 14-17. The warm air at the time can be prevented from flowing into the storage chamber.

  In addition, although the wind direction control apparatus 60 of this embodiment was demonstrated as what has the four opening-and-closing discharge openings 61a, 62a, 63a, and 64a, this invention is not limited to this. An appropriate number of discharge openings can be provided according to the division of the storage chamber.

  Similarly, the shape of the wind direction control device 60 is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the shape of the base portion 65 is not limited to a rectangular shape, and may be a polygonal shape or a circular shape. Moreover, you may comprise the whole shape of the wind direction control apparatus 60 in hemispherical shape.

  Moreover, although each discharge opening part 61a, 62a, 63a, 64a and the cooling air path 14,15,16,17 were demonstrated as a one-to-one correspondence, the several discharge opening part has one cooling air path. You may comprise so that it may lead to.

  Furthermore, in the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment, the cold air supplied to the refrigerating room 3 is configured to flow to the vegetable room 7 via the connection air passage 18, but is discharged without passing through the refrigerating room 3. It is also possible to adopt an air path configuration in which cold air is allowed to flow directly from the opening to the vegetable compartment 7. In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Refrigerator 2 ... Thermal insulation box 3 ... Refrigeration room 4 ... Ice making room 5 ... Upper stage freezing room 6 ... Freezing room 7 ... Vegetable room 13 ... Cooling room 13a ... Feeding opening 13b ... Return opening 14, 15, 16, 17 ... Cooling air passage 32 ... Cooler 33 ... Defrost heater 50 ... Blower 51 ... Fan 53 ... Casing 60 ... Wind direction control device 61, 62, 63, 64 ... Side wall 61a, 62a, 63a, 64a ... Discharge opening 65 ... Base part of wind direction control device

Claims (5)

  A storage chamber, a cooling chamber in which a feed opening and a return opening respectively connected to the storage chamber are formed, a cooler that is disposed inside the cooling chamber and cools air flowing from the return opening, In a refrigerator provided with a blower provided in the feed opening, a wind direction control device is provided outside the cooling chamber of the feed opening, and the wind direction control device closes the feed opening and partially A refrigerator characterized by opening and allowing the cooled air to flow.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the storage chamber is divided into a plurality of storage chambers, and the wind direction control device has a plurality of discharge openings that can be opened and closed corresponding to the storage chambers. .   The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein each of the storage chambers and each of the discharge openings are connected to each other by an air passage.   The said blower is an axial blower provided with a rotary fan, and the said discharge opening is formed in the rotation radial direction outer side of the said fan with respect to the said feed opening. The refrigerator as described in any one of thru | or 3. 5. The refrigerator according to claim 2, further comprising a defrosting unit configured to defrost the cooling chamber, wherein at least during the defrosting by the defrosting unit, all of the discharge openings are closed.

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