JP2013242058A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator capable of cooling a stored article according to a stored state thereof in the refrigerator.SOLUTION: A refrigerator has a door opening/closing detection means 13a-d for detecting the opening/closing of a thermally insulated door in a storage compartment, a humidity detection means 14a, 14b for detecting the humidity in the storage compartment, and a calculation control unit for calculating detection results of the humidity detection means 14a, 14b, wherein the calculation control unit can improve the accuracy of estimation of storage amount by estimating the storage amount in the storage compartment based on the detection results of the door opening/closing detection means 13a-d and the humidity detection means 14a, 14b.

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with means for detecting a storage state in a warehouse.

  In recent years, household refrigerators generally use an indirect cooling method in which cold air is circulated in the refrigerator with a fan. In a conventional refrigerator, the temperature in the refrigerator is kept at an appropriate temperature by controlling the temperature according to the detection result of the temperature in the refrigerator. For example, there is a refrigerator provided with a movable cold air discharge device as a refrigerator that keeps the inside temperature uniform (see Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 10 shows a front view of a refrigerator compartment of a conventional refrigerator described in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, a movable cold air discharge device 102 provided in the refrigerator compartment 101 of the refrigerator 500 supplies cold air to the left and right to make the internal temperature uniform.

JP-A-8-247608

  However, the conventional configuration has a problem that the influence of the storage state such as the amount and arrangement of the stored food is not considered.

  This invention solves the said conventional subject, and it aims at providing the refrigerator which can be cooled according to the accommodation state in a refrigerator, or output control is possible.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a refrigerator according to the present invention includes a storage chamber that is partitioned by a heat insulating wall and a heat insulating door to store storage items, a cooler for cooling the storage chamber, and cool air to the storage chamber. A cooling fan for supplying the air, a damper for controlling the amount of cool air to the storage room, a door open / close detection means for detecting the opening / closing of the heat insulation door of the storage room, a humidity detection means for detecting the humidity of the storage room, A calculation control unit that calculates the detection result of the humidity detection unit, and the calculation control unit stores the storage amount of the storage chamber based on the detection result of the door opening / closing detection unit and the detection result of the humidity detection unit. Is estimated.

  Accordingly, the storage amount of the storage chamber can be estimated based on the moisture that comes out of the storage item, and the change in the storage amount can be detected with high accuracy.

  Further, by providing the electrostatic atomizer in the storage room, it is possible to control the amount of radicals according to the storage amount, and in particular in the vegetable room, the humidity can be detected by the electrostatic atomizer.

  Since the refrigerator according to the present invention can improve the estimation accuracy of the storage amount, cooling according to the storage state inside the refrigerator or output control can be performed.

  Furthermore, by providing an electrostatic atomizer, the antibacterial properties inside the refrigerator can be improved and the freshness of vegetables and the like can be improved.

Sectional drawing of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of this invention Control block diagram of refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of the present invention The flowchart which shows the control flow of the operation | movement which detects the accommodation state of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The characteristic figure at the time of detecting the storage state of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of this invention The flowchart which shows the control flow of the operation | movement which detects the accommodation state of the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The characteristic view at the time of detecting the storage state of the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of this invention Main part sectional drawing which installed the electrostatic atomizer in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator in Embodiment 2 of this invention The flowchart which shows the control flow which operates the electrostatic atomizer of the refrigerator in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The characteristic view which shows the relationship between the discharge current and humidity of the electrostatic atomizer of the refrigerator in Embodiment 2 of this invention Front view of the refrigerator compartment of a conventional refrigerator

  A first invention includes a storage chamber that is partitioned by a heat insulating wall and a heat insulating door and stores storage items, a cooler for cooling the storage chamber, a cooling fan that supplies cold air to the storage chamber, and the storage chamber A damper for controlling the amount of cold air to the door, a door opening / closing detection means for detecting the opening / closing of the heat insulation door of the storage room, a humidity detection means for detecting the humidity of the storage room, and a detection result of the humidity detection means An arithmetic control unit that estimates a storage amount of the storage chamber based on a detection result of the door opening / closing detection unit and a detection result of the humidity detection unit, and comes out of the stored item. Based on the moisture, the estimation accuracy of the storage amount can be increased, and cooling according to the storage state of the storage items inside the refrigerator or the output of the functional components can be performed.

  According to a second invention, in the first invention, the calculation control unit uses the detection result of the humidity detection means after a predetermined period has elapsed since the closed state of the heat insulating door was detected by the door opening / closing detection means. Based on this, by estimating the storage amount, it is possible to eliminate a disturbance factor of temperature and humidity due to intrusion of outside air immediately after opening and closing the door, and it is possible to improve the estimation accuracy of the storage amount.

  According to a third invention, in the first or second invention, since the storage room is a vegetable room, in particular, vegetables have a high moisture transpiration, and the relationship between the storage amount and humidity can be detected significantly. It is possible to preserve the vegetables with a high freshness by further improving the estimation accuracy.

  According to a fourth invention, in any one of the first to third inventions, the storage chamber is equipped with an electrostatic atomizer, so that radicals can be sprayed when the estimated storage amount increases. Thus, the unnecessary operation of the electrostatic atomizer when there is no change in the storage amount can be reduced, and the freshness can be improved.

  According to a fifth invention, in the fourth invention, by controlling the capacity of the electrostatic atomizer according to the storage amount estimated by the arithmetic control unit, the radical amount can be controlled according to the storage amount. It becomes possible, unnecessary power supply to the electrostatic atomizer can be reduced, and in particular, the freshness of vegetables can be further improved.

According to a sixth invention, in the fourth or fifth invention, the humidity detecting means is a discharge current detecting unit that detects a discharge current of the electrostatic atomizer, so that the humidity inside the container and the discharge current are directly proportional to each other. From the relationship, not only can self-contained freshness control of the electrostatic atomizer be possible, but also an inexpensive system can be configured by eliminating the humidity detecting means.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control flow of an operation for detecting the storage state of the refrigerator. FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram when detecting the storage state of the refrigerator. FIG. 5: is a flowchart which shows the control flow of the operation | movement which detects the accommodation state of the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram when detecting the storage state of the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator main body is provided with a heat insulating box body 1 in which a heat insulating material such as urethane is foam-filled, a refrigerator compartment 2 provided at the top of the main body, and a refrigerator compartment 2. The switching chamber 3, an ice making chamber (not shown) provided in parallel with the switching chamber 3 under the refrigeration chamber 2, a vegetable chamber 5 provided in the lower part of the main body, the switching chamber 3 and ice making installed in parallel It is composed of a freezing room 4 provided between the room and the vegetable room 5. The refrigerating room 2, the switching room 3, and the ice making room are partitioned by a partition wall 6a having heat insulation properties. Similarly, the switching room 3, the ice making room, and the freezing room 4 are divided by the partition wall 6b, the freezing room 4, and the vegetables. The chamber 5 is partitioned by a partition wall 6c.

  Moreover, the opening part of each storage room is provided with the heat insulation door which foamed and filled heat insulation materials, such as urethane, like the heat insulation box 1, and the refrigerator compartment 2 is the heat insulation door 7a, and the switching room is the heat insulation door 7b. The freezer compartment 4 is closed with a heat insulating door 7c, and the vegetable compartment 5 is closed with a heat insulating door 7d. As the heat insulating door, it is common that the heat insulating door 7a for the refrigerator compartment 2 in the uppermost stage is a double door type, and the other heat insulating doors 7b to 7d are a drawer type.

  Furthermore, between each heat insulation door and the heat insulation box, door open / close detection means 13a to 13d for detecting the open / closed state of the door are provided, 13a for the refrigerator compartment 2, 13b for the switching compartment 3, and the freezer compartment 4 13c for use and 7d for the vegetable room 5 are provided. Specific devices for the door open / close detection means 13a to 13d include a method using a Hall IC, MR element, reed switch, etc. and a magnet, or a method using a mechanical contact such as a push switch.

  The refrigerator compartment 2 is fixed with humidity detecting means 14a for detecting indoor humidity, and the vegetable compartment 5 is fixed with humidity detecting means 14b at an arbitrary place. Since the humidity cannot be detected in the freezing temperature zone, it is not installed in the freezing room 4 or the freezing setting switching room 3. As the humidity detection means 14a-b, a resistance type or capacitance type humidity sensor may be used, and preferably the sensor unit is attached to a place where the sensor unit is not condensed.

  The top surface portion of the heat insulating box 1 has a machine room with a stepped recess toward the back of the refrigerator, and has a compressor 8, a dryer (not shown) for removing moisture, and a condenser (not shown). ) And a heat radiating pipe (not shown) for heat radiating. With the compressor 8 as a base point, the refrigerant is sealed in a refrigeration cycle in which the capillary tube 9 and the cooler 10 are sequentially connected in an annular manner, and a cooling operation is performed. In recent years, a flammable refrigerant is often used as the refrigerant for environmental protection. In the case of a refrigeration cycle using a three-way valve or a switching valve, these functional parts can be arranged in the machine room.

In addition, the cooler 10 is in a cooling air passage at the back of the freezer compartment 4, and a cooling fan 11 is disposed above the cooler 10, and the cooling fan 11 stores the cool air generated by the cooler 10 in each storage chamber. To blow. Furthermore, the damper 12 is installed in the cooling air passage near the refrigerator compartment 2, and the air passage opening is adjusted so that the very cold cold air in the freezing temperature zone generated by the cooler 10 does not flow directly into the refrigerator compartment 2. And optimal air flow control.

  With such a structure and refrigeration cycle, the refrigerator compartment 2 is normally 1 ° C to 5 ° C at the lower limit of the temperature at which it is not frozen for refrigerated storage, and the refrigerator compartment 4 is usually -22 ° C to -18 ° C (to improve the frozen storage state). In addition, the vegetable room 5 is often set to a temperature setting of 2 ° C. to 7 ° C. which is equal to or slightly higher than that of the refrigerator room 2. The switching chamber 3 may be set to a freezing to refrigeration temperature range freely. It may be set to a fine temperature setting such as partial, chilled, or ice temperature, or in the freezing temperature range fixed in recent years when frozen foods are frequently used. good.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the door open / closed state detected by the door open / close detecting means 13a to 13d is input to the arithmetic control unit 15 as a signal S1. Further, the humidity of the storage chamber detected by the humidity detection means 14a-b is input to the calculation control unit 15 as a signal S2, and the storage amount is calculated and estimated from the signals S1 and S2.

  With regard to the refrigerator configured as described above, the operation and action in the refrigerator compartment 2 will be described first with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the characteristic diagram of FIG.

  When the storage amount detection is started in step 1, the door opening / closing detection means 13a detects the opening / closing state of the heat insulating door 7a of the refrigerator compartment 2 in step 2, and if the heat insulating door 7a is closed, the door is closed in step 3. And the signal S1 is output from the door opening / closing detection means 13a to the arithmetic control unit 15 and the logic is returned to Step 2. On the other hand, if the heat insulating door 7a is open in step 2, the logic advances to step 4 to determine that it is in the open state, and the signal S1 is output from the door opening / closing detection means 13a to the arithmetic control unit 15 to transfer the logic to step 5. . Next, in step 5, the door open / close detection means 13a detects the open / close state of the heat insulating door 7a of the refrigerator compartment 2 again. If the heat insulating door 7a is open, step 5 is repeated until the door is closed. When the closing of the heat insulating door 7a is detected, the signal S1 is input to the arithmetic control unit 15 and the logic advances to Step 6. That is, it is estimated that there is a possibility that the stored item is stored in the refrigerator compartment 2 because the door is opened and closed between Steps 2 to 5.

  Next, at step 6, time counting is started, the humidity in the refrigerator compartment 2 is detected by the humidity detecting means 14a, and is input to the arithmetic control unit 15 as a signal S2, and the humidity is stored as R and the logic is set at step Proceed to The time point of Step 6 corresponds to time t1 (when no storage is performed) or time t3 (when storage is performed) shown in the characteristic diagram of FIG. In addition, if the functional component for cooling control is operating at the humidity detection measurement timing, the temperature and humidity fluctuations in the cabinet are large, and specifically, the damper 12 is closed (the air volume is sent into the refrigerator compartment 2). The cooling fan 11 is stopped (cool air is not circulated), or the compressor 8 is stopped (the internal temperature is not changed). Furthermore, if measurement is performed after a predetermined time has elapsed from the stop state of the functional component, the temperature and humidity are stable and accurate detection can be performed. In the following description, the humidity detection measurement timing is performed by stopping the functional components in the same manner as described above.

  Subsequently, in step 7, it is determined whether or not a predetermined period Δa that has been determined in advance has elapsed. If not, step 7 is repeated until the time Δa elapses, and the time Δa If so, the logic advances to step 8. The predetermined period Δa is such that the temperature and humidity once increased due to the inflow of outside air when the stored item is put into the refrigerator compartment 2 just by opening and closing the heat insulating door 7a. What is necessary is just to set the time to return to the previous value.

Next, at step 8, the humidity in the refrigerator compartment 2 is detected again by the humidity detecting means 14a at the time t2 (when not stored) or at the time t4 (when stored) shown in the characteristic diagram of FIG. Then, the signal is input to the arithmetic control unit 15 as the signal S2, and compared with the humidity R stored in step 6 previously stored. If the humidity is higher than R, the logic advances to step 9 to determine that the storage amount has increased. Otherwise, the logic advances to step 10 to determine that the storage amount has decreased or not changed.

  That is, if the humidity does not return to the numerical value R before opening / closing the door at time t4 in the characteristic diagram of FIG. Can do. At this time, the progress of the internal temperature is also shown in the characteristic diagram of FIG. 4 for reference. However, since the refrigerator performs control to adjust the internal temperature to the target temperature, the amount of storage will be reduced over time in the judgment by temperature. There is a high possibility of erroneous determination (at time t5 in FIG. 4).

  Note that the humidity change in the characteristic diagram of FIG. 4 is schematically shown. Actually, the cold air dehumidified by the cooler 10 flows into the refrigerating chamber 2 with the damper 12 open, thereby detecting the humidity. The humidity detected by the means 14a gradually decreases, and when the damper 12 is cooled to a predetermined temperature and the damper 12 is closed, the humidity detected by the humidity detecting means 14a repeats a gradually increasing change, and represents the average humidity. It is a thing.

  Finally, in step 11, for example, when the storage capacity increases, the capacity of the compressor 8 and the cooling fan 11 is increased to perform a rapid cooling operation, or when the storage capacity does not change or decreases, the current operation is maintained and the capacity is decreased. Optimize the refrigeration cycle, such as switching to power saving mode.

  At the same time, when the storage amount is increased, the optimum freshness improvement according to the storage amount is performed by increasing the capacity of functional parts having deodorizing and sterilizing effects and extending the operation time. Specifically, it is sufficient to perform control of the amount of air passing through the deodorizing catalyst, change of the operation time of the ionizer, ozonizer, etc., variable control of the radical circulation amount of the electrostatic atomizer.

  Next, the operation and action in the vegetable compartment 5 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 5 and the characteristic diagram of FIG. The humidity change in the characteristic diagram of FIG. 6 is also a schematic representation of the average humidity, similar to the humidity change in the characteristic diagram of FIG.

  When the storage amount detection starts in step 12, the door opening / closing detection means 13d detects the opening / closing state of the heat insulating door 7d of the vegetable compartment 5 in step 13, and if the heat insulating door 7d is closed, the door is closed in step 4. And the signal S1 is output from the door opening / closing detection means 13d to the arithmetic control unit 15 and the logic is returned to step 13. On the other hand, if the heat insulating door 7d is open in step 13, the logic advances to step 15 to determine that it is in the open state, the signal S1 is output from the door opening / closing detection means 13d to the arithmetic control unit 15 and the logic moves to step 16. . Next, in step 16, the door open / close detection means 13d detects the open / close state of the heat insulating door 7d of the vegetable compartment 5 again, and if the heat insulating door 7d is open, step 16 is repeated. When the closing of the heat insulating door 7d is detected, the signal S1 is input to the arithmetic control unit 15 and the logic advances to Step 17. That is, it is assumed that there is a possibility that the stored items (vegetables) are stored in the vegetable compartment 5 due to the door opening / closing between steps 13-16.

  Next, in step 17, time counting is started, the humidity in the vegetable compartment 5 is detected by the humidity detecting means 14b, and is input to the arithmetic control unit 15 as the signal S2, and the humidity is stored as R0 and the logic is step 18 Proceed to The time point of step 17 corresponds to time t6 (when storage is not performed) or time t8 (when storage is performed) shown in the characteristic diagram of FIG.

  Subsequently, in step 18, it is determined whether or not a predetermined period Δa that has been determined in advance has elapsed. If not, step 18 is repeated until the time Δa has elapsed, and the time Δa If so, the logic advances to step 19. In addition, what is necessary is just to set the time of this predetermined period (DELTA) a similarly to the case of the refrigerator compartment 2 mentioned above.

  Next, in step 19, the humidity of the vegetable compartment 5 is detected again by the humidity detecting means 14b at the time t7 (when not stored) or at the time t9 (when stored) shown in the characteristic diagram of FIG. Then, it is input to the arithmetic control unit 15 as the signal S2, and compared with the humidity R0 in step 17 stored previously. If the humidity is higher than R0, the logic advances to step 20, and it is determined that the storage amount has increased, and counting of the time is started. Otherwise, the logic advances to step 21 and the storage amount does not change. However, it is judged that it decreased.

  That is, if the humidity does not return to the numerical value R0 before opening and closing the door at the time t9 in the characteristic diagram of FIG. 6, the stored goods (vegetables) containing moisture are surely added, and the stored goods increase. Can be judged. The flow of operation up to this point is the same as that in the refrigerator compartment 2 described above.

  Next, in step 20 when it is determined that the storage amount is increased, counting of another time is started at time t9 shown in the characteristic diagram of FIG. Then, in step 22, it is determined whether or not the predetermined time Δb that has been determined in advance has elapsed. If not, step 22 is repeated until the time Δb has elapsed, and the time Δb has elapsed. Then, the logic advances to step 23 (at time t9 in FIG. 6). In addition, as the time of this predetermined period Δb, the time for estimating that the temperature and humidity in the storage are once stabilized (at the time t10 in FIG. 6) and the water evaporation from the stored items (vegetables) is in equilibrium is preliminarily set. It is to set.

  Next, in step 23, the humidity of the vegetable compartment 5 is detected by the humidity detecting means 14b, input to the arithmetic control unit 15 as a signal S2, and compared with the humidity R0 stored in step 17. Specifically, compared with the humidity R1, R2, and R3 determined in advance from the amount of water evaporated according to the storage amount, in step 24, if R0 <humidity ≦ R1, the storage amount is small, R1 <humidity If ≦ R2, the storage amount is medium, and if R2 <humidity ≦ R3, the storage amount is determined to be large.

  Finally, in step 25, for example, when the storage amount is large, the compressor 8 and the cooling fan 11 are increased in capacity to perform a strong cooling operation, or when the storage amount is medium, the normal operation is performed, and when the storage amount is small, the cooling operation is performed. Optimize the refrigeration cycle.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the door opening / closing detecting means 13a for detecting the opening / closing of the heat insulating door 7a of the refrigerator compartment 2, the humidity detecting means 14a for detecting the humidity of the refrigerator compartment 2, and the humidity detecting means 14a. A calculation control unit 15 for calculating the detection result, and the calculation control unit 15 is based on the detection result of the door opening / closing detection means 13a and the detection result of the humidity detection means 14a, and the humidity in the cabinet due to the amount of moisture transpiration from the stored items. By estimating the amount of storage in the refrigerator compartment 2 due to fluctuations, it is possible to increase the estimation accuracy by simply adding an inexpensive humidity sensor rather than temperature detection, which has a large error detection factor. Cooling is possible, and it is possible to cope with power saving operation when the storage amount is small and rapid cooling operation when the storage amount is large.

  In the present embodiment, the calculation control unit 15 determines the storage amount based on the detection result of the humidity detection unit 14a after a predetermined period has elapsed since the door open / close detection unit 13a detects the closed state of the heat insulating door 7a. Since it is estimated, the disturbance factor when the temperature and humidity of the refrigerator installation environment is high and warm air flows into the cabinet immediately after opening and closing the door can be eliminated, and the estimation accuracy of the storage amount can be improved.

  Further, the storage room of the embodiment of the present invention is a vegetable room 5 and is provided with humidity detection means 14b, and the arithmetic control unit 15 stores based on the detection result of the door opening / closing detection means 13d and the detection result of the humidity detection means 14b. Estimating the amount of storage in the refrigerator compartment 2 based on the humidity in the cabinet due to the amount of moisture transpiration from the food, the accuracy of the estimated storage amount of the vegetable compartment 5 where the relationship between the amount of storage and the amount of moisture transpiration is particularly significant is increased, and the freshness is maintained. It can be preserved with improved freshness in a vegetable room that is susceptible to cooling operation.

It should be noted that the humidity detection by the humidity detecting means 14a, 14b changes depending on the opening / closing of the damper, and therefore, for example, it is desirable to measure after a predetermined time since the damper 12 is closed. Furthermore, you may measure the average value of the fixed time after predetermined time, after the damper 12 becomes a closed state.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 7: is principal part sectional drawing which installed the electrostatic atomizer in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control flow for operating the electrostatic atomizer of the refrigerator. FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the discharge current and humidity of the electrostatic atomizer of the refrigerator.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the electrostatic atomizer 16 includes a cooling pin 17, an atomizing electrode 18, a counter electrode 19, and an atomizing portion of a holding frame 20. Humidity supply and radical mist spraying are held in the holding frame 20. Is provided on the top surface of the vegetable compartment 5 together with the storage case 21. The atomizing electrode 18 is fixed to a cooling pin 17 that is a heat transfer cooling member made of a good heat conducting member such as aluminum or stainless steel. The cooling pin 17 is inserted into the partition wall 6c and is normally −22 in the upper freezer compartment 4. The atomization electrode 18 is cooled to such an extent that the tip is dew-condensed by being cooled by cold air at a temperature of from deg. Furthermore, the control means 23, the capacity variable means 24, the high voltage power supply 25, and the discharge current detection unit 26 are circuit parts of the electrostatic atomizer 16, and one end of the DC voltage of the high voltage power supply 25 is the atomization electrode 18, and the other end is The counter electrode 19 is electrically connected. The polarity of the high voltage power supply 25 to be applied can be either positive or negative, and can be a voltage that can generate an electrostatic force that is greater than the surface force of the water droplets condensed on the tip of the atomizing electrode 18.

  Further, the control unit 23 inputs the storage amount estimated from the calculation control unit 15 as a signal S3, and outputs a control signal corresponding to the storage amount to the capacity variable unit 24 as a signal S5 to the high voltage power supply 25. A connection line connected from the high voltage power supply 25 to the counter electrode 19 is connected to a discharge current detection unit 26 that receives the discharge current of corona discharge when radicals are atomized. The detected discharge current is used as a signal S6. Input to the control means 23.

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

  When the freshening operation of the vegetable room is started at step 26, the logic shifts to step 27 and the storage amount estimated by the arithmetic control unit 15 is input to the control means 23 as a signal S3. Next, in step 28, the mist spraying ability of the radical amount corresponding to the storage amount is set by the control means 23, and is output to the capacity variable means 24 as a signal S4. Subsequently, in step 29, the electrostatic capacity specifically corresponding to the storage amount is set. The ability of the atomizer 16 is set. When the storage amount is small, the radical amount is small, for example, the discharge current is about 1 μA. When the storage amount is medium, the radical amount is intermediate, for example, about 2 μA. When the storage amount is large, the radical amount is large, for example, about 3 μA. Should be set. This utilizes the fact that the amount of radicals can be variably set by the electrostatic atomizer 16 controlling the discharge current.

  Next, in step 30, a high voltage is applied from the high voltage power supply 25 between the atomizing electrode 18 and the counter electrode 19 so that the set discharge current value is obtained, and the electrostatic atomizing device 16 is operated. At this time, the discharge current detection unit 26 detects the current in the high voltage application circuit by means such as a shunt resistor, and inputs the current value to the control means 23 as a signal S6 so that it becomes a target current value. Perform feedback control.

Next, at step 31, the door open / close detection means 13d detects the open / close state of the heat insulating door 7d of the vegetable compartment 5, and if the heat insulating door 7d is closed, the logic is returned to step 30 and the operation of the electrostatic atomizer 16 is continued. To do. On the other hand, if the heat insulating door 7d is opened in step 31, the logic is advanced to step 32 and the electrostatic atomizer 16 is stopped. Further, in step 33, the open / close state of the heat insulating door 7d is detected again. If the heat insulating door 7d is open, the logic is returned to step 32 to stop the electrostatic atomizer 16 and if the heat insulating door 7d is closed. The logic is returned to step 27 and the freshening operation is continued. The operations of Steps 31 to 33 are useless by stopping the electrostatic atomizer 16 because the electrostatic atomizer 16 does not operate stably in an unstable state of the internal temperature and humidity due to disturbance factors such as inflow of warm air when the door is opened and closed. This is to reduce power.

  Here, the relationship between the discharge current when the electrostatic atomizer 16 is operating and the humidity in the vegetable compartment will be described with reference to the characteristic diagram of FIG.

  The atomization electrode 18 of the electrostatic atomizer 16 is always maintained at a low temperature of about −10 ° C. to 0 ° C. by heat conduction from the cooling pin 17 cooled at the temperature of the freezer compartment 4. At this time, since the internal temperature of the vegetable compartment 5 is about 2 ° C. to 7 ° C., the necessary dew condensation water is generated when the atomizing electrode 18 is at or below the dew point temperature. In other words, the amount of dew condensation water increases and decreases in proportion to the humidity inside the vegetable compartment 5, so if the amount of vegetables is large, there is a lot of transpiration from the vegetables, and the inside of the chamber is humid and rich in dew condensation water. The inside of the warehouse is in the dry direction and the condensed water is insufficient.

  Next, according to the principle of electrostatic atomization, when dew condensation starts at the tip of the atomization electrode 18 in a state where a constant high voltage is applied, the tailor cone of the dew condensation water (the shape of water droplets pulled by electrostatic force) grows. The discharge current increases in proportion to. When a constant amount of dew condensation is reached, a stable tailor cone state continues, and the discharge current value becomes constant due to the capability of the high-voltage power supply 25.

  When the above operations are summarized, as shown in FIG. 9, when the humidity of the vegetable compartment 5 is R1 or less, the discharge current of the electrostatic atomizer 16 is A1 or less. Therefore, when the discharge current is A1 or less, the humidity is low, so that the amount of transpiration from the vegetable is small and the storage amount can be determined to be small. In addition, what is necessary is just to set the value of humidity R1 to the arbitrary value which a user judges as a small quantity according to the volume of the vegetable compartment 5.

  Similarly, it can be determined that the storage amount is medium when the discharge current value is between A1 and A2, and the storage amount is large when the discharge current value is A2 or more. As described above, the dew condensation water can be sufficiently secured when the humidity is equal to or higher than R3, and the discharge current value continues to A3 with stable atomization.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, since the storage room is equipped with the electrostatic atomizer 16, radicals can be atomized when the estimated storage amount increases and adhere to the storage items. It is possible to improve the freshness of the storage room by actively suppressing the growth of the bacteria. Further, when there is no change in the storage amount, the electrostatic atomizer 16 is stopped, so that power can be reduced.

  Furthermore, when the stored items in the refrigerator compartment 2 increase in combination with the refrigerator compartment 2 described in the first embodiment, the freshness of all the rooms can be improved by operating the electrostatic atomizer 16 in the vegetable compartment 5. This is because cold air circulates through the storage chambers, and radicals generated in the vegetable compartment 5 are also sent into the refrigerator compartment 2 when the damper 12 is in an open state (a large amount of storage and requires cooling). .

  Further, in the present embodiment, by changing the capacity of the electrostatic atomizer 16 according to the storage amount estimated by the arithmetic control unit 15, it becomes possible to control the radical amount according to the storage amount. The power supply more than necessary to the electroatomizer 16 can be reduced, and in particular, the freshness of vegetables can be further improved.

In addition, by using the humidity detection means 14b of the present embodiment as the discharge current detection unit 26 that detects the discharge current of the electrostatic atomizer 16, the moisture in the chamber and the discharge current are in direct proportion, and in particular, moisture transpiration occurs. For notable vegetables, not only can the amount of storage be determined from the discharge current value, but also self-contained freshness control can be performed without using the humidity detecting means 14b. That is, when the amount of vegetables stored is large, the amount of radicals is large, and conversely, when the amount of storage is small, the electrostatic atomizer 16 automatically controls the optimal freshness that reduces the amount of radicals, so there is no need to construct a cumbersome control algorithm. become.

  As described above, since the refrigerator according to the present invention can achieve a special effect that cooling according to the amount of stored items inside the refrigerator is possible, the amount of stored items in the refrigerator is detected. The present invention can be applied to any cooling equipment provided with means.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heat insulation box 2 Refrigerating room 3 Switching room 4 Freezing room 5 Vegetable room 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d Partition wall 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d Thermal insulation door 8 Compressor 9 Capillary tube 10 Cooler 11 Cooling fan 12 Damper 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d Door open / close detection means 14a, 14b Humidity detection means 15 Calculation control section 16 Electrostatic atomizer 17 Cooling pin 18 Atomization electrode 19 Counter electrode 20 Holding frame 21 Storage case 22 Opening section 23 Control means 24 Capability variable Means 25 High-voltage power supply 26 Discharge current detector

Claims (6)

A storage room partitioned by a heat insulating wall and a heat insulating door to store storage items, a cooler for cooling the storage room, a cooling fan for supplying cool air to the storage room, and a control of the amount of cool air to the storage room A damper that opens and closes, a door opening / closing detection unit that detects opening and closing of the heat insulation door of the storage chamber, a humidity detection unit that detects humidity of the storage chamber, and an arithmetic control unit that calculates the detection result of the humidity detection unit And the arithmetic control unit estimates a storage amount of the storage room based on a detection result of the door opening / closing detection unit and a detection result of the humidity detection unit. The calculation control unit estimates a storage amount based on a detection result of the humidity detection unit after a predetermined period has elapsed since the closed state of the heat insulating door was detected by the door opening / closing detection unit. The refrigerator according to claim 1. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage room is a vegetable room. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the storage chamber includes an electrostatic atomizer. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the capacity of the electrostatic atomizer is varied in accordance with the amount of storage estimated by the arithmetic control unit. The refrigerator according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the humidity detection means is a discharge current detection unit that detects a discharge current of the electrostatic atomizer.