JP2018009788A - refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator which quickly cools when food of a high temperature or a large amount of food are stored in a cold chamber or a lower freezing chamber with a wide width dimension by allowing cool air to easily pass between a tray and food in a storage container.SOLUTION: In a refrigerator which includes a heat insulation box forming a cold chamber and a freezing chamber, a freezing cycle generating cool air, and a cool air supply passage supplying cool air from the freezing cycle to the cold chamber and the freezing chamber with a blower fan, the cold chamber or the freezing chamber is arranged with a storage container, and in the storage container 63, an aluminum tray 101 is arranged on the bottom of the storage container 63, and a plurality of protrusions 101a are provided on an aluminum tray 101 surface in the depth direction and the right and left directions.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator for storing food, drinking water or the like by refrigeration or freezing.

  Recently, due to changes in the home environment such as the nuclear family and the increase in couples working together, freezing storage methods in freezer rooms tend to diversify. In addition to the conventional usage of purchasing and storing food sold in the freezing temperature range, the use of the freezer in the home includes the quick freezing preservation of meat such as meat or cooking A method of using the quick freezing mode such as quick freezing has been proposed.

  For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-25530 (Patent Document 1), a regenerator material made of aluminum having good thermal conductivity is provided at the bottom of an upper container (upper freezer chamber) of a freezer compartment. It has been shown that food is rapidly cooled by providing irregularities to increase the surface area of the skin thickness.

JP 2010-25530 A

  The refrigerator described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 is for rapidly cooling food stored at a high temperature in an upper freezer adjacent to the upper side of the lower freezer, and not for rapidly cooling the lower freezer. . Moreover, it is not disclosed how the irregularities provided in the livestock cooling material in the freezer compartment are specifically arranged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and its purpose is to allow cold air to pass between a tray and food in a storage container, even in a refrigerator compartment or a lower freezer compartment having a wide width. By making it easy, it is providing the refrigerator which cools rapidly, when food with a high temperature and a lot of foods were stored.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a heat insulating box that forms a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment, a refrigeration cycle that generates cold air, and the refrigeration compartment and the freezer compartment that cool air from the refrigeration cycle by a blower fan. In the refrigerator having a cold air supply path for supplying to the refrigerator, the refrigerator compartment or the freezer compartment is provided with a storage container, and a metal tray is disposed on the bottom surface of the storage container in the storage container, and the metal tray A plurality of convex portions were provided on the surface in the depth direction and the left-right direction.

  According to the present invention, even in a refrigeration room or a lower freezing room with a wide width, by allowing cold air to easily pass between the tray and the food in the storage container, a food with a high temperature or a large amount of food can be obtained. A refrigerator that rapidly cools when stored can be provided.

It is a front external view of the refrigerator to which the present invention is applied. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the longitudinal cross-section of the refrigerator shown in FIG. It is a front view which shows the structure inside the back surface in the store | warehouse | chamber of the refrigerator shown in FIG. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of the freezer compartment in the Example of this invention. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of the temperature sensor vicinity shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of an uppermost stage frozen storage container and an aluminum tray. It is sectional drawing of an uppermost stage frozen storage container and an aluminum tray.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications and application examples are included in the technical concept of the present invention. Is also included in the range.

  Before describing specific embodiments of the present invention, the configuration of a refrigerator to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a front external view of the refrigerator, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a longitudinal section of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a front view showing a configuration inside the back of the refrigerator shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the cross section of the ice making chamber is not shown.

  1 and 2, the refrigerator 1 includes a refrigerator room 2, an ice making room (a part of the freezer room) 3, an upper freezer room 4, a lower freezer room 5, and a vegetable room 6 from above. Here, the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezer compartment 4 are provided side by side between the refrigerator compartment 2 and the lower freezer compartment 5. As an example, the refrigerating room 2 is a storage room having a refrigeration temperature range of about + 3 ° C. and the vegetable room 6 is a refrigerating temperature zone of about + 3 ° C. to + 7 ° C. Further, the ice making room 3, the upper freezing room 4, and the lower freezing room 5 are storage rooms in a freezing temperature zone of approximately −18 ° C. Although not shown in the figure, a partitioning portion arranged in the vertical direction is provided between the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4, and the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4 are bounded by this partition wall. They are juxtaposed in the left-right direction. The upper freezer compartment 4 is smaller in width than the lower freezer compartment 5 adjacent to the lower part thereof, has a smaller volume than the lower freezer compartment 5, and a small amount of food is frozen and stored.

  The refrigerating room 2 includes, on the front side, refrigerating room doors 2a and 2b with double doors (so-called French type) divided into left and right. The ice making room 3, the upper freezing room 4, the lower freezing room 5, and the vegetable room 6 are each provided with a drawer type ice making room door 3a, an upper freezing room door 4a, a lower freezing room door 5a, and a vegetable room door 6a.

  In addition, a packing (not shown) with magnets built in along the outer edge of each door is provided on the surface of each door on the storage room side. When each door is closed, the outside of the refrigerator formed of an iron plate is provided. It is set as the structure which closely_contact | adheres to the flange of a box and each partition iron plate, and suppresses the penetration | invasion of the external air into a storage chamber, and the leakage of the cold air from a storage chamber.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the machine room 11 is formed in the lower part of the refrigerator main body 10, and the compressor 12 is incorporated in this. The cooler storage chamber 13 and the machine chamber 11 are communicated with each other by a drain passage 14 so that condensed water can be discharged.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the outside of the refrigerator body 10 and the inside of the refrigerator are separated by a heat insulating box 15 formed by filling a foam heat insulating material (foamed polyurethane) between the inner box and the outer box. Yes. Further, the heat insulating box 15 of the refrigerator body 10 has a plurality of vacuum heat insulating materials 16 mounted thereon. The refrigerator main body 10 is divided into a refrigerator compartment 2, an upper freezer compartment 4 and an ice making chamber 3 (see FIG. 1, the ice making chamber 3 is not shown in FIG. 2) by an upper heat insulating partition wall 17a. The lower freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 are partitioned by the wall 17b.

  In addition, a horizontal partition 18 is provided in the upper part of the lower freezer compartment 5. The horizontal partition 18 partitions the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4 and the lower freezing chamber 5 in the vertical direction. However, since the ice making chamber 3, the upper freezing chamber 4, and the lower freezing chamber 5 are fluidly connected, the same cold air is supplied. In addition, a vertical partition that partitions the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4 in the left-right direction is provided above the horizontal partition 18.

  The horizontal partition 18 is in contact with packing (not shown) provided on the storage room side surface of the lower freezer compartment door 5a together with the front surface of the lower heat insulating partition wall 17b and the front surfaces of the left and right side walls. Packings (not shown) provided on the storage room side surfaces of the ice making room door 3a and the upper freezing room door 4a are the horizontal partition 18, the vertical partition 53 (FIG. 4), the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a, and the refrigerator body 1. By contacting the front surfaces of the left and right side walls, the movement of cold air between each storage chamber and each door is suppressed. In addition, since the ice making chamber 3, the upper freezer compartment 4, and the lower freezer compartment 5 are maintained in the same freezing temperature zone, the heat insulating performance of the horizontal partition 18 and the vertical partition 53 is the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a and the lower side. It is not required as much as the heat insulating partition wall 17b.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the upper freezer compartment 4, the lower freezer compartment 5, and the vegetable compartment 6 are attached with doors 4a, 5a, 6a provided in front of the respective storage compartments. The upper freezer compartment 4 is provided with an upper freezer storage container 41, and the lower freezer compartment 5 has a plurality of stages of freezer storage containers, that is, an uppermost freezer storage container 63, an upper freezer storage container 61, and a lower freezer storage container 62. Has been placed. Furthermore, an upper vegetable storage container 71 and a lower vegetable storage container 72 are arranged in the vegetable room 6.

  Then, the ice making room door 3a, the upper freezing room door 4a, the lower freezing room door 5a, and the vegetable room door 6a are each put on a handle portion (not shown) and pulled out to the front side, thereby making an ice making storage container 3b (not shown). ), The upper frozen storage container 41, the lower frozen storage container 62, and the lower vegetable storage container 72 can be pulled out.

  More specifically, the lower refrigerated storage container 62 has a support arm 5d attached to the box inside the freezer compartment door, and a flange portion on the upper side of the lower refrigerated storage container 62 is suspended. Only the container 62 is withdrawn. The uppermost frozen storage container 63 and the upper frozen storage container 61 are placed on an uneven portion (not shown) formed on the side wall of the freezer compartment 5 and are slidable in the front-rear direction.

  Similarly, the lower vegetable storage container 72 has a flange portion suspended on a support arm 6d attached to the inner box of the vegetable compartment door 6a, and the upper vegetable storage container 71 is placed on the uneven portion of the side wall of the vegetable compartment. In addition, the vegetable room 6 is provided with an electric heater 6C fixed to the heat insulating box 15, and a temperature suitable for storing vegetables so that the temperature of the vegetable room 6 is not overcooled by the electric heater 6C. It is trying to become. The electric heater 6C may be provided if necessary, but in the present embodiment, the electric heater 6C is provided so that vegetables can be stored better.

  Next, a method for cooling the refrigerator will be described. A refrigerator housing chamber 13 is formed in the refrigerator main body 1, and a cooler 19 is provided therein as a cooling means. The cooler 19 (for example, a fin tube heat exchanger) is provided in a cooler storage chamber 13 provided at the back of the lower freezer compartment 5. A blower fan 20 (a propeller fan as an example) is provided as a blower in the cooler storage chamber 13 and above the cooler 19.

  Air cooled by heat exchange in the cooler 19 (hereinafter, low-temperature air heat-exchanged by the cooler 19 is referred to as “cold air”) is supplied by a blower fan 20 to a refrigerator compartment air duct 21, a freezer compartment air duct 22, And it sends to each storage room of the refrigerating room 2, the ice making room 3, the upper freezing room 4, the lower freezing room 5, and the vegetable room 6 via the ice making room air duct which is not illustrated.

  The blast to each storage room is sent to the first blast control means (hereinafter referred to as the refrigeration room damper 23) for controlling the amount of air sent to the refrigeration room 2 in the refrigeration temperature zone, and to the freezer compartments 4 and 5 in the refrigeration temperature zone. It is controlled by second air flow control means (hereinafter referred to as freezer compartment damper 24) that controls the air flow. Incidentally, the air ducts to the refrigerator compartment 2, the ice making room 3, the upper freezer room 4, the lower freezer room 5, and the vegetable room 6 are arranged on the back side of each storage room of the refrigerator body 1 as shown by broken lines in FIG. Is provided. Specifically, when the refrigerator compartment damper 23 is in the open state and the freezer compartment damper 24 is in the closed state, the cold air is sent to the refrigerator compartment 2 from the outlets 25 provided in multiple stages via the refrigerator compartment air duct 21.

  The cold air that has cooled the refrigerator compartment 2 is provided on the lower right rear side of the lower heat insulating partition wall 18 from the refrigerator compartment return port 26 provided in the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 2 through the refrigerator compartment-vegetable compartment communication duct 27. The air is blown from the vegetable room outlet 28 to the vegetable room 6. The return cold air from the vegetable compartment 6 passes from the vegetable compartment return duct inlet 29 provided in front of the lower part of the lower heat insulating partition wall 18 through the vegetable compartment return duct 30 and from the vegetable compartment return duct outlet to the lower part of the cooler storage compartment 13. Return to. In addition, it is good also as a structure which returns to the lower right part seeing from the upper surface of the cooler storage chamber 12 in FIG. 3, without connecting the refrigerator compartment-vegetable compartment communication duct 27 to the vegetable compartment 6 as another structure. As an example in this case, a vegetable room air duct is arranged at the front projection position of the refrigerator compartment-vegetable room communication duct 27, and the cold air heat-exchanged by the cooler 19 is directly blown from the vegetable room outlet 28 to the vegetable room 6. Will come to do.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a partition member 31 is provided in front of the cooler storage chamber 13 to partition between the storage chambers and the cooler storage chamber 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the partition member 31 has a pair of upper and lower outlets 32 a, 32 b, 33 a, and 33 b formed therein. When the freezer damper 24 is in an open state, Are blown by the blower fan 20 to the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4 from the blowout ports 32a and 32b through the ice making chamber blowing duct and the upper freezing chamber blowing duct 34 (not shown). Further, the air is blown from the outlets 33 a and 33 b to the lower freezer compartment 5 through the lower freezer compartment air duct 35. It should be noted that the lower freezer compartment 5 may be provided with additional outlets as necessary.

  In the refrigerator having the above-described configuration, there is a demand for a refrigerator that can automatically freeze rapidly when food having a high temperature is stored while suppressing heat transfer between the upper frozen storage container 41 and the refrigerator compartment. Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 4 shows an enlarged cross section of the main part of the freezer compartment, and FIG. 5 shows an enlarged cross section of the main part near the temperature sensor. In FIG. 4, a first temperature sensor 50 constituted by a thermistor or the like is provided on the depth side end face of a vertical partition 53 (which is a partition component without a vacuum heat insulating material) that partitions the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4. Is attached. A second temperature sensor 52 also comprising a thermistor is disposed on the back wall 51 near the upper side of the lower freezer compartment 5.

  In this embodiment, the first temperature sensor 50 measures the temperature of a space that depends on the food temperature, and the second sensor 52 measures the temperature of a space that does not depend on the food temperature. Therefore, it is judged from the fluctuation state of the output signals of the two temperature sensors whether food having a temperature higher than the freezer temperature is stored in the upper freezer compartment 4 or the lower freezer compartment 5. Here, since the 2nd temperature sensor 52 is a temperature sensor already provided conventionally, description about a detailed structure is abbreviate | omitted. The first temperature sensor 50 is not limited to the thermistor, and may be a non-contact temperature sensor such as an infrared sensor. However, since the thermistor has a higher degree of design freedom than an infrared sensor that cannot measure the temperature unless the food is within the field of view, the first temperature sensor 50 is preferably composed of a thermistor.

  Now, the first temperature sensor 50 which is a feature of the present embodiment is provided at the lower end of the vertical partition 53 provided so as to be orthogonal to the horizontal partition 18 as shown in FIG. A first temperature sensor 50 is disposed at a lower end portion 54 in the depth direction of the vertical partition 53, and a signal line 55 of the first temperature sensor 50 is connected to the outside through the inside of the vertical partition 53. As shown in FIG. The first temperature sensor 50 and a part of the signal line 55 are covered with a sensor cover 57. The sensor cover 57 is made of screws, adhesives, welding, etc. so as to be integrated with the vertical partition 53. It is fixed to the vertical partition 53 by a fixing means.

  Here, in the vertical partition 53, a first temperature sensor 50, a signal line 55, a connector 56 for transmitting an output signal to the outside, and a sensor cover 57 are assembled in advance to form an assembly. The vertical partition portion 53 can be incorporated by fixing the assembly of the partition portion 53 to the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a with screws. A connector (not shown) connected to the control device is fixed to a region where the vertical partition 53 on the lower side of the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a is located.

  Therefore, it is a structure that can be connected to the connector 56 of the first temperature sensor 50 by incorporating the vertical partition 53. In the lower freezer compartment 5, a lower frozen storage container 62, an upper frozen storage container 61, and an uppermost frozen storage container 63 are arranged from below.

  In such a configuration, it is assumed that raw meat or cooked food is stored in the uppermost frozen storage container 63 of the lower freezer compartment 5.

  At this time, the first temperature sensor 50 is within the vertical projection of the uppermost frozen storage container 63 of the lower freezer compartment 5 and is higher than the upper end of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, and the lower end of the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a. And the lower freezer 4 is in a position lower than the upper end portion of the upper frozen storage container 41. Thus, since the 1st temperature sensor 50 is arrange | positioned close to the upper part of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, it is easy to receive to the influence of the temperature of the accommodated foodstuff. That is, the first temperature sensor 50 measures the temperature of the space that depends on the food temperature.

  On the other hand, the second temperature sensor 52 is outside the vertical projection of the uppermost frozen storage container 63 of the lower freezer compartment 5, specifically, on the back side of the lower freezer compartment 5, and away from the uppermost frozen storage container 63. Since it is arranged, it is less susceptible to the temperature of the stored food. That is, the second sensor 52 measures the temperature of the space that is not influenced by the food temperature. Therefore, by comparing the output state of the first temperature sensor 50 and the variation state of the time-series output signal of the second temperature sensor 52, it can be determined whether or not the food has been stored.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the first temperature sensor 50 is not provided on the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a, a vacuum heat insulating material is widely attached to the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a, and leakage of cold heat from the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a is prevented. Can be suppressed. That is, since the movement of heat between the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment is suppressed, power consumption for cooling the freezer compartment can be suppressed, and excessive cooling of the refrigerator compartment can also be suppressed.

  Here, an aluminum tray 101 is arranged in the uppermost frozen storage container 63 and substantially in the entire bottom surface of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, and on the surface of the aluminum tray 101, as shown in FIG. A plurality of convex portions 101a are formed in the depth direction and the left-right direction. Aluminum is a material having extremely high thermal conductivity compared to resin and the like, and the surface area is increased by a plurality of convex portions 101a. Therefore, compared with the upper refrigerated storage container 61 and the lower refrigerated storage container 62, the uppermost refrigerated storage. The cooling performance of the container 63 is high. The aluminum tray 101 does not necessarily cover the entire bottom surface of the uppermost refrigerated storage container 63, but may be disposed over substantially the entire area as long as it covers 90% or more of the bottom surface. Can be regarded as being. Further, the area occupied by the convex portion 101 a in the surface of the aluminum tray 101 is 70% or more of the entire aluminum tray 101. Furthermore, a metal having a high thermal conductivity other than aluminum may be used as the material of the tray.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the concave portions formed between the convex portions 101a arranged in the left-right direction and the depth direction are continuously located with the adjacent concave portions. For this reason, since the juice flowing out of the food or the spilled liquid food is transmitted through this recess, the direction of spread is limited only in the left-right direction or the depth direction. The work at the time of cleaning becomes easy. Particularly in the freezer compartment, when the spilled liquid food is diffused, the surface area of the food is increased and the rate at which the liquid is solidified increases. However, when the plurality of convex portions 101a as in the present embodiment are formed, the diffusion of food is restricted and the solidification of the liquid is suppressed, so that the work for cleaning becomes easy.

  Further, the concave portions formed between the convex portions 101a arranged in the depth direction are also continuously located with the concave portions adjacent in the left-right direction. For this reason, when opening and closing operation of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, it can suppress that a foodstuff shifts to the front-back direction. Here, since the lower freezer compartment 5 has a wider width in the left-right direction than the upper freezer compartment 4, the aluminum tray 101 disposed in the uppermost frozen storage container 63 of the lower freezer compartment 5 also has a wider width. ing. However, according to the present embodiment, since the second moment of section of the bottom surface is increased by the plurality of convex portions 101a formed on the aluminum tray 101, there is also an effect of improving the strength.

  Then, the cold air is supplied from the vertical outlet of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, specifically, from the outlet at the substantially same height as the uppermost frozen storage container 63 on the back side of the lower freezer compartment 5. When food is placed on the aluminum tray 101, the cold air supplied from the air outlet is blocked by hitting the food. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the recesses formed between the plurality of projections 101 a arranged in a lattice form create gaps extending linearly in the depth direction and the left-right direction between the aluminum tray 101 and the food. . As cold air passes through this gap, convective heat transfer between food and cold air and between the aluminum tray 101 and cold air is promoted.

  Further, as shown in the front view of the uppermost frozen storage container 63 in FIG. 7, the uppermost frozen storage container 63 has a front wall surface 101b formed lower than the left and right sidewall surfaces 101c. For this reason, the cold air blown out from the air outlet at substantially the same height as the uppermost frozen storage container 63 on the back side of the lower freezer compartment 5 is convected without being blocked by the front wall surface 101b, and the food and cold air Convective heat transfer will also be promoted. For this reason, the food in the uppermost frozen storage container 63 is rapidly cooled. The left and right side wall surfaces 101c of the uppermost refrigerated storage container 63 are formed so that the rear height is lower than the front, and the rear of the left and right side wall surfaces 101c is substantially the same height as the rear side wall surface extending in the left-right direction. It has become.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the uppermost refrigerated storage container 63 having a smallest height dimension and a thin space compared to the storage container in the upper freezer compartment 4 and the other storage containers in the lower freezer compartment 5 is rapidly Since it is a target for freezing, there is an advantage that it is difficult to stack foods and is easy to store and take out. Further, since the uppermost frozen storage container 63 has a larger width than the storage container of the upper freezer compartment 4, more food can be arranged in the left-right direction.

  In the embodiment described above, a refrigerator having a layout in which the vegetable compartment 6 is arranged at a position lower than the lower freezer compartment 5 has been described. However, the refrigerator has a layout in which the vegetable compartment is arranged between the refrigerator compartment and the upper freezer compartment. Also good. In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the aluminum tray 101 is disposed in the uppermost storage container 63 of the lower freezer compartment 5 is shown. However, there are a plurality of storage containers in the refrigerator compartment 2, and among these, the uppermost storage container 63 has the uppermost storage container 63. An aluminum tray 101 may be arranged for chilled cooling of the storage container.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Refrigerator main body, 2 ... Refrigeration room, 3 ... Ice making room, 4 ... Upper freezing room, 5 ... Lower freezing room, 6 ... Vegetable room, 19 ... Cooler, 12 ... Cooler storage room, 18 ... Thermal insulation partition wall, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Blower fan, 50 ... 1st temperature sensor, 51 ... Back wall, 52 ... 2nd temperature sensor, 53 ... Vertical partition part, 54 ... Depth direction lower end part, 55 ... Signal line, 56 ... Connector, 57 ... Sensor cover, 101 ... aluminum tray, 101a ... projection

Claims (1)

In a refrigerator comprising a heat insulating box that forms a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment, a refrigeration cycle that generates cold air, and a cold air supply path that supplies the cold air from the refrigeration cycle to the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment by a blower fan ,
The refrigerator compartment or freezer compartment is provided with a storage container,
In the storage container, a metal tray is disposed on the bottom surface of the storage container,
A refrigerator comprising a plurality of convex portions in the depth direction and the left-right direction on the surface of the metal tray.

Images