JP2020085406A - Cooling storage - Google Patents

Abstract

To suppress liquid return caused by a door being opened/closed at a short interval.SOLUTION: In a refrigerator 1, a microcomputer 31A performs fan control processing so that rotational frequency per unit time of an internal fan 27 is lowered to second rotational frequency or less that is lower than first rotational frequency to be rotational frequency of the internal fan 27 when a heat insulation door 12 is closed in the case that it is detected by a human detection sensor 32 that the heat insulation door 12 is opened, and the internal fan 27 is rotated with the first rotational frequency when a prescribed condition is satisfied later on, and does not perform the fan control processing in the case that it is detected by the human detection sensor 32 that the heat insulation door 12 is opened before time T1 passes after the rotational frequency of the internal fan 27 is lowered by the fan control processing to the second rotational frequency or less, but rotates the internal fan 27 with rotational frequency higher than the second rotational frequency.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The technology disclosed herein relates to a cold store.

Conventionally, in a cooling storage with an internal fan that circulates the cold air cooled by a refrigeration circuit inside the storage, when the door of the cooling storage is opened, the internal fan is stopped in order to prevent outside air from being taken in and diffused. The thing is known (for example, refer patent document 1). Specifically, the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1 includes a heat ray sensor provided inside the refrigerator facing the door side, and stops the cold air stirring fan when the heat ray sensor detects that the door is open. Is.

JP, 2006-266582, A

However, the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 has not examined the problem when the door is opened and closed at short intervals.
The present specification discloses a technique for suppressing liquid back due to opening and closing of a door at short intervals.

The cooling storage disclosed in the present specification includes a storage main body having an opening, a door that opens and closes the opening, a refrigeration circuit, an internal fan that circulates cold air cooled by the refrigeration circuit in the storage, and the door. A detection unit that detects that the door has been opened, and a control unit. When the control unit detects that the door has been opened, The rotation speed is reduced to a second rotation speed or lower, which is lower than the first rotation speed, which is the rotation speed of the in-compartment fan when the door is closed, and then a predetermined condition is satisfied, and then the in-compartment fan is rotated. Before the first time elapses from the time when the fan control processing for rotating the internal fan is reduced to the second rotation speed or less by the fan control processing. When the opening of the door is detected by the detection unit, the fan control process is not executed and the internal fan is rotated at a rotation speed higher than the second rotation speed.

The effect of the cooling storage described above will be described with reference to the control of the cooling storage according to the comparative example.
FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the control of the cooling storage according to the comparative example. The cooling storage according to the comparative example includes an internal light with a human presence sensor function, and when the user (person) opens the door, the human presence sensor detects the person. When the person detecting sensor detects a person (that is, when the door is opened), the interior light with the presence sensor function turns on the interior light for time T3 (for example, 30 seconds).
In the cooling storage according to the comparative example, lighting/extinguishing of the interior light is interlocked with the door opening/closing signal, and when the interior light is lit, the door opening/closing signal is output to the control unit of the cooling storage. When the door open/close signal is output, the control unit stops the internal fan for a time T2 (for example, 20 seconds) in order to take in outside air and prevent the outside air from being dispersed.
However, according to the cooling storage according to the comparative example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the door is opened and closed at intervals close to time T3 (for example, 40 seconds), the internal fan frequently stops. If the internal fan stops frequently, heat exchange in the evaporator of the refrigeration circuit becomes insufficient. Normally, the refrigerant sent out from the compressor of the refrigeration circuit returns to the compressor in a gas state, but when heat exchange in the evaporator becomes insufficient, it returns to the compressor in a liquid state without becoming a gas. May occur. When liquid back occurs, the load on the compressor increases. When the load on the compressor increases, the power consumption increases, and also the compressor fails.
According to the cooling storage described above, if the door is opened before the first time elapses after the rotation speed of the internal fan is reduced to the second rotation speed or lower by the fan control processing, the fan control processing is performed. Instead, the internal fan is rotated at a rotation speed higher than the second rotation speed. For this reason, even if the door is opened and closed at short intervals, it is possible to prevent the number of rotations of the internal fan from frequently decreasing to the second number of rotations or less (including stopping). As a result, liquid back is suppressed and the load on the compressor is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in power consumption and reduce the possibility that the compressor will fail.

The predetermined condition may be that a second time shorter than the first time has elapsed since the rotation speed of the internal fan was reduced to the second rotation speed or less.

According to the cooling storage described above, compared to the case where the internal fan is rotated at the second rotation speed or less even after the second time has elapsed since the rotation speed of the internal fan was reduced to the second rotation speed or less. It is possible to suppress a decrease in the number of rotations of the internal fan per unit time.

The detection unit may detect opening and closing of the door, and the predetermined condition may be that the detection unit detects that the door is closed.

According to the above cooling storage, the rotation of the internal fan is restarted at the timing when the door is closed, so that it is possible to suppress the outside air from being taken into the internal storage by rotating the internal fan before the door is closed.

In the fan control process, the control unit may stop the rotation of the internal fan when the detection unit detects that the door is opened.

According to the above-mentioned cooling storage cabinet, when the door is opened, the internal fan is completely stopped, so that it is possible to more reliably suppress the intake of outside air into the storage cabinet.

The rotation speed higher than the second rotation speed may be the first rotation speed.

According to the above cooling storage, since the number of revolutions higher than the second number of revolutions is the first number of revolutions which is the number of revolutions when the door is closed, the number of revolutions is lower than that of the first number of revolutions. The back can be suppressed more reliably.

The rotation speed higher than the second rotation speed may be lower than the first rotation speed.

According to the above cooling storage, since the rotation speed higher than the second rotation speed is lower than the first rotation speed, the outside air is taken into the storage as compared with the case of rotating at the first rotation speed. Can be suppressed.

Front view of the cooling storage according to the first embodiment Cross section of a cold store Perspective view of a cold store Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the cooling storage Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the internal light with a human sensor function and the control board Timing chart showing control of cooling storage Timing chart showing the control of the cooling storage according to the second embodiment Timing chart showing the control of the cooling storage according to the comparative example

<Embodiment 1>
Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. In the following description, the X direction shown in FIG. 1 is referred to as the left-right direction, the Z direction is referred to as the up-down direction, and the Y direction shown in FIG. 3 is referred to as the front-back direction. Further, in the following description, the rotation speed means the rotation speed per unit time.

(1) Configuration of Refrigerator As shown in FIG. 1, a refrigerator 1 as a cooling storage according to the first embodiment is a two-door type horizontal (table-type) refrigerator. The refrigerator 1 is provided with a storage main body 11 formed of a horizontally long heat insulating box opened to the front side, a pair of left and right double-sided heat insulating doors 12 (one example of doors) that open and close the opening of the storage main body 11, and a left side of the storage main body 11. The machine room 13 is provided.

A prismatic center pillar 14 extending in the vertical direction is provided at the center of the storage body 11 at the opening of the storage main body 11. A center pillar 14 divides the opening of the storage main body 11 into left and right sides.
An operation panel 15 is provided on the front surface of the machine room 13. The operation panel 15 includes a display unit that displays various kinds of information such as the inside temperature of the refrigerator, operation buttons for the user to make various settings, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper part of the left side of the storage main body 11 projects to the machine room 13 side, and the part projecting to the machine room 13 side forms the cooling chamber 16. A duct 17 is provided on the right side of the cooling chamber 16, and the interior of the storage main body 11 is partitioned by the duct 17 into a cooling chamber 16 and a storage chamber 18. Below the duct 17, a suction port 52 for sucking the air in the refrigerator into the cooling chamber 16 is provided. A blowout port 53 for blowing the air cooled in the cooling chamber 16 into the chamber is provided above the duct 17.

A cooling unit 19 (an example of a refrigeration circuit) is housed in the machine room 13. As shown in FIG. 4, the cooling unit 19 includes an inverter compressor 20, a condenser 21, a dryer 22, a pressure reducing mechanism 23 (capillary tube or the like), and an evaporator 24, which are circulated and connected by a refrigerant pipe 25. ing. The cooling unit 19 also has a condenser fan 26.

As shown in FIG. 2, an inverter compressor 20 and a condenser 21 are arranged outside the cooling chamber 16 (that is, outside the refrigerator) in the machine room 13. The dryer 22, the pressure reducing mechanism 23, and the condenser fan 26 are also arranged inside the machine chamber 13 and outside the cooling chamber 16.
An evaporator 24, an internal fan 27, and an internal thermistor 29 are arranged in the cooling chamber 16. The internal fan 27 is for circulating the air cooled by the evaporator 24 into the storage chamber 18 (hereinafter, simply referred to as the internal space). When the internal fan 27 rotates, the air in the internal compartment is sucked into the cooling chamber 16 through the suction port 52, cooled by the evaporator 24, and blown out into the internal compartment through the outlet 53. The internal thermistor 29 is for detecting the internal temperature and is arranged between the suction port 52 and the evaporator 24.

As shown in FIG. 3, an interior lamp 30 with a human sensor function is provided on the ceiling surface 18A of the storage room 18. As will be described later in detail, the interior light 30 with a human sensor function includes a human sensor 32 for detecting a person (see FIG. 5, an example of a detection unit) and an LED 33 (see FIG. 5) for illuminating the interior. There is. The human sensor 32 is arranged so as to face the heat insulating door 12 from the inside of the storage chamber 18, and when the person in front of the refrigerator 1 opens the heat insulating door 12, the human sensor 32 detects the person. When the person sensor 32 detects a person, the interior light 30 with a person sensor function turns on the LED 33 for a time T3 (30 seconds in the present embodiment).

(2) Electrical Configuration of Refrigerator The electrical configuration of the refrigerator 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The refrigerator 1 includes a control board 31. On the control board 31, a microcomputer 31A (see FIG. 5, an example of a control unit, hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer 31A) in which a CPU, a RAM, etc. are integrated into one chip, a memory (not shown), and the like are mounted. Further, the inverter compressor 20, the condenser fan 26, the internal fan 27, the internal thermistor 29, the internal light 30 with the human sensor function, the operation panel 15, and the like are electrically connected to the control board 31.

With reference to FIG. 5, an electrical configuration of the interior light 30 with a human sensor function will be described. The interior light 30 with a human sensor function includes a substrate 34, a sensor unit 35, an amplification circuit 36, a comparison circuit 37, a timer circuit 38, a transistor Q1, a transistor Q2, and a plurality of LEDs 33.

The sensor unit 35 is a pyroelectric infrared sensor that receives infrared rays, and includes a pyroelectric element and a hemispherical lens that covers the pyroelectric element from the front. Since the temperature (infrared amount) in the detectable area of the infrared sensor changes when the heat insulating door 12 changes from the closed state to the open state, a person is detected by detecting this temperature change by the infrared sensor.

The sensor unit 35 outputs a voltage corresponding to the detected amount of infrared rays to the amplification circuit 36. The voltage output to the amplifier circuit 36 is amplified by the amplifier circuit 36 and output to the comparison circuit 37. When the voltage output from the amplifier circuit 36 is higher than the reference voltage, the comparator circuit 37 outputs a signal to the timer circuit 38 as if a person was detected.

The timer circuit 38 turns on the transistors Q1 and Q2 when the signal is output from the comparison circuit 37. When the transistor Q1 is turned on, the LED 33 is turned on by the power supplied from the control board 31. When the transistor Q2 is turned on, a door open/close signal is output to the microcomputer 31A. The timer circuit 38 turns off the transistors Q1 and Q2 after a lapse of time T3 (30 seconds) from the time when the transistors Q1 and Q2 are turned on. As a result, the LED 33 is turned off and the output of the door opening/closing signal is stopped.

(3) Fan control processing The microcomputer 31A executes various control processing. Here, the fan control processing of the control processing executed by the microcomputer 31A will be described. The fan control process is a process of controlling the rotation of the internal fan 27.

First, the outline of the fan control process will be described. The microcomputer 31A rotates the internal fan 27 at a predetermined rotation speed (an example of the first rotation speed) when the heat insulating door 12 is closed. Then, when the door opening/closing signal (first door opening/closing signal) is output from the interior light 30 with the human sensor function, the microcomputer 31A stops the internal fan 27 in order to prevent the outside air from being taken into the internal compartment. (An example of the second rotation speed), and when a predetermined condition is satisfied thereafter, the internal fan 27 is rotated again at the predetermined rotation speed (fan control processing).

The predetermined condition according to the first embodiment is a time T2 (20 seconds in the present embodiment, an example of a second time) shorter than the time T3 (30 seconds) for turning on the LED 33 from the time when the internal fan 27 is stopped. Has passed.

The microcomputer 31A outputs the door open/close signal (second door open/close signal) from the internal light 30 with the human sensor function after the internal fan 27 is rotated again at a predetermined rotation speed after the time T2 has elapsed. Then, from the time when the internal fan 27 was stopped last time (here, when the first door opening/closing signal was output and the internal fan 27 was stopped), a time sufficiently longer than the time T3 which is the lighting time of the LED 33. It is determined whether or not T1 (one example of a first time such as 1 minute or 2 minutes) has elapsed, and if the time T1 has elapsed, a fan control process is executed (that is, the internal fan 27 is set to 20). Stop for a second). On the other hand, when the time T1 has not elapsed, the microcomputer 31A does not execute the fan control process even if the door open/close signal (the second door open/close signal) is output, and the internal fan 27 is rotated at the predetermined rotation speed. Continue to rotate at (higher rotation speed than the second rotation speed).

A more specific description will be given with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, a time point P1 indicates a time point when the user of the refrigerator 1 opens the heat insulating door 12 (a time point when the user opens the heat insulating door 12 for the first time). As described above, when the heat insulating door 12 is opened, the LED 33 lights up for time T3 (30 seconds) and the door opening/closing signal turns on.
When the door open/close signal is turned on at the time point P1, the microcomputer 31A stops the internal fan 27 for the time T2 (20 seconds), and when the time T2 has elapsed, rotates the internal fan 27 again at a predetermined rotation speed (time point P2).

Time point P3 is a time point when time T3 has elapsed from time point P1. As described above, the timer circuit 38 turns off the transistors Q1 and Q2 when the time T3 elapses from the time point P1. Therefore, at time P3, the LED 33 is turned off and the door open/close signal is turned off.
Time point P4 is a time point when the heat insulating door 12 is next opened by the user (a time point when it is opened for the second time). Also in this case, the LED 33 is turned on and the door opening/closing signal is turned on. However, the time point P4 has not passed the time T1 (1 minute, 2 minutes, or the like) since the time point P1 when the internal fan 27 was stopped last time. If the time T1 or more has not elapsed, the microcomputer 31A continues to rotate the internal fan 27 at a predetermined rotation speed (an example of a rotation speed higher than the second rotation speed) without stopping.

Time point P5 is a time point when the heat insulating door 12 is next opened by the user (a time point when the heat insulating door 12 is opened for the third time). At time point P5, time T1 or more has elapsed from time point P1 when the internal fan 27 was stopped last time. Therefore, in this case, the microcomputer 31A stops the internal fan 27. The same applies hereinafter.

(4) Effects of the Embodiment According to the refrigerator 1 according to the first embodiment, when the heat insulating door 12 is opened before the time T1 elapses from the time when the internal fan 27 is stopped by the fan control process, the fan control is performed. Without performing the process, the internal fan 27 is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed (higher rotation speed than the second rotation speed). Therefore, even if the heat insulating door 12 is opened and closed at short intervals, the rotation speed of the internal fan 27 per unit time is suppressed from decreasing. As a result, liquid back is suppressed and the load on the compressor is reduced. Therefore, the increase in power consumption can be suppressed and the possibility that the compressor will fail can be reduced.

According to the refrigerator 1, the predetermined condition is that the time T2 has elapsed from the time when the internal fan 27 was stopped (when the fan speed was lowered to the second rotation speed or lower). That is, according to the refrigerator 1, when the time T2 elapses from the time when the internal fan 27 is stopped, the internal fan 27 is rotated, so that the internal fan 27 is compared with the case where the internal fan 27 is kept stopped. It is possible to suppress a decrease in the number of rotations per unit time.
Further, if the internal fan 27 is stopped for a long time, the internal temperature may rise, which may affect the food stored in the storage chamber 18. Even when the heat insulating door 12 is left open, when the time T2 elapses, the effect on food can be reduced by rotating the internal fan 27.

According to the refrigerator 1, the second rotation speed lower than the first rotation speed is 0 rotation (that is, stop). Therefore, when the heat insulating door 12 is opened, the internal fan 27 is completely stopped. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably suppress the intake of outside air into the refrigerator.

According to the refrigerator 1, the rotation speed higher than the second rotation speed (stop) is the predetermined rotation speed (first rotation speed) which is the rotation speed when the heat insulating door 12 is closed, and therefore, the predetermined rotation speed. Liquid back can be more reliably suppressed as compared with the case where the number is lower than the number.

<Embodiment 2>
In the above-described first embodiment, the inside fan 27 is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed while the heat insulating door 12 is closed, and the inside fan 27 is stopped when the heat insulating door 12 is opened at the time point P1. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, the microcomputer 31A according to the second embodiment rotates the internal fan 27 at a high speed (an example of the first rotation speed) while the heat insulating door 12 is closed, and When the heat insulating door 12 is opened at P1, the internal fan 27 is not completely stopped but is rotated at a low speed (second rotation speed).

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when the heat insulating door 12 is opened before the time T1 elapses from the time when the internal fan 27 is rotated at a low speed (time point P1) (time point P4), as shown in FIG. Rather than rotating the internal fan 27 at a high speed (the same rotation speed as when the heat insulation door 12 is closed), it is a medium speed (higher than the second rotation speed and lower than the first rotation speed). ) To rotate.

According to the refrigerator 1 according to the second embodiment, even if the heat insulating door 12 is opened at the time point P1, the internal fan 27 is rotated at a low speed instead of being completely stopped. Although the effect of suppressing the incorporation into the inside decreases, the liquid bag can be suppressed more reliably.

According to the refrigerator 1, the rotation speed higher than the second rotation speed is medium speed (rotation speed lower than the first rotation speed), so that the outside air is stored in the refrigerator more than the case of rotating at the high speed (first rotation speed). It can be restrained from being taken in.

<Embodiment 3>
In the first embodiment described above, the opening of the heat insulating door 12 is detected by the inside light 30 with the human sensor function. On the other hand, the refrigerator 1 according to the third embodiment includes a door opening/closing sensor (an example of a detection unit) that directly detects opening/closing of the heat insulating door 12. The door opening/closing sensor has, for example, a magnet provided on the heat insulating door 12 side and a reed switch provided on the storage body 11 side. When the heat insulating door 12 is opened, the reed switch is operated by moving the magnet away from the reed switch, and it is detected that the heat insulating door 12 is opened. On the contrary, when the heat insulating door 12 is closed, the magnet approaches the reed switch, so that it is detected that the heat insulating door 12 is closed.

The predetermined condition according to the third embodiment is that the door opening/closing sensor detects that the heat insulating door 12 is closed. Specifically, the microcomputer 31A according to the third embodiment stops the internal fan 27 when the door opening/closing sensor detects that the heat insulating door 12 is opened, and the door opening/closing sensor detects that the heat insulating door 12 is closed. When detected, the rotation of the internal fan 27 is restarted.

According to the refrigerator 1 according to the third embodiment, the rotation of the internal fan 27 is restarted at the timing when the heat insulating door 12 is closed. Therefore, by restarting the rotation of the internal fan 27 before the heat insulating door 12 is closed, the outside air Can be prevented from being taken into the refrigerator.

<Other Embodiments>
The technology disclosed in this specification is not limited to the embodiments described by the above description and the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope disclosed in this specification.

(1) Although the infrared sensor is described as an example of the human sensor 32 in the above embodiment, the human sensor 32 is not limited to this, and any sensor capable of detecting a person can be used.

(2) In the first embodiment, when the heat insulation door 12 is opened, the internal fan 27 is stopped so that the rotation speed of the internal fan 27 per unit time is equal to or lower than the second rotation speed lower than the first rotation speed. The case of lowering has been described as an example. In the second embodiment, when the heat insulating door 12 is opened, the internal fan 27 is rotated at a low speed so that the rotation speed of the internal storage fan per unit time is equal to or lower than the second rotation speed lower than the first rotation speed. The case of lowering has been described as an example.

On the other hand, when the heat insulating door 12 is opened, the internal fan 27 may be intermittently rotated to reduce the rotation speed per unit time to the second rotation speed or less. For example, the internal fan 27 may be rotated at high speed intermittently from the time the heat insulating door 12 is opened until the time T2 elapses. In that case, the rotation time and the stop time of the internal fan 27 are adjusted so that the value obtained by dividing the total rotational speed of the internal fan 27 during that period by the time T2 (that is, the rotational speed per unit time) becomes equal to or less than the second rotational speed. Should be set.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the human sensor 32 and the door opening/closing sensor are described as examples of the detection unit that detects that the heat insulating door 12 is opened, but the detection unit is not limited to these. For example, the detection unit may be the internal thermistor 29. Specifically, when the heat insulating door 12 is opened, the temperature inside the refrigerator rises. Therefore, for example, the lowest temperature detected by the thermistor 29 in the refrigerator may be stored and it may be determined that the heat insulating door 12 is opened when the temperature rises from the lowest temperature by a predetermined temperature or more. Alternatively, it may be determined that the heat insulating door 12 is opened when a temperature higher than the set temperature by a predetermined temperature or more is detected. Alternatively, it may be determined that the adiabatic door 12 has been opened if the temperature rise amount per unit time is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

(4) In the above embodiment, the refrigerator is described as an example of the cooling storage, but the cooling storage may be a freezer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Refrigerator (an example of a storage main body), 12... Heat insulation door (an example of a door), 27... Internal fan, 19... Cooling unit (an example of a refrigeration circuit), 31A... Microcomputer (an example of a control part), 32... Human sensor (an example of detector)

Claims (6)

A storage body having an opening,
A door for opening and closing the opening,
A refrigeration circuit,
An in-compartment fan that circulates the cold air cooled by the refrigeration circuit in the interior,
A detection unit that detects that the door is opened,
A control unit,
Equipped with
The control unit is
When the opening of the door is detected by the detection unit, the number of rotations of the internal fan per unit time is the number of rotations of the internal fan when the door is closed. To a second rotation speed lower than the rotation speed lower than, and if a predetermined condition is satisfied thereafter, a fan control process for rotating the internal fan at the first rotation speed is executed,
When the detection unit detects that the door is opened before the first time has elapsed from the time when the rotation speed of the internal fan is reduced to the second rotation speed or less by the fan control processing. Is a cooling storage which does not execute the fan control process and rotates the internal fan at a rotation speed higher than the second rotation speed. The storage according to claim 1, wherein
The predetermined condition is that a second time shorter than the first time has elapsed since the rotation speed of the internal fan was reduced to the second rotation speed or less. The storage according to claim 1, wherein
The detection unit detects opening and closing of the door,
The predetermined condition is that the closing of the door is detected by the detection unit. The storage according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
In the fan control process, the control unit stops the rotation of the in-compartment fan when the detection unit detects that the door is opened. The storage according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A cooling storage, wherein the number of revolutions higher than the second number of revolutions is the first number of revolutions. The storage according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The cooling storage, wherein the rotation speed higher than the second rotation speed is lower than the first rotation speed.

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