JP2022069946A - refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a refrigerator that can cool a special cooling area provided inside a storage room to a temperature suited to a food assumed to be stored in the cooling area.SOLUTION: A refrigerator includes: a storage room including a special cooling area; a cold air-supplying air channel for supplying cold air to the special cooling area; and a heating part provided in the cold air-supplying air channel.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present embodiment relates to a refrigerator.

In refrigerators, the development of technology for controlling the temperature in the storage room is underway. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a refrigerator provided with a temperature switching device that raises or lowers the temperature of the vegetable compartment to be higher or lower than the temperature of the refrigerator compartment.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-125178

By the way, in recent years, so-called "lunch" has become widespread, for example, the form of purchasing cooked food and taking it home to eat, or the form of eating the food delivered by delivery at home. I'm doing it. Then, in this form of prepared food, the food for prepared food may be temporarily stored in the refrigerator. In view of these circumstances, in recent years, it has been considered to provide a special cooling area for ready-to-eat meals in the refrigerating room for storing ready-to-eat foods.

However, conventionally, the development of techniques such as a structure and control for maintaining the temperature of the entire storage room of the refrigerator at a predetermined set temperature has been appealed. Further, conventionally, the development of a technique for maintaining the temperature in the storage chamber at a temperature as low as possible has been appealed. That is, conventionally, the appeal of the technique of how to efficiently perform direct cooling that directly cools the storage room by supplying cold air to the storage room has been promoted. Therefore, the refrigerating room is described above. The whole, including the special edible cooling area, is cooled to a relatively low set temperature for the refrigerator. Therefore, the inside of the cooling area for ready-to-eat food is also cooled to a relatively low set temperature for the cold storage room, and the food for ready-to-eat food stored in the cooling area for ready-to-eat food is brought to a temperature suitable for the food, that is, It is difficult to cool the food at a temperature at which it can be eaten deliciously or at a temperature at which the food can be stored in a delicious state. That is, there is a problem that the food for ready-to-eat food stored in the cooling area for ready-to-eat food becomes too cold.

Therefore, a refrigerator capable of cooling a special cooling area provided in the storage chamber to a temperature suitable for foods expected to be stored in the cooling area is provided.

The refrigerator according to the present embodiment includes a storage chamber including a special cooling area, a cold air supply air passage for supplying cold air to the special cooling area, and a heating unit provided in the cold air supply air passage.

Front view schematically showing a configuration example of a refrigerator according to the first embodiment Longitudinal side view schematically showing a configuration example of a part of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the structural example of the refrigerating cycle which concerns on 1st Embodiment schematicly. Rear view schematically showing a configuration example of a cold air supply duct to which a heater according to the first embodiment is attached. Longitudinal side view schematically showing a configuration example of a part of the refrigerator according to the second embodiment. A block diagram schematically showing a configuration example of a refrigerator control system according to a third embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the operation by the refrigerator which concerns on 3rd Embodiment schematicly.

Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments relating to the refrigerator will be described with reference to the drawings. The components that are substantially the same in the plurality of embodiments are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

(First Embodiment)
The refrigerator 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is provided with a plurality of storage chambers inside a rectangular box-shaped heat insulating box 11 constituting the outer shell thereof. The heat insulating box 11 is an example of a refrigerator main body constituting the main body of the refrigerator 10, and is configured to have a heat insulating material such as a vacuum heat insulating panel or urethane foam between the inner box and the outer box. The heat insulating box 11 is provided with a refrigerating chamber 12 maintained in a refrigerating temperature zone as a storage chamber for accommodating a storage such as food. Further, in the heat insulating box 11, as a storage room other than the refrigerating room 12, a vegetable room 13 maintained in the refrigerating temperature zone, a freezing room 14 maintained in the freezing temperature zone, a small freezing room 15, and an ice making room 16 are further provided. Various storage rooms such as are provided.

The vegetable compartment 13 is opened and closed by a drawer-type vegetable compartment door 13D. The freezing chamber 14 is opened and closed by a drawer-type freezing chamber door 14D. The small freezing room 15 is opened and closed by a drawer-type small freezing room door 15D. The ice making chamber 16 is opened and closed by a drawer-type ice making chamber door 16D.

The front opening of the refrigerating chamber 12 is opened and closed by two so-called double doors 12D that rotate in the left-right direction. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a cold air supply duct 20 extending in the vertical direction is provided on the rear wall surface in the refrigerating chamber 12. The cold air supply duct 20 forms a cold air supply air passage 21 between the cold air supply duct 20 and the rear wall surface in the refrigerating chamber 12. A cooling chamber 30 is provided below the cold air supply duct 20. A cooler 31 and a blower fan 32 are provided inside the cooling chamber 30.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the cooler 31 constitutes a well-known refrigerating cycle 36 together with a compressor 33, a throttler 34, a condenser 35, and the like, and the cold air generated by the cooler 31 is a blower fan. 32 is generated and blown into the cold air supply air passage 21. Then, the cold air sent into the cold air supply air passage 21 is blown into the refrigerating chamber 12 from the front cold air supply port 20a and the upper cold air supply port 20b provided in the cold air supply duct 20. ..

Further, in the lower part of the refrigerating chamber 12, a chilled chamber 12a is provided located in front of the cooling chamber 30. Further, a plurality of shelves 12b are detachably attached to the inside of the refrigerating chamber 12. In the refrigerator compartment 12, the plurality of shelves 12b are attached to different height positions. Inside the refrigerating chamber 12, the area above the uppermost shelf 12b is provided as a ready-to-eat area SA, which is an example of a special cooling area. That is, the ready-to-eat area SA is provided in the upper part of the refrigerating room 12. Further, the ready-to-eat area SA is provided at a position farthest from the blower fan 32 in the refrigerating room 12. That is, according to the refrigerator 10, the cooling chamber 30 accommodating the blower fan 32 is provided at a position on the lower end side, which is one end side in the refrigerating chamber 12. On the other hand, the ready-to-eat area SA is provided at the upper end side, which is the other end side in the refrigerating chamber 12. That is, the prepared food area SA is provided on the upper end side of the refrigerating chamber 12 with respect to the blower fan 32 provided on the lower end side of the refrigerating chamber 12.

Further, in the refrigerating chamber 12, a normal cooling area NA is provided as an example of a non-special cooling area which is a cooling area different from the prepared food area SA. The normal cooling area NA is provided below the uppermost shelf 12b. Further, in the refrigerating chamber 12, a plurality of normal cooling areas NA are provided by being partitioned by a plurality of shelves 12b.

The cold air supply duct 20 has a portion corresponding to the ready-to-eat area SA, in this case, the upper end portion thereof has an upper cold air supply port 20b and does not have a front cold air supply port 20a. .. Further, the cold air supply duct 20 has a front cold air supply port 20a and no upper cold air supply port 20b in a portion corresponding to the normal cooling area NA, in this case, a portion other than the upper end portion thereof. It is composed.

According to the refrigerating chamber 12 provided with the cold air supply duct 20 configured in this way, the cold air flowing in the cold air supply air passage 21 is provided in the upper end portion of the cold air supply duct 20 in the prepared food area SA. It is supplied from the cold air supply port 20b. That is, the cold air supply air passage 21 functions as an air passage for supplying cold air into the prepared food area SA. Further, the upper cold air supply port 20b functions as an example of a cold air supply port for a special cooling area that supplies cold air into the prepared food area SA.

Further, the cold air flowing in the cold air supply air passage 21 is supplied to the normal cooling area NA from the front cold air supply port 20a provided on the front surface of the cold air supply duct 20. That is, the cold air supply air passage 21 also functions as an air passage that normally supplies cold air into the cooling area NA. Further, the front cold air supply port 20a functions as an example of a cold air supply port for a non-special cooling area that supplies cold air into the normal cooling area NA.

The cold air supply air passage 21 is provided with a heater 40, which is an example of a heating unit. In this case, the heater 40 is provided on the back surface of the upper end portion of the cold air supply duct 20. In other words, the heater 40 is provided above the front cold air supply port 20a located at the top of the plurality of front cold air supply ports 20a provided in the cold air supply duct 20, that is, on the side of the prepared food area SA. There is. Further, the heater 40 is provided on the inner surface on the front side of the inner surface of the upper cold air supply port 20b provided at the upper end of the cold air supply duct 20.

The heater 40 is affected by the blowing action of the blowing fan 32 and heats the air passing through the upper cold air supply port 20b among the air flowing in the cold air supply air passage 21. Then, the air heated by the heater 40 is further subjected to the blowing action by the blowing fan 32 and is supplied into the prepared food area SA from the upper cold air supply port 20b. That is, the blower fan 17 can send the air heated by the heater 40 into the ready-to-eat area SA.

Next, an example of a specific installation mode of the heater 40 described above will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the heater 40 is attached on the back surface of the upper end portion of the cold air supply duct 20 so as to be along the left-right direction of the cold air supply duct 20, in other words, the left-right direction of the prepared food area SA. ing. The heater 40 is configured as a so-called heating wire heater, for example, by passing electricity through a heating wire to generate heat. Further, the heater 40 is configured as a so-called aluminum foil heater in which a heating wire is wrapped with aluminum foil, for example.

The heater 40 may be configured to be as lightweight as possible. Further, the heater 40 may be formed as thin as possible. Further, the heater 40 may be drip-proof. Further, the heater 40 may be composed of, for example, a flexible planar heating element in which a heating wire is wrapped with a silicon rubber sheet. Further, the power consumption of the heater 40 can be appropriately changed and set.

Further, on the back surface of the cold air supply duct 20, a plate-shaped partition wall 20c that defines the side surface of the cold air supply air passage 21 is provided. The partition wall 20c extends in the vertical direction slightly on the center side of the left and right ends of the cold air supply duct 20. The cold air supply air passage 21 is formed between these partition walls 20c. Further, on the back surface of the cold air supply duct 20, a gap 20d extending in the vertical direction along the partition wall 20c is formed in a portion outside the partition wall 20c. This gap 20d can be utilized as an accommodating portion for accommodating the wiring 40a of the heater 40.

The heater 40 heats the cold air flowing through the cold air supply air passage 21 and being supplied from the upper cold air supply port 20b into the ready-to-eat area SA to a temperature within a predetermined special temperature zone. The predetermined special temperature zone is a temperature suitable for a ready-to-eat food that is expected to be stored in the ready-to-eat area SA, that is, a temperature at which the food can be deliciously eaten as a ready-to-eat food, or a temperature thereof. It is a temperature range including a temperature at which the food can be stored in a delicious state as a ready-to-eat food, and a temperature range higher than the cooling temperature for refrigeration set in the normal refrigerating chamber 12 is set. As a result, the low-temperature cold air cooled by the cooler 31 is not supplied as it is into the prepared food area SA, but the cold air warmed to a temperature suitable for the prepared food is supplied. ..

According to the refrigerator 10 exemplified above, the heater 40 is provided in the cold air supply air passage 21 for supplying cold air into the prepared food area SA. According to this configuration, the low-temperature cold air cooled by the cooler 31 can be heated by the heater 40 and then supplied into the ready-to-eat area SA. As a result, the prepared food area SA, which is a special cooling area provided in the refrigerating chamber 12, is cooled to a temperature suitable for the prepared food that is expected to be stored in the prepared food area SA. It is possible to prevent the food for ready-to-eat food stored in the ready-to-eat area SA from becoming too cold.

Further, according to the refrigerator 10, the blower fan 32 for sending the air heated by the heater 40 into the ready-to-eat area SA is provided. According to this configuration, the air heated by the heater 40 can be efficiently supplied into the prepared food area SA. Further, according to the refrigerator 10, the refrigerating blower fan 32 for supplying cold air into the refrigerating chamber 12 is also used as a blower fan for sending the air heated by the heater 40 into the prepared food area SA. Therefore, as compared with a configuration in which a dedicated blower fan for sending the air heated by the heater 40 into the prepared food area SA is provided separately from the blower fan 32, it is possible to avoid complication of the structure and an increase in the number of parts. can. The refrigerator 10 may be configured to include a dedicated blower fan for sending the air heated by the heater 40 into the ready-to-eat area SA.

Further, according to the refrigerator 10, the prepared food area SA is provided at the position farthest from the blower fan 32 in the refrigerating room 12. According to this configuration, the time required for the cold air flowing under the blowing action of the blowing fan 32 to reach the prepared food area SA and the flow path length can be secured as long as possible, and the cold heat possessed by the cold air can be secured. It can be sufficiently diverged by the time it reaches the prepared food area SA. As a result, it is possible to easily supply cold air having a relatively high temperature into the prepared food area SA, and it is possible to further prevent the inside of the prepared food area SA from becoming too cold. If the ready-to-eat area SA is provided in the refrigerating chamber 12 on the opposite side of the blower fan 32, it may not be provided in the refrigerating chamber 12 at the position farthest from the blower fan 32.

Further, according to the refrigerator 10, the heater 40 is provided above the front cold air supply port 20a for supplying cold air into the normal cooling area NA, that is, on the side of the ready-to-eat area SA. According to this configuration, it is possible to make it difficult to transfer the heat generated by the heater 40 to the cold air blown out from the front cold air supply port 20a into the normal cooling area NA, and to prepare the heat from the upper cold air supply port 20b. It is possible to easily transmit the cold air blown into the area SA. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cold air supplied in the normal cooling area NA from being heated, and it is possible to easily heat the cold air supplied in the prepared meal area SA. As a result, the inside of the normal cooling area NA can be cooled at a low temperature suitable for the normal cooling area NA, and the inside of the prepared food area SA can be cooled at a high temperature suitable for the prepared food area SA. Can be done.

Further, according to the refrigerator 10, the heater 40 is provided on the inner surface on the front side of the inner surface of the upper cold air supply port 20b for supplying cold air to the prepared food area SA. According to this configuration, the heater 40 can be provided in the upper cold air supply port 20b, and the cold air blown out from the upper cold air supply port 20b into the prepared food area SA can be directly heated by the heater 40. Further, according to this configuration, the heat generated by the heater 40 can be transferred to the front side of the cold air supply duct 20, particularly to the uppermost shelf 12b partitioning the lower surface of the prepared food area SA, and dew condensation on the shelf 12b. Can be suppressed.

Further, according to the refrigerator 10, first, the heater 40 is attached to the cold air supply duct 20, and the cold air supply duct 20 to which the heater 40 is attached is attached to the refrigerating chamber 12, so that the heater 40 is formed in the cold air supply air passage 21. The refrigerator 10 provided with the above can be easily manufactured without requiring excessive labor.

The heater 40 may be provided on the surface side of the upper end portion of the cold air supply duct 20. According to this configuration, it is difficult to directly heat the cold air blown from the upper cold air supply port 20b into the prepared food area SA by the heater 40, but it is possible to heat the peripheral portion of the upper cold air supply port 20b. Therefore, the cold air blown out from the upper cold air supply port 20b into the ready-to-eat area SA can be indirectly warmed. Therefore, it is sufficiently possible to supply the warmed cold air into the prepared food area SA. Further, according to this configuration, the heat generated by the heater 40 can be more easily transferred to the uppermost shelf 12b that partitions the lower surface of the ready-to-eat area SA, and the generation of dew condensation on the shelf 12b can be further suppressed. Further, according to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the heater 40 from protruding inside the upper cold air supply port 20b, and it is possible to suppress an increase in air passage resistance due to the presence of the heater 40. Therefore, the warmed cold air can be efficiently supplied into the prepared food area SA from the upper cold air supply port 20b.

(Second Embodiment)
According to the refrigerator 10 illustrated in FIG. 5, the heater 40 is provided on the rear inner surface of the inner surface of the upper cold air supply port 20b provided at the upper end of the cold air supply duct 20. According to this configuration, the heater 40 can be provided in the upper cold air supply port 20b, and the heat generated by the heater 40 is directly transferred to the cold air supplied from the upper cold air supply port 20b into the ready-to-eat area SA. Can be made easier. Further, since the distance between the heater 40 and the front cold air supply port 20a can be increased, the heat generated by the heater 40 is transmitted to the cold air supplied from the front cold air supply port 20a into the normal cooling area NA. It can be made difficult. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably cool the inside of the normal cooling area NA at a lower temperature suitable for the normal cooling area NA, and the inside of the prepared food area SA is higher suitable for the prepared food area SA. Cooling at temperature can be done more reliably.

The heater 40 may be provided inside the inner box 11a constituting the heat insulating box body 11, that is, inside the refrigerator, or may be provided outside the inner box 11a, that is, outside the refrigerator.

When the heater 40 is provided inside the inner box 11a, the heat generated by the heater 40 can be directly transferred to the cold air supplied from the upper cold air supply port 20b into the ready-to-eat area SA, and the heating efficiency of the cold air can be improved. Can be enhanced. Further, when the heater 40 is provided inside the inner box 11a, the heater 40 can be attached even after the inner box 11a is combined with the outer box 11b to form the heat insulating box body 11.

Further, when the heater 40 is provided on the outside of the inner box 11a, it is possible to prevent the heater 40 from protruding inside the upper cold air supply port 20b, and it is possible to suppress an increase in air passage resistance due to the presence of the heater 40. Can be done. Therefore, the warmed cold air can be efficiently supplied into the prepared food area SA from the upper cold air supply port 20b. Further, when the heater 40 is provided on the outside of the inner box 11a, the heater 40 can be protected inside the heat insulating box 11, and damage to the heater 40 can be suppressed. When the heater 40 is provided on the outside of the inner box 11a, a thermal insulator may be interposed between the heater 40 and the heat insulating material inside the heat insulating box 11.

(Third Embodiment)
The control device 50 illustrated in FIG. 6 is an example of a control unit, and is mainly composed of, for example, a microcomputer. The control device 50 controls the entire operation of the refrigerator 10 based on, for example, a control program and various setting information. Various drive system components provided in the refrigerator 10, such as a blower fan 32, a compressor 33, and a heater 40, are connected to the control device 50. The control device 50 controls the driving of the components of these drive systems.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the control device 50 can at least perform a refrigerating chamber cooling operation of cooling the inside of the refrigerating chamber 12 to a predetermined refrigerating temperature zone. That is, the control device 50 drives the blower fan 32 and the compressor 33 to send the cold air generated by the cooler 31 into the refrigerating chamber 12 to cool the inside of the refrigerating chamber 12 to a predetermined refrigerating temperature zone. Is possible.

The control device 50 is further configured to be capable of performing a non-cooling operation. When performing the non-cooling operation, the control device 50 drives the blower fan 32 in a state where the compressor 33 is turned off, that is, in a state where the cooler 31 does not generate cold air. According to this non-cooling operation, the air not cooled by the cooler 31 is supplied into the prepared food area SA. As a result, it is possible to prevent the inside of the prepared food area SA from being excessively cooled. In other words, it is possible to warm the inside of the prepared meal area SA.

As shown in the non-cooling operation described above, the control device 50 can drive the blower fan 32 even when the refrigerating room cooling operation is not executed. Then, according to the non-cooling operation, the inside of the prepared meal area SA can be warmed. That is, the control device 50 can heat the inside of the ready-to-eat area SA by controlling the drive of the blower fan 32 and the compressor 33 without relying on the heater 40. In this case, the control device 50 is not provided in the cold air supply air passage 21, but has the same function as the heating unit. In the non-cooling operation, the control device 50 may turn on or off the heater 40. By turning on the heater 40 in the non-cooling operation, the inside of the ready-to-eat area SA can be heated more efficiently. Further, by turning off the heater 40 in the non-cooling operation, it is possible to heat the inside of the ready-to-eat area SA while saving the power consumption of the heater 40. Further, in the present embodiment, as an example of "when the cooling state in the storage room is a predetermined special situation", the time when the "non-cooling operation" is executed, that is, "when the cooling room cooling operation is not executed" is set. The case was explained. However, the "special situation" is not limited to this example, and for example, "when the degree of cooling in the refrigerating chamber 12 is weaker than usual", "the drive output of the compressor 33 is, for example, a normal level". Various cooling conditions can be set as long as it is recognized as a special cooling condition different from the normal cooling condition, such as "when the output is weaker than the output". Further, the drive output of the blower fan 32 in a special situation may be set to an output of a normal level, an output higher than the normal level, or an output lower than the normal level. good.

Further, the control device 50 may be further configured to be able to execute the control illustrated below. That is, the control device 50 drives the compressor 33 to drive the heater 40 with a standard output or a stronger output than the standard when the cooler 31 generates cold air, while stopping the drive of the compressor 33. Then, when the cool air is not generated by the cooler 31, the control to lower the output of the heater 40 below the standard may be executed.

According to this control, when cold air is generated by the cooler 31, it is effective that the inside of the prepared food area SA becomes too cold by driving the heater 40 with a standard or a stronger output than the standard. Can be suppressed. Further, the cold air generated by the cooler 31 can be supplied into the normal cooling area NA, and the inside of the normal cooling area NA can be efficiently cooled.

Further, when the cool air is not generated by the cooler 31, the uncooled air can be heated by the heater 40 and supplied into the prepared food area SA, and the air having a relatively high temperature can be supplied to the prepared food area SA. Can be supplied within. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent the inside of the prepared meal area NA from becoming too cold. Further, in this case, since the output of the heater 40 is reduced, it is possible to prevent the air supplied into the prepared food area SA from becoming excessively high in temperature.

Further, the control device 50 has a prepared food mode in which the inside of the prepared food area SA is cooled to a set temperature for prepared food, and a normal cooling mode in which the entire inside of the refrigerating chamber 12 including the prepared food area SA is cooled to the set temperature for refrigerating. May be configured to be feasible by switching. Then, the control device 50 makes the rotation speed of the blower fan 32 lower than the predetermined standard rotation speed during the execution of the prepared meal mode, while the rotation speed of the blower fan 32 is set to the predetermined standard rotation speed in the normal cooling mode. It is better to make it faster than the speed.

According to this configuration, since the momentum of the cold air supplied to the prepared food area SA is weakened during the execution of the prepared food area SA, it is possible to prevent the inside of the prepared food area SA from being excessively cooled. .. Further, in the normal cooling mode, the cold air is vigorously supplied to the entire refrigerating chamber 12 including the prepared food area SA, and the entire refrigerated chamber 12 including the prepared food area SA can be efficiently cooled. That is, the ready-to-eat area SA can also be used as a normal refrigerating area, and the refrigerating area can be expanded.

The switching between the ready-to-eat mode and the normal cooling mode can be performed, for example, by operating an operation unit (not shown) provided on the surface of the refrigerator compartment door 12D. Further, the predetermined standard rotation speed of the blower fan 32 can be appropriately changed and set according to, for example, the capacity of the refrigerating chamber 12 and the cooling performance of the cooler 31.

Further, the control device 50 may drive the blower fan 32 at the time of executing a well-known defrosting operation for removing the frost adhering to the cooler 31. Even with this configuration, the air that has not been cooled by the cooler 31 can be sent into the prepared food area SA, and it is possible to prevent the inside of the prepared food area SA from becoming too cold. In addition, the humidity generated by defrosting can also be sent to the prepared food area SA, and moisture can be supplied to the prepared food area SA.

(Other embodiments)
It should be noted that this embodiment is not limited to the plurality of embodiments described above, and various changes and extensions can be made without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the refrigerator 10 may be configured by appropriately combining the plurality of embodiments described above. Further, the refrigerating chamber 12 may be configured such that a special cooling area is provided in the chilled chamber 12a. In this case, the heater 40 is provided in the cold air supply air passage that supplies cold air into the chilled chamber 12a. Further, the heater 40 may be provided at the same height position as the partition plate that partitions the upper surface of the chilled chamber 12a, or at a height position slightly lower than the partition plate.

Further, the heater 40 may be configured to include one or more fins. According to this configuration, a large contact area between the heater 40 and the cold air can be secured, and the cold air supplied in the prepared meal area NA can be heated more efficiently. Further, the heater 40 may be arranged along the direction intersecting the direction in which the cold air is supplied into the prepared food area NA, or may be arranged along the direction in which the cold air is supplied into the prepared food area NA. May be good. Further, the refrigerator 10 may be configured to include a plurality of heaters 40.

Further, the refrigerator 10 may be configured to provide the heater 40 in a storage room other than the refrigerating room 12, for example, a cold air supply air passage for supplying cold air to a vegetable room, a freezing room, a small freezing room, an ice making room, and the like. Further, when the heater 40 is provided in the cold air supply air passage that supplies cold air to the vegetable compartment, the storage case constituting the upper part of the vegetable compartment may be set as a special cooling area, or the area other than the storage case may be set as a special cooling area. It may be set as. Further, the refrigerator 10 may have a different configuration from the storage chamber provided with the heater 40 and the storage chamber to which the cold air heated by the heater 40 is supplied.

Although the plurality of embodiments according to the present invention have been described above, these plurality of embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. The present embodiment and its modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

In the drawing, 10 is a refrigerator, 12 is a refrigerating room (storage room), 20a is a front cold air supply port (cold air supply port for a non-special cooling area), and 20b is an upper cold air supply port (cold air supply port for a special cooling area). 21 is a cold air supply air passage, 32 is a blower fan, 40 is a heater (heating part), 50 is a control device (control part), SA is a ready-to-eat area (special cooling area), and NA is a normal cooling area (non-special cooling area). ), Is shown.

Claims (7)

A storage room with a special cooling area and
A cold air supply air passage that supplies cold air to the special cooling area,
A heating unit provided in the cold air supply air passage and
A refrigerator equipped with. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising a blower fan that sends air heated by the heating unit to the special cooling area. The blower fan is provided on one end side of the storage chamber.
The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the special cooling area is provided on the other end side of the storage chamber, which is opposite to the one end side. A control unit that controls the drive of the blower fan is provided.
The refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the control unit drives the blower fan when the cooling condition in the storage chamber is a predetermined special condition. The storage chamber has a non-special cooling area which is a cooling area different from the special cooling area.
The cold air supply air passage has a cold air supply port for a non-special cooling area that supplies cold air to the non-special cooling area.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the heating unit is provided on the side of the special cooling area with respect to the cold air supply port for the non-special cooling area. The cold air supply air passage has a special cooling area cold air supply port for supplying cold air to the special cooling area.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the heating unit is provided on the front side of the cold air supply port for the special cooling area. The cold air supply air passage has a special cooling area cold air supply port for supplying cold air to the special cooling area.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the heating unit is provided behind the cold air supply port for the special cooling area.

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