JP2990108B2 - Refrigerator having air curtain generation device and air curtain generation operation control method for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately form an air curtain free from malfunctioning of a door open/close sensor by starting an air fan to form an air curtain in the case when the opening of a door is sensed, and the temperature of a part adjacent to the door is sensed higher than a part isolated from the door. SOLUTION: A chilled air duct 33 is installed at an upper part of a cold storage chamber 42 and chilled air generated by an evaporator 49 is sent into the chilled air duct 33 by an air fan 31 to be discharged downward through a chilled air discharge port 35 for forming an air curtain shielding an opening of the cold storage chamber 42. In this process, the air fan 31 starts at the time when the opening of a door 45 of the cold storage chamber is sensed through a push switch 60 to form the air curtain. A microcomputer lets the air fan 31 start to form the air curtain when the temperature near the door 45 of the cold storage chamber as sensed by a door temperature sensor 63 is higher by a specified value than the temperature of the rear of the cold storage chamber 42 as sensed by a cooling chamber temperature sensor 65.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator having an air curtain generating device and a method of controlling an air curtain generating operation of the refrigerator, and more particularly to an air curtain which is activated by a temperature measurement value in a cooling room and opening / closing of a door. The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a generation device and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 shows a conventional refrigerator, in which a refrigerator having an air curtain generating device for generating an air curtain for closing an opening of a cooling chamber door by opening a door is shown. . As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator is installed in the freezer compartment 21 and the refrigerator compartment 22 that form the freezer compartment 21 and the refrigerator compartment 22 partitioned by the partition wall 27, respectively. And a freezer compartment door 25 that opens and closes.

[0003] A compressor 2 is provided at the lower rear portion of the cabinet 10.
3 is installed, and an evaporator 29 that evaporates the refrigerant supplied from the compressor 23 to generate cool air is installed on the rear surface of the freezing room 21. A cooling fan 19 that blows cool air generated by the evaporator 29 and supplies the cool air to the freezing room 21 and the refrigerating room 22 is provided above the evaporator 29.

[0004] An air curtain generating device 20 is installed above the refrigerator compartment 22. The air curtain generating device 20 includes a cool air duct 13 installed above the refrigerator compartment 22 and a blower fan 11 for blowing cool air generated by the evaporator 29 into the cool air duct 13. The cold air duct 13 is formed at its end with a cool air discharge port 15 which opens downward in a region adjacent to the opening of the refrigerator compartment 22. Cold air duct 13
The cool air blown into the inside is discharged downward through the cool air discharge port 15, thereby generating an air curtain that blocks the opening of the refrigerator compartment 22.

The refrigerator compartment 22 is provided with a door open / close sensor (not shown) for detecting the open / close state of the refrigerator compartment door 25. The blower fan 11 detects the opening of the refrigerator compartment door 25 by the door open / close sensor. It is controlled to operate only when it is performed. Therefore, the air curtain is generated only when the refrigerator compartment door 25 is opened, and the refrigerator compartment door 2 is opened.
In the open state of 5, the cool air is prevented from leaking through the opening of the refrigerator compartment 22.

[0006] A large number of cold air ports 16 and 18 are formed in the rear wall surfaces of the freezing compartment 21 and the refrigerating compartment 22. In the closed state of the refrigerator compartment door 25, the cool air generated by the evaporator 29 is blown by the cooling fan 19 installed on the upper part of the evaporator 29, and passes through the cool air ports 16, 18 to the freezer compartment 21.
Then, the food stored in the freezing compartment 22 is frozen and refrigerated.

[0007] However, such a conventional refrigerator has a door 25.
There is a problem that it is difficult to efficiently cool the vicinity. When the door 25 is opened and closed, the part adjacent to the door 25 comes into direct contact with the outside air, and thereby, the temperature of the door 25 rises to the outside air within a short time. However, in the conventional refrigerator as described above, since the portion adjacent to the door 25 cannot be directly cooled, it is difficult to perform quick and uniform cooling. Also, since the operation of the air curtain generation device depends on the detection result of the door opening / closing sensor, if the door opening / closing sensor is malfunctioning or incomplete,
There is a problem that the generation operation of the air curtain is not performed accurately.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problems, and has been made capable of cooling a portion adjacent to a door in a cooling room by using an air curtain generating device. An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator in which an operation of generating an air curtain is performed accurately even when a malfunction of a sensor occurs.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator comprising a cabinet forming a cooling chamber, and a door installed in the cooling chamber and opening and closing the opening of the cooling chamber. A cool air duct having a cool air port opened in a region adjacent to an opening of the cooling chamber; a blower fan for discharging cool air in the cold air duct through the cool air port to generate an air curtain for blocking the opening of the cooling chamber. Door opening / closing sensing means for sensing the opening / closing state of the door; temperature sensing means for sensing the temperature of a portion of the cooling chamber adjacent to the door and a portion separated from the door; and the door by the door opening / closing sensing means. When the temperature of the portion adjacent to the door is higher than the temperature of the portion separated from the door by the temperature sensing means, It is achieved by a refrigerator, which comprises a; wind fan control unit for controlling to operate.

Here, the temperature sensing means includes a door temperature sensor disposed near the door in the cooling chamber, and a cooling chamber temperature sensor disposed on a side of the cooling chamber opposite to the door. It is desirable.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cabinet forming a cooling chamber, a door installed in the cooling chamber to open and close an opening of the cooling chamber, and a cool air port opened in a region adjacent to the opening of the cooling chamber. A cool air duct, and a blower fan that discharges cool air in the cool air duct through the cool air port, and an air curtain that shuts off the opening of the cooling chamber with cool air discharged through the cool air port in response to operation of the blower fan. In the method for controlling the operation of generating an air curtain of a refrigerator, detecting whether the door is opened or closed; activating the blower fan when the door is opened; Sensing the temperature and the temperature of the part separated from the door; and detecting the temperature of the part adjacent to the door as the temperature of the part separated from the door. The blower fan step of controlling to operate when it is sensed to be high; control method of a refrigerator for air curtain generation operation, characterized in that it comprises is provided.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator according to the present invention. The refrigerator according to the present invention comprises, similarly to the conventional refrigerator shown in FIG. 1, a cabinet 30 forming a freezer compartment 41 and a refrigerator compartment 42 partitioned by a partition wall 47,
It has a freezer compartment door 44 and a refrigerator compartment door 45 which are installed in the freezer compartment 41 and the refrigerator compartment 42, respectively, and open and close the freezer compartment 41 and the refrigerator compartment 42.

A compressor 4 is provided at the lower rear portion of the cabinet 30.
3 is installed, and an evaporator 49 for evaporating the refrigerant supplied from the compressor 43 to generate cool air is installed on the rear surface of the freezing room 41. A cooling fan 39 that blows cool air generated by the evaporator 49 and supplies the cooled air to the freezing room 41 and the refrigerating room 42 is provided above the evaporator 49.

At the upper part of the refrigerator compartment 42, there is provided an air curtain generator 40 for producing an air curtain for blocking the opening of the refrigerator compartment 42 by opening the refrigerator compartment door 45.
The air curtain generation device 40 includes a cool air duct 33 installed above the refrigerator compartment 42 and a blower fan 31 for blowing cool air generated by the evaporator 49 into the cool air duct 33. The cool air duct 33 has a cool air discharge port 35 that opens downward in a region near the opening of the refrigerator compartment 42 at the end thereof. The cool air blown into the cool air duct 33 is discharged downward through the cool air discharge port 35, whereby the cold room 4 is cooled.
An air curtain is created that blocks the two openings. The blower fan 31 is constituted by a cross flow fan so as to enable uniform blow.

A push switch 6 is provided on the front of the refrigerator compartment 42.
0 is set. The push switch 60 is pushed by the refrigerator compartment door 45 when the refrigerator compartment door 45 is closed, and is released when the refrigerator compartment door 45 is open. The microcomputer 61 installed in the refrigerator senses that the refrigerator compartment door 45 has been opened when the push state of the push switch 60 is released. Blower fan 31
Is activated when the opening of the refrigerator compartment door 45 is detected via the push switch 60. Therefore, the air curtain is generated when the refrigerator compartment door 45 is opened, and shuts off the leakage of cool air when the refrigerator compartment door 45 is opened.

In the refrigerator 42, two temperature sensors 6 are provided.
3, 65 are installed. Temperature sensing sensors 63, 65
Is located near the inner surface of the refrigerator compartment door 45 and
A door temperature sensor 63 for sensing a temperature of a portion adjacent to the refrigerator compartment door 45 in the refrigerator 2, and a temperature of a portion disposed near the rear wall surface of the refrigerator compartment 42 and separated from the refrigerator compartment door 45 in the refrigerator compartment 42. And a cooling chamber temperature sensor 65 for sensing. The temperatures sensed by the two temperature sensing sensors 63 and 65 are input to the microcomputer 61. When the temperature difference between the temperature sensing sensors 63 and 65 exceeds a predetermined value, the microcomputer 61 detects the temperature near the refrigerator compartment door 45 detected by the door temperature sensor 63 and the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 42 detected by the cooling compartment temperature sensor 65. When the temperature is higher than the rear surface temperature by a predetermined value or more, the blower fan 31 is operated to generate an air curtain.

Hereinafter, a control method of the refrigerator will be described.
During the cooling operation of the refrigerator, the microcomputer 61 detects whether or not the refrigerator compartment door 45 is open (S1). When the open state of the refrigerator compartment door (45) is detected, the microcomputer 61 activates the blower fan 31 (S2).
An air curtain is created that blocks the front opening of the second. When the closing of the refrigerator compartment door 45 is detected during the operation of the blower fan 31 (S3), the microcomputer 61 stops the operation of the blower fan 31 (S4).

In the closed state of the refrigerator compartment door 45, the microcomputer 61 controls the blower fan 31 and the cooling fan 3 based on the temperatures sensed by the two temperature sensors 63 and 65.
Activate 9 That is, if the temperature rise of the part adjacent to the refrigerator compartment door 45 is sensed by the door temperature sensor 63 (S5), the blower fan 31 is operated (S6), and while the blower fan 31 is operating, it is adjacent to the refrigerator compartment door 45. If the temperature of the cooled part is cooled to the same degree as the temperature inside the refrigerator compartment 42 (S7), the operation of the blower fan 31 is stopped (S7).
8).

As described above, by operating the air curtain based on the temperature measurement value of the area adjacent to the refrigerator compartment door 45 other than based on the open / close state of the refrigerator compartment door 45, the air curtain is opened when the refrigerator compartment door 45 is opened. Thereby, the leakage of the cool air can be blocked, and when the refrigerator compartment door 45 is closed, the cooling strength of the area adjacent to the refrigerator compartment door 45 can be increased.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the door is closed, the portion adjacent to the door in the cooling chamber is effectively cooled, and when the door is opened, the operation of generating the air curtain is performed accurately even if a malfunction of the door opening / closing sensor occurs.

While the invention has been illustrated and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it is not intended that the invention be limited to this, and that modifications and improvements can be made within the ordinary knowledge of those skilled in the art. Of course there are.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator having a conventional air curtain generation device.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 31: Ventilation fan 33: Cold air duct 41: Freezer compartment 42: Refrigerator compartment 44: Freezer compartment door 45: Refrigerator compartment door 60: Push switch 61: Microcomputer 63, 65: Temperature sensor

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet forming a cooling chamber; and a door installed in the cooling chamber to open and close an opening of the cooling chamber, wherein a cold air port opened in a region adjacent to the opening of the cooling chamber. A blower fan that discharges cool air in the cool air duct through the cool air port to generate an air curtain that blocks an opening of the cooling chamber; a door open / close detecting unit that detects an open / closed state of the door; Temperature sensing means for sensing a temperature of a portion adjacent to the door and a portion separated from the door in the cooling chamber; and a case where the door is sensed to be opened by the door opening / closing sensing means, and the door by the temperature sensing means. A control unit that controls the blower fan to operate when it is detected that the temperature of the part adjacent to the door is higher than the temperature of the part separated from the door. Refrigerator according to claim. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the door opening / closing detecting means is a push switch which is pushed or released when the door is closed and opened. 3. The temperature sensing means includes: a door temperature sensor disposed near the door in the cooling chamber; and a cooling chamber temperature sensor disposed on a side of the cooling chamber opposite to the door. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein: 4. A cabinet forming a cooling chamber, a door installed in the cooling chamber to open and close an opening of the cooling chamber, a cool air duct having a cool air port opened in a region adjacent to the opening of the cooling chamber, and the cold air duct A refrigerator that has a blower fan that discharges cool air inside through the cool air port, and that generates an air curtain that shuts off the opening of the cooling chamber with the cool air discharged through the cool air port in response to the operation of the blower fan. Detecting the opening and closing of the door; activating the blower fan when the door is opened; and controlling the temperature of a portion of the cooling chamber adjacent to the door and the temperature of the air curtain. Sensing the temperature of the part separated from the door; and detecting that the temperature of the part adjacent to the door is higher than the temperature of the part separated from the door. Control method for refrigerator air curtain generation operation, characterized in that it comprises a; step of controlling so that the blower fan is operated.