JP3048497B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in a freezer compartment and for controlling the operation of a compressor based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a refrigerator of this kind, a compressor is arranged in a machine room provided at a lower portion of a refrigerator body.
An evaporating dish is arranged above the compressor, the defrost water is guided into the evaporating dish, and the defrost water is evaporated by heat generated from the compressor. In addition, a partition plate is provided on the front surface of the partition wall that partitions the inside of the refrigerator body into a plurality of chambers, and a dew-proof pipe is provided along the back surface of the partition plate. The heat generated from the dew-proof pipe prevents the front surface of the partition plate from being exposed.

[0003]

In the refrigerator of the above-mentioned conventional construction, when the compressor is operated for a long time,
Since much heat is generated from the compressor and the dew prevention pipe, evaporation of the defrost water and prevention of dew on the partition plate are sufficiently performed. However, when the temperature of the room in which the refrigerator body is installed is low (so-called medium / low room temperature), after the compressor is operated, the freezing room is cooled in a short time and the temperature in the freezing room is set to the set temperature. That is, since the temperature becomes lower than the compressor off temperature, the operation time of the compressor is shortened. In such a case, since the heat generated from the compressor and the dew prevention pipe is reduced, evaporation of the defrost water and prevention of dew on the partition plate are not sufficiently performed. Has the disadvantage that dew is formed on the surface. As one measure for preventing the defrost water from overflowing from the evaporating dish, a method of increasing the volume of the evaporating dish can be considered. However, in the machine room, devices and parts such as an oil condenser for lowering the oil temperature in the compressor tend to be arranged at a high density, so it is quite difficult to increase the volume of the evaporating dish. There is a strong demand that measures be taken while keeping the volume of the evaporating dish in the conventional configuration.

[0004] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to ensure that even when the temperature of the room in which the refrigerator main body is installed is low, the defrost water can be surely evaporated and that the partition plate is exposed to dew. It is to provide a refrigerator that can be prevented.

[0005]

A refrigerator according to the present invention comprises: a fan device for blowing cool air generated by a cooler to a freezing room;
A temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the freezer compartment, and a refrigerator configured to control the operation of the compressor based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor, comprising an ambient temperature sensor for detecting an ambient temperature of the refrigerator body. ,
A predetermined time has passed since the compressor was turned on
Until the fan of the fan unit rotates during normal operation
Driven at the rotation speed, and after the predetermined time has elapsed,
When the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than the set temperature
Is characterized in that fan control means for reducing the rotation speed of the fan of the fan device is provided.

[0006]

According to the above means, the compressor is turned on and
Until the specified time elapses, the fan device fan
The motor is configured to be driven at the rotation speed during normal operation.
In the normal operation of the fan device,
In the refrigerator (freezer room or refrigeration room)
Etc.) to quickly cool the inside of the refrigerator.
Can be. As a result, food stored in the refrigerator can be
It can be cooled quickly. And the compressor
When the temperature detected by the ambient temperature sensor is lower than the set temperature after a predetermined time has elapsed since the power was turned on, the rotation speed of the fan of the fan device is reduced. , And the freezing room is slowly cooled. Thus, even when the temperature of the room in which the refrigerator main body is installed is low, the time until the temperature in the freezing room becomes lower than the compressor off temperature becomes longer, and the operating time of the compressor becomes longer. Therefore, the amount of heat generated from the compressor and the dew prevention pipe is increased, so that the defrost water can be surely evaporated and the partition plate can be reliably prevented from being dewed.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a home refrigerator will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
The compressor 3 is disposed in the machine room 2. An evaporating dish 4 is disposed in the machine room 2 above the compressor 3.
Shows the disassembled state after removal). A partition 5 having a bell mouth is provided at a position on the right side in FIG. 2 of the machine room 2, and a cooling fan device 6 is disposed on the partition 5. The cooling fan device 6 includes a fan 6a and a fan motor 6b (see FIG. 4) for rotating the fan 6a.

Further, a slope 1a is formed on the wall of the refrigerator main body 1 located above the machine room 2, and an oil condenser 7 is disposed on the slope 1a. Evaporation pipe 8 connected in series to this oil condenser 7
Is provided at the inner bottom of the evaporating dish 4 and is configured to contribute to the evaporation of the defrost water. The oil condenser 7 is for cooling oil (refrigerating machine oil) contained in the compressor 3. Further, at the bottom of the refrigerator body 1, there is provided a duct which is located on the front side of the machine room 2 and forms a thin rectangular box, and a main condenser (both not shown) is arranged in this duct. ing. The duct has an intake port on the front surface, and communicates with the machine room 2 on the right side of the partition wall 5 in FIG.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the interior of the refrigerator main body 1 has a plurality of storage rooms 10 and 11 (FIG.
In the figure, only two storage rooms are shown, but there are others). In this case, the upper storage room 10 is set as a freezing room, the lower storage room 11 is set as a refrigerator room, and the other storage rooms are set as vegetable rooms, select rooms, etc. (not shown). On the back side of the partition plate 12 provided on the front surface of the partition wall 9, a dew-proof pipe 13 is provided as shown by a broken line in FIG. Further, cool air generated by a cooler (not shown) provided on the rear side of the refrigerator main body 1 is blown and supplied by the fan device 14 (see FIG. 4) into the freezing room 10 and the refrigerator room 11. It is configured to: This fan device 14
It is composed of a fan (not shown) and a fan motor 14b (see FIG. 4) for driving the fan to rotate.
The above-mentioned cooler, compressor 3, main condenser,
The components such as the oil condenser 7, the evaporating pipe 8, and the dew-proof pipe 13 constitute a refrigeration cycle of the refrigerator of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows an electric configuration of the refrigerator.
, The microcomputer 15 serving as a control circuit stores a program having a control function of controlling overall operation of the refrigerator in an internal memory. This microcomputer 15 has a function as fan control means. The microcomputer 15 includes the freezer 1
A temperature detection signal from a freezing room temperature sensor 16 for detecting the temperature in the refrigerator main body 1, that is, a room temperature sensor 17 for detecting the ambient temperature of the refrigerator main body 1, that is, the ambient temperature of the refrigerator main body 1.
, And various switch signals from a switch input circuit 18 including various switches provided on the operation panel (such as a freezing room temperature setting switch, a select room temperature setting switch, and a quick refrigeration switch). It is configured to receive. In this case, the room temperature sensor 17 constitutes an ambient temperature sensor.

The microcomputer 15 comprises a cooling fan motor 6b of the cooling fan device 6, a compressor 3
And the fan circuit 14b of the fan device 14
It is configured to control power cutoff via 9, 20, 21. In this case, in the normal operation, the microcomputer 15 cuts off electricity through the compressor 3 based on a temperature detection signal from the freezing room temperature sensor 16. Specifically, when the detected temperature in the freezing room 10 rises to a predetermined compressor ON temperature, the compressor 3 is energized and the detected temperature in the freezing room 10 decreases to the predetermined compressor OFF temperature. In this case, the compressor 3 is configured to stop the power cut when the power is turned off. The microcomputer 15 includes a cooling fan motor 6b of the cooling fan device 6 and a fan motor 14b of the fan device 14.
The operation is controlled by turning on and off the power in synchronization with the turning on and off of the compressor 3.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 1 schematically shows the contents of the partial control of the program stored in the microcomputer 15, specifically, the contents of the operation control of the fan device 14 for supplying cool air. Now, assuming that the temperature detected in the freezer compartment 10 by the freezer compartment temperature sensor 16 has risen to the compressor ON temperature, the microcomputer 15 determines that the compressor 3, the cooling fan motor 6b of the cooling fan device 6, and the fan motor 14 of the fan device 14
b is energized. In this case, the fan motor 14b of the fan device 14 is configured to be driven to rotate at the rotation speed during normal operation. Then, the process proceeds to “YES” in the determination of step S1 in the flowchart of FIG. 1, and the compressor 3 is turned on (the fan motor 1 of the fan device 14).
It is determined whether, for example, 5 minutes have elapsed since the switch 4b was turned on) (step S2). In this case, the compressor 3
Until five minutes elapse after the switch is turned on, the fan motor 14b of the fan device 14 is driven to rotate at the rotation speed during normal operation. Then, the cooler generates cool air by the operation of the compressor 3, and the cool air is supplied into the freezing room 10 and the refrigerating room 11 etc. by the blowing action of the fan device 14, so that the freezing room 10 and the refrigerating room 11 etc. It cools down.

Thereafter, when the above five minutes have elapsed, the process proceeds to "YES" in step S2, and it is determined whether or not the room temperature is, for example, 11 ° C. or less based on the temperature detection signal from the room temperature sensor 17 (step S2). S3). With this determination, it is determined whether the room temperature is a so-called middle / low room temperature.
Here, if the room temperature is equal to or lower than 11 ° C., step S
The process proceeds to "YES" at 3 to reduce the rotation speed of the fan motor 14b of the fan device 14 from the rotation speed during normal operation (step S4). Thereby, the fan device 14
As a result, the amount of cool air blown into and supplied to the freezing compartment 10 is reduced. That is, cooling in the freezing compartment 10 (decrease in temperature)
However, it is designed to be slower than during normal operation. still,
Specific methods for lowering the rotation speed of the fan motor 14b include a method for lowering the voltage supplied to the fan motor 14b, a method for intermittently energizing the fan motor 14b at an appropriate duty ratio, and a method for supplying power to the fan motor 14b. A method of controlling the phase of the voltage is conceivable, and any control method may be used.

In step S3, the room temperature is set to 11
If the temperature is not equal to or lower than ℃, the process proceeds to “NO” and the fan device 1
4, the rotation speed of the fan motor 14b is kept at the rotation speed during normal operation. Thereafter, when the detected temperature in the freezing room 10 drops to the compressor off temperature, the microcomputer 15 controls the compressor 3, the cooling fan motor 6b of the cooling fan device 6, and the fan device 14 by the microcomputer 15.
Of the fan motor 14b is stopped.

According to this embodiment having such a configuration, the room temperature sensor 17 for detecting the ambient temperature of the refrigerator body 1, that is, the room temperature, is provided, and the temperature detected by the room temperature sensor 17 is higher than a set temperature (for example, 11 ° C.). Is low, the fan device 1
Since the rotation speed of the fan motor 14b of No. 4 is configured to be lower than that in the normal operation, the cooling air supply capacity to the freezing room 10 is reduced, and the inside of the freezing room 10 is cooled slowly. Thereby, even when the temperature of the room in which the refrigerator main body 1 is installed is low (so-called medium / low room temperature), the time until the temperature in the freezing room 10 becomes lower than the compressor off temperature becomes longer, and the compressor 3 Operation time becomes longer. Therefore, the amount of heat generated from the compressor 3 and the dew-proof pipe 13 is increased, so that the defrost water can be reliably evaporated in the evaporating dish 4 and the partition plate 12 can be reliably prevented from being dewed. become.

In the above embodiment, the rotation speed of the fan motor 14b of the fan device 14 is reduced when the room temperature is equal to or lower than the set temperature, for example, 11 ° C. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, the specific value of the set temperature may be set as appropriate (by performing an experiment or the like) according to the cooling performance, the evaporation performance, the dew-proofing performance, and the like. Also,
In the above embodiment, the configuration is such that the fan motor 14b of the fan device 14 is driven to rotate at the rotation speed during normal operation until the set time, for example, 5 minutes elapses after the compressor 3 is turned on. Then, the set time may be appropriately set according to the cooling performance, the evaporation performance, the dew-proofing performance, and the like, and the set time may be set to zero.

[0017]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has an ambient temperature sensor for detecting the ambient temperature of the refrigerator main body. When the temperature detected by the ambient temperature sensor is lower than the set temperature, the cool air is discharged. With the configuration including the fan control means for lowering the rotation speed of the fan of the fan device that blows air to the freezing room, even when the temperature of the room in which the refrigerator body is installed is low, the defrost water can be reliably evaporated. In addition to this, there is an excellent effect that the occurrence of dew on the partition plate can be reliably prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a lower rear portion of the refrigerator body.

FIG. 3 is a front view around a partition wall.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a refrigerator body, 2 is a machine room, 3 is a compressor, 4 is an evaporating dish, 9 is a partition wall, 10 is a freezing room, 11 is a refrigerator room, 1
2 is a partition plate, 13 is a dew-proof pipe, 14 is a fan device, 1
4b is a fan motor, 15 is a microcomputer (fan control means), 16 is a freezing room temperature sensor, and 17 is a room temperature sensor (ambient temperature sensor).

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A fan device for blowing cool air generated by a cooler to a freezing room, and a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature in the freezing room, and controlling operation of the compressor based on a temperature detected by the temperature sensor. An ambient temperature sensor for detecting an ambient temperature of the refrigerator main body, and a predetermined time elapses after the compressor is turned on.
Until the fan of the fan unit rotates during normal operation
Driven at the rotation speed, and after the predetermined time has elapsed,
When the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than the set temperature
And a fan control means for reducing a rotation speed of a fan of the fan device.