JP3228024B2 - Vending machine operation method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling the temperature of a product at the time of sale and saving energy by effectively utilizing thermal energy when all or a part of a plurality of product storage rooms are for cooling and the others are for heating. The present invention relates to an operation method of a vending machine for which a vending machine is used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional example will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram of each embodiment according to the invention described later. In the conventional example, the heating receiver 50 is omitted. In FIG. 6, the storage rooms 1 and 2 are arranged adjacent to each other, and the indoor heat exchangers 11 and 12 are provided correspondingly. Each of the indoor heat exchangers 11 and 12, the compressor 3, and the outdoor heat exchanger 4 is a main part, and a refrigeration cycle is configured as described later. The blowers, solenoid valves, and the like corresponding to the indoor heat exchangers 11 and 12 and the outdoor heat exchanger 4 are not shown.

FIG. 7 is an operation diagram in a conventional example when both storage compartments are used for cooling. In the drawing, each of the storage chambers 1 and 2 is for cooling, and the compressor 3, the check valve 8, the accumulator 9, the outdoor heat exchanger 4 serving as a condenser, the electronic expansion valve 7, and the indoor heat serving as an evaporator The refrigeration cycle is constituted by the exchangers 11 and 12, and the flow of the heat medium is indicated by arrows. The room temperature of each of the storage chambers 1 and 2 is controlled to an appropriate temperature by turning on / off each of the solenoid valves 64 and 65 based on a temperature sensor (not shown) installed in each of the storage chambers 1 and 2 and a control unit (not shown). When containment room 1 is for heating and containment room 2 is for cooling,
The heating heater 31 previously provided in the storage room 1 is used in place of the indoor heat exchanger 11, and the indoor heat exchanger 12 in the storage room 2 functions as an evaporator as before. The electronic expansion valve 7
, A capillary tube 81 shown in parentheses can be used.

[0004]

In the prior art, each storage room
When both 1 and 2 are for cooling, heat absorption in each indoor heat exchanger 11 and 12 and heat generation in the outdoor heat exchanger 4 are performed in equilibrium, so that effective use of heat energy is attempted. Can be However, when the storage room 1 is used for heating and the storage room 2 is used for cooling, the power consumption of the heater 31 in the storage room 1 is different from that of the refrigeration cycle. I can't say that. It should be devised to make effective use of heat energy based on the refrigeration cycle.

[0005] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve the above problems of the prior art and to improve the energy saving by improving the temperature of a product at the time of sale and effectively using heat energy. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of operating a vending machine.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a plurality of commodity storage rooms equipped with an indoor heat exchanger serving as a condenser or an evaporator, and an outdoor heat exchanger serving as a condenser. Based on a vapor compression refrigeration cycle that selectively includes an indoor heat exchanger and an outdoor heat exchanger in a room, a vending machine operating method controls the temperature of all or a part of the containment room for cooling and the other for heating. (1) When all containment rooms are for cooling, connect all the indoor heat exchangers in parallel and the outdoor heat exchanger in series,
The temperature of the storage room is controlled to an appropriate temperature by turning on and off the flow rate of the corresponding heat medium. (2) When a part of the storage room is for cooling and the other is for heating, the heating Equipped with a high-frequency induction heating device that additionally heats the heated product to an appropriate temperature, and an auxiliary heater in the heating storage room, and performs the first operation when the temperature of the heating storage room is lower than the set preliminary temperature. The second operation mode is adopted when the mode is equal to or higher than the preliminary temperature (in other words, when the auxiliary temperature is reached or exceeded). Here, in the first operation mode, the cooling storage compartment is connected in parallel with the cooling storage compartment indoor heat exchanger connected in parallel and the heating storage compartment indoor heat exchanger is connected in parallel. A method in which the temperature is controlled to an appropriate temperature by turning on / off the flow rate of the corresponding heat medium, and when the flow rate of the heat medium is turned off, the temperature of the heating storage chamber is controlled to a preliminary temperature by turning on / off the heater. A method in which an indoor heat exchanger of a cooling storage room is connected in parallel and an outdoor heat exchanger are connected in series, and the temperature of the cooling storage room is controlled to an appropriate temperature by turning on / off a flow rate of a corresponding heat medium. .

[0007]

The present invention operates as follows. (1) When all containment rooms are for cooling, the one with all the indoor heat exchangers connected in parallel and the one with the outdoor heat exchanger are connected in series, and the containment room has an appropriate temperature by turning on / off the corresponding heat medium flow rate. In addition, all the indoor heat exchangers and the outdoor heat exchangers are operated with a balanced heat energy balance between each other. (2) When a part of the storage room is for cooling and the other is for heating, it is divided into the following two.

(A) The first operation mode is adopted when the temperature of the heating storage chamber is lower than the preliminary temperature. In other words, the parallel connection of the indoor heat exchangers of the cooling storage room and the parallel connection of the indoor heat exchangers of the heating storage room are connected in series,
The temperature of the cooling storage chamber is controlled to an appropriate temperature by turning on and off the flow rate of the corresponding heat medium, and the temperature of the heating storage chamber is controlled to the preliminary temperature by turning on and off the heater when the flow rate of the heat medium is turned off. . In short, in order to heat the heating storage chamber to the preliminary temperature, heat is mutually used as much as possible with the cooling storage chamber, and a heater is used as an auxiliary only at the time of stop. Further, the product in the heating storage room is additionally heated to an appropriate temperature by the high-frequency induction heating device before selling the product.

(B) When the temperature of the heating storage chamber is equal to or higher than the preliminary temperature (attained or exceeded the preliminary temperature), the second operation mode is adopted. In other words, a parallel connection of the indoor heat exchangers of the cooling storage room and an outdoor heat exchanger are connected in series, and the temperature of the cooling storage room is controlled to an appropriate temperature by turning on and off the flow rate of the corresponding heat medium, and heating is performed. Since the heating of the storage room stops, the room temperature starts to fall and returns to the preliminary temperature. In short, since the heating storage room does not need to be heated, the connection is cut off and natural heat radiation is performed, and instead the temperature control of the cooling storage room is performed intensively together with the outdoor heat exchanger. Further, the product in the heating storage room is additionally heated to an appropriate temperature by the high-frequency induction heating device before selling the product.

Further, in the case of (a), the indoor heat exchanger of the cooling storage room and the indoor heat exchanger of the heating storage room are:
In the case of (b), the indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger in the cooling storage room are operated in such a manner that the balance of heat energy is balanced between each other.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a method for operating a vending machine according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Regarding the overall configuration of the embodiment, only the heating receiver 50 not described in the schematic diagram of FIG. 6 illustrating the conventional example will be supplementarily described, and the description will be replaced. FIG. 5 relates to a heating receiver, (a) is a side view thereof,
(b) is a plan view thereof. In these figures, the heating receiver 50 is a coil forming a part of the high-frequency induction heating device,
After being formed in a rectangular spiral shape, it is curved and formed into an arc shape along its long side, and the lead line is provided so as to extend to the upper right. A high-frequency power source (not shown) is connected to the coil, and a high-frequency current flows through the coil, and an AC magnetic field is formed around the high-frequency current. Due to this AC magnetic field, an eddy current based on the law of electromagnetic induction flows inside the can 10, and the entire can 10 is heated by Joule heat by the current. This Joule heat is proportional to the speed of the change in the magnetic field, that is, the frequency of the high-frequency current, and has a very high thermal efficiency of 80% and is characterized by its cleanness. Now, the can 10 indicated by a dashed line transferred after preheating to a temperature of 35 ° C. in the storage room 1 (see FIG. 1) is a heating receiver.
It is placed on the inside surface of 50 curved concave portions, where it is finally heated to an appropriate temperature of 60 ° C. By the way, the final heating at an appropriate temperature of 60 ° C. is an accurate method of detecting the temperature of the can 10 and performing feedback control based on the temperature.In practice, however, there is a simple method determined by the heating time, that is, the mounting time. Can be

In the embodiment, FIG. 3 shows the operation when both storage compartments are for cooling, and FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 show the operation when one is for cooling and the other is for heating. I will explain it. First, the operation when the two storage chambers are both used for cooling in the embodiment will be described. In FIG. 3, the solenoid valves 61, 62, 63, 66 and the check valve 8 corresponding to the storage room 1 other than those shown in FIG. Used to determine the flow of Here, the solenoid valves 64 and 65 are turned on and off by a control unit (not shown). In the drawing, under the refrigeration cycle, each of the indoor heat exchangers 11 and 12 functions as an evaporator, and the outdoor heat exchanger 4 functions as a condenser. The arrows indicate the flow of the heat medium, the solenoid valve 61 is closed, and the others are open. In this operation mode, the temperature of each of the storage compartments 1 and 2 is controlled to an appropriate temperature by a temperature sensor and a control unit installed in each of the storage compartments (not shown). The outdoor heat exchanger 4 and the outdoor heat exchanger 4 take a form mutually thermally used, that is, effective use of heat is achieved. [C] added to each of the storage chambers 1 and 2 indicates that it is for cooling.

Next, in the embodiment, when one storage chamber is used for cooling and the other is used for heating, the operation diagram of the first operation mode in FIG. 1 and the operation diagram of the second operation mode in FIG. 2 are shown. It will be described with reference to FIG. The first operation mode is used when the temperature of the heating storage room 1 is lower than the preliminary temperature, and the second operation mode is used when the temperature is higher than the preliminary temperature. In FIG. 1, an indoor heat exchanger 11 of a heating storage room 1 (denoted by [H]) and an indoor heat exchanger 12 of a cooling storage room 2 [C] are connected in series, and a heat medium is supplied as shown by an arrow. Shed.
Therefore, based on the fact that the room temperature of the heating storage room 1 is lower than the preliminary temperature, the control unit (not shown) closes each of the solenoid valves 62, 63, 66, and the heat medium is stored in the outdoor heat exchanger 4. Not flowing. Under this refrigeration cycle, the indoor heat exchanger 11 functions as a condenser and the indoor heat exchanger 12 functions as an evaporator. The temperature of the cooling storage chamber 2 is controlled to an appropriate temperature via an electromagnetic valve 65 which is turned on / off by a control unit (not shown) based on the flow rate of the heat medium on / off. One heating containment room 1
Heating is performed according to the flow rate on / off. Moreover,
When the flow rate is off, the heating storage room 1
The temperature is controlled to the preliminary temperature by turning off. Further, the product (can 10) in the heating storage room 11 is additionally heated to an appropriate temperature by a heating receiver 50 shown as a representative of the high-frequency induction heating device before selling the product.

In FIG. 2, the indoor heat exchanger 12 of the cooling storage room 2 [C] and the outdoor heat exchanger 4 are connected in series, and the heat medium flows as shown by the arrow. For this purpose, based on the fact that the room temperature of the heating storage room 1 is equal to or higher than the preliminary temperature (in other words, when the preliminary temperature has been reached or exceeded), the control unit (not shown) controls each of the solenoid valves 61, 64, 66 Is closed, heating storage room
No heat medium flows through the indoor heat exchanger 11 of FIG. Under this refrigeration cycle, the outdoor heat exchanger 4 functions as a condenser, and the indoor heat exchanger 12 functions as an evaporator. The temperature of the cooling storage chamber 2 is controlled to an appropriate temperature based on the flow rate of the heat medium via an electromagnetic valve 65 which is turned on and off by a control unit (not shown). On the other hand, in the heating storage room 1, the room temperature turns down and returns to the preliminary temperature. Of course, there is no need for auxiliary heating, so the heater 31 is turned off. Further, the product in the heating storage room 11 is additionally heated to an appropriate temperature by a heating receiver 50 shown as a representative of the high-frequency induction heating device before selling the product.

By the way, in the case of the first operation mode, the indoor heat exchanger 12 of the cooling storage chamber 2 and the indoor heat exchanger 11 of the heating storage chamber 1 are mutually connected. In this case, the indoor heat exchanger 12 of the cooling containment room 2 and the outdoor heat exchanger
4 are operated in a manner in which the balance of heat energy is balanced between each other, so that energy saving can be achieved in either of the first and second systems.

Here, in the embodiment, the relationship between each room temperature change when one of the two storage chambers is for cooling and the other for heating, and each operation of the compressor, the indoor / outdoor heat exchanger, and the heater will be described.
This will be described with reference to the time chart of FIG. The control policy of this embodiment is (1) the main focus is on the room temperature control of the cooling storage room, (2) the flow of the heat medium depending on whether the room temperature of the heating storage room is lower than the preliminary temperature or not. That is, the heating control method is changed. Preliminary temperature of heating storage room is lower limit 37, upper limit 42 ° C (average value 39.5 ° C), optimum temperature of cooling storage room is lower limit 1, upper limit 8 ° C (average value 4.5 ° C)
It is. Here, the final temperature (appropriate temperature) of the heated product is 60 ° C. as described above. In the embodiment, when the two storage rooms are both used for cooling, the description of the changes in the room temperature and the operations of the compressor, the indoor / outdoor heat exchanger, and the heater are relatively simple, and thus the description thereof will be omitted. .

In FIG. 4, since the room temperature of the storage room 1 [H] is within the range of the preliminary temperature (37 to 42 ° C.) at the stage of the starting point, the storage room 1 [H] and the storage room 3 [C] are used. Are connected in series (see FIG. 1). That is, the first operation mode. Moreover, since the room temperature of the storage room 2 reached the upper limit of 8 ° C.
The compressor 3 is started, and the storage room 2 is
Of the storage room 1 starts to decrease, and at the same time, the room temperature of the storage room 1 starts to increase. In addition, with the trend line of the room temperature of each storage room 1 and 2,
The trend line of the product temperature is shown with a name arrow. The change of the trend line of the commodity temperature is slower due to the delay or averaging of the heat conduction than the change of the trend line at each room temperature is severe.

In the stage, the room temperature of the storage room 1 is set to the upper limit of 42 ° C.
Is reached, the storage room 2 becomes the indoor heat exchanger 11 of the storage room 1.
Instead, the connection to the outdoor heat exchanger 4 is changed (see FIG. 2). That is, it is converted to the second operation mode. Therefore, the indoor heat exchanger 11 stops, and the outdoor heat exchanger 4
Is started. Since the operation of the compressor 3 and the indoor heat exchanger 12 is continued, the room temperature of the storage room 2 continues to decrease, and the room temperature of the storage room 1 reaches the upper limit of 42 ° C.

At the stage, the room temperature of the storage room 2 is lower than 1 ° C.
, The compressor 3 stops, and at the same time, the indoor heat exchanger 12
Then, the outdoor heat exchanger 4 stops, and the cooling function of the storage room 2 stops. Therefore, the room temperature of the storage room 2 starts to rise and the room temperature of the storage room 1 keeps decreasing. When the room temperature of the storage room 1 reaches the lower limit of 37 ° C. at the stage, the room temperature is prevented from lowering to a lower value and returned to the preliminary temperature.
Auxiliary heater 31 provided in is turned on. As a result, the room temperature of the storage room 1 starts to rise from the lower limit of 37 ° C. Storage room 2
Room temperature continues to rise.

In the stage, the room temperature of the storage room 1 is set to the upper limit of 42 ° C.
Reaches the heater 31 to stop any further rise
Turns off. As a result, the room temperature of the storage room 1 starts to fall from the upper limit value of 42 ° C. The room temperature of the storage room 2 continues to rise from that stage because the cooling function has not been particularly activated since the stage. In step (3), when the room temperature of the storage room 1 reaches the lower limit of 37 ° C., the heater 31 provided in the storage room 1 is turned on in order to prevent the room temperature from lowering and to return to the preliminary temperature. As a result, the room temperature of the storage room 1 starts to rise from the lower limit of 37 ° C. Since the cooling function has not been particularly activated since the stage of the storage room 2, the room temperature of the storage room 2 continues to rise from that stage although the rate of change is slow.

At the stage, the room temperature of the storage room 1 becomes the upper limit value again.
When the temperature reaches 42 ° C., the heater 31 is turned off in order to stop the temperature from rising further. As a result, the room temperature of containment room 1 was the upper limit of 42
Turns down from ° C. The room temperature of the storage room 2 continues to rise while further decreasing the change speed because the cooling function has not been particularly activated since the stage, and approaches the upper limit value 8 ° C. of the storage room 2.

At this stage, although the room temperature of the storage room 1 has continued to fall, it is still within the range of the preliminary temperature (37 to 42 ° C.), and the room temperature of the storage room 2 has reached the upper limit of 8 ° C. The compressor 3 is started. Therefore, the cooling function starts to work, and the room temperature of the storage room 2 starts to decrease, and at the same time, the room temperature of the storage room 1 starts to increase. , The room temperature of containment room 1 is the upper limit of 42 ° C
Is reached, the storage room 3 becomes the indoor heat exchanger 11 of the storage room 1.
Instead, the connection with the outdoor heat exchanger 4 is changed, that is, converted to the second operation mode. Therefore, the outdoor heat exchanger 4 is connected to the indoor heat exchanger 12 in place of the indoor heat exchanger 11, and the compressor 3 and the indoor heat exchanger 12 continue to operate. At the same time, the room temperature of the storage room 1 starts to fall from the upper limit value of 42 ° C.

At the stage (10), the room is in the same state as above, and the room temperature of the storage room 2 starts to rise from the lower limit of 1 ° C. and returns to the allowable temperature range. Continue to descend from. At the stage (11), the state becomes the same as the above, and the heater 31 of the storage room 2 is turned on. As a result, the room temperature of the storage room 1 starts to rise from the lower limit of 37 ° C. and returns to the preliminary temperature range, and the room temperature of one storage room 2 continues to rise from the stage (10).

[0024]

According to the present invention, the following excellent effects can be expected. (1) When all containment rooms are for cooling, all indoor heat exchangers and outdoor heat exchangers are operated in such a way that they use each other thermally, and some of the containment rooms are for cooling and others are heated. When using
An indoor heat exchanger serving as an evaporator for the cooling containment room and an indoor heat exchanger or an outdoor heat exchanger serving as a condenser for the heating containment room are operated in such a manner that they are mutually thermally utilized. Therefore, energy saving as a vending machine can be improved in both cases. (2) The temperature of the storage room for cooling is always controlled, so that the products are supplied in a comfortable cooling state and customer satisfaction is obtained. On the other hand, if the temperature of the heating storage room is lower than the preliminary temperature, the first operation mode is employed, and the operation of the auxiliary heater and the high-frequency induction heating device is supported. In any case, the product is supplied in a comfortably heated state, and customer satisfaction is obtained. (3) The ambient temperature of the vending machine changes greatly throughout the year, and it is possible to sufficiently cope with a large load change in each storage room associated with this change. In this respect, it is powerful to use a two-stage heating system with a preliminary temperature (about 40 ° C) and a final temperature of 60 ° C instead of directly heating the heated product to 60 ° C.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an operation diagram of a first operation system when one of two storage rooms is for heating and the other is for cooling in an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation diagram of a second operation mode when one of two storage rooms is used for heating and the other is used for cooling in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an operation diagram when two storage chambers are both used for cooling in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing the relationship between each room temperature change when one of the two storage chambers is used for cooling and the other for heating in the embodiment, and the operations of the compressor, the indoor / outdoor heat exchanger, and the heater.

5 (a) is a side view and FIG. 5 (b) is a plan view of the heating receiver.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an operation diagram when two storage chambers are both used for cooling in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, storage room 3 compressor 4 outdoor heat exchanger 7 electronic expansion valve 8 check valve 9 accumulator 10 can 11, 12 indoor heat exchanger 50 heating receiver 61-66 solenoid valve

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07F 9/00-9/10 F25D 11/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An indoor heat exchanger having a plurality of storage compartments and an outdoor heat exchanger having a plurality of storage compartments provided with an indoor heat exchanger serving as a condenser or an evaporator and an outdoor heat exchanger serving as a condenser. A method of operating a vending machine that controls the temperature of all or a part of a storage room for cooling and the other for heating based on a vapor compression refrigeration cycle that selectively includes a heat exchanger, wherein all of the storage rooms are cooled. At the time of use, the one in which all indoor heat exchangers acting as the evaporator are connected in parallel and the outdoor heat exchanger are connected in series, and the temperature of the storage room is controlled to an appropriate temperature by turning on and off the flow rate of the corresponding heat medium, When a part of the storage room is for cooling and the other is for heating, a high-frequency induction heating device for additional heating of the product heated in the heating storage room to an appropriate temperature is provided at the preceding stage of the sales projection, and a storage for heating. Equipped with an auxiliary heater in the room, The first operation mode is used when the temperature of the heat storage chamber is lower than the set preliminary temperature, and the second operation mode is used when the temperature is equal to or higher than the preliminary temperature. The parallel connection of an indoor heat exchanger acting as a heat exchanger and the parallel connection of an indoor heat exchanger acting as a condenser of a heating storage room are connected in series, and the cooling storage room is turned on at the corresponding heat medium flow rate. The temperature is controlled to an appropriate temperature by turning off the heat, and when the flow rate of the heat medium is turned off, the temperature of the heating storage chamber is controlled to a preliminary temperature by turning on and off the heater. A method in which an indoor heat exchanger that functions as an evaporator in a room is connected in parallel, and an outdoor heat exchanger is connected in series, and the temperature of the cooling storage room is controlled to an appropriate temperature by turning on and off the flow rate of the corresponding heat medium. Self characterized by Way operation of the vending machine.