JP3313763B2 - Cool storage 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 regenerative refrigerator in which cold storage or cooling is performed by utilizing the release and absorption of latent heat when freezing and thawing a cold storage material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to make effective use of electric power, a cool storage material is provided, and the use of latent heat release and absorption during freezing and thawing is used. A refrigerator that cools a freezer compartment or a refrigerator compartment by releasing the latent heat of the regenerator material during the daytime or the like, that is, a regenerative refrigerator is known, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-835.
No. 66 is described.

In such a conventional regenerative refrigerator, in addition to a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, a condenser, a capillary tube, and an evaporator, a closed-loop thermosiphon including a condenser, a solenoid valve, and an evaporator (cooler) is provided. The evaporator and the condenser are heat-exchangeable, and a regenerator material is attached to the evaporator and the condenser so as to exchange heat.

In such a configuration, in normal operation, the refrigeration cycle and the closed-loop thermosiphon operate, and heat exchange is performed between the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator of the refrigeration cycle and the working liquid in the condenser of the closed-loop thermosiphon. Then, the cooled working liquid is sent to the evaporator to cool the evaporator. Thereby, the air in the refrigerator is cooled, and the cooled air is circulated in the refrigerator by operating the fan in the refrigerator.

[0005] In a time zone such as late at night when the electricity rate is cheap, only the refrigerating cycle is operated and the closed loop thermosiphon is stopped. When the liquid refrigerant is cooled and sent to the evaporator, heat exchange is performed between the evaporator and the cold storage material, and the cold storage material is cooled to perform cold storage. When the closed loop thermosiphon is operated while the cold storage material is in the cold storage state, heat exchange is performed between the cold storage material and the condenser of the closed loop thermosiphon, and the working liquid of the closed loop thermosiphon is cooled to the evaporator. Sent. This allows
The air in the refrigerator is cooled, and the cooled air circulates in the refrigerator by operating the fan in the refrigerator. Therefore, in this case, there is no need to operate the refrigeration cycle, and thus the compressor, and power consumption can be reduced.

Another example of a regenerative refrigerator is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-75454. This is one in which two evaporators, a normal evaporator (first evaporator) and an evaporator provided with a regenerator material (second evaporator), are provided in parallel in a refrigeration cycle. It is arranged separately in the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment. Here, a liquid refrigerant can be selectively supplied to these evaporators.

Therefore, in night operation, a night power source is used, and liquid refrigerant is usually sent to the second evaporator to perform cold storage using a cold storage material. However, when the temperature of the refrigerator compartment rises,
A blower is operated with respect to the cold storage material, and the cold storage room is cooled by the cold storage energy of the cold storage material. Further, at this time, when the temperature of the freezing room rises, the liquid refrigerant is switched to the first evaporator, and the freezing room is cooled. In daytime driving,
The daytime power supply is used, the liquid refrigerant is sent to the first evaporator, and the cool air in the freezer compartment is also sent to the refrigerator compartment so that the same operation as the conventional one is performed. When the power is switched to the daytime power supply, the compressor is not operated as long as the regenerator material is in the regenerative state, and the cool air in the refrigerating compartment due to the regenerative energy of the regenerator material is sent to the freezing compartment. Thereby, the cheap electric power at night is used effectively.

[0008]

In the former prior art, a closed-loop thermosiphon for cooling operation using a cold storage material is used separately from the existing refrigeration cycle, so that the structure becomes complicated. In addition, there is a problem that it takes time and effort to manufacture, and it is necessary to increase the receiving space.

In the latter prior art, the first evaporator is in a normal refrigeration cycle, and an evaporator (second evaporator) having a cold storage material in parallel with the first evaporator is provided. Although they are further arranged, they are arranged in separate rooms, a freezing room and a refrigeration room. Therefore, in particular, during daytime operation, cooling is performed using cold storage energy in the second evaporator. When doing so, there are the following problems. That is, in this case, as described above, the blower of the second evaporator disposed in the refrigerator compartment operates, thereby cooling the refrigerator compartment and sending the cool air in the refrigerator compartment to the freezer compartment. Although the freezer compartment is cooled, the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment are cooled by the same cold air, so that the temperature in the freezer compartment is lower than the prescribed temperature, even though the temperature in the refrigerator compartment is lower than the prescribed temperature. In such a case, the blower of the second evaporator is stopped, and the cooling of the freezing compartment becomes insufficient. In some cases, the temperature in the refrigerator compartment is lower than the specified temperature even though the temperature in the freezer compartment is higher than the specified temperature. Also in such a case, the blower of the second evaporator remains stopped, and the cooling of the freezing compartment becomes insufficient. This means that, in other words, the first refrigeration cycle of the normal refrigeration cycle
This means that the first evaporator is not working effectively, although the evaporator is provided in the freezer compartment.

To cope with this, it is conceivable to simultaneously feed the liquid refrigerant to the evaporator and the regenerator arranged in parallel in the refrigeration cycle. However, there is a problem in that it is difficult to control the liquid refrigerant branch flow, and there is a problem in the control technique. Further, in the switching control using the switching valve, there is a problem that the refrigerator cannot be cooled during the cold storage.

It is conceivable to arrange a regenerator in series with the evaporator during the refrigerating cycle. However, even during a cooling operation using a normal compressor, regenerative cooling is performed, and inexpensive midnight power is used. Even in a time zone in which cooling is not possible, there is a problem that unnecessary cold storage is performed and efficiency is poor.

Further, when the evaporator is being defrosted, the refrigerant pipe between the evaporator and the regenerator acts like a thermosiphon, and the heat added by the defrost heater causes the cold heat in the regenerator to be reduced. There was a possibility of wasting energy and wasting energy.

Further, since air is directly fed into the air circulation pipe provided in the cold storage material, there is a possibility that frost may be formed on the pipe to cause deterioration or clogging of heat transfer performance.
The defrosting is also very difficult as long as the regenerator material is below the freezing point, and also loses regenerative energy.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a small-sized and inexpensive regenerative refrigerator which solves such a problem, facilitates liquid refrigerant control, and simplifies a structure for connecting a regenerator. .

Another object of the present invention is to effectively utilize existing equipment constituting a refrigeration cycle to reduce power consumption and running costs and to perform peak cuts during daytime power peaks. It is to provide a type refrigerator.

[0016]

To achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention is to place the evaporator in series of the refrigerating cycle through the bypass valve畜冷equipped with a畜冷material, said bypass <br/> A bypass passage is provided in parallel with the cooler via a source valve ,
When the compressor of the refrigeration cycle is operating,
Hand that can set the installed fan to a stopped state.
A stage is provided to operate the compressor of the refrigeration cycle in the refrigerator.
The fan is stopped, and the evaporator is
By sending a refrigerant to the animal cooler from the animal cooler.
It is possible to cool animals.

The present invention also provides a refrigerant passage comprising a one-way valve and a refrigerant circulation driving means, wherein a refrigerant passage is provided from a refrigerant outflow side of the regenerator to a liquid refrigerant inflow side of the evaporator. Is stopped, a refrigerant circulation path is formed by a loop formed by the refrigerant passage, the evaporator, and the regenerator.

[0018]

During operation of the compressor of the refrigeration cycle, when the internal fan is operating, the liquid refrigerant evaporates in the evaporator, and the evaporated refrigerant bypasses the regenerator through the bypass passage by the bypass valve. . Thereby, the refrigeration cycle performs a normal operation to perform cooling. When the internal fan is not operating, the liquid refrigerant does not evaporate in the evaporator, and the liquid refrigerant having excess cooling power flows out of the evaporator and is sent to the regenerator by the bypass valve. This allows
Cold storage is performed in the cool storage device.

In the defrosting operation, the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator is heated and evaporated immediately, and the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator is prevented from being sent to the regenerator by the bypass valve.
Therefore, defrosting can be performed without the cold storage material being melted by the evaporated refrigerant.

When the compressor of the refrigeration cycle is stopped in a state where the regenerator accumulates cold, and the internal fan and the refrigerant circulation driving means are operated, the circulation formed by the refrigerant passage, the evaporator and the regenerator is performed. The refrigerant repeatedly flows through the passage. At this time, the refrigerant is condensed by the cold storage energy of the cold storage to become a liquid refrigerant, supplied to the evaporator, and evaporated. Therefore, the cold storage energy of the cold storage can be exchanged with the air in the refrigerator by the existing evaporator of the refrigeration cycle. Can be used effectively.

In this manner, not only can the conventional refrigerator operation control method be used as it is and the conventional refrigerator operation control method can be used efficiently as it is, but also the cool storage of the regenerator can be performed with cheap electricity at midnight. This cooling energy can be used for the cooling operation in the daytime when the electricity rate is relatively high, which is useful for reducing the power consumption.

[0022]

First, the basic configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. However, 3 is a compressor, 4 is a condenser, 5 is a capillary tube, 6 is a storage cooler (evaporator for cold storage provided with a cold storage material), 7 is an evaporator, and 8 is a fan in the refrigerator.

In FIG. 1, a compressor 3, a condenser 4, a capillary tube 5 and an evaporator 7 form a refrigeration cycle of a normal refrigerator, and the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 3 is supplied to the condenser 4 and the capillary tube. The liquid refrigerant is condensed and liquefied at 5, becomes a low-temperature liquid refrigerant, and is sent to the evaporator 7. In the evaporator 7, heat is exchanged between the supplied liquid refrigerant and the air in the refrigerator by operating the fan 8 in the refrigerator, and the cooled air is circulated in the refrigerator by the fan 8 in the refrigerator. The inside of the refrigerator is cooled. The refrigerant evaporated by the heat exchange returns to the compressor 3, is compressed, and is sent to the condenser 4 again. By repeating this circulation, the heat in the refrigerator is absorbed by the refrigerant in the evaporator 7, and the heat is released to the outside in the condenser 4, and the temperature in the refrigerator decreases.

In this refrigeration cycle, in FIG. 2, a regenerator evaporator having a regenerative material (not shown) in series with the evaporator 7 between the evaporator 7 and the compressor 3, ie, a regenerator 6 Which is the basic configuration of the refrigeration cycle in the present invention. The regenerator 6 cools the excess cooling power of the refrigerant sent from the evaporator 7. If the in-compartment fan 8 is stopped when the compressor 3 is operating, heat exchange between the liquid refrigerant and the in-compartment air in the evaporator 7 is hardly performed, and the evaporator 7 is kept at a low temperature. The refrigerant flowing out of the evaporator 7 is almost in a liquid state and kept in a cooled state. Therefore, a liquid refrigerant having an excess cooling power is sent to the regenerator 6. With this liquid refrigerant, the cold storage material of the cold storage unit 6 is frozen, and cold storage is performed. By using this energy stored in the cool storage device 6 to cool the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 7, the load on the compressor 3 is reduced, and the power consumption for the compressor 3 can be reduced.

Conventionally, the compressor 3 is generally stopped when the temperature in the refrigerator falls below the set temperature during a time when the load is small, such as at midnight, but in the present invention, as shown in FIG. In order to obtain the excess cooling power of the liquid refrigerant, the compressor 3 is not stopped and the fan 8 in the refrigerator is stopped even during a low load time period such as late at night.
May be kept low to prevent the temperature of the liquid refrigerant from rising. Thus, when the power rate at midnight or the like is low, cold storage is performed by the surplus cooling power of the liquid refrigerant, which can be used for daytime cooling operation where the power rate is high, and the power consumption in the daytime can be reduced. Can be reduced.

An embodiment of the present invention based on such a basic configuration will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a regenerative refrigerator according to the present invention, wherein 1 is a refrigerator main body, 2 is a refrigerating room, 6 'is a cold storage evaporator, 9 is a bypass switching valve, and 10 is a liquid refrigerant. FIG. 2 shows a circulation drive device, 11 is an accumulator, 12a and 12b are one-way valves, 13 is a bypass passage, 14 is a liquid refrigerant siphon, and 15 is a cold storage material.
The same reference numerals are given to the portions corresponding to and the duplicate description will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, a cool storage evaporator 6 having a compressor 3, a condenser 4, a capillary tube 5, and a cool storage material 15 is provided.
′, That is, the regenerator 6 and the evaporator 7 form the basic refrigeration cycle of this embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and the liquid refrigerant siphon 14, A directional valve 12b and an accumulator 11 are provided. Then, the regenerator 6, the liquid refrigerant siphon 14, and the one-way valve 12b
Is provided with a bypass passage 13 having a bypass switching valve 9. Further, the liquid refrigerant circulation drive device 10 (for example, a mechanical liquid refrigerant pump or a bubble pump) and the one-way valve 1 are connected so that the evaporator 7 and the regenerator 6 are short-circuited.
2a is also provided.

The cold storage evaporator 6 ′ is provided with fins, which are heat transfer promotion plates, in the liquid refrigerant pipe, and has a cold storage material which is stored by the liquid refrigerant having excess cooling power from the evaporator 7. 15 are provided to form the regenerator 6. The liquid refrigerant siphon 14 is formed by raising the liquid refrigerant pipe to a position higher than the cold storage evaporator 6 ′, and the liquid refrigerant condensed during the cooling operation of the cold storage material 15 for cooling is used to accumulate the liquid accumulator 1.
It plays a role in preventing natural flow to one side. The one-way valves 12a and 12b use gravity and spring force,
This valve does not require external input. Further, another switching valve for switching between the cold storage operation and the operation using the cold storage energy of the cold storage material 15 is not required. Thereby, the cooling operation by the regenerator 6 that has accumulated the excess cooling power is practically possible.

FIG. 3 shows a liquid refrigerant circuit according to this embodiment. As can be seen from the drawing, this embodiment is different from the basic configuration shown in FIG.
a) provided with a liquid refrigerant passage provided with a.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the case of normal operation, the compressor 3 operates, and the compressor 3, the condenser 4, and the capillary tube 5 are operated.
The one-way valve 12a is automatically closed by the liquid refrigerant. At this time, the liquid refrigerant circulation drive device 10 is not operating. This liquid refrigerant is sent to the evaporator 7, but the refrigerant flowing out of the evaporator 7 returns to the compressor 3 via the bypass passage 13 by the bypass switching valve 9. At this time, the in-compartment fan 8 is operating, whereby the evaporator 7 performs heat conversion between the liquid refrigerant and the air in the in-compartment to cool the in-compartment.

At this time, the evaporated refrigerant passing through the bypass passage 13 is supplied to the regenerator 6 via the liquid refrigerant siphon 14.
The one-way valve 12b is provided in order to prevent the backflow from flowing in the direction. In this way, the evaporated high-temperature refrigerant is prohibited from being sent to the regenerator 6, so that the heat of the refrigerant can prevent the regenerative material 15 from melting.

In the case of storing cold in the cold storage material 15, the compressor 3
Is operated to switch the bypass switching valve 9 and to make the in-compartment fan 8 inoperative. As a result, the liquid refrigerant supplied to the evaporator 7 does not undergo heat conversion with the air in the refrigerator, and is sent to the regenerator 6 as a liquid refrigerant having excess cooling power. In the regenerator 6, the liquid refrigerant flows into the evaporator 6 'for cold storage, thereby absorbing heat from the regenerative material 15 for the excess cooling power to freeze the regenerative material 15. Thereby, the cold storage material 1
5 will store cold. The refrigerant evaporated by the cold storage returns to the compressor 3 via the refrigerant siphon 14, the one-way valve 12b, and the accumulator 11. The cold storage in the cold storage material 15 proceeds by such circulation of the liquid refrigerant.

When cooling is performed using the energy of cold storage in the cold storage material 15, the compressor 3 is stopped and the liquid refrigerant circulation drive device 10 is activated. The internal fan 8 is also set to the operating state. Thereby, the one-way valve 1
The direction of movement of the liquid refrigerant in 2a is opposite to the above, and therefore the one-way valve 12a opens. Therefore, the liquid refrigerant is supplied to the one-way valve 12a, the evaporator 7,
A liquid refrigerant loop circuit including a bypass switching valve 9, a cool storage cooler 6, and a liquid refrigerant circulation drive device 10 is circulated. As long as the cold storage material 15 is in the cold storage state, the refrigerant from the evaporator 7 is condensed and cooled by the cold storage evaporator 6 ′ by the cold storage energy of the cold storage material 15, and the internal fan 8 is in the operating state. The heat is efficiently converted between the liquid refrigerant and the air in the refrigerator by the vessel 7, and the refrigerator is cooled.

The cold storage operation for performing the cold storage is performed at night. Cooling in the refrigerator using the cold storage of the cold storage material 15 is performed in the daytime. In the case of this daytime operation, by stopping the compressor 3, most of the liquid refrigerant is condensed on the low temperature side shown on the right side of the dotted line in FIG. 3, and the regenerator 6 and the evaporator 7 are provided without a switching valve. A liquid refrigerant loop circuit is formed between the liquid refrigerant loop circuit 10 and the liquid refrigerant circulation drive device 10 which can operate with much less power consumption than the compressor 3 instead of the compressor 3. Circulate. Therefore, the cheaper electricity at night can be used effectively during the day.

The switching valve is a bypass switching valve 9.
Is added, and the formation and release of the liquid refrigerant loop circuit are automatically performed by the one-way valve 12a.
Simply by adding control of the bypass switching valve 9, the normal operation control method can be efficiently used as it is.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a liquid refrigerant circuit of another embodiment of the regenerative refrigerator according to the present invention, wherein 16 is a one-way valve, 17 is a bypass passage, and 18 is a three-way valve for bypass. 1 and 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

In this figure, this embodiment corresponds to FIGS.
In this embodiment, a one-way valve 16, a bypass passage 17, and a three-way bypass valve 18 are added to the embodiment shown in FIG. That is, a three-way bypass valve 18 is provided between the evaporator 7 and the regenerator 6, and a one-way valve 16 is provided between the branch point of the liquid refrigerant passage on the refrigerant outflow side of the regenerator 6 and the compressor 3. , And 3 for bypass
A bypass passage 17 is provided so that the regenerator 6 and the one-way valve 16 are short-circuited from the direction valve 18.

In this configuration, during the cold storage operation and during the cooling operation using the cold storage energy of the cold storage material, the bypass three-way valve 18 opens to the regenerator 6 and the bypass passage 17 is not used. As in the embodiment shown in FIG.
A refrigerant passage including the evaporator 7 and the regenerator 6 is formed.
Of course, during the cold storage operation, the one-way valve 12a is closed,
During the cooling operation using the cold energy of the cold storage material, the one-way valve 12a is opened and the liquid refrigerant circulation drive device 10 operates.

On the other hand, after the freezing of the regenerator material in the regenerator 6 or after the end of the cooling, if it is not the nighttime electricity charge time zone, the three-way bypass valve 18 opens to the bypass passage 17 side to short-circuit the regenerator 6. Then, the liquid refrigerant is prevented from flowing through this, and the liquid refrigerant circuit is the same as the refrigeration cycle in a normal refrigerator. In this case, the one-way valve 16 is for preventing the refrigerant from flowing back to the refrigerant outlet side of the regenerator 6 in this case. Therefore, in expensive electricity billing hours other than nighttime electricity billing hours, the cold storage operation is not performed, and only the cooling operation using the cold storage energy of the cold storage material or the same operation as a normal refrigerator is performed, thereby reducing the power bill. Useful for Also, when performing the defrosting operation, the bypass three-way valve 18 opens the bypass passage 17 side so that the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 7 heated by the defrost heater does not enter the regenerator 6. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the liquid refrigerant that has entered the regenerator 6 from re-condensing and returning to the evaporator 7, and prevent the regenerator material in the regenerator 6 from melting.

The bypass three-way valve 18 has an electromagnetic coil and a plunger passing therethrough. When a current flows through the electromagnetic coil of the electromagnetic valve according to a control signal sent from the electronic control circuit, the electromagnetic coil is turned off. The coil is excited to generate an electromagnetic force, which causes the plunger to move. The opening and closing of each of the three-way valves is controlled by the movement.

In place of the three-way bypass valve 18, two two-way bypass valves 19 are used as shown in FIG.
a, 19b may be used, or, as shown in FIG.
The capillary tube 21 may be provided on the regenerator 6 side. Here, the branch point of the bypass passage 17 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 will be described more specifically with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 7, at the branch point of the bypass passage 17, a gradient is provided so that the liquid refrigerant flowing out of the evaporator 7 naturally flows down into the bypass passage 17. At the branch point, the refrigerant pipe is disposed upright. In such a configuration, during the cold storage operation and during the cooling operation using the cold storage energy of the cold storage material, the refrigerant is sucked by the compressor 3 or the liquid refrigerant circulation drive device 10 even if the bypass two-way valve 20 is closed. Therefore, the liquid refrigerant flows into the regenerator 6 through the capillary tube 21 arranged upright.

However, when the regenerator material in the regenerator 6 has not been frozen or allowed to cool, and the nighttime power charge period is not in effect, the bypass two-way valve 20 is opened, and the flow path resistance of the capillary tube 21 and the bypass passage are reduced. Most of the liquid refrigerant flows into the bypass passage 17 by arranging the liquid refrigerant 17 to flow naturally. As a result, the cold storage operation is not performed during the expensive power charging time period other than the nighttime power charging time period, and only the cooling operation using the cold storage energy of the cold storage material or the operation similar to the ordinary refrigerator is performed, and the power charging operation is not performed. Useful for saving.

When the defrosting operation is performed, the bypass two-way valve 20 opens to the bypass passage 17 side, and most of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 7 heated by the defrost heater is stored in the regenerator 6. Will not be sent. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the liquid refrigerant that has entered the regenerator 6 from re-condensing and returning to the evaporator 7 or dissolving the regenerator 15 in the regenerator 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a specific example of the arrangement of the regenerator 6 described above in the refrigerator main body, wherein 22 is the refrigerator main body, 23 is the outer box of the regenerator, 24 is the inner box of the regenerator, 2
5 is a refrigerant pipe, 26 is a refrigerant circulation drive / bypass valve.

One embodiment in which a liquid refrigerant pipe and a regenerator having a structure in which metal fins serving as a heat transfer promoting plate provided therein are submerged in a regenerator material is provided outside.

In the figure, the outer box 23 of the cold storage container contains the inner box 24 of the cold storage container and the refrigerant pipe 25 so as to be embedded with a heat insulating material, and the outer box 23 of the cold storage container has a conventional configuration. It is placed separately on the upper part of the refrigerator main body 22. The cold storage container inner box 24 has a built-in regenerator 6 having a structure in which metal fins, which are heat transfer promoting plates, are submerged in a cold storage material, and is provided with the cold storage container inner box 24 and the evaporator disposed in the refrigerator main body 22. 7, a refrigerant pipe is disposed as shown in FIGS. In addition, one refrigerant pipe disposed between the cool storage container inner box 24 and the evaporator 7 is a refrigerant circulation driving device / one-way valve 26 comprising the refrigerant circulation driving device 10 and the one-way valve 12a.
This forms a liquid refrigerant passage.

According to this, although the outer diameter of the refrigerator itself including the outer box 23 of the regenerator becomes large, most of the conventional refrigerator can be used as it is without reducing the internal capacity of the refrigerator itself. , A regenerator can be added. In addition, since many cold storage materials can be used, the amount of cold storage in the cold storage material can be greatly increased, and the cooling operation using the cold storage energy of the cold storage material can be performed for a long time during a relatively expensive power charge period. As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce the electricity rate.

FIG. 9 shows a concrete example in which a regenerator 28 having a structure in which a liquid refrigerant pipe and metal fins serving as a heat transfer promoting plate provided therein are submerged in a regenerator material is installed in a freezing room 27 of the refrigerator body 22. It is. In this specific example, it is not necessary to attach a heat insulating material to the regenerator 28, and the outer box 23 of the regenerator is not necessary, so that it is not necessary to increase the outer dimensions of the entire refrigerator. Can be greatly increased.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram showing a specific example of the control circuit of the refrigeration cycle in the embodiment shown in FIG.
Is a power supply, 30 is a fan motor in the refrigerator, 31 is a control device, 3
Reference numerals 2 and 33 indicate switches, 34 indicates a temperature sensor in the refrigerator, 35 indicates a cool storage material temperature sensor, and 36 indicates a timer. Parts corresponding to those in FIG.

The main operation modes in the above embodiment are the cold storage operation in the nighttime electricity charge time zone and the normal cooling operation when the cold storage material is not in the nighttime electricity charge time period after the freezing or cooling end (the cold storage material cooling operation). (Normal cooling operation using no energy), cooling operation using cold energy of cold storage material, and defrosting operation. The operation of the control circuit for each of these operation modes will be described.

Cool storage operation in nighttime power rate time zone: The nighttime power rate time zone is a time zone in which the timer 36 sends a signal indicating the time from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am, for example, to the control device 31. In this time zone, the cold storage material temperature sensor 35
When the temperature of the cold storage material 8 (FIG. 1) has not reached the freezing temperature and the temperature inside the refrigerator is detected to be equal to or lower than the set temperature by the refrigerator temperature sensor 34, the detection output of these sensors is used. The control device 32 is a switch 32
Is closed, the switch 33 is opened, the compressor 3 is operated, the fan motor 30 is stopped, and the bypass switching valve 9 is closed to prevent the liquid refrigerant from flowing into the bypass passage 13 (FIG. 1). Here, in the following, "close the bypass switching valve 9" means that the bypass passage 13 is closed and the regenerator 6 is closed.
"Opening the bypass switching valve 9" means opening the bypass passage 13 and closing the passage on the regenerator 6 side. By such a control operation, the temperature of the evaporator 7 is reduced, the surplus cooling liquid refrigerant is guided to the regenerator 6, and the regenerative material is frozen.

Here, when the inside temperature sensor 34 detects that the inside of the inside of the refrigerator has exceeded the set temperature, the switch 33 is closed with the switch 32 closed, and the bypass switching valve 9 is opened. The operation of the in-compartment fan motor 31 is started to start cooling the interior.

When the cold storage material temperature sensor 35 detects that the cold storage material 8 has reached the freezing temperature, and the cold storage temperature sensor 34 detects that the inside of the refrigerator is below the set temperature, the switch 32, 33 are both opened, and the bypass switching valve 9 is opened. As a result, the same liquid refrigerant circuit as the refrigeration cycle in the ordinary refrigerator is formed, and the compressor 3
Is stopped. The switches 32 and 33 are respectively opened and closed according to whether the inside temperature detected by the inside temperature sensor 34 is equal to or lower than the set temperature, and the inside temperature adjustment control is performed.

In this way, the cold storage in the cool storage unit 6 is performed while the internal temperature is kept below the set temperature.

Normal cooling operation when the cold storage material 8 is not in the nighttime electricity charge time zone after the freezing or cooling end (normal cooling operation without using the cold storage energy of the cold storage material 8): A signal indicating a time zone other than the above time zone, for example, a time period from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm is sent to the control device 31, but it is set to perform the cooling operation using the cold storage energy of the cold storage material. Time zone (this time zone can be set arbitrarily or automatically by using an outside air temperature sensor because the cooling time varies depending on the amount of cold storage material 8 and the outside air temperature, etc.) Or the time period in which the cooling operation is to be performed,
This is a case where the cold storage energy has been exhausted and the cooling has ended.

In this case, the switching valve 9 for bypass is opened to form the same liquid refrigerant circuit as the refrigerating cycle in the ordinary refrigerator, and the switches 32 and 33 are simultaneously opened and closed according to the detection result of the internal temperature sensor 34. By controlling, the inside temperature is adjusted and controlled.

Cooling operation using cold energy of cold storage material: When the timer 36 sends a signal indicating the set time zone of the cooling operation to the control device 31, the bypass switching is performed so that the liquid refrigerant does not flow into the bypass passage 13. The valve 9 is closed and the switch 32 is opened to stop the compressor 3.
3 is closed, the in-compartment fan motor 31 is operated, and the operation of the liquid refrigerant circulation drive device 10 is started. Thereby, the cold stored in the cold storage material 8 is moved to the evaporator 7 via the liquid refrigerant, and heat is exchanged in the evaporator 7 by the internal fan 15 (FIG. 1), thereby cooling the internal space. .

During the cooling operation, when the inside temperature sensor 34 detects that the inside temperature of the inside of the refrigerator has become equal to or lower than the set temperature, the switch 33 is opened to stop the inside fan motor 30, and the liquid refrigerant circulation driving device is started. Stop the operation of 10 or reduce the operation speed. With this control, the internal temperature can be kept constant.

After that, before the nighttime electricity charge time zone (before 11:00 pm), when the cold storage material temperature sensor 35 detects that the cold storage material 8 has exceeded the freezing temperature, the liquid refrigerant circulation drive device 10 Is stopped or the operation speed is reduced, and the bypass switching valve 9 is opened. As a result, the same liquid refrigerant circuit as the refrigeration cycle in the ordinary refrigerator is formed, and the switches 32 and 33 are opened and closed according to the detection result of the internal temperature sensor 34 to adjust and control the internal temperature.

Defrosting operation: In this case, the switching device 9 for bypass is opened by the control device 31 to form the same liquid refrigerant circuit as the refrigeration cycle in the ordinary refrigerator, and the heat generated by the defrost heater (not shown) is formed. Does not enter the regenerator 6.

By performing the above-described control, cold storage can be efficiently performed during the late night power hours when the power rate is low, and the energy can be cooled without waste during the daytime hours when the power rate is high. Thus, it is possible to easily reduce the running cost and reduce the peak of the power peak in the daytime while minimizing the power consumption.
By the way, assuming that the daytime power rate is about five times the midnight power rate, a refrigerator with a power consumption of 77 kWh / month is operated for about 8 hours at night, and about 10,
000 yen The electricity bill becomes cheaper.

[0063]

As described above, according to the present invention,
With a simple configuration and simple control of providing a regenerator in a normal refrigeration cycle, cold storage in the regenerator and adjustment of the temperature in the refrigerator can be performed, thus providing a small and inexpensive regenerative refrigerator. can do.

Further, according to the present invention, the cold storage energy in the cold storage can be exchanged with the evaporator in the normal refrigeration cycle, and the cold storage energy in the cold storage is used by effectively utilizing the normal refrigeration cycle. The interior of the refrigerator can be cooled, and a normal heater can be used as the defrost heater. Therefore, also from this point, additional components can be reduced as compared with the conventional regenerative refrigerator, and a small and inexpensive regenerative refrigerator can be provided.

Further, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to provide a refrigerant circuit for the regenerator, especially in addition to the main refrigeration cycle. Other than the control by the material temperature sensor, the same technology as that of the conventional refrigerator can be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a regenerative refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a basic configuration of a refrigeration cycle of the regenerative refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a liquid refrigerant circuit of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a liquid refrigerant circuit in another embodiment of the regenerative refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a liquid refrigerant circuit in still another embodiment of the regenerative refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing a liquid refrigerant circuit in still another embodiment of the regenerative refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a bypass switching valve unit in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an external view showing an example of attaching the liquid refrigerant circuit shown in FIG. 3 to a refrigerator main body.

FIG. 9 is an external view showing another example of attaching the liquid refrigerant circuit shown in FIG. 3 to a refrigerator main body.

10 is a circuit diagram showing a specific example of a control circuit of the liquid refrigerant circuit shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Compressor 4 Condenser 6 Cold storage cooler 6 'Cold storage 7 Evaporator 8 Cold storage material 9 Bypass switching valve 10 Refrigerant circulation drive device 12 One-way valve 13 Bypass passage 15 Internal fan 17 Bypass passage 18 Bypass three-way valve 19a, 19b Two-way valve for bypass 20 One-way valve 21 Capillary tube

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masayuki Shibayama 800 Tomita, Ohira-cho, Ohira-machi, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture Inside the Tochigi Plant, Hitachi, Ltd. No. 82 Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. (72) Inventor Masato Yagawa 2-82 Watanabe-dori, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. (56) References JP-A-61-280352 (JP, A) JP-A-63-83566 (JP, A) JP-A 64-48555 (JP, U) JP-A-63-134369 (JP, U) Field (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25D 16/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An animal-cooled refrigerator provided with an animal cooler having an animal-cooling material, wherein the animal cooler is arranged in series with an evaporator of a refrigeration cycle via a bypass valve , and is connected via the bypass valve. A bypass passage is provided in parallel with the animal cooler , and when the compressor of the refrigeration cycle operates , the bypass passage is provided to the evaporator.
Enable to set the installed fan in the stopped state
Means for operating the compressor of the refrigeration cycle and stopping the fan in the refrigerator.
To a stop state, and the animal cooling from the evaporator through the bypass valve.
By sending the refrigerant to the cooler, storage in the cooler is possible.
An animal-cooled refrigerator characterized by having a noh structure . 2. The cooling device according to claim 1, comprising a one-way valve and a refrigerant circulation driving means.
A refrigerant passage from a refrigerant outflow side to a refrigerant inflow side of the evaporator
When the compressor of the refrigeration cycle is stopped, the refrigerant passage and the
Refrigerant circulation in a loop formed by the evaporator and the cooler
A livestock-cooled refrigerator characterized by being configured to be capable of: 3. The refrigeration cycle according to claim 2 , wherein the one-way valve is configured to perform liquid cooling from a condenser of the refrigeration cycle.
An animal-cooled refrigerator that opens and closes according to the supply of a medium .