JP3860006B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a configuration in which a drainage basin is provided at a lower part of a cooler housing portion in a refrigerator body, and an inner tub with a heater is provided inside the drainage basin.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in a refrigerator, frost adhering to a cooler is dissolved and removed by a heater. In order to discharge the water (defrosted water) generated in the cooler by this defrosting, a drainage basin is provided at the lower part of the cooler storage room, and the defrosting water is received by this drainage basin and discharged from the drain outlet It is designed to be discharged into an evaporating dish.
[0003]
Conventionally, a glass tube heater has been used as a heater for defrosting. The glass tube heater is provided on the lower side of the cooler, and the frost of the cooler is melted by the radiant heat, and at the same time, the drainage basin is heated to melt the ice attached to the drainage port.
[0004]
Recently, from the viewpoint of environmental protection, it has been considered that the refrigerant of the refrigeration cycle is changed from a fluorocarbon refrigerant to a hydrocarbon refrigerant (hereinafter referred to as HC).
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Since the HC refrigerant is flammable, it is not preferable to use a glass tube heater having a temperature equal to or higher than the ignition temperature of the HC refrigerant as the defrosting heater of the cooler in the refrigerator using the HC refrigerant. Therefore, when using an HC refrigerant, it has been considered that a pipe heater configured by inserting a resistance heating wire in a metal pipe is attached to the evaporation pipe of the cooler to form a defrosting heater. In this case, since it is difficult to heat the drainage basin with the defrosting heater, a metal inner tub with resistance heating wires provided on the outer lower surface of the bottom surface portion is fitted inside the basin, and this inner tub is fitted. The construction is adopted in which the ice adhering to the drainage port of the drainage basin is melted so that the drainage port is not blocked by the growth of ice.
[0006]
However, in this configuration, when defrost water overflows from the inner tub, water enters the gap between the inner tub and the drain basin. Then, the resistance heating wire attached to the outer bottom surface of the inner casing is immersed in water, causing rust, resulting in disconnection.
[0007]
This invention is made | formed in view of said situation, The objective is to provide the refrigerator which can prevent that water adheres to the resistance heating wire attached to the outer lower surface of the bottom face part of an inner casing.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention of claim 1 arranges the inner trough gutter or al apart, so to form a defrosted water passage gutter so as to be located outside of the inner trough, the inner water overflowing from the inner trough gutter There is no risk of wetting the resistance heating wire provided on the outer bottom surface of.
[0009]
In the invention of claim 2, since the metal cylinder inserted into the drain outlet of the drain is connected to the water outlet of the inner casing, the drain outlet can be heated by the heat of the resistance heating wire, and freezing to the drain outlet is prevented. Can be prevented.
[0010]
In the invention of claim 3, since the heater is densely provided near the water outlet of the inner casing, the outlet of the drainage can be further heated, and icing to the outlet can be more effectively prevented.
By adopting the configuration of the above claims 1 to 3, when a combustible refrigerant is used as the refrigerant supplied to the cooler as in the invention of claim 4, the combustible refrigerant leaks into the refrigerator body. Even if it comes out, there is no risk of ignition due to the heat of the heater.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, in FIG. 5, the refrigerator body 1 is a heat insulation box in which a steel plate outer box 2 and a plastic inner box 3 are combined, and a heat insulating material 4 made of, for example, urethane foam is foam-filled in a space between them. It is structured as a body. In the refrigerator main body 1, a plurality of storage rooms, in this embodiment, a refrigerated room 5, a vegetable room 6, a specification switching room 7 (see FIG. 6) arranged side by side, an ice making room 8, and a freezing room 9 are sequentially arranged. Is provided. In this case, the refrigerator compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 constitute a storage compartment in a refrigeration temperature zone, and the ice making compartment 8 and the freezer compartment 9 constitute a storage compartment in a refrigeration temperature zone. As shown in FIG. 6, a hinged open / close heat insulating door 10 is provided on the front surface of the refrigerator compartment 5, and the vegetable compartment 6, the switching chamber 7, the ice making chamber 8, and the freezer compartment 9 are respectively disposed on the front surfaces. The drawer-type heat insulating doors 11 to 14 are provided.
[0012]
A first cooler storage chamber 15 is provided at the back of the vegetable compartment 6. The first cooler storage chamber 15 is provided with an R fan 17 that constitutes a refrigerator 16 for a refrigerator and a cold air circulation fan for refrigerator. Etc. are arranged. When the R fan 17 is driven, the cold air cooled by the refrigerator 16 for the refrigerator compartment is supplied to the refrigerator compartment 5, and then returned to the first refrigerator storage chamber 15 through the vegetable compartment 6. Thus, the refrigerator compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 are cooled.
[0013]
A second cooler storage chamber 19 is provided at the back of the freezer compartment 9. The second cooler storage chamber 19 includes a freezer cooler 20 and an F fan 21 that constitutes a freezing cold air circulation fan. Etc. are arranged. When the F fan 21 is driven, the cold air cooled by the freezer cooler 20 is supplied to the ice making chamber 8 and the freezer chamber 9 and to the specification switching chamber 7 via a damper (not shown). After that, it is circulated so as to be returned to the second cooler storage chamber 19, and the ice making chamber 8, the freezing chamber 9 and the specification switching chamber 7 are cooled. At this time, the amount of cool air supplied to the specification switching chamber 7 is adjusted by a damper (not shown), and the temperature of the switching chamber 7 is adjusted.
[0014]
A machine room 22 is formed outside the bottom of the refrigerator main body 1. A compressor (not shown) including a compressor 23 and a wire condenser, and cooling for cooling the compressor 23 and the condenser are formed in the machine room 22. A C fan (not shown) constituting the fan, an evaporating dish 24 and the like are disposed. The compressor 23 and the condenser in the machine room 22 constitute a refrigeration cycle with the refrigerator 16 for the refrigerator compartment and the cooler 20 for the freezer compartment. In this embodiment, an HC refrigerant is used as a refrigerant used in the refrigeration cycle. is doing.
[0015]
Now, as shown in FIG. 1, a pipe heater 25 configured through a resistance heating wire is attached to the refrigerator for cooler 16 and the refrigerator for freezer 20 as shown in FIG. Then, the pipe heater 25 is caused to generate heat at a predetermined time, and defrosting is performed so as to dissolve frost adhering to the cooler 16 for the refrigerator compartment and the cooler 20 for the freezer compartment.
[0016]
The first cooler storage chamber 15 and the second cooler storage chamber 19 receive the defrost water dripped from the refrigerator 16 for the refrigerating chamber and the cooler 20 for the freezer and discharges it to the evaporating dish 24. Frost water discharge devices 26 and 27 are provided. Since these two defrost water discharge devices 26 and 27 have the same basic configuration, the defrost water discharge device 27 of the second cooler storage chamber 19 will be described here, and the first cooler storage chamber 15 of the first cooler storage chamber 15 will be described. A description of the defrost water discharge device 26 is omitted.
[0017]
In the figure which shows the defrost water discharge apparatus 27 of the 2nd cooler storage chamber 19, the bottom face part of the 2nd cooler storage chamber 19 inclines and descends toward the center part from both right and left sides, The lowest A circular hole 28 is formed in the lower part. The circular hole 28 is connected to a drain tube 29 embedded in the heat insulating material 4 below the second cooler storage chamber 19 so that the lower end opening faces the inside of the evaporating dish 24.
[0018]
A plastic drainage basin 30 is disposed at the bottom of the second cooler storage chamber 19, and a metal plate inner basin 31 is disposed within the drainage basin 30. The bottom surface of the drainage basin 30 is inclined downward from both the left and right sides toward the center as in the case of the second cooler storage chamber 19, and a cylindrical drainage port is provided at the lowermost center of the drainage basin 30. 32 protrudes downward. The drain port 32 is inserted into the drain tube 29.
[0019]
The inner rod 31 is in the shape of a horizontally long flat dish that is slightly smaller than the drainage rod 30 and is formed so as to be inclined downward from the left and right sides toward the central portion, like the bottom surface portion of the drainage rod 30. A water outlet 33 is formed in the central portion which is the lowest lowest part of the inner rod 31, and an aluminum cylinder 34 as a metal cylinder is connected to the water outlet 33. An aluminum cylinder 34 is inserted into the drain 32 of the drain 30.
[0020]
In order to prevent freezing in the drainage basin 30 and the inner basin 31, an aluminum foil heater 35 is attached to the outer lower surface of the bottom surface of the inner basin 30. As shown in FIG. 4, the aluminum foil heater 35 is formed by laying a resistance heating wire 37 such as a nichrome wire on an aluminum foil 36 in, for example, a meandering manner. In this embodiment, in particular, the water outlet 33 and the aluminum cylinder 34 are provided. The vicinity of the through-hole 35a for passing through is densely laid.
[0021]
Now, the defrost water dripped from the freezer cooler 20 is directly received by the inner tub 31, but when the defrost water overflows from the periphery of the inner tub 31, the water flowing in the drainage basin 30. Is formed on the inner bottom surface of the drainage basin 30 so that the defrosting water passage 38 is located outside the inner basin 31. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, rectangular ribs 39 and 40 that face each other across the drain port 32 are provided on the inner bottom portion of the drainage basin 30 so as to protrude from the left and right. A gap formed between the ribs 39 and 40 and the outer peripheral wall 30a of the drainage basin 30 serves as a defrosting water passage 38. The water passage 38 is a guide passage 41 formed between the opposing surfaces of the ribs 39 and 40. Is connected to the drain 32. The aluminum cylinder 34 is formed with a through hole 42 for allowing the guide path 41 to communicate with the drain port 32.
[0022]
The inner rod 31 is disposed on the two ribs 39 and 40, and a hanging piece 31a as a draining portion bent downward on the outer peripheral portion thereof is fitted to the outside of the ribs 39 and 40. Thereby, the defrost water overflowing from the inner rod 31 flows into the defrost water passage 38 from the hanging piece 31a, and does not enter the ribs 39 and 40.
[0023]
Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. During defrosting, the pipe heater 25 and the aluminum foil heater 35 are energized. And the frost adhering to the freezer cooler 20 is melted by the heat generated by the pipe heater 25, and the defrost water is dripped from the freezer cooler 20 to the inner casing 31.
[0024]
On the other hand, when the aluminum foil heater 35 is energized, the temperature of the inner tub 31 rises, and ice adhering to the drainage tub 30, the inner tub 31, the aluminum cylinder 34, etc. is melted. In this case, since the arrangement density of the resistance heating wires 37 near the water outlet 33 is high and the aluminum cylinder 34 having excellent thermal conductivity is connected to the water outlet 33, the aluminum cylinder 34, the drain outlet 33, etc. Ice that hinders attached drainage is melted in a short time.
[0025]
The defrost water dripped from the freezer cooler 20 to the inner casing 31 is guided to the water outlet 33 by the inclination of the bottom surface, flows into the aluminum cylinder 34 from the water outlet 33, and evaporates from the drain cylinder 29. It is discharged into the dish 24.
[0026]
At this time, if too much defrost water is dripped from the freezer cooler 20, the defrost water overflows from the periphery of the inner casing 31. The defrost water overflowing from the inner casing 31 flows down from the hanging piece 31a into the defrost water passage 38, flows through the defrost water passage 38 toward the guide path 41, and flows into the aluminum cylinder 34 from the guide path 41. Then, it is discharged from the drain tube 29 into the evaporating dish 24.
[0027]
In addition, the defrost water discharged | emitted from the defrost water discharge apparatus 26 of the cooler 16 for refrigerator compartments is discharged | emitted to the evaporating dish 24 through the drainage trough 30 of the defrost water discharge apparatus 27 of the cooler 20 for freezer rooms. Alternatively, it may be configured to discharge directly to the evaporating dish 24.
[0028]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the inner tub 30 is separated from the defrost water passage 38 and the guide path 41 by the ribs 39 and 40 as the interval holding means, so that the defrost water overflowing from the inner tub 31 is obtained. However, there is no possibility of being applied to the aluminum foil heater 35 disposed on the outer lower surface of the inner casing 31 until it is finally discharged to the evaporating dish 24 through the defrost water passage 38. For this reason, since the covering of the resistance heating wire 37 of the aluminum foil heater 35 such as silicon or vinyl chloride has a property of passing water, the resistance heating wire 37 touches the water to generate rust, resulting in disconnection. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of defects.
[0029]
Further, the defrosting heater is the pipe heater 25, and the anti-icing heater is also the aluminum foil heater 35, and the temperature does not reach the ignition temperature of the HC refrigerant. However, there is no possibility that the HC refrigerant will ignite.
[0030]
FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. This is because the portion corresponding to the inside of the ribs 39 and 40 of the first embodiment of the bottom surface of the drainage basin 30 is raised, the outside of these raised portions is used as a defrost water passage 38, and two ridges are formed. Between the portions 43 and 44, the defrosting water passage 38 is used as a guide passage 41 connecting to the drain port 32, and the inner casing 31 is placed on the raised portion. Even if comprised in this way, since the inner collar 31 is separated from the defrost water channel 38 and the guide channel 41 by the raised portions 43 and 44 as the interval holding means, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the invention, the inner trough is whether we away gutter, and, since the defrost water passage gutter to be positioned outside of the inner trough is formed, overflowing from the inner trough There is no risk that the defrosting water will wet the resistance heating wire provided in the inner casing.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the drainage port can be heated by the metal cylinder transmitted from the inner casing, and freezing to the drainage port can be prevented.
According to invention of Claim 3, the amount of heat transfer to a metal cylinder can be increased, and a drain outlet can be heated more favorably.
According to invention of Claim 4, even if a combustible refrigerant | coolant leaks in a store | warehouse | chamber, there is no possibility that the combustible refrigerant may ignite by the heat_generation | fever of the resistance heating wire of an inner casing.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal front view of the main part of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical side view of the main part. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a drain. 5] Vertical side view of refrigerator [Fig. 6] External perspective view of refrigerator [Fig. 7] Fig. 1 equivalent view showing a second embodiment of the present invention [Explanation of symbols]
In the figure, 1 is a refrigerator main body, 15 is a first cooler storage chamber, 16 is a refrigerator for a refrigerator compartment, 19 is a second cooler storage chamber, 20 is a refrigerator for a freezer compartment, 24 is an evaporating dish, 25 Is a pipe heater, 26 and 27 are defrosting water discharge devices, 29 is a drain tube, 30 is a drainage basin, 31 is an internal tub, 32 is a drain port, 33 is a water outlet, 34 is an aluminum tube (metal tube), 35 is aluminum foil heater 37 is a resistance heating wire, 38 Joshimosui passage, is 39, 40 ribs, 43 and 44 is a ridge min.

Claims (4)

A cooler storage unit provided in the refrigerator body and storing a cooler;
A drainage basin provided at the lower part of this cooler storage part and having a drainage port;
An inner tub that is provided inside the drainage basin and receives defrosted water from the cooler and discharges it from the drainage port of the basin;
A heater comprising a resistance heating wire provided on the outer bottom surface of the bottom surface of the inner casing,
Refrigerator, characterized in that the said gutter, the gutter or al apart and arranged to form a defrosted water passage in the gutter to be positioned outside of said trough. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a metal cylinder inserted into a drain outlet of the drainage tub is connected to a water outlet of the inner casing. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heaters are densely provided near the water outlet of the inner casing. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a flammable refrigerant is used as the refrigerant supplied to the cooler.

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