JP3903237B2 - Cold storage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cold insulation chamber having constitution to prevent the occurrence of vapor condensation without the occurrence of a waste of a consumption power. SOLUTION: This cold insulation chamber 1 uses a refrigerating cycle where state changes, such as compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation of a refrigerant, are circulated. In this case, a cold insulation chamber comprises a heater 3 for preventing the occurrence of vapor condensation situated at an opening part 1A of a cold insulation chamber body to support a closing door 2; a chamber temperature detecting sensor to detect temperature in the cold insulation chamber 1; and a control part to which a chamber temperature from the chamber temperature detecting sensor and the number of the operations of the compressor used at a compression stroke are inputted and which outputs an energization command to the drive part of the heater 3 for preventing the occurrence of vapor condensation. The control part discriminates the operation state of the compressor in a given time starting from a point of time when temperature reaches a given value when a chamber temperature detected by the sensor for detecting a chamber temperature is the given temperature and stops energization to the heater 3 for preventing the occurrence of vapor condensation when operation of the compressor is not executed.

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cold storage, and more particularly to a temperature management control mechanism.
[0002]
[Prior art]
One device for storing fresh food products is a cold storage such as a refrigerated freezer using a refrigeration cycle that uses a circulation of refrigerant state changes. The cold storage has a configuration in which the compressed refrigerant can be condensed, expanded and evaporated to cool the air in the warehouse and stored at a low temperature. By the way, in a cool box, dew condensation may occur at a place where the inside of the box is exposed to the outside air due to a temperature difference between the inside and the outside. For this reason, a configuration is proposed in which a heater is installed in the opening where the inside of the cool box is exposed to the outside air, and the heater is energized in conjunction with turning on the power to the cool box, thereby promoting the evaporation of dew. It is (e.g., JitsuHiraku flat 5-17476, JP-a No. 6-3035, JP-a No. 5-118730 Patent Publication). Each of the above publications discloses a configuration for energizing a heater and performing energization control on the heater so as not to waste power consumption.
[0003]
On the other hand, some food items stored in the cold storage are not preferred to be frozen. For this reason, the structure (for example, Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 11-63779) which provided the heat source in order to raise the temperature of a refrigerator and prevent the freezing of the stored item in a refrigerator, or the temperature in a refrigerator is predetermined temperature There has been proposed a configuration (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-26556) in which the compressor is stopped when the following is reached, and the temperature in the refrigerator is raised as compared with the operation of the compressor.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-described dew condensation prevention structure, the heater is energized in conjunction with the power-on of the cold storage, and the energized state is maintained. In the antifreezing structure described above, while the outside air temperature is to prevent excessive cooling by stopping the compressor becomes below freezing, sometimes inside temperature under the influence of the outside air temperature is under the freezing point. Especially in cold districts and the like, it is susceptible to such effects, and vegetables that are weak at low temperatures may freeze, which may impair the flavor when eating.
[0005]
The object of the present invention is to prevent condensation without causing waste of power consumption, in particular, in view of the problems in the above-described conventional cold storage, and to prevent freezing of stored foods due to the influence of the outside air temperature, in particular, low-temperature failures are likely to occur. An object of the present invention is to provide a cool box having a configuration capable of preventing freezing of food materials.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the invention described in claim 1 is a cool box using a refrigeration cycle that circulates each state change of refrigerant compression / condensation / expansion and evaporation, and supports the open / close door. A dew condensation prevention heater provided in the opening of the chamber, a chamber temperature detection sensor for detecting the temperature in the cold storage chamber, a chamber temperature from the chamber temperature detection sensor, and a compressor used for the compression stroke operating state is entered, and a control unit for outputting a current command to the drive unit of the anti-condensation heater when the in-compartment temperature is below a predetermined temperature set in advance, the control unit includes predetermined A defrosting timing is set in which the compressor is stopped every hour to perform a defrosting operation in the cabinet, and the operation frequency of the compressor is counted from the defrosting timing, and the internal temperature detection sensor Detected by When the inner temperature is below the predetermined temperature, it performs operation discrimination of the compressor during the period from the time when this temperature is reached until defrosting time before last, if operation times of the compressor is 0 the It is characterized in that the energization command is not output .
[0008]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the cooler is provided with an evaporator fan on the cold air discharge side from the evaporator used in the evaporation step, and the evaporator fan has an internal temperature of 0 °. When the temperature is equal to or lower than C, if the number of operation times of the compressor between the time when this temperature is reached and the previous defrosting timing is 0, the compressor is operated according to a drive command from the control unit.
[0010]
The invention according to claim 3 is that the evaporator blower is used only when the compressor does not operate between the time when the defrosting operation of the evaporator is performed and the time when the previous defrosting operation is performed. The operation is stopped by a drive command from the control unit.
[0011]
[Action]
In the claims 1 Symbol placement of invention, as in the prior art, rather than energization of the cool box anti-condensation heater in conjunction with the power-on of is performed, the inside temperature is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature, for preventing condensation The heater is energized. Furthermore, even if the internal temperature becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature, if the compressor is not operating between the time when the internal temperature reaches the predetermined temperature and the previous defrost timing, Assuming that the temperature difference from the internal temperature is not in the dew condensation occurrence temperature, it is considered that this is equivalent to the dew condensation prevention heater. As a result, since the dew condensation prevention heater is not energized except when necessary, the power saving effect can be improved as compared with the case where the energization is always energized. That is, it is possible to prevent dew condensation without causing waste of power consumption and at low cost.
[0012]
In the second aspect of the present invention, in a situation where the internal temperature is 0 ° C. or lower and freezing occurs in the stored items in the storage , the compressor is operated between this time and the previous defrosting timing. actuating the evaporator blower when it is determined that not operating, the internal temperature drops by supplying air which has a temperature rise by using a self-heating by the operation of the evaporator blower to the interior space of the cold storage To prevent. Thereby, it can prevent that the vegetables etc. in a warehouse freeze.
[0014]
In the invention according to claim 3, when the evaporator blower is used for the humidity control in the cabinet that changes due to defrosting, the temperature in the cabinet is managed until the defrosting operation that was performed last time when the defrosting was performed. Therefore, the evaporator blower is stopped only when the compressor that executes the refrigeration cycle is not operating, and power supply to the evaporator blower can be stopped to reduce power consumption.
[0015]
【Example】
The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.
FIG. 1 is an external view of a cold box according to an embodiment of the invention as set forth in claims 1 and 2, in which the cold box 1 has a space for storing fresh food to be stored therein, An opening 1A is formed in one surface of the space, and a double door opening / closing door 2 is provided in the opening 1A.
In the cool box 1 shown in FIG. 1, a dew condensation prevention heater 3 is arranged at the peripheral edge of the opening 1 </ b> A, similar to this type of cool box.
The dew condensation prevention heater 3 has a function of evaporating water vapor in order to prevent dew condensation of water vapor outside the warehouse when the difference between the inside temperature and the outside temperature is large. Is driven and controlled.
[0016]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the above-described control unit. In FIG. 2, the control unit 4 is configured by a microcomputer as a main part and is related to the present embodiment via an I / O interface (not shown). As the members, the internal temperature detection sensor 5 and the means 6 for detecting the operating state of the compressor (not shown) are connected to the input side, and the drive unit 3A of the condensation prevention heater 3 is connected to the output side. ing.
The internal temperature detection sensor 5 uses a thermistor and outputs an internal temperature detection signal to the control unit 4.
As the means 6 for detecting the operation state of the compressor, a counter that counts the operation command of the compressor from the defrost timing corresponding to the time when the compressor is stopped is used.
[0017]
The control unit 4 determines the temperature from the internal temperature detection sensor 5 with a predetermined temperature for stopping the condensation prevention heater as a predetermined temperature, and the compressor between a predetermined time and a predetermined time is reached. Determine the operating state of.
That is, in this embodiment, as the defrosting operation in the evaporator, the compressor is stopped for 10 minutes every predetermined time, for example, every 2 hours, the refrigerant circulation is stopped, and the temperature increase in the evaporator is used, A so-called defrosting operation is performed. For this reason, the defrosting start timing set in the control part 4 turns into a defrosting timing, and the frequency | count of operation of a compressor is counted from this defrosting timing.
In the present embodiment, in addition to the number of operations of the compressor between the time when the interior reaches a predetermined temperature or less and the previous defrost timing, from the previous defrost timing to the previous defrost timing. Is also set as the compressor operating state determination period, so that the accuracy of determining that the compressor has stopped reliably can be determined so that the so-called non-operating time of the compressor can be determined. It is like that.
In such a determination process by the control unit 4, the operation determination of the compressor is performed based on the number of operation times of the compressor after the defrost timing, and when the number is 0, the compressor is operated. It is determined that it has not been performed, and energization to the condensation prevention heater 3 is stopped.
Further, the control unit 4 energizes the dew condensation prevention heater 3 even when the internal temperature reaches a temperature higher than a predetermined temperature, that is, a temperature at which it can be considered that dew condensation does not occur due to a difference from the outside air temperature. Is supposed to stop.
[0018]
Since the present embodiment is configured as described above, its operation will be described with reference to a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control unit 4 as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 3, when the refrigeration cycle is executed after the cool box 1 is turned on, the detection signal from the internal temperature detection sensor 5 is taken in and the temperature (T ° C.) is predetermined. The temperature is compared with a preset temperature (ST1).
When the temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature in the comparison in step ST1, energization to the condensation prevention heater 3 is stopped (ST2).
[0019]
On the other hand, when it is determined in step ST1 that the internal temperature is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature, the operating state of the compressor is determined (ST3, ST4). That is, the operating state of the compressor within a predetermined time from when the temperature reaches a predetermined temperature or less is determined. In this embodiment, the defrosting timing described above is used as the predetermined time as the predetermined time, and when the compressor is not operated by the operating state determination of the compressor within the predetermined time, the outside air temperature and the internal temperature are Assuming that the temperature difference is not in the dew condensation generation temperature, it is possible to stop energization of the dew condensation prevention heater 3.
[0020]
If the compressor is operating as a result of the determination in steps ST3 and ST4, energization to the dew condensation prevention heater 3 is continued (ST5).
By determining whether or not the compressor is operating in such a predetermined time, the compressor is not operated, that is, the temperature difference between the inside and the outside is large as in the case where the compressor is operated. When it is determined that there is not, power supply to the dew condensation prevention heater 3 is stopped (ST2).
Accordingly, it is possible to reduce power consumption as compared with the case where the amount of heat generated in the dew condensation prevention heater 3 is adjusted by controlling the current applied to the dew condensation prevention heater 3 while maintaining a state in which the energization is always performed. Although such control is not shown in FIG. 3, the control is continued until the power supply of the cool box 1 is shut off.
[0021]
Next, an embodiment of the invention described in claims 3 and 4 will be described.
4 is a cross-sectional view seen from the opening 1A side in order to describe the internal structure of the cool box shown in FIG. 1 (for convenience, reference numeral 1 shown in FIG. 1 is used).
In the figure, a refrigeration unit 1B is arranged at the top of the cool box 1, and inside the refrigeration unit 1B, as shown in FIG. 5, a compressor 7, a condenser 8, a capillary tube (not shown). ) And the evaporator 10 are arranged to perform a known refrigeration cycle.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 6, the internal space 1 </ b> A of the cool box 1 and the evaporator 10 are a pair of openings 1 </ b> B <b> 1 and 1 </ b> B <b> 2 that are continuous with a through hole 1 </ b> C (see FIG. 4) formed in the upper wall of the cool box 1. It communicates with.
The opening 1B1 is the side where the air in the internal space 1A of the cool box 1 is introduced into the evaporator 10, and the opening 1B 2 is the air deprived of heat by the evaporator 10, so-called cold air of the cool box 1. It is a side discharged into the internal space 1A. As a result, the air in contact with the evaporator 10 is cooled and flows from the opening 1B2 to the internal space 1A, and when the temperature rises, an ascending air current is generated and flows from the opening 1B1 toward the evaporator 10. As indicated by the dashed line, the interior space 1A is circulated and the internal space 1A is maintained in an appropriate temperature and appropriate cooling state. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 13 denotes an air cooling fan for the condenser.
[0023]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an evaporator blower 11 that is driven and controlled by a control unit 16 to be described later is disposed in the vicinity of the evaporator 10, and this evaporator blower 11 self-heats during operation. As a result, the ambient temperature around the evaporator is raised, and the air whose temperature has been raised is made to flow toward the internal space 1A of the cool box 1.
On the other hand, in the internal space 1A of the cool box 1, as shown in FIG. 4, the internal heating heater 15 is disposed on the cold air rectifying member 14 disposed in the vicinity of the opening 1B 2. The heater 15 is driven and controlled by a controller 16 described later. The cold air rectifying member 14 is provided for diffusing the cold air in the cabinet.
[0024]
FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the control unit 16. In FIG. 7, the main unit of the control unit 16 is configured by a microcomputer, and the internal temperature is input to the input side via an I / O interface (not shown). A detection sensor (for the sake of convenience, the reference numeral 5 shown in FIG. 2) and a counter for counting the number of operations of the compressor 7 (for the sake of convenience, the reference numeral 6 shown in FIG. 2) are connected, respectively, and an evaporator blower on the output side 11 drive units 11A and the drive unit 15A of the internal heating heater 15 are connected to each other.
The internal heating heater 15 is a member used to increase the temperature of the cold air flowing from the evaporator 10 and prevent the internal temperature from decreasing.
[0025]
The controller 16 determines the operating state of the compressor 7 within a predetermined time from that time when the preset internal temperature is a predetermined temperature, which is 1 ° C. or less in this embodiment, and the compressor 7 is not operating, the evaporator blower 11 is operated to raise the internal temperature, so-called a chamber state is set, and in addition to this condition, the internal temperature is the operation of the evaporation fan 11 In the present embodiment, when the temperature is lower than the start condition, when the temperature is −1 ° C. or lower, the internal heating heater 15 is operated to suppress the decrease in the internal temperature.
[0026]
Since the present embodiment is configured as described above, the operation will be described with reference to a flowchart illustrating the operation of the control unit 16 as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 8, when the refrigeration cycle is executed after the cold storage 1 is turned on, the detection signal from the internal temperature detection sensor 5 is taken in and the temperature is a predetermined temperature, that is, It is determined whether the temperature is lower than 1 ° C., which is a preset temperature (ST10).
If the temperature is not more than the predetermined temperature in step ST10, the operating state of the compressor 7 is determined (ST11, ST12). For this determination, the same processing as in steps ST3 and ST4 shown in FIG. 3 is executed.
When it is determined in steps ST11 and ST12 that the compressor 7 is not operated in any case, the evaporator blower 11 is operated to raise the ambient temperature of the evaporator 10 by self-heating and It is introduced into the cabinet (ST13) and a so-called room mode is set. In FIG. 8, “Muro mode” is displayed. As a result, cold air whose temperature has risen due to self-heating due to the operation of the evaporator blower 11 enters the internal space 1, so that the temperature of the cold air rises and prevents the inside temperature from lowering and the vegetables and the like are frozen. Can be suppressed.
[0027]
On the other hand, in step ST13, it is determined whether or not the internal temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature in the state where the room state (muro mode) is set, that is, -1 ° C or less in this embodiment ( ST14).
If the internal temperature is -1 ° or less in step ST14, the internal heating heater 15 (shown as muro heater in FIG. 8) is activated to increase the internal temperature. This process is for a case where the outside air temperature is lower than the inside temperature, such as in a cold district, and freezing occurs when the inside temperature rises due to self-heating only by the evaporator blower 11. It is executed when it cannot be avoided. This process is executed based on the monitoring of the internal temperature, and the energization of the internal heating heater 15 is stopped when the internal temperature reaches a predetermined temperature or more (ST16, ST17).
[0028]
According to the embodiment as described above, by using the self-heating of the evaporator blower when the inside temperature reaches a predetermined temperature or less, the inside temperature is prevented from being lowered, that is, the temperature causing freezing is prevented. Therefore, in addition to the cool air circulation that is the function of this kind of blower, it is possible to quickly correct an abnormal drop in the internal temperature due to the cool air circulation. In addition, in the state where the influence of the outside air temperature is strong and the internal temperature tends to decrease, the internal heating heater 15 can assist in preventing the internal temperature from decreasing, so that the rate of temperature decrease leading to freezing is slowed down. By correcting the temperature, it is possible to prevent vegetables and the like from freezing and prevent the quality of fresh food from deteriorating.
[0029]
In the present embodiment, the power consumption for the device used for the execution of the refrigeration cycle and the generation of noise from the device are also suppressed.
Hereinafter, this case will be described.
The evaporator may be defrosted when the refrigeration cycle is continued. As described above, the defrosting operation is performed by stopping the compressor and using the temperature rise of the refrigerant. As a result, the frost may be changed into water vapor, which may change the humidity in the cabinet.
Therefore, in this embodiment, an evaporator blower (reference numeral 11 shown in FIG. 5 is used for convenience) is used for humidity management, and is operated when defrosting operation, so-called defrosting mode is started. It has become.
However, when the operation of the evaporator blower 11 is inevitably continued at the time when the defrosting operation is started, actually, the evaporator blower 11 even when the compressor 7 does not operate due to no increase in the internal temperature. As a result, power consumption and noise in the evaporator blower 11 are increased.
[0030]
In the present embodiment, as described above, in the control unit 16 (see FIG. 7), the defrost timing mode is set every predetermined time (2 hours), and this defrost timing mode is set. In addition, the evaporator blower 11 is stopped only when the compressor 7 is not operating until the last defrost timing mode setting.
The operation of such a configuration will be described as shown in the flowchart of FIG. Note that FIG. 9 discloses steps from the time when the mode setting of the defrost timing is performed.
When the defrost timing mode setting is performed in FIG. 9 (ST20), it is determined whether or not the compressor 7 is operated between the present time and the previous defrost timing mode setting (ST21). ). In this case, the operation state of the compressor 7 is determined by counting the number of operation times of the compressor, as in the flowchart described above.
In step ST21, the case where the compressor 7 is operated corresponds to the case where the internal temperature has risen above the set temperature due to the mode setting of the defrost timing. In this case, of course, Since it is necessary to diffuse the water vapor in the evaporator 10 and manage the humidity in the cabinet, the evaporator blower 11 is set to an operating state for a predetermined time such as 10 minutes (ST22).
[0031]
On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST21 that the compressor 7 is not operating, it does not correspond to the operating condition of the evaporator blower 11, so that the evaporator blower 11 is stopped and is not operated. (ST23). As a result, when the compressor 7 is not in operation, the power supply to the evaporator blower 11 is stopped, so that wasteful power consumption and noise generation frequency during operation can be suppressed.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
According to claim 1 Symbol placement of invention, as in the prior art, rather than energization of the cool box anti-condensation heater in conjunction with the power-on of is performed, the inside temperature is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature, condensation The prevention heater is energized. Furthermore, even if the internal temperature becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature, if the compressor is not operating between the time when the internal temperature reaches the predetermined temperature and the previous defrost timing, Assuming that the temperature difference from the internal temperature is not in the dew condensation occurrence temperature, it is considered that this is equivalent to the dew condensation prevention heater. As a result, since the dew condensation prevention heater is not energized except when necessary, the power saving effect can be improved as compared with the case where the energization is always energized. That is, it is possible to prevent dew condensation without causing waste of power consumption and at low cost.
[0033]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in a situation where the inside temperature is generated freezing in the housing of the refrigerator below 0 ° C, the evaporator blower when the compressor is determined not to be operated It is possible to prevent the internal temperature from being lowered by supplying the air whose temperature has been increased using the self-heating generated by the operation of the evaporator blower to the internal space of the cold storage. As a result, it is possible to prevent the stored items stored in the warehouse from being frozen and prevent the quality of the stored items from deteriorating.
[0035]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the evaporator blower is used for the humidity control in the cabinet that changes due to the defrosting, the temperature in the cabinet until the defrosting operation that was performed last time when the defrosting was performed. Therefore, the evaporator blower is stopped only when the compressor that executes the refrigeration cycle is not operated for the purpose of management, and power supply to the evaporator blower can be stopped to reduce power consumption. Thereby, reduction of the power consumption in the whole cool box and the noise generated from the apparatus used for the refrigeration cycle can be achieved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external view of a cool box according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of a control unit used in the cool box shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control unit shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the internal structure of the cool box.
5 is a layout diagram for explaining a configuration in a refrigeration unit equipped in the cool box shown in FIG. 4. FIG.
6 is a partially enlarged view of a refrigeration unit provided in the cold storage shown in FIG.
7 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of a control unit used in the cool box shown in FIG. 4;
8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control unit shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining another operation of the control unit shown in FIG. 7;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cold storage 1A Opening 1B Refrigeration unit 1B1, 1B2 Refrigeration unit side opening 2 Opening / closing door 3 Condensation prevention heaters 4, 16 Control part 5 Internal temperature detection sensor 6 Compressor operation frequency counter 7 Compressor 8 Condenser 10 Evaporator 12 Blower for evaporator 14 Heater for cold district

Claims (3)

It is a cold storage using a refrigeration cycle that circulates each state change of refrigerant compression / condensation / expansion and evaporation,
A dew condensation prevention heater provided at the opening of the cool box body that supports the door;
An internal temperature detection sensor for detecting the temperature in the cold storage, and
When the internal temperature from the internal temperature detection sensor and the operating state of the compressor used for the compression stroke are input, and the internal temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, the dew condensation heater driving unit and a control unit for outputting a current command to,
The control unit is configured to set a defrosting timing for stopping the compressor every predetermined time to perform a defrosting operation in the warehouse, and count the number of operation times of the compressor from the defrosting timing, when the inside temperature detection inside temperature detected by the sensor is below the predetermined temperature, performs operation discrimination of the compressor during the period from the time when this temperature is reached until defrosting time before last, the If the number of times of operation of the compressor is 0, the energization command is not output, and the cool box is characterized in that In the cool box, an evaporator blower is arranged on the cold air discharge side from the evaporator used in the evaporation step ,
When the internal temperature is 0 ° C. or less, the evaporator blower is configured to control the control unit if the number of operation times of the compressor from the time when this temperature is reached to the previous defrosting timing is zero. refrigerator according to claim 1 Symbol mounting, characterized in that is operated by a drive command from. The evaporator blower is driven by a drive command from the control unit only when the compressor does not operate between the time when the defrosting operation of the evaporator is performed and the time when the previous defrosting operation is performed. The cold storage according to claim 2, wherein the operation is stopped.

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