JP4489057B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator in which LEDs as lighting devices and LEDs used for other purposes are arranged in the same storage room.

  Conventionally, a storage room lighting device in a refrigerator is provided only in a refrigerating room having the highest use frequency and a large storage capacity, and has not been installed in an ice making room, a vegetable room, or a freezing room located below. However, there is a user need for installing lighting devices in these other storage rooms.

  The lighting device in the refrigerator compartment uses a 100V light bulb type interior lamp because of its large indoor volume. Recently, a plurality of LEDs (light emitting diodes), which are semiconductor light emitting elements, are used in the storage compartment. It has been proposed to configure an illuminating unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1), and for example, in a storage room having a relatively small storage volume, such as the ice making room, an LED that is small in terms of installation space. The illumination by is effective, and even the illuminance that the LED has can be used as normal illumination.

On the other hand, in recent years, ultraviolet LEDs are sometimes used for the purpose of sterilizing ice in an ice making room or the like, and other LEDs are installed in the same storage room for the purpose of performing another function together with the LEDs that illuminate the ice making room. Cases are considered.
JP 2001-82869 A

  However, when a plurality of LEDs having different target functions exist in a single storage chamber as described above, various problems are caused. For example, when checking the lighting of a plurality of LEDs in the ice making chamber at the time of shipping inspection in the refrigerator manufacturing process, the door of the ice making chamber is opened to check the lighting state of the ultraviolet LED attached to the upper surface side of the ice tray. Although it is necessary, since the illumination LED is turned on when the ice making room door is opened, it is difficult to check the lighting state of the low-illuminance ultraviolet LED.

  Also, storage rooms other than refrigerators, such as ice making rooms, are often drawer-type, and these storage rooms are usually positioned below the user's line of sight so that the inside of the drawer container can be viewed from above. Therefore, the LED part cannot be directly visually recognized in the pulled-out state. Furthermore, since the illuminance of the LED is darker than the 100V bulb, it may be difficult to clearly see the lighting state in a bright place such as a manufacturing process line.

  The present invention was made in consideration of the above points, and even when a plurality of LEDs having different illuminances of visible light exist in a single storage chamber, when executing the LED lighting confirmation mode at the time of shipping inspection, The purpose is to provide a refrigerator in which the lighting state of a plurality of LEDs can be changed by opening the corresponding storage chamber door and the other storage chamber doors, and the lighting state of each LED can be easily confirmed. To do.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the refrigerator according to the present invention has LEDs arranged as illumination means in the storage room, and other LEDs having lower illuminance of visible light than the LEDs are arranged in the same room, and at the time of shipping inspection. In the refrigerator having the lighting confirmation mode of both the LEDs, when the storage compartment door is opened when the lighting confirmation mode at the time of the shipping inspection is being performed, the LED as the lighting means is turned on, Furthermore, when another storage room door is opened from that state, the illumination LED in the storage room is turned off and the other LEDs are turned on.

  According to the present invention, even when there is an LED for illumination in the single storage chamber and another LED having a different illuminance of visible light, the LED when executing the lighting confirmation mode at the time of shipping inspection The continuity check can be surely performed by the visual inspection of the inspection operator, and inspection determination errors can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The refrigerator main body (1) which shows the schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view in FIG. 1 is comprised by the heat insulation box body which interposed the heat insulating material between the outer box which forms an outer shell, and the inner box which forms a storage space, and storage space A refrigerated room (2) for storing and storing refrigerated foods is provided at the uppermost part of the kitchen, and the lower part thereof has a relatively small capacity via a partition plate (3), a vegetable room (4), and a heat insulating partition wall (5). The ice making chamber (6) and a temperature switching chamber (not shown) are juxtaposed, and a storage chamber such as a freezing chamber (7) that is cooled and held at a predetermined storage temperature is disposed at the bottom, and the front opening of the refrigerator compartment (2) A door (8) that can be opened and closed by a hinge provided on one side of the main body is attached, and the vegetable compartment (4), ice making room (6), freezing room (7), and other drawers are opened to the front opening of each storage room. System doors (9), (10) and (11) are provided.

  Each of the storage chambers is cooled by circulating cold air generated by a refrigeration cooler (12) or a refrigeration cooler (13) provided on the back of the main body through a fan (14) according to the respective cooling storage temperature. The refrigerator compartment (2) arranged at the top has the largest storage space as a storage room in the refrigerator, and a storage space for stored items by providing a plurality of mounting shelves in the room. In the ceiling, a lighting device (15) using a light bulb type interior light is installed to illuminate the inside of the refrigerator compartment (2).

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, an illumination device (16) formed of LEDs is disposed in the drawer door type ice making chamber (6) disposed below the vegetable chamber (4). The illumination LED (16) has characteristics such that sufficient brightness can be obtained with low voltage and low power, brightness control can be easily performed by electric current, response speed is fast, light emission is stable, and life is long. And installed in a recessed portion (5a) slightly recessed toward the partition heat insulating wall (5) side of the ceiling surface near the front opening of the automatic ice making device (17) disposed in the ice making chamber (6), This is a high-luminance type that is fixed to the outer surface on the indoor side, such as a heat radiating plate made of a metal plate with good heat conductivity of aluminum, fixed to the bottom surface in the recess (5a) with a screw or the like.

  The automatic ice making device (17) includes an ice tray (18) and an ice removing drive (19), and is an ice storage unit that is integrated with the drawer-type ice making chamber door (10) and stores the ice made. A box (20), which supplies cold water from a water supply tank (21) installed in the upper refrigerator compartment (2) to the ice tray (18), and twists the ice to produce ice. And stored in the ice storage box (20) below.

  Therefore, when the ice making room door (10) is pulled out, the ice storage container (20) is pulled forward together with the door (10), and at the same time, the door switch (22) operates to detect the open / close door of the ice making room (6). The lighting LED (16) is turned on and off by the input, and is input when the door is opened. The lighting LED (16) is turned on by pulse energization, and the inside of the extracted ice storage box (20) is illuminated from above the front. In particular, it makes it easier to take out ice at night.

  Moreover, ultraviolet LED (23) is arrange | positioned on the ceiling surface of the ice making chamber (6) corresponding to the upper part of the ice tray (18) in the said automatic ice making apparatus (17). Ultraviolet light is light having a wavelength of about 380 nm or less. By irradiating the ice making tray (18) facing this from the upper surface, germs adhering to the ice making tray (18) are sterilized, and the inside. To disinfect the ice making water.

  As for the vegetable compartment (4) located below the refrigerator compartment (2), the same vegetables as the illumination LED (16) of the ice making compartment (6) are formed on the front surface of the upper partition plate (3). A room illumination LED (25) may be provided. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the storage case (27) is attached to the rear of the front partition heat insulating part (26) in front of the partition plate (3), and the inside of the vegetable compartment (4) of the storage case (27) The vegetable room lighting LED (25) is installed on the bottom surface facing the front, and the front of the storage case (27) shown in FIG. 4 is in contact with the back of the door when the vegetable room door (9) is opened and closed. The door switch (28) which turns on and off the contact which supplies with electricity to vegetable room illumination LED (25) is provided.

  The space between the vegetable room lighting LED (25) and the partition plate (3) is filled with a molded heat insulating material (29) made of foamed polystyrene or the like, and these are stored in the storage case (27). It is stored and substantially integrated, and is fixed so as to be detachable from the partition plate (3).

  According to the above configuration, the LED (25) that illuminates the inside of the vegetable compartment (4) is housed in the storage case (27) together with the door switch (28) and is substantially integrated, so that the main body (1) side Can be easily attached and detached from the partition plate (3) portion, and maintenance work such as attachment work and repair replacement at the time of manufacture can be easily performed.

  Furthermore, since the heat insulating material (29) is filled between the partition plate (3), the vegetable room lighting LED (25) is affected by cold air in the cold room (2) having a lower temperature. It is possible to prevent the temperature from decreasing, and in the unlikely event that the incompletely closed state of the vegetable compartment door (9) continues, it is near the front opening of the vegetable compartment (4). Therefore, it is possible to prevent the LED (25) portion from condensing due to a large temperature difference between the inside and outside due to the intruding outside air, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems such as poor energization.

  FIG. 5 shows a control circuit configuration during the inspection process of the illumination LED (16) and the ultraviolet LED (23) in the ice making chamber (6). The control circuit section (31) includes an ice making room door switch (22). ), The freezing compartment door switch (32) and the shipping inspection switch (33) are input and output to the ice making room illumination LED (16) and the ultraviolet LED (23). The drive circuit (34) (35) of the illumination LED (16) and the ultraviolet LED (23) is provided with a resistor for converting current into voltage, and when each LED (16) (23) is lit, The current signal (36) is configured to be input to the control circuit unit (31).

  Next, the operation will be described. In the manufacturing inspection process, after the refrigerator main body (1) is turned on, the shipping inspection switch (33) is turned on to enter the shipping inspection mode. In this mode, the illumination LED (16) and the ultraviolet LED (23) are classified into the table of FIG. 6 according to the on / off state of the door switches (22) and (32) of the ice making chamber (6) and the freezing chamber (7). Therefore, it is configured to be turned on or off.

  That is, first, both the ice making chamber (6) and the freezing chamber (7) are closed, and when both door switches (22) and (32) are in the OFF state, the illumination LED (16) and the ultraviolet LED ( In 23), both remain off and do not light up, and the LED current at this time is zero.

  Next, when the ice making chamber door (10) is opened, only the illumination LED (16) of the ice making chamber (6) is driven and lit. The LED current at this time is set to 20 mA and is detected by the control circuit section (31).

  Next, when the freezer compartment door (11) located immediately below the ice making chamber (6) is opened from this state, the illumination LED (16) in the ice making chamber (6) is turned off and the ultraviolet LED (23) is turned on. Therefore, the inspection operator can easily confirm whether or not the ultraviolet LED (23) is lit by visually observing the state where only the ultraviolet LED (23) is lit in the ice making chamber (6). The LED current at this time is set to 20 mA and is detected by the control circuit unit (31).

  When the series of lighting confirmation operations at the time of shipping inspection is completed, the inspection completion OK display LED (37) is turned on.

  Therefore, not only visually confirming the lighting of each LED (16) (23) as described above, but also if the current flowing through both LEDs is input to the control circuit unit (31), each LED ( 16) By detecting the current flowing in (23), the connection state of the LEDs can be confirmed, and the inspection accuracy can be further improved.

  In the above embodiment, the lighting LED (16) and the ultraviolet LED (23) are checked for lighting by the open / close state of the ice making room door (10) and the freezing room door (11). The door to be opened can be checked for LED lighting in the same way by combining the ice making room door (10) and the vegetable room door (9), or the switching room door, etc., and can be appropriately selected according to the layout of each storage room. That's fine.

It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerator which shows one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of an illuminating device arranging portion of the ice making chamber in FIG. 1. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the arrangement | positioning part of the illuminating device of the vegetable compartment of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the LED storage case in FIG. It is a control circuit at the time of the test | inspection process of LED arrange | positioned in the ice making chamber of FIG. It is a related figure which shows the on-off state of each door switch and each LED of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

2 Cold room 4 Vegetable room 6 Ice making room 7 Freezer room
10 Ice chamber door
11 Freezer compartment door
16 Lighting LED
17 Automatic ice making equipment
22 Ice compartment door switch
23 UV LED
25 Vegetable room lighting LED
31 Control circuit section
32 Freezer compartment door switch
33 Shipping inspection switch
34, 35 LED drive circuit
36 Current signal

Claims (3)

  In the refrigerator which arrange | positions LED as illumination means in a storage room and arrange | positions other LED whose illumination intensity of visible light is lower than said LED in the same room, and also has the lighting confirmation mode of both said LEDs at the time of a shipping inspection, When the storage room door is opened while the lighting check mode at the time of the shipping inspection is being performed, the LED as the illumination means is turned on, and further, the other storage room door is opened from that state. When it does, the LED for illumination of the said store room is light-extinguished, and another LED is lighted.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a door of another storage chamber that is opened at the time of shipping inspection is disposed below the storage chamber provided with the LED. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein means for detecting a current flowing through both LEDs is provided, and a connection state of the LEDs is confirmed by detecting a current flowing through each LED.

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