JP5129661B2 - Freezer refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator-freezer, and is particularly suitable for a refrigerator-freezer that performs control suitable for the storage state of a vegetable room.

  Preserving the freshness of the fruits and vegetables can be performed at a low temperature and in a high humidity state, so that the enzymatic reaction performed in the tissues of the fruits and vegetables during storage, the deterioration of nutrients, and the transpiration of moisture from the fruits and vegetables can be suppressed. Vegetables and fruits that are alive after harvesting such as vegetable vegetables and fruits are difficult to maintain freshness, and it is important to maintain a low temperature and high humidity state especially during storage.

  Vegetables and fruits and other fruits and vegetables produce nutrients themselves by photosynthesis before harvesting, but their quality deteriorates after harvesting by performing respiration and transpiration from the ingredients of the fruits and vegetables themselves. Low temperature storage is effective for suppressing these actions and maintaining freshness. Among vegetables, leafy vegetables are more active in respiration than rhizome vegetables, and the larger the respiration, the more it is consumed and the freshness is difficult to maintain. The respiratory action of fruits and vegetables has a deep relationship with temperature, and is suppressed at lower temperatures. Since the energy generated by the respiration is released as heat, it is necessary to pay attention to the temperature rise of fruits and vegetables when the amount of storage becomes large.

  In addition, since most of fruits and vegetables such as vegetables and fruits are composed of water, the quality is significantly reduced when water is lost due to transpiration. In general, if there is a 5% weight reduction, a decrease in freshness will become apparent on the appearance, and the meat quality and texture will deteriorate due to a decrease in cell swell pressure. Those having a large exposed surface area with respect to weight have rapid transpiration, and leaf vegetables and fruit vegetables are very large. In addition, those with a large respiration rate have a fast transpiration rate. In leafy vegetables, the presence of a large number of pores also has a great influence. Since this transpiration is affected by humidity and temperature, it is necessary to slow down the transpiration rate at low temperature and high humidity.

  From the above, it is possible to keep the freshness of fruits and vegetables by suppressing the effects of respiration and transpiration by preserving the fruits and vegetables at low temperature and high humidity.

  Therefore, the development of making the vegetable room into a low temperature and high humidity state has been conventionally performed. For example, there is a refrigerator shown in JP 2007-468888 A (Patent Document 1).

  The refrigerator of this patent document 1 controls the inside of the closed container of a vegetable room to low temperature, and makes a high-humidity state with an ultrasonic atomizer. Specifically, this refrigerator is provided with an ultrasonic atomizer that is a high-humidity means in a storage room storing food such as vegetables, and detects the current value of this current detection circuit to indicate the atomization state. By providing the atomization determining means for grasping, the temperature, ambient environment and atomization amount of the piezoelectric element are adjusted.

  Moreover, the refrigerator of Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2002-71252 (patent document 2) is devised. The refrigerator disclosed in Patent Document 2 forcibly circulates cold air generated by a refrigeration cycle to a room such as a refrigeration room or a freezing room, and uses a temperature detection unit including a plurality of detection elements to detect temperature in a non-contact manner. The surface temperature of the stored item stored in the room is detected, and the speed or air volume of the cold air introduced into the room is controlled based on the result.

JP 2007-468888 A JP 2002-71252 A

  However, in the refrigerator of Patent Document 1, since the particle size of the mist generated by the ultrasonic atomizer is large, the mist that cannot sufficiently penetrate into the fruits and vegetables cannot be penetrated and wets the surface of the food. Growth and tissue damage were promoted, and the quality of fruits and vegetables could be degraded.

  Moreover, in the refrigerator of this patent document 1, although the amount of spraying is controlled by detecting the water | moisture state of an atomization part, since it is not atomization which considered the amount of storage in this case, there is little storage amount Unnecessary oscillation in a state or the like cannot be suppressed, leading to an increase in power consumption.

  On the other hand, in the refrigerator of Patent Document 2, cooling control is performed according to the surface temperature of stored food such as canned beverages, and the room temperature and humidity of the vegetable room due to respiration and transpiration of fruits and vegetables are not considered. Therefore, it cannot be said that the cooling control suitable for the storage state of the fruits and vegetables is performed.

  The objective of this invention is providing the refrigerator which can implement | achieve the low temperature and high-humidity environment of a vegetable room by performing the cooling control suitable for the storage state of a vegetable room, without using an ultrasonic atomizer.

This onset bright to achieve the foregoing objects, a refrigerator body having a plurality of storage compartments including a vegetable compartment, a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature of the storage compartment, the amount of cool air supplied to the storage compartment and a control unit for controlling, the vegetable compartment is provided with a plastic vegetable compartment container for storing vegetables and fruits is a reservoir, in the vegetable compartment in the container by supplying a cool air around the vegetable compartment container In the refrigerator-freezer that indirectly cools the stored fruits and vegetables, the temperature detecting means detects the surface temperature of the stored product stored in the vegetable compartment container and the surface temperature of the vegetable compartment container. The control device calculates an average temperature of the surface temperature of the stored product and the surface temperature of the vegetable compartment container detected by the temperature detection means, and based on the average temperature , the vegetable compartment The amount of cold air supplied In the Rukoto.

Examples more preferred specific configuration definitive to the onset bright according it is as follows.
(1) An air volume adjustment damper that adjusts the amount of cold air to the vegetable room is provided in the refrigerator body, and the control device controls the air volume adjustment damper based on the average temperature to cool air to the vegetable room. Adjusting the supply amount.
(2) The vegetable compartment container is provided with a ventilation opening for ventilating cool air in the vegetable compartment container and an opening / closing means for opening / closing the ventilation opening, and the control device controls the opening / closing means based on the average temperature to control the vegetable compartment container. Adjusting the supply of cold air to the inside.
(3) A vent for ventilating cool air into the vegetable compartment container and an opening / closing means for opening / closing the vent, and the control device controls the air volume adjusting damper based on the average temperature , and the opening / closing means. To control the supply of cold air into the vegetable compartment container.
(4) the control device calculates the surface temperature of the surface temperature and the vegetable compartment of the reservoir detected by the temperature detecting means as the average temperature of the appropriate length of time, the average temperature is the vegetable When the air temperature adjustment damper and the opening / closing means are fully opened when the temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature by a predetermined temperature.
(5) The control device repeatedly calculates the average temperature for the appropriate time length over time.
(6) The plurality of storage rooms have a freezing room in addition to the vegetable room, and the control device appropriately determines the surface temperature of the stored product and the surface temperature of the vegetable room detected by the temperature detecting means. the calculated as the average temperature of the duration, if the average temperature is lower than the set temperature of the vegetable compartment, the defrosting operation, the freezing chamber cold air return port to close the freezer compartment damper provided and the air volume adjustment Control the damper to open partly.

  According to the refrigerator of this invention which concerns, the low temperature and high humidity environment of a vegetable compartment is realizable by performing cooling control suitable for the storage state of a vegetable compartment, without using an ultrasonic atomizer.

  Hereinafter, a refrigerator-freezer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, an overall outline of the refrigerator-freezer 70 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a state in which the door of the refrigerator-freezer according to the present embodiment is removed, and FIG.

  The refrigerator-freezer 70 includes a refrigerator-freezer body 1 that forms a plurality of storage rooms, and a refrigerator-freezer door that opens and closes the front openings of these storage rooms. This refrigerator-freezer main body 1 has the refrigerator compartment 2 in an internal uppermost step, and has the vegetable compartment 6 in an innermost lowermost step. The refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 6 are storage rooms in a refrigerator temperature zone.

Between the refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 6, the storage compartments 3-5 partitioned by these two compartments 2 and 6 and the heat insulation wall are arrange | positioned. These storage chamber 3-5 is a storage compartment of 0 ℃ below freezing temperature zone, the ice making chamber 3 arranged on the left side of the upper, quick freezing compartment 4 are placed on top of the right, and is located in the lower The freezer compartment 5 is configured. In the ice making chamber 3, an automatic ice making device 23 and an ice storage container 25 are provided. Ice container 25 has a structure drawn in the door and co by drawing door pull-out. In addition, the quick opening compartment 4 and the freezing compartment 5 are also closed at their front openings by the pull-out quick freezing compartment door 9 and the lower freezing compartment door 10, respectively. By pulling out these doors 9, 10, the front opening portions of the quick freezing chamber 4 and the freezing chamber 5 are opened, and the internal quick freezing chamber container 26 and the lower freezing chamber container 14 are pulled out.

  In the freezer compartment 5, three upper and lower containers each including a lower freezer compartment container 14, an intermediate freezer compartment container 15, and an upper freezer compartment container 16 are stored from the lower stage. The lower freezing container 14 and the middle freezing container 15 are supported by the drawer frame of the freezing room door 10, and move in and out of the freezing room 5 in conjunction with opening and closing of the freezing room door 7. The upper freezer compartment 16 is configured to be drawable to the freezer compartment 5 using rails provided on the side of the inner box that constitutes the side wall of the freezer compartment 5. Further, the containers 14, 15, and 16 are containers having different depth dimensions, and are suitable for storing various foods having different sizes.

  In the lowermost space of the refrigerator compartment 2, an ice making water tank 24 for supplying ice making water to the ice making tray 23 of the ice making room 3 and an egg case 8 for containing eggs are housed in order from the left. The uppermost refrigerator compartment 2 is closed by a rotary refrigerator compartment door 7. The revolving door 7 may be a double door with double doors, or a single door that is closed by a single door.

  The vegetable compartment 6 is provided with a vegetable compartment container 52 for storing fruits and vegetables, and a vegetable compartment container lid 50 for closing the top opening of the vegetable compartment container 52. When the vegetable compartment door 11 is pulled out, the vegetable compartment container 52 is drawn out. The vegetable compartment container lid 50 closes the top opening of the vegetable compartment container 52 when the vegetable compartment door 11 is closed, and is attached to the refrigerator body 1. The cold air indirectly cools the fruits and vegetables stored in the vegetable compartment container 52 by flowing around the vegetable compartment container 52.

  Moreover, the compressor 21 which comprises a part of freezing cycle is arrange | positioned in the outer side of the refrigerator-freezer main body 1 behind the vegetable compartment 6. FIG. The refrigeration cycle is configured by connecting these devices so as to form a circulation path of the compressor 21, the condenser, the decompression device, the evaporator 18, and the compressor 21.

  A cooler chamber 17 is disposed on the back surface of the storage chambers 3 to 5 in the freezing temperature zone. An evaporator 18 constituting a part of the refrigeration cycle is installed in the cooler chamber 17. A blower fan 20 is provided above the evaporator 18. The cold air cooled by the evaporator 18 is sent by the blower fan 20 to the storage rooms of the refrigerator compartment 2, the ice making compartment 3, the quick freezer compartment 4, the freezer compartment 5, and the vegetable compartment 6. Specifically, a part of the cold air sent by the blower fan 20 is sent to the storage room of the refrigeration room 2 and the vegetable room 6 in the refrigeration temperature zone through the air volume adjustment damper 19, and the other part is the ice making room 3. Then, it is sent to the freezing temperature zone storage room of the quick freezing room 4 and the freezing room 5. A freezing chamber damper 55 for opening and closing the return port is disposed at the return port of the cold air that has cooled the storage chamber in the freezing temperature zone.

  The cold air sent to the refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 6 through the air volume adjusting damper 19 is branched into the refrigerator compartment air duct and the vegetable compartment air duct and supplied to the refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 6. The air volume adjusting damper 19 is a flat damper that opens and closes the refrigerator compartment duct and the vegetable compartment duct, and is provided so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis. Therefore, both the refrigerator compartment air duct and the vegetable compartment air duct are closed. "Or" open "state. Further, by adjusting the rotation angle of the air volume adjusting damper 19, it is possible to independently control the amount of cool air blown such that the refrigerator compartment air duct is “open” and the vegetable compartment air duct is “closed”. Opening and closing by the air volume adjusting damper 19 is controlled by a control device (not shown). Moreover, opening and closing of the freezer compartment damper 55 installed in the cold air return port is also controlled by this control device. This freezer compartment damper 55 is closed during the defrosting operation.

  When the humidity of the refrigerator compartment 2 or the vegetable compartment 6 is low, the freezer damper 55 is kept closed when the temperature of the evaporator 18 falls below the temperature in the refrigerator compartment after the defrosting operation, and the air volume is adjusted. By opening the damper 19, moisture generated at the time of defrosting is supplied to the refrigerator compartment 2 or the vegetable compartment 6. Thereby, the humidity of the refrigerator compartment 2 or the vegetable compartment 6 can be raised.

  The partition member 22 located on the back surface of the freezer compartment 5 is provided with a plurality of cold air discharge ports. Cold air from the blower fan 20 is branched into each cold air outlet and discharged to the ice making chamber 3, the quick freezing chamber 4 and the freezing chamber 5. The cool air sent to the ice making chamber 3 cools the water stored in the ice making tray of the automatic ice making device 23 to make ice, and then is sent to the freezing chamber 5 below. The cool air sent to the quick freezer 4 is sent to the freezer compartment 5 below after cooling the quick freezer 4. The cold air that has been sent to the freezer compartment 5 and has cooled the inside of the freezer compartment 5 is returned from the cold air return port 27 to the cooler compartment 17. The partition member 22 partitions the freezer compartment 5 and the cooler compartment 17 and constitutes the back surface of the freezer compartment 5.

  The cold air sent from the evaporator 18 to the refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 6 by the blower fan 20 cools the refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 6 and then returns to the cooler compartment 17 from a cold air return passage (not shown). Thus, the refrigerator of this embodiment has a cold air circulation structure, and maintains each storage room at a predetermined temperature.

  Next, a specific configuration and cooling control of the vegetable compartment 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the vegetable compartment 6, and FIG. 4 is a sectional perspective view of the vegetable compartment door and the vegetable compartment container.

  The vegetable compartment container 52 is equipped with a roller (not shown) provided outside the side surface of the vegetable compartment container 52 on a vegetable compartment rail (not shown) provided on the vegetable compartment side wall so as to be movable back and forth. On the lower surface of the vegetable compartment container lid 50 is provided temperature detecting means 54 for detecting the surface temperature of the fruits and vegetables that are stored and the surface temperature of the vegetable compartment container 52. The temperature detection means 54 is provided with a protection member 57 in order to protect it from the low temperature of the discharged cold air.

  In addition, a slit 58 is provided on the back surface of the vegetable compartment container 52 to form a vent for allowing cool air to pass through the vegetable compartment container 52. An opening / closing means 59 for opening and closing the slit is provided on the back side of the slit 58. The opening / closing means 59 is attached to the refrigerator body 1 side, and its opening / closing drive is controlled by the control device. The opening / closing means 59 can control the air flow rate of the slit 58 by installing a member having a rib having the same width as the slit 58 on the back side of the slit 58 of the vegetable compartment container 52 and moving the member left and right by an actuator. It is a thing. With this configuration, fine temperature control of the vegetable compartment container 52 is possible.

In order to measure the storage state of the vegetable compartment container 52, first, the temperature detection means 54 measures several temperatures in the vegetable compartment 6. The storage state of the vegetable compartment container 52 is predicted based on the difference between the temperature data obtained by this measurement and a preset temperature, and cooling control is performed. Here, the temperature characteristics of the vegetable compartment container 52 and the fruits and vegetables will be described. The specific heat of water occupying most of the fruits and vegetables is 4.2 (J / gK), whereas the specific heat of the plastic resin used for the vegetable compartment container 52 is 1.05 to 2.1 (J / gK). Yes, very low for water. Thus, fruits and vegetables is a difficult property to cool, since the vegetable compartment container 52 is the nature cold example not easy, the temperature of vegetable compartment container 52 in the cooling state is in a cold temperature condition than fruits or vegetables put later However, when the temperature in the vegetable compartment container rises, the temperature easily rises accordingly. Therefore, by using the difference between the temperature characteristics of the fruits and vegetables and the temperature characteristics of the vegetable compartment container 52, the temperature detection means 54 measures the surface temperature of the stored product and the surface temperature of the vegetable compartment container 52, and based on this. The storage state of the vegetable compartment 6 was predicted and cooling control was performed.

  Next, a specific cooling control method for the vegetable compartment 6 will be described.

  First, the set temperature of the vegetable compartment 6 is set within a range of 3 to 5 ° C. The temperature detection means 54 detects the temperatures of a plurality of vegetable room temperature measurement points set in advance at predetermined time intervals, and uses the average value as the detected temperature. Note that this measurement point includes both the stored product and the vegetable compartment container 52. The calculation of the detected temperature is performed using the temperature detected for an appropriate time length, and is repeated over time.

  When the detected temperature obtained by the temperature detecting means 54 is higher than the set temperature by a predetermined temperature or more, it is predicted that a lot of fruits and vegetables are stored. According to this prediction, since the temperature rise in the vegetable compartment container 52 due to the thermal energy generated by the respiration of the stored fruits and vegetables is reflected in the temperature rise of the vegetable compartment container 52, the surface temperature of the fruits and vegetables is simply the temperature. Compared to the case of detection, the storage state in the vegetable compartment container 52 can be detected with high accuracy.

  When many fruits and vegetables are stored, the temperature in the storage room rises due to heat release by the breathing action of the fruits and vegetables, and the quality of the fruits and vegetables is deteriorated by promoting the breathing and transpiration. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the air volume adjusting damper 19 and the slit 58 are fully opened, the cool air is sent quickly, the temperature is lowered, and the respiration / transpiration action is controlled.

  Further, when the detected temperature is lower than the set temperature, it is predicted that the stored fruits and vegetables are small and the vegetable compartment container 52 and the fruits and vegetables are sufficiently cooled. When there are few stored fruits and vegetables, it will be in the state which is easy to evaporate from the stored fruits and vegetables by the humidity fall in the vegetable compartment container 52. FIG. In addition, when the stored fruits and vegetables are in a sufficiently cold state, there is a possibility of causing a low temperature failure due to excessive cooling. Therefore, when the detected temperature is lower than the set temperature, the freezer damper 55 is closed during the defrosting operation, and the air volume adjustment damper 19 is partially opened (half-opened), and then slowly cooled by indirect cooling using defrosting. While controlling the humidity, the transpiration is controlled.

  Moreover, in order to preserve freshness, preservation of fruits and vegetables requires stable cooling. Therefore, it is important to reduce the temperature fluctuation range in the refrigerator. In conventional refrigerators, the temperature of the vegetable compartment is controlled by measuring the air temperature.In this case, the air temperature rises by opening and closing the door, causing hunting in the temperature control, and the compressor is repeatedly turned on and off. Temperature fluctuation occurred and stable cooling was not possible. According to the stored material temperature management as in the present embodiment, stable cooling can be performed without being affected by an increase in the air temperature when the door is opened and closed due to the large heat capacity of the stored material. Compared with air having a low heat capacity, fruits and vegetables containing water with a high heat capacity do not immediately rise in temperature when the door is opened or closed. It is possible to suppress adverse effects such as freezing and low-temperature failures caused by further cooling the fruits and vegetables that have been cooled in advance due to an increase in the air temperature as in the past, and energy saving can be achieved by not performing extra cooling.

  From the above, by measuring the surface temperature of the stored items stored in the vegetable compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment container 50, it becomes possible to perform cooling suitable for the storage state, and a high humidity and low temperature environment can be achieved without using mist or the like. It becomes possible to make. In addition, the freshness of fruits and vegetables can be maintained by suppressing the influence on the stored items due to temperature fluctuations.

The front view which removed the door of the refrigerator-freezer provided with this invention. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of FIG. It is an expanded sectional view of the vegetable compartment 6. It is a perspective view of the vegetable compartment 6.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Refrigeration refrigerator main body, 2 ... Refrigeration room, 3 ... Ice making room, 4 ... Rapid freezing room, 5 ... Freezing room, 6 ... Vegetable room, 7 ... Cold room door, 8 ... Egg case, 9 ... Quick freezing room door, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Freezer door, 11 ... Vegetable room door, 14 ... Lower stage freezer container, 15 ... Middle stage freezer container, 16 ... Upper stage freezer container, 17 ... Cooler room, 18 ... Evaporator, 19 ... Air volume adjustment damper, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Blower fan, 21 ... Compressor, 23 ... Automatic ice making device, 24 ... Ice making water tank, 25 ... Ice storage container, 26 ... Quick-freezing compartment container, 52 ... Vegetable room container, 55 ... Freezer compartment damper, 58 ... Slit ( Ventilation port), 59 ... opening and closing means, 70 ... freezer refrigerator.

Claims (7)

A refrigerator body having a plurality of storage rooms including a vegetable room;
Temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the storage room;
A control device for controlling the amount of cool air supplied to the storage room ,
The vegetable compartment is provided with a plastic vegetable compartment container for storing vegetables and fruits is a reservoir, indirectly cooling the fruits or vegetables stored in the vegetable compartment in the container by supplying a cool air around the vegetable compartment container In the refrigerator-freezer
The temperature detecting means detects a surface temperature of a stored item stored in the vegetable compartment container and a surface temperature of the vegetable compartment container,
The control device calculates an average temperature between the surface temperature of the stored product detected by the temperature detection means and the surface temperature of the vegetable compartment container, and supplies cold air to the vegetable compartment based on the average temperature. A refrigerator-freezer characterized by controlling the amount. The air volume adjustment damper that adjusts the amount of cool air to the vegetable room is provided in the refrigerator body according to claim 1, and the control device controls the air volume adjustment damper to the vegetable room based on the average temperature . A refrigerator-freezer characterized by adjusting the amount of cold air supplied. 2. The vegetable compartment container according to claim 1, further comprising a ventilation port for ventilating cold air in the vegetable compartment container and an opening / closing means for opening / closing the ventilation port, wherein the control device controls the opening / closing means based on the average temperature to control the vegetable. A refrigerator-freezer characterized by adjusting supply of cold air into a chamber container. In Claim 2, it is provided with the vent which ventilates cool air in the vegetable compartment container, and the opening-and-closing means which opens and closes this vent, and the control device is based on the average temperature , and controls the air volume adjustment damper. A refrigerator-freezer characterized by controlling the supply of cold air into the vegetable compartment container by controlling opening and closing means. In Claim 4, the said control apparatus calculates the surface temperature of the said storage and the surface temperature of the said vegetable compartment which were detected by the said temperature detection means as the said average temperature of suitable time length, and this average temperature is The refrigerator / freezer, wherein the air volume adjusting damper and the opening / closing means are controlled to be fully opened when the temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature by the vegetable room.   6. The refrigerator-freezer according to claim 5, wherein the control device repeatedly calculates the average temperature for the appropriate time length over time. 5. The storage room according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of storage rooms include a freezing room in addition to the vegetable room, and the control device includes a surface temperature of the stored product and a surface temperature of the vegetable room detected by the temperature detection unit. calculated as the average temperature of the appropriate length of time, when the average temperature is lower than the set temperature of the vegetable compartment, the defrosting operation, and close the freezer compartment damper provided in the cold air return port of the freezing chamber the A refrigerator-freezer characterized by controlling the air volume adjusting damper to be partially opened.

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