JP5523987B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator that can contribute to an energy saving effect by giving a user an awareness of energy saving.

  In the conventional refrigerator, the display is changed based on the operation time of the compressor in order to make the user aware of energy saving. (For example, Patent Document 1)

International Patent Publication No. 2005-26632 Pamphlet

  Since the technique of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 only recognizes which rotation state the compressor is currently in, regardless of the state of the open / close door of the refrigerator, the rotation speed is faster when the outside air temperature is high, If it is low, it will be slow. Accordingly, there is a problem that it is difficult to make the user aware of energy saving simply by recognizing the rotation speed of the compressor, and the effect of reducing the power consumption must be limited. It was.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that enables energy-saving display that causes as little difference as possible in how to promote power saving throughout the year by changing a threshold value according to a difference in outside air temperature.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a refrigerator according to the present invention includes a main body having a storage room, a compressor having a variable number of revolutions for cooling the storage room, and an internal temperature detection for detecting the temperature in the storage room. Means, an outside temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature outside the storage chamber, a notifying means provided in the main body, the compressor and the notifying means, and a temperature detected by the outside temperature detecting means. And a control means for holding a plurality of control data series for varying the rotation speed of the compressor based on the detection output of the internal temperature detection means, the control means comprising the external temperature detection means The reference rotation speed of the compressor is determined at the detected temperature, and when the rotation speed is slower than the reference rotation speed, the notification means notifies the compressor.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the difference in how to promote power saving throughout the year by changing the threshold value according to the difference in outside air temperature.

It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the energy-saving display control for demonstrating one Embodiment regarding the refrigerator of this invention. It is a vertical side view for demonstrating the whole structure of a refrigerator roughly. 2 is a partially cut perspective view of the main part. It is a front view of the display panel part of FIG. It is a block diagram for demonstrating control of a refrigerator. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the operation | movement of this invention with FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 5 are diagrams for explaining an embodiment of the refrigerator according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining control of energy saving display in the control unit. FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway enlarged perspective view of the main part of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a front view of the display panel of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a circuit for explaining schematic control of the refrigerator. It is a block diagram.

  Before describing FIG. 1, a schematic configuration of a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

  The refrigerator main body 11 is provided with a storage room including a refrigerator compartment 13, an ice making compartment 14, a vegetable compartment 15, and a freezer compartment 16 in this order from the top by partitioning the inside of the heat insulation box 12 up and down by heat insulation partition walls 12a to 12c. ing.

  Hinge open / close doors 171 and 172 are provided on the front surface of the refrigerator compartment 13, and hinge open / close doors 181 and 182 are provided on the front surface of the ice making chamber 14. Furthermore, drawer-type doors 19 and 20 are provided on the front portions of the vegetable compartment 15 and the freezer compartment 16, respectively. An ice storage container (not shown) is connected to the back surface of the door 19, and storage containers 21 and 22 are connected to the back surfaces of the doors 19 and 20, respectively. 23 and 24 are internal temperature sensors that serve as detection means for the internal temperature of the refrigerator main body 11, and the internal temperature sensor 23 detects the internal temperature of the refrigerator compartment 13. These are provided for detecting the temperature in the freezer compartment 16, respectively.

  On the back wall portion of the vegetable room 15, a refrigerator room cooler room 25 and a freezer room cooler room 26 are provided so as to overlap in two stages. And in the refrigerator room | chamber room 25 for refrigerator compartments, the refrigerator 27 for refrigerator compartments and the ventilation fan 28 for refrigerators for cooling the refrigerator compartment 13 and the vegetable compartment 15 are provided.

  When the refrigeration blower fan 28 is driven, the cold air generated by the refrigeration cooler 27 is supplied into the refrigerator compartment 13 from the plurality of outlets through the air duct from the upper part of the cooler compartment 25 for the refrigerator compartment. After being supplied into the vegetable compartment 15, circulation returning to the lower part of the refrigeration cooler compartment 25 is performed. Thus, the inside of the refrigerator compartment 13 and the vegetable compartment 15 is cooled to a refrigerator temperature zone of 3 ° C. to 5 ° C., for example.

  The freezer compartment cooling chamber 26 is provided with a freezer compartment cooler 30 and an unillustrated freezing fan for cooling the freezer compartment 16 and the ice making chamber 14. The freezer cooler 30 is provided with a defrosting heater (not shown).

  When the refrigeration blower fan is driven, the cold air generated by the freezer cooler 30 is supplied from the upper part of the freezer cooler chamber 26 through the blower duct 29 into the ice making chamber 14 and the freezer compartment 16. After that, circulation returning to the lower part of the freezer cooler chamber 26 is performed. Thus, the ice making chamber 14 and the freezing chamber 16 are cooled to a freezing temperature zone of, for example, −18 ° C. or lower.

  A machine room 31 is provided on the back side of the lower end of the refrigerator main body 11. In this machine room 31, a compressor 32 and a condenser 33 that can vary the number of rotations, and cooling (not shown) for cooling them. A fan or the like is provided.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a display panel 34 for notifying the operation status of the refrigerator main body 11 is attached to the outer surface of the door 172 for the refrigerator compartment. As shown in FIG. 4, the display panel 34 is eco-marked 341 indicating whether the current refrigerator main body 11 is an energy-saving operation that can suppress power consumption during refrigerator operation when the display panel 34 is lit. A refrigerator display 342 indicating the state, a freezer display 343, and a temperature adjustment display 344 for displaying the strength of the set temperature in the refrigerator main body 11 are attached.

  FIG. 5 schematically shows an electrical configuration of the refrigerator main body 11 centering on the control unit 51. The control unit 51 receives detection signals from the inside temperature sensors 23 and 24 and also receives a signal from the outside temperature sensor 35. Further, the control unit 51 follows the operation control program stored in advance, and based on signals from each sensor or the like, the refrigerator compartment 13, the vegetable compartment 15, the freezer compartment 16, the ice making compartment 14, the compressor 32, and the refrigeration blower fan 28, the refrigeration blower fan 52, the defrost heater 53, and the like are controlled.

  At this time, the control unit 51 performs the cooling operation while alternately switching the switching valve between the refrigerator compartment cooling mode and the freezer compartment cooling mode, so that the refrigerator compartment 13 (and the vegetable compartment 15) and the freezer compartment 16 (and the ice making unit). While the chambers 14) are alternately cooled, the temperature in each of the chambers 13 to 16 is maintained near the set temperature.

  In this case, the control unit 51 sets an ON temperature and an OFF temperature of a predetermined temperature range with respect to the set temperature (target) for each of the refrigerator compartment 13 and the freezer compartment 16. , 24 based on the detected temperature and the like.

  Specifically, for the refrigerator compartment 13, for example, the ON temperature is set to 5 ° C. and the OFF temperature is set to 2 ° C., and for the freezer compartment 16, for example, the ON temperature is set to −18 ° C. and the OFF temperature is set to −21 ° C. The The conditions for switching the mode are as follows: (1) When the detected temperature of the cooling chamber reaches the OFF temperature, (2) More than 10 minutes have passed since the previous mode switching, and the uncooled chamber When the detected temperature rises to the ON temperature, (3) for example, when 60 minutes have passed since the previous mode switching. When both the detected temperatures in the two chambers are equal to or lower than the OFF temperature, the compressor 32 is turned off and the cooling operation is stopped.

  Further, at this time, the refrigeration blower fan 28 is turned on when the refrigerant is flowing through the refrigeration room cooler 27 (refrigeration room cooling mode) and also when the freezer compartment cooling mode is executed. Therefore, frost formation of the refrigerator 27 for the refrigerator compartment is suppressed (moisture operation). The refrigeration blower fan 52 is turned on when the refrigerant is flowing in the freezer cooler 30 and also turned on when the refrigerating room cooling mode is executed. By this control, even when the refrigerator compartment cooling mode is executed, the temperature of the surface of the freezer cooler 30 is sufficiently low. Therefore, by driving the freezing blower fan 52, the freezer compartment 16 and the ice making chamber 14 are driven. Cold air can be supplied to an ice tray (not shown) to contribute to constant cooling. The cooling fan is turned on when the compressor 32 is driven.

  Furthermore, the control part 51 performs a defrosting operation, whenever the integrated value of the execution time of freezer compartment cooling mode reaches 10 hours, for example. In addition, a precool operation is performed before the defrosting operation. In this precool operation, first, the compressor 32 is continuously driven at a high rotation speed in a state where the set temperatures of the freezer compartment 16 and the ice making compartment 14 are shifted to a low temperature side, for example, 3 degrees, and the freezer compartment cooling mode is executed. This is performed by forcibly cooling the freezer compartment 16 and the like, and then forcibly cooling the refrigerator compartment 13 and the like by switching to the refrigerator compartment cooling mode.

  The defrosting operation is executed by energizing the defrosting heater 54 in a state where the compressor 32 and the fans 28 and 52 are stopped, and the defrosting sensor is terminated when a temperature of, for example, 8 ° C. or more is detected. Is done. Since there is almost no frost formation with respect to the refrigerator 27 for the refrigerator compartment, it is not particularly necessary to melt the frost by heating. However, a heater and a defrost sensor for defrosting are also provided for the refrigerator 27 portion for the refrigerator compartment. You may heat to.

  When the temperature information is supplied from each sensor 23, 24, etc., the control unit 51 generates a control signal based on this information and a program stored in advance and supplies the control signal to the display control unit 54. Here, based on the control signal , Eco Mark 341, Refrigerator Display 342, Freezer Display 343, and Temperature Adjustment Display 344, respectively.

  For example, control is performed such that the compressor 32 is rotated at a rotation speed based on the temperature detected by the internal temperature sensor 23 and the internal temperature is maintained at a preset temperature. When the controller 51 detects a temperature exceeding a preset threshold based on the temperature detected by the internal temperature sensor 23, the control unit 51 turns off the eco mark 341 on the display panel 34 and lights the eco mark 341 below the threshold. I try to let them.

  When the eco-mark 341 on the display panel 34 is lit, the compressor 32 has a low rotation speed and is operated in an energy saving state. When the eco mark 341 is not lit, the compressor 32 has a high rotational speed and is operated with high power. A user of the refrigerator when the eco-mark 341 is not lit can be aware that the opening angle and opening time of the doors 181 and 182, the amount of drawers and the drawer time of the doors 19 and 20 are suppressed. As a result, it is possible to suppress the rise in the internal temperature, and thus to suppress the increase in the rotational speed of the compressor 32, thereby contributing to energy saving.

  However, the temperature inside the refrigerator varies depending on the outside air temperature even if the door is opened and closed under the same conditions. Moreover, although the refrigerator main body 11 is the heat insulating material and the influence of the external temperature is suppressed, the inside temperature has a limit in heat insulation, and it is influenced also by external temperature irrespective of opening and closing of a door. For this reason, a difference occurs in the characteristics of the rotational speed of the compressor 32 between when the outside air temperature is high and when it is low. Even when the doors are opened for the same time, the rotational speed characteristics of the compressor 32 differ due to the high and low outside air temperatures.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the eco-mark display corresponding to the change in the outside temperature is performed regardless of the level of the outside temperature. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, based on the temperature information detected by the internal temperature sensor 23 and the external temperature sensor 35, a plurality of control data series (i) to (i) to (a) The control part 51 which is a control means holding iv) determines the reference | standard rotation speed of the compressor 32 with the detection temperature of the outside temperature sensor 35. FIG. The plurality of control data series is set such that the rotational speed of the compressor 32 increases according to the temperature detected by the internal temperature sensor 23. This set value is set so that the rotational speed of the compressor 32 is increased based on the outside air temperature detected by the outside temperature sensor 35 with the inside temperature as a reference.

  Therefore, when the rotation speed of the compressor 32 is higher than the reference rotation speed, the control unit 51 determines that the non-energy-saving operation state is set, turns off the eco-mark 341, and the compressor 32 is lower than the reference rotation speed. In this case, the energy saving operation state is determined and the eco mark 341 is turned on.

  In this manner, the lighting and non-lighting of the eco mark 341 are determined based on whether the speed is faster or slower than the reference rotational speed of the compressor 32 determined based on the information on the outside air temperature. The lighting condition of the mark 341 can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, a more specific example of the eco mark display for changing the threshold based on the flow chart of FIG. 1 and the change of the outside air temperature of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 5, the eco mark 341 is turned on when the internal temperature is in the region A, and the eco mark 341 is not lighted when the temperature is higher than the internal temperature A, ie, B, C, and D. F1 to F7 indicate the rotational speed for driving the compressor 32 in a stepwise manner, and indicate that the compressor 32 is in a higher rotational speed as it goes to F7.

  First, in step S1 of FIG. 1, the outside air temperature sensor 35 detects the outside air temperature and reads it as the outside air temperature value t. It is determined whether or not the outside air temperature value t read in step S1 is within the outside air temperature range T1 (5 to 10 ° C.) (S2). When it is determined in step 2 that the outside air temperature value t is T1, it is determined whether the relationship between the rotation speed f of the compressor 32 and the rotation speed threshold F1 that determines whether the eco mark 341 is lit is f ≦ F1. (S3). When the rotation speed f of the compressor 32 is ≦ F1 in step S3, the process proceeds to step S4, and the eco mark 341 is turned on. If the rotational speed f of the compressor 32 is not ≦ F1 in step S3, the process proceeds to step S5, the eco-mark 341 is turned off, and the operation in the non-energy saving state is informed.

  If it is determined in step S2 that the outside air temperature value t is not T1, it is determined whether the outside air temperature value t is within the outside air temperature range T2 (10 to 20 ° C.) (S6). If the outside air temperature value t is T2 in step S6, it is determined whether the rotation speed f of the compressor 32 is ≦ F2 (S7). When the rotation speed f of the compressor 32 is ≦ F2 in step S7, the process proceeds to step S4, and the eco mark 341 is turned on. If the rotational speed f of the compressor 32 is not ≦ F2 in step S7, the process proceeds to step S5, the eco-mark 341 is turned off, and notification is made that the operation is being performed in a non-energy saving state.

  If it is determined in step S6 that the outside air temperature value t is not T2, it is determined whether the outside air temperature value t is within the outside air temperature range T3 (20 to 30 ° C.) (S8). If the outside air temperature value t is T3 in step S8, it is determined whether the rotation speed f of the compressor 32 is ≦ F3 (S9). When the rotation speed f of the compressor 32 is ≦ F3 in step S9, the process proceeds to step S4, and the eco mark 341 is turned on. If the rotational speed f of the compressor 32 is not ≦ F3 in step S8, the process proceeds to step S5, the eco-mark 341 is turned off, and the operation is performed in a non-energy saving state.

  Further, when it is determined in step S8 that the outside air temperature value t is not T3, it is determined whether or not the outside air temperature value t is within the outside air temperature range T4 (30 ° C. or higher) (S10). If the outside air temperature value t is T4 in step S10, it is determined whether the rotation speed f of the compressor 32 is ≦ F4 (S11). When the rotational speed f of the compressor 32 is ≦ F4 in step S11, the process proceeds to step S4, and the eco mark 341 is turned on. If the rotational speed f of the compressor 32 is not ≦ F4 in step S10, the process proceeds to step S5, the eco-mark 341 is turned off, and the operation is performed in a non-energy-saving state.

  If it is not T4 in step S10, the process returns to step S1, reads the outside air temperature value t, and repeats the processing from step S2.

  As described above, when the compressor 32 has a high rotational speed, the eco-mark 341 is basically turned on. However, as shown in FIG. 6, control is performed to shift the rotational speed of the compressor 32 as the outside air temperature rises. Done. As a result, when the outside air temperature value t is as low as 5 to 10 ° C., the eco mark 341 is not lit at the rotation speed of F2. However, when the outside air temperature value t is 30 ° C. or more, The mark 341 is turned on.

  Accordingly, by shifting the condition of the internal temperature at which the eco mark 341 is turned on as the outside air temperature rises, the lighting condition of the eco mark 341 is the same regardless of the outside temperature under the same door opening and closing conditions. It is possible to obtain various conditions. Since the lighting condition of the eco-mark 341 depends on the same condition when opening and closing the door regardless of the outside air temperature, it is useful for raising awareness of the user of the refrigerator.

  In the above description, the internal temperature sensor 23 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerator compartment is used for detecting the internal temperature, but an internal temperature sensor 24 for detecting the temperature of the freezer compartment may be used. A dedicated temperature sensor may be provided. In the embodiment, the reference rotation speed is set to the rotation speed (T1: F1, T2: F2, T3: F3, T4: F4) controlled when the internal temperature is “A”. When the temperature range is low, such as T1 or T2, the data control sequence (i) is up to F3, (ii) is up to F3, and when the temperature range is T3, T4, the data control sequence (iii) is up to F3 ( iv) may be changed up to F4.

  In this embodiment, by shifting the threshold value of the rotational speed of the compressor for determining whether or not to turn on the eco mark based on the outside air temperature value, the condition for turning on the eco mark is leveled regardless of whether the outside air temperature is up or down. be able to.

  The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to turning off the eco-mark when the rotational speed of the compressor is high. That is, when the rotational speed of the compressor is high, the lighting color may be different from that of the eco mark. For example, the display color can be changed to green during energy-saving operation and red during non-energy-saving operation.

  In this way, even during non-energy-saving operation, lighting with a color different from that during energy-saving operation can more effectively show awareness during non-energy-saving operation. Above all, as the lighting color for energy saving awareness when not saving energy, the above-described red is effective as an example of a color generally used as a color for notifying danger or the like.

  Furthermore, when any of the doors 171, 172, 181, 182, 19, 20 is opened during non-energy-saving operation, an alarm, a sound, or a notification for flashing the display may be used. In these cases, more reliable energy saving can be promoted for the user of the refrigerator, and further energy saving effect can be expected.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Refrigerator main body 13 Refrigeration room 14 Ice making room 15 Vegetable room 16 Freezing room 171,172,181,182,19,20 Door 23,24 Internal temperature sensor 25 Refrigerating room cooler room 26 Freezing room cooler room 27 Refrigerating room Cooler for room 30 Cooler for freezer 32 Compressor 34 Display panel 341 Eco mark 342 Refrigerator display 343 Freezer display 344 Temperature adjustment display 35 Outside temperature sensor 51 Control unit

Claims (5)

A body having a storage chamber;
A compressor with variable rotation speed for cooling the storage chamber;
A chamber temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature in the storage chamber;
Outside temperature detection means for detecting the temperature outside the storage room,
An informing means provided in the main body;
A plurality of control data for controlling the compressor and the notification means, and corresponding to the detected temperature of the outside temperature detecting means, and varying the rotation speed of the compressor based on the detection output of the inside temperature detecting means Control means for holding the series,
The control means is configured to notify the notification means when the reference rotational speed of the compressor is set according to the temperature detected by the outside temperature detection means and is lower than the reference rotational speed. A refrigerator characterized by that.   The control data series is set so that the number of revolutions becomes higher based on the detected temperature of the internal temperature detecting means, and the set values of the plurality of control data series are based on the internal temperature. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the number of revolutions of the compressor is set high in accordance with the outside air temperature detected by the outside temperature detecting means.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the reference rotation speed is set to be higher as the detection temperature of the outside temperature detection means is higher.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the reference rotation speed is a rotation speed of each data control series set when the internal temperature is a predetermined temperature.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the notification means notifies whether an energy-saving operation is being performed.

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