JP6606031B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator for storing food, drinking water or the like by refrigeration or freezing.

  Recently, due to changes in the home environment such as the nuclear family and the increase in couples working together, freezing storage methods in freezer rooms tend to diversify. In addition to the conventional usage of purchasing and storing food sold in the freezing temperature range, the use of the freezer in the home includes the quick freezing preservation of meat such as meat or cooking A method of using mainly quick freezing operation such as quick freezing storage has been proposed.

  As a method of using such a freezing room, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-90663 (Patent Document 1), in the case of a quick freezing operation in which food is rapidly frozen, the rotation speed of the compressor is made higher than usual. A freezing method is shown.

JP 2006-90663 A

  When the rapid cooling operation is set, the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1 completes the cooling operation after a preset time has elapsed, and therefore there is a possibility that the cooling may be insufficient when the load is large.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the above-mentioned subject, The objective is to provide the refrigerator which can cool a foodstuff automatically even when the foodstuff with a big load is thrown into the storage room. .

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a heat insulating box that forms a storage chamber, a refrigeration cycle that generates cold air, and a cold air supply passage that supplies the cold air from the refrigeration cycle to the storage chamber by a blower fan. Temperature detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of food input to the storage room, a door for opening and closing the storage room, a door sensor for detecting opening and closing of the door, and a fluidly connected to the storage room. In the refrigerator provided with 2 storage rooms and the 2nd door which opens and closes the 2nd storage room ,
A first cooling mode to be performed when no food is input to the storage room or not detected, and a second cooling mode to be performed when food input to the storage room is detected or detected ,
In the first cooling mode, the compressor is operated when the temperature detected by the temperature detector is equal to or higher than a first threshold, and the compressor is stopped when the temperature detected by the temperature detector is equal to or lower than a second threshold,
In the second cooling mode, the operation of the compressor is continued even when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is equal to or lower than the second threshold .
The temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is less than the third threshold before the time when the door sensor detects opening, and the state where the temperature exceeds the third threshold after the time when the door sensor detects opening continues. The second cooling mode is started ,
If the temperature detected by the temperature detection means is in a state equal to or greater than a third threshold before the time when the door sensor detects opening, the temperature is equal to or greater than the third threshold from the time when the door sensor detects opening. Even if the state continues, the second cooling mode is not executed .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even if it is a case where the food with a heavy load is thrown into the storage room, it becomes possible to provide the refrigerator which can cool food automatically.

1 is a front external view of a refrigerator to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the longitudinal cross-section of the refrigerator shown in FIG. It is a front view which shows the structure inside the back surface in the store | warehouse | chamber of the refrigerator shown in FIG. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of the freezer compartment in Example 1 of this invention. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of temperature detection means vicinity. It is a time chart which performs the quick cooling mode by judging the presence or absence of accommodation of food. It is a flowchart which performs the time chart shown in FIG. It is a time chart which performs the rapid cooling mode based on another flow. It is a flowchart which performs the time chart shown in FIG. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of the freezer compartment in Example 2 of this invention. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of the freezer compartment in Example 3 of this invention. It is a time chart which performs the rapid cooling mode based on another flow. It is a time chart which performs the rapid cooling mode based on another flow. It is a principal part rear view of the temperature detection means vicinity in a store | warehouse | chamber.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications and application examples are included in the technical concept of the present invention. Is also included in the range.

  Before describing specific examples of the present invention, a configuration of a refrigerator to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 is a front external view of the refrigerator, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a longitudinal section of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a front view showing a configuration inside the back of the refrigerator shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the cross section of the ice making chamber is not shown.

  1 and 2, the refrigerator 1 includes a refrigerator room 2, an ice making room (a part of the freezer room) 3, an upper freezer room 4, a lower freezer room 5, and a vegetable room 6 from above. Here, the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezer compartment 4 are provided side by side between the refrigerator compartment 2 and the lower freezer compartment 5. As an example, the refrigerating room 2 is a storage room having a refrigeration temperature range of about + 3 ° C., and the vegetable room 6 is a refrigerating temperature zone of about + 3 ° C. to + 7 ° C. Further, the ice making room 3, the upper freezing room 4, and the lower freezing room 5 are storage rooms in a freezing temperature zone of approximately −18 ° C. Although not shown in the figure, a partitioning portion arranged in the vertical direction is provided between the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4, and the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4 are bounded by this partition wall. They are juxtaposed in the left-right direction. The upper freezer compartment 4 is smaller in width than the lower freezer compartment 5 adjacent to the lower part thereof, has a smaller volume than the lower freezer compartment 5, and a small amount of food is frozen and stored.

  The refrigerating room 2 includes, on the front side, refrigerating room doors 2a and 2b with double doors (so-called French type) divided into left and right. The ice making room 3, the upper freezing room 4, the lower freezing room 5, and the vegetable room 6 are each provided with a drawer type ice making room door 3a, an upper freezing room door 4a, a lower freezing room door 5a, and a vegetable room door 6a.

  In addition, a packing (not shown) with magnets built in along the outer edge of each door is provided on the surface of each door on the storage room side. When each door is closed, the outside of the refrigerator formed of an iron plate is provided. It is set as the structure which closely_contact | adheres to the flange of a box and each partition iron plate, and suppresses the penetration | invasion of the external air into a storage chamber, and the leakage of the cold air from a storage chamber.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the machine room 11 is formed in the lower part of the refrigerator main body 10, and the compressor 12 is incorporated in this. The cooler storage chamber 13 and the machine chamber 11 are communicated with each other by a drain passage 14 so that condensed water can be discharged.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the outside of the refrigerator body 10 and the inside of the refrigerator are separated by a heat insulating box 15 formed by filling a foam heat insulating material (foamed polyurethane) between the inner box and the outer box. Yes. Further, the heat insulating box 15 of the refrigerator body 10 has a plurality of vacuum heat insulating materials 16 mounted thereon. The refrigerator main body 10 is divided into a refrigerator compartment 2, an upper freezer compartment 4 and an ice making chamber 3 (see FIG. 1, the ice making chamber 3 is not shown in FIG. 2) by an upper heat insulating partition wall 17a. The lower freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 are partitioned by the wall 17b.

  In addition, a horizontal partition 18 is provided in the upper part of the lower freezer compartment 5. The horizontal partition 18 partitions the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4 and the lower freezing chamber 5 in the vertical direction. However, since the ice making chamber 3, the upper freezing chamber 4, and the lower freezing chamber 5 are fluidly connected, the same cold air is supplied. In addition, a vertical partition that partitions the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4 in the left-right direction is provided above the horizontal partition 18.

  The horizontal partition 18 is in contact with packing (not shown) provided on the storage room side surface of the lower freezer compartment door 5a together with the front surface of the lower heat insulating partition wall 17b and the front surfaces of the left and right side walls. Packings (not shown) provided on the storage room side surfaces of the ice making room door 3a and the upper freezing room door 4a are the horizontal partition 18, the vertical partition 53 (FIG. 4), the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a, and the refrigerator body 1. By contacting the front surfaces of the left and right side walls, the movement of cold air between each storage chamber and each door is suppressed. In addition, since the ice making chamber 3, the upper freezer compartment 4, and the lower freezer compartment 5 are maintained in the same freezing temperature zone, the heat insulating performance of the horizontal partition 18 and the vertical partition 53 is the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a and the lower side. It is not required as much as the heat insulating partition wall 17b.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the upper freezer compartment 4, the lower freezer compartment 5, and the vegetable compartment 6 are attached with doors 4a, 5a, 6a provided in front of the respective storage compartments. The upper freezer compartment 4 is provided with an upper freezer storage container 41, and the lower freezer compartment 5 has a plurality of stages of freezer storage containers, that is, an uppermost freezer storage container 63, an upper freezer storage container 61, and a lower freezer storage container 62. Is arranged. Furthermore, an upper vegetable storage container 71 and a lower vegetable storage container 72 are arranged in the vegetable room 6.

  Then, the ice making room door 3a, the upper freezing room door 4a, the lower freezing room door 5a, and the vegetable room door 6a are each put on a handle portion (not shown) and pulled out to the front side, thereby making an ice making storage container 3b (not shown). ), An upper frozen storage container 41, a lower frozen storage container 62, an upper vegetable storage container 71, and a lower vegetable storage container 72 can be pulled out.

  More specifically, the lower refrigerated storage container 62 has a flange portion at the upper side of the lower refrigerated storage container 62 suspended from a support arm 5d attached to the inner box of the freezer compartment, and the upper refrigerated storage container 61 is a lower refrigerated storage container 62. The lower-stage refrigerated storage container 62 and the upper-stage refrigerated storage container 61 are pulled out at the same time as the freezer compartment door 5a is pulled out. The uppermost frozen storage container 63 is placed on an uneven part (not shown) formed on the side wall of the freezer compartment 5 and is slidable in the front-rear direction.

  Similarly, the lower vegetable storage container 72 is suspended by a support arm 6d attached to the inner box of the vegetable compartment door 6a, and the upper vegetable storage container 71 is placed on the flange portion of the lower vegetable storage container 72. Yes. In addition, the vegetable room 6 is provided with an electric heater 6C fixed to the heat insulating box 15, and a temperature suitable for storing vegetables so that the temperature of the vegetable room 6 is not overcooled by the electric heater 6C. It is trying to become. The electric heater 6C may be provided if necessary, but in the present embodiment, the electric heater 6C is provided so that vegetables can be stored better.

  Next, a method for cooling the refrigerator will be described. A refrigerator housing chamber 13 is formed in the refrigerator main body 1, and a cooler 19 is provided therein as a cooling means. The cooler 19 (for example, a fin tube heat exchanger) is provided in a cooler storage chamber 13 provided at the back of the lower freezer compartment 5. A blower fan 20 (a propeller fan as an example) is provided as a blower in the cooler storage chamber 13 and above the cooler 19.

  Air cooled by heat exchange in the cooler 19 (hereinafter, low-temperature air heat-exchanged by the cooler 19 is referred to as “cold air”) is supplied by a blower fan 20 to a refrigerator compartment air duct 21, a freezer compartment air duct 22, And it sends to each storage room of the refrigerating room 2, the ice making room 3, the upper freezing room 4, the lower freezing room 5, and the vegetable room 6 via the ice making room air duct which is not illustrated.

  The blast to each storage room is sent to the first blast control means (hereinafter referred to as the refrigeration room damper 23) for controlling the amount of air sent to the refrigeration room 2 in the refrigeration temperature zone, and to the freezer compartments 4 and 5 in the refrigeration temperature zone. It is controlled by second air flow control means (hereinafter referred to as freezer compartment damper 24) that controls the air flow. Incidentally, the air ducts to the refrigerator compartment 2, the ice making room 3, the upper freezer room 4, the lower freezer room 5, and the vegetable room 6 are arranged on the back side of each storage room of the refrigerator body 1 as shown by broken lines in FIG. Is provided. Specifically, when the refrigerator compartment damper 23 is in the open state and the freezer compartment damper 24 is in the closed state, the cold air is sent to the refrigerator compartment 2 from the outlets 25 provided in multiple stages via the refrigerator compartment air duct 21.

  The cold air that has cooled the refrigerator compartment 2 is provided on the lower right rear side of the lower heat insulating partition wall 18 from the refrigerator compartment return port 26 provided in the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 2 through the refrigerator compartment-vegetable compartment communication duct 27. The air is blown from the vegetable room outlet 28 to the vegetable room 6. The return cold air from the vegetable compartment 6 passes from the vegetable compartment return duct inlet 29 provided in front of the lower part of the lower heat insulating partition wall 18 through the vegetable compartment return duct 30 and from the vegetable compartment return duct outlet to the lower part of the cooler storage compartment 13. Return to. In addition, it is good also as a structure which returns to the lower right part seeing from the upper surface of the cooler storage chamber 12 in FIG. 3, without connecting the refrigerator compartment-vegetable compartment communication duct 27 to the vegetable compartment 6 as another structure. As an example in this case, a vegetable room air duct is arranged at the front projection position of the refrigerator compartment-vegetable room communication duct 27, and the cold air heat-exchanged by the cooler 19 is directly blown from the vegetable room outlet 28 to the vegetable room 6. Will come to do.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a partition member 31 is provided in front of the cooler storage chamber 13 to partition between the storage chambers and the cooler storage chamber 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the partition member 31 has a pair of upper and lower outlets 32 a, 32 b, 33 a, and 33 b formed therein. When the freezer damper 24 is in an open state, Are blown by the blower fan 20 to the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4 from the blowout ports 32a and 32b through the ice making chamber blowing duct and the upper freezing chamber blowing duct 34 (not shown). Further, the air is blown from the outlets 33 a and 33 b to the lower freezer compartment 5 through the lower freezer compartment air duct 35. It should be noted that the lower freezer compartment 5 may be provided with additional outlets as necessary.

  In addition, a control device including a CPU, a memory such as a ROM and a RAM, an interface circuit, and the like is provided on the upper surface of the ceiling wall of the refrigerator body 10, and an outside air temperature sensor (not shown) and a cooler temperature sensor (not shown). ), Refrigerator compartment temperature sensor (not shown), vegetable compartment temperature sensor (not shown), freezer compartment temperature sensor (not shown), doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, 6a open / close Connected to a door sensor (not shown) for detecting each state, a temperature setter (not shown) provided on the inner wall of the refrigerator compartment 2, etc., and control of turning on / off the compressor 12 by a program preinstalled in the ROM , Control of the respective actuators that individually drive the refrigerator compartment damper 23 and the freezer compartment damper 24, ON / OFF control and rotation speed control of the blower fan 20, and ON / OFF of the alarm that informs the door open state It is adapted to perform control of.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the refrigerator compartment door 2a is provided with an input control unit 40, and this input control unit 40 is connected to the control device described above. Therefore, the temperature of each storage room of the refrigerator 1 can be set by an input from the input control unit 40. For example, the temperature of each storage chamber is controlled by controlling the rotational speed of the compressor 12, the rotational speed of the blower fan 20, the opening / closing amount of the refrigerator compartment damper 23 and the freezer compartment damper 24, and the like.

  In the refrigerator configured as described above, it is required to detect the storage state of the food by arranging the temperature detection means at an appropriate position where the presence or absence of the storage of the food can be accurately detected. Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 4 shows an enlarged cross section of the main part of the freezer compartment, and FIG. 5 shows an enlarged cross section of the main part in the vicinity of the temperature detecting means. In FIG. 4, the temperature detection means 50 comprised from the thermistor etc. is attached to the depth side end surface of the vertical partition part (it is a partition component material which is not equipped with a vacuum heat insulating material) 53 which partitions the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezer compartment 4. It has been.

  It is determined whether food having a temperature higher than the freezer temperature is stored in the upper freezer compartment 4 or the lower freezer compartment 5 from the fluctuation state of the output signal of the temperature detecting means. The temperature detecting means 50 is not limited to a thermistor, and may be a non-contact temperature detecting means such as an infrared sensor. However, the thermistor has a higher degree of design freedom than an infrared sensor that cannot measure the temperature unless the food is within the visual field range. Therefore, it is desirable that the temperature detection means 50 is composed of a thermistor.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the temperature detection means 50 that is a feature of the present embodiment is provided at the lower end of the vertical partition 53 provided so as to be orthogonal to the horizontal partition 18. A temperature detection unit 50 is disposed at the lower end portion 54 in the depth direction of the vertical partition 53, and the signal line 55 of the temperature detection unit 50 is connected to the outside through the inside of the vertical partition 53. It is connected to the. The temperature detection means 50 and a part of the signal line 55 are covered with a sensor cover 57, and the sensor cover 57 is fixed to screws, adhesives, welding and the like so as to be integrated with the vertical partition 53. It is fixed to the vertical partition 53.

  Here, in the vertical partition 53, a temperature detection means 50, a signal line 55, a connector 56 for transmitting an output signal to the outside, and a sensor cover 57 are preliminarily assembled to form an assembly. The vertical partition portion 53 can be incorporated by fixing the assembly 53 to the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a with screws. A connector (not shown) connected to the control device is fixed to a region where the vertical partition 53 on the lower side of the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a is located.

  Therefore, it is a structure that can be connected to the connector 56 of the temperature detecting means 50 by incorporating the vertical partition 53. In the lower freezer compartment 5 occupying the entire width direction of the refrigerator, a lower frozen storage container 62, an upper frozen storage container 61, and an uppermost frozen storage container 63 are arranged from below.

  In such a configuration, it is assumed that raw meat or cooked food is stored in the uppermost frozen storage container 63 of the lower freezer compartment 5.

  At this time, the temperature detection means 50 is within the vertical projection of the uppermost frozen storage container 63 of the lower freezer compartment 5 and is higher than the upper end of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, and the lower end or upper part of the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a. It is in a position lower than the upper end portion of the upper frozen storage container 41 of the freezer compartment 4. Thus, since the temperature detection means 50 is disposed close to the uppermost frozen storage container 63, it is easily affected by the temperature of the food stored in the uppermost frozen storage container 63. That is, the temperature detection means 50 measures the temperature of the space that depends on the food temperature stored in the uppermost frozen storage container 63.

  As shown in FIG. 14, a plurality of cold air outlets 33 a and 33 b for discharging cold air from the cold air supply path are formed in the left-right direction on the back side of the uppermost frozen storage container 63. The temperature detector 50 is disposed between the cold air outlets 33a and 33b in the left-right direction and above the cold air outlets 33a and 33b in the vertical direction. Here, when food is put in the vicinity of the center of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, since the food is near the temperature detection means 50, it is possible to accurately detect the food input. On the other hand, when food is put in the vicinity of the left and right ends of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, since the food is in a place far from the temperature detecting means 50, the detection accuracy of food input is lowered. However, since the cold air outlets 33a and 33b are located near the left and right ends of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, it is quickly cooled. For this reason, it becomes possible to equalize the cooling performance regardless of where the food is put in the uppermost frozen storage container 63.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the temperature detecting means 50 is not provided on the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a, a vacuum heat insulating material is widely attached to the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a, and leakage of cold heat from the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a is suppressed. be able to. That is, since the movement of heat between the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment is suppressed, power consumption for cooling the freezer compartment can be suppressed, and excessive cooling of the refrigerator compartment can also be suppressed.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the temperature detecting means 50, the signal line 55, the connector 56, and the sensor cover 57 are preliminarily incorporated in the vertical partition 53, the assembling to the refrigerator becomes easy and the working efficiency is improved. be able to.

  Next, a determination method for determining whether or not food is stored will be described. FIG. 6 shows the behavior of the temperature detection means and the operating state of the compressor when the discrimination is executed, and FIG. 7 shows the control flow.

  In FIG. 6, it is assumed that the door of the target lower freezer compartment 5 is opened at a certain time at time t0, food such as raw meat is stored in the uppermost storage container 63, and is closed at the time t1. In this state, the compressor is operated at a low speed as a normal cooling mode (first cooling mode), and the blower fan is also operated at a low speed.

  When food is stored, the temperature of the cold air around the food is unlikely to decrease due to the temperature of the food, so the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 50 rises and remains hot even after the door is closed. Continue for a while.

  On the other hand, when food is not put in even if the door is opened and closed, the temperature rise of the temperature detection means 50 is temporary, and the temperature is likely to drop after the door is closed. Therefore, it can be determined that the food is stored when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit 50 continues for a certain time T1 or more in a state where the detected temperature is equal to or higher than the food detection threshold (third threshold).

  The food detection determination based on the detection temperature of the temperature detection unit 50 described above is performed only when the detection temperature of the temperature detection unit 50 at time t0 when the lower freezer compartment door 5a is opened is less than the food detection threshold. In addition, the food detection determination described above is performed as a detection monitoring reference time T0 from a time t1 when the lower freezer compartment door 5a is closed, and is performed only within the detection monitoring reference time T0. This is because the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 50 may increase even when high-temperature food is stored in a storage room other than the lower freezer room, such as an upper freezer room or a refrigerator room. Therefore, when the lower freezer compartment door 5a is opened, if it is already in a high temperature state or if the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 50 rises without interlocking with the opening and closing of the lower freezer compartment door 5a, It is assumed that no food is put into the upper frozen storage container 63. As a result, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection and subsequent malfunction that determine that food has been input when food is not actually input.

  Next, control of the cooling operation will be described.

  First, in the food detection determination described above, when it is determined that no food has been added, the operation in the normal cooling mode is continued. In this normal cooling mode, when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 50 reaches the compressor on threshold (first threshold), the compressor is started to cool the freezer compartment. If the inside of the freezer compartment is sufficiently cooled and the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 50 reaches the compressor off threshold (second threshold), the operation of the compressor is stopped and the inside of the freezer compartment is temporarily suspended. Here, in consideration of energy saving and noise, it is desirable to operate the compressor at the lowest possible speed. For this reason, when the compressor starts operation, it is operated at a low rotation speed (first rotation speed) and is necessary when the door is opened or closed or when the temperature detection temperature of the temperature detection means 50 becomes high. Accordingly, the rotational speed is increased to a high rotational speed (second rotational speed higher than the first rotational speed) to accelerate cooling in the freezer compartment. By repeating this operation, the temperature in the freezer compartment is adjusted to be kept within a predetermined range.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in the food detection determination described above that food has been input, the process proceeds to the rapid cooling mode (second cooling mode). In this rapid cooling mode, the same operation as in the normal cooling mode is performed until the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 50 reaches the compressor off threshold, but when the compressor off threshold is reached, the compressor rotates without being stopped. Reduce the number from high to low and continue operation. Here, if the compressor is operated at a high rotation for a long time, the temperature of the freezer compartment is greatly reduced, and there is a possibility that problems such as condensation, frost formation and food freezing in the adjacent refrigerator compartment or vegetable compartment may occur. . However, it is possible to freeze the food quickly while suppressing the occurrence of the above-mentioned problems by extending the operation time by reducing the rotation of the compressor and continuing to supply cold air without interruption. For example, even for foods that require time for freezing, such as large-size foods and high-temperature foods, the supply of cold air can be continued for a longer time than in the case of high rotation, so the time until freezing can be shortened. The low-rotation compressor operation after reaching the compressor-off threshold is continued until the temperature detected by the temperature detector 50 reaches the cooling completion threshold (fourth threshold).

  However, as shown in FIG. 8, when it is determined that food has been introduced, the compressor may be stopped. Specifically, the case where the compressor off threshold is reached before the elapsed time of the food detection timer reaches T1 can be considered. At this time, according to the control in the normal cooling mode, the operation of the compressor is started after reaching the compressor-on threshold value, and even if the compressor-off threshold value is reached, the detected temperature of the temperature detecting means 50 is not changed as described above. The low-rotation compressor operation is continued until the cooling completion threshold is reached. In this case, the compressor stops at an early stage after the food is added, and the supply of cold air is interrupted. At this stage, the food still reaches the range of −1 ° C. to −5 ° C., which is the ice crystal formation zone. It is thought that there are not many. Therefore, if the cool air is continuously supplied after the compressor starts operation again, it is possible to quickly pass through the temperature range of the ice crystal generation zone, which is effective in maintaining freshness.

  Note that the operation at a low speed of the compressor until the cooling completion threshold is reached is considered to be substantially continued even if a short stop section is included on the way (see FIG. 8). Can do. In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, an intermediate rotational speed state is provided on the way from the high speed (second rotational speed) to the low speed (first rotational speed) of the compressor, so that the compressor is stepwise as a whole. The number of revolutions may be lowered. Further, the rotational speed of the compressor that is continued until the cooling completion threshold is reached may be lower than the first rotational speed described above. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 13, in the second cooling mode performed when food is input, if the compressor operation time is extended without increasing the compressor rotation speed and rapidly cooling, the input is performed. It is possible to sufficiently cool the prepared food.

  Next, the control flow which implement | achieves the time chart mentioned above is demonstrated using FIG. 7 about the refrigerator of the present Example which has the automatic cooling operation which changes cooling mode according to the presence or absence of the foodstuff into the storage room. Here, a case where the on / off of the automatic cooling operation can be manually set is described with respect to the case where it is manually set to on. However, the refrigerator may be always on without manual setting.

  First, the normal cooling mode is executed in step S10. Here, it is detected in step S11 that the user has opened the lower freezer compartment 5 door. When the door 5 of the lower freezer compartment 5 is opened in step S11, the detected temperature of the temperature detecting means 50 is compared with the food detection threshold value in step S12. If the detected temperature is already equal to or higher than the food detection threshold value, the process proceeds to step S24. In step S25, it is determined that no food has been added, and the process proceeds to the normal cooling mode.

  If the detected temperature of the temperature detecting means 50 is lower than the food detection threshold value in step S12, if it is detected in step S13 that the user has closed the door of the lower freezer compartment 5, the process proceeds to step S14, and the detection monitoring time timer Start counting. Next, it progresses to step S15 and the detection temperature of the temperature detection means 50 and the food detection threshold value are compared. If the detected temperature is equal to or higher than the food detection threshold, the timer count of the food detection time is started in step S16.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S17, and it is determined by comparing the food detection timer and the food detection reference time T1 whether the high temperature state continues for a predetermined time. If the food detection timer is less than the food detection reference time T1, the detection monitoring timer and the detection monitoring reference time T0 are compared in step S23. If the detection monitoring timer has not reached the detection monitoring reference time T0, step S14 is performed. Return to and repeat in the same way. On the other hand, if the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 50 is lower than the food detection threshold value in step S15, the process proceeds to step S23. In step S23, the detection monitoring timer is compared with the detection monitoring reference time T0. If the detection monitoring timer has not reached the detection monitoring reference time T0, the process returns to step S14 and is repeated in the same manner. When the detection monitoring timer reaches the detection monitoring reference time T0 in step S23, the process proceeds to step S24, where it is determined that no food is put in, and the normal cooling mode is reached in step S25.

  On the other hand, if the food detection timer reaches the food detection reference time T1 in S17, it is determined in step S18 that food has been input, and the process proceeds to the rapid cooling mode. First, after the same operation as in the normal cooling mode is continued in step S19, it is determined in step S20 whether or not the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 50 has reached the compressor off threshold. If the detected temperature is higher than the compressor off threshold, the process returns to step S19 and repeats in the same manner. When the compressor off threshold is reached in step S20, the process proceeds to step S21, and the compressor is continuously operated at a low speed. In step S22, the detected temperature of the temperature detecting means 50 is compared with the cooling completion threshold value. If the detected temperature is higher than the cooling completion threshold value, the process returns to step S21 and is repeated in the same manner. When the cooling completion threshold is reached in step S22, the process proceeds to step S25 to proceed to the normal cooling mode.

  In the case of the time chart of FIG. 9, step S26 is provided after step S19 for determining whether or not the compressor is on. If the compressor is off in step S26, the process returns to step S19 and repeats in the same manner. On the other hand, if the compressor is in the on state in step S26, the process proceeds to step S20, and the flow is the same as described above.

  Instead of counting the food detection timer as in step S16, when the temperature detection means 50 becomes equal to or higher than the food detection threshold, it may be determined that the food has been input and the rapid cooling operation may be automatically started. .

  In this way, it is possible to control execution of the rapid cooling mode by determining whether or not there is food in the uppermost frozen storage container 63 using one temperature sensor. That is, it is possible to provide a refrigerator capable of automatically quick freezing when food having a high temperature is stored while suppressing a decrease in heat insulation performance between the upper freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment. In addition, regarding the upper freezing storage container 61 and the lower freezing storage container 62 other than the uppermost freezing storage container 63, the upper freezing storage container 61, and the lower freezing storage container 62, it is necessary for a user to perform quick freezing without using a temperature detection means. Can be set. Further, the upper freezer compartment 4 may be a room that can be switched not only to the freezing temperature zone but also to the refrigeration temperature zone.

  Further, in this embodiment, when it is determined that the food has been put into the freezer compartment, the compressor is first operated at a high rotation, and the compressor is not stopped as it is or after the compressor is temporarily stopped, and then the high rotation is performed. Continue to run at low speed for a longer time than at. For this reason, even when the temperature detected by the temperature detection means 50 decreases and the inside of the freezer compartment is cooled to the target temperature, it is possible to continue cooling the food that has not been cooled. As a result, the frequency at which the compressor is stopped or restarted can be reduced, and the life of the compressor can be maintained longer. In addition, since the time for operating the compressor at a high speed can be shortened, not only can the overall power consumption be reduced compared to the conventional rapid cooling operation, but also the generation of noise and vibration due to the high speed of the compressor. Time can be shortened.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the uppermost refrigerated storage container 63 having a smallest height dimension and a thin space compared to the storage container in the upper freezer compartment 4 and the other storage containers in the lower freezer compartment 5 is rapidly Since it is a target for freezing, there is an advantage that it is difficult to stack foods and is easy to store and take out. Further, since the uppermost frozen storage container 63 has a larger width than the storage container of the upper freezer compartment 4, more food can be arranged in the left-right direction.

  Here, an aluminum tray is laid as a metal heat conduction plate on substantially the entire surface of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, and a plurality of convex portions or concave portions are formed in the depth direction and the left-right direction on the upper surface of the aluminum tray. Has been. Aluminum itself is a material having high thermal conductivity, and the surface area is increased by a plurality of irregularities, so that the cooling performance of the uppermost frozen storage container 63 is higher than that of the upper frozen storage container 61 and the lower frozen storage container 62. It is high. Then, the cold air is supplied from the vertical outlet of the uppermost frozen storage container 63, specifically, from the outlet at the substantially same height as the uppermost frozen storage container 63 on the back side of the lower freezer compartment 5. For this reason, the food in the uppermost frozen storage container 63 is rapidly cooled. In the present embodiment, an example in which an aluminum tray is disposed in the uppermost storage container 63 of the lower freezer compartment 5 is shown. However, there are a plurality of storage containers in the refrigerator compartment 2, and among these, the uppermost storage container An aluminum tray may be arranged for chilled cooling, and this storage container may be a target for rapid cooling.

  Next, another embodiment of the temperature sensor mounting position will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the same reference numerals indicate the same components, and therefore will be described when detailed description is necessary, and the rest will be omitted.

  In FIG. 10, the temperature detection means 50 is provided on the lower surface of the horizontal partition 18 provided between the upper freezer compartment 4 and the lower freezer compartment 5. The horizontal partition 18 does not separate the upper freezer 4 and the lower freezer 5, but is a partition component that supports the upper freezer 4 and the ice making chamber 3. In the present embodiment, only two storage containers, that is, an upper refrigeration storage container 61 and a lower refrigeration storage container 62 are arranged in the lower freezer compartment 5.

  Since the horizontal partition 18 is provided between the upper freezer compartment 4 and the lower freezer compartment 5, no vacuum heat insulating material is provided. And in the case of a present Example, it detects that the foodstuff was accommodated in the upper stage frozen storage container 61 of the lower side of the horizontal partition part 18. FIG. According to this configuration, since no temperature detecting means is provided on the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a, the vacuum heat insulating material is widely attached to the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a, and the leakage of cold heat from the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a can be suppressed. it can.

  In FIG. 11, the temperature detection means 50 is provided on the lower surface of the horizontal partition 18 a provided between the upper freezer compartment 4 and the lower freezer compartment 5. Unlike FIG. 10, the horizontal partition 18 a separates the upper freezer compartment 4 and the lower freezer compartment 5. However, it is the same that it is a partition component which supports the upper freezer compartment 4 and the ice making chamber 3.

  Since the horizontal partition 18a is provided between the upper freezer compartment 4 and the lower freezer compartment 5, no vacuum heat insulating material is provided. And also in a present Example, it detects that the foodstuff was accommodated in the upper stage frozen storage container 61 of the lower side of the horizontal partition part 18a. According to this configuration, since no temperature detecting means is provided on the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a, the vacuum heat insulating material is widely attached to the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a, and the leakage of cold heat from the upper heat insulating partition wall 17a can be suppressed. it can.

  In the first to third embodiments described above, the refrigerator having a layout in which the vegetable compartment 6 is arranged at a position lower than the lower freezer compartment 5 has been described. However, the layout in which the vegetable compartment is arranged between the refrigerator compartment and the upper freezer compartment. It may be a refrigerator. Even in a refrigerator having such a layout, the temperature detection means is installed in a vertical projection of the uppermost storage container of the lower freezer compartment and at a position lower than the heat insulating partition wall that partitions the vegetable compartment and the upper freezer compartment. In addition, it is possible to automatically freeze food that is warm automatically while suppressing a decrease in the heat insulating performance of the heat insulating partition wall.

  In the above embodiment, the automatic cooling operation is set to the rapid cooling mode when the temperature detecting means 50 detects that the food has been input in the ON state. However, apart from the automatic cooling operation setting, the rapid cooling operation can also be manually set on / off, and when the rapid cooling operation is set to on, the temperature detection means 50 is forcibly set regardless of whether it is detected or not. You may make it transfer to rapid cooling mode. Note that the target of rapid cooling is not limited to the freezer compartment, but may be a refrigerator compartment.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Refrigerator main body, 2 ... Refrigeration room, 3 ... Ice making room, 4 ... Upper freezing room, 5 ... Lower freezing room, 6 ... Vegetable room, 19 ... Cooler, 12 ... Cooler storage room, 18 ... Thermal insulation partition wall, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Blower fan, 50 ... Temperature detection means, 51 ... Back wall, 53 ... Vertical partition, 54 ... Depth direction lower end part, 55 ... Signal line, 56 ... Connector, 57 ... Sensor cover.

Claims (2)

A heat insulating box that forms a storage room, a refrigeration cycle that generates cold air, a cold air supply path that supplies the cold air from the refrigeration cycle to the storage room by a blower fan, and detection of whether food is put into the storage room Temperature detecting means, a door for opening and closing the storage chamber, a door sensor for detecting opening and closing of the door, a second storage chamber fluidly connected to the storage chamber, and opening and closing the second storage chamber A refrigerator with a second door ,
A first cooling mode to be performed when no food is input to the storage room or not detected, and a second cooling mode to be performed when food input to the storage room is detected or detected ,
In the first cooling mode, the compressor is operated when the temperature detected by the temperature detector is equal to or higher than a first threshold, and the compressor is stopped when the temperature detected by the temperature detector is equal to or lower than a second threshold,
In the second cooling mode, the operation of the compressor is continued even when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is equal to or lower than the second threshold .
The temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is less than the third threshold before the time when the door sensor detects opening, and the state where the temperature exceeds the third threshold after the time when the door sensor detects opening continues. The second cooling mode is started ,
If the temperature detected by the temperature detection means is in a state equal to or greater than a third threshold before the time when the door sensor detects opening, the temperature is equal to or greater than the third threshold from the time when the door sensor detects opening. Even if a state continues, the said 2nd cooling mode is not performed, The refrigerator characterized by the above-mentioned . Oite to claim 1,
If the compressor of the refrigeration cycle is stopped when the second cooling mode start condition is satisfied, the second cooling mode is executed after satisfying the operation start condition of the compressor in the first cooling mode. refrigerators.

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