JP6694298B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments of the present invention relate to a refrigerator.

  In a refrigerator, another small storage room such as a chilled room may be partitioned and formed in a storage room such as a refrigerating room. In such a refrigerator, if an attempt is made to rapidly cool the small storage chamber, there is a possibility that the storage chamber outside the small storage chamber may be inadvertently excessively cooled because the small storage chamber exists inside the storage chamber.

  In Patent Document 1 below, in a cooling storage provided with a refrigerant circuit having a plurality of evaporators and an expansion valve, based on the refrigerant inlet temperature and the refrigerant outlet temperature of each evaporator, the corresponding valve opening of the expansion valve is performed. However, the control of the valve opening degree here is to suppress the bias of the cooling state in the storage chamber that is cooled by the plurality of evaporators, and is provided in the storage chamber. It does not cool the small storage room rapidly.

JP, 2009-236347, A

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator capable of rapidly cooling a part of the storage chamber and preventing the other part of the storage chamber from being inadvertently excessively cooled.

The refrigerator according to the present embodiment includes a heat insulating box having a storage chamber provided therein, a compressor, a condenser, a throttle device, and a cooler. A refrigeration cycle supplied to the cooler via a device, a control unit for controlling the refrigeration cycle, and a small storage chamber provided in the storage chamber, wherein the control unit causes a refrigerant to flow through the cooler. And a second cooling mode in which the storage chamber is cooled by flowing a refrigerant into the cooler while reducing the opening degree of the expansion device as compared with the first cooling mode. The cooler is arranged such that the upstream side portion in the refrigerant flow direction is arranged closer to the small storage chamber than the downstream side portion, and cools the small storage chamber in the second cooling mode .

It is sectional drawing of the refrigerator which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the refrigeration cycle of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a principal part enlarged view of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the control structure of the refrigerator of FIG.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment includes a heat insulating box 2 having an opening on the front surface. The heat insulating box body 2 is configured to have a heat insulating material such as a vacuum heat insulating material or a foam heat insulating material in a heat insulating space 5 formed between an outer box 3 made of a steel plate and an inner box 4 made of a synthetic resin. .. The heat-insulating box 2 has a plurality of storage spaces provided inside the inner box 4. Specifically, a refrigerating room 6 and a vegetable room 7 are provided in order from the top, and an ice making room 8 and a small freezing room are provided below it. Chambers (not shown) are provided side by side, and a freezing chamber 10 is provided below them.

  The refrigerating compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment 7 are both storage compartments that are cooled to a refrigerating temperature zone (for example, 1 to 4 ° C.), and a space between them is vertically partitioned by a partition plate 11 made of synthetic resin. .. On the back surface of the refrigerating compartment 6, a refrigerating temperature sensor 18 for measuring the temperature inside the refrigerating compartment 6 is provided. At the front opening of the refrigerating compartment 6, there is provided a rotary heat insulating door 6a pivotally supported by a hinge. An operation display unit 6b is provided on the front surface of the door 6a for receiving the setting of the refrigerator 1 from the user and displaying the setting status of the refrigerator 1.

  The refrigerating room 6 is vertically divided into a plurality of stages by a plurality of shelf plates 12. The space partitioned vertically by the partition plate 11 and the lowermost shelf plate 12 is partitioned in the width direction of the refrigerator by a vertical partition wall that is arranged close to one side wall (left side wall) of the refrigerator compartment 6. In the space sandwiched between the left side wall and the vertical partition wall of the refrigerating compartment 6, a water storage tank (not shown) for storing water for ice making supplied to the automatic ice making machine 14 provided in the ice making compartment 8 is provided. A space sandwiched between the vertical partition wall 13 and the other side wall (right side wall) of the refrigerating compartment 6 is provided with a chilled compartment 17 for accommodating the drawer container 16 and constitutes a small storage compartment provided in the refrigerating compartment 6. To do. A chilled temperature sensor 19 for measuring the temperature in the chilled chamber 17 is provided on the lower surface of the lowermost shelf plate 12.

  A drawer-type heat insulating door 7a is provided at the front opening of the vegetable compartment 7. The upper and lower two-stage storage cases 20 forming a storage container are connected to the back surface of the heat insulating door 7a. The lower part of the vegetable compartment 7 is partitioned by a heat insulating partition wall 21 provided with a heat insulating material inside, and below the heat insulating partition wall 21, an ice making chamber 8 and a small freezing chamber are provided.

  The ice making chamber 8, the small freezing chamber and the freezing chamber 10 are all cooled to a freezing temperature zone (for example, -10 to -20 ° C). Draw-out type heat insulating doors 8a and 10a are provided at front opening portions of the ice making chamber 8, the small freezing chamber and the freezing chamber 10, and the storage containers 22 and 23 are connected to the back surfaces of the heat insulating doors 8a and 10a. ing. A freezing temperature sensor 24 for measuring the temperature inside the freezing room 10 is provided on the back surface of the freezing room 10.

  A refrigerating cooler room 27 for accommodating a refrigerating cooler 25 and a refrigerating fan 26, a refrigerating room 6 and a refrigerating room 6 are provided at the inner part of the refrigerating temperature zone storage rooms (refrigerating room 6 and vegetable room 7) of the heat insulating box 2. A duct 30 that connects the chambers 27 is formed. In this example, a refrigerating cooler 25 is arranged behind the chilled chamber 17, and a refrigerating fan 26 is arranged above it. Further, the duct 30 extends upward from the refrigerating cooler chamber 27 along the back surface of the refrigerating chamber 6, and a plurality of air outlets 30a that open into the refrigerating chamber 6 are provided in the front portion thereof at intervals in the vertical direction. Has been. Of the plurality of air outlets 30a, the air outlet 30a provided at the lowermost portion opens to the back surface of the chilled chamber 17 at the position closest to the refrigerating / cooling chamber 27, and the other air outlets 30a include the back surface of the refrigerating chamber 6. It has an opening.

  In the deep part of the storage room (the ice making room 8, the small freezing room, the freezing room 10) in the freezing temperature zone of the heat insulation box 2, the freezing and cooling room 33 that houses the freezing and cooling machine 31 and the freezing fan 32, and the freezing temperature A duct 34 that connects the storage space of the strip and the freezer-cooler chamber 33 is provided.

  The refrigerating cooler 25 and the freezing cooler 31 constitute a refrigerating cycle 40 as shown in FIG. 2 together with a compressor 36 and a condenser 37 housed in a machine room 35 formed in the lower part of the back surface of the heat insulating box 2.

  The compressor 36 is a variable capacity compressor capable of changing the amount of refrigerant to be discharged by changing the operating frequency, and the condenser 37 and the inlet side of the switching valve 41 are connected in series to the discharge side thereof. There is.

The switching valve 41 is composed of a three-way valve that switches the refrigerant flowing from the inlet to one of the two outlets and flows it, and an electronic expansion valve that also serves as a throttle device that changes the opening degree (throttle degree). The first refrigerant flow path in which the refrigerating pressure reducing device 42 and the refrigerating cooler 25 are connected in series is connected to one outlet of the switching valve 41, and the refrigerating pressure reducing device 43 is connected to the other outlet of the switching valve 41. The second refrigerant flow path in which the refrigerating cooler 31 and the check valve 44 are connected in series is connected in parallel with the first refrigerant flow path. The pipe connected to the outlet side of the refrigerating cooler 25 and the pipe connected to the outlet side of the check valve 44 join together, and are connected to the suction side of the compressor 36 to form a refrigerant circuit.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the refrigerating cooler 25 has a large number of fins 25b attached to a refrigerant pipe 25a which is folded in a U shape at both ends in the width direction and formed in a meandering shape. Is a fin-tube type cooler in which the end plates 25c are connected.

  The refrigerant pipe 25a of the refrigerating cooler 25 has a front portion of the refrigerating cooler 25 in the refrigerator width direction (left-right direction) so that the upstream side (refrigerating pressure reducing device 42 side) in the refrigerant flow direction faces the chilled chamber 17 in the front-rear direction. It is provided from the upper side to the lower side along the back surface of the chilled chamber 17 while meandering, and then bends backward at the lower front side of the refrigerator / cooler 25 and from the lower portion of the refrigerator / cooler 25 to the upper portion while meandering in the refrigerator width direction. It is provided. The downstream side (compressor 36 side) of the refrigerant pipe 25a in the refrigerant flow direction is bent backward in the upper part of the refrigerating cooler 25 and is provided in the lower part while meandering in the refrigerator width direction from the upper part of the refrigerating cooler 25. There is. As a result, the refrigerating cooler 25 is arranged such that the upstream side portion in the refrigerant flow direction is closer to the chilled chamber 17 than the downstream side portion.

  The refrigerating cooler 31 is different in that the cooling temperature by the refrigerant is set lower than that of the refrigerating cooler 25, but the basic structure of the cooler is the same, and U-shaped at both ends in the width direction. A fin-tube type cooler in which a large number of fins are attached to a refrigerant pipe which is folded back in a meandering shape and both left and right ends of the meandering refrigerant pipe are connected by end plates.

  At the rear portion of the upper surface of the ceiling wall of the heat insulating box 2, a control unit 45 including a control board on which a microcomputer for controlling the refrigerator 1 is mounted is provided. As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 45 includes an operation display unit 6b, a refrigerating temperature sensor 18, a chilled temperature sensor 19, a freezing temperature sensor 24, a refrigerating fan 26, a freezing fan 32, a compressor 36, a switching valve 41, and the like. Are electrically connected to each other, and control the overall operation of the refrigerator 1 based on signals input from various sensors and the operation display unit 6b and a control program stored in a memory in advance.

  Specifically, the control unit 45 cools the storage chambers 6 and 7 in the refrigerating temperature zone based on the internal temperatures detected by the refrigerating temperature sensor 18 and the freezing temperature sensor 24, and the freezing. The second refrigerating process for rapidly cooling the chilled chamber 17 provided in the refrigerating chamber 6 when the freezing / cooling mode for cooling the storage chambers 8 and 10 in the temperature zone is switched and executed and a predetermined rapid cooling start condition is satisfied. Run cooling mode. Although the content of the rapid cooling start condition is not limited, for example, when the temperature detected by the chilled temperature sensor 19 reaches or exceeds a predetermined temperature, or the user performs a predetermined operation from the operation display unit 6b to instruct the rapid cooling. At some times, the control unit 45 can determine that the rapid cooling start condition is satisfied.

  When executing the first refrigerating and cooling mode, the control unit 45 supplies the refrigerant to the refrigerating cooler 25 via the refrigerating pressure reducing device 42 by switching the switching valve 41 while operating the compressor 36 at a predetermined frequency. Further, the control unit 45 rotates the refrigeration fan 26 while supplying the refrigerant to the refrigeration cooler 25.

  As a result of these controls, the refrigerating cooler 25 cools the air in the refrigerating cooler chamber 27 by vaporizing the refrigerant that has flowed in, thereby generating cold air. Then, the generated cool air is supplied to the refrigerating compartment 6 and the chilled compartment 17 through the duct 30 by the rotation of the refrigerating fan 26, and cools the refrigerated compartment 6 and the chilled compartment 17. A part of the air flowing through the refrigerating chamber 6 and the chilled chamber 17 flows into the return duct 28 from the suction port 38 provided at the lower rear portion of the chilled chamber 17 and returns to the refrigerating / cooling chamber 27. The remaining air flows into the vegetable compartment 7 through a through hole (not shown) provided in the partition plate 11 to cool the vegetable compartment 7, and then flows into the return duct 28 from the suction port 39 provided on the back surface of the vegetable compartment 7 for refrigeration. It returns to the cooler chamber 27 and is cooled again.

  When the second refrigeration cooling mode is executed, the control unit 45 operates the compressor 36 at a predetermined frequency and switches the switching valve 41 to supply the refrigerant to the refrigeration cooler 25 via the refrigeration decompression device 42. At that time, the control unit 45 sets the opening degree of the switching valve 41 smaller than the opening degree of the switching valve 41 in the first refrigerating and cooling mode. Further, the control unit 45 rotates the refrigeration fan 26 while supplying the refrigerant to the refrigeration cooler 25.

  As a result of these controls, the refrigerating cooler 25 cools the air in the refrigerating cooler chamber 27 by vaporizing the inflowing refrigerant, but the opening degree of the switching valve 41 is set to be smaller than that in the first refrigerating and cooling mode. Therefore, the pressure reducing effect is enhanced, and the refrigerating cooler 25 is cooled to a temperature lower than that in the first refrigerating and cooling mode (for example, a temperature lower than the first refrigerating and cooling mode by about 1 to 5 ° C.). As a result, the temperature of the cold air generated in the cold storage cooler chamber 27 becomes lower than that in the first cold storage cooling mode. Then, the generated cool air is supplied to the refrigerating compartment 6 and the chilled compartment 17 through the duct 30 by the rotation of the refrigerating fan 26, and cools the refrigerated compartment 6 and the chilled compartment 17. In the cold air supplied to the refrigerating chamber 6 and the chilled chamber 17, as in the first refrigerating and cooling mode, part of the air flowing through the refrigerating chamber 6 and the chilled chamber 17 flows into the return duct 28 from the suction port 38 and the remaining Air flows into the vegetable compartment 7 through a through hole (not shown) provided in the partition plate 11, flows from the suction port 39 into the return duct 28, returns to the refrigerating / cooling compartment 27, and is cooled again.

  When executing the freezing / cooling mode, the control unit 45 operates the compressor 36 at a predetermined frequency, switches the switching valve 41, and supplies the refrigerant to the freezing / cooling device 31 via the freezing / pressure reducing device 43. Further, the control unit 45 rotates the freezing fan 32 while supplying the refrigerant to the freezing cooler 31.

  As a result of these controls, the refrigerating / cooling device 31 cools the surrounding air by vaporizing the inflowing refrigerant to generate cold air in the refrigerating / cooling chamber 33. Then, the generated cool air circulates in the storage chambers 8 and 10 in the freezing temperature zone by the blowing action of the freezing fan 32, and cools these storage chambers to a predetermined freezing temperature. The cold air that circulates in the storage compartments 8 and 10 in the freezing temperature zone returns to the refrigerating / cooling compartment 33 from the suction port 47 provided on the back surface of the freezing compartment 10, and the refrigerating / cooling equipment 31 moves from below the refrigeration / cooling equipment 31 to above. Flows through between the large number of fins of the. At that time, the cold air is cooled again by the freezing cooler 31, and then is blown again to the storage chambers 8 and 10 in the freezing temperature zone.

  In the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment as described above, since the opening degree of the switching valve 41 is set smaller than that in the first refrigerating and cooling mode in the second refrigerating and cooling mode, the pressure reducing effect is enhanced and refrigeration is performed at a temperature lower than that in the first refrigerating and cooling mode. The cooler 25 is cooled. Therefore, it becomes possible to cool the storage chambers 6, 7, and 17 cooled by the refrigerating cooler 25 to a temperature lower than the first refrigerating and cooling mode rapidly. Moreover, in the second refrigerating / cooling mode, the amount of refrigerant flowing through the refrigerating cooler 25 is reduced by reducing the opening degree of the switching valve 41, and the amount of cold heat generated in the refrigerating cooler 25 can be suppressed. It is possible to prevent a portion of the refrigerating chamber 6 from being inadvertently excessively cooled while rapidly cooling a portion of the above.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the refrigerating cooler 25 is arranged such that the upstream side portion in the refrigerant flow direction is closer to the chilled chamber 17 cooled in the second refrigerating and cooling mode than the downstream side portion. When the mode is executed, the amount of the refrigerant flowing to the refrigerating cooler 25 decreases, and the upstream side portion is cooled to a temperature lower than that in the first refrigerating and cooling mode. However, even if the downstream side portion is hardly cooled because the liquid refrigerant does not flow, the chilled In the chamber 17, the cooling effect by the upstream side portion of the refrigerating cooler 25 is easily exerted, and the chilled chamber 17 can be cooled rapidly.

  Particularly, in the present embodiment, since the upstream side portion of the refrigerating cooler 25 is arranged so as to face the chilled chamber 17, in addition to cooling the chilled chamber 17 by the blowing action of the refrigerating fan 26, the refrigerating cooler is also provided. The chilled chamber 17 can also be directly cooled by the cold heat generated in 25, and the chilled chamber 17 can be efficiently cooled.

  In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 45 may set the rotation speed of the refrigerating fan 26 to be smaller when executing the second refrigerating / cooling mode than when executing the first refrigerating / cooling mode. .. Of the plurality of outlets 30a provided in the duct 30, the outlet 30a provided at a position closest to the refrigerating / cooling chamber 27 has the chilled chamber 17 opening, so that the refrigerating fan 26 in the second refrigerating / cooling mode is opened. By setting the rotation speed lower than that in the first refrigerating / cooling mode, the cool air in the refrigerating / cooling chamber 27 cooled by the refrigerating / cooling device 25 is preferentially introduced into the chilled chamber 17, and the chilled chamber 17 is cooled. Can be cooled rapidly.

  Further, in the above-described present embodiment, the control unit 45 may set the operating frequency of the compressor 36 to be larger when executing the second refrigerating and cooling mode than when executing the first refrigerating and cooling mode. .. By setting the operating frequency of the compressor 36 in this way, when the amount of refrigerant flowing through the refrigerating cooler 25 in the second refrigerating and cooling mode decreases and the amount of cold heat generated in the refrigerating cooler 25 becomes insufficient, the refrigerating cooler The required amount of cold heat can be secured by increasing the amount of refrigerant supplied to 25.

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

1 ... Refrigerator, 2 ... Insulation box, 6 ... Refrigerating room, 17 ... Chilled room, 18 ... Refrigerating temperature sensor, 19 ... Chilled temperature sensor, 25 ... Refrigerating cooler, 25a ... Refrigerant pipe, 25b ... Fin, 25c ... End Plate, 26 ... Refrigeration fan, 27 ... Refrigeration cooler room, 36 ... Compressor, 37 ... Condenser, 40 ... Refrigeration cycle, 41 ... Switching valve, 42 ... Refrigeration decompression device, 43 ... Refrigeration decompression device, 45 ... Control unit

Claims (4)

An insulating box body with a storage room inside,
A refrigeration cycle that includes a compressor, a condenser, a throttle device, and a cooler, and supplies a refrigerant discharged from the compressor to the cooler via the condenser and the throttle device,
A control unit for controlling the refrigeration cycle ,
With a small storage room provided in the storage room ,
The control unit causes a refrigerant to flow through the cooler while reducing the opening degree of the expansion device as compared with a first cooling mode in which the refrigerant flows through the cooler to cool the storage chamber. And a second cooling mode for cooling the storage chamber ,
The refrigerator is arranged such that an upstream side portion in a refrigerant flow direction is closer to the small storage chamber than a downstream side portion, and cools the small storage chamber in the second cooling mode . A temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the small storage chamber,
When the detection temperature of the temperature sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the control unit, the refrigerator according to claim 1 to perform the second cooling mode. A blower fan for blowing the cool air generated by the cooler to the storage chamber,
The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the rotation speed of the blower fan in the second cooling mode is smaller than that in the first cooling mode. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3 for increasing the rotational speed of the compressor in the second cooling mode than in the first cooling mode.

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