JP6847010B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a refrigerator.

A technique has been proposed in which a refrigerator is provided with high energy saving by improving the storage stability and reliability of food by appropriately detecting the temperature in the storage chamber by a temperature detecting means. For example, in the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1 below, a first cold air duct and a second cold air duct are formed, and cold air is supplied to a predetermined area in the storage chamber by the respective ducts.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-122746

In the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1, the user operates a button to switch a plurality of cooling level settings such as "strong", "medium", and "weak", and correspond to each cooling level. The refrigerating operation is controlled so as to approach the set temperature. However, the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1 is not provided with a setting for efficiently cooling the lower part of the refrigerator compartment.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator having improved cooling efficiency in the lower part of the refrigerating chamber.

When a predetermined setting is turned on, when it is detected that food has been put into a predetermined corner at the lower part of the refrigerator compartment, it is automatically rapidly cooled, and the lower part of the refrigerator compartment is cooled to a lower temperature than when it is set to OFF. Increase the temperature difference.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a refrigerator having improved cooling efficiency in the lower part of the refrigerator compartment.

It is a front view of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. It is a front view of a refrigerating room. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. It is a front view of the cold air duct of the refrigerating room which concerns on this embodiment. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. It is a figure which shows the flow of the cold air at the time of cooling by the 1st cold air duct 11a. It is a figure which shows the flow of the cold air at the time of cooling by the 2nd cold air duct 11b. It is a figure which shows the flow of the cold air at the time of cooling in both the 1st cold air duct 11a and the 2nd cold air duct 11b. It is an exploded perspective view which shows the cold air duct of a refrigerating room. It is a perspective view which looked at the panel cover 30 from the back side. It is a perspective view seen from the back side of the flow path forming member 41. FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing the vicinity of the discharge port 30b in a state where the flow path forming member 41 is fitted to the panel cover 30. It is an enlarged perspective view which looked at the vicinity of the front concave part 30w1 of a panel cover 30 from the front side. It is a flowchart which shows the control of automatic quenching. It is a time chart of automatic quenching. It is a time chart when the lower cooling is set to ON. It is a time chart when the lower cooling is set to OFF. It is a time chart of a temperature guarantee heater.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an appearance of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment is composed of a refrigerating room 2, an ice making room 3, an upper freezing room 4, a lower freezing room 5, and a vegetable room 6 from above. The refrigerating room 2 is provided with the refrigerating room doors 2a and 2b divided into left and right, and the ice making room 3, the upper freezing room 4, the lower freezing room 5, and the vegetable room 6 are the pull-out type ice making room door 3a and the upper freezing room door, respectively. It is provided with 4a, a lower freezing room door 5a, and a vegetable room door 6a. Hereinafter, the refrigerating room doors 2a and 2b, 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 simply referred to as doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, 6a. A door hinge for fixing the refrigerator 1 and the doors 2a and 2b is provided on the upper part of the refrigerator, and the door hinge is covered with the door hinge cover 53.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. The outside of the refrigerator 1 and the inside of the refrigerator 1 are separated by a heat insulating box 10 formed by filling the refrigerator with a foamed heat insulating material. A plurality of vacuum heat insulating materials 25 are mounted on the heat insulating box body 10 of the refrigerator 1. The heat insulating partition wall 28 separates the refrigerating room 2, the upper freezing room 4, and the ice making room 3, and similarly, the heat insulating partition wall 29 separates the lower freezing room 5 and the vegetable room 6. A plurality of door pockets are provided inside the doors 2a and 2b in the order of 33a, 33b, 33c from the top, and the refrigerating room 2 has a plurality of shelves from the top 34a, 34b, 34c, 34d, 34e (FIG. 3). (See), which is divided into multiple storage spaces. The shelves 34a and 34b are partially made of glass, and the shelves 34c, 34d and 34e are made of resin.

A decompression storage chamber 35 for storing food under reduced pressure is provided below the lowermost shelf 34e of the refrigerating chamber 2. A decompression pump (not shown) is provided to reduce the pressure inside the decompression storage chamber 35, and the door 56 of the decompression storage chamber can be locked by the handle 55 to maintain the internal pressure. (See Fig. 3). The temperature inside the decompression storage chamber 35 can be set from the outside, and the decompression storage chamber 35 is cooled by the cold air from the discharge port 38 (with an air volume adjusting device (damper)) provided on the back side of the decompression storage chamber 35. The temperature is adjusted according to the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 45 provided on the back side of the above. Although the decompression storage chamber 35 is used in the present embodiment, it may be a low-temperature storage chamber (chilled chamber) that is not decompressed and is partitioned by the lowermost shelf 34e and has the lowermost shelf 34e as the ceiling.

A heat insulating partition wall 40 of the freezing chamber is provided between the upper freezing chamber 4 and the lower freezing chamber 5. The upper freezing chamber 4, the lower freezing chamber 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 are provided with storage containers 3b, 4b, 5b, 6b integrally with the doors 3a, 4a, 5a, 6a provided in front of the respective cooling chambers, respectively. By pulling out the doors 4a, 5a, 6a toward the front side, the storage containers 4b, 5b, 6b can also be pulled out. A storage container is also provided in the ice making chamber 3 integrally with the door 3a, and the storage container 3b can also be pulled out by pulling out the door 3a toward the front side. Further, the outside temperature sensor 52 is provided inside, for example, the door hinge cover 53 of the refrigerator 1.

The cooler 7 is provided in the cooler storage chamber 8 provided substantially behind the lower freezing chamber 5, and the cold air that has exchanged heat with the cooler 7 by the internal fan 9 provided above the cooler 7 is the refrigerating chamber. Refrigerator chamber 2 and upper refrigeration via the cold air duct 11 (first cold air duct 11a and second cold air duct 11b), upper freezer compartment cold air duct 12, lower freezer compartment air duct 13 and ice making chamber air duct (not shown). It is sent to each storage room of room 4, lower freezer room 5, and ice making room 3.

The blowing of cold air to each storage chamber is controlled by opening and closing the air volume adjusting device, that is, the refrigerating chamber twin dampers 20 (20a, 20b) and the freezing chamber damper 60. The refrigerator compartment twin damper 20 is a twin baffle type damper having two baffles 20a and 20b, and the baffle is opened and closed by a motor drive unit 46 (see FIG. 3) to adjust the air volume.

In the case of the refrigerating room cooling operation for cooling the refrigerating room 2, the refrigerating room twin damper 20 is opened, the freezing room damper 60 is closed, and the outlets 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 31a, 31b pass through the refrigerating room duct 11. Cold air is sent to the refrigerator compartment 2. After the cold air is circulated in the refrigerating chamber 2, the cold air flows into the refrigerating chamber return port 39 (see FIG. 3) provided on one of the left and right sides of the lower part of the refrigerating chamber, and then returned to the cooler 7. There are various methods for cooling the vegetable compartment 6. For example, a method of directly sending cold air to the vegetable compartment 6 after cooling the refrigerator compartment 2 or a method of sending cold air directly to the vegetable compartment 6 or cold air generated in the cooler 7 using a damper dedicated to the vegetable compartment 6 is used. Can be considered as a method of sending the vegetables directly to the vegetable compartment 6. In the present embodiment, the method of supplying cold air to the vegetable compartment 6 may be any case. In the example described in FIG. 2, the cold air flowing into the vegetable compartment 6 is discharged from the vegetable compartment return port 18a provided in front of the lower part of the heat insulating partition wall 29 through the vegetable compartment return duct 18 and from the vegetable compartment return discharge port 18b. It flows into the cooler 7.

In the case of the freezing room cooling operation for cooling the freezing rooms 4 and 5 (including the ice making room 3), the refrigerating room twin damper 20 is closed, the freezing room damper 60 is opened, and the cold air is supplied to the upper freezing room 4 and the lower freezing room 5. After cooling the ice making chamber 3, the ice making chamber 3 is returned to the cooler 7 through the freezing chamber return port 17. Depending on the temperature inside the refrigerator, the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chambers 4 and 5 may be cooled at the same time. In that case, both the refrigerating chamber twin damper 20 and the freezing chamber damper 60 are opened to provide cold air to each storage chamber. Blow.

A first temperature sensor 43 that detects the temperature of the area partitioned by the shelves 34b and the ceiling surface of the refrigerating room, and a second temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the area partitioned by the shelves 34b and the lowermost shelf 34e of the refrigerating room. 42, Opening and closing the baffles 20a and 20b of the refrigerating chamber twin damper 20 according to the temperature detected by the third temperature sensor 45, which detects the temperature of the area partitioned by the lowermost shelf 34e and the heat insulating partition wall 28, etc. To control.

A defrost heater 22 is provided below the cooler 7. The drain water generated during defrosting once falls into the gutter 23 and is discharged to the evaporating dish 21 provided on the head of the compressor 24 through the drain hole 27. In the machine room 61 provided in the lower part of the back surface of the refrigerator, a radiator and a fan for heat dissipation (not shown) are arranged in addition to the compressor 24.
A control board 51 equipped with a memory and an interface circuit is arranged on the upper surface of the ceiling wall of the refrigerator 1, and the refrigeration cycle and the ventilation system are controlled according to the control stored in the control board 51. The control board 51 is covered with a board cover 50.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the inside of the refrigerating chamber 2 (doors 2a and 2b are omitted), and FIG. 4 is an enlarged BB sectional view of the refrigerating chamber of FIG. The refrigerating chamber cold air duct 11 including the first cold air duct 11a and the second cold air duct 11b is connected to the baffles 20a and 20b formed by two openings provided in the refrigerating chamber twin damper 20, respectively. Specifically, of the refrigerating chamber twin damper 20, the baffle 20a side having a large opening area is connected to the first cold air duct 11a having a large flow path cross-sectional area and extending upward. Then, when cooling in the first cold air duct 11a, the baffle 20a is opened, the baffle 20b is closed, when cooling in the second cold air duct 11b, the baffle 20a is closed, the baffle 20b is opened, and both ducts are used for cooling. In that case, the baffles 20a and 20b are opened, respectively. The cold air duct 11a is used when cooling the upper part of the refrigerating chamber, and the cold air duct 11b is used when cooling the lower part of the refrigerating chamber.

The first cold air duct 11a is provided with discharge ports 30e, 30f, 30a, and 30b in order from the top, and the cold air blown from each discharge port is provided by the ceiling surface 63 and the second shelf 34b. It mainly cools the food placed in the compartmentalized area 2A (see FIGS. 2 and 4), that is, the shelves 34a and 34b and the door pockets 33a and 33b. The second cold air duct 11b is provided with discharge ports 30c and 30d, and the cold air blown from the respective discharge ports is used as the second shelf 34b from the top and the fourth (bottom) shelf 34e from the top. Area 2B (see FIGS. 2 and 4) partitioned by, i.e., the food placed on the shelves 34c, 34d, 34e is mainly cooled. A decompression storage chamber 35 and an ice making tank 36 are provided in the area 2C (see FIGS. 2 and 4) below the shelf 34e, and are commonly provided by cold air from both the first cold air duct 11a and the second cold air duct 11b. It is cooled, and it becomes a region that is easily cooled due to the influence of the freezing temperature zone chamber provided in the lower part of the refrigerating chamber 2.

A first temperature sensor 43 is provided in the region 2A of the refrigerating chamber 2, a second temperature sensor 42 is provided in the region 2B, and a third temperature sensor 45 is provided in the region 2C. For example, in the present embodiment, the first temperature sensor 43 is provided on the ceiling surface 63 of the refrigerating chamber 2. The second temperature sensor 42 is located between the shelves 34d and 34e, and is provided on the panel cover 30 forming the refrigerating chamber cold air duct 11 provided on the back side of the refrigerating chamber 2. Similarly, the third temperature sensor 45 is provided on the panel cover 30, and the cold air blown from the discharge ports 30e, 30f, 30a, 30b of the first cold air duct 11a and the discharge ports 30c, 30d of the second cold air duct 11b is blown. The temperature of the commonly circulating region 2C (ambient temperature of the ice making tank 36 and the decompression storage chamber 35) is detected.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the refrigerating chamber cold air duct 11 (first cold air duct 11a, second cold air duct 11b), and is a front view of each. Further, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the first cold air duct 11a is formed to a position higher than the second cold air duct 11b, and at least at the height of the upper end of the second cold air duct 11b, the width dimension of the first cold air duct 11a is large. It is wider than the width dimension of the second cold air duct 11b.

Here, when the refrigerating chamber is cooled by a general refrigerator, the refrigerating chamber upper region 2A and the refrigerating chamber lower region 2B are cooled at the same time. However, if food is put into only one of the regions from outside the refrigerator, the food that has already been cooled in the other region will be further cooled, and there is a concern about freezing and deterioration of quality. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the first cold air duct 11a for cooling the upper region 2A of the refrigerating chamber is provided based on the temperatures detected by the first temperature sensor 43, the second temperature sensor 42, and the third temperature sensor 45. By appropriately switching between the second cold air duct 11b for cooling the lower region 2B of the refrigerating chamber and the second cold air duct 11b, excessive cooling is suppressed and energy saving is improved.

FIG. 7 shows the flow of cold air in the refrigerating chamber 2 when cooled by the first cold air duct 11a. When the baffle 20a of the refrigerating chamber twin damper 20 is opened (the baffle 20b is closed), cold air is discharged from the discharge ports 30a, 30b, 30e, 30f provided in the first cold air duct 11a. The discharged cold air mainly cools the food in the area 2A where the uppermost shelves 34a and 34b and the door pockets 33a and 33b are arranged, and then goes to the lowermost shelf 34e and the area 2C partitioned by the heat insulating partition wall 28. Reach and cool this space. When food is put into the region 2A, the first temperature sensor 43 detects the temperature rise in the region 2A, and the second temperature sensor 42 does not detect the temperature rise in the region 2B, the cold air duct 11a is used. Carry out a cooling pattern. Since only the food newly introduced into the region 2A is mainly cooled, the food in the region 2B is not cooled too much, and energy saving can be improved.

On the other hand, FIG. 8 shows the flow of cold air in the refrigerating chamber 2 when cooled by the second cold air duct 11b. When the baffle 20b of the refrigerating chamber twin damper 20 is opened (the baffle 20a is closed), cold air is discharged from the discharge ports 30c and 30d provided in the second cold air duct 11b. The discharged cold air mainly cools the food in the area B where the shelves 34c, 34d, and 34e are arranged, and then reaches the area 2C partitioned by the lowermost shelf 34e and the heat insulating partition wall 28, and then reaches the area 2C of this space. Perform cooling. When food is put into the area 2B, the first temperature sensor 43 does not detect the temperature rise in the area 2A, and the second temperature sensor 42 detects the temperature rise in the area 2B, the cooling in the cold air duct 11b is performed. Implement the pattern. The inside of the region 2B can be efficiently cooled with respect to the cooling pattern in the cold air duct 11a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, if both the baffles 20a and 20b of the refrigerating chamber twin damper 20 are opened, a cooling pattern using both the first cold air duct 11a and the second cold air duct 11b can be implemented. If this cooling pattern is implemented, even when food is put into the regions 2A and 2B at the same time, it can be efficiently cooled.

In the present embodiment, the temperature of each region in the refrigerating chamber is detected by using each temperature sensor, and the air volume adjusting device is controlled according to the detection result so that the temperature of each region becomes appropriate. Can be cooled. Therefore, it is possible to carry out cooling with improved energy saving without excessively cooling the already cold region, and it is possible to obtain the effect of suppressing freezing of food and deterioration of quality.

Further, in the refrigerator of the present embodiment, apart from the above-mentioned first temperature sensor 43, second temperature sensor 42, and third temperature sensor 45, a fourth for detecting food input to the lower part of the refrigerating chamber. A temperature sensor (food detection sensor) 48 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the food detection sensor 48 is located between the shelf 34e immediately above the decompression storage chamber 35 and the next shelf 34c as a height position, and is located in the left-right direction from the left-right center. Is also on the side with the refrigerating room return port 39. As a more specific position in the left-right direction, it is desirable that there is a discharge port 30d for cooling the lower part of the refrigerating chamber provided between the lowermost shelf 34e and the upper shelf 34c, and a cold air return port 39. The discharge port 30d is unevenly distributed on one side (right side in this embodiment) from the left and right center of the panel cover 30, and the cold air return port 39 is also on one side below the lowermost shelf 34e (from the center in this embodiment). It is formed on the right side).

Therefore, a rapid cooling corner is located on the right side of the center (region 2D in FIG. 3) between at least the lowermost shelf 34e and the shelf 34d above it, which is a path for cold air from the discharge port 30d to the cold air return port 39. By doing so, the cooling efficiency can be improved. Then, in the present embodiment, by arranging the food detection sensor 48 between the discharge port 30d and the cold air return port 39, it is possible to accurately detect that warm food is placed in this rapid cooling corner and automatically detect it. Rapid cooling can be started. If an aluminum tray is placed in the rapid cooling corner, it becomes easier for the user to recognize that the space is for rapid cooling.

Since the second cold air duct 11b is provided with a discharge port 30c just below the shelf 34b near the intermediate height of the refrigerating chamber 2, the space between the shelf 34c and the shelf 34b (FIG. 3). Region 2E) can also be a rapid cooling corner. Here, the food detection sensor 48 is located immediately below the shelf 34c, and can detect even when food is placed in the space above the shelf 34c. Further, since the region 2E does not have a member for partitioning the left and right sides, a wider space than the region 2C, that is, a region immediately above the left shelf 34d can be targeted for rapid cooling.

Here, the control of automatic rapid cooling by the food detection sensor 48 will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. First, it is determined whether or not the automatic rapid cooling mode setting is ON (step S1). When the doors 2a and 2b are opened and closed in step S2 when the automatic rapid cooling mode is set to ON, the state shifts to the monitoring state for determining whether or not rapid cooling is permitted. In step S3, when the food detection sensor 48 maintains a state equal to or higher than the rapid cooling permission determination threshold value for a certain period of time (rapid cooling start determination time) after shifting to the monitoring state, it is considered that the food has been put into the lower part of the refrigerating chamber 2. And start rapid cooling. Here, the rapid cooling permission determination threshold value is set to a value that is constant temperature higher than the detection temperature of the food detection sensor 48 when the doors 2a and 2b are closed.

When rapid cooling is started, the compressor 24 is rotated at high speed (2000 rpm to 4000 rpm), the internal fan 9 is also rotated at high speed, and the baffle 20a for the first cold air duct 11a and the baffle 20b for the second cold air duct 11b are rotated. Both of them are opened, and cold air is supplied to both the upper part and the lower part of the refrigerating chamber 2, and the entire refrigerating chamber 2 is first cooled. After that, when the temperature detected by the food detection sensor 48 becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value (baffle 20a threshold value), the baffle 20a of the first cold air duct 11a is closed. At this time, cold air is supplied only from the second cold air duct 11b, but since the second cold air duct 11b has a discharge port only in the lower part of the refrigerating chamber 2, the regions 2D and 2E which are the lower parts of the refrigerating chamber 2 are concentrated. Is cooled.

Next, when the value detected by the food detection sensor 48 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value (baffle 20b threshold value) lower than the baffle 20a threshold value, the baffle 20b of the second cold air duct 11b is also closed, and the compressor 24 and the refrigerator are closed. The rotation of the inner fan 9 is stopped to end the rapid cooling. The timing of closing the baffle 20a and the baffle 20b may be determined based on whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of rapid cooling (step S4).

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the food detection sensor 48 detects that food has been put into the lower part of the refrigerator after opening and closing the doors 2a and 2b, the first cold air duct 11a that mainly cools the upper part and the first cold air duct 11a. The second cold air duct 11b, which mainly cools the lower part, is used to supply cold air to cool the entire refrigerating chamber first, and then only the second cold air duct 11b is used to supply cold air to lower the lower part of the refrigerating chamber. Cool intensively. In particular, in the present embodiment, the opening area of the discharge ports 30c and 30d provided in the second cold air duct 11b is calculated from the total opening area of the discharge ports 30e, 30f, 30a and 30b provided in the first cold air duct 11a. Since the total is small, the wind speed of the cold air supplied to the rapid cooling corner at the lower part of the refrigerating chamber 2 increases, and this space can be effectively cooled. If cooling is performed using only the second cold air duct 11b immediately after opening and closing the doors 2a and 2b, the high temperature of the entire refrigerating chamber affects the food at the bottom, which makes it difficult to cool. As described above, cooling is first performed using both ducts.

As a result, even if the hot pot is stored in the lower part of the refrigerator, it is possible to suppress the temperature rise of the food around the pot in the lower part of the refrigerator and prevent deterioration. In addition, it is possible to suppress excessive cooling of the upper part of the refrigerator compartment far from the hot pot, and reduce power consumption.

Here, the cooling pattern in FIG. 8 described above also describes that the cooling is performed by the second cold air duct 11b, but in the cooling pattern of FIG. 8, the second temperature sensor 42 that detects the temperature inside the refrigerator chamber to the last. The rotation speed of the compressor 24 and the refrigerator fan 9 is also low. On the other hand, in the cooling pattern of automatic rapid cooling, the food detection sensor 48 provided near the rapid cooling corner in the lower part of the refrigerating chamber is used for control, and the rotation speeds of the compressor 24 and the internal fan 9 are increased. It is raised to rotation. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the input of hot food and to quickly and effectively apply cold air to the food.

In addition, when food is put into the lower part of the refrigerating room 2, it is not only automatically cooled rapidly, but also when the user sets it by selection by a control panel or the like, the refrigerating room 2 is set regardless of the presence or absence of food detection. The lower part may be forcibly cooled rapidly.

Next, the control of lower cooling that keeps the temperature of the lower part of the refrigerating chamber 2 lower than the temperature of the upper part of the refrigerating chamber 2 by 2 ° C. or more by using each temperature sensor and each cold air duct will be described. .. The lower cooling mode can be set to ON / OFF on the control panel, and when this mode is set to ON, the open state of the baffle 20b is longer (opening of the baffle 20a) than when it is not set. Increase the ratio of the open state time of the baffle 20b to the state time). Specifically, unlike the case of the OFF setting, a time is provided during which the baffle 20a is closed and only the baffle 20b is open. However, the rotation speed of the compressor 24 during the operation of the lower stage cooling is not the high speed rotation as in the case of rapid cooling, but maintains the low speed rotation (1000 rpm to 2000 rpm).

Next, the control when the lower cooling mode is set to ON will be described with reference to FIG. In the lower cooling operation, when a predetermined time has elapsed after the compressor 24 is stopped, or when the detection temperature of the second temperature sensor 42 becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value (baffle opening threshold value), the compressor 24 is operated. While rotating at a low speed, both the baffles 20a and 20b are opened. After that, when the detection temperature of the second temperature sensor 42 becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value (baffle 20a threshold value), the baffle 20a is closed. Further, when the detection temperature of the second temperature sensor 42 becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value (baffle 20b threshold value), the baffle 20b is also closed.

Even in a general refrigerator, the low temperature air in the refrigerating room tends to collect downward, and even in the refrigerating room, the temperature of the lower part tends to be lower than that of the upper part. It is possible to select the storage location even for foods in different temperature zones suitable for storage. In particular, since the lower part of the refrigerator compartment is kept at a lower temperature than a general refrigerator, when the decompression storage chamber 35 for low temperature storage is full of food, the space under the refrigerator compartment can be used instead, which is convenient. Get better. When the lower cooling mode is set to OFF, the control is as shown in FIG. 18, and the dampers 20a and 20b are always opened at the same timing and closed at the same timing. Further, the target space of the lower cooling mode is wider than the target space of the above-mentioned automatic rapid cooling mode 2D + 2E (FIG. 3), and is the entire space between the shelves 34b and the shelves 34e.

In the present embodiment, the above-mentioned automatic rapid cooling mode in which food is automatically rapidly cooled when it is detected that food has been put into a predetermined corner at the lower part of the refrigerating room, and the upper part of the refrigerating room are lower than when the lower part of the refrigerating room is set to OFF. It has the above-mentioned lower cooling mode that increases the temperature difference, and ON / OFF of the setting of these modes is always performed at the same time by one operation. That is, it is not possible to set only the automatic rapid cooling mode to be ON and the lower cooling mode to be OFF, or the automatic rapid cooling mode to be OFF and only the lower cooling mode to be ON. In this way, since the above two modes can be switched at the same time with one operation, the convenience of the user is improved.

Further, when the above two modes are set to ON at the same time, the cooling effect is improved as compared with the case where they are set to ON one by one. That is, if only the automatic rapid cooling mode is set to ON, the food put into the rapid cooling corner can be cooled quickly, but other foods already placed in the refrigerating room space other than the rapid cooling corner can be cooled quickly. , The temperature is relatively high. Therefore, if the temperature of other existing foods rises immediately after the food is put into the rapid cooling corner, the refrigerating temperature range may be exceeded. On the other hand, if only the lower cooling mode is set to ON, not only the food put into the rapid cooling corner will be slowed down, but also other foods that have already been in a relatively low temperature state will be excessive. It may be cooled down. In this way, by setting the automatic rapid cooling mode and the lower cooling mode to ON at the same time, it is possible to perform cooling operation that suppresses the temperature effect on existing food while cooling the newly introduced food quickly. Become.

Further, parts such as the decompression storage chamber 35, the heat insulating partition wall 28 provided between the refrigerating chamber 2 and the ice making chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4, and the water supply pipe 64 for ice making are the ice making chamber 3 in the freezing temperature zone. Since it is located near the upper freezer chamber 4, it tends to get cold. Therefore, in order to keep these parts at a temperature that does not lead to freezing, a decompression storage chamber temperature guarantee heater 65 is provided in the heat insulating partition wall 28 on the bottom surface side of the decompression storage chamber 35, and inside the heat insulating partition wall 28. A water supply pipe temperature guarantee heater 66 is provided on the bottom surface side of the water supply pipe 64 (FIG. 4).

In particular, when the lower cooling mode and the automatic rapid cooling mode are set to ON, the temperature of the above-mentioned parts becomes more likely to be lowered. Therefore, when these settings are ON, as shown in FIG. 19, the energizing time of the decompression storage chamber temperature guarantee heater 65 and the water supply pipe temperature guarantee heater 66 is lengthened as compared with the time when they are set to OFF, and freezing is further increased. It is definitely prevented. Since the purpose of these temperature-guaranteed heaters is to prevent a decrease in temperature, the purpose is achieved not only by a method of lengthening the energizing time of the heater but also by another method of increasing the output of the heater. it can.

Next, the configuration of the refrigerating chamber cold air duct 11 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 10, the first cold air duct 11a and the second cold air duct 11b in the present embodiment are composed of a panel cover 30, a flow path forming member 41, a seal member 62, a damper cover 32, and the like.

First, the panel cover 30 is made of synthetic resin and has a base portion 30v in which a refrigerator damper is housed, and a vertical portion 30u extending vertically upward from the base portion 30v. On the side of the vertical portion 30u of the panel cover 30 facing the refrigerating chamber, a plurality of front recesses 30w are formed at different height positions corresponding to the discharge ports 30a to 30d. Then, the panel cover 30 is arranged at the center in the left-right direction on the back side of the refrigerating chamber 2. Further, two left and right discharge ports 30e and 30f are formed at the upper end portion of the panel cover 30, and cold air from the discharge ports 30e and 30f on the ceiling side can be directed to the uppermost door pocket 33a. Is.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the panel cover 30 when viewed from the back surface (back surface) side. On the back side of the panel cover 30, a guide convex portion 30t is formed at a position corresponding to the above-mentioned front concave portion 30w. A cold airflow inlet 30t0 is formed on the lower surface (upstream side surface) of each of the guide convex portions 30t, and the cold air flowing into the guide convex portion 30t from the cold airflow inlet 30t0 is the upper wall surface of the front concave portion 30w. It is guided to the front side in the refrigerating room 2 through.

Next, the flow path forming member 41 will be described. The flow path forming member 41 is formed by cutting expanded polystyrene or the like, and as shown in FIG. 10, the lower flow path portion 41v fitted to the base portion 30v of the panel cover 30 and the vertical flow path portion 41v of the panel cover 30. It has a main body flow path portion 41x that fits into the portion 30x. A part of the first cold air duct 11a that communicates with the baffle 22a of the refrigerating chamber twin damper 22 and a baffle 20b of the refrigerating chamber twin damper 22 communicate with the lower flow path portion 41v. (Ii) It constitutes a part of the cold air duct 11b.

Further, a plurality of notch holes 41h are formed in the main body flow path portion 41x of the flow path forming member 41 at positions having different heights. Specifically, a notch hole 41h1 for the first cold air duct 11a is formed at the highest position and one step lower, and the second cold air is formed at the lowest position and one step higher. A notch hole 41h2 for the duct 11b is formed. Here, the notch hole 41h1 formed above has a larger width than the notch hole 41h2 formed below. This is because the width region in which the discharge ports 30a and 30b above the first cold air duct 11a are formed is wider than the width region in which the discharge ports 30c and 30d of the second cold air duct 11b are formed.

As shown in FIG. 12, a rectifying unit 41k, which is a protruding piece extending in the vertical direction, is provided between the plurality of notch holes 41h1 that are above and adjacent to each other. The rectifying unit 41k guides the cold air from the upstream side upward, and effectively flows the cold air from the discharge ports 30e and 30f on the ceiling side to the door pocket 33a. Further, the rectifying unit 41k also has an effect of reinforcing the flow path forming member 41 of the portion sandwiched by the notch hole 41h1 and an effect of preventing the sealing member 62 from bending.

Further, a first groove portion 41ua and a second groove portion 41ub are formed on the back surface (back surface) side of the flow path forming member 41, and the first cold air duct 11a and the second cold air are formed between the seal member 62, respectively. It constitutes a duct 11b. In the first groove portion 41ua, an extended wall 11aa extending in the vertical direction is formed on one end side in the left-right direction (right side in FIG. 12), and on the other end side in the left-right direction (left side in FIG. 12) from the upper end of the second groove portion 41ub. An extending wall 11aa is formed up to a high predetermined position, and a widening wall 11ab extending linearly or arcuately toward the ceiling is formed on the downstream side thereof. As a result, the first cold air duct 11a has an upstream portion at a height adjacent to the second groove portion 41ub, a channel expansion portion that gradually expands the flow path cross-sectional area, and a flow path cross-sectional area than the upstream portion. Is formed with a large downstream area. Here, the vertical projection of the baffle 20a of the first cold air duct 11a and the vertical projection of the discharge port 30e are in a positional relationship such that at least a part thereof overlaps. Therefore, the cold air flowing in from the baffle 20a on the one (left) side of the lower end of the panel cover 30 is directed toward the discharge port 30e on the one (left) side of the upper end of the panel cover 30 without receiving a large ventilation resistance. Since it flows, cold air can be efficiently blown into the refrigerating room 2.

Further, on the back surface side of the downstream portion of the flow path forming member 41, a branch portion 41v for branching the cold air in the first cold air duct 11a in the left-right direction is formed, and the cold air after the branch is discharged ports 30e and 30f. Correspondingly, it flows to the groove outlets 41h3 and 41h4 provided at the upper end of the flow path forming member 41. As a result, cold air can be efficiently supplied to the uppermost door pocket 33a in the left and right doors 2a and 2b.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of the height of the second shelf 34b in a state where the flow path forming member 41 is fitted to the back surface of the panel cover 30. The cold air flowing from the upstream side to the downstream side in the space surrounded by the inner surface of the groove portion 41u of the flow path forming member 41 and the inner surface of the seal member 62 gradually dents (becomes deeper) toward the front side toward the downstream side. Guides the panel cover 30 to the cold airflow inlet 30t0. In this way, by providing the inclined portion 41s on the wall surface of the flow path forming member 41 located on the upstream side of the cold air flow inlet 30t0, the height of the guide convex portion 30t can be lowered, and the ventilation resistance in the duct by the guide convex portion 30t can be lowered. It is possible to suppress the influence of. By making the vertical dimension of the inclined portion 41s smaller than the vertical dimension of the notch hole 41h, it is possible to suppress the thickness reduction of the flow path forming member 41 due to the formation of the inclined portion 41s and prevent the deterioration of the heat insulating performance. It is possible.

Here, a plurality of cold airflow inlets 30t0 are formed in the left-right direction on the upstream side surface of the guide convex portion 30t, but since the partition wall 30t2 is provided between the adjacent cold airflow inlets 30t0, the width is substantially wide. Not only is it possible to form a wide discharge port, but it is also possible to prevent dust from entering while ensuring the strength of the panel cover 30. Not only the discharge port 30b but also the discharge ports 30a, 30c and 30d have the same configuration.

Further, the flow path forming member 41 has a curved shape such that the central portion bulges toward the front side in the left-right direction. Therefore, it is possible to expand the flow path cross-sectional area of the cold air duct formed by the flow path forming member 41 and the seal member 62. Similarly, the panel cover 30 has a curved horizontal cross section. Therefore, the cold air spreads radially from the panel cover 30 toward the inside of the refrigerating chamber 2 and is easily discharged, so that the inside of the refrigerating chamber 2 can be efficiently cooled.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14, the downstream inner wall surface (upper wall surface of the front concave portion 30w1) 30t1 of the guide convex portion 30t of the panel cover 30 also has a curved surface. Therefore, the cold air flowing from the inclined portion 41s of the flow path forming member 41 through the cold air flow inlet 30t0 into the guide convex portion 30t is guided forward while suppressing the ventilation resistance, which contributes to the improvement of the cooling efficiency.

In the present embodiment, each front recess 30w facing the refrigerator compartment side (front side) apparently corresponds to the discharge ports 30a to 30d. However, since the cold air is actually discharged in the region where the cold airflow inlet 30t0 exists, the opening area of each discharge port 30a to 30d refers to the total area of each cold airflow inlet 30t0.

The seal member 62 is a plate-shaped member made of a synthetic resin material or the like, and is arranged so as to cover the entire first groove portion 41ua and the second groove portion 41ub of the flow path forming member 41. Further, by connecting to the inner box 47 using the seal member 62, the cold air duct can be installed on the back side of the refrigerating chamber.

The following effects can be obtained by the configuration of the present embodiment described above.

First, regarding the first cold air duct 11a whose ventilation resistance increases due to the long flow path, the ventilation resistance until the cold air reaches the downstream is made as a whole by making the cross-sectional area of the flow path larger than that of the second cold air duct 11b. As a result, cold air can be efficiently blown to the upper space of the refrigerating chamber 2, and energy saving can be improved.

Next, a guide convex portion 30t extending in the horizontal direction to receive cold air extending from the upstream side is formed inside the wall surface forming the front side of the cold air duct 11, and is formed on the upstream side wall surface (lower surface) of the guide convex portion 30t. Since the cold airflow inlet 30t0 is formed, the cold air in the cold air duct 11 can be efficiently drawn in. Further, the cold air flowing in from the cold air flow inlet 30t0 passes through the inside of the guide convex portion 30t and is guided to the front side in the refrigerating chamber 2 through the upper wall surface of the front concave portion 30w. As a result, the air volume of the discharged cold air is increased, so that the cooling efficiency is improved.

Further, since the discharge port is formed so as to penetrate the lower surface of the guide convex portion 30t in the vertical direction, it is difficult for the user to recognize the discharge port even when the inside of the refrigerating chamber 2 is viewed from the front side. The design is improved. The lower surface of the guide convex portion 30t is not limited to horizontal, and if it is closer to the horizontal direction than the vertical direction, the effect of making the discharge port difficult to see and the effect of increasing the discharge air volume are exhibited to a certain extent.

Further, since the horizontally long rectangular front recesses 30w at different heights have the same width regardless of the size of the width region of the discharge port, the user does not feel uncomfortable and the design can be kept high. The width dimension of each front recess 30w is not limited to exactly the same, and may be within the range of 90% to 110%.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the discharge port formed on the front surface side of the first cold air duct 11a is wider than the discharge port formed on the front surface of the second cold air duct 11b, it is generally widespread to the upper part of the refrigerating chamber 2 which is difficult to cool. Cool air can be supplied to the air, and the cooling efficiency is improved. Since the first cold air duct 11a extending higher than the second cold air duct 11b forms all the discharge ports 30a and 30b at a position higher than the uppermost discharge port 30c of the second cold air duct 11b. , Cold air can be concentrated and supplied to the upper part of the refrigerating chamber 2, and the cooling efficiency is improved.

On the other hand, the upper end of the second cold air duct 11b is located at a position lower than half of the height of the refrigerating chamber 2, and all the discharge ports of the second cold air duct 11b are also located at a position lower than half of the height of the refrigerating chamber 2. It is in. Therefore, if the baffle 20b of the refrigerating room twin damper 20 is closed and the baffle 20b is opened, cold air can be concentrated and supplied to the lower part of the refrigerating room 2, so that when warm food is put into the lower part of the refrigerating room 2. Rapid cooling and lower cooling that keeps the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 2 at a lower temperature than the upper part are possible. Here, the space below half the height of the refrigerating room 2 corresponds to a position slightly higher than the heat insulating partition wall 28 near the waistline of the average user, and is frequently used, so this space. It is effective to target the rapid cooling and lower cooling. In particular, if the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 2 is kept at 2 ° C. or lower, the long-term storage stability of prepared foods and the like is greatly improved. Further, even if warm food is put into a part of the refrigerating room 2, the space is rapidly cooled, so that the temperature of the other space can be suppressed from rising, and as a result, the storage stability of the entire refrigerating room 2 is improved. ..

1 Refrigerator, 2 Refrigerator room, 2a, 2b Refrigerator room door, 3 Ice room, 3a Ice room door, 3b Storage container, 4 Upper freezer room, 4a Upper freezer door, 4b Storage container, 5 Lower freezer room, 5a Lower freezer Room door, 5b storage container, 6 vegetable room, 6a vegetable room door, 6b storage container, 7 cooler, 8 cooler storage room, 9 refrigerator fan, 10 heat insulating box, 11 refrigerating room cold air duct, 11a first cold air Duct, 11aa 1st cold air duct extension wall, 11ab 1st cold air duct widening wall, 11b 2nd cold air duct, 12 upper freezer cold air duct, 13 lower freezer cold air duct, 17 freezer return port, 18 vegetable room Return duct, 18a Vegetable room return port, 18b Vegetable room return port, 20 Refrigerator room twin damper, 20a baffle, 20b baffle, 21 Evaporator, 22 Defrost heater, 23 Hi, 24 Compressor, 25 Vacuum insulation, 27 Drain holes, 28, 29, 40 heat insulating partition walls, 30 panel covers, 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e, 30f discharge ports, 30t guide protrusions, 30w front recesses, 33a, 33b, 33c door pockets, 34a, 34b , 34c, 34d, 34e shelf, 35 decompression storage room, 36 ice making tank, 39 refrigerating room return port, 41 flow path forming member, 41h notch hole, 41h rectifying part, 41s inclined part, 41v branch part, 42 second temperature Sensor, 43 1st temperature sensor, 45 3rd temperature sensor, 46 motor drive, 47 back cover, 48 food detection sensor, 50 board cover, 51 control board, 52 outside temperature sensor, 53 door hinge cover, 55 handle , 56 Decompression storage room door, 60 Refrigerator room damper, 61 Machine room, 62 Seal member, 63 Ceiling surface 64 Water supply pipe 65 Decompression storage room temperature guarantee heater 66 Water supply pipe temperature guarantee heater

Claims (6)

When a predetermined setting is turned on, when it is detected that food has been put into a predetermined corner at the lower part of the refrigerating room, the upper part and the lower part of the refrigerating room are automatically rapidly cooled, and the lower part of the refrigerating room is lower than the upper part. A refrigerator characterized in that it cools and lowers the temperature of the lower part of the refrigerating chamber to increase the temperature difference from the upper part of the refrigerating chamber as compared with the case of setting OFF. An automatic rapid cooling mode that automatically quenches when it detects that food has been put into a predetermined corner at the bottom of the refrigerator compartment, and a temperature difference between the lower part of the refrigerator compartment and the upper part of the refrigerator compartment is larger than when it is set to OFF. A refrigerator including a lower cooling mode, wherein the automatic rapid cooling mode and the setting of the lower cooling mode are switched ON / OFF at the same time by one operation, and both are turned ON or both are turned OFF. The step of rapidly cooling the upper and lower parts of the refrigerator compartment is
It starts automatically according to the increase in the detection value of the temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the predetermined corner, and / or ends according to the decrease in the detection value of the temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the predetermined corner or the passage of time.
The lower part of the refrigerating chamber is provided with another temperature sensor arranged in a corner other than the predetermined corner.
The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein cooling of the lower part of the refrigerating chamber, which is weaker than the rapid cooling, is started in response to an increase in the detection value of the other temperature sensor. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined corner is closer to the return port of the refrigerator compartment than the other temperature sensor. When the predetermined setting is turned on,
The refrigerator according to claim 1, 3 or 4, wherein the lower part of the refrigerating chamber is cooled to 2 ° C. or lower so that the temperature difference from the upper part of the refrigerating chamber is larger than when the refrigerator is set to OFF. When it detects that food has been put into a predetermined corner at the bottom of the refrigerator or the temperature rise of the temperature sensor arranged at the corner, the step of cooling the upper and lower parts of the refrigerator and the lower part of the refrigerator are lower than the upper part of the refrigerator. the a refrigerator to perform the step of low temperature,
The lower part of the refrigerating chamber is a refrigerator which is a region not including the low-temperature storage chamber or the decompression storage chamber when the low-temperature storage chamber or the decompression storage chamber formed in the refrigerating chamber is provided in the lower part of the inside .

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