JP7148673B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to refrigerators.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a refrigerator for home use has storage compartments such as a refrigerating compartment, a vegetable compartment, and a freezing compartment. , see Patent Document 1). Further, in the back wall portion of the storage compartment, the duct connected to the cooler compartment has an outlet, and the cold air cooled by the cooler is supplied into the storage compartment from the outlet by the blowing action of the fan device. It has become.

JP 2013-127345 A

The refrigerator described above has a configuration in which a predetermined distance is secured between the fan device and the cooler in order to increase the cooling efficiency or the heat exchange efficiency of the cooler. tend to impair sexuality.

Therefore, the present invention provides a refrigerator capable of saving energy and ensuring a sufficient storage capacity of the storage compartment.

The refrigerator of this embodiment includes at least one storage compartment in which a cold air outlet is formed, a cooler for cooling the storage compartment, and the cold air cooled by the cooler is supplied through the cold air supply duct. and air blowing means for supplying air from the outlet into the storage chamber, wherein two or more of the air blowing means for the cooler are provided for one of the coolers, and the two or more air blowing means are controlled. A control means is provided, and an opening/ closing means is provided for opening and closing a flow path of cold air supplied through the supply duct common to the two or more air blowing means , wherein the control means In the closed state controlled by the opening/ closing means, the number of rotations of at least one of the two or more air blowing means is made lower than the number of rotations in the open state of the opening/ closing means.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the back side showing the first embodiment in which a cooler and a fan device are assembled; Vertical side view showing a schematic configuration of the entire refrigerator Configuration diagram of refrigeration cycle Block diagram showing electrical configuration Vertical cross-sectional side view showing an enlarged vicinity of a cooler and a fan device FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an enlarged pair of fan devices and a holding member; Perspective view showing the fan unit and the front cover of the cooling chamber Flowchart showing control procedure during refrigeration defrosting operation Flowchart showing control procedure during refrigeration cooling operation FIG. 2 equivalent view showing the second embodiment A front view showing the positional relationship between the fan device and the outlet in the third embodiment. Equivalent to Fig. 9 Schematic diagram of a fan device and a cooler showing a fourth embodiment Enlarged longitudinal side view showing a fan device and a cooler in the fifth embodiment Enlarged front view showing the right end portion of the cooler Vertical side view showing another modification of the cooler Time chart showing power supply/disconnection states of each fan device during refrigerating/cooling operation and freezing/cooling operation in the sixth embodiment FIG. 17 equivalent view showing the seventh embodiment FIG. 17 equivalent view showing the eighth embodiment FIG. 17 equivalent view showing the ninth embodiment

<First Embodiment>
The first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9. FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the heat insulating box body 2 of the refrigerator 1 has a heat insulating material 10 in the space between a steel plate outer box 3a and a synthetic resin inner box 3b. There are multiple storage rooms in the As a plurality of storage compartments, for example, a refrigerating compartment 4 and a vegetable compartment 5 are provided in order from the top in the heat insulating box 2, and an ice making compartment 6 and a small freezer compartment (not shown) are provided side by side below it, A freezer compartment 7 is provided below these. An automatic ice-making device 8 is provided in the ice-making chamber 6 .

Both the refrigerating compartment 4 and the vegetable compartment 5 are in the refrigerating temperature zone. , are vertically partitioned by a partition wall 9 made of synthetic resin. A front opening of the refrigerating compartment 4 is provided with a hinge-openable heat insulating door 4a, and a front opening of the vegetable compartment 5 is provided with a pull-out heat insulating door 5a. A lower case 11 constituting a storage container is connected to the rear surface of the heat insulating door 5a. An upper case 11 a smaller than the lower case 11 is provided on the upper portion of the lower case 11 . A chilled compartment 12 is provided at the bottom of the refrigerator compartment 4 (above the partition wall 9). A chilled case 13 is provided in the chilled room 12 so that it can be put in and taken out.

The ice making compartment 6, the small freezing compartment, and the freezing compartment 7 are storage compartments in a freezing temperature range (for example, a negative temperature range of -10 to -20°C). A heat-insulating partition wall 14 vertically separates the freezer compartment. A drawer-type heat insulating door 6a is provided at the front opening of the ice making chamber 6, and an ice storage container 15 is connected to the rear portion of the heat insulating door 6a. Although not shown, the front opening of the small freezer compartment is also provided with a drawer-type heat insulating door to which a storage container is connected. A front opening of the freezer compartment 7 is also provided with a drawer-type heat insulating door 7a to which a lower storage container 7b and an upper storage container 7c are connected.

A refrigerating cycle 16 (see FIG. 3) for cooling each storage compartment is incorporated in the heat insulating box 2 . As will be described later in detail, the refrigerating cycle 16 includes a refrigerating cooler 17, a freezing cooler 18, a compressor 20, a condenser 21, and the like. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a machine room 19 is provided at the lower end portion of the back side of the heat insulating box body 2. In this machine room 19, a compressor 20, a condenser 21, and a defrosting water evaporating dish are provided. 35 and the like are provided.

At the back of the storage compartments 4 and 5 for the refrigerating temperature zone, a refrigerating-side cooler chamber 32 for accommodating a refrigerating cooler 17 and a cool air supply duct 30 extending upward from the cooler chamber 32 are arranged. ing. That is, the rear heat insulating wall of the heat insulating box body 2 is provided with a refrigerator-side cooler room 32 which is located behind the lowest chilled room 12 of the refrigerator room 4 and also serves as an air duct. A suction port 37 facing the lower end of the refrigerator compartment 4 (above the vegetable compartment 5) is provided in the front lower part of the refrigerator-side cooler compartment 32, and the rear upper part of the refrigerator-side cooler compartment 32 is provided with cold air. A supply duct 30 is communicatively connected. The defrosted water from the refrigerating cooler 17 is received by the water receiving portion 33 of the refrigerating side cooler chamber 32, which will be described later, and then passed through the drain hose 34 to the defrosted water evaporating plate 35 in the machine chamber 19. is led to evaporate.

The cool air supply duct 30 has a predetermined width dimension in the left-right direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 2), and is formed to extend upward from the cooler chamber 32 side along the back heat insulating wall of the refrigerating chamber 4 . ing. The cold air supply duct 30 is provided with a plurality of outlets 30 a that open inside the refrigerator compartment 4 . As will be described later in detail, for example, two refrigerating-side fan devices 31L and 31R are arranged in the refrigerating-side cooler chamber 32, and the cool air generated by the cooler 17 is operated by the fan devices 31L and 31R. is supplied from each outlet 30a of the supply duct 30 to the refrigerator compartment 4 side. Although not shown, the partition wall 9 (bottom plate of the refrigerating chamber 4) is provided with communication openings positioned at both left and right corners on the rear side thereof to allow the refrigerating chamber 4 and the vegetable chamber 5 to communicate with each other. ing.

As will be described later in detail, the fan units 31L and 31R are axial fans, and the internal ball bearings are of a sealed type filled with oil. Since this ball bearing maintains its sealed state, there is no concern that the oil inside the bearing will leak even if the fan units 31L and 31R are installed at any angle.

When the refrigerator-side fan devices 31L and 31R are driven, air is blown into the refrigerator-side cooler chamber 32 from the suction port 37 on the lower end side of the refrigerator compartment 4 (upper end side of the vegetable compartment 5) due to the air blowing action of the fan devices 31L and 31R. sucked inside. Then, the air passes through the cooler 17 for refrigeration to become cold air, and is supplied into the refrigerator compartment 4 from the outlet 30a of the cold air supply duct 30 (see arrows in FIGS. 2 and 5). The cold air supplied into the refrigerator compartment 4 cools the interior of the refrigerator compartment 4 , and then part of it flows into the vegetable compartment 5 through the communication port to cool the vegetable compartment 5 . The cool air that has cooled the refrigerator compartment 4 and the vegetable compartment 5 is sucked into the refrigerator-side cooler compartment 32 through the suction port 37 again. Cold air circulates in this way, and the refrigerator compartment 4 and the vegetable compartment 5 are cooled.

A freezer-side cooler chamber 38 that also serves as a blower duct is provided at the back of the storage chambers 6 and 7 in the freezer temperature zone of the heat insulating box body 2 . The freezing cooler chamber 38 has the freezing cooler 18, the freezing-side defrosting heater 57, etc. at its lower portion, and the freezing-side fan device 39 at its upper portion. On the front side of the freezer-side cooler chamber 38, a cold air outlet 38a is provided at an intermediate portion, and a suction port 38b is provided at a lower end. Below the cooler 18 for freezing, a freezing-side water receiver 40 is provided for receiving defrosted water during defrosting of the cooler 18 for freezing. The defrosted water received by the freezing-side water receiving portion 40 is led to the defrosting-water evaporating plate 35 via the freezing-side drain hose 41 passing through the bottom heat-insulating wall of the heat-insulating box 2 and evaporated.

Here, when the freezing side fan device 39 is driven, the air in the lower freezer compartment 7 is sucked into the freezer side cooler chamber 38 through the suction port 38b by the blowing action of the fan device 39 . Then, the air passes through the cooler 18 for freezing, is cooled, becomes cool air, and is supplied to the ice making compartment 6, the small freezer compartment, and the freezer compartment 7 from the blowout port 38a. After cooling the ice making compartment 6, the small freezer compartment, and the freezer compartment 7, the cold air is sucked into the freezing side cooler compartment 38 through the suction port 38b again. Cold air circulates in this way, and the ice making compartment 6, the small freezer compartment and the freezer compartment 7 are cooled.

As shown in FIG. 3, the refrigerating cycle 16 comprises a single flow without branching from the discharge side of the compressor 20 to the three-way valve 23 . Then, the three-way valve 23 branches into two flows, one for the refrigerating cooler 17 side and the other for the freezing cooler 18 , and then merges and is connected to the suction side of the compressor 20 .

A condenser 21 and a dryer 22 are connected in order to the discharge side of the compressor 20 via a connection pipe 26 . A three-way valve 23 connected to the discharge side of the dryer 22 has two outlets. To one of the two outlets of the three-way valve 23, a refrigerating side capillary tube 24, a refrigerating cooler (evaporator) 17, and an accumulator A1 are connected in order. connected to the suction side of the A freezing-side capillary tube 25, a freezing cooler 18, and an accumulator A2 are connected in order to the other of the two outlets of the three-way valve 23, and then through a freezing-side suction pipe 28 and a check valve 29. It is connected to the compressor 20 .

The heat insulating box body 2 described above uses vacuum heat insulating materials 10b, 10c, and 10d (see FIG. 2) together with urethane 10a as the heat insulating material 10, for example. The vacuum heat insulating materials 10b to 10d are formed by laminating a metal foil member (eg, aluminum foil) and a synthetic resin film member, for example, and wrapping a core material such as glass fiber with the film. It has a structure formed in a thin plate shape. The vacuum heat insulating materials 10b to 10d are provided on the upper, back, and bottom portions of the box 2 as the heat insulating walls, and vacuum heat insulating materials (not shown) are also provided on both left and right sides of the box 2. .

In the refrigerator compartment 4, the vegetable compartment 5, and the freezer compartment 7, a temperature sensor for refrigeration (R sensor 46) and a temperature sensor for vegetable compartment ( A V sensor 47) and a freezer compartment temperature (F sensor 48) are provided.

Now, the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment is configured to have a plurality of (for example, two) fan devices 31L and 31R for one refrigerating cooler 17 . These refrigerator-side fan devices 31L and 31R are hereinafter referred to as "first fan device 31L and second fan device 31R" or simply as fan devices 31L and 31R, and will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In addition, since the first fan device 31L and the second fan device 31R are blowers having the same components, the component of the first fan device 31L is L, and the component of the second fan device 31R is R. or the same reference numerals as appropriate.

The first and second fan devices 31L and 31R include axial fans 51L and 51R and casings 53L and 53R shown in FIG. 6, and first and second fan motors 52L and 52R shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the casings 53L and 53R are composed of a rectangular frame 53a having a square tubular outer peripheral wall and four upper frame portions 53b extending from the corners of the frame 53a toward the center. and a motor case 53c provided. The motor case 53c of the casing 53L houses the first fan motor 52L, and the motor case 53c of the casing 53R houses the second fan motor 52R.

The axial fans 51L and 51R are positioned inside the cylindrical inner wall portions 53d (see FIG. 6) of the casings 53L and 53R. The axial fans 51L and 51R are composed of a cylindrical rotary tube portion 51a and, for example, three blades (impellers) 51b integrally formed around the rotary tube portion 51a with a predetermined twist angle. The rotary cylinder portions 51a of the axial fans 51L and 51R are attached to the rotary shafts 80 (see FIG. 5) of the corresponding fan motors 52L and 52R.

The fan motors 52L and 52R schematically shown in FIG. 5 include a rotating shaft 80 as a shaft portion and bearings (not shown) that rotatably support the rotating shaft 80. As shown in FIG. The bearing is, for example, a ball bearing having a plurality of balls arranged between an inner ring and an outer ring. In this ball bearing, for example, a seal (or a shield material) provided so as to span between an inner ring and an outer ring closes an internal bearing space filled with oil (oil such as grease) in advance. there is A well-known structure can be adopted for such a sealed ball bearing, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the bearing may be configured by using rollers instead of balls as rolling elements, or other bearings using oil leakage preventing means other than seals.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, each of the fan devices 31L and 31R is arranged such that the rotating shaft 80 is oriented in the vertical direction (see the vertical rotation center axes labeled OL and OR). Here, the depth dimension (longitudinal dimension) Mf1 of the casings 53L and 53R forming the outer shells of the fan devices 31L and 31R coincides with the lateral dimension Mf3 of the casings 53L and 53R, and the depth of the refrigerating cooler 17 It is set to substantially match the dimension Me1 (Mf1=Mf3≈Me1). The depth Mf1 of the fan units 31L and 31R and the depth Me1 of the cooler 17 may be matched.

Each fan device 31L, 31R is attached and fixed to the refrigerator-side cooler chamber 32 by a holding member 60 as a holding means. The holding member 60 is made of a synthetic resin material, for example, and has a horizontally long rectangular frame shape extending in the left-right direction as a whole, as shown in FIG. The holding member 60 holds the fan devices 31L and 31R in a state that they are separated from each other in the longitudinal direction of the cooler 17 for refrigeration. Specifically, the holding member 60 includes a first housing frame 61L for housing the first fan device 31L and a second housing frame 61R for housing the second fan device 31R so that both 61L and 61R are aligned in the horizontal direction. It integrally has a connecting portion 62 that connects to the . Hooking portions 63L and 63R are integrally provided at both left and right end portions of the holding member 60. As shown in FIG. Each housing frame 61L, 61R has a rectangular tubular shape capable of housing the casings 53L, 53R. ing.

Also, the first housing frame 61L has a pair of first engagement portions 65L, 65L on the wall portion on the connection portion 62 side, that is, on the space side between the fan devices 31L, 31R. Each of the first engagement portions 65L, 65L has a strip shape formed by cutting downward from the upper end of the side wall portion of the first housing frame 61L. In addition, the first engaging portions 65L, 65L are provided so as to protrude upward, and engaging claws 65aL, 65aL are fitted to the upper edge portion of the casing 53L from the side at the upper end portions thereof. is provided. Similarly, the second housing frame 61R has a pair of second engaging portions 65R, 65R on the wall portion on the connecting portion 62 side. The second engaging portions 65R, 65R are also strip-shaped, and their upper ends are provided with engaging claws 65aR, 65aR that engage with the upper edge portion of the casing 53R from the side. Thus, the engaging portions 65L, 65L, 65R, 65R engage with the fan devices 31L, 31R in the longitudinal direction of the holding member 60 at positions adjacent to each other. Further, each fan device 31L, 31R is held between the upper fitting piece 61a of the housing frame 61L, 61R and the mounting portion 61b, and is locked by the engaging claws 65aL, 65aR (Fig. 7), and unitized with the holding member 60 (hereinafter referred to as a fan unit 70).

FIG. 7 shows how the fan unit 70 is assembled from the rear side of the refrigerator 1 . In the holding member 60 (fan unit 70), the left (right in FIG. 7) hooking portion 63L and the right hooking portion 63R are formed in an inverted U shape, respectively, so that the refrigerating side cooler chamber 32 (only the right hooked portion 32a is shown in FIG. 7). The latching portions 63L, 63R and the engaging claws 65aL, 65aR are both located on the left and right sides with respect to the fan devices 31L, 31R, and the fan unit 70 is positioned forward and backward in the storage space of the refrigerator-side cooler chamber 32. It is not bulky in any direction.

Here, the configuration of the refrigerating cooler 17 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the refrigerating cooler 17 integrally has at least a refrigerant flow pipe 170 and a large number of cooling fins (heat transfer fins) 171, and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole. Specifically, the refrigerating cooler 17 is mainly composed of a refrigerant distribution pipe 170 bent in a meandering shape, and a large number of thin strip-shaped cooling fins 171 (see FIGS. 14 and 15) are fitted to the pipe 170. It has a configuration that Slightly thick end plates 172 positioned at both left and right ends of the group of cooling fins 171 are disposed on the U-shaped portion side of the coolant flow pipe 170, thereby maintaining a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Each member 170 to 172 in these coolers 17 is made of, for example, an aluminum material. Refrigerating-side defrosting heaters 56 (see FIG. 14) having a meandering shape are arranged on the front and rear outer surface sides of the refrigerating cooler 17 .

The depth Me1 and the vertical dimension Me2 of the refrigerating cooler 17 are substantially the same, and the horizontal dimension Me3 is set larger than the dimensions Me1 and Me2 (Me1≈Me2<Me3). That is, the cooler 17 for refrigeration of this embodiment has short sides along the depth direction and the up-down direction, and long sides along the left-right direction, and the longitudinal direction of the cooler 17 is Left and right direction.

When viewed from a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the cooling device 17 for refrigeration on which the fan devices 31L and 31R are arranged (that is, viewed from the upper side in FIG. 1), the fan devices 31L and 31R of the fan unit 70 It fits between the right edge 17a (left end plate 172 in FIG. 1) and the left edge 17b (right end plate 172 in FIG. 1). 1, for convenience of explanation, a first distance W1 from the right edge 17a of the cooler 17 to the right end of the second fan device 31R, a fan-to-fan distance W0 between the fan devices 31L and 31R, A second distance W2 from the left edge 17b to the left end of the first fan device 31L is shown on the same straight line at the bottom of the figure. In this way, the fan unit 70 is arranged such that the fan devices 31L and 31R are arranged side by side with the cooler 17 for refrigeration at predetermined distances W0, W1 and W2 in the longitudinal direction of the cooler 17 when viewed from the upper side of FIG. take form. In the figure, the distance W0 between the fans is slightly larger than the spaces W1 and W2 on the left and right (W0>W1=W2 or W0≈W1=W2), but the distances W0, W1 and W2 between these distances may be set to have the same dimensions or substantially the same dimensions.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the fan devices 31L and 31R in the fan unit 70 are arranged directly above the cooler 17 for refrigeration with a predetermined distance W3. For example, the space W3 is approximately half the external dimension Mf1 of the fan units 31L and 31R, and the fan units 31L and 31R are provided near the cooler 17 for refrigeration. Alternatively, the interval W3 may be half the diameter of the axial fans 51L and 51R.

The front cover 32b of the refrigerator-side cooler chamber 32 shown in FIG. 7 has a pair of left and right latched portions 32a formed on the upper portion thereof, and the suction port 37 extending in the left-right direction at the middle portion in the vertical direction. is formed. The water receiving portion 33 surrounding the lower side of the refrigerator 17 is accommodated in the lower portion of the refrigerator-side cooler chamber 32 .

As shown in FIG. 5, the front cover 32b is provided with a connecting portion 32c, which is connected to the cool air supply duct 30, on the rear upper portion thereof. That is, the front cover 32b is a duct member that connects to the cold air supply duct 30 and forms an air flow path together with the back heat insulating wall, and the air generated by the fan devices 31L and 31R flows through the front cover 32b. The top wall (ceiling portion 32d) of the front cover 32b gradually rises from the front side toward the connecting portion 32c, and is formed so as to gently curve rearward and upward (see arrow 32r). In other words, the ceiling portion 32d and the connection portion 32c of the front cover 32b as a whole form a bell mouth portion, which expands toward the lower side upstream of the fan devices 31L and 31R. there is

With the ceiling portion 32d, the refrigerating-side cooler chamber 32 suppresses stagnation in the flow of cold air toward the connection portion 32c above the fan unit 70, and can reduce pressure loss. As shown in FIG. 5, the ceiling portion 32d extends from the front end side to the rear end side of the fan devices 31L and 31R to a position covering the upper side of the motors 52L and 52R. The fan motors 52L and 52R are protected from the liquid even if drinking water or the like spills from the fan. Instead of the ceiling portion 32d, eaves (not shown) for protecting the fan motors 52L and 52R from the liquid may be provided above the fan devices 31L and 31R.

In the manufacturing process of the refrigerator 1 , the fan devices 31</b>L and 31</b>R are held by the holding member 60 and integrated as a fan unit 70 . That is, first, the fan devices 31L and 31R are attached to the housing frames 61L and 61R of the holding member 60 so as to be fitted from above (see FIG. 6). At this time, the pair of engaging claws 65aL and 65aL of the first engaging portions 65L and 65L are fitted to the first fan device 31L from above due to the flexibility of the first engaging portions 65L and 65L. retained. Similarly, the flexibility of the second engaging portions 65R, 65R allows the pair of engaging claws 65aR, 65aR to be fitted to the second fan device 31R from above, so that the second fan device 31R can be securely attached. retained.

As a result, the unitized fan unit 70 is attached so that the hooking portions 63L and 63R at the left and right ends are hung over the hooking portions 32a and 32a of the refrigerator-side cooler chamber 32 (front cover 32b) ( See Figure 7). As a result, the fan devices 31L and 31R are positioned so that the rotation center axes OL and OR are oriented in the vertical direction and have a predetermined positional relationship with the above-described refrigerating cooler 17 (see FIG. 1). Therefore, the two fan devices 31L and 31R can be easily and accurately assembled at predetermined positions in the cooler chamber 32. As shown in FIG. In this way, in the refrigerating-side cooler chamber 32, a flow of cold air is formed in the axial direction (that is, from the bottom to the top) by driving the assembled fan devices 31L and 31R (see FIG. 5). . Further, in the refrigerator-side cooler chamber 32, a predetermined space is secured between the ceiling portion 32d and the fan devices 31L and 31R, and the flow of cool air is guided to the cool air supply duct 30 side without stagnation.

Although illustration is omitted, three or more fan devices may be arranged in the longitudinal direction for one refrigerating cooler 17 . Similarly, two or more fan units may be arranged in the longitudinal direction of one refrigerating cooler chamber 38 .

The refrigerating cooler 17 is provided with a first evaporator temperature sensor 55L at a position corresponding to the first fan device 31L on the left side thereof, and at a position corresponding to the second fan device 31R on the right side. A second EVA temperature sensor 55R is provided. In FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, the detection positions of the temperature sensors 55L and 55R are represented by dots. As illustrated in the figure, the temperature sensors 55L and 55R are arranged on the upper surface of the cooler 17 so as to be aligned with the axes OL and OR of the fan devices 31L and 31R. The temperature sensors 55L and 55R may be arranged in the middle or lower surface of the cooler 17 in the vertical direction as long as they correspond to the fan devices 31L and 31R. You can place it by shifting it to the side.

Next, the electrical configuration of refrigerator 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The control device 50 of the refrigerator 1 includes a first fan motor 52L, a second fan motor 52R, a fan motor 45 of the freezing-side fan device 39, a three-way valve 23, a compressor 20, defrosting heaters 56 and 57, an R sensor 46, A V sensor 47, an F sensor 48, a first EVA temperature sensor 55L, and a second EVA temperature sensor 55R are connected. The control device 50 is mainly composed of a microcomputer and has storage means such as ROM and RAM. Further, the refrigerator 1 is provided with an operation unit 49 (shown only in FIG. 4) for performing temperature setting, operation setting, etc., and the control device 50 receives input signals such as settings from the operation unit 49. accept.

The control device 50 is configured as control means for controlling the entire refrigerator 1 by executing a control program pre-stored in a ROM or the like. Based on the input signals from the sensors 46 to 48, 55L and 55R and the temperature settings, the control device 50 controls the fan motors so that the fan devices 31L, 31R and 39 operate independently. The starting and stopping of 52L, 52R and 45 and the number of revolutions are controlled separately. A board of the control device 50 is mounted in the machine room 19 of the refrigerator 1 . A target temperature value (or a threshold value for temperature determination), which will be described later, is included in the control program in advance (stored in the storage unit in advance).

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9 as well. Here, FIG. 8 shows, as the cooling operation by the refrigerating cycle 16, a refrigerating cooling operation for cooling the refrigerator compartment 4 and the vegetable compartment 5 and a freezing cooling operation for cooling the ice making compartment 6, the small freezer compartment and the freezer compartment 7. Of these, for the former refrigerating cooling operation, a flow chart of control related to the fan devices 31L and 31R is shown.

When the refrigeration cooling operation is started, the control device 50 turns off the power to the defrost heater 56, switches the three-way valve 23 of the refrigeration cycle 16 so as to supply refrigerant to the refrigeration cooler 17, and energizes the compressor 20. (step S1). Further, the control device 50 causes the fan devices 31L, 31R (motors 52L, 52R) to rotate forward (step S2). In this case, the number of rotations of each of the fan devices 31L and 31R is controlled by a pulse width modulation (PWM) method using an inverter, and both are driven at 1000 [rpm], for example. As will be described later, the fan units 31L and 31R may have different rotational speeds so as not to cause resonance.

In this way, the blowing action of the fan devices 31L and 31R causes circulation of cold air for cooling the refrigerator compartment 4 and the vegetable compartment 5 as described above (see arrows in FIGS. 2 and 5). During this cooling operation, the control device 50 determines whether there is a failure in each of the fan devices 31L and 31R based on the feedback signal (step S3). That is, for the fan devices 31L and 31R, the rotational speed is detected based on the d-axis current, which is the current component corresponding to the magnetic flux, and the q-axis current Iq, which is the current component corresponding to the torque, and the rotational speed and the speed command signal are detected. Determine the failure from Here, if the control device 50 determines that one fan device 31L has failed, for example (YES in step S3), it stops energizing the fan device 31L and increases the rotation speed of the other fan device 31R ( step S4). In this case, the rotational speed of the other fan device 31R is reduced from 1000 [rpm] to 0 [rpm] (because the fan device 31L is in a non-drivable stopped state). Set to [rpm]. As a result, even if one of the fan devices 31L fails, the decrease in the air volume can be compensated for.

Such a cooling operation (normal operation) ends when the cumulative operation time of the compressor 20 reaches a predetermined time (YES in step S5), and shifts to defrosting operation. Here, FIG. 9 shows the flow of defrosting operation processing executed by the control device 50 .

In the defrosting operation, the compressor 20 is turned off by the controller 50, and the defrosting heater 56 is energized (step S11). As a result, the refrigeration cooler 17 is heated to melt the frost, and the temperatures detected by the first evaporator temperature sensor 55L and the second evaporator temperature sensor 55R (hereinafter referred to as cooler left temperature T1 and cooler right temperature T2) ) rises. Further, the control device 50 causes the fan devices 31L and 31R to rotate in reverse, and sets the rotation speeds to, for example, 1000 [rpm] (step S12). As a result, the positive temperature air in the refrigerator compartment 4 and the vegetable compartment 5 flows from the outlet 30a through the cold air supply duct 30 into the refrigerator-side cooler compartment 32, thereby removing frost from the refrigerator cooler 17. melt. In addition, moisture generated by defrosting is supplied from the suction port 37 to the upper end side of the vegetable compartment 5 (the lower end side of the refrigerator compartment 4) (that is, a flow opposite to the arrows in FIGS. 2 and 5 is generated. ) to give moisture to the vegetable compartment 5 .

When control device 50 determines that refrigerator compartment temperature R is higher than vegetable compartment temperature V based on the temperatures detected by R sensor 46 and V sensor 47 (YES in step S13), fan devices 31L and 31R are turned on. Forward rotation is driven (step S17). That is, although the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 4 is set to be slightly lower than that of the vegetable compartment 5, the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 4 rises when, for example, food with a high temperature is stored in the refrigerator compartment 4. Therefore, preferential cooling of the refrigerator compartment 4 is achieved by switching the fan devices 31L and 31R to forward rotation.

When controller 50 determines that both cooler left temperature T1 and cooler right temperature T2 have exceeded 0° C. (YES in step S14), controller 50 rotates fan devices 31L and 31R forward. Switch (step S17). That is, when the fan devices 31L and 31R rotate in the reverse direction, both the first and second EVA temperature sensors 55L and 55R are positioned on the windward side of the cooler 17 for refrigeration. Therefore, by changing the wind direction as the temperatures T1 and T2 of the cooler 17 rise, accurate temperature detection is performed in order to melt the frost on the cooler 17 as evenly as possible.

During the reverse rotation driving of the fan devices 31L and 31R described above (NO in step S13 and NO in step S14), the control device 50 controls the temperature T1 of the left part of the cooler 17 and the temperature T2 of the right part thereof. The rotation speeds of the respective fan devices 31L and 31R are increased or decreased (step S15). That is, if there is a difference in the degree of frost melting between the left and right sides of the cooler 17 and the temperature T1 of the left side is lower, the control device 50 sets the rotation speed of the fan device 31L to a higher value. to promote defrosting. Alternatively, the number of rotations of the other fan device 31R may be set to a lower value, or its drive may be stopped. Thereby, the control device 50 controls the temperature distribution in the cooler 17, that is, the temperatures T1 and T2 to be balanced, and the frost on the cooler 17 is evenly melted. As described above, since the fan devices 31L and 31R are arranged above the cooler 17, the water melted in the cooler 17 does not splash on the fan devices 31L and 31R.

When the fan devices 31L and 31R continue to rotate in the reverse direction for, for example, 10 minutes (YES in step S16), the control device 50 switches the fan devices 31L and 31R to forward rotation (step S17). ).

The fan units 31L and 31R are driven to rotate forward in step S17, and are set to the above-mentioned 1000 [rpm] or the rotational speed increased or decreased in step S15. Then, if control device 50 determines that either temperature T1 at the left side or temperature T2 at the right side of cooler 17 has exceeded the defrosting end estimated temperature (YES in step S18), the temperature reaches that temperature. The driving of the fan devices 31L and 31R corresponding to the detected temperature sensor is stopped. Specifically, for example, the predetermined temperature at which frost is estimated to melt at the temperature detection position of the cooler 17 is assumed to be 3° C., and the fan device 31L stops driving when the left temperature T1 exceeds that temperature ( step S19). Alternatively, the number of revolutions of the fan device 31L may be set to a lower value. As a result, it is possible to save energy in the defrosting operation, while the forward rotation of the fan device 31R is continued, and the frost can be reliably melted.

After that, when the control device 50 determines that the temperature T1 of the left portion of the cooler 17 exceeds 3° C. and the temperature T2 of the right portion thereof also exceeds 3° C. (YES in step S20), the defrosting operation ends. . When the defrosting operation ends, the compressor 20 is energized and the defrosting heater 56 is turned off (see step S1 in FIG. 8).

As described above, the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment includes a storage compartment in which the cold air outlet 30a is formed, a cooler 17 for cooling the storage compartment, and an outlet for the cool air cooled by the cooler 17. Fan devices 31L and 31R are provided to supply air from 30a into the storage chamber, and two or more fan devices 31L and 31R for one cooler 17 are provided. According to this, compared to the configuration having one fan device for one cooler 17, the air volume can be increased, the cooling power can be increased, and the heat exchange efficiency of the cooler 17 can be improved. , energy saving can be achieved. In addition, by using two fan devices 31L and 31R to increase the air volume, the fan diameter of the fan devices 31L and 31R does not need to be increased, and the storage capacity of the storage room can be sufficiently secured. Become.

The cooler 17 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape having a long side and a short side in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction. The two or more fan devices 31L and 31R are arranged so as to line up in the longitudinal direction of the cooler 17. As shown in FIG. According to this, two or more fan devices 31L and 31R can be arranged with respect to the cooler 17 so as not to be bulky.

The two or more fan devices 31L and 31R are arranged such that both rotation shafts 80 are oriented in the vertical direction. According to this, the space W3 between the fan units 31L and 31R and the cooler 17 can be narrowed, the layout of the fan units 31L and 31R can be made more compact, and the space efficiency can be improved.

By setting the distance W3 in this case to, for example, 1/2 or less of the diameter of the axial fans 51L and 51R, the longitudinal dimension of the cooler chamber 32 can be minimized in addition to the above effects.
Since the two or more fan devices 31L and 31R are both provided in the vicinity of the cooler 17, the space taken by the fan devices 31L and 31R and the cooler 17 is suppressed, and the storage volume of the storage chamber is sufficiently increased. can be secured to

The two or more fan devices 31L and 31R are formed such that their respective depth dimensions substantially match the depth dimensions of the cooler 17. As shown in FIG. According to this, the size of the fan devices 31L and 31R with respect to the cooler 17 can be made more suitable in terms of improving the space efficiency. layout can be realized.

Further, for example, the fan devices 31L and 31R are not limited to the above dimensions. ) may be 0.5 to 1.5 times. According to this, the fan devices 31L and 31R are not so bulky with respect to the cooler 17, and compactness can be achieved by arranging both 1L, 31R and 17 close to each other. Further, according to this, it is possible to obtain an air volume corresponding to the diameter of the axial fans 51L and 51R while ensuring the desired heat exchange efficiency in the cooler 17, and to use the large fan devices 31L and 31R. without changing.

The refrigerator 1 has a first engaging portion 65L that can be engaged with one of the two or more fan devices 31L and 31R, and a second engaging portion 65R that can be engaged with the other fan device 31R. In the holding member 60, the first engaging portion 65L and the one fan device 31L are engaged at positions adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction, and the second engaging portion 65R and the other fan device 31R are engaged with each other at adjacent positions in the longitudinal direction, the fan devices 31L and 31R can be held. According to this, since the first engaging portion 65L and the second engaging portion 65R are adjacent to the fan devices 31L and 31R in the longitudinal direction, the width of the holding member 60 in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is It is possible to suppress the size and slim the mounting structure of the two or more fan devices 31L and 31R.

The two or more fan devices 31L and 31R are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the cooler 17, and when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the surface of the cooler 17 on which the fan devices 31L and 31R are arranged, 17, and a first distance W1 from one edge of the cooler 17 to the fan device 31R on the edge side, and between the fan devices 31L and 31R. The distance W0 and the second distance W2 from the other edge of the cooler 17 to the fan device 31L on the edge side are both approximately the same distance or a predetermined distance. According to this, good ventilation characteristics can be obtained in relation to the cooler 17, and the heat exchange efficiency can be further improved.

A control device 50 is provided for separately controlling the two or more fan devices 31L and 31R so that they operate independently. According to this, even when two or more fan devices 31L and 31R are driven, resonance can be prevented by controlling the respective rotation speeds to be different. Further, for example, by increasing the number of rotations of all the fan devices 31L and 31R, it is possible to obtain a larger air volume and cooling power. can be done.

The control device 50 is configured to be able to execute control to supply cold air to the storage chamber by driving the other fan device in a stopped state in which one of the two or more fan devices 31L and 31R cannot be driven. ing. According to this, even if one fan device becomes inoperable due to a failure or the like, the function of supplying cold air to the storage compartment can be maintained by driving the other fan device. Such control may be performed not only during the cooling operation (steps S3 and S4 in FIG. 8), but also during the defrosting operation.

When one of the two or more fan devices 31L and 31R cannot be driven, the control device 50 increases the rotational speed of the other fan device so as to compensate for the decrease in the air volume. According to this, even if one fan device becomes undrivable, the other fan device can be driven to maintain the air flow rate or compensate for the decrease in the air flow rate.

The controller 50 increases or decreases the number of rotations of the one fan device 31L and the other fan device 31R or drives them according to the temperatures detected by the one temperature sensor 55L and the other temperature sensor 55R. stop. According to this, the air volume can be appropriately adjusted according to the position where the temperature is detected in the cooler 17, and the cooling efficiency of the cooler 17 can be enhanced. Further, by appropriately stopping the driving of the fan device, it is possible to save energy.

During the defrosting operation in which the cooler 17 is heated by the defrosting heater 56 to defrost, the control device 50 detects that the temperature detected by either the one temperature sensor 55L or the other temperature sensor 55R reaches a predetermined temperature. If it is determined that the temperature has reached the predetermined temperature, the fan device corresponding to the temperature sensor that has reached the predetermined temperature is stopped. According to this, energy can be saved by stopping the driving of the fan device in the defrosting operation, and the frost can be reliably melted by continuing to drive the other fan device.

Further, when repeating the defrosting operation a plurality of times, the amount of air from the fan device may be appropriately adjusted. That is, a first defrosting operation in which a large amount of air is secured during the defrosting operation by controlling the operating time or the number of rotations of the fan device so as to reliably defrost the frost, and the first defrosting operation. Control may be performed to alternately repeat the second defrosting operation in which the fan device is operated with a small amount of air. Here, the "air volume" is "the amount of air blown by driving the fan device", and the above air volume, that is, the amount of air per unit time blown by the fan device (the amount of air per unit time to the storage room) supply amount of cool air) and the amount of air blown by the fan device during the first defrosting operation (or during the second defrosting operation).

Therefore, for example, by alternately performing the first defrosting operation and the second defrosting operation, such as the first defrosting operation, the cooling operation, the second defrosting operation, and the cooling operation, the first defrosting Since the defrosting operation time can be shortened or the number of revolutions of the fan device can be kept low, power consumption of the fan device can be reduced as compared with the case where only the operation is repeatedly performed. In this case, the amount of air flow may be reduced by operating only some of the plurality of fan devices.

More specifically, when defrosting the cooler 17, the fan devices 31L and 31R are rotated at 1500 [rpm], and the temperature sensors 55L and 55R detect the first defrosting temperature (for example, The first defrosting operation is performed by maintaining ventilation until it is detected that the temperature has risen to +3°C. After the first defrosting operation, the cooling operation is performed, and when it is necessary to defrost the cooler 17 again, the fan devices 31L and 31R are rotated at 1000 [rpm], and the temperature sensors 55L and 55R are first The second defrosting operation is performed by maintaining air blowing until it is detected that the temperature has risen to a second defrosting temperature (eg, −2° C.), which is a second target temperature lower than the defrosting temperature.

In addition, the air blowing during the first defrosting operation and the second defrosting operation rotates the fan devices 31L and 31R in the opposite direction to that during normal cooling, and the frost in the cooler 17 melts and the cold air becomes high humidity. toward the vegetable compartment 104. Such first defrosting operation and second defrosting operation can be executed instead of steps S13 to S20. Moreover, in this case, the first defrosting operation and the second defrosting operation are alternately performed with the cooling operation interposed therebetween.

According to this, it is not necessary to consume a large amount of power by the fan devices 31L and 31R every time the cooler 17 is defrosted, so power consumption can be reduced. That is, instead of repeating the first defrosting operation with high power consumption, the second defrosting operation with low power consumption and the first defrosting operation are alternately repeated, so power consumption is reduced in a series of defrosting operations. while defrosting the cooler 17 reliably.

Note that the first defrosting operation and the second defrosting operation not only differ in the number of rotations [rpm] of the fan devices 31L and 31R and the defrosting temperature (target temperature) related to the temperature sensors 55L and 55R, By varying the numbers of the fan devices 31L and 31R that are driven during the defrosting operation, the amount of air flow may vary. For example, both the fan devices 31L and 31R are operated in the first defrosting operation, and only one of the fan devices 31L and 31R is operated in the second defrosting operation, or the two fan devices are operated alternately. You can do it.

Further, instead of performing the defrosting operation until the temperature sensors 55L and 55R reach the target temperature, the fan units 31L and 31R may be operated only for a preset time to control the air flow. That is, for example, by repeating the control of operating the fan devices 31L and 31R for 20 minutes as the first defrosting operation and operating the fan devices 31L and 31R for 3 minutes as the second defrosting operation every time the defrosting operation is performed, You may control so that the amount of winds (driving time of a fan apparatus) may become small compared with the case where a 1st defrosting operation is repeated.

In addition, the defrosting operation with different power consumption in the defrosting operation is not limited to two types, and more types of defrosting operations may be provided. That is, three stages of defrosting operation with different power consumption are repeated in the defrosting operation, or the number of times the door is opened and closed per unit time is counted, and it is estimated that the door opening and closing is small and the frost formation on the cooler 17 is small. In some cases, instead of the second defrosting operation, a third defrosting operation with reduced power consumption may be performed.

In addition, since high-humidity cool air is blown into the vegetable compartment 104, the humidity in the vegetable compartment 104 can be kept high, and the stored goods can be prevented from drying out and kept fresh.
Note that the air blowing direction during the defrosting operation is not limited to the direction toward the vegetable compartment. You can drive with According to this, it is possible to efficiently defrost the cooler 17 by generating a rotating airflow by the two fan devices in the vicinity of the cooler 17 .

The fan devices 31L and 31R include a rotating shaft 80 and its bearings, and blades 51b that rotate around the rotating shaft 80 to generate air flow in the axial direction, and the bearings prevent oil leakage. It consists of bearings containing means for According to this, the fan devices 31L and 31R can be arranged such that the rotating shaft 80 is oriented in the vertical direction while preventing oil leakage, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in design.

A duct member (front cover 32b) forming a flow path of air generated by the fan devices 31L and 31R is provided. A ceiling portion 32d or an eaves portion is formed. According to this, even if drinking water or the like spills from the refrigerator compartment 4 side, the liquid can be prevented from splashing on the fan devices 31L and 31R by the ceiling portion 32d or the eaves portion.

The duct member is positioned above the fan devices 31L and 31R and has a bell mouth portion that widens toward the upstream of the fan devices 31L and 31R. According to this, the bell mouth portion can suppress stagnation of the downstream flow of the blown air of the fan devices 31L and 31R in the duct member, and can reduce the pressure loss. Especially in this embodiment, since the fan devices 31L and 31R are arranged to blow air in the vertical direction, the stagnation of the upward flow can be suppressed, and the desired air blowing action can be obtained.

<Second embodiment>
FIG. 10 shows a second embodiment, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same parts as in the first embodiment, and the differences from the first embodiment will be explained.
The refrigerator 100 of the second embodiment does not have two coolers, a cooler for refrigerating and a cooler for freezing, and the vegetable compartment 104 is arranged below and adjacent to the freezer compartment 103. . That is, as shown in FIG. 10, a refrigerator 100 has a refrigerator compartment 102 and a vegetable compartment 104 which are vertically separated from each other, and a freezer compartment 103 is arranged between them. there is In addition, there is only one cooler 114, and this one cooler 114 is configured to cool both the storage compartment in the freezing temperature range and the storage compartment in the refrigerating temperature range.

Specifically, inside the heat insulating box body 101 of the refrigerator 100, a refrigerator compartment 102, a freezer compartment 103, and a vegetable compartment 104 are provided in this order from the top. A heat insulating partition wall 110 is provided between the refrigerator compartment 102 and the freezer compartment 103 , and a heat insulating partition wall 111 is also provided between the freezer compartment 103 and the vegetable compartment 104 . A duct member 112 forming a cooler chamber 113 is provided in the rear portion of the freezing chamber 103 . The cooler chamber 113 accommodates a cooler 114 and the fan devices 31L and 31R, and communicates with the cool air supply duct 30 above. The duct member 112 of the cooler chamber 113 has an outlet 117 formed at its upper end and a suction port 118 formed at its lower end.

A damper 122 for opening and closing the connecting portion is provided at the connecting portion between the cold air supply duct 30 and the cooler chamber 113 , and opening/closing control of the damper 122 is performed by the control device 50 . Although not shown, a vegetable compartment duct that extends toward the vegetable compartment 104 and connects the refrigerator compartment 102 and the vegetable compartment 104 is provided below the cold air supply duct 30 . A return duct 128 communicating with the cooler compartment 113 is provided in the heat insulating partition wall 111 above the vegetable compartment 104 . Although not shown, the refrigerator compartment 102 is provided with the R sensor 46 and the freezer compartment 103 is provided with the F sensor 48 .

In the refrigerator 100 of the present embodiment, the freezer compartment 103 is the only storage compartment for the freezing temperature range. You may make it provide. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, the cases 11, 11a, 13 and the containers 7b, 7c, 15 in the storage compartments of the refrigerators 1, 100 may be partly omitted or shaped according to the storage compartments. can be changed as appropriate.

In the above configuration, when the fan devices 31L and 31R are driven with the damper 122 closed, the cool air cooled by the cooler 114 is supplied from the outlet 117 into the freezer compartment 103, and the cool air in the freezer compartment 103 is supplied. circulates from inlet 118 back into cooler compartment 113, thereby cooling freezer compartment 103.
Further, when the fan devices 31L and 31R are driven with the damper 122 open, part of the cold air cooled by the cooler 114 passes through the cold air supply duct 30 and is discharged from each outlet 30a into the refrigerator compartment 102. supplied within. Also, the rest of the cool air cooled by the cooler 114 is supplied into the freezer compartment 103 as described above. The cool air that has cooled the inside of the refrigerator compartment 102 flows downward through the vegetable compartment duct and is supplied into the vegetable compartment 104 to cool the inside of the vegetable compartment 104 . The cool air that has cooled the interior of the vegetable compartment 104 passes through the return duct 128 and is returned to the cooler compartment 113 .

Note that the vertical dimension Me2' of the cooler 114 of the second embodiment is larger than the vertical dimension Me2 of the cooler 17 of the first embodiment, and the remaining depth dimension Me1' of the cooler 114 and the horizontal dimension The dimensions (not shown) are formed to be the same as the depth dimension Me1 and the lateral dimension Me3 of the cooler 17 . Therefore, as will be described later, in the cooler 114, both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction can be regarded as the longitudinal direction with respect to the depth direction along the short side. Further, in the second embodiment, a front cover 32b is provided integrally with or separately from the duct member 112, and the fan devices 31L and 31R are incorporated in the cooler chamber 113 as the fan unit 70. FIG. Therefore, even in the configuration in which one cooler 114 cools both the freezing temperature zone storage compartment and the refrigerating temperature zone storage compartment as in the second embodiment, the control device 50 controls the fan devices 31L and 31R. Control to drive each is performed separately. Therefore, the heat exchange efficiency of the cooler 114 can be enhanced to save energy, and the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, such as the storage capacity of the storage chamber can be sufficiently secured.

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 11 is a schematic front view of a duct member 112 showing the third embodiment. Parts that are the same as in the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and differences from the second embodiment will be described.

The front cover 32b of the duct member 112 has an outlet 130 formed on the upper left half side instead of the outlet 117 at the upper end. The blow-out port 130 is located above the first fan device 31L, and is provided by cutting the left half of the fan device 31L in the left-right longitudinal direction. Also, the outlet 130 faces the freezer compartment 103 and is formed in the vicinity of the first fan device 31L. As shown in FIG. 11, the holding member 60' of the third embodiment has a connecting portion 62' that is crank-shaped so as to hold the first fan device 31L at a position lower than the second fan device 31R. there is Alternatively, although not shown, the first fan device 31L and the second fan device 31R may be attached to the cooler chamber 113 without using the holding member 60'.

In the above configuration, the control device 50 controls the driving of the fan devices 31L and 31R and the opening/closing control of the damper 122 based on the detection signals of the R sensor 46 and the F sensor 48, thereby efficiently supplying cool air to each of them. A storage room can be supplied. For example, with the damper 122 closed, only the first fan device 31L can be driven to supply cold air into the freezer compartment 103 from the outlet 130 in the vicinity of the fan device 31L. More specific control contents of the fan devices 31L and 31R will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG.

In the cooling operation, the control device 50 rotates the first fan device 31L forward at a rotational speed N1, and rotates the second fan device 31R forward at a rotational speed N2 (steps S21 and S22). For example, the rotation speed N1 is set to 1000 [rpm] and the rotation speed N2 is set to 1200 [rpm], and these rotation speeds are stored as default values in the storage means. Incidentally, the rotational speeds N1 and N2 can be appropriately changed according to the positional relationship between the outlet 130 and the fan devices 31L and 31R and the volume of each storage chamber.

The controller 50 determines whether or not the damper 122 is closed during the cooling operation, that is, whether or not only the freezer compartment 103 is cooled (step S23). Here, when the control device 50 determines that the damper 122 is closed (YES in step S23), for example, only the first fan device 31L is driven at the rotational speed N1, and the second fan device 31R is stopped ( Alternatively, the rotation speed N2 is decreased). In this way, when the freezer compartment 103 is cooled, the air volume as a whole is reduced according to its volume, and cool air is efficiently supplied from the blowout port 130 to the freezer compartment 103 by the first fan device 31L. Alternatively, in step S24, for example, the rotational speeds N1 and N2 of the fan devices 31L and 31R are decreased. Such a process of stopping the fan devices 31L and 31R or changing the setting of the rotation speed is performed by adjusting the positions of the outlets 117 and 130 described above, the arrangement of the fan devices 31L and 31R, or the ventilation of the fan devices 31L and 31R. It can be set according to ability.

After that, when the controller 50 determines that the rotational speeds of the fan devices 31L and 31R are lower than N1 and N2, respectively, and that the damper 122 is open (YES in step S26), the controller 50 reduces the rotational speeds of the fan devices 31L and 31R to N1. , N2 (steps S21 and S22). In this way, steps S21 to S26 are repeatedly executed, and when it is determined that the cumulative operation time of the compressor 20 has reached the predetermined time (YES in step S25), this cooling operation is terminated.

As described above, in the third embodiment, one fan device 31L of the two or more fan devices 31L and 31R is arranged at a position corresponding to the blowout port 130, so that it is different from the other fan device 31R. It has become. According to this, cool air can be efficiently supplied from the outlet 130 by driving the one fan device 31L.

Note that the arrangement configuration of the outlet 130 and the first fan device 31L of the third embodiment described above may be applied to the refrigerator 1 of the first embodiment. That is, the air outlet 130 of the front cover 32b is provided so as to face the chilled compartment 12, and the air volume is distributed between the chilled compartment 12 side and the remaining refrigerating compartment 4 side by the first fan device 31L and the second fan device 31R. It is possible to do

In this way, the control device 50 stops driving one of the fan devices 31L and the other fan devices 31R, or makes the rotation speeds of the one fan device 31L and the other fan devices 31R different, Control is performed so that the air volume is distributed between one outlet (for example, the outlet 130 of the freezer compartment 103 and the outlet 30a of the chilled compartment 12) and the other outlets 30a. According to this, the air blowing efficiency can be improved, and the air volume can be distributed according to the volume of the storage room, the temperature zone, and the like.

A damper 122 is provided for opening and closing the passage of cold air supplied from the outlets 30a other than the one outlet into the storage chamber. At 31R, the drive is stopped or the number of revolutions is made lower than the number of revolutions when the damper 122 is in the open state. According to this, regardless of whether the damper 122 is opened or closed, an efficient blowing action can be obtained, and energy can be saved.

In this respect, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, even in the configuration of the second embodiment in which neither one of the fan devices 31L, 31R is arranged in the vicinity of the outlet 117 of the freezer compartment 103, The process (flow chart of FIG. 12) can be applied. Thus, in the configuration provided with the damper 122 for opening and closing the flow path of cold air supplied to the storage chamber, the control device 50 controls the two or more fan devices 31L and 31R in the closed state of the damper 122. The number of revolutions is made lower than the number of revolutions when the damper 122 is in the open state. According to this, it is possible to obtain the desired air volume corresponding to the opening and closing of the damper 122, and to save energy.

The two or more fan devices 31L and 31R may have a difference in blowing capacity between one fan device and the other fan device. For example, the outer dimensions of the fan device 31L arranged near the outlet 117 may be smaller than the outer dimensions of the fan device 31R, and the fan motors 52L and 52R may have different rated speeds. may be used. Even when two or more fan devices are driven, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained, such as the prevention of resonance, by controlling the respective rotation speeds to be different.

<Fourth Embodiment>
FIGS. 13(a) and 13(b) are perspective views schematically showing the fan device and the cooler of the fourth embodiment, and different points from the above-described embodiment will be described. As shown in the figure, fan devices 31L′ and 31R′ may be used in which the number and shape of the blades 51b of the fan devices 31L and 31R are changed. , 202 may be appropriately changed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 13A, even if the cooler 201 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, if the cooler 201 has a stepped portion 201a, the fan device 31L' is provided in the space of the stepped portion 201a. , 31R′ may be arranged side by side to improve space efficiency. A specific example of the cooler 201 will be described later as a fifth embodiment.

In addition, the above-described "longitudinal direction" refers to a direction along the longer side than the shortest side of the periphery of the substantially rectangular parallelepiped cooler. For example, the cooler 202 shown in FIG. 13B has a long side 202b along the left-right direction and a side 202c along the front-rear direction with respect to the short side 202a along the up-down direction. It is placed in a chamber (not shown). In this case, the longitudinal direction of the cooler 202 is the left-right direction or the front-rear direction. Therefore, the fan devices 31L' and 31R' may be arranged not in the vertical direction with respect to the cooler 202 but in the horizontal direction or the front-rear direction, which is the longitudinal direction. Further, the fan devices 31L and 31R may be arranged on the front side of the cooler 202 as illustrated in FIG.

<Fifth Embodiment>
FIG. 14 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional side view showing the vicinity of the cooler and fan device of the fifth embodiment. The same parts as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and differences from the above-described embodiment will be described. .
The freezing cooler chamber 301 of the fifth embodiment accommodates a pair of fan devices 31L and 31R (other fan devices 31L' and 31R' may be used) and a freezing cooler 302. is provided with a water receiving portion 303 . A front cover 300 of the cooler chamber 301 is provided with a cool air outlet 300a extending obliquely forward and downward, and a suction port 300b (see the arrow in the figure) located below the cool air outlet 300a. The fan devices 31L and 31R are arranged side by side and are arranged such that the rotation center axes OL and OR are oriented in the front-rear direction.

The refrigerating cooler 302 integrally has at least the refrigerant circulation pipe 170 and a large number of cooling fins 171 and 171a, and has a narrow portion 302a and has a stepped rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole. Specifically, in addition to the cooling fins 171 of the above-described first embodiment, the refrigerating cooler 302 is provided with cooling fins 171a on the upper rear side to increase the surface area of the cooler 302 . All of the cooling fins 171a positioned at the uppermost stage are shorter than the other cooling fins 171 in the front-rear direction. As a result, between the left and right end plates 172', 172', an accommodation space is formed in front of the cooling fins 171a of the cooler 302 and capable of accommodating other members.

In addition, in FIG. 15, the cooling fins 171a are represented by dashed lines for convenience of explanation. The end plate 172' of the fifth embodiment has a rectangular plate shape extending upward from the end plate 172 of the first embodiment (see FIG. 14). can be formed to

In this way, the cooler 302 has a narrow portion 302a formed by notching the front upper portion from the left end to the right end, in other words, by partially narrowing the width of the substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The "width" in this embodiment is the length of the short side of the cooler 302 and corresponds to the length in the horizontal direction in FIG. The narrow portion 302a of the cooler 302 is located near the fan devices 31L and 31R, and mounting portions (or mounting portions) (not shown) of the fan devices 31L and 31R are positioned. In addition, the accommodation space in the upper part of the cooler 302 can accommodate the capillary tube 24, the suction pipe 28, the piping of the accumulator A2 (see FIG. 3 for all), and other members. Therefore, in the limited space of the refrigerating cooler chamber 301, the cooling fins 171a enhance the heat exchange efficiency of the cooler 302, while minimizing the size of the refrigerating cycle 16 including the cooler 302. can do.

As described above, the cooler 302 of the fifth embodiment is provided with the narrow portion 302a by partially narrowing the width of the substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. According to this, it is possible to create a space that makes use of the narrow width portion 302a while suppressing an increase in the size of the cooler 302, and it is possible to secure the storage capacity of the storage chamber.

A narrow portion 302a is formed in a portion of the cooler 302 which is closer to the fan devices 31L and 31R. According to this, for example, part of the fan devices 31L and 31R (mounting portions, etc.) can be positioned in the space vacated by the narrow width portion 302a, and space saving can be achieved in relation to the fan devices 31L and 31R. can be done.

The width of the narrow portion 302a is set to a width dimension that allows accommodation of members constituting the refrigerating cycle 16 together with the cooler 302 and other members (part of the front cover 300 of the cooler chamber 301, etc.). According to this, the configuration of the entire refrigeration cycle 16 or the periphery of the cooler 302 can be made more compact by the narrow portion 302a.

Next, a modification of the narrow portion will be described with reference to FIGS. 16(a) and 16(b). The cooler 302 shown in FIG. 16A has another cooling fin 171b on the upper rear side of the cooling fin 171a. The cooling fins 171b are shorter in the front-rear direction than the cooling fins 171a and form a second narrow portion 302b of the cooler 302 . As a result, in the upper portion of the cooler 302, stepped narrow portions 302a and 302b whose width dimension decreases upward are formed by notching the front portions of the cooling fins 171a and 171b from the left end to the right end. It is As described above, the cooler 302 has a stepped shape formed by the narrow portions 302a and 302b, and a plurality of narrow portions having different width dimensions are formed so that the stepped portion has a plurality of steps. According to this, it is possible to make the arrangement more compact while improving the heat exchange efficiency as much as possible in relation to the arrangement space of the cooler 302 and other members.

A cooler 302 shown in FIG. 16B has cooling fins 171c instead of the cooling fins 171a. As shown in the figure, the front half of the cooling fin 171c is cut obliquely forward and downward to form an inclined portion. As a result, the upper portion of the cooler 302 forms an inclined narrow portion 302c whose width dimension is narrowed upward. The narrow portion 302c narrows the width of the upper portion of the cooler 302 by obliquely cutting the front portion of the cooling fin 171c from the left end to the right end of the cooler 302 . This cooler 302 also has the same effect as the above-described embodiment, such as making it possible to accommodate other members by using the space left in the narrow portion 302c.

<Sixth Embodiment>
FIG. 17 shows a time chart (on/off state) of each fan device 31L, 31R, 45 in the sixth embodiment, and the differences from the above-described first embodiment will be explained. Mr and Mf shown in the figure represent cooling modes corresponding to the refrigerating cooling operation and the freezing cooling operation, respectively. to repeat control.

Here, in the refrigerating cooling operation Mr, as in the refrigerating cooling operation of the first embodiment, the three-way valve 23 of the refrigerating cycle 16 is switched so that the refrigerant is supplied to the refrigerating cooler 17, and the compressor 20 is energized. . Further, as shown in FIG. 17, the control device 50 causes the fan devices 31L and 31R to rotate forward in the refrigerating cooling operation Mr, while stopping the driving of the freezing-side fan device 39 . Although not shown, the freezing cooler 18 is defrosted by periodically (for example, every 24 hours) turning off the power to the compressor 20 and turning on the power to the freezing-side defrosting heater 57. done.

On the other hand, in the freezing/cooling operation Mf, the three-way valve 23 is switched to supply the refrigerant to the freezing cooler 18 while the freezing side defrosting heater 57 is turned off and the compressor 20 is energized. The device 39 is rotated forward by the control device 50 . Moreover, when the freeze cooling operation Mf is executed, the refrigerating cooler 17 is defrosted at the same time.

That is, in the freezing/cooling operation Mf, the refrigerant does not flow to the refrigerating cooler 17 side, so the cooler 17 is not cooled. 17). As a result, the air in the refrigeration compartment 4 and the vegetable compartment 5 in the refrigeration temperature range described above is circulated through the cold air supply duct 30, and the temperature of the refrigeration cooler 17 rises to a positive temperature. Defrosting of the cooler 17 for refrigeration is performed. Therefore, in the sixth embodiment, the refrigerating side defrosting heater 56 is omitted, and the refrigerating defrosting operation by driving the fan devices 31L and 31R can be performed in parallel with the freezing cooling operation Mf.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 17, the control device 50 stops driving the one fan device 31R and drives the other fan device 31L at the same time as switching from the refrigerating cooling operation Mr to the freezing cooling operation Mf. is continued (reverse rotation drive may be used) to perform the refrigeration defrosting operation. The control device 50 stops driving the fan device 31L, for example, when the control device 50 determines that the defrosting end estimated temperature has been exceeded based on the temperatures detected by the temperature sensors 55L and 55R. In addition, since the control device 50 drives the freezing-side fan device 39 until it determines that the freezing-cooling operation Mf has ended, the driving time of the fan device 31L in the freezing-cooling operation Mf is equal to the driving time of the freezing-side fan device 39. shorter in comparison.

As described above, in the sixth embodiment, the defrosting operation can be performed by driving the fan devices 31L and 31R to defrost the cooler 17 without flowing the refrigerant to the cooler 17. The numbers of the fan units 31L and 31R driven in the defrosting operation and the cooling operation Mr are made different (the number of the fan units 31L and 31R driven in the defrosting operation is reduced). As a result, by driving the plurality of fan devices 31L and 31R by the number corresponding to the required air blowing capacity in the defrosting operation and the cooling operation Mf, it is possible to save energy while preventing frost formation deterioration. .

<Other embodiments>
FIG. 18 shows a time chart according to the seventh embodiment, and the differences from the sixth embodiment described above will be explained.
In the seventh embodiment, a refrigerating side defrosting heater 56 is provided, and power is supplied to the defrosting heater 56 when the refrigerating cooler 17 is defrosted. It is set to be lower during freezing/cooling operation Mf than during normal operation. Therefore, even if the number of revolutions of the fan device 31L during the refrigeration defrosting operation is set to a low value in advance, the defrosting heater 56 can generate heat so that the fan can be operated in substantially the same time (or shorter time) as in the sixth embodiment. The drive of the device 31L is finished. As a result, the rotation speed of the fan device 31L can be suppressed, and energy saving can be achieved.

FIG. 19 shows a time chart according to the eighth embodiment, which differs from the above-described sixth embodiment in the following points.
That is, in the eighth embodiment, the refrigerator-side defrost heater 56 is omitted, and the pair of fan devices 31L and 31R are continuously driven during the refrigerator cooling operation Mr and the freezing cooling operation Mf. However, the number of revolutions of the fan units 31L and 31R during the freezing cooling operation Mf is set to be lower than the number of rotations during the refrigerating cooling operation Mr, and is set to decrease stepwise. For this reason, even if both fan devices 31L and 31R are driven during the refrigerator defrosting operation, the same effects as those of the above embodiment, such as being able to suppress the number of revolutions of the respective fan devices 31L and 31R, can be obtained.

FIG. 20 shows a time chart according to the ninth embodiment, which differs from the above-described eighth embodiment in the following points.
That is, the rotation speeds of the fan units 31L and 31R during the freezing/cooling operation Mf are set based on, for example, the temperatures detected by the temperature sensors 55L and 55R (or the default values of the rotation speeds). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 20, in the freezing/cooling operation Mf, one fan device 31L is continuously driven at a stepwise lower rotation speed, and the other fan device 31R is driven at a stepwise rotation speed. and stop driving halfway. In this way, by setting the number of rotations of each of the fan devices 31L and 31R according to the air blowing action, the detected temperature, etc., it is possible to reliably defrost the cooler 17 and save energy. It is possible to achieve the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment.

With respect to the number and shape of coolers, the number and arrangement of fan devices, the control of the cooling operation and the defrosting operation by the control means, etc. described as the above embodiment or modification, each configuration can be selectively combined. It may be one embodiment. Specifically, for example, in the refrigerator 100 of the second embodiment having one cooler 114, the first defrosting operation and the second defrosting operation described in the first embodiment may be performed. The cooling device 114 of the second embodiment may be replaced with the shape of the cooling device 302 of the modified form, or a suitable combination may be adopted.

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

In the drawings, 1,100 is a refrigerator, 4, 5, 6, 7, 102, 103, 104 are storage rooms, 17, 114, 201, 202, 302 are coolers, 30a, 117, 130 are outlets, 31L, 31R is a fan device (ventilation fan), 32d is a ceiling portion, 50 is control means, 51b is an impeller, 55L and 55R are temperature sensors, 60 is holding means, 65L is a first engaging portion, and 65R is a second engaging portion. , 80 is a rotating shaft, 122 is a damper, 171, 171a, 171b and 171c are cooling fins, and 302a, 302b and 302c are narrow portions.

Claims (7)

at least one storage compartment having a cold air outlet;
a cooler for cooling the reservoir;
a blowing means for supplying cold air cooled by the cooler from the outlet to the storage chamber through a supply duct for the cold air ,
A configuration comprising two or more air blowing means for the cooler for one cooler and a control means for controlling the two or more air blowing means,
opening and closing means for opening and closing a flow path of cool air supplied through the supply duct common to the two or more air blowing means ;
The control means compares the number of rotations of at least one of the two or more air blowing means to the number of rotations of the opening/ closing means in the open state when the opening/ closing means is in the closed state. Refrigerator to lower. A compressor for compressing a refrigerant to be supplied to the cooler,
The control means is
A first defrosting operation and a second defrosting operation for defrosting the cooler by driving at least one of the two or more air blowing means while the operating speed of the compressor is reduced. Configured to be able to run and run,
2. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein in said second defrosting operation, said blowing means is driven so that the amount of air blown by driving said blowing means is smaller than that in said first defrosting operation. 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein said control means alternately repeats said first defrosting operation and said second defrosting operation. The control means controls the driving time of the air blowing means driven during the second defrosting operation so as to be shorter than the driving time of the air blowing means driven during the first defrosting operation. 4. The refrigerator according to Item 2 or 3. 2 or Refrigerator as described in 3. The control means controls the number of blowing means to be driven during the second defrosting operation to be less than the number of blowing means to be driven during the first defrosting operation, so that the two or more 4. The refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said air blowing means is controlled. 4. The refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the target temperature for said second defrosting operation is set to a lower value than the target temperature for said first defrosting operation.

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