JPH0125262Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a thawing chamber for thawing food therein.

[Technical background of the invention]

Conventionally, this type of refrigerator has a configuration in which a fan is installed to blow air into the thawing chamber provided in the refrigerator compartment, or an electric heater is installed in the thawing chamber, so that the refrigerator can be stored in the thawing chamber. This is to speed up the thawing of frozen foods.

[Problems with background technology]

However, configurations that include an electric heater have the disadvantage that a relatively large amount of electric power is required to drive the electric heater, and configurations that include a fan also have the problem that it takes a long time to thaw frozen foods. .

[Purpose of invention]

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to reduce power consumption, speed up the thawing of frozen foods stored in the thawing chamber, and effectively cool the heat generating parts of the refrigeration cycle. It is possible to provide a refrigerator.

[Summary of the idea]

The present invention includes a first branch for receiving heat from a heat generating part of a refrigeration cycle and dissipating the heat outside the refrigerator, and a second branch for dissipating the heat into a thawing chamber provided inside the refrigerator. A heat pipe having a section is provided, and a switching means is provided for selectively switching the heat pipe so that the heat transferred from the heat generating section is transferred to either one of the first and second branch sections. With this structure, the heat of the heat generating part of the refrigeration cycle is transmitted into the thawing chamber, and the heat of the heat generating part of the refrigeration cycle is effectively dissipated outside the refrigerator.

[Example of idea]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator body having a freezer compartment 2 and a refrigerator compartment 3 on the top and bottom. A compressor 4, which is a heat generating part of the refrigeration cycle, is installed at the bottom of the refrigerator, and a Similarly, the condenser 5, which is the heat generating part of the refrigeration cycle, is connected to the back plate 1.
A is provided for heat transfer. Reference numeral 6 denotes a freezer compartment cooler disposed in the freezer compartment 2 so as to constitute a peripheral side wall thereof, and numeral 7 denotes a refrigerator compartment cooler disposed at an upper rear part of the refrigerator compartment 3. Reference numeral 8 denotes a storage case with an open top that is installed in the upper part of the refrigerator compartment 3 so that it can be taken in and taken out, 9 is a bottom plate provided below the storage case 8 with a predetermined gap therebetween, and 10 is an opening on the top of the storage case 8. A defrosting chamber 11 is formed by the storage case 8, the bottom plate 9, and the shield plate 10.
Note that a large number of through holes 12 are formed in the bottom wall of the storage case 8 corresponding to the bottom of the thawing chamber 11. Now, 13 is a heat pipe provided to receive the heat of the compressor 4, and includes a heat receiving loop portion 13a provided for heat transfer to the compressor 4;
a substantially rectangular first branch portion 13b provided on the inside of the back plate 1a of the refrigerator body 1 in a heat-transfer manner therewith;
A substantially U-shaped second branch 13c is connected between both ends of the upper part of the first branch 13b and extends to the outer bottom of the storage case 8, forming a closed loop. A predetermined amount of working fluid that changes phase between gas and liquid is enclosed. Reference numeral 14 denotes a three-way valve, which is a switching means, provided at a connecting portion between one end of the second branch part 13c and the first branch part 13b;
5 is a check valve provided at the other end of the second branch portion 13c, and this check valve 15 acts so that the working fluid flows only in the direction of arrow A in FIG. In this case, the three-way valve 14 has a first state in which the working fluid in the heat pipe 13 is circulated only to the heat receiving loop portion 13a and the first branch portion 13b as shown by arrow B in FIG. It is configured so that it can be arbitrarily switched to a second state in which the working fluid is also circulated through the second branch portion 13c as shown by arrow C.

In the above configuration, if the thawing chamber 11 is not used now, the three-way valve 14 is switched to the first state. In this state, the heat of the compressor 4 is transferred to the heat receiving loop 13a of the heat pipe 13, and the working fluid inside the heat receiving loop 13a is vaporized. The thus vaporized working fluid flows into the first branch part 13b, where it radiates heat and becomes liquefied, and returns to the heat receiving loop part 13a again, thus circulating. The heat released by condensation of the working fluid is transferred to the first branch 13b.
It is transmitted from there to the back plate 1a of the refrigerator main body 1, from where it is dissipated into the air (i.e., outside the refrigerator).

On the other hand, when storing the frozen food 16 in the thawing chamber 11 and thawing it, the three-way valve 14 is switched to the second state. Then, the working fluid vaporized by the heat from the compressor 4 inside the heat receiving loop 13a of the heat pipe 13 is transferred to the second branch portion 13c.
The heat is radiated there, and after being liquefied, it returns to the heat receiving loop 13a. The heat dissipated from the second branch part 13c in response to such circulation of the working fluid is transmitted into the thawing chamber 11 through the numerous through holes 12, and thus the thawing chamber 11
Thawing of the frozen food 16 stored in the container is facilitated. In this case, the frozen food 16 is
As shown in the figure, if the food is placed in the thawing chamber 11 via a plate 17 made of, for example, aluminum and having good thermal conductivity, the defrosting will be further promoted.

According to the present embodiment described above, the frozen food 16 is thawed by transmitting the heat generated by the compressor 4 into the thawing chamber 11, which is different from the conventional structure in which a blower fan for thawing is provided. The decompression speed can be increased. Moreover, in this case, since a heater that requires relatively large power is not required, power consumption can be reduced. moreover,
Since the heat pipe 14 is used to dissipate the heat of the compressor 4 to the outside of the refrigerator, the compressor 4 can also be effectively cooled.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and only the parts different from the previous embodiment will be described below. That is, in this embodiment, a ventilation hole 18 is formed at the front end of the bottom wall of the storage case 8, and a large number of through holes 19 are formed at the rear wall of the storage case 8. A fan 20 is disposed to blow air toward the 19 groups of through holes, and the second branch 13c of the heat pipe 13 is curved in an upright shape so as to be located between the 19 groups of through holes and the fan 20. is being done. In addition, Juan 20
For example, when the three-way valve 14 is switched to the second state, the drive is started in conjunction with this.

According to the above configuration, when the three-way valve 14 is switched to the second state to use the thawing chamber 11, heat is dissipated from the second branch portion 13c of the heat pipe 13 and the fan 20 is driven. , the hot air from the second branch part 13c is forced to circulate through the through hole 19 and the ventilation hole 18 as shown by the arrow in the figure, and the frozen food stored in the thawing chamber 11 is Defrosting speed becomes even faster.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
If the configuration is such that the defrosting speed and the cooling effect of the compressor 4 can be further improved.

In each of the above embodiments, the heat of the compressor 4 is transmitted into the thawing chamber 11, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a configuration may also be adopted in which the heat of the condenser 5 is transmitted into the thawing chamber 11 via a heat pipe.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, the present invention can reduce power consumption, speed up the thawing of frozen foods stored in the thawing chamber, and effectively cool the heat generating parts of the refrigeration cycle. This also has the practical effect of making it possible to do both.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the main parts of the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. . In the figure, 4 is a compressor (heat generating part), 5 is a condenser (heat generating part), 11 is a thawing chamber, 13 is a heat pipe, 13b is a first branch part, 13c is a second branch part, 14 is a three-way valve ( (switching means), 16 is frozen food.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a refrigerator provided with a thawing chamber for thawing food inside the refrigerator, a first branch section is provided to receive heat from a heat generating section of a refrigeration cycle and dissipate the heat outside the refrigerator; a heat pipe having a second branch for dissipating heat into the thawing chamber;
A refrigerator comprising switching means for selectively switching the heat pipe so that the heat transferred from the heat generating section is transferred to either one of the first and second branch sections.