JPH01273980A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a defrosting operation having a high amount of applied electrical power in a time period having a cheap electrical power fee by a method wherein a temperature of a cooling chamber is sensed and a cooling operation is controlling a time of cooling operation is calculated and time counting information is given to a controlling means. CONSTITUTION:At the step (a), it is judged that the present time is within 22 PM and 5 AM and at the step (b) it is further judged that a defrosting timer elapses by 13 hours. At this time, a defrosting operation is carried out. A defrosting time is 3 hours and the defrosting operation is completed within a time range having a cheap electrical charge before 8 o'clock. The defrosting operation is also carried out when it is judged that 10 hours elapses at the steps (c) and (d). When it is judged that a room temperature is more than 20 deg.C at the step (e), the defrosting operation is carried out also within a time range from 5 AM to 22 PM except a time period from 13 PM to 16 PM and then a cooling efficiency is remarkably decreased by the frosting operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a refrigerator that can cope with the case where a rate system in which electricity rates vary depending on the time of day is adopted.

(Conventional technology) In conventional refrigerators, the compressor operates at a low rate during the night when the door is opened and closed frequently and the ambient temperature is low, and the compressor operates at a high rate during the day when the door is opened and closed frequently and the ambient temperature is high. However, in recent years, from the perspective of effective use of late-night electricity and leveling of electricity demand, a time-of-day electricity rate system has been considered in which electricity rates are divided into time zones, with charges being lower during the night and higher during the day. ing.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, as mentioned above, in conventional refrigerators, the operating rate of the compressor is high during the day, so cooling is performed when the operating time of the compressor is accumulated and the accumulated time reaches a predetermined value. This is due to the fact that defrosting of containers is often done during the day when electricity prices are high. Therefore, if such a time-based rate system was implemented, the electricity rate would be higher than the current rate.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator that can control the defrosting timing so that the electricity rate becomes cheaper when such a time-based electricity rate system is adopted.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a control means for detecting the temperature of the cooling chamber and controlling the cooling operation, an integrating means for accumulating the time of the cooling operation, and a time measuring operation. A clock means is provided to provide time information to the control means, and the cooling chamber is cooled when the time information by the clock means is in a predetermined time period and the integrated value by the integrating means reaches a predetermined value. It is characterized by the provision of a defrosting means for defrosting the cooler.

(Function) According to the above means, since the cooler is defrosted during a predetermined time period, if the time period is determined to be a time period when electricity rates are low, it is possible to defrost the cooler during a period when electricity rates are high. Since defrosting operation, which consumes a large amount of electricity, is no longer required, the electricity charges can be reduced overall.

(Embodiment gAJ) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. Diagram m1 shows the piping configuration of the refrigeration cycle. In this Figure 1, 1 is a compressor;
The compressed and vaporized refrigerant discharged from the compressor 1 is condensed and liquefied through the condenser 2 and the cabillary chimney 3, and then flows into the cooler 4. The gasified refrigerant that has been vaporized by removing the heat (not shown) is sucked into the compressor 1 again. FIG. 2 is an electrical configuration diagram for controlling the refrigeration cycle, in which a microcomputer 5 includes a temperature sensor 6 (not shown) that detects the temperature of the freezer compartment, and a defrosting means that defrosts the cooler 4. Defrost heater 7 and cooler 4
The microcomputer 5 has a control means for controlling the operation stop of the compressor 1 based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 6, and a timer for detecting the current time. and a calculating means for integrating the cooling time, that is, the operating time of the compressor 1.

Figure 3 shows an example of electricity rates by time of day.
to 8 a.m. the next day, the fee for IKWH is 15 yen, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. the fee is 30 yen, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. it is 50 yen, and from 4 p.m. to 2 p.m.
The fee is 30 yen until 2pm.

Next, the operation of the control means 5 will be explained with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. When the refrigerator is installed at the installation location and a power plug (not shown) is inserted into an outlet, an initial setting operation subroutine (A) is performed. In this subroutine (A), following the initial setting of clearing each flag to 0, the compressor 1 is controlled to operate normally for 4 to 6 hours.
A) is carried out only when the refrigerator is installed or when the power is restored after a long power outage, and is not carried out on a daily basis.Also, it is unrelated to the gist of the present application, so the details will not be provided. Further explanation will be omitted.

When it is determined in this subroutine (A) that the compressor 1 has been in normal operation for 4 to 6 hours, the process moves to the defrosting subroutine CB), but the compressor 1 is turned on (operating) at the time of the transfer. Here, the defrosting subroutine (B) will be described in detail with reference to FIG. When moving to this subroutine (B), first, an output step (a) is performed, the compressor 1 is turned off (stopped), and the flow moves to an output step (b). In this output step (b), the defrosting heater is 7 is turned on (energized), and then the process moves to step (C) for determining whether the defrosting sensor is on.

In this step (C), when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 8 of the cooler 4 is 10'C or more, it is determined to be on (YES), and when it is less than 10'C, it is determined to be off (NO). When the determination result is (NO), the output step (
The process moves to b) and the defrost heater 7 continues to be turned on, but when the determination result is (YES), the process moves to the output step (d) and the defrost heater 7 is turned on, and then the output step (' e
), the defrosting timer is cleared, and the defrosting subroutine (B) is thus completed.

When this subroutine (B) is completed, the process moves to the determination step (A) of "Is the current time between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m." in FIG. It is determined. In this determination step (a), the current time is 22:00 to 5:00.
If it is determined that the time has elapsed (YES), the process moves to a determination step (b) of "Has the defrost timer passed 13 hours?"
It is determined whether or not the cumulative time of the defrosting timer, that is, the cumulative operating time of the compressor 1 since the completion of the previous defrosting, has elapsed for 13 hours. This determination step (b) has passed (YES)
), the process moves to the defrosting subroutine (B),
If it is determined that the current time has not elapsed (NO), the process moves to a determination step (c) of "Is the current time 5 o'clock?", and it is determined whether the current time is 5 o'clock or not. In this discrimination step (c), (
If it is determined that the defrost timer has elapsed for 10 hours (YES), the process moves to the determination step (d) of "Has the defrost timer passed 10 hours?" If it is determined that the time has elapsed (YES) in this determination step (d), the defrost subroutine starts. If the process moves to (B) and it is determined that the elapsed time has not elapsed (NO), the process moves to the judgment step (e) of "Is the room temperature less than 20℃?" In this judgment step (e), the room temperature is 20℃.
It is determined whether or not it is less than 0'C. If it is determined in this determination step (E) that the room temperature is 20'C or higher (NO), the determination step ("Has the defrost timer elapsed for 13 hours?")
(), and it is determined whether or not the cumulative time of the defrosting timer of 13 hours has elapsed. If it is determined that the time has elapsed (YES) in this determination step (to), the message "Current time is 13:00-1
Between 6 o'clock? The process moves to the determination step (g) of ``, where it is determined whether the current time is between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. If it is determined (NO) in this determination step (g), the process moves to the defrosting subroutine CB). Then, when it is determined in the above-described determination step (E) that the room temperature is less than 20°C (YES), it is determined in the determination step (E) that the defrost timer's settling time of 13 hours has not elapsed (NO). When it is determined that the current time is between 13:00 and 16:00 (YES) in the determination step (g), the process moves to the determination step (h) of "Is the F sensor on?" For example, if the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 6 that detects the temperature of the cooling room is -1
When the detected temperature is 5°C or higher, it is determined (YES), and when the detected temperature is, for example, -20°C or lower, it is determined (NO). If it is determined (YES) in this determination step (H), the process moves to the "defrost timer count up" processing step (S), and the defrost timer is counted up. Once this processing step is complete, turn on the compressor.
The process moves to the output step (N), and the compressor 1 is operated (turned on). When this output step (N) is completed, the process returns to the determination step (B).

As the compressor 1 is operated in this way, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 6 becomes 120°C or less, "F
Is the sensor on? In the determination step (H) of ``(N
O), the compressor is turned off (stopped) by moving to the output step (R) of "Turn off the compressor",
When this processing step (l) is completed, the process returns to the determination step (b).

To summarize the above control, when it is determined in the determination step (a) that the current time is between 10:00 p.m. Defrosting is performed. Normally, it takes 3 hours to defrost, so if you defrost during this time, your power bill will be high. Defrost, which consumes a lot of power, can be completed before 8 o'clock when power costs are lowest. become. Also, 5
Sometimes, even if the defrost timer has not elapsed for 13 hours, defrosting is performed even when it is determined in the determination steps (c) and (d) that 10 hours have elapsed, so the electricity bill increases in this case as well8. Defrosting, which consumes a lot of electricity, will be completed during the lowest electricity rate before that time. When the room temperature is determined to be less than 20°C in the determination step (e), defrosting is not performed at times other than 10:00 to 5:00 as described above, but it is determined that the room temperature is 20°C or higher. Sometimes 13
to 4 p.m., that is, when electricity prices are at their highest.

Since defrosting is also carried out between 5 o'clock and 22 o'clock, excluding the interval, it is possible to prevent the cooling efficiency from being significantly reduced due to excessive tube frost when the room temperature is high.

In the above configuration, steps (c) and (d) may be provided as necessary, and steps (e) and (f).

(g) may also be provided as necessary; in either case, defrosting requires a large amount of electricity while continuously energizing the defrosting heater 7; This will be done during times when electricity is cheap, avoiding times when electricity prices are high.

In this way, in this embodiment, defrosting, which consumes a large amount of power,
Since the system is designed to avoid times when electricity rates are high and to operate during times when electricity rates are low, electricity rates will become cheaper when a time zone-specific electricity rate system is adopted.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and only the parts different from FIG. 4 will be explained. First, steps (a), (b), (c), and (d) in Figure 4.

(e) is omitted. In place of step (A), a step (E) for determining "Is the current time 2 o'clock?" is provided. In this determination step (E), it is determined whether the current time is 2 o'clock or not, and if it is determined that it is 2 o'clock (YES), the process moves to the defrosting subroutine (B). If it is determined that it is not 2 o'clock (NO), the process moves to a determination step.

In this embodiment, defrosting is always performed at 2 o'clock regardless of the elapsed time of the defrosting timer. If defrosting is performed at this time, as described above, defrosting, which requires a large amount of power, will be completed during a time period when power rates are low. When the degree of opening of the cooling operation is high, such as during summer, the cumulative time of the defrost timer may reach 13 hours and the determination step (go) will determine (YES), but even in this case, between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Since defrosting is performed except during times when electricity prices are highest, it is difficult to overheat when the room temperature is high.
3. This prevents frost from forming and causing a significant drop in cooling efficiency. In this embodiment as well, similar to the first embodiment, defrosting, which requires a large amount of electricity, is performed during times when electricity rates are low, avoiding high electricity rates. When the rate system is adopted, electricity rates will become cheaper.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the present invention includes a control means for detecting the temperature of the cooling chamber and controlling the cooling operation, an integrating means for accumulating the time of the cooling operation, and a time measuring operation. and providing timekeeping means for providing time information to the control means,
Defrosting means is provided for defrosting the cooler for cooling the cooling chamber when the time information obtained by the clock means is in a predetermined time period and the integrated value obtained by the integrating means reaches a predetermined value. Because of its unique features, it has the excellent feature of being able to operate in such a way that the electricity rate is relatively low when a time-of-day electricity rate system is adopted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a refrigeration cycle, FIG. 2 is an electrical configuration diagram of the entire control circuit, and FIG. 3 is a time diagram. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are flowcharts showing the relationship between bands and charges, respectively, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, 1 is a compressor, 4 is a cooler, 5 is a microcomputer (control means, integration means, time measurement means), 6 and 8 are temperature sensors, and 7 is a defrosting heater (
defrosting means). Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A control means for detecting the temperature of the cooling chamber and controlling the cooling operation, an integrating means for accumulating the time of the cooling operation, a clock means for performing a timekeeping operation and providing time information to the control means, and this clock. and defrosting means for defrosting the cooler for cooling the cooling chamber when the integrated value obtained by the integrating means reaches a predetermined value during a predetermined time period based on the time information provided by the integrating means. A refrigerator.