JPH0236064Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Prior art> Conventional ice-making automatic detection devices include, for example, those that project light onto ice from a light-emitting element such as an LED and receive the reflected light with a light-receiving element to make a judgment, or ice-making trays. There are some methods that use a timer to judge whether ice is being made after putting ice in the container, but these all have the disadvantage of not being reliable.

<Purpose> Therefore, the present invention is capable of reliably detecting the end of ice making, and thereby transmits the notification of the end of ice making to the outside by sound or lamp, or allows the compressor to operate continuously during ice making. ,
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator-freezer with an automatic ice-making detection device that can switch a compressor from continuous operation to normal operation by detecting the end of ice-making, and can also switch to automatic operation for sudden ice-making.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to an illustrated example. First, to explain the structure of a refrigerator-freezer in FIG. 1, 1 is the refrigerator-freezer main body, which consists of an insulated box with a freezer compartment 3 at the top and a freezer compartment 4 at the bottom divided by an insulating partition wall 2. ing. A portion of the lower cold air circulation passage 5 of the freezer compartment 3 located at the rear of the freezer compartment is configured to forcibly send cold air from the evaporator 6 into the freezer compartment by driving a blower fan 7. Further, a part of the cold air in the freezer compartment is led out into the lower refrigerator compartment by a cold air duct 8 formed vertically penetrating from the freezer compartment 3 toward the refrigerator compartment 4.

A thermostatic damper 9 is provided at the outlet of the cold air duct 8 to control the flow rate of the cold air. An ice-making corner 11 is provided in one section of the freezer compartment 3.

Next, to explain the structure of the ice making corner 11 with reference to FIG. 2, the ice making corner 11 consists of an upper frame 12 and a middle frame 13.
and a lower frame 14, and a cold air inlet section 1 at the rear thereof.
5 and the front cold air outlet section 16 respectively.
An inlet temperature sensor S1 and an outlet temperature sensor S2 are provided adjacent to the inlet temperature sensor S1. 17 is an ice tray supported by the middle frame 13, and 18 is an ice storage box on the lower frame 14. And the cold air is from this ice making corner 11
The cold air enters the cold air inlet 19 and exits from the ice making corner 11 through the outlet 20. The respective temperature signals of the inlet temperature sensor S1 that detects the temperature of the cold air inlet 19 and the outlet temperature sensor S2 that detects the temperature of the outlet 20 are as follows.
It is input to the electrical equipment section of the refrigerator-freezer.

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of an automatic ice making detection device, in which a temperature difference calculation is performed to calculate a temperature difference Δθ by calculating the output electrical signals of the thermistor inlet temperature sensor S1 and outlet temperature sensor S2. A control circuit 2 is provided with a circuit 21, and outputs an ice-making end signal when the temperature difference Δθ becomes approximately zero based on the output electric signal of the temperature difference calculation circuit 21.
2, a device operated by the ice making end signal, for example, a transmission device 23 that transmits the end of ice making to the outside by sound or a lamp, and a compressor control relay for terminating the continuous operation of the refrigerant compressor when the ice making ends. 24 are provided.

Note that the control circuit 22 is a general one-chip microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer). The control circuit 22 has a program ROM, data RAN, and central control unit ALU inside the microcomputer, and is driven by a reference clock oscillator 25. In the figure, other control units related to cold cooking, such as a freezer compartment temperature control, a refrigerator compartment temperature control, and the like, are omitted.

Next, the automatic detection of the end of ice making is performed in the fourth step.
This will be explained along the diagram. This diagram shows ice making corner 11.
This is a graph showing the temperatures detected by the inlet temperature sensor S1 and outlet temperature sensor S2 of the cold air inlet section 15 and outlet section 16. The temperature detected by the inlet temperature sensor S1 is indicated by θ1, and the temperature detected by the outlet temperature sensor S2 is indicated by θ2. ing. The water temperature in the ice tray 17 is indicated by T.

Now, suppose that water at 30°C is poured into the ice cube tray 17.
At this time, the ice making start switch is turned on, and this time is t1. This 30°C water load causes the cold air inlet 15 and cold air outlet 16 of the ice making corner 11 to
A temperature difference Δθ is created between the cold air. This temperature difference Δθ is calculated by the temperature difference calculation circuit 21 and sent to the control circuit 22. At the time t1 when ice making starts, the temperature difference Δθ is, for example, about 8 to 9° C. due to heat radiation from the water.

As time passes, the water temperature T in the ice tray 17 decreases, and the heat load gradually decreases, so the temperature difference Δθ gradually decreases as shown in the figure.
Then, all the water in the ice tray 17 turns into ice, and at the end of ice making, t2, the temperature difference Δθ becomes extremely small or almost zero. At this time, the control circuit 22 determines that the ice making is completed, and the external transmission device 23 transmits the completion of the ice making by sound or lamp. Additionally, the relay 24, which is turned on in conjunction with the ice-making start switch, is turned off to switch the compressor from continuous operation to normal operation.

<Effects> As is clear from the above description, the present invention has an inlet temperature sensor and an outlet temperature sensor installed in the cold air inlet and cold air outlet of the ice making corner of the freezer compartment, respectively, close to the ice tray. A temperature difference calculation circuit is provided to calculate the temperature difference by calculating the output electrical signals of both sensors, and outputs an ice making end signal when the temperature difference becomes approximately zero based on the output electric signal of the temperature difference calculation circuit. The control circuit is provided with a control circuit.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably detect the end of ice making based on the output electric signals of both sensors, and thereby, if necessary, the notification of the end of ice making can be transmitted to the outside by sound or lamp. Alternatively, the compressor can be operated continuously during ice making, and when the completion of ice making is detected, the compressor can be switched from continuous operation to normal operation, which is an excellent effect that can also be expected to enable automatic operation switching for emergency ice making.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention: Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the upper part of the refrigerator-freezer, Fig. 2 is a side view of the ice-making corner, Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the automatic ice-making detection device, and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the upper part of the refrigerator-freezer. It is a diagram for explaining the action. S1...Inlet temperature sensor, S2...Outlet temperature sensor, 3...Freezer compartment, 11...Ice making corner, 1
5...Cold air inlet section, 16...Cold air outlet section, 17...
... Ice tray, 21 ... Temperature difference calculation circuit, 22 ... Control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] An inlet temperature sensor and an outlet temperature sensor are installed in the cold air inlet and cold air outlet of the ice-making corner of the freezer compartment, respectively, in proximity to the ice-making tray, and output electrical signals from both sensors are installed. A temperature difference calculation circuit for calculating a temperature difference is provided, and a control circuit is provided for outputting an ice making end signal when the temperature difference becomes approximately zero based on an output electrical signal of the temperature difference calculation circuit. A refrigerator-freezer having an automatic ice-making detection device characterized by: <Technical field> The present invention has a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment, and forcibly circulates cold air from an evaporator through a cold air circulation passage.
The present invention relates to a refrigerator-freezer in which cold air is introduced into the refrigerator compartment through a damper, and which has an automatic ice-making detection device that detects the state of ice-making in an ice-making corner provided in the freezer compartment.