JPH0238871B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rapid freezing device in which an auxiliary cooler is provided in a part of a freezer compartment of a forced draft type refrigerator-freezer or the like.

Structure of the conventional example and its problems The conventional example is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. 1 is insulation wall 2
The air cooled by the main cooler 4 stored in the cooling chamber 3 constructed between the
This is a forced draft refrigerator that circulates the air. Reference numeral 8 denotes a quick-freezing chamber which is provided with an auxiliary cooler 9 of a direct cooling type separately within the freezing chamber 6, and is used to quickly freeze food. A damper thermostat 10 is provided at the entrance of the refrigerator compartment 7 to adjust the amount of cooling inflow. As shown in FIG. 4, the refrigeration cycle includes a normal flow path that circulates from compressor 11 → condenser 12 → first capillary tube 13 → main cooler 4 → compressor 11,
Compressor 11 → condenser 12 → second capillary tube 14 → auxiliary cooler 9 → main cooler 4 → flow path control device 15 that switches to compressor 11 and a circulating rapid freezing flow path
(hereinafter referred to as a switching valve 15) is provided, and rapid freezing is performed by operating the switching valve 15 to switch the flow path. This rapid freezing time can be set arbitrarily, and during this time the compressor 11 is forced to operate continuously, but the blower 5 reduces the amount of heat exchange in the main cooler 4 and maintains the evaporation temperature of the auxiliary cooler 9. In order to maintain the food at a low temperature and speed up the freezing speed of the food that comes into contact with the auxiliary cooler 9, means are taken to stop the operation during quick freezing. However, when the blower 5 for forced ventilation during rapid freezing is stopped in this way, the effect of sublimating the frost on the auxiliary cooler 9 with the cold air sent by the blower 5 disappears, and the frost on the surface of the auxiliary cooler 9 disappears. The blower 5 was operated intermittently during rapid freezing because it lowered the thermal conductivity to the food and slowed down the freezing speed of the food. However, at this time, the operating rate of the blower 5 is set to a high value assuming that a large amount of frost will form on the surface of the auxiliary cooler 9, such as when the quick freezing time is set to the maximum in order to quickly freeze large foods. Therefore, in the case of short-term quick freezing, the blower 5 is operated intermittently at a predetermined high operating rate even though there is not much frost on the auxiliary cooler 9, and the evaporation temperature of the auxiliary cooler 9 is kept constant. It had the disadvantage of slowing down the freezing speed of food by raising the temperature as needed.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION In view of the above points, the present invention is intended to prevent unnecessary temperature rise of an auxiliary cooler during rapid freezing.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the present invention, the present invention sets the operation rate of the blower to a higher value as the quick freezing setting time becomes longer, and operates the blower intermittently, thereby reducing frost on the surface of the auxiliary cooler during quick freezing. This sublimes the water and prevents unnecessary temperature rise in the auxiliary cooler.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Note that the cross section and refrigerant circuit of the refrigerator are the same as in the conventional example, so in the explanation of this example, reference will also be made to FIGS. 3 and 4, and the same parts as in the conventional example will be the same. The detailed explanation will be omitted.

In the figure, the compressor 11 is connected to a power source via a relay 16, the blower 5 is connected in series with a relay 17, and the switching valve 15 is connected in series with a relay 18, and both are connected in parallel with the compressor 11. It is connected. The switching valve 15 is configured to switch to the normal flow path when the coil is not energized, and to switch to the rapid freezing flow path during normal times. Relays 16, 17, and 18 are configured to close their contacts when the excitation coil is energized. 1
Reference numeral 9 denotes a temperature control device, which includes a thermistor 20 and resistors R ₁ , R ₂ , R ₃ and a comparator 2 installed in a part of the freezer compartment 6.
It consists of 1. The output of comparator 21 is
The relay 16 is turned ON/OFF by a driver circuit (not shown) such as a transistor via the OR circuit 22.
is configured to send a signal to 23 is a quick freezing switch, and 24 is a quick cooling timer.
When the quick freezing switch 23 is turned on, the quick cooling time timer 24 is activated by the resistor R ₄ and the variable resistor connected to the d input when a short time input is input to the a input as shown in FIG.
VR, counts the pulses whose frequency is determined by capacitor C, and from the b output until the specified number of counts is completed.
Outputs a high level signal (hereinafter simply referred to as "H" signal). Also, "H" and "L" signals are output alternately from the c output, and the time of the "L" signal is constant, but the "H"
The configuration is such that only the signal is determined by the pulse frequency of the d input as well as the b output. In other words, by changing the resistance value of the variable resistor VR connected to the d input, the "H" signal output time from the b output can be changed from _T1 to _T2 , and the "H" signal output time of the c output can also be changed. _T3〜
T Can be varied up to ₄ hours. However, the "L" signal output time of the c output is constant at _T5 , and the "H" signal is always output during normal times when rapid freezing is not performed. The b output of the quenching timer 24 sends a signal to turn the relay 18 ON/OFF, and is connected to the input of the OR circuit 22. Further, the c output is connected to send a signal to turn the relay 17 ON/OFF.

Next, the operational status of this configuration will be explained.
Normally, when the internal temperature of the refrigerator (freezer compartment temperature) is higher than a predetermined value, the resistance value R _TH of the thermistor 20 becomes small, and the temperature at point A determined by R _TH and R ₁ of the temperature control device 19 decreases. The potential becomes higher than the potential at point B determined by resistors R ₂ and R ₃ and the comparator 21
Since the output of the OR circuit 22 is "H", the output of the OR circuit 22 is also "H", and the relay 16 is turned on via a driver circuit such as a transistor (not shown), and the compressor 11 is operated. At this time, the quick-freezing switch 23 is in the OFF state, so the quick-cooling timer 24
b output is "L", the relay 18 is OFF, the suction coil of the flow path switching valve 15 is not energized, and the refrigerant circuit is compressor 11 → condenser 12 → first capillary tube 13 → main cooler 4→Configure and carry out the circulation cycle of the compressor 11. Further, since the c output of the quenching timer 24 is "H", the relay 17 is energized to close the contact and the blower 5 is energized. After that, when the inside of the refrigerator is cooled to a certain temperature, the resistance value RTH of the thermistor 20 increases and the A _potential becomes smaller than the B potential, so the output of the comparator 21 becomes "L" and the b output of the quenching timer 24. Together with the "L" signal from the OR circuit 22, the output of the OR circuit 22 becomes "L", turning off the relay 16 and stopping the compressor 11 and blower 5. Thereafter, this action is repeated to perform a normal cooling action.

Next, the rapid freezing operation will be explained. If you turn on the quick freezing switch 23 at your discretion, the quick cooling timer 24 will start.
According to the setting value of the variable resistor VR connected to the d input of the b output, it becomes “H” for the quenching time T ₁ to T ₂ hours.
In order to continue generating the signal, one input of the OR circuit 22 becomes "H", and regardless of the output of the temperature control device 19, the output of the OR circuit 22 becomes "H", the relay 16 is turned on, and the compressor 11 is immediately turned on. is driven by. At the same time, relay 18 is turned on (switching valve 15
is energized, switches to the rapid freezing channel, and starts the cooling action of the auxiliary cooler 9. At this time, like the b output, the c output goes “H” according to the resistance setting of the variable resistor VR.
The signal continues to be output for T ₃ to T ₄ hours, and the "L" signal continues to be output at a constant rate for T ₅ hours, so when the "H" signal is output, the relay 17 is turned on and the blower 5 is forced to operate in the same way as the compressor 11. However, when outputting “L” signal, relay 1
7 is turned off and the blower 5 is stopped. In other words, as the quick freezing time increases from T ₁ hour to T ₂ hours, the operation rate of the blower 5 changes from T ₃ / (T ₃ + T ₅ ).
It increases to T ₄ /(T ₄ +T ₅ ). After the rapid freezing is completed (after T ₁ hour has passed), the b output of the rapid cooling timer 24 becomes "L", and since the temperature inside the refrigerator is low, the output of the temperature control device 19 becomes "L", so the OR circuit is activated. The output of relay 16 also becomes “L”.
is turned off, and the compressor 11 and blower 5 stop.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides an auxiliary cooler in the freezer compartment of a forced-draft type refrigerator-freezer, and separates the refrigerant flow paths of the main cooler and the auxiliary cooler during normal cooling and rapid freezing. The system is equipped with a flow path control device that switches between the steps, and is configured to set the operating rate of the blower during quick freezing to a higher value as the quick freezing setting time becomes longer. This configuration provides the following effects.

When rapidly freezing small foods, etc., it is best to cool only with the auxiliary cooler without driving the blower.
In addition, the quick freezing time for small foods and the like may be short. However, if the blower is completely stopped, a small amount of frost will form on the auxiliary cooler, albeit for a short period of time.
Therefore, when the quick freezing time is set to a short time, the blower is driven at a low operating rate (in other words, the operating time of the blower is shortened during intermittent operation), the air near the auxiliary cooler is circulated, and the Raise the temperature near the cooler to prevent frost from forming.

Also, when rapidly freezing large foods, it is difficult to cool them with only an auxiliary cooler, so it is desirable to cool them by applying cold air from the surrounding area. On the other hand, rapid freezing of large foods requires a long freezing time. Therefore, when the quick freezing time is set for a long time, the blower is driven at a high operating rate (that is, the operating time is increased during intermittent operation) to perform quick freezing. Moreover, even in this case, frost formation on the surface of the auxiliary cooler can be prevented by blowing air from the blower.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform stable rapid freezing regardless of the size of the object to be cooled, and at the same time, it is possible to prevent frost formation during rapid freezing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a control circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a time chart of the quick freezing timer shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a refrigerator showing a conventional example.
FIG. 4 is a piping diagram of the refrigeration cycle. 3... Cooling room, 4... Main cooler, 5... Blower, 8... Rapid freezing room, 9... Auxiliary cooler, 11
... Compressor, 15 ... Flow path control device. 23...Quick freezing switch, 24...Quick freezing timer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A blower that circulates the air cooled by the main cooler installed in the cooling room to the freezer and refrigerator compartments, a quick-freezing room through which the air cooled by the main cooler passes through the freezer compartment, and a The disposed auxiliary cooler, a flow path control device that controls the refrigerant flow path of the main cooler and the auxiliary cooler, and a compressor of the refrigeration cycle are continuously operated to continuously flow the refrigerant to the auxiliary cooler. Therefore, a quick freezing switch that performs quick freezing, a time setting device that sets the quick freezing time, and an operation rate of the blower during quick freezing as the quick freezing setting time set by the time setting device becomes longer. A quick-freezing device for a refrigerator equipped with a blower control device that changes the temperature in the direction of increasing the temperature.