JPH0245108B2 - REITOSOKUSHINHOHO - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention is a device in which air cooled by a main cooler installed in a cooler room is circulated inside the refrigerator by a blower, and an auxiliary cooler is installed inside the refrigerator. The present invention relates to a method for promoting freezing, in which a predetermined cooling temperature is substantially maintained by the main cooler in a normal cooling operation state, and cooling is performed in a short time by flowing a refrigerant through the auxiliary cooler in an accelerated freezing state.

(b) Prior Art Conventionally, for example, in a refrigerator, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 45-27703, a main evaporator 11 is installed in the freezer compartment 6.
In addition, an ice-making evaporator 12 is provided, on which an ice-making tray 19 and the like are placed to promote freezing.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a configuration, since refrigerant is constantly flowing through both evaporators 11 and 12, power consumption increases accordingly. Another drawback is that when cold air is blown onto the ice tray 19, the ice becomes smaller due to sublimation.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention consists of a blower that circulates air cooled by a main cooler installed in a cooler room into the refrigerator, an auxiliary cooler arranged to cool the interior of the refrigerator, and a conventional cooler. A refrigerant control device that controls the flow of refrigerant so that cooling is performed by the main cooler of both coolers in the cooling operation state, a device that controls the cooling promotion state in response to the temperature of the auxiliary cooler, and a blower. and a device that controls the operation of the refrigeration system to control the temperature inside the refrigerator.In normal cooling operation conditions, the refrigerant control device controls the refrigerant that can be effectively cooled by the main cooler of one of the two coolers. At the same time, the temperature control device controls the operation of the blower and the refrigeration system, and the refrigerant control device operates so that cooling is effectively performed by at least the auxiliary cooler by operating the device that controls the cooling promotion state. At the same time, the refrigeration system is operated with priority over the normal cooling operation control by the temperature control device, and the operation of the blower is stopped.

(e) Effect According to the present invention, in a state of accelerated cooling, the operation of the blower is stopped to lower the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant, thereby promoting freezing at a lower temperature than during normal cooling operation, thereby making short-term freezing more effective. This is done in a specific manner.

(F) Embodiment Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 3. Reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator main body, and the inside of the refrigerator is divided by a partition wall 2 into a freezing compartment 3 kept at a freezing temperature and a freezing compartment 4 kept at a temperature higher than the freezing temperature. Reference numeral 5 denotes a bottom wall of the freezer compartment 3 which is provided above the partition wall 2 with a distance therebetween, and a main cooler 7 is installed in the cooler room 6 formed between the partition wall 2 and the bottom wall 5. There is. 8 transfers the air cooled by the main cooler 7 to the freezer compartment 3
An electric blower circulates air between the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerator compartment 4.
Cold air is directly sent out from the cold air discharge port in front of the blower 8, and cold air that has descended through the duct 9 is sent out to the refrigerator compartment 4 and circulated as shown by the arrow. 1
0 is the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 4 in the duct 9 depending on the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 4.
This is a thermal damper device that opens and closes the cold air discharge path to the 11 is an electric compressor, 12 is a condenser, 13
is an auxiliary cooler installed in such a way that articles are placed in the area where cold air discharged into the freezer compartment 3 can pass easily, and a refrigerant passage is formed between two metal plates, or a refrigerant pipe is installed on the underside of the metal plate. This is a structure such as one with a . This auxiliary cooler 13 is for cooling the objects to be frozen by heat conduction, and a small chamber is formed in the freezing chamber 3 corresponding to the cold air discharge port, and the auxiliary cooler 13 is installed on the bottom surface of this small chamber where the objects are placed. 13 may be arranged to make this small chamber a freezing promotion chamber. In this case, the freezing promotion chamber is provided with a cold air circulation port so as to be in communication with other parts of the freezing compartment 3, so that the temperature is maintained at the same temperature as the other parts of the freezing compartment 3 during normal cooling operation, which will be described later. Make it. 14 is a refrigerant control device, and a typical example is a general electromagnetic valve, which operates to control whether the inflowing refrigerant flows into one or the other of two outlet paths. It is also possible to configure the system with a fluid control device that operates in the same way as the above. 15 and 16 are first and second capillary tubes, respectively. 17 is a freezing promotion control device which performs a freezing promotion operation by switching from a normal cooling operation state to a freezing promotion state;
In one embodiment, when an ice cube tray filled with unfrozen food or fresh water is placed on the auxiliary cooler 13, the system detects that the temperature of the auxiliary cooler 13 has exceeded a preset upper limit temperature. The temperature is detected by the hot section 18 and starts a timer device, which operates the switches 19 and 20 for a certain period of time determined by the timer device. 21 is a temperature control device that controls the temperature inside the freezing compartment 3 to maintain it within a predetermined temperature range, and detects the temperature inside the freezing compartment 3, the temperature of the cold air sent to the freezing compartment 3, or the temperature of the main cooler 7. to open and close the contacts.

In such a configuration, during normal cooling operation, each contact of the switch 19 is open, and the solenoid valve 14 indicates that the refrigerant is in the electric compressor 11, condenser 12, first
The air flows through the capillary tube 15, the solenoid valve 14, the second capillary tube 16, the main cooler 7, and the electric compressor 11, and the switch 20 closes its contacts and the electric blower 8 rotates at a constant speed. The freezing compartment 3 is maintained at a predetermined temperature by controlling the operation of the electric compressor 11 and the electric blower 8 by opening and closing the temperature control device 21, and the refrigerator compartment 4 is maintained at a predetermined temperature by controlling the operation of the electric compressor 11 and the electric blower 8 by opening and closing the temperature control device 21. The temperature is maintained at a predetermined temperature.

When the temperature of the auxiliary cooler 13 becomes higher than the upper limit temperature determined by the temperature detection device included in the control device 17 by placing an ice tray or food on the auxiliary cooler 13, the above-mentioned timer device is activated. When the switch 19 starts, each contact of the switch 19 closes and the solenoid valve 1
4 operates to switch so that the refrigerant exiting the first capillary tube 15 bypasses the second capillary tube 16 and flows to the auxiliary cooler 13 and then flows through the main cooler 7, and the switch 20 has a contact point open. Then, the electric blower 8 stops. In this state, the electric compressor 11 is in continuous operation in the forced operation circuit 22. In this state, the ice tray and food on the auxiliary cooler 13 are directly cooled by heat conduction from the auxiliary cooler 13 through which the refrigerant flows before the main cooler 7. This means that when there is a lot of water in the food or when the water in the ice cube tray is frozen, the cooling speed is high due to heat conduction from the auxiliary cooler, and the cooling speed reaches the specified level in a shorter time than when cooling with air. can be frozen.

This state of accelerated cooling continues for a certain period of time, such as 60 minutes, by the aforementioned timer device, and after this time has elapsed, the switch 19 is opened and the switch 20 is closed, resulting in the aforementioned normal cooling operation state. .

In addition, in the above freezing promotion state, the electric blower 8 stops, so the amount of heat exchanged with the air in the freezer room by the auxiliary cooler 13 is reduced compared to when the electric blower 8 is rotated at a constant speed to promote freezing. , more refrigerant accumulates in the auxiliary cooler 13 in a liquid state. As a result, the pressure on the suction side of the electric compressor 11 is lowered, so that the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant is lowered, so that freezing is further promoted than when freezing is performed with the electric blower 8 operating normally.

Furthermore, by stopping the electric blower 8, drying of the ice in the ice tray due to sublimation is suppressed, so that inconsistencies such as ice becoming smaller are reduced.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the refrigerant circuit of the present invention. In normal cooling operation, the refrigerant flows through the electric compressor 11 - condenser 12 - solenoid valve 14 - first capillary tube 15' - main cooling. 7--electric compressor 11, and in the accelerated state of refrigeration, the flow flows through the electric compressor 11--condenser 12--electromagnetic valve 14--second capillary tube 1.
6'-auxiliary cooler 13-electric compressor 11.
This case is also basically the same as that shown in FIG. 2, that is, there is no change in the technical idea that the refrigerant flows to the auxiliary cooler 13 with priority over the main cooler 7 in the accelerated freezing state.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the refrigerant circuit of the present invention, in which the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2 indicate the same components. In this circuit, during normal cooling operation, the solenoid valve 14' is closed and the refrigerant bypasses the auxiliary cooler 13 and flows from the second capillary tube 16 to the main cooler 7. In the accelerated freezing state, the solenoid valve 14' is opened and the refrigerant exiting the first capillary tube 15 flows through the main cooler 7 through the solenoid valve 14' and the auxiliary cooler 13. In this case, there is no problem even if a small amount of refrigerant flows through the second capillary tube 16.

In addition, in FIG. 6, a solenoid valve 14' is provided in parallel to the series circuit of the second capillary tube 16' and the auxiliary cooler 13, so that during normal cooling operation, the refrigerant leaving the first capillary tube 15' is open. The refrigerant may flow through the main cooler 7 through the solenoid valve 14' and substantially not flow into the auxiliary cooler 13 due to the low resistance of the second capillary tube 16'. In this case, it is desirable that the refrigerant does not flow into the auxiliary cooler 13. In the accelerated freezing state, solenoid valve 1
4' is closed so that a sufficient amount of refrigerant can flow to the auxiliary cooler 13 as well.

Other configurations may be used as a method for controlling the freezing promotion period. One of them is the control device 17.
Control may be such that when the temperature of the auxiliary cooler 13 reaches or exceeds the upper limit set temperature, freezing promotion is started and when the temperature drops to the lower limit setting temperature, freezing promotion is ended.

Note that the present invention can be applied to refrigerator-freezers in which the mounting positions of the blower 8 and the main cooler 7 are changed in various ways, and even to so-called freezers that do not have a refrigerator compartment but have a freezer compartment inside. It is something.

(G) Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention executes the cooling operation of the refrigeration system in priority to the normal cooling operation by the temperature control device in the state where the auxiliary cooler is promoting cooling, so that the cooling by the auxiliary cooler is effective. In addition, by stopping the operation of the blower, low-temperature freezing by the auxiliary cooler can be promoted. Therefore, the temperature of the auxiliary cooler can be made sufficiently low, the freezing promotion time can be shortened, economical operation can be achieved, and the drying of moisture can also be suppressed. Further, according to the present invention, since the freezing promotion state is automatically controlled in response to the temperature of the auxiliary cooler, accurate freezing promotion can be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Each figure shows an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a refrigerator-freezer, FIG. 2 is a refrigerant circuit diagram,
FIG. 3 shows an electric circuit diagram, and FIGS. 4 to 6 show other embodiments of refrigerant circuit diagrams. 3... Freezer compartment, 7... Main cooler, 8... Electric blower,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Electric compressor, 13... Auxiliary cooler, 14... Refrigerant control device, 17... Refrigeration promotion control device, 21... Temperature control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A blower that circulates the air cooled by the main cooler installed in the cooler room into the refrigerator, an auxiliary cooler arranged to cool the interior of the refrigerator, and a Among them, a refrigerant control device that controls the flow of refrigerant so that cooling is performed by the main cooler, a device that controls the freezing promotion state in response to the temperature of the auxiliary cooler, and a device that controls the operation of the blower and the refrigeration system. and a device for controlling the temperature inside the refrigerator, and in a normal cooling operation state, the refrigerant control device maintains a refrigerant flow state in which cooling is effectively performed by one of the main coolers, and The operation of the blower and the refrigeration system is controlled by the temperature control device, and the refrigerant control device operates so that at least cooling by the auxiliary cooler is effectively performed by the operation of the device that controls the freezing promotion state. A method for promoting refrigeration, characterized in that the refrigeration system is operated with priority over normal cooling operation control by the temperature control device, and the operation of the blower is stopped.