JPH0448462Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] This invention relates to an electric refrigerator, and more specifically, to an electric refrigerator equipped with a food storage chamber that can be used for multiple purposes, such as a thawing chamber for frozen foods. be.

[Technical background of the invention] In order to optimally preserve food depending on the type of food, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 175974/1983 proposes that the freezer compartment, ice room, refrigerator compartment, and vegetable compartment be separated into separate rooms each with its own door. An electric refrigerator has been proposed which is formed as a chamber and has an ice chamber within the refrigerator which can also be converted into a freezing chamber.

According to this, if ice temperature storage is not required, the ice greenhouse can also be used as a freezing room, but the ice greenhouse cannot be used for other purposes, such as as a thawing room or a greenhouse. Furthermore, even if a thawing chamber is provided, for example, the thawing chamber is conventionally configured as its own independent chamber by a partition wall, so the storage volume that can actually be used is compressed by the thickness of the partition wall. , it becomes inconvenient to store food. Furthermore, since a dedicated door is required, cost increases are unavoidable. Furthermore, as for the thawing chamber, in households where frozen foods are not used very often, the thawing chamber is used infrequently and becomes a nuisance.

[Purpose of the invention] This invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional technology.The purpose of this invention was to divide a part of the icehouse and individually adjust the temperature of the room from around -2℃ to several tens of degrees. To provide an easy-to-use electric refrigerator that can be controlled and used for multiple purposes, such as as a defrosting chamber.

[Examples] Hereinafter, this invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows, for example, a four-door type electric refrigerator to which this invention is applied. That is,
This electric refrigerator has partition walls 1a to 1 having heat insulating properties.
A freezer compartment 2, a refrigerator compartment 3, an ice room 4, and a vegetable storage compartment 5 are formed to be independent from each other by c, and each food storage compartment is provided with doors 2a to 5a, respectively.

A cold air circulation means including an evaporator 6 and a blower fan 7 is provided on the back side of the freezer compartment 2. In this case, the freezer compartment 2 is provided with a partition wall 9 that forms a cold air distribution chamber 8 between it and a back wall thereof.
A cold air blowing grill 10 that opens toward the interior of the freezer compartment 2 is formed on the partition wall 9, and a duct 11 is communicated with the cold air distribution chamber 8. This duct 11 penetrates the insulation material filled between the inner box and the outer box and extends downward, and connects the refrigerator room 3, the ice room 4, and the vegetable storage room via branch ducts 11a, 11b, and 11c. 5.

According to this invention, a portion of the ice chamber 4 is constructed so that it can also be used as a thawing chamber or a greenhouse chamber. That is, referring also to FIG. 2, the ice room 4 is divided into a plurality of storage chambers by partition means. In this embodiment, the partition means includes an upper partition wall 12 formed on the upper wall side of the ice chamber 4, and a bottom wall side formed parallel to the upper partition wall 12 with a predetermined distance. The ice chamber 4 consists of a first storage chamber 14 that forms the original ice chamber with the partition walls 12 and 13, and a second storage chamber 14 that can be used as a thawing chamber or the like. It is divided into a storage room 15 and a storage room 15.

A heat sink 16 made of aluminum, for example, is arranged on the bottom wall side of the second storage chamber 15, and one end of a heat pipe 17 is attached to this heat sink 16. In this case, heat pipe 1
One end of the heat pipe 17 is branched to give heat evenly to the heat sink 16, and the other end of the heat pipe 17 is connected to a heat generating part of the refrigeration cycle, such as an oil cooler 18a of a compressor 18. Immersed. Note that reference numeral 20 is a solenoid valve that controls the flow of the working fluid sealed within the heat pipe 17.

The branch duct 1 is installed on the back wall of the first storage chamber 14.
1b is provided, but according to this embodiment, the branch duct 1 is also connected to the back wall of the second storage chamber 15 via the branch duct 11d.
A cold air outlet 21 communicating with 1b is provided, and an electromagnetic damper 22 is attached to this cold air outlet 21 to control the amount of cold air blown out. Although not shown, the first storage chamber 1
A damper thermo is provided in the cold air outlet 19 of No. 4 or the branch duct 11b communicating therewith.

Here, the room temperature in the second storage chamber 15 is controlled as follows. That is, the electromagnetic damper 2 is turned off by turning off the electromagnetic valve 20 of the heat pipe 17.
By adjusting the amount of cold air in step 2, for example -
Temperatures ranging from freezing temperatures on the order of 2°C to refrigeration temperatures on the order of 3°C are obtained. Further, by turning on and off the solenoid valve 20 and the electromagnetic damper 22 simultaneously or alternately, a storage temperature of, for example, about 10° C. can be obtained, and on the other hand, by turning off the electromagnetic damper 22,
By turning on the solenoid valve 20, for example, 30℃
The desired thawing temperature can be obtained.

A cold air return for returning the cold air supplied from the cold air outlet 19 and the cold air in the vegetable storage compartment 5 to the refrigerator compartment 3 is provided in the upper wall and the bottom wall of the first storage chamber 14 near each door side. Holes 23, 23 are respectively provided as shown by the chain lines in FIG.
5 is also used as a thawing chamber, etc., and is therefore isolated from the refrigerator compartment 3 and the vegetable storage compartment 5. Therefore, in this embodiment, the second storage chamber 15 is provided with a cold air guide member 24 that guides the cold air supplied from the cold air outlet 21 along its upper wall and then discharges it from above in a shower-like manner. It is being That is, this cold air guide member 24
consists of a gutter-like body (see FIG. 4) that forms a cold air passage with the upper wall of the second storage chamber 15, and this gutter-like body has a plurality of locations, in this example, the front, center, and Cold air exhaust ports 24a to 24c are provided at three locations at the rear, respectively, so that the inside of the second storage chamber 15 can be uniformly cooled. In addition, in order to achieve optimal temperature control of the second storage chamber 15, a sensor that detects the room temperature, such as a temperature sensing thermistor 25, is attached to the cold air outlet 24b located in the center of the cold air guide member 24. ing. Note that in this embodiment, the first storage chamber 14
Cold air return holes 23, 23 are provided only on the sides, but in some cases, a cold air return hole that can be opened and closed is also formed in the second storage chamber 15, and this chamber is used as a thawing chamber or a greenhouse. If necessary, it may be closed as appropriate.

FIG. 3 shows a food storage box 26 placed inside the icehouse 4. As shown in FIG. This food storage box 26
includes a first box body 27 placed in the first storage chamber 14 and a second box body 28 placed in the second storage chamber 15. The box body 27 and the second box body 28 are the food storage box 2.
As shown in FIG.
and the lower partition wall 13 to form the first storage chamber 1.
4 and the second storage chamber 15 in a substantially airtight manner.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper partition wall 12 includes, for example, a coil spring 31.
is biased downward at the recessed portion 2.
A band-shaped sealing plate 32 is provided along the top wall surface 29a of 9 and is formed so as to be in surface contact with the top wall surface 29a.
With this seal plate 32, the top wall surface 29a of the recessed portion 29
The space between the upper partition wall 12 and the upper partition wall 12 is almost airtightly sealed. On the other hand, a coil spring 33 is placed in the recess 29 in the same way as the seal plate 32 described above.
The lower partition wall 1
A band-shaped sealing plate 34 is provided along the top wall surface 13a of No. 3 so as to be in surface contact with each other, and the sealing plate 34 makes the space between the lower partition wall 13 and the recess 29 almost airtight. It is becoming closed to the public. Note that the seal plate 34 has a pair of stepped screws 35, 35, as illustrated in FIG.
It is movably held at both ends of the top wall surface 29a.

6 to 9 show modified examples of the partitioning means for partitioning the first storage chamber 14 and the second storage chamber 15. FIG. That is, in the example of FIG. 6, a spring 31 similar to that of the upper partition wall 12 is provided on the lower partition wall 13 side.
A sealing plate 32' is provided which is biased by the upper sealing plate 32 and the lower sealing plate 32' so that the top wall portion 29a of the recessed portion 29 is sandwiched almost airtightly. 7 to 9 show partition means having a more simplified structure, and in this way, one of the seal plates may be omitted. However, according to the modified examples shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, even when the food storage box 26 is pulled out from the ice room 4, the upper partition wall 12 and the lower partition wall 13 are removed.
The space between them is kept closed by one or both of the seal plates 32, 32'.

Referring again to FIGS. 3 and 4, a lid 36 is slidably and removably attached to the second box 28 to prevent leakage of odors generated during defrosting, for example. In this case, the lid 36
consists of a plate-shaped body of a predetermined width having a pair of ears 37, 37 that protrude outward from each other from the front side edges located on the door 4a side, and in this example, the front part thereof has a A handle 38 is formed. Correspondingly, the ears 37, 37 are slidably received at both side edges forming the opening of the second box body 28. Guide grooves 39, 39 are formed, and cutouts 40, 40 are provided at the front ends thereof to allow the ears 37, 37 to escape during attachment and detachment. Also, the rear flange 41 of the second box body 28
is formed one step lower than the other flanges so as to be located in a virtual plane including the guide grooves 39, 39, and this rear flange 41 supports the rear end of the lid 36. That is, the width W ₁ of the lid 36 is made substantially narrower than the distance W ₂ between the flanges 39a, 39a forming the guide grooves 39, 39, so that the lid 36 can be removed upward when in the closed state. It's becoming. Also,
When the food storage box 26 is pulled out and the lid 36 is opened, the lid 36 is pushed back by the back wall of the second storage chamber 15 as the food storage box 26 is pushed into the ice room 4. It will close automatically, so there is no risk of forgetting to close it.

[Effect] As is clear from the description of the embodiments described above, according to this invention, the ice greenhouse is divided into at least two storage chambers, and a compressor of the refrigeration cycle, for example, is connected to one of the storage chambers through a heat pipe. By supplying the heat generated by the cooling system, this storage room, which is part of the icehouse, can be used for multiple purposes such as a thawing room for frozen foods or a greenhouse, making it extremely convenient. be.

In this case, in this invention, an upper partition wall and a lower partition wall are provided at predetermined positions facing each other on the top wall and bottom wall of the ice chamber, respectively, and a recess for partition formed in the food storage box is provided between them. Since the sealing means is used to fit the top walls of the storage chambers to substantially airtightly separate the storage chambers, the partitioning means can be made thinner, and its structure is simple, resulting in low cost. In addition, according to this invention, although it has a substantially independent food storage room or thawing room, it can also be used as the door of the ice room, which is advantageous in terms of cost and design. The effect is remarkable and favorable.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the internal structure of the electric refrigerator according to this invention, Figure 2 is a front view showing the inside of the icehouse with the door removed, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing the inside of the icehouse. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the partitioning means provided in the icehouse, and FIG. 5 shows the mounting structure of the seal plate in the recess of the food storage box. FIGS. 6 to 9 are cross-sectional views showing modified examples of the partitioning means. In the figure, 1 is a partition wall, 2 is a freezer compartment, 3 is a refrigerator compartment,
4 is an ice greenhouse, 5 is a vegetable storage room, 6 is an evaporator, 7 is a ventilation fan, 11 is a duct, 12 is an upper partition wall,
13 is a lower partition wall, 14 is a first storage chamber, 15 is a second storage chamber, 16 is a heat sink, 17 is a heat pipe, 20 is a solenoid valve, 22 is an electromagnetic damper, 23 is a cold air return hole, 24 is a Cold air guide member, 25 is a temperature sensing thermistor, 26 is a food storage box, 27 is a first box body, 28 is a second box body, 29 is a recessed part, 3
2, 32', 33 are seal plates, 36 is a lid, 37 is an ear portion, 38 is a handle, 39 is a guide groove, 40 is a notch, and 41 is a rear flange.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) An ice greenhouse with a pull-out food storage box is formed independently from the freezer and refrigerator compartments with a partition wall that has insulation properties, and each of the above compartments has an evaporation system. In the electric refrigerator, the cold air generated by the refrigerator is supplied by a cold air circulation means including a blower fan, and an upper partition wall and a lower partition wall are provided at predetermined positions facing each other between the top and bottom walls of the ice chamber. The ice greenhouse is divided into at least two storage chambers, one of the storage chambers is provided with a heat dissipation means connected to the heat generating part of the refrigeration cycle via a heat pipe, and the food storage box is provided with the lower partition. The interior of the food storage box is divided into a number of boxes corresponding to the respective storage chambers by providing a recessed portion that fits into the wall, and at least one of the upper partition wall and the lower partition wall and the recessed portion are provided. A sealing means is provided between the partition wall and the top wall of the electric refrigerator, and each of the storage chambers is almost airtightly separated by the partition wall and the sealing means so that temperature can be controlled individually. (2) In claim (1) for utility model registration, the sealing means comprises a band-shaped sealing plate biased by a spring so as to be in surface contact with the top wall of each of the partition walls or recesses. An electric refrigerator featuring (3) In claim (1) or (2) for utility model registration, the sealing means is provided between the top wall of the recess and the upper partition wall, and the seal means is provided between the top wall of the recess and the lower partition wall. An electric refrigerator characterized in that the top walls of the partition walls are in direct surface contact with each other. (4) In claim (1) or (2) for utility model registration, the sealing means is provided between the top wall of the recess and the lower partition wall, and the seal means is provided between the top wall of the recess and the upper partition wall. An electric refrigerator characterized by direct surface contact with the partition wall. (5) The electric refrigerator according to claim (1) or (2), wherein the sealing means is provided between the top wall of the recess and each of the partition walls. . (6) The electric refrigerator according to claim (1), wherein each of the storage chambers is connected to the cold air circulation means through a duct.