JPH05141827A - Cold storage box - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve ice making capability by controlling a compressor to continute its operation until the detected temperature falls below the temperature at which ice making is completed or until a specified the has passed when detected temperature is lower than a set temperature that is higher than the temperature at which ice making is completed. CONSTITUTION:A cold storage box incorporates an automatic ice making device which is constituted to detect the temperature at an ice making pan by a temperature sensor 16 for ice making and carry out ice separation action by detecting the completion of ice making when the dectected temperature falls below the temperature at which ice making is completed, and, at the same time, it is provided with a compressor 10 the operation of which is controlled based on a compressor control signal. When detection temperature that is outputted from the temperature sensor 16 is below a set temperature that is higher than the temperature at which ice making is completed, the compressor 10 is controlled by an operation controller 26 to continue its operation until the detected temperature falls below the temperature at which the ice making is completed or until a specified time has passed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is constructed so that the temperature of an ice tray is detected by a temperature sensor, and when the detected temperature falls below an ice making completion temperature, the ice making completion is detected and an ice removing operation is performed. The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a built-in automatic ice making device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of refrigerator, for example, a freezer compartment temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the freezer compartment is provided, and a temperature signal output from the freezer compartment temperature sensor is used as a compressor control signal. Based on this, the operation of the compressor is controlled. With this configuration, the operation control of the compressor and the transport control of the automatic ice making device are executed independently of each other.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional configuration, when it is detected that the temperature in the freezing compartment has decreased to the compressor off temperature based on the temperature signal from the freezing compartment temperature sensor, the operation of the compressor is stopped. To be done. At this time, in the automatic ice making device side, when the detected temperature of the ice making tray is slightly lower than the ice making completion temperature to, for example, 0.1 ° C., that is, when the operation of the compressor is continued for a while, the ice making is completed. However, the operation of the compressor is stopped and the ice making is not completed.

In such a case, the completion of ice making is not detected and the ice removing operation is not performed until the operation of the compressor is restarted. In this case, the temperature in the freezer compartment must rise to the compressor on temperature in order to restart the operation of the compressor, and the time between the stop of the compressor and the restart of the operation can be quite long. Many.

Therefore, if the compressor is stopped at the above-mentioned timing many times a day, the time required for one automatic ice making device to be completed becomes long. Therefore, even if ice making is continuously performed,
There is a problem that the amount of ice produced each day is reduced, that is, the ice making capacity of the automatic ice making device is reduced.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator which can improve the ice making capacity of an automatic ice making device while controlling the operation of the compressor based on the compressor control signal.

[0007]

In the refrigerator of the present invention, the temperature of the ice tray is detected by a temperature sensor, and when the detected temperature falls below the ice making completion temperature, the ice making completion is detected and the ice removing operation is performed. In a refrigerator having a built-in automatic ice-making device configured as described above and including a compressor whose operation is controlled based on a compressor control signal, the detected temperature output from the temperature sensor is higher than the ice-making completion temperature. When the temperature is lower than the following, the operation control means for controlling the operation of the compressor to continue until the detected temperature falls below the ice making completion temperature or a predetermined time elapses is provided.

[0008]

According to the above means, when the detected temperature output from the temperature sensor of the automatic ice making device is lower than the set temperature higher than the ice making completion temperature, a signal for turning off the compressor is given as the compressor control signal. Also,
The operation of the compressor is continued until the detected temperature falls below the ice making completion temperature. Therefore, ice making is promptly completed by the continuous operation of the compressor. Therefore, since the time required to complete one ice making operation is shortened, continuous ice making increases the amount of ice produced in one day, that is, the ice making capacity of the automatic ice making device is improved.

In this case, instead of continuing the operation of the compressor until the detected temperature falls below the ice making completion temperature, the operation of the compressor may be continued until a predetermined time elapses. This is because if the detected temperature is kept below the set temperature higher than the ice making completion temperature for a predetermined time, the ice making is completed even if the detected temperature does not fall below the ice making completion temperature.

Also in this structure, the time required to complete one ice making operation is shortened as compared with the conventional structure in which the compressor is stopped, so that the ice making capacity of the automatic ice making device is improved. Become.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a fan-cool type refrigerator will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 3 showing the entire configuration of the refrigerator, a refrigerator compartment 2 is provided above the refrigerator body 1. The front opening of the refrigerating compartment 2 is configured to be opened and closed by double doors 3 and 4. Below the refrigerating chamber 2, a drawer type ice making chamber 5 and a first freezing chamber 6 are provided on the left and right sides, and a drawer type second freezing chamber 7 is provided below them. Then, below the second freezer compartment 7,
A drawer type vegetable compartment 8 is provided.

A cooler (not shown) is provided at the back of the ice making chamber 5 and the freezing chambers 6 and 7 in the refrigerator body 1. The cool air generated by this cooler is supplied to each chamber 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 by a fan device. The fan device includes a fan motor 9
(See FIG. 5) and a fan (not shown) driven to rotate by the fan motor 9.

A machine room (not shown) is provided at the lower rear part of the refrigerator body 1, and a compressor 10 (see FIG. 5) is arranged in the machine room. When the compressor 10 is driven and operated, the cooler is cooled and cold air is generated.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, an ice making device main body 11 is arranged in the upper portion of the ice making chamber 5. The ice making device main body 11 includes a drive mechanism 13 having a motor 12 (see FIG. 5) and a gear mechanism (not shown) therein, and a plastic ice tray 14 rotatably supported by the drive mechanism 13. Is equipped with. The ice tray 14 is configured to be rotationally driven by the drive mechanism 13.

A cold air passage (not shown) for guiding cold air into the ice making chamber 5 is provided on the back surface of the ice making chamber 5.
The cold air blown out from the outlet 15 of the cold air passage is configured to flow along the bottom of the ice tray 14.
Further, an ice making temperature sensor 16 (see FIG. 5), which is a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the ice making tray 14, is disposed on the outer bottom portion of the ice making tray 14.

On the other hand, a water supply device 17 for supplying water to the ice tray 14 is arranged at the lower right end in the refrigerating compartment 2. The water supply device 17 includes a water supply tank 18 and the water supply tank 1.
Water saucer 19 for receiving and storing water from 8, water saucer 1
It is composed of a water supply pump 20 for pumping up the water in the container 9, and a water supply pipe 21 for guiding the water pumped up by the water supply pump 20 into the ice tray 14. And the water supply device 17
Also, the above-described ice making device main body 11 constitutes an automatic ice making device.

The ice making chamber 5 is of a drawer type, and an ice storage container 24 is attached to the inner surface of the door 22 of the ice making chamber 5 via a support member 23. By pulling out and pushing in the door 22, the ice storage container 24 is put in and taken out of the ice making chamber 5.

Further, the drive mechanism 13 of the ice making device main body 11 is provided with an ice storage detecting lever 25 so that the ice storage detecting lever 25 detects the amount of ice stored in the ice storage container 24. Is becoming

Now, in FIG. 5 showing the electrical structure, the operation control means, for example, the microcomputer 26 is
A program having a control function of controlling the entire operation of the refrigerator and a control function of controlling the ice making device main body 11 and the water supply device 17 is stored in the internal memory. The microcomputer 26 receives a temperature detection signal output from, for example, the freezer compartment temperature sensor 27 as a compressor control signal, and controls the compressor 10 and the fan motor 9 to be switched on and off via drive circuits 28 and 29. Is becoming

The freezing chamber temperature sensor 27 is arranged in a cold air passage (not shown) for guiding cold air into the first freezing chamber 6 and the second freezing chamber 7, and both freezing chambers 6, 7 are provided. It is designed to detect the temperature inside. In this case, normally, when the temperature detected by the freezer compartment temperature sensor 27 rises above the compressor on temperature, the operation of the compressor 10 and the fan motor 9 is started, and the freezer compartment temperature sensor 27 is started.
When the detected temperature from 1 is lowered to the compressor off temperature or lower, the operation of the compressor 10 and the fan motor 9 is stopped.

Further, the microcomputer 26 has a detection switch circuit 30 for detecting a temperature detection signal from the ice making temperature sensor 16, a horizontal position and an inverted position of the ice tray 14.
From the detection switch circuit 31 for detecting that the water supply tank 18 is mounted, and the detection signal of the amount of ice storage detected by the ice storage detection lever 25. The microcomputer 26 is
Based on these signals, the motor 12, the water supply pump 20, and the water supply lamp 35 of the drive mechanism 13 are controlled to be switched on and off via the drive circuits 32, 33 and 34.
The water supply lamp 35 is composed of, for example, a light emitting diode and is arranged on an operation panel (not shown).

In this case, the microcomputer 26
The ice-making temperature sensor 16 indicates when the ice making starts and when the ice making ends.
Judgment is made based on the temperature detected from. Specifically, when water is supplied into the ice tray 14, the ice tray 14 is warmed by the water (plus temperature) stored in the refrigerating chamber 2 up to then, and its temperature rises. When it is detected that the detected temperature from 16 reaches, for example, −9.5 ° C. or higher, it is determined that this is the start time of ice making, and the detected temperature from the ice making temperature sensor 16 is, for example, −1.
When it is detected that the temperature reaches 2.5 ° C. or lower, it is determined that the ice making is completed.

Here, the microcomputer 26 makes the operation control of the compressor 10 different between the normal cooling operation and the cooling operation when the ice making is being performed. Specifically, when ice making is being performed in the ice tray 14, the temperature detected by the ice making temperature sensor 16 is lower than a set temperature higher than the ice making completion temperature, for example, -8 ° C or lower. During this time, the temperature detected by the ice making temperature sensor 16 is equal to the ice making completion temperature (-12.5
(C) or lower, or until a predetermined time, for example, 3 hours has elapsed, the operation of the compressor 10 is continued.

Next, the operation of the above structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 are flowcharts showing the control contents of the program stored in the microcomputer 26. First, as shown in FIG. 1, when the water supply tank 18 is mounted in the refrigerating compartment 2 with the power turned on (step S1), the process proceeds to “YES” in step S2.

Subsequently, it is determined whether 5.5 minutes have elapsed since the water supply tank 18 was attached (step S3). Here, the reason for waiting for 5.5 minutes is that it takes a certain amount of time to store a predetermined amount of water from the water supply tank 18 into the water receiving tray 19. After this, when 5.5 minutes have passed, water supply processing is performed (step S4). In this water supply process, the water supply pump 20 is driven to supply a predetermined amount of water from the water tray 19 into the ice tray 14.

Here, when the water supply to the ice tray 14 is normally performed, the ice tray 14 is warmed by the water stored in the refrigerating compartment 2 until then, and its temperature rises. Therefore, the detected temperature from the ice making temperature sensor 16 is, for example, −
Since the temperature rises to above 9.5 ° C, "YE
Go to "S". As a result, it is determined that the ice making operation has started.

After this, it is judged whether or not the temperature detected by the freezer compartment temperature sensor 27 has dropped below the compressor off temperature (step S6). Since the temperature detected by the freezer compartment temperature sensor 27 is now higher than the compressor off temperature, the process proceeds to "NO" in step S6, and the operation of the compressor 10 is started (step S7). When the compressor 10 is operated, cool air is supplied into the ice making chamber 5 by the fan device to cool the water in the ice tray 14,
Ice making progresses.

After that, when the ice making is completed, the temperature of the ice making tray 14 is gradually lowered, and it is detected that the temperature detected by the ice making temperature sensor 16 reaches -12.5 ° C or lower. At this time, it is determined that the ice making is completed, the process proceeds to “YES” in step S8, and the ice removing process is performed (step S).
9). Here, by energizing the motor 12, the ice tray 14 is rotated and the ice tray 14 is twisted so that the ice is separated from the ice tray 14 and dropped into the ice storage container 24. After removing the ice, the ice tray 14 is rotated so as to return to the original horizontal position, water is supplied again (step S4), and the above ice making is repeated.

If the temperature detected by the freezer compartment temperature sensor 27 becomes lower than the compressor off temperature before the ice making is completed, the process proceeds to "YES" in step S6. Then, it is determined whether or not the temperature detected by the ice making temperature sensor 16 has fallen below a set temperature higher than the ice making completion temperature, for example, -8 ° C or less (step S10).
Here, when the detected temperature has fallen below -8 ° C, the process proceeds to "YES" in step S10 and a process of continuing the operation of the compressor 10 is performed (step S1).
1).

By continuing the operation of the compressor 10,
The ice tray 14 continues to be cooled and ice making proceeds. After this,
When the ice making is completed, it is detected that the detected temperature from the ice making temperature sensor 16 has reached -12.5 ° C or lower, and the process proceeds to "YES" in step S12, and the ice removing process for releasing the ice from the ice making tray 14 is performed. It is performed (step S13).

On the other hand, even when the temperature detected by the ice making temperature sensor 16 does not reach -12.5 ° C. or less, when the operation duration of the compressor 10 reaches 3 hours, that is, the ice making temperature sensor. The temperature detected from 16 is -8
When the temperature drops below ℃ for 3 hours, it is judged that ice making is completed. That is, when the above three hours have elapsed, the process proceeds to “YES” in step S14, and ice removal processing is executed (step S13).

If the temperature detected by the ice-making temperature sensor 16 is not lower than -8 ° C. when the temperature detected by the freezer compartment temperature sensor 27 is lower than the compressor-off temperature, step S10 is performed. Then, the process proceeds to “NO” and the operation of the compressor 10 is stopped (step S
15). After that, when the temperature in the freezer compartments 6 and 7 rises and the temperature detected by the freezer compartment temperature sensor 27 becomes higher than the compressor on temperature, "YE" is executed in step S16.
Then, the operation of the compressor 10 is restarted (step S7).

In step S2 for determining whether or not the water supply tank 18 is installed, when the water supply tank 18 is not installed or when the installation is incomplete, the process goes to "NO" in step S2. Then, the water supply lamp 35 is turned on (step S17), and the mounting abnormality of the water supply tank 18 is notified.

In step S4, the ice tray 14
After the water supply to the inside is started, if the temperature detected by the ice making temperature sensor 16 does not rise to −9.5 ° C. or more, the process proceeds to “NO” in step S5. Then, it is determined whether or not, for example, 5.5 minutes have elapsed after the start of water supply to the ice tray 14 (step S18). When 5.5 minutes have not elapsed, the process proceeds to “NO” in step S18, and continues to detect whether or not the temperature detected by the ice making temperature sensor 16 has risen to −9.5 ° C. or higher.

This requires a certain amount of time until the supply of a predetermined amount of water to the ice tray 14 is completed, and the temperature of the ice tray 14, that is, the temperature sensor 16 for ice making, is increased by the supplied relatively warm water. When the detection temperature of rises,
This is because the rise in the detected temperature is delayed to some extent.

When the temperature detected by the ice-making temperature sensor 16 does not rise to -9.5 ° C. or more even after 5 or 5 minutes have passed since the start of water supply to the ice tray 14,
It is determined that there is some abnormality in the water supply to the ice tray 14, and the process proceeds to “YES” in step S18. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the water supply lamp 35 is turned on (step S19). When the water supply lamp 35 is turned on, a water supply abnormality is notified.

After that, when the water supply tank 18 is mounted again, the process proceeds to "YES" in step S20 to turn off the water supply lamp 35 (step S21), and then returns to step S2 to repeat the above-described processing. Further, even when the water supply tank 18 is not mounted again, when the detected temperature from the ice making temperature sensor 16 rises to -9.5 ° C. or higher, the process proceeds to “YES” in step S22, and subsequently, After turning off the water supply lamp 35 (step S
21) and returns to step S2 to repeat the above-described processing.

According to this embodiment having such a configuration, when the detected temperature output from the ice making temperature sensor 16 of the ice making tray 14 falls below -8 ° C. which is a set temperature higher than the ice making completion temperature. , Even if a signal to turn off the compressor 10 is given to the microcomputer 26, that is,
Even if the temperature detected by the freezer compartment temperature sensor 27 falls below the compressor off temperature, the ice making temperature sensor 1
The operation of the compressor 10 is continued until the temperature detected from 6 falls below 12.5 ° C., which is the ice making completion temperature.

Therefore, the continuous operation of the compressor 10 quickly completes the ice making of the water in the ice making tray 14. Therefore, since the time required to complete one ice making operation is shortened, the continuous ice making operation can increase the amount of ice that can be produced in one day, as compared with the conventional configuration.
As a result, the ice making capacity of the automatic ice making device can be improved.

Further, in the above embodiment, the compressor 10
If the temperature detected by the ice-making temperature sensor 16 does not fall below the ice-making completion temperature when the operation is continued, the state in which the temperature detected by the ice-making temperature sensor 16 falls below −8 ° C. has passed for 3 hours. If so, it is determined that the ice making is completed and the ice removing operation is performed. Thereby, for example, even when the load becomes large and the ice making is completed, but the temperature detected by the ice making temperature sensor 16 does not drop below the ice making completion temperature, the ice making completion is surely detected and the ice is released. It can be performed.

In the above embodiment, the ice making completion temperature is -1.
Although 2.5 ° C., the set temperature was set to −8 ° C., and the predetermined time was set to 3 hours, these specific values may be set appropriately.

Further, in the above embodiment, the compressor 10
Temperature sensor for ice making 1
The condition that the detected temperature from 6 falls below the ice making completion temperature,
The completion of ice making is determined by the condition of the logical sum with the condition that the temperature detected by the ice making temperature sensor 16 has dropped to −8 ° C. or less for 3 hours. However, the ice making is determined only by one of the conditions. It may be configured to judge completion.

In this case, after the signal for stopping the compressor 10 is given, the operation of the compressor 10 is continued until the temperature detected by the ice-making temperature sensor 16 falls below -8 ° C for 3 hours. Even in the case of the configuration, compared to the conventional configuration in which the compressor is stopped,
Since the time required to complete one ice making operation can be shortened, the ice making capacity of the automatic ice making device can be improved.

[0044]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention detects when the detected temperature output from the temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the ice tray is lower than the set temperature higher than the ice making completion temperature. Since it is configured to continue the operation of the compressor until the temperature falls below the ice making completion temperature or until a predetermined time elapses, while the operation of the compressor is controlled based on the compressor control signal, the automatic ice making device It has an excellent effect that the ice making ability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart (part 1) showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart (part 2).

FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view

[Figure 4] Partial vertical section side view

FIG. 5: Block diagram

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a refrigerator main body, 2 is a refrigerating room, 5 is an ice making room, 6 is a first freezing room, 7 is a second freezing room, 9 is a fan motor, 10 is a compressor, 11 is an ice making device main body, and 14 is an ice tray. 1
6 is a temperature sensor for ice making, 17 is a water supply device, 18 is a water supply tank, 26 is a microcomputer (operation control means),
Reference numeral 27 denotes a freezer temperature sensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic ice making device configured to detect the temperature of an ice tray with a temperature sensor and detect the completion of ice making when the detected temperature falls below the ice making completion temperature to perform an ice removing operation. In addition, in a refrigerator provided with a compressor whose operation is controlled based on a compressor control signal, when the detected temperature output from the temperature sensor is lower than a set temperature higher than the ice making completion temperature,
A refrigerator comprising operation control means for controlling to continue operation of the compressor until the detected temperature falls below the ice making completion temperature or a predetermined time elapses.