JPH0551837B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] More specifically, regarding this inventive electric refrigerator, one of the plurality of food storage compartments independently formed by partition walls can be used for multiple purposes. This article relates to an electric refrigerator.

[Conventional example]

For example, in Utility Application No. 61-6450, the present applicant
An electric refrigerator has been proposed in which heat generated from a refrigeration cycle, for example, a compressor, can be appropriately supplied to a specific food storage room called an ice room via a heat pipe. That is, according to this electric refrigerator, the ice room can be used not only for refrigerated storage of food, but also as a thawing room for frozen food, a greenhouse, etc. by utilizing waste heat.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, although it can be used for multiple purposes as described above, it is difficult to cool beer, etc., in a short period of time because the cooling is based on cold air cooling through cold air circulation.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an electric refrigerator equipped with a multipurpose chamber that can be used in a wider temperature range from rapid cooling to thawing of food.

[Means for solving the problem] In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention,
In a cold air circulation type electric refrigerator, a specific food storage room, for example, an ice room, is connected to both an evaporator and a heat generation part of a refrigeration cycle through first and second heat transfer means consisting of heat pipes. A heat exchange means is provided.

[Effect]

When the solenoid valve of the heat pipe connected to the evaporator side is opened and the solenoid valve of the heat pipe connected to the heat generating part side is closed, cold air circulates inside the ice room and flows through the heat pipe to the evaporator. and the refrigerant supplied to the heat exchange means. On the other hand, by reversing the opening and closing of the electromagnetic valve, the temperature inside the ice chamber rises to a predetermined thawing temperature due to heat from the heat generating section.

〔Example〕

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows, for example, a four-door type electric refrigerator to which the present 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. Furthermore, door 4a of icehouse 4
A food storage box is actually attached to the back side of the door 5a of the vegetable storage room 5, but it is not shown in this drawing for convenience of drawing.

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. In connection with this, a damper thermostat 12a that adjusts the amount of cold air supplied to the refrigerator compartment 3 and the ice greenhouse 4 through each branch duct 11a, 11b to maintain the interior at a predetermined temperature;
A motor damper 12b is provided respectively. Although this type of damper thermostat is not shown in the drawing, the duct leading to the vegetable storage room 5 is actually provided with, for example, a manually operated throttle valve.

In the above configuration, when the blower fan 7 is operated, a part of the cold air generated in the evaporator 6 is blown out from the cold air blowing grill 10 to the freezer compartment 2, cools the compartment, and then passes through the return passage 13 to the evaporator. It is returned to the bottom of 6. In addition, the cold air distributed in the cold air distribution chamber 8 is transferred to the duct 11 and each branch duct 11a to 1.
It is supplied to each of the refrigerator compartment 3, ice room 4, and vegetable storage compartment 5 through 1c, and cools each compartment to an optimal temperature. After that, the cold air from the ice room 4 and the vegetable storage room 5 flows into the refrigerator compartment 3 through the communication holes 14, 14 formed on the door sides of the partition walls 1b, 1c, and The cold air is returned to the lower part of the evaporator 6 through the return passage 15.

According to this embodiment, food can be rapidly cooled in the ice room 4, while the same room 4 is a multipurpose food storage room that can also be used as a thawing room or a greenhouse. In other words, if you also refer to Figure 2,
A heat exchange plate 20 made of, for example, an aluminum plate is provided inside the ice room 4, and a first heat exchange plate 20 having one end connected to the evaporator 6 is provided.
A second heat pipe 21 and a second heat pipe 22, one end of which is connected to, for example, a compressor 23, which is a heat generating section of a refrigeration cycle, are attached. The first heat pipe 21 and the second heat pipe 22 are each provided with electromagnetic valves 24 and 25 that operate to open when energized and close when not energized.

In the above-described configuration, when storing food in the ice room 4 at, for example, normal freezing temperature, both the solenoid valves 24 and 25 may be in a non-energized state.
As a result, the motor damper 12b inside the ice greenhouse 4
The temperature is controlled to a predetermined optimum temperature. Note that when rapid cooling is required, the motor damper 12b
remains open, and energizes the solenoid valve 24 to
Open. As a result, the heat exchange plate 20 is cooled by the evaporator 6 via the first heat pipe 21, so that the food is cooled by the cold air and the heat exchange plate 20 is cooled by the cold air.
This results in rapid cooling due to the cooling effect of . On the other hand, when thawing frozen food in the icehouse 4, for example, the motor damper 1
At the same time, the solenoid valve 24 is de-energized and closed, and then the solenoid valve 25 is energized and the valve 25 is closed.
open. As a result, the heat of the compressor 23 is applied to the heat exchange plate 20 via the working fluid in the second heat pipe 22, and the inside of the ice chamber 4 is heated to a predetermined thawing temperature. Although not shown in this embodiment, communication holes 14, 14 for returning cold air are provided.
has a shutter plate that can be opened and closed,
When thawing frozen food as mentioned above, the communication holes 14, 1
4 is closed with this shutter plate.

〔effect〕

As is clear from the description of the embodiments described above, according to the present invention, for example, a heat exchange plate 2 is installed in the ice chamber 4.
0, and the first and second
The evaporator 6 and the compressor 23 are connected through the heat pipes 21 and 22, respectively, and the solenoid valves 24 and 24 provided on the heat pipes 21 and 22
By selectively opening and closing 25 and controlling the opening and closing of the motor damper 12b, the temperature of the ice room 4 can be controlled over a wide temperature range from minus 10 degrees Celsius to plus several 10 degrees Celsius. This icehouse is extremely convenient as it can be used for multiple purposes such as ice temperature storage and rapid cooling, as well as a thawing room for frozen foods, a greenhouse room, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the internal structure of an embodiment of an electric refrigerator according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a heat exchange plate and first and second heat pipes taken out from FIG. 1. It is a piping diagram. In the figure, 2 is a freezing room, 3 is a refrigerator room, 4 is an ice room,
5 is a vegetable storage room, 6 is an evaporator, 7 is a ventilation fan,
11 is a duct, 12a is a damper thermo, 12b
is a motor damper, 20 is a heat exchange plate, 21, 22
is a heat pipe, 23 is a compressor, 24,2
5 is a solenoid valve.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A food storage compartment that is formed independently of each other by partition walls having heat insulating properties, and each of which is supplied with cold air generated by an evaporator, and A heat exchange means is disposed in the specific food storage chamber, one end of a heat pipe having a solenoid valve is connected to the heat exchange means, and the other end of the heat pipe is connected to a heat generation section of a refrigeration cycle. The electric refrigerator comprises a second heat pipe having a solenoid valve, one end of the second heat pipe is connected to the heat exchange means, and the other end of the second heat pipe is connected to the evaporator. An electric refrigerator characterized by being connected to. 2. The electric refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the heat exchange means is made of a metal plate made of aluminum or the like having a predetermined shape.