JPH0798170A - Frrezer and refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To restrict the heat generating amount of a thermo-heater and enable a proper control to be carried out for the temperature in a refrigerator. CONSTITUTION:A thermo-heater 8 is connected in series with a duct heater 14 and a cooling device 23 is driven to cool a freezer 2 and a refrigerator 3. As the interior temperature of the refrigerator 3 is lowered, a thermostat 5 is turned off, the cooling device 23 is stopped, the thermo-heater 8 is electrically energized and then the thermostat 5 is heated. Then, the load voltage of the thermo-heater 8 is reduced so as to restrict the generated heat, the temperature of the thermostat 5 is increased slightly faster than the increasing temperature within the refrigerator to turn the thermostat 5. Then, the cooling device 23 is driven and each of the storing devices 2 and 3 is cooled.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator / freezer in which a cooling device is driven by a single thermostat to control the temperature inside a plurality of storages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 6, a conventional refrigerator-freezer is provided with a storage compartment divided into a refrigerator 2 and a refrigerator 3 in a refrigerator-freezer main body 1, and a storage box provided in a control box 4 in the refrigerator 3. The thermostat 5 controls the driving of the cooling device (refrigeration cycle) to control the internal temperatures of the freezer 2 and the refrigerator 3.

The control box 4 has an outer periphery covered with a cover 6, and a thermostat 5 is arranged on the inner surface of the cover 6. The thermostat 5 is provided with a temperature-sensing section 7 for detecting the temperature inside the refrigerator, and a temperature-compensating heater (thermo-heater) 8 is wound around the temperature-sensing section 7.
In the thermostat 5, the temperature inside the refrigerator can be set to a desired temperature by a temperature adjusting knob (not shown), and the set temperature determines the energization temperature and the disconnection temperature at which the contacts of the thermostat 5 are turned on and off. A heat insulating material 9 is filled in the cover 6.

FIG. 7 shows an electric circuit of a refrigerator / freezer. When the power supply 10 is turned on, the compressor 11 constituting the cooling device is driven to cool the freezer 2 and the refrigerator 3 to lower the internal temperature. The temperature inside the refrigerator 3 is the thermostat 5.
When the temperature is cut to the cutoff temperature, the temperature sensing unit 7 senses, the thermostat 5 is turned off, and the thermoheater 8 is energized at the same time. At this time, the cooling device is stopped.

After that, the temperature inside the chamber rises, and the temperature of the temperature sensing part 7 rises due to the heating of the thermo-heater 8.
When the temperature reaches the energization temperature, the thermostat 5 is turned on and the thermoheater 8 is cut off. Then, the cooling device is driven again to cool the insides of the storages 2 and 3. Note that FIG.
Inside, 12 is an inside light, 13 is a fan motor, 14 is a duct heater, and 15 is a defroster.

Here, the thermo-heater 8 operates when the outside temperature is low, and has a role of accelerating the temperature rise of the temperature sensing part 7 of the thermostat 5 when the cooling device is stopped and turning on the thermostat 5 quickly. Is playing. Since the inside temperature of each of the storages 2 and 3 is easily influenced by the outside temperature, for example, when the outside temperature is low when the thermo-heater 8 is not provided, the inside temperature rises when the cooling device is stopped. Slow and long down time of the cooling device. Then, even if the inside temperature reaches the energization temperature of the thermostat 5 and the cooling device is driven again to cool the inside, the inside temperature does not cool immediately, and the inside temperature rises above the energization temperature. Further, when the cooling device is driven, the temperature inside the refrigerator rapidly decreases. Therefore, even if the temperature inside the refrigerator reaches the cutoff temperature of the thermostat 5 and the cooling device stops, the temperature inside the refrigerator immediately rises. It doesn't turn into so it gets too cold. A thermo-heater 8 is provided to prevent such a situation.

[0007]

However, as the thermo-heater 8 used in the conventional refrigerator-freezer, one having a very large amount of heat generation when energized is used. This is because the amount of heat generated per unit of the thermo-heater 8 is limited,
This is because only the thermo-heater 8 having a calorific value larger than a certain value can be manufactured.

As a result, the temperature sensing part 7 of the thermostat 5 is heated more quickly, the down time of the cooling device is shortened, and the temperature difference from the temperature inside the refrigerator when the temperature sensing part 7 reaches the cutoff temperature. Becomes large, and proper and efficient control of the temperature inside the refrigerator cannot be performed. Therefore, there is a problem that the food in the refrigerator 3 is frozen because the temperature in the refrigerator is unnecessarily lowered. Further, since the cooling device is driven frequently, the power consumption increases, which causes a financial burden on the consumer.

Therefore, as a solution to this problem, the resistance value of the thermoheater 8 itself is increased to increase the resistance.
A possible method is to reduce the amount of heat generated by
Either the thickness of the heater wire of the thermoheater 8 is made thin, or the total length of the thermoheater 8 is made long. However, considering the length of the temperature-sensing part 7 of the thermostat 5 around which the thermoheater 8 is wound, the installation area in the refrigerator 3 in which it is housed, the productivity and manufacturing cost of the thermoheater 8, and the like, it has not been possible.

Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 4-124578 discloses a refrigerator / freezer in which the temperature inside the refrigerator is controlled by opening and closing a damper device. Here, however, a heater is wound around the temperature-sensing unit to sense the temperature. However, the problem of excessive heating by the heater is unavoidable because the temperature rise is accelerated.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a freezer-refrigerator capable of suppressing the heat generation amount of a thermo-heater that operates when the outside temperature is low, and efficiently driving a cooling device to control an appropriate inside temperature. To aim.

[0012]

The means for solving the problems according to claim 1 of the present invention is, as shown in FIG. 1, a cooling device 23 for cooling a plurality of storages 2 and 3 via a duct 26, and the duct 2.
6, a duct heater 14 for preventing freezing, a thermostat 5 for controlling the drive of the cooling device 23 by detecting the internal temperature of each of the storages 2, 3, and an internal temperature compensation heater 8 for heating the thermostat 5. The interior temperature compensating heater 8 and the duct heater 14 are connected in series.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of dummy heaters 31 are provided in the refrigerator-refrigerator body 1 as shown in FIG. 4, and the interior temperature compensating heater 8 and the dummy heater 31 are connected in series. .

As shown in FIG. 5, the problem solving means according to claim 3 is provided with a heater control circuit 41 for controlling the load voltage of the inside temperature compensating heater 8.

[0015]

In the means for solving the above problems, when the cooling device 23 is driven to cool the freezer 2 and the refrigerator 3, the freezer 2
And the temperature inside the refrigerator 3 gradually decreases. When the temperature inside the refrigerator 3 drops to a preset temperature, the thermostat 5 is turned off, the thermoheater 8 is energized at the same time, and the cooling device 23 is stopped based on the stop signal of the thermostat 5.

Then, the internal temperatures of the freezer 2 and the refrigerator 3 gradually rise, and the ambient temperature of the thermostat 5 rises slightly faster than the internal temperature rise due to the heating of the thermoheater 8.

At this time, since the thermo-heater 8 is connected in series with the duct heater 14 or the dummy heater 31 or is connected to the heater control circuit 41, the load voltage of the thermo-heater 8 is reduced and the amount of heat generation is suppressed.
Heat with an appropriate amount of heat.

After that, when the ambient temperature of the thermostat 5 rises to a preset temperature, the thermostat 5 is turned on and the thermoheater 8 is turned off at the same time, and the cooling device 23 is driven again to cool the freezer 2 and the refrigerator 3. . After that, the cooling and stopping operations are repeated.

[0019]

Embodiment (First Embodiment) The refrigerator-freezer of the first embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. And a cooling device 23 for cooling. The same parts as those of the related art are designated by the same reference numerals.

The cooling device 23 is a refrigerating cycle in which a refrigerant circulates, and includes a cooler 24 provided on the back surface of the freezer 2, a compressor 11 provided on the lower back surface of the main body 1,
It is composed of a condenser, a capillary tube and a drier which are not shown.

Above the cooler 24, a blower 25 for circulating cold air in the storages 2 and 3 is attached, and cool air is circulated through a duct 26 that connects the freezer 2 and the refrigerator 3.

The duct 26 is formed in a partition wall 27 that partitions the freezer 2 and the refrigerator 3, and a cold air duct 28 that connects the freezer bottom surface 2a and the refrigerator top surface 3a to send cold air to the refrigerator 3 side. It has a return duct 29 which communicates the lower side of the cooler 24 and the refrigerator top surface 3a and sends the return cool air from the refrigerator 3 side. And the return duct 2
A duct heater 14 is arranged at 9. In the duct heater 14, since the return duct 29 passes through the partition wall 27 along the freezer 2, the return cold air that has become a high humidity state by exchanging heat with the food containing moisture in the refrigerator 3 is returned. It prevents freezing in the return duct 29 when passing through 29.

A control box 4 for controlling the driving of the cooling device 23 based on the internal temperature of the refrigerator is disposed in the upper rear part of the refrigerator 3, and the control box 4 has an outer periphery made of synthetic resin. Thermostat 5 covered with a cover 6 and arranged on the inner surface of the cover 6.
And an internal temperature compensating heater (thermo heater) 8 for heating the thermostat 5. The cover 6 is filled with a heat insulating material 9.

The thermostat 5 is a saturated vapor pressure type thermostat, and is provided with a temperature adjusting knob (not shown) projecting outside the cover 6 and a temperature-sensing portion 7 for detecting the temperature inside the refrigerator. I have it. The temperature control knob sets the internal temperature of each storage cabinet 2 and 3 to the desired temperature.
The energization temperature and the disconnection temperature at which the contacts of the thermostat 5 are turned on and off are determined based on this set temperature. The temperature sensing portion 7 is formed in a tubular shape and is arranged in the cover 6 at a position where the temperature inside the refrigerator can be sensed. Then, when the temperature inside the refrigerator sensed by the temperature sensing unit 7 becomes lower than the disconnection temperature of the thermostat 5, the contact is turned off and a stop signal is sent to the cooling device 23. When the temperature inside the refrigerator sensed by the temperature sensing unit 7 becomes higher than the energization temperature of the thermostat 5, the contact is turned on, a drive signal is sent to the cooling device 23, and the temperature inside the refrigerator 2 and the refrigerator 3 is controlled. .

The thermo-heater 8 is a metallic wire and is wound around the outer circumference of the temperature-sensitive portion 7 of the thermostat 5. The thermo-heater 8 has a constant capacity (heat generation amount), operates when the outside temperature detected by an outside air temperature sensor (not shown) is low, is energized when the thermostat 5 is off, and the thermostat 5 is on. Sometimes the power is cut off.

Then, as in the electric circuit shown in FIG. 1, the thermo-heater 8 and the duct heater 14 are connected in series. Further, the compressor 11, the defrosting device 15, the fan motor 13, and the interior lamp 12 are connected in parallel to the power supply 10.

In the above structure, when the cooling device 23 such as the compressor 11 and the cooler 24 is driven to cool the freezer 2 and the refrigerator 3, the inside temperatures of the freezer 2 and the refrigerator 3 gradually increase as shown in FIG. Going down. When the temperature inside the refrigerator 3 drops to the power cutoff temperature T ₁ of the thermostat 5, the temperature sensing unit 7 senses the temperature inside the refrigerator and the thermostat 5 is turned off. At this time, when the outside temperature is low, the thermo-heater 8 is simultaneously energized, and the compressor 11 and the cooler 2
4 and the like are stopped based on the stop signal of the thermostat 5.

Then, the temperature inside the freezer 2 and the refrigerator 3 gradually rises, and the temperature sensing portion 7 of the thermostat 5
Due to the heating of the thermo-heater 8, the temperature rises slightly faster than the rise in the inside temperature.

At this time, since the thermo-heater 8 is connected in series with the duct heater 14, the load voltage of the thermo-heater 8 is reduced to suppress the heat generation amount, and the heat-sensing portion 7 is heated with an appropriate heat generation amount.

After that, when the temperature-sensing portion 7 of the thermostat 5 reaches the energization temperature T ₂ by the heating of the thermoheater 8, the thermostat 5 is turned on, and at the same time, the thermoheater 8 is turned off and the cooling device 23 is driven again to drive the freezer 2 and The refrigerator 3 is cooled, and the temperature inside the refrigerator decreases. Then, the cooling and stopping operations are repeated thereafter.

As described above, by lowering the load voltage of the thermo-heater 8, the amount of heat generated by the thermo-heater 8 is suppressed, and the temperature rise of the temperature-sensing section 7 of the thermostat 5 is promoted by proper heating. The temperature rise of the temperature sensing portion 7 of the thermostat 5 is slightly faster than the rise.
Therefore, the temperature difference between the temperature sensing part 7 of the thermostat 5 and the inside temperature of the refrigerator becomes appropriate, and the cooling device 23 is driven immediately before the inside temperature reaches the energization temperature T ₂ , so that the inside temperature may rise too much. Without, efficient and stable cooling is performed.

Further, since the cooling device 23 is driven and stopped at an appropriate frequency and stably, the food is not frozen and the power consumption does not increase as compared with the conventional refrigerator-freezer. Therefore, it becomes possible to provide a refrigerator-freezer that does not impose an economical burden on the consumer.

(Second Embodiment) The freezer-refrigerator of this embodiment is
As shown in FIG. 4, the refrigerator / freezer main body 1 is provided with a dummy heater 31. The dummy heater 31 is a heater having the same capacity as the thermo-heater 8 wound around the temperature-sensing section 7 of the thermostat 5, and is embedded in a place that does not affect the internal temperature of the main body 1. The thermo heater 8 and the dummy heater 31 are connected in series. The other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment.

By thus providing the dummy heater 31 and connecting it in series with the thermo-heater 8, the load voltage of the thermo-heater 8 is reduced and the amount of heat generation is suppressed, so that the same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained.

(Third Embodiment) The refrigerator / freezer of this embodiment is
As shown in FIG. 5, a heater control circuit 41 for controlling the thermo-heater 8 wound around the temperature-sensing portion 7 of the thermostat 5 is provided. The heater control circuit 41 controls the load voltage of the thermo-heater 8 independently of the control circuit of the refrigerator / freezer, and is composed of electric parts such as resistors.
The other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment.

As described above, by connecting the thermoheater 8 to another control circuit, the load voltage of the thermoheater 8 can be controlled according to the change of the outside temperature, and the heat generation amount of the thermoheater 8 can be appropriately suppressed. The same effect as that of the embodiment can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that many modifications and changes can be made to the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the first and second embodiments described above, the duct heater 14 or the dummy heater 3 is attached to the thermo heater 8.
Although 1 is connected in series, a general resistor may be connected instead of the duct heater 14 and the dummy heater 31.

Further, the heater control circuit of the third embodiment may be provided with a variable resistor for varying the amount of heat generated by the thermo-heater 8.

[0040]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the load voltage of the thermo-heater is reduced by connecting the thermo-heater in series with the duct heater or the dummy heater or by providing the heater control circuit, and the heat generated by the thermo-heater is reduced. Since the amount is suppressed, the temperature rise of the thermostat can be promoted by proper heating. Moreover,
The temperature rise of the thermostat is slightly faster than the rise of the temperature inside the refrigerator, and the cooling device is driven immediately before the temperature inside the refrigerator reaches the energization temperature of the thermostat, so the temperature inside the refrigerator does not rise too much and the efficiency is improved. Good and stable cooling is performed.

Further, since the cooling device is driven and stopped at an appropriate frequency and stably, the food is not frozen and the power consumption does not increase as compared with the conventional refrigerator-freezer. In addition, there is an excellent effect that it becomes possible to provide a freezer / refrigerator that does not impose an economical burden on consumers.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electric circuit diagram of a refrigerator-freezer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the refrigerator-freezer of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a temperature change of a temperature inside the refrigerator and a temperature change of a temperature sensing part of the thermostat.

FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram of the refrigerator / freezer of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an electric circuit diagram of the refrigerator / freezer of the third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a conventional control box of a refrigerator-freezer.

FIG. 7 is an electric circuit diagram of a conventional refrigerator-freezer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Freezer 3 Refrigerator 5 Thermostat 8 Thermoheater 14 Duct heater 23 Cooling device 26 Duct 31 Dummy heater 41 Heater control circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cooling device for cooling a plurality of storages via ducts, a duct heater for preventing freezing of the ducts, and a thermostat for detecting the internal temperature of each storage and controlling the drive of the cooling device. A refrigerator / freezer having an internal temperature compensation heater for heating the thermostat, wherein the internal temperature compensation heater and the duct heater are connected in series. 2. A cooling device for cooling a plurality of storages via ducts, a thermostat for detecting the internal temperature of each storage and controlling the drive of the cooling device, and an internal temperature compensation for heating the thermostats. A refrigerator / freezer having a heater, wherein a plurality of dummy heaters are provided in a refrigerator / refrigerator main body, and the inside temperature compensating heater and the dummy heater are connected in series. 3. A cooling device for cooling a plurality of storages via ducts, a thermostat for detecting the internal temperature of each storage and controlling the driving of the cooling device, and an internal temperature compensation for heating the thermostats. A refrigerator / freezer provided with a heater, wherein a heater control circuit for controlling a load voltage of the interior temperature compensating heater is provided.