JPH0989440A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rapidly cool a whole inner part of a storage box to the set temperature, and to uniformly keep the temperature distribution in the storage box. SOLUTION: A front column 19 to partition an opening in the right-to-left direction is formed approximately at the center in the width direction of the opening formed in a heat insulation box body 18. A storage box 21 is arranged in an inner box 14 constituting the heat insulation box body 18 by keeping an inner wall and a prescribed space 20. The space 20 consists of a back passage 44, a side passage, and a bottom passage, and the back passage 44 is communicated with the side passage through the bottom passage. An upper part of the back passage 44 is communicated with the cold air suction side of a supply fan 54. A wall 33 is formed approximately at the center in the width direction corresponding to the front column 19 in the storage box 21. A center passage 42 extending in the vertical direction is demarcated inside the wall 33, and an upper part of the center passage 42 is communicated with the cold air outlet side of the supply fan 54 while a lower part is communicated with the bottom passage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator in which a storage box is arranged with a required space interposed in a box having a heat insulating structure and which can efficiently cool the entire inside of the storage box. .

[0002]

[Prior Art] Fresh food such as vegetables and fruits, meat and fish
(Hereinafter referred to as "foodstuff"), if you want to store frozen in the refrigerator for a long time, or to thaw the frozen food gradually,
Generally, it is necessary to suppress the temperature change in the refrigerator to a small extent, and also to suppress and manage the evaporation of water from foodstuffs. A refrigerator using brine (antifreeze) as a cooling medium is known to meet this demand. This is done by cooling the brine stored in the brine tank with an evaporator connected to the refrigeration system, and circulating the cooled brine through a cooling pipe arranged outside the storage box for storing foodstuffs. Cooling is performed.

However, the above-mentioned refrigerator using the brine has a drawback that the cooling mechanism of the brine and the piping are complicated and the manufacturing cost is increased. In order to perform a defrosting operation in this refrigerator, it is necessary to warm the brine to a predetermined temperature and circulate the brine through the cooling pipe. In this case, not only a large amount of heat is required to heat the brine, but also the circulation of the brine raises the temperature inside the refrigerator more than necessary, which causes a serious problem that the freshness of the stored food material is deteriorated.

Therefore, as a solution to the above problem,
A refrigerator having a double box structure has been proposed. That is, in this refrigerator, a storage box for storing foodstuffs is arranged inside a box body having a heat insulating structure through a required space, and a cooler and a blower fan connected to a cooling device are arranged in the space. It
Then, the cool air cooled by the cooler is circulated in the space by a blower fan to cause heat exchange between the cool air and the storage box, thereby indirectly cooling the inside of the storage box.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned refrigerator having a double box structure, the inside of the box is naturally cooled by cooling the outer wall surface of the box. Therefore, air is circulated in the box. Therefore, although the inner wall surface side of the storage box is efficiently cooled, the central portion of the storage box is not efficiently cooled, and the temperature distribution in the storage box becomes uneven. . Further, it is pointed out that it takes a considerable amount of time to cool the entire inside of the storage box until it reaches the set temperature (the storage temperature of the food material), and thus the power consumption increases. In addition,
Since the cold air has a property of staying downward, the temperature difference between the upper and lower sides of the storage box becomes large especially in a vertical refrigerator.
For example, if you try to keep the temperature of the upper part of the storage box at an appropriate temperature, the lower part will be too cold and the food will freeze.If you try to keep the temperature of the lower part of the storage box at an appropriate temperature, the upper part will not be cooled to the appropriate temperature and the food will dry. The harmful effect that happens occurs.

In the refrigerator, a plurality of openings are formed in the heat-insulating box body, the storage box is partitioned so as to correspond to each opening, and a heat-insulating door is arranged corresponding to each opening, which is required. BACKGROUND ART Temperature changes in the entire inside of a storage box when food is taken in and out are suppressed. In this case, the temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the storage box and controlling the operation of the cooling device is not provided in each chamber partitioned in the storage box but is provided only in an appropriate chamber. In most cases. Therefore, when only the heat insulation door corresponding to the room in which the temperature sensor is installed is opened and closed, the ambient temperature of the temperature sensor rises, and the temperature sensor detects this temperature rise and the cooling operation is started. However, at this time, since the temperature of the room in which the temperature sensor is not provided has not risen, the room may be overcooled by the cooling operation, and the stored food material may be frozen. On the contrary, when only the heat insulation door corresponding to the room where the temperature sensor is not installed is opened and closed, the temperature of the room rises, but the temperature of the room where the temperature sensor is installed does not rise, so cooling is performed. The operation is not started. Therefore, there is a problem that the temperature of the room in which the temperature sensor is not installed rises more than the set temperature and the freshness of the stored food material is deteriorated.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and quickly cools the entire inside of the storage box to a set temperature and maintains a uniform temperature distribution in the storage box. The purpose is to provide a refrigerator to get.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Overcoming the above-mentioned problems,
In order to preferably achieve the intended purpose, the present invention provides an insulating box body having an opening and an insulating door that is capable of closing the opening,
A storage box, which is disposed inside the heat insulating box via a required space and has an opening that opens corresponding to the opening, a cooler provided in the space, and a cooling box provided in the space. In a refrigerator including a blower fan that circulates cold air, a wall that extends vertically and partitions the inside of the box in the width direction is formed inside the storage box, and the cold air that communicates with the space is formed inside the wall. It is characterized by defining a passage.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings with reference to preferred embodiments.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a refrigerator according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[Fig. 2] is a plan sectional view of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 1. As shown in the figure, the refrigerator 10 includes an outer box 12, an inner box 14 installed in the outer box 12 with a required gap, and both boxes 12, 1.
4 has a heat insulating box 18 made up of a heat insulating material 16 filled in the space 4. In addition, a rectangular opening 17 that is largely open to the front side is formed on the front surface of the heat insulating box body 18, and a front pillar 19 that divides the opening 17 into the left and right is formed substantially at the center of the opening 17 in the width direction. Has been done. The openings 17a, 17a defined by the front pillar 19 on the left and right sides are the heat insulating box 1
The heat insulating doors 48 correspondingly arranged on the front surface of the door 8 are openable and closable.

A storage box 21 is provided inside the inner box 14 for holding the inner wall thereof and the required space 20. That is, on the inner bottom surface of the inner box 14, bottom surface support frames 26, 26 which are spaced apart by a predetermined distance in the width direction and project by a predetermined height are arranged in parallel, and the inner side surfaces are spaced by a predetermined distance in the front-rear direction. Then, a rear support frame 30 and a front support frame 32, which protrude inward by a predetermined length, are arranged to face each other. Then, with the storage box 21 placed on the bottom support frames 26, 26,
The left and right side surfaces of the storage box 21 are supported by the rear support frame 30 and the front support frame 32, respectively. Further, the dimension of the storage box 21 in the front-rear direction is set shorter than the dimension of the inner box 14 in the front-rear direction, as shown in FIG. 2, so that between the outer wall of the storage box 21 and the inner wall of the inner box 14, A space 20 is defined that spans the bottom, sides and back. The storage box 21 is made of a heat conductive metal plate such as stainless steel, and is efficiently cooled by cold air circulating in the space 20.

The space 20 has a back passage 44 defined on the back side of the storage box 21, side passages 40, 40 defined on the left and right side surfaces, and a bottom passage 38 defined on the bottom side.
And the rear passage 44 and the side passages 40, 40 communicate with each other through the bottom passage 38.
(See Figure 1). Then, the cool air cooled by the cooler 52, which will be described later, descends through the side surface passages 40, 40 and the bottom surface passage 3
After flowing into the passage 8, it flows into the back passage 44 from the passage 38 and repeats the upward circulation in the passage 44.

As shown in FIG. 1, an upper space 37 defined between the inner ceiling surface of the inner box 14 and the upper surface of the storage box 21 communicates with a cooling device (not shown) and is connected to the cooling device. A cooler 52 is provided which circulates the refrigerant through a built-in evaporator. The cold air suction side of the cooler 52 is configured to communicate only with the back passage 44 by a partition plate 55 arranged in the space 37. A blower fan 54 is arranged in the space 37 on the cool air discharge side of the cooler 52 via a fan motor mounting plate 53. The fan motor mounting plate 53 is formed with a cool air outlet 53a corresponding to the position of the blower fan 54, and is arranged so that the cool air outlet 53a communicates only with the side passages 40, 40. Therefore, by rotationally driving the blower fan 54, the inside air sucked from the back passage 44 is passed through the cooler 52 to become cool air, and then blown out to the side passages 40, 40 through the cool air outlet 53a. Has become. Then, this cold air flows from the side passage 40 to the bottom passage 38 to the rear passage 4.
In the process of flowing through 4, the storage box 21 is cooled, and the cooler 52
Circulate back to.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the storage box 21, the front surface extends to the front surface pillar 19 at approximately the center in the width direction corresponding to the front surface pillar 19 disposed in the opening 17 of the heat insulating box body 18. At the same time, a wall 33 whose rear surface opens to the back passage 44 side is formed, and the wall 33 allows the heat insulating box 1 to be housed in the storage box 21.
8 openings 17a, 17a and corresponding openings 22a, 22
Two left and right storage chambers 22, 22 having a formed on the front side are defined. The wall 33 is composed of a pair of side plates 33a, 33a which are separated from each other in the left-right direction, and a central passage 42 as a cool air passage extending vertically is defined between the side plates 33a, 33a. The upper part of 42 communicates with the cool air outlet 53 a of the fan motor mounting plate 53, and the lower part communicates with the bottom passage 38. Also, inner box 1
An inner support frame 28 extending in the up-down direction is arranged at the center of the inner rear surface of the wall 4 in the width direction, and the inner support frame 28 is inserted and fixed between both side plates 33a, 33a of the wall 33, so that
The back side of 3 is closed so that the central passage 42 does not communicate with the back passage 44 on the back side. That is, the cool air blown out from the cool air outlet 53a of the fan motor mounting plate 53 also flows into the central passage 42 separately from the side passages 40, 40, and in the process of flowing down the central passage 42, the side plates 33a, 33a are discharged. The storage box 21 is cooled through this. A rear central passage 46 communicating with the cool air intake side of the cooler 52 and the bottom passage 38 is defined inside the middle support frame 28, and the cool air flowing out from the bottom passage 38 is cooled by the rear passage 44 and the rear central portion. Passage 4
6 is configured to rise and return to the cooler 52.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 56 indicates a drain pan disposed below the cooler 52, and water droplets dropped from the cooler 52 travel along the drain pan 56 and are disposed inside the heat insulating material 16. It is discharged to the outside of the refrigerator via 57. In addition, in the upper part of the storage box 21, due to high humidity, the storage box 2
Dew tray 66 that receives the dew condensation that occurs on the inner ceiling surface of No. 1
Is provided, and is configured to prevent water droplets from falling onto the food material stored at the top.

[0016]

[Operation of the First Embodiment] According to the refrigerator of the first embodiment configured as described above, when the operation of the refrigerator 10 is started, the inside air in the back passage 44 and the back central passage 46 is The air is sucked from the cool air suction side of the cooler 52 by the rotating action of the blower fan 54, cooled by heat exchange here, and then blown downward from the cool air outlet 53a of the fan motor mounting plate 53. This cold air moves while carrying out heat exchange by contacting the upper surface of the storage box 21, and flows into the side passages 40, 40 and the central passage 42.

The cold air flowing into the side passages 40, 40 is
The cool air that comes into contact with both side surfaces of the storage box 21 and descends while performing heat exchange, and the cool air that has flowed into the central passage 42 comes into contact with the side plates 33a and 33a of the wall 33 and descends while performing heat exchange. Then, the cool air that has descended through the side passages 40, 40 and the central passage 42 flows into the bottom passage 38 and merges with each other, comes into contact with the bottom surface of the storage box 21 and moves rearward while exchanging heat. Further, the cool air is transmitted through the rear passage 44 and the rear central passage 4
After flowing into No. 6 and contacting the back surface of the storage box 21 to rise while performing heat exchange, the cycle of returning to the cooler 52 again is repeated. The rear passage 44 and the rear central passage 46
Since the cold air that rises is warmed by heat exchange with the storage box 21, the cold air does not stay at the bottom of the heat insulating box body 18, and the cold air circulates efficiently.

As described above, the cool air cooled by the cooler 52 is also circulated through the central passage 42 defined in the wall 33 formed at the substantially center of the storage box 21 to cool the storage box 21. Thus, the entire inside of the storage box 21 can be quickly cooled to the set temperature. Further, the temperature distribution between the inner wall surface portion and the central portion of the storage box 21 becomes uniform, and it is possible to effectively prevent the foodstuffs stored in the storage box 21 from being deteriorated in freshness due to the difference in storage location.

[0019]

[Second Embodiment] FIGS. 3 and 4 show a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The same members as those of the refrigerator in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the refrigerator 10 of the second embodiment, a required gap is formed between the front surface of the wall 33 formed in the central portion in the width direction of the storage box 21 and the front pillar 19 of the heat insulating box body 18. The duct 62 extending in the vertical direction is arranged in this gap. The upper end opening 62a of the duct 62 is
As shown in FIG. 3, the upper portion of the dew tray 66 communicates with the storage box 21, and the lower end opening 62b is configured to communicate with the storage box 21 near the bottom of the storage box 21. Further, a blower 64 is disposed below the inside of the duct 62, and the blower 64 is set so as to blow the air in the lower direction upward. That is, when the blower 64 is rotationally driven, the air in the lower part of the storage box 21 is sucked into the duct 62 through the lower end opening 62b, rises along the duct 62, and then is blown out to the upper part of the storage box 21 through the upper end opening 62a. It The air blown out from the upper end opening 62a of the duct 62 flows downward through the gap between the dew tray 66 and the inner wall of the storage box.

[0021]

[Operation of Second Embodiment] According to the refrigerator of the second embodiment configured as described above, when the refrigerator 10 starts to operate, the rear passage 44 and the rear central passage are similar to the first embodiment. The inside air in 46 is cooled by the cooler 52 and then blown out to the upper part of the storage box 21. This cool air descends through the side passages 40, 40 and the central passage 42 and flows into the bottom passage 38, then rises through the rear passage 44 and the rear central passage 46 and returns to the cooler 52. And the cold air passes through each passage 40, 42, 38, 4
The storage box 21 is cooled in the process of flowing through the storage boxes 4, 46, so that the entire inside of the storage box 21 is quickly cooled.

Further, by the rotation of the blower 64 arranged inside the duct 62, the air below the inside of the storage box 21 is sucked into the duct 62 and rises along the duct 62, and then from the upper end opening 62a. It is blown out to the upper part of the storage box 21. The air blown from the upper end opening 62a of the duct 62 comes into contact with the upper surface of the storage box 21 cooled by the cool air and is cooled, and then flows downward through the gap between the dew tray 66 and the inner wall of the storage box. To do. That is, the storage box 21
By forcibly circulating the air inside the
The internal temperature of the can be made uniform.

As described above, by forcibly circulating the cold air at the bottom of the storage box 21 having the lowest temperature to blow it to the top, the temperature inside the storage box 21 can be made uniform. It is possible to prevent the food from being deteriorated in freshness due to the difference in the storage place. Further, the dew tray 6 in which the upper end opening 62a of the duct 62 is disposed above the inside of the storage box 21.
By facing the upper side of 6, the blown air does not directly contact the foodstuffs, and the foodstuffs can be prevented from drying. It is recommended that the amount of air circulated through the duct 62 be appropriately adjusted according to the size and shape of the storage box 21.

Regarding the operation control of the air blower 64 for circulating the air in the storage box 21, the blower fan 54 for circulating the air in the cold storage may be interlocked to drive the fan 64 only during the cooling operation. It is also possible to perform non-interlocking control so as to appropriately drive regardless of the cooling operation. Further, the blower 64 may be driven in reverse so that the upper air in each storage box 21 is blown out to the lower portion to be circulated.

[0025]

[Third Embodiment] FIGS. 5 and 6 show a refrigerator according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The same members as those of the refrigerator in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the refrigerator 10 of the third embodiment, the front surface of the wall 33 formed in the central portion of the storage box 21 in the width direction is rearward from the front pillar 19 of the heat insulating box body 18, as shown in FIG. A communication path 23 is formed between the storage chambers 22 and 22 defined by the wall 33 so as to communicate with each other. The communication passage 23 allows the outside air that flows in when the corresponding heat insulating door 48 is opened to flow into the other storage chamber 22 side when the food stored in either the left or right storage chamber 22, 22 is taken out. Both storage rooms 2
It functions to make the internal temperatures of 2.22 uniform.

[0027]

[Operation of Third Embodiment] According to the refrigerator of the third embodiment configured as described above, when the operation of the refrigerator 10 is started, the rear passage 44 and the rear central passage are the same as in the first embodiment. The inside air in 46 is cooled by the cooler 52 and then blown out to the upper part of the storage box 21. This cool air descends through the side passages 40, 40 and the central passage 42 and flows into the bottom passage 38, then rises through the rear passage 44 and the rear central passage 46 and returns to the cooler 52. And the cold air passes through each passage 40, 42, 38, 4
The storage box 21 is cooled in the process of flowing through the storage boxes 4, 46, so that the entire inside of the storage box 21 is quickly cooled.

Here, for example, when the corresponding right side heat insulating door 48 is opened in order to take out the foodstuffs stored in the right side storage chamber 22 defined by the storage box 21, the cold air in the storage chamber 22 is released. As it escapes, warm outside air enters the inside. As a result, the internal temperature of the storage chamber 22 rises. At this time, the right-side storage chamber 22 and the left-side storage chamber 22 are communicated with each other through the front-side communication passage 23 that is close to the heat insulating door 48, so that the outside air entering from the outside can pass through the communication passage 23. It also flows into the storage room 22 on the left side. That is, even if only one of the left and right heat insulating doors 48 is opened and closed, it is possible to prevent the temperature of only the corresponding storage chamber 22 side from rising.

For example, when a temperature sensor (not shown) for controlling the operation of the cooling device connected to the cooler 52 is provided above the right storage chamber 22, the right heat insulating door 4
When only 8 is opened, the outside air flows into the right storage chamber 22 and the temperature rises. The temperature sensor detects this and the cooling device starts the cooling operation. At this time, since the outside air flows into the left storage chamber 22 through the communication passage 23 in the same manner as the right storage chamber 22, the temperature of the left storage chamber 22 also rises similarly to the right storage chamber 22. . Therefore, the storage room 2 on the right side
When the temperature of 2 is cooled to the set temperature, the left storage chamber 22 is prevented from being overcooled. Further, even when only the left side heat insulating door 48 corresponding to the left side storage chamber 22 in which the temperature sensor is not installed is opened, the outside air also flows into the right side storage chamber 22 through the communication passage 23. Therefore, the temperatures of both storage chambers 22 and 22 are maintained substantially the same. Therefore, if the temperature of the left storage chamber 22 rises above the set temperature, the temperature sensor provided in the right storage chamber 22 detects and the cooling device is operated, and the temperature of the left storage chamber 22 rises above the set temperature. The raised state does not continue, and it is possible to prevent the food stored in the storage chamber 22 from being deteriorated in freshness.

In each of the above embodiments, when the cool air cooled by the cooler 52 is circulated in the order of the side passages 40, 40 and the central passage 42 → the bottom passage 38 → the rear passage 44 and the rear central passage 46 → the cooler 52. As described above, conversely, cool air is passed through the rear passage 44 and the rear central passage 46 to the bottom passage 3.
8 → side passages 40, 40 and central passage 42 → cooler 5
It may be circulated in the order of 2.

[0031]

As described above, according to the refrigerator of the present invention, the inside of the storage box is entirely formed by defining the cold air passage through which the cool air flows inside the wall formed inside the storage box. It can be cooled efficiently. That is, the storage box can be quickly cooled to the set temperature, and there is an advantage that the power consumption can be reduced. Further, by forcibly circulating the air inside the storage box, it is possible to make the temperature distribution inside the storage box uniform and prevent the foodstuffs from deteriorating in freshness due to the difference in storage location. Further, since the plurality of storage chambers defined by the wall formed inside the storage box communicate with each other through the communication passage, even if only the heat insulating door corresponding to one storage chamber is opened and closed, for example. The temperatures of both storage chambers can be kept substantially the same. Therefore, for example, even when the temperature sensor is provided only in one of the storage chambers and the temperature in the storage box is maintained at the set temperature, the cooling temperatures of both storage chambers can be always made the same. It is possible to prevent the temperature from rising above the set temperature or being overcooled.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a refrigerator according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view of the refrigerator shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view of a refrigerator according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view of the refrigerator shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a vertical side view of a refrigerator according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a plan sectional view of the refrigerator shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols] 17 openings, 18 heat insulation box, 19 front columns, 20 space,
21 storage box 22 storage chamber, 22a opening, 23 communication passage, 33 wall 42 central passage (cold air passage), 48 heat insulation door, 52 cooler, 54 blower fan 62 duct, 64 blower

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A heat insulating box (18) having an opening (17) and a heat insulating door (48) provided so that the opening (17) can be closed, and a required space inside the heat insulating box (18). A storage box (21) disposed via (20) and having an opening (22a) opened corresponding to the opening (17), and a cooler (52) provided in the space (20). , A blower fan (5) disposed in the space (20) for circulating cold air
In the refrigerator consisting of 4), in the inside of the storage box (21), a wall (33) extending in the longitudinal direction and partitioning the inside of the box in the width direction is formed, and inside the wall (33), A refrigerator characterized in that a cold air passage (42) communicating with the space (20) is defined. 2. A front pillar (19) is formed at a position corresponding to the wall (33) in the opening (17) of the heat insulation box (18), and the front pillar (19) and the wall (33). The duct (6
2) is installed, and the blower (6
4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the duct (62) is provided, and the duct (62) is opened above and below the inside of the storage box (21). 3. A front pillar (19) is formed at a position corresponding to the wall (33) in the opening (17) of the heat insulation box (18), and the front pillar (19) and the wall (33). A communication passageway (23) for communicating a plurality of storage chambers (22, 22) defined by the wall (33) with each other at a portion facing the
The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator is defined.