JPH10205957A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an accident of a damper device by providing a control means to control the opening/closing of a cooled air flow passage of a duct by turning a damper plate by a damper motor through a rotary shaft, and to close the damper plate while a cooler is heated for defrosting operation. SOLUTION: The cooled air is supplied from a cooled air generation space 10 to an ice-making chamber 3 and a freezing chamber 2, and supplied to a refrigerating chamber 4 through a damper device 13 and a duct 12. The damper device 13 is provided with a damper plate 15 to open/close a damper port 14f from its upper part turnably on a body frame 14 through a rotary shaft 15a, and is built in a lower duct part 11b so that an output shaft part of a final gear to be connected to a rotary shaft of a damper motor and the rotary shaft 15a are integratedly turned. When defrosting of a cooler 10a is started, its control device closes the damper plate 15 by the rotation of the damper motor, and the cooled air generation space 10 is shut off, and no frost is generated on the rotary shaft 15a. When defrosting is completed and the cooled air is again supplied from the cooler 10a, the damper plate 15 is in the open condition and the cooled air is supplied to the refrigerating chamber 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a home refrigerator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a home refrigerator, cool air generated by a cooler is sent to a refrigerator compartment by a fan. In this case, when the temperature of the refrigerating compartment reaches a certain temperature or lower, it is necessary to shut off the transmitted cool air, so that the duct from the cold air generating space where the cooler is provided to the refrigerating compartment is provided. A damper device is provided at the upper part, that is, at the back of the refrigerator compartment. Then, by opening and closing the damper device, cold air is sent to or shut off from the refrigerator compartment.

Recently, in order to reduce the size of the duct device, a so-called duct-in-damper structure in which the duct device is disposed inside the duct has been proposed.

[0004] The damper device in this case has a structure in which a damper plate is connected to a horizontal rotating shaft, and the horizontal shaft is rotated by a motor so that the damper plate rotates to open and close the damper opening. .

[0005]

However, since the damper device is provided in the duct as described above, when the cooler is defrosted, frost easily adheres to the rotating shaft of the damper plate. When defrosting is completed in this state and cold air is sent again from the cooler, there is a problem that frost on the rotating shaft freezes and the damper plate cannot be opened and closed.

[0006] In addition, if water inadvertently intrudes from the upper part of the duct opened in the refrigerator compartment, water flows into the damper device through the duct, or from the lead wire connected to the damper device. There was a problem that water flowed in.

[0007] In view of the above problems, the present invention does not prevent frost from adhering to the rotating shaft of the damper plate even when defrosting is performed in the cooler. It provides a refrigerator that works normally.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator provided with a duct for sending cool air from a cool air generating space provided with a cooler to a cooling chamber, and a damper device provided in the duct. The damper device has a damper plate for opening and closing the cool air flow path of the duct, a rotation shaft protrudes from the damper plate and is connected to a damper motor, and
The rotating shaft is disposed at a position not on the cold air generation space side with respect to the damper plate, and the damper motor rotates the damper plate via the rotating shaft to open and close the cool air flow path of the duct. And control means for controlling the closing of the damper plate while the cooler is being heated in the defrosting operation.

The refrigerator according to claim 2, further comprising a duct for sending cool air from a cool air generating space in which a cooler is disposed to a cooling chamber located above the cooler, and a damper device provided in the duct. Has a damper plate for opening and closing the cool air flow path of the duct, has a driving unit for operating the damper plate, and temporarily arranges a lead wire from the driving unit to a power supply unit downward. Later, it is arranged upward.

A refrigerator according to claim 3, further comprising a duct for sending cool air from a cool air generating space in which a cooler is arranged to a cooling chamber located above the cooler, and a damper device provided in the duct. Has a damper plate for opening and closing the cool air flow path of the duct, and has driving means for operating the damper plate, such that the position of the driving means is arranged upward by another part. And the damper device is disposed obliquely inside the duct.

The refrigerator according to claim 4, further comprising a duct for sending cool air from a cool air generating space in which a cooler is arranged to a cooling chamber located above the cooler, wherein a damper device is provided in the duct. Has a damper plate for opening and closing the cool air flow path of the duct, a rotating shaft protrudes from the damper plate, a damper motor is connected to the rotating shaft, and a flange portion is provided on the rotating shaft. is there.

A refrigerator according to claim 5, further comprising a duct for sending cool air from a cool air generating space in which a cooler is arranged to a cooling chamber located above the cooler, and a damper device provided in the duct. A water reservoir is provided in the duct above the position where is provided.

[0013] In the refrigerator of the first aspect, since the rotating shaft is arranged at a position not on the side of the cold air generation space with the damper plate as a boundary, when the cooler starts defrosting, the damper plate is closed. The cold air generation space and the rotation axis are shielded by the damper plate. Therefore, even if the cooler is defrosted and frost is generated, the frost does not adhere to the rotating shaft.

In the refrigerator according to the second aspect, after the lead wire from the driving means to the power supply means is once disposed downward,
Since it is disposed upward, a so-called trap structure is formed. Therefore, water does not flow along the lead wires into the driving means.

In the refrigerator according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the damper device is disposed obliquely so that the driving means comes upward, even if water flows into the damper device, water flows into the driving means located above the damper device. There is no.

In the refrigerator according to the fourth aspect, since the rotary shaft connected to the damper motor is provided with the flange portion, even if water flows into the damper plate, the flow of the water is prevented by the flange portion of the rotary shaft. Therefore, water does not flow in the direction of the damper motor.

In the refrigerator according to the fifth aspect, since the water reservoir is provided in the duct located above the damper device, even if water flows into the duct from above, the water is stored in the water reservoir. Does not flow into the damper device.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a double sectional view showing a main part of the refrigerator.

In the cabinet 1 of the refrigerator, a freezing room 2 is formed, an ice making room 3 is formed above the freezing room 2, and a refrigerator room 4 is formed above the freezing room 2. A vegetable compartment 5 is provided below the freezing compartment 2. The freezing room 2 is provided with a door 2a, the ice making room 3 is provided with a door 3a, the refrigerator room 4 is also provided with a door 4a, and the vegetable room 5 is also provided with a door 5a. An ice making device 8 is provided inside the ice making room 4.

A partition plate 9 is disposed at a rear portion from the freezing compartment 2 to the ice making compartment 3 at a distance from the back wall of the cabinet 1. In addition, a cooler 10a and a fan 10b are provided. A defrost heater 1 is provided below the cooler 10a.
0c is provided.

A case 11 having a cool air supply port 11a is provided at an upper portion on the back side of the partition plate 9, and a heat insulating material 11c is provided in the case 11 so as to form a lower duct portion 11b. I have. Further, the lower duct portion 11
An upper duct portion 6 is formed from b to the back of the refrigerator compartment 4, and a duct 12 is formed by the upper and lower duct portions 11 b and 6. Further, a damper device 13 described later is provided in the lower duct portion 11b.

A water reservoir 7 is formed at the connection between the upper duct 6 and the lower duct 11b. That is, since the lowermost end portion of the upper duct portion 6 is formed below the upper end portion of the lower duct portion 11b, the water is stored in the water reservoir 7 located at the bottom of the upper duct portion 6. I have.

The cool air from the cool air generating space 10 is supplied from a discharge port (not shown) to the ice making room 3 and the freezing room 2 and also to the refrigerator room 4 via the damper device 13 and the duct 12. I have.

The structure of the above damper device 13 will be described.

The main body frame 14 has a horizontal plate portion 14a and front and rear left and right side plate portions 14b, 14c, 14d, and 14e. The horizontal plate portion 14a has an elongated rectangular cylindrical damper opening 14f. I have. The upper end of the damper opening 14f is located above the horizontal plate 14a, and has a step 14g.

The main body frame 14 has a damper opening 1.
A damper plate 15 for opening and closing the 4f from above is provided rotatably via rotating shafts 15a and 15b. The rotating shafts 15a and 15b are integrally formed so as to protrude from the left and right ends of the damper plate 15, and are fitted into holes of the left and right side plates 14d and 14e. The one rotation shaft 15a penetrates the hole of the left side plate 14d and protrudes to the outside. In the vicinity of the damper plate 15 on the rotating shaft 15a, a flange portion 1 is provided.
5c is provided.

On the lower surface of the damper plate 15, a sealing member 16 made of a relatively flexible member, for example, a soft tape is mounted.

On the left side plate portion 14d of the main body frame 14,
A drive unit 17 is provided, which is a drive unit case 1
8, a damper motor 19, as shown in FIG.
And a gear train 20 provided so as to be linked to the rotation shaft.
Has a fan shape, and its output shaft portion 20b, which is the shaft portion, is fitted so as to be able to rotate integrally with the rotation shaft 15a of the damper plate 15. Further, stoppers 21 and 21 for regulating the rotation of the final gear 20a are provided on the drive unit case 18.
Is provided.

The damper motor 19 is composed of a two-phase, 48-pole stepping motor driven by 12 V DC. The direction of rotation is changed by changing the order of pulse application to the two-phase A-phase and B-phase. The reverse is changed. The damper plate 19 is rotated in the opening direction by the forward rotation of the damper motor 19, and the damper motor 1 is rotated.
The rotation of the damper plate 15 in the closing direction is performed by rotating the damper plate 15 in the reverse direction. From the damper motor 19. A lead wire 19a for supplying a signal and power thereto protrudes.

The above-described damper device 13 is provided with the above-described duct 1.
2 are incorporated in the lower duct portion 11b. When incorporated in the lower duct portion 11b, the lead wire 19a is disposed so as to protrude from the drive portion case 18 as shown in FIG.

Next, an electrical configuration related to the opening / closing control of the damper plate 15 will be described with reference to a block diagram shown in FIG.

A control device 2 for controlling the opening and closing of the damper plate 15
Reference numeral 2 includes, for example, a microcomputer. The controller 22 includes a defrost heater 10c described above, a cooler temperature sensor 24 for detecting the temperature of the cooler 10a, and a refrigerator compartment temperature for detecting the temperature inside the refrigerator compartment 4. Sensor 26 and damper motor 1
9 is connected to a damper motor drive circuit 28 for driving the motor 9. Further, the control device 22 includes a defrosting control unit 3 that performs control for starting defrosting of the cooler 10a from ON / OFF time of a compressor (not shown) and other factors.
0 is provided. When a defrost start signal is sent by the defrost control unit 30, the defrost heater 10c heats and defrosts the cooler 10a. The defrosting is terminated when the cooler temperature sensor 24 detects a predetermined temperature.

Next, the operation state of the damper device 13 having the above configuration will be described in order.

(1) As described above, when defrosting of the cooler 10a is started, the control device 22 rotates the damper motor 19 by the damper motor drive circuit 28 and closes the damper plate 15. Thereby, the cold air generation space 10
The space provided with the rotating shaft 15a is shielded by the damper plate 15, as shown in FIG. Therefore, frost does not adhere to the rotating shaft 15a due to defrosting.

When the defrosting is completed and the cool air is sent again from the cooler 10a, the control device 22 opens the damper plate 15 and sends the cool air to the refrigerator compartment 4. In this case,
Since no frost adheres to the rotating shaft 15a, the frost does not freeze around the rotating shaft and the rotating shaft does not move as in the related art.

(2) As shown in FIG.
After being protruded from the drive unit case 18, it once hangs down, and thereafter is disposed above. That is, since the lead wire 19a has a structure that forms a trap, even if water is transmitted from above the lead wire 19a and flows in, water does not flow into the drive unit case 18 due to the trap.

(3) The rotating shaft 15a has a flange portion 15c.
Is formed, even if water flows into the damper plate 15 from above and flows in the direction of the rotating shaft 15a, the water is blocked by the flange portion 15c, so that the water flows into the driving portion case 18. Nothing.

(4) Since the water reservoir 7 is formed at the bottom of the upper duct 6, the upper duct 6 is erroneously removed from the refrigerator compartment 4.
Even if water is allowed to enter the water, the water will accumulate in the water reservoir 7. Therefore, it is unlikely that water directly flows into the damper device 13. It should be noted that the water stored in the water reservoir 7 evaporates spontaneously due to cool air several hours later during normal operation of the refrigerator.

(5) Even if water enters the damper device 13, the water accumulates in the step portion 14g formed between the front and rear left and right side plate portions 14b, c, d, and e and the damper opening 14f. For this reason, water does not flow into the rotating shafts 15a and 15b provided above the stepped portion 14g and the damper case 18b, and does not adversely affect the damping (see FIG. 2).

Next, a modification of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The difference between this modified example and the above embodiment lies in the method of arranging the damper device 13. That is, in the above embodiment, the damper device 13 is provided horizontally, but in this modified example, the damper device is disposed diagonally,
8 are arranged above the other parts.

For this reason, even if water enters the damper device 13, the water enters the damper device 13, and the water flows downward on the opposite side of the drive unit case 18.
No water flows into 8.

[0044]

As described above, according to the refrigerator of the first aspect, frost does not adhere to the rotating shaft during defrosting, so that even if cold air flows again, frost does not freeze on the rotating shaft. Therefore, the damper device does not fail.

According to the refrigerator of the second aspect, since the lead wire forms the trap, water does not flow along the lead wire to the driving means.

In the refrigerator according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the position of the driving means is arranged above the other portion, even if water enters the damper device, water does not flow in the direction of the driving means. Therefore, the damper device does not break down.
According to the damper device of the fourth aspect, since the rotary shaft is provided with the flange portion, even if water intrudes and flows along the rotary shaft, water is prevented from entering by the flange portion, and the water flows in the direction of the damper motor. No water flows.

In the refrigerator according to the fifth aspect, since the water reservoir is provided above the damper device, even if water invades from above, the water accumulates in the water reservoir and does not enter the damper device. . It should be noted that the water stored in the water reservoir evaporates spontaneously due to cool air several hours later in a normal refrigerator operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a damper device showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a use part of the refrigerator.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a damper device.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a driving unit.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration.

FIG. 7 is an equivalent view of FIG. 2 showing a modification of the damper device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator cabinet 2 Freezer room 3 Ice-making room 4 Refrigerator room 6 Upper duct 7 Water storage part 9 Partition plate 10 Cold air generation part 10a Cooler 13 Damper device 15 Damper plate 15a Rotating shaft 15c Flange part 19a Lead wire

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerator provided with a duct for sending cool air from a cool air generation space provided with a cooler to a cooling chamber, and a damper device provided in the duct, wherein the damper device opens and closes a cool air flow path of the duct. A rotation shaft protrudes from the damper plate and is connected to a damper motor, and the rotation shaft is disposed at a position not on the cold air generation space side with the damper plate as a boundary, and the damper motor A control for opening and closing the cool air flow path of the duct by rotating the damper plate via the rotation shaft, and for performing a control for closing the damper plate during the heating of the cooler during the defrosting operation. Refrigerator characterized by having means. 2. A refrigerator provided with a duct for sending cool air from a cool air generating space in which a cooler is arranged to a cooling chamber located above the cooler, and a damper device provided in the duct, wherein the damper device is provided with: A damper plate for opening and closing the cold air flow path; a driving unit for operating the damper plate; and a lead wire from the driving unit to the power supply unit is disposed once downward, and then disposed upward. A refrigerator characterized by being installed. 3. A refrigerator provided with a duct for sending cool air from a cool air generation space in which a cooler is arranged to a cooling chamber located above the cooler, and a damper device provided in the duct, wherein the damper device is A damper plate for opening and closing the cold air flow path; and a driving unit for operating the damper plate. The damper device is arranged such that the position of the driving unit is arranged upward by another part. Refrigerator characterized by being obliquely arranged inside the duct. 4. A refrigerator provided with a duct for sending cool air from a cool air generating space in which a cooler is arranged to a cooling chamber located above the cooler, and a damper device provided in the duct, wherein the damper device is provided with: A refrigerator having a damper plate for opening and closing a cool air passage, a rotating shaft protruding from the damper plate, a damper motor connected to the rotating shaft, and a flange portion provided on the rotating shaft. 5. A refrigerator provided with a duct for sending cool air from a cool air generating space in which a cooler is disposed to a cooling chamber located above the cooler, and a damper device provided in the duct, wherein the damper device is provided. A refrigerator comprising a water reservoir provided in the duct above.