JPH11223451A - Refrigerator and cooling mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform quick cooling even when the temperature of a condenser and a compressor increases significantly by capturing the chill being leaked upon opening a refrigeration room for cooling the part heated during refrigeration cycle with outer air sucked through a fan and introducing the captured chill to the fan. SOLUTION: Ducts 11, 12 penetrate the doors 9, 10 of freezing room and refrigerating room. The door 9 is provided with a coupling fin 13 to the circumference at the lower end of the duct 13. The fin 13 projects from the door 9 and when the doors 9, 10 are closed, lower end at the fin 13 touches the upper end of the duct 12 thus coupling the ducts 11, 12. Upon operation of a fan 7 in a machine room 5 when both doors are closed, outer air is sucked at the upper end of the duct 11 and passed through the duct 12 and a coupling duct 15 in a cover 14 to a ventilation passage 3. After cooling the condenser 4, the outer air is fed to the machine room 5 and discharged from a radiation opening 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator and a cooling mechanism for cooling a hot part in a refrigeration cycle such as a condenser or a compressor of a refrigerator with a fan.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional cooling mechanism for cooling a condenser and a compressor of a refrigerator will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a cross section at the bottom of the refrigerator main body as viewed from above, and the lower side in the figure corresponds to the front surface of the refrigerator main body.
The arrows in the figure indicate the air flow.

At the bottom of the main body, a ventilation passage 3 is provided along the bottom surface, and communicates with the outside through an air inlet 3a located at the lower part of the front of the main body. A machine room 5 is provided on the back side of the machine room 5 so as to communicate with the ventilation passage 3 and communicates with the outside through a back heat radiation port 8 located at a lower portion of the back of the main body. Above these ventilation passages 3 and the machine room 5, storage rooms (not shown) (for example,
Refrigeration room).

[0004] A condenser 4 is installed in the ventilation passage 3, a compressor 6 is installed in the machine room 5, and a fan 7 is installed in the ventilation passage 3 at a place communicating with the machine room 5. When the fan 7 operates, outside air is sucked into the ventilation passage 3 from the intake port 3a, and first cools the condenser 4 in the ventilation passage 3. Then, after cooling the compressor 6 in the machine room 5, the outside air is exhausted from the rear heat radiating port 8.

FIG. 5 shows a refrigerator cooling mechanism described in JP-A-7-55324. Here, a fan 7 is provided on the leeward and leeward sides of the compressor 6, and is configured to rapidly cool by increasing the amount of outside air to be sucked.

[0006]

In a refrigerator, the load fluctuates rapidly due to opening and closing of a door and taking in and out of food. Especially,
In summer, if the door is frequently opened and closed, the compressor operates continuously, and the temperature may rise so much as to affect the life of the compressor. In such a case, cooling by introducing outside air alone is not sufficient.

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator capable of rapidly cooling even when the temperature of the condenser and the compressor is significantly increased, and a cooling mechanism thereof.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator in which a heat-retaining portion in a refrigerating cycle is cooled by outside air sucked by a fan. Means for taking in the cool air leaking from the storage chamber and guiding it to the fan. In this refrigerator, the hot part in the refrigeration cycle can be cooled by the cool air leaking from the storage room.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the refrigerator according to the first aspect, the means is a duct having an inlet close to a lower part of the storage room, and a lower portion of the duct is connected to a ventilation passage leading to a fan. Connected. In this refrigerator, the cool air leaked from the storage room flows in from the entrance of the duct adjacent below the storage room, and is sent to the fan through the ventilation path.

A refrigerator according to a third aspect of the present invention is the refrigerator according to the first or second aspect, wherein the portion that takes heat is a condenser or a compressor. In this refrigerator, a compressor that generates heat and a condenser that radiates heat and condenses the refrigerant are cooled by the taken cold air.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooling mechanism for cooling a compressor, in which outside air sucked by a fan cools a condenser through a ventilation passage at the bottom of the refrigerator body, and then is sent to a machine room at the bottom of the body. In the cooling mechanism, a duct provided in each door so as to vertically penetrate each door of the plurality of storage rooms, means for communicating the duct of each door when the door is closed, and a duct of the lowest door And a connection duct that communicates with the ventilation path.

In the cooling mechanism having the above structure, when the fan is operated, when all the doors are closed, outside air is sucked from the upper end of the duct provided in the door of the uppermost storage compartment.
When the door is open, the cool air leaking from the storage room is sucked from the upper end of the duct provided on the door immediately below the door. This outside air or cool air is sent to the ventilation passage through the connection duct, and cools the condenser. Then, it flows into a machine room to cool the compressor.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the cooling mechanism according to the fourth aspect, the fan operates when at least one of the doors is opened. In this cooling mechanism, the cool air leaked from the storage chamber due to the opening of the door is positively sucked into the duct and used for cooling the condenser and the compressor.

[0014]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that members having the same configuration as in the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 4, and description thereof will be omitted. The arrows in the figure indicate the air flow.

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention. This refrigerator is a two-door fan type refrigerator-freezer in which the cool air cooled by the evaporator 1 is forcibly circulated by an internal fan 2. A ventilation path 3 and a machine room 5 are formed at the bottom of the main body in the same manner as in the prior art of FIG. 4, and a condenser 4, a compressor 6, and a fan 7 are provided.

The freezer compartment door 9 and the refrigerator compartment door 10 are formed with ducts 11 and 12 penetrating therethrough in the vertical direction. A connecting fin 13 is provided on the periphery of the lower end of the duct 11 in the refrigerator compartment door 9. The connecting fin 13 protrudes from the refrigerator compartment door 9, and when the doors 9 and 10 are closed, the lower end of the connecting fin 13 contacts the upper end of the duct 12 so that the duct 11 and the duct 12 communicate with each other.

A ventilation path cover 14 is mounted in front of the ventilation path 3 at the bottom of the main body, and a connecting duct 1 is provided inside the ventilation path cover 14.
5 are provided. One end of a connection duct 15 communicates with the ventilation path 3, and outside air flows into the ventilation path 3 via the connection duct 15. Therefore, the air inlet 3a of the ventilation path 3 shown in the prior art of FIG. 4 is not provided in the ventilation path 3 of the present embodiment. The other end of the connecting duct 15 projects upward from the ventilation path cover 14 and contacts the lower end of the duct 12 when the refrigerator compartment door 10 is closed.
2 and the connection duct 15 communicate with each other.

When both doors 9 and 10 are closed in the refrigerator having the above configuration, when the fan 7 in the machine room 5 is operated, the outside air is sucked at the upper end of the duct 11 of the freezing room door 9. This outside air passes through the duct 12 of the refrigerator compartment door 10 via the connecting fin 13 at the lower end of the duct 11, and flows into the ventilation passage 3 via the connecting duct 15 in the ventilation passage cover 14. And
After cooling the condenser 4 of the ventilation passage 3, it is sent to the machine room 5,
The compressor 6 is cooled and exhausted from the rear heat dissipation port 8.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the freezer compartment door 9 is opened. When the freezer compartment door 9 is open, part of the cool air flowing out of the freezer compartment 20 is supplied to the fan 7 in the machine compartment 5.
Is operated, the air is sucked into the upper end of the duct 12 of the refrigerator compartment door 10 and flows into the ventilation passage 3 via the connecting duct 15.

When the refrigerator compartment door 10 is open
Similarly, a part of the cool air flowing out of the refrigerator compartment 21 (not shown) is connected to the connection duct 15 by the operation of the fan 7.
And is drawn into the ventilation path 3. In any of the above cases, the cool air cools the condenser 4 and the compressor 6 and is discharged from the rear heat radiating port 8 (see FIG. 1).

FIG. 3 shows an example of a basic electric circuit for driving the refrigerator. The compressor 6 is connected to an AC power supply 19 via a thermostat 16 and is turned ON / OFF only by the thermostat 16. The fan motor 2 ′ of the fan 2 in the refrigerator is connected via a door switch 17 that switches by opening and closing the freezer compartment door 9 and a door switch 18 that switches by opening and closing the refrigerator compartment door 10.

The fan motor 7 ′ of the fan 7 in the machine room 5 is connected via a relay 22. The relay 22 in the X _a contact when the thermostat 16 is OFF, switch to X _b contact time is ON. In this electric circuit diagram, the compressor 6 is operating, and both doors 9, 10 are in a closed state.

In the electric circuit, when the compressor 6 is operating, that is, when the thermostat 16 is ON, the fan 22 is operated because the relay 22 is connected to the _Xb contact. At this time, if both doors 9 and 10 of the storage room are closed, duct 1
The outside air is sucked from the upper end of 1 (see FIG. 1), and when at least one door is opened, the cool air leaking from the storage room is sucked into the duct 12 (or the connection duct 15) (as an example, (See FIG. 2).

When the compressor 6 is stopped, that is, the thermostat 1
If 6 is OFF, the relay 22 is connected to the X _a contact. At this time, when at least one of the doors 9, 10 is open, that is, when one of the door switches 17, 18 is connected to the "open" contact, the fan motor 7 'operates.

Therefore, the cool air leaking from the storage room with the opened door is sucked into the duct 12 (or the connection duct 15) (for example, see FIG. 2). When both doors 9 and 10 are closed, that is, when both door switches 17 and 18 are connected to the "closed" contact, the fan motor 7 'does not operate.

Therefore, in the refrigerator equipped with the electric circuit, when both doors 9 and 10 are closed, the fan 7 operates only when the compressor 6 is operating, and the condenser 7 is operated by the sucked outside air. 4 and the compressor 6 are cooled. If either one of the doors 9 and 10 is open, the compressor 6
Irrespective of ON / OFF of the fan, the fan 7 operates, and the condenser 4 and the compressor 6 are further cooled by the cool air leaking from the storage room with the door open.

[0027]

As described above, the refrigerator and the cooling mechanism thereof according to the first to fifth aspects cool the hot part in the refrigeration cycle by the cool air leaking from the storage room. The compressor is cooled rapidly, preventing the temperature of this part from rising abnormally. Therefore, the reliability of the refrigeration cycle can be improved.

Further, in the refrigerator according to the second aspect, the inlet of the duct is configured to approach below the storage room. According to this, since the cool air leaking from the storage room flows downward, the cool air can be efficiently sucked into the duct, and the heated portion in the refrigeration cycle can be quickly cooled.

In the cooling mechanism according to the fifth aspect, the fan operates when at least one of the doors is opened. According to this, when the cool air flows out of the storage room, the fan is always activated to actively take the cool air into the duct, so that the cooling can be efficiently performed and the cool air is not leaked wastefully.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator provided with a condenser and a compressor cooling mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which a freezer compartment door is opened in the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a basic electric circuit constituting the refrigerator of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a lateral cross-sectional view of the bottom of a refrigerator equipped with a conventional condenser and compressor cooling mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the bottom of a refrigerator provided with another conventional condenser and compressor cooling mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Evaporator 2 In-compartment fan 3 Ventilation path 4 Condenser 5 Machine room 6 Compressor 7 Machine room fan 8 Backside radiator opening 9 Freezer compartment door 10 Refrigerator compartment door 11 Duct 12 Duct 13 Connecting fin 14 Ventilation path cover 15 Connecting duct 16 Thermostat 17 Door switch 18 Door switch 19 AC power supply 20 Freezer compartment 21 Refrigerator compartment 22 Relay

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerator that cools a hot part in a refrigeration cycle with outside air sucked by a fan, wherein a means for taking in cool air leaking from the storage chamber when the door of the storage chamber is opened and guiding it to the fan is provided. A refrigerator characterized by being provided. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means is a duct having an inlet adjacent to a lower portion of said storage room, and a lower portion of said duct is connected to a ventilation path leading to said fan. Refrigerator. 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the heat-applying portion is a condenser or a compressor. 4. A cooling mechanism of a refrigerator for cooling the condenser after the outside air sucked by the fan passes through the ventilation passage at the bottom of the refrigerator body and is sent to a machine room at the bottom of the body to cool the compressor. A duct provided in each door so as to vertically penetrate each door of a certain storage room, means for communicating the duct of each door when the door is closed, and And a connection duct communicating with the cooling device. 5. The cooling mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the fan is activated when at least one of the doors is opened.