JPS58217173A - Controller for economical operation of freezing refrigerator, etc. - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to economical operation control of a two-temperature type refrigerator or the like, which is equipped with a storage compartment and a refrigerator compartment, when the refrigerator is not in use, such as at night.

In this type of conventional example, when the freezer is not in use, such as when sleeping at night, the set temperature of the freezer compartment is switched to a higher temperature than during normal use and the operating rate of one compressor is lowered, resulting in economical operation and power savings. things are being done. In this case, since both the start and end of economizing operation are generally dependent on the user's manual operations, especially regarding the end of economizing operation, the termination operation must be performed with the knowledge of the user who started economizing operation. is normally carried out. Therefore, unless the user manually terminates the operation, the economizing operation will continue and the temperature of the freezer compartment will be maintained at a higher temperature than normal. If the user uses the refrigerator frequently, or if the user who started saving mode forgets to turn off the operation and uses the refrigerator frequently, the temperature inside the freezer compartment may rise even more, impairing the freezer's function. Frozen foods that are being stored at high temperatures,
This has the disadvantage that it particularly affects foods that are sensitive to temperature rises, such as ice cream.

The present invention solves this inconvenience by automatically terminating and canceling the economizing operation when the door is opened for the first time after starting the economizing operation. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the figure, 1 is the refrigerator main body, a compressor 2 at the bottom,
Each is equipped with a condenser 3 on the back.

Inside the main body 1 is a compartment wall 6 which has an evaporator 4 and an electric blower 5 for forced ventilation that circulates cold air into the refrigerator, and a freezer compartment 7 is formed in the upper part.
It is divided into two compartments, a refrigerator compartment 8 at the bottom. Reference numeral 9 denotes a negative characteristic heat-sensitive resistance element (hereinafter referred to as a thermistor) disposed in the freezer compartment, which commands the operation and stop of the compressor 2 and the electric blower 5 according to the temperature of the freezer compartment. A freezer compartment door 11 is a refrigerator compartment door 10, and door switches 12 and 13 are opened and closed when each door is opened and closed. Reference numeral 14 denotes a damper thermostat disposed at the cold air outlet of the refrigerator compartment 8, which controls opening and closing of the damper according to the temperature of the refrigerator compartment, thereby controlling the amount of cold air flowing in and maintaining the temperature of the refrigerator compartment at a desired temperature.

Next, a schematic electrical circuit diagram of the refrigerator will be explained.

16 is a power saving switch that switches the temperature setting of the freezer compartment to a higher temperature than during normal use to perform eco-friendly operation; contact 15
The four contacts 15a are connected in series with the freezer compartment door switch 12 and the refrigerator compartment door switch 13, and the contact 16 is connected to the power saving switch 15 for temperature adjustment. variable resistor 17
This is an electromagnetic relay that short-circuits the circuit, and consists of a contact 16a and an excitation coil 16b. 18, 19, and 20 are fixed resistors, respectively, and 21 is a comparator. Further, 22 is a relay that opens and closes contacts in accordance with the output signal of the comparator 21 to operate and stop the compressor 2 and the electric blower 5.

In such a configuration, in normal use, when the resistance value of the temperature adjusting variable resistor 17 is adjusted to VRKΩ and the temperature of the freezer compartment is set to around -18°C, the fixed resistor 19...R2 Ω, 2o... Resistance value V of comparator 21 glue 9 set by dividing voltage with Ω in R3
R,, KΩ and variable resistor 17..., iR2, that is, E
b) If Ea, the output signal of the comparator 21 is ○
N, the relay 22 is commanded to close, and the compressor 2 and electric blower 5 are operated to perform cooling. Also, as the cooling progresses, the resistance value of the thermistor 9 (R1) increases, but gradually decreases until it reaches Eb (Ea), and the output signal of the comparator 21 turns OFF, commanding the opening of the relay 22 and shutting down the compressor. 2 and the electric blower 5 are stopped.

In this way, the temperature of the freezing chamber is controlled to be maintained around the desired temperature of -18°C.

On the other hand, for example, at night, when not in use, the temperature of the freezer compartment is -12
If you want to save the power by approximately ℃, turn on the power saving switch 15 when you go to bed, and at the same time the contact 15a is closed, the excitation coil 15b is energized, and thereafter the contact 15a is maintained in the closed state by the self-holding action. do. At the same time, when the excitation coil 16b of the electromagnetic relay 16 is energized and the contact 16a is closed, a circuit that short-circuits the variable resistor 17 is formed. As a result, the resistance value of the variable resistor 17 ■R2=
Since it is equivalent to o, ・F of the comparator 21, (Vl
Therefore, it becomes smaller than the input voltage Eb(v) of the comparator 21 during normal use as described above. In other words, in order to avoid Eb' (Eb, but Eb':>Ea with respect to the reference voltage Ea (V) of the comparator 21 and start the cooling operation, the resistance value VR1 of the thermistor 9 must be different from that in normal use. In other words, the cooling operation will not start unless the temperature of the freezer compartment becomes higher, and as a result, the temperature of the freezer compartment will be higher than during normal use (for example, -12°C as in the above example). The operating rate of the compressor 2 is lowered to continue the saving operation, that is, the power saving operation during the night.

Then, for example, the next morning, when the user attempts to use the refrigerator for the first time after starting the previous night's saving operation and opens either the freezer compartment door 10 or the refrigerator compartment door 11, either the freezer compartment door switch 12 or the refrigerator compartment door switch 13 is activated. The excitation coil 15b of the power saving switch 15 is opened.
When the energization is cut off and the contact 15a returns to open state, the energization to the excitation coil 16b of the electromagnetic relay 16 is also cut off, the contact 16a is opened, and the short-circuited state of the variable resistor 17 for temperature adjustment is released. As a result, the input voltage Eb of the comparator 21 increases again, and the normal operation is automatically resumed, for example, when the temperature of the freezer compartment is around -18° C. during normal use.

As is clear from the above description, the present invention has a manually closed power saving switch that switches to a higher freezer temperature setting than in normal use, and the switch is automatically opened when the door is opened for the first time after the switch is closed. Therefore, for example, if a user turns on the power saving switch at bedtime and performs night-saving operation, and the next morning comes, any user may close the door to use the refrigerator for the first time. When the switch is opened, the economizing operation is automatically canceled and normal operation is resumed.As with the conventional example where the end of economizing operation is manually operated by a switch, the end of economizing operation is the same as starting economizing operation. It also does not depend on the user's recognition. Therefore, any other user may open and close the door frequently without realizing that the economizing operation is in progress, or the user who started the economizing operation may forget to end the operation and open and close the door frequently. It is possible to automatically prevent the temperature inside the freezer from rising even further and adversely affecting the stored food, etc., and it is possible to save electricity through economical operation while maintaining the safe preservation of food, making it practical. The above utility is extremely high0

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a refrigerator employing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram of the same refrigerator. 7...Freezer compartment, 12.13...Door (freezer compartment door, refrigerator compartment door), 15...Power saving switch. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person 1st
Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] It is equipped with at least one or more freezer compartments and a manually closed power saving switch that switches the temperature of the freezer compartment to a higher temperature than during normal use, and the power saving switch is configured to release the power saving switch only after the switch is closed. A saving operation control device for refrigerators, freezers, etc. that is configured to automatically operate when opened.