KR20150063930A - Cooling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is to precisely control the temperature of a cooling chamber. A cooling apparatus comprises: a cooling chamber; a freezing circuit having a compressor, a condenser installed on the discharge side of the compressor, an evaporator installed between the discharge side of the condenser and the intake side of the compressor and cooling the cooling chamber, and a decompression means installed on the intake side of the evaporator; and a refrigerant control unit having a refrigerant control valve installed between the condenser and the evaporator, and controlling refrigerant flux which flows to the evaporator by controlling opening and closing time of the refrigerant control valve.

Description

COOLING APPARATUS

The present invention relates to a control method and a control program for controlling a refrigerant flow rate flowing through a refrigeration cycle of a cooling device.

Conventionally, in order to cool both of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment with an evaporator having an appropriate evaporating temperature, the refrigerating compartment cooling operation for circulating the refrigerant to the refrigerating evaporator with the three-way valve as shown in Patent Document 1 and the freezing compartment cooling operation for circulating the refrigerant only through the freezing compartment evaporator There is a cooling apparatus for alternately switching to perform refrigeration in the refrigerator. The cooling device initially determines the time ratio of the refrigerator compartment cooling operation and the freezer compartment refrigeration operation and switches the refrigerator compartment cooling operation and the freezer compartment cooling operation according to the initial time ratio.

However, in the cooling apparatus configured as described above, when only one of the refrigerator compartment cooling operation and the freezer compartment cooling operation is selectively performed, for example, when the refrigerator compartment cooling operation is performed, the refrigerant is circulated in the refrigerant circuit equipped with the refrigeration evaporator and the corresponding refrigeration evaporator there is a problem. In addition, it is necessary not only to prepare the variable capacity compressors by initially setting the time ratio of the refrigerator compartment cooling operation and the freezer compartment cooling operation and then adjusting the compressor speed with respect to the load variation, .

Also, as in Patent Document 2, there is a case where both of the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment are cooled simultaneously during refrigeration cooling operation and refrigerating and cooling operation switching. However, the refrigerant can be recovered at the time of operation switching, thereby performing efficient energy saving operation. 1 can not be solved.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 11-304328 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2011-12885 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-346526 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-343077 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-214504 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-138583

In order to solve the above-described problems, one aspect of the present invention is to propose a cooling device that precisely controls the temperature of these cooling chambers in accordance with a load or a fluctuation of the cooling chamber, with excellent responsiveness.

To this end, a cooling device according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a cooling chamber; A refrigerating circuit provided between a compressor, a condenser provided on the discharge side of the compressor, an evaporator provided between the discharge side of the condenser and the suction side of the compressor for cooling the cooling chamber, and a decompression means provided on the suction side of the evaporator; And a refrigerant control valve installed between the condenser and the evaporator and controlling a flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the evaporator by controlling an opening / closing time of the refrigerant control valve.

In this case, since the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the evaporator can be controlled by controlling the opening and closing time of the refrigerant control valve, the temperature control of the cooling chambers can be precisely performed with excellent responsiveness according to the load of the cooling chamber or the variation thereof. In addition, power consumption can be reduced by refrigeration circuit control such as overheating control of evaporator. In addition, since it is difficult to control the degree of opening of the valve in a cooling device having a small refrigerant flow rate, the present invention controls the opening / closing time of the refrigerant control valve so that the refrigerant flow rate can be easily and precisely controlled.

A cooling apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a plurality of cooling chambers having different cooling temperatures; A refrigerator having a plurality of evaporators provided in parallel with each other for a plurality of cooling chambers and a plurality of decompression means provided on the suction side of each evaporator, the refrigerators being connected in parallel to each other between a compressor, a condenser provided on the discharge side of the compressor, a discharge side of the condenser, Circuit; And a refrigerant control valve provided between the condenser and the plurality of evaporators for controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into each of the evaporators, and controlling the opening and closing time of the refrigerant control valve in the simultaneous cooling operation for simultaneously cooling the plurality of cooling chambers, And a refrigerant control unit for independently controlling a ratio of the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant pipe.

In this case, since the simultaneous cooling operation for cooling the plurality of cooling chambers at the same time is performed, there is no evaporator that does not perform the cooling operation, so that the refrigerant is hard to be accumulated in the evaporator. Further, since the opening / closing time of the refrigerant control valve is controlled in the simultaneous cooling operation, the refrigerant fraction (the refrigerant flow rate of each evaporator) can be controlled with good responsiveness and the temperature control of the cooling chamber can be precisely performed with excellent responsiveness. In addition, power consumption can be reduced by refrigeration circuit control such as evaporator overheat control. In addition, since the control of the valve opening degree is difficult in a cooling device having a small refrigerant flow rate, it is difficult to control the opening degree of the refrigerating device, so that the refrigerant flow rate can be easily and precisely controlled by controlling the opening / closing time of the refrigerant control valve.

As a specific example for cooling in accordance with a plurality of cooling chambers having different cooling temperatures, the refrigerant control section includes a refrigerant entire-outlet period in which the refrigerant flows to all of the plurality of evaporators by controlling the opening / closing time of the refrigerant control valve, It is preferable to alternately perform a part of the refrigerant outflow period for flowing the refrigerant.

A plurality of evaporators provided in parallel with each other between the discharge side of the condenser and the suction side of the compressor and provided in correspondence with the cooling chambers having different cooling temperatures and a plurality of decompression means provided on the suction side of each evaporator, And a control valve provided between the plurality of evaporators and selectively supplying the refrigerant to the evaporator, the cooling operation of the other of the cooling chambers is stopped when one of the cooling chambers performs cooling operation. In the case of inter-cooler operation, refrigerant is not recovered in the cooler that stopped cooling the other, so this amount of refrigerant is added to the refrigeration cycle and charged. For this reason, in Patent Document 3, in order to avoid such a problem, duty control is performed only when the operation is switched to mutual operation, and the refrigerant flow can be smoothly switched.

During the cooling operation, the evaporator is supplied with refrigerant so that the refrigerant does not return to the liquid back so as to effectively function the evaporator, the liquid refrigerant ratio in the evaporator is high, and the liquid refrigerant evaporates and the flow of the refrigerant gas is inhibited. As a result, the evaporator becomes a pressure higher than the suction pressure of the compressor, and the evaporation temperature rises by an increased pressure. As a result, the heat exchange performance of the evaporator deteriorates and the efficiency decreases.

In addition, when the evaporator of one cooling chamber is in the defrosting operation and the evaporator of the other cooling chamber is in the cooling operation, most of the refrigerant is recovered in the evaporator during defrosting. Therefore, Thereby performing the cooling operation. Therefore, if the cooling operation of the other cooling chamber evaporator is performed by the compressor rotation speed during the mutual operation, the evaporation pressure is increased due to the excessive refrigerant, and the cooling operation is prolonged, thereby increasing the energy consumption. In addition, when operating the compressor by increasing the number of revolutions of the compressor in the mutual operation, the evaporation temperature becomes appropriate and the cooling operation becomes appropriate. However, since the input increases due to the increase in the number of revolutions, the energy consumption is increased.

A cooling apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a plurality of cooling chambers having different cooling temperatures; A refrigerator having a plurality of evaporators provided in parallel with each other for a plurality of cooling chambers and a plurality of decompression means provided on the suction side of each evaporator, the refrigerators being connected in parallel to each other between a compressor, a condenser provided on the discharge side of the compressor, a discharge side of the condenser, Circuit; And a refrigerant control unit which is provided between the condenser and the plurality of evaporators and selectively switches the evaporator that supplies the refrigerant among the plurality of evaporators, wherein the refrigerant control unit switches the evaporator that supplies the refrigerant, Closing time of the control valve to control the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing to the evaporator. That is, the refrigerant control unit intermittently supplies the refrigerant by turning on / off the refrigerant control valve after switching the evaporator that supplies the refrigerant.

If the evaporator is switched as described above, the time for opening / closing the refrigerant control valve is controlled after intermittently supplying the refrigerant by controlling the opening / closing time of the refrigerant control valve. Thus, the pressure loss caused by the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator is reduced And the rise of the evaporation temperature can be suppressed. As a result, deterioration of heat exchange performance of the evaporator is prevented, deterioration of cooling efficiency is prevented, and energy saving operation becomes possible. Further, since the excessive refrigerant supply of the evaporator for supplying the refrigerant is canceled, the possibility of blurring of the compressor can be reduced and the durability of the compressor is also improved.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooling apparatus comprising: a plurality of cooling chambers having different cooling temperatures; A refrigerator having a plurality of evaporators provided in parallel with each other for a plurality of cooling chambers and a plurality of decompression means provided on the suction side of each evaporator, the refrigerators being connected in parallel to each other between a compressor, a condenser provided on the discharge side of the compressor, a discharge side of the condenser, Circuit; A refrigerant control unit provided with a refrigerant control valve installed between the condenser and the plurality of evaporators and selectively switching the evaporator for supplying the refrigerant among the plurality of evaporators; And an upper portion for defrosting at least one of the plurality of evaporators, wherein the refrigerant control portion controls the opening and closing time of the refrigerant control valve in a state where any one of the plurality of evaporators is defrosted by the upper portion, And controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the evaporator which is not evaporated. That is, the refrigerant control unit intermittently supplies the refrigerant by turning on / off the refrigerant control valve to the evaporator not defrosted.

Most of the refrigerant remaining in the evaporator can be recovered because the evaporator whose frost is removed by the upper part rises in temperature due to the upper part. Therefore, the refrigerant amount of the evaporator to which the refrigerant is supplied by the refrigerant control unit is exceeded. In this case, as described above, the ratio of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator becomes large to cause a pressure loss, and the evaporation temperature rises, resulting in deterioration of the evaporator heat exchange performance, resulting in deterioration of the refrigerating efficiency. The present invention controls the opening and closing times of the refrigerant control valve in the evaporator in which the refrigerant control part is not defrosted in the state where one of the plurality of evaporators is defrosted by the upper part to intermittently supply the refrigerant to adjust the refrigerant flow rate, The pressure loss caused by the liquid refrigerant can be reduced and the rise of the evaporation temperature can be suppressed. Thus, deterioration of the heat exchange performance of the evaporator can be prevented, deterioration of the cooling efficiency can be prevented, and energy saving operation becomes possible. Further, since the excess refrigerant supply of the evaporator for supplying the refrigerant is canceled, the possibility of blurring of the compressor can be reduced, and the durability of the compressor is also improved.

Specifically, in order to easily and precisely control the refrigerant flow rate, it is preferable that the refrigerant control unit controls the fully open time and the fully closed time of the refrigerant control valve. That is, it is preferable that the refrigerant control unit performs duty control of the refrigerant control valve.

More specifically, it is preferable that the cycle of the duty control (cycle of switching between the developing time and the full closing time) is set between 3 seconds and 200 seconds. If the period is less than 3 seconds, the liquid refrigerant recovery time can not be ensured in the evaporator, and the liquid refrigerant recovery becomes insufficient. If the period is longer than 200 seconds, the amount of the refrigerant supplied to the evaporator is insufficient and the cooling efficiency is lowered. In particular, it is preferable that the period of the duty control is set between 10 seconds and 180 seconds.

It is preferable that the OFF time is set to be longer than the ON time of the refrigerant control valve in the duty control in order to reliably perform the recovery of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator to which the refrigerant is supplied. Further, even if the refrigerant control valve is not duty controlled, it is preferable that the OFF time is set longer than the ON time in the operation of the refrigerant control valve.

It is preferable to set the duty ratio in order to make the difference between the inlet temperature and the outlet temperature of the evaporator constant in the duty control. That is, it is preferable to vary the ratio of time between the deployment time and the full-closing time. At this time, for example, the temperature difference between the predetermined one evaporator inlet and the outlet may be appropriately determined so as to be overheat controlled between 0 and 10.

It is also preferable that the refrigerant control section varies the ratio of the ON time of the refrigerant control valve and the OFF time according to the ambient temperature. When the ambient temperature is high, the excess ratio of the refrigerant supplied to the evaporator is low, and when the ambient temperature is low, the excess ratio of the refrigerant supplied to the evaporator is large.

In the conventional refrigerant control valve, a plurality of directions such as switching between a refrigeration cycle and a refrigeration cycle of the cooling device are freely switched. However, during one stroke of the refrigerant control valve, the " Quot; mode ", " lung "mode b," dog-dog "mode c, and" lung-dog "mode d.

The "closed-lung" mode a, which is typically used during cooling device stop, is at the beginning of the stroke and performs the initialization of the stroke position in the "closed-lung" mode a. In addition, the cooling device operation control to the conventional refrigerant control valve is controlled by the "open-close" mode a (stop state) → "open-close" mode b (Open) mode → d (switching end) → return to stop preparation and return to "open-close" mode c → open-close mode b → closed-closed mode a (stop) and stroke one time. The "open-close" mode b is a cold circulation cycle in which refrigerant flows to the refrigerating chamber side, and the "closed-open" mode d is a refrigerating cycle circulating the refrigerant to the freezing chamber side.

When the operation of the present invention (operation of claim 1) is performed with this conventional refrigerant control valve, the "closed-close" mode a (stop) A routine (b) such as mode c (switching start) → "close-dog" mode d (switching end) → "open-dog" mode c ⇔ c ⇔ d), the control valve is repeatedly moved between the mode b and the mode d in order to selectively open or close the refrigerator room or the freezer compartment. Therefore, during the operation of the cooling device, the same place repeatedly reciprocates, which is disadvantageous in terms of durability. In addition, it is difficult to precisely control the temperature of the refrigerating chamber side evaporator or the freezing chamber side evaporator because the travel time is long because the refrigerant passes approximately half of the control range.

In order to control the refrigerant flow rate of each cooler while flowing refrigerant at the refrigerating chamber side and the freezing chamber side simultaneously, deflection due to the pressure difference occurs in the " open-close "mode c, "It is good to repeat the mode d repeatedly for a short period of time and to open and close the valve intermittently to control the flow rate at that time. However, in this specification, the travel distance between each mode is long, Which is disadvantageous in terms of durability (see Patent Document 4).

Therefore, the refrigerant control valve is provided with an opening / closing routine in which a plurality of different opening / closing selection modes (open / close states), which are a combination of a closed valve state in which refrigerant is flowed for each of the plurality of evaporators, It is preferable to repeat the operation several times during one-stroke operation of the motor. By doing so, the refrigerant control valve is provided with the same opening / closing routine several times during one stroke operation of the valve body, and it is possible to reduce the number of repetitive operations of reciprocating the same place, thereby improving the durability of the refrigerant control valve. Further, since the same opening and closing routines are provided a plurality of times during one-stroke operation of the valve body, the moving distance between the opening and closing selecting modes can be shortened and the moving time can be shortened, have.

According to an aspect of the present invention, at least one check valve is provided between the evaporator and the compressor to prevent the refrigerant from flowing backward. This prevents backflow of the refrigerant caused by the difference in temperature of each evaporator and smoothly operates the refrigerating circuit.

The conventional control valve only adjusts the flow rate of only one of the plurality of evaporators provided on the outflow side or the simultaneous refrigerant flows to the plurality of evaporators. (Control points). In Patent Documents 5 and 6, an arc-shaped control groove directed from one of the outflow ports to the other outflow port is provided as the refrigerant flow rate control function to perform the flow rate control. However, all of these control methods can not control the refrigerant flow rate continuously and continuously.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooling apparatus comprising: a plurality of cooling chambers having different cooling temperatures; A refrigeration circuit comprising a compressor, a condenser provided on the discharge side of the compressor, a plurality of evaporators connected in parallel to each other between the discharge side of the condenser and the suction side of the compressor and provided correspondingly to the respective cooling chambers, and a plurality of decompression means provided on the suction side of each evaporator; And a refrigerant control valve installed between the condenser and the plurality of evaporators to control a flow rate of the refrigerant flowing to each of the evaporators, wherein the refrigerant control unit continuously and simultaneously changes the flow rates of the refrigerant flowing to the plurality of evaporators.

In such a case, since the refrigerant control unit changes the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing to the plurality of evaporators simultaneously and continuously, the combination pattern of the flow rate ratios can be increased. Therefore, since the evaporation temperature in each evaporator can be arbitrarily controlled, accurate flow rate control corresponding to a plurality of cooling chamber loads becomes possible. This also improves the cooling efficiency of the compressor, thereby reducing power consumption.

In order to make the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing to the plurality of evaporators to be peculiar to each refrigerant load corresponding to each evaporator, it is preferable that the refrigerant control section changes the flow rate of refrigerant flowing to each evaporator at different rates of change.

As a concrete example of the refrigerant control valve, the refrigerant control valve includes a valve body having an input port connected to the discharge side of the condenser and a plurality of output ports connected to the suction side of the plurality of evaporators, respectively; And a valve body which is provided corresponding to each of the plurality of output ports in the valve body and opens and closes the outlet connected to the output port.

Here, the refrigerant flow rate in each evaporator is not equal to the outlet opening ratio of the plurality of output ports due to the difference in temperature (pressure) of each evaporator. Therefore, it is preferable that the total number of outlet openings in a plurality of output ports is not 100%. For example, when it is desired to set the refrigerant flow rate of one evaporator to 70% and the refrigerant flow rate of the other evaporator to be 30% in two evaporators, the opening of the outlet of one evaporator is merely 70% and the outlet of the other evaporator It can be considered that a refrigerant flow rate of 70% or more flows out to one evaporator side even if the opening degree is 30%. In this case, the total of the outlet openings is not to be 100%, such that the opening of the outlet on one evaporator side is 70% and the outlet opening on the other evaporator side is 40%.

It is also preferable that the refrigerant control section continuously changes the outlet opening degree of the plurality of output ports in accordance with the load fluctuation of each cooling chamber.

According to the proposed cooling apparatus, the temperature control of the cooling chamber can be precisely performed with excellent responsiveness in accordance with the load of the plurality of cooling chambers or the variation thereof.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cooling apparatus according to the first embodiment.
2 is a view showing a first operation pattern of the refrigerant control valve according to the first embodiment.
3 is a view showing a second operation pattern of the refrigerant control valve according to the first embodiment.
4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cooling apparatus according to a modification of the first embodiment.
5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cooling apparatus according to a modification of the first embodiment.
6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cooling apparatus according to a modification of the first embodiment.
7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cooling apparatus according to the second embodiment.
8 is a schematic view showing a configuration of the refrigerant control valve of the second embodiment.
9 is a schematic view mainly showing the configuration of the outlet and the valve body of the refrigerant control valve of the second embodiment.
10 is a view showing an operation pattern of the refrigerant control valve of the second embodiment.
11 is a view showing the position of the valve body in each mode of the refrigerant control valve of the second embodiment.
12 is a schematic view mainly showing the configuration of the outlet and the valve body of the refrigerant control valve according to the modified example of the second embodiment.
13 is a diagram showing an operation pattern of the refrigerant control valve of the modified example.
Fig. 14 is a view showing the position of the valve body in each mode of the refrigerant control valve of this modified example. Fig.
15 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cooling apparatus according to the third embodiment.
16 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a refrigerant control valve of a third embodiment.
17 is a schematic view showing the internal configuration of the refrigerant control valve of the third embodiment.
18 is a view showing an operation pattern of the refrigerant control valve of the third embodiment.
19 is a diagram showing a change in opening degree by the refrigerant control valve of the third embodiment.
20 is a view showing a temperature distribution according to the third embodiment.
21 is a view showing a change in opening degree by the refrigerant control valve in the modified example of the third embodiment.
22 is a diagram showing a temperature distribution according to the modified example.
23 is a diagram showing a change in opening degree by the refrigerant control valve in the modified example of the third embodiment.
24 is a diagram showing a method for finely adjusting a refrigerant flow rate according to a modification of the third embodiment.
25 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cooling apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.
26 is a view showing an opening / closing operation pattern of the refrigerant control valve according to the fourth embodiment.
27 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cooling apparatus according to a modification of the fourth embodiment.
28 is a view showing an opening / closing operation pattern of a refrigerant control valve according to a modification of the fourth embodiment.
29 is a view showing an operation pattern of a conventional refrigerant control valve.

≪ Embodiment 1 >

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1, the refrigerator 100 according to the first embodiment is a refrigerator having a refrigerator compartment 11 and a freezer compartment 12 and includes a compressor 21, a condenser 22 installed on the discharge side of the compressor 21 An evaporator 23A and a freezer compartment evaporator 23B connected in parallel with each other between the discharge side of the compressor 22 and the suction side of the compressor 21 and the refrigerant compartment evaporator 23A, And a refrigeration circuit 200 having a decompression means 24A for a refrigerator compartment such as a capillary tube and a decompression means 24B for a freezer compartment such as a capillary tube provided in series on the suction side of the freezer compartment evaporator 23B .

Here, the refrigerator-use evaporator 23A and the freezer-compartment evaporator 23B are installed in the two refrigerant branching passages 201 and 202 branched from the discharge side of the condenser 22, respectively. The refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A is installed to cool the interior of the refrigerator compartment 11 and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B is installed to cool the interior of the freezer compartment 12. [

1, the cooling device 100 of this embodiment adjusts the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into each of the refrigerant branching flow paths 201 and 202, thereby controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B And a coolant control unit 3 for individually controlling the flow rates.

The refrigerant control unit 3 includes a refrigerant control valve 31 for controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B and a control unit 32 for controlling the refrigerant control valve 31 do. The control device 32 is a general purpose or dedicated computer having a CPU, a memory, an input / output interface, an AD converter, and the like, and cooperates with a CPU, a peripheral device, etc. according to a control program stored in a predetermined area of the memory, 31).

The refrigerant control valve 31 of this embodiment is a three-way valve provided at a branch point of the refrigerant branching flow paths 201 and 202. The input port is connected to the refrigerant pipe on the condenser 22 side and the first output port is connected to the refrigerating room evaporator 23A And the second output port is connected to the branch pipe constituting the refrigerant branch passage 202 on the side of the freezer chamber evaporator 23B. Then, the refrigerant control valve 31 is individually controlled to open and close the first output port and the second output port with the control signal from the control device 32.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the operation pattern of the refrigerant control valve 31 by the control device 32 will be described with reference to Figs. 2 and 3. Fig.

The controller 32 controls the opening and closing time of the refrigerant control valve 31 in accordance with the load or the variation of the refrigerating chamber 11 and the freezing chamber 12 during the simultaneous cooling operation for simultaneously cooling the refrigerating chamber 11 and the freezing chamber 12 So that the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the freezer chamber evaporator 23B are adjusted independently of each other. As a result, the refrigerant fraction flowing through each evaporator is adjusted.

More specifically, the control device 32 detects the temperature inside the freezing compartment 11 from the temperature sensor 4A in the refrigerating compartment 11 that is installed in the compartment 11 and detects the temperature inside the refrigerating compartment 11, And obtains the detected temperature from the detected temperature from the temperature sensor 4B which detects the temperature inside the freezing compartment 12 and from the outside air temperature sensor 5 which is provided outside the cooling device 100 and detects the outside air temperature .

In addition, the controller 32 calculates the load of the refrigerating compartment 11 or the variation thereof by the indoor temperature and the outdoor air temperature, calculates the load of the freezing compartment 12 or the variation thereof by the indoor temperature and the outdoor air temperature And calculates the time ratio of the expansion time and the full closing time of the first output port and the second output port of the refrigerant control valve 31 based on the calculation result. Then, the control device 32 outputs the control signal obtained by this to the refrigerant control valve 31 to control the refrigerant control valve 31.

Here, the switching period between the opening time and the closing time is variable between 3 seconds and 200 seconds, and the time ratio between the opening time and the closing time is varied between the switching periods.

For example, when the development time is TON and the discharge time is TOFF, the cycle of TON + TOFF is set to be between 3 seconds and 200 seconds. The time ratio of the opening time and the closing time is appropriately changed by the detection signals of the temperature sensor 4A in the refrigerating compartment 11 and the temperature sensor 4B in the freezing compartment 12, for example.

2, by controlling the opening and closing times of the first port and the second port of the refrigerant control valve 31, the control device 32 controls the opening and closing times of the refrigerating room evaporator 23A and the freezing room evaporator 23B All of the refrigerant outflow period in which the refrigerant flows to both of the evaporator 23A and the evaporator 23A in the refrigerator are alternately performed. At this time, the first port is constantly developed so that the refrigerant always flows to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A, and the ratio of the time of the expansion and the closing time of the second port is controlled to intermittently supply the refrigerant to the freezing chamber evaporator 23B Let it flow.

3, the control device 32 controls the opening and closing times of the first port and the second port of the refrigerant control valve 31 to control the opening and closing times of the refrigerant control valve 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 23A The refrigerant may flow in turn. At this time, by controlling the time ratio of the opening time and the closing time of the first port and the second port to allow the refrigerant to flow intermittently to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B, the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A The timing at which the refrigerant flows and the timing at which the refrigerant flows into the freezer-use evaporator 23B are opposite to each other. This operation pattern is performed only when one flow of the refrigerant is generated by the operation pattern shown in Fig.

≪ Effects of First Embodiment >

According to the cooling apparatus 100 configured as described above, since the simultaneous cooling operation for simultaneously cooling the refrigerating chamber 11 and the freezing chamber 12 is performed, there is no evaporator that does not perform the cooling operation, so that the refrigerant in the evaporators 23A and 23B is difficult to be accumulated. Further, in the simultaneous cooling operation, since the open / close time of the refrigerant control valve 31 is controlled according to the load of the refrigerating chamber 11 and the freezing chamber 12 or the variation thereof, the flow rate of the refrigerant can be controlled responsively And the temperature control of the refrigerating chamber (11) and the freezing chamber (12) can be precisely performed with excellent responsiveness. This makes it possible to delay deterioration of the food stored in the refrigerating compartment 11 and the freezing compartment 12. Also, the power consumption can be reduced when the evaporators 23A and 23B are overheated. Further, in the case of controlling the valve opening degree in the cooling device having a small refrigerant flow rate, it is difficult to control the valve opening degree. Therefore, in this embodiment, the refrigerant flow rate can be easily and precisely controlled by controlling the opening / closing time of the refrigerant control valve 31.

≪ Modification of First Embodiment >

The present invention is not limited to the first embodiment. For example, in the first embodiment, the cooling device 100 having the refrigerating chamber 11 and the freezing chamber 12 has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 4, And three evaporators (23A to 23C) provided corresponding to the cooling chambers of the evaporator (1). At this time, it is conceivable to provide a four-way valve 31 as a refrigerant control valve at the branch points of the three refrigerant branching passages 201 to 203 and regulate the flow rate of the refrigerant in each of the refrigerant branching passages 201 to 203. Reference numerals 24A to 24C denote decompression means provided upstream of the evaporator.

In the first embodiment, the three-way valve 31 is provided as a refrigerant control valve at the branch point of the refrigerant branching flow paths 201 and 202. However, as shown in Fig. 5, each of the refrigerant branching flow paths 201 and 202, Two two-way valves 31A and 31B can be provided upstream of the pressure reducing means 24A and 24B, respectively. Even in this case, the time ratio of the opening and closing times of the two two-way valves 31 is varied between 3 and 200 seconds.

As shown in FIG. 6, a check valve 6 for preventing the reverse flow of the refrigerant can be installed on the discharge side of the freezer-applied evaporator 23B.

≪ Embodiment 2 >

Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

7, the cooling apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment includes a refrigerator compartment 11 and a freezer compartment 12 and includes a compressor 21, a condenser 22 installed on the discharge side of the compressor 21, A refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and a freezing chamber evaporator 23B connected in parallel to each other between the discharge side of the refrigerant chamber evaporator 23A and the discharge side of the compressor 21 and the suction side of the compressor 21 A refrigeration circuit 200 having a decompression means 24A for a refrigerator compartment such as a capillary tube and a decompression means 24B for a freezer compartment such as a capillary tube provided in series on a suction side of a freezer compartment evaporator 23B, Respectively.

Here, the refrigerating machine evaporator 23A and the freezing machine evaporator 23B are respectively installed in two refrigerant branching passages 201 and 202 branched from the discharge side of the condenser 22. The refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A is installed to cool the interior of the refrigerator compartment 11 and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B is installed to cool the interior of the freezer compartment 12. [ Further, a check valve 6 for preventing the back flow of the refrigerant is provided on the discharge side of the freezer-applied evaporator 23B.

7, the cooling device 100 of this embodiment adjusts the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the respective refrigerant branching passages 201 and 202 to adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezer chamber evaporator 23B, And a refrigerant control unit 3 for controlling the refrigerant.

The refrigerant control unit 3 includes a refrigerant control valve 31 for controlling the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B and a control device 32 for controlling the refrigerant control valve 31 .

8, the refrigerant control valve 31 of this embodiment is a three-way valve provided at a branch point of the refrigerant branching flow paths 201 and 202, and the input port P1 is connected to the refrigerant piping on the condenser 22 side And the first output port P2 is connected to the branch pipe constituting the refrigerant branching flow path 201 on the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A side and the second output port P3 is connected to the refrigerant branching flow path on the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23B side, Is connected to the branch pipe constituting the branch pipe (202).

Specifically, the refrigerant control valve 31 is provided with an input port P1, a first output port P2 and a second output port P3, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, S and a plurality of communication ports 313 provided in the internal space S of the valve body 311 and communicating with the input port P1 and a part or all of the two output ports P2, And a valve body 312 in which holes H1 and H2 are formed. Symbol P1a is an inlet connected to the input port P1.

The outlet port forming surface (valve seat) 311x on which the outlets P2a and P3a of the two output ports P2 and P3 are formed in the refrigerant control valve 31 of this embodiment is flat. Then, the valve body 312 slides on the outlet port formation surface 311x around the predetermined rotation axis to open and close the outlets P2a and P3a. In this embodiment, the rotary shaft of the valve body 312 is a shaft provided equidistantly from the two outlets P2a and P3a, and more specifically, the middle point between the two outlets P2a and P3a.

The valve body 312 has a disk shape and a plurality of communication holes H1 and H2 are formed in the main direction around the rotation axis. In this embodiment, the valve body 312 is formed in a shape corresponding to the outlet P2a of the first output port P2 A plurality of second communication holes H2 (four in FIG. 9) corresponding to the outlets P3a of the plurality of first communication holes H1 (five in FIG. 9) and the second output port P3 do. As the valve body 312 rotates about the rotation axis, the first communication hole H1 corresponding to the outflow port P2a and the corresponding outflow port P2a overlap or the second communication hole H3 corresponding to the outflow port P3a, The input port P1 and the first output port P2 and / or the second output port P3 communicate with each other by overlapping the output port H2 and the corresponding outlet port P3a.

As a result, the combination of the open valve state in which the refrigerant is made to flow to the refrigerating machine evaporator 23A and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B, or the combination of the closing valve state in which the refrigerant is not flowed is determined and a plurality of different open / close states . That is, in this embodiment,

(1) a full-closing mode ("closed-lung mode") in which refrigerant is not spilled in the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B

(2) a refrigerating chamber selection mode ("open-close" mode) in which refrigerant is not flowed into the freezing chamber evaporator 23B while flowing a refrigerant through the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A

(3) a freezing room selection mode ("close-open" mode) in which refrigerant is made to flow into the freezing room evaporator 23B without flowing refrigerant into the refrigerator room evaporator 23A

(4) A deployment mode ("open-close" mode) in which refrigerant is allowed to flow to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B is determined.

In the present embodiment, the plurality of communication holes H1 corresponding to the outflow port P2a of the first output port P2 and the plurality of communication holes H2 corresponding to the outflow port P3a of the second output port P3, ("Open-close" mode) and the freezer compartment selection mode ("closed-close" mode) alternately a plurality of times as the valve body 312 and the valve body 312 rotate during one stroke operation . That is, the plurality of communication holes H1 and the plurality of communication holes H2 are switched from the refrigerator compartment selection mode ("open-close" mode) to the freezer compartment selection mode Quot; mode) is repeatedly formed in the valve body 312 as when the opening / closing routine is repeated.

The refrigerant control valve 31 is provided with a gear mechanism that meshes with a gear portion (not shown) formed in the valve body 312 and an actuator such as a step motor that rotates the gear mechanism 313, The valve body 312 rotates through the gear mechanism. Further, the actuator can make the valve body 312 rotate forward or reverse. That is, each of the valve bodies 312 reciprocates in a predetermined rotation range by a gear mechanism.

As the actuator is controlled by the control signal from the control device 32, the valve body 312 rotates to open and close the outlets P2a and P3a of the two output ports P2 and P3 .

The control device 32 is a general purpose or dedicated computer having a CPU, a memory, an input / output interface, an AD converter, and the like. The control device 32 cooperates with a CPU, a peripheral device, etc. according to a control program stored in a predetermined area of the memory, .

More specifically, the control device 32 detects the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 4A, which is installed in the interior of the refrigerating compartment 11 and detects the internal temperature of the refrigerating compartment 11, The detection temperature from the temperature sensor 4B for detecting the internal temperature of the freezing chamber 12 and the detection temperature from the external air temperature sensor 5 for detecting the external air temperature provided outside the cooling device 100 are obtained.

The controller 32 calculates the load of the refrigerating compartment 11 or the fluctuation thereof by the indoor temperature and the outdoor air temperature and calculates the load or the variation of the freezing compartment 12 by the indoor temperature and the outdoor air temperature And determines the opening and closing modes of the outlet P2a of the first output port P2 and the outlet P3a of the second output port P3 of the refrigerant control valve 31 based on the calculation result. Then, the control device 32 outputs the control signal obtained by this to the refrigerant control valve 31 to control the refrigerant control valve 31.

A control state of the refrigerant flow rate in the refrigerant control section 3 of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to Figs. 10 and 11. Fig.

10 and 11, the refrigerant control valve 31 of this embodiment is provided with a full-closed mode in which the refrigerant does not flow in both the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B : Mode A), the valve body 312 is switched to the refrigerating compartment selection mode ("open-close" mode: mode B). Next, when the valve body 312 further rotates from the present refrigerator compartment selection mode, the mode is switched to the freezer compartment selection mode ("close-open" mode: mode D). As the valve body 312 rotates during one-stroke operation, mode B and mode D are alternately switched and the opening and closing routine is repeated several times (see FIG. 10). That is, as the valve body 312 rotates, the communication between the first communication hole H1 and the outlet P2a and the communication between the second communication hole H2 and the outlet P3a are alternately switched (see FIG. 11). When the valve body 312 further rotates, the expansion mode ("open-close" mode: mode C) in which the refrigerant is made to flow to the refrigerator-applied evaporator 23A and the freezer-applied evaporator 23B is performed. This state is a half-stroke minute. In the same manner as described above, the valve body 312 rotates in the other half stroke while the mode B and the mode D are alternately switched, that is, the opening and closing routines are repeated a plurality of times. As described above, one stroke of the valve body 312 of the present embodiment is a one-step operation in which the valve body 312 is rotated forward by a predetermined angle (for example, less than 180 degrees, in this embodiment, about 100 degrees) from the initial position and then reversely rotated to the initial position. In order to increase the number of times of switching the mode B and the mode D (the number of opening and closing routines), the valve body 312 may be rotated forward and backward without passing through the mode A and the mode C.

≪ Effect of Second Embodiment >

According to the cooling device 100 configured as described above, the refrigerant control valve 31 is provided with the same opening / closing routine several times from the refrigerating compartment selection mode and the freezing compartment selection mode during one stroke operation of the valve body 312, Mode and the freezer room selection mode are changed several times, it is possible to reduce the number of repetitive operations by reciprocating the same place, thereby improving the durability of the refrigerant control valve 31. [ In addition, the same opening and closing routines are provided several times during the one-stroke operation of the valve body 312, the travel distance between the opening and closing selection modes can be shortened and the moving time can be shortened, Temperature can be precisely controlled. In particular, in this embodiment, since the opening / closing routine is repeated several times from the refrigerator compartment selection mode and the freezer compartment selection mode as the valve body 312 rotates during one stroke operation, the switching of the refrigerator compartment selection mode and the freezer compartment selection mode The moving time of the valve body 312 can be further shortened and the temperature of the refrigerating chamber 11 and the freezing chamber 12 can be precisely controlled.

≪ Modification of Second Embodiment >

The present invention is not limited to the second embodiment.

For example, in the second embodiment, the refrigerant control valve 31 alternately switches between the refrigerating compartment selection mode and the freezing compartment selection mode. However, only one of the refrigerating compartment evaporator 23A and the freezing compartment evaporator 23B, And the refrigerant is supplied to both the refrigeration and freezer evaporator (23A) and the freezer compartment evaporator (23B). In the single stroke mode of the valve body (312) It may be several times. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, the valve body 312 has a semi-disc shape, and a plurality of communication holes H2 are formed in the main direction around the rotation axis. Specifically, the valve body 312 has a plurality of second communication holes H2 (four in FIG. 12) corresponding to the outlet P3a of the second output port P3. As the valve body 312 rotates around the rotation axis, the second communication hole H2 corresponding to the outlet port P3a and the outlet port P3a overlap with each other to form the input port P1 and the second output port P3, Respectively. The outlet port P2a is always open except the mode A in Fig. 13, and the input port P1 and the first output port P2 are always in communication with each other.

As a result, the combination of the open valve state in which the refrigerant is made to flow to the refrigerating machine evaporator 23A and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B, or the closed valve state in which the refrigerant does not flow is determined and a plurality of different open / close states do. That is, in this embodiment,

(1) a full-closing mode ("closed-lung mode") in which refrigerant is not spilled in the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B

(2) a refrigerating compartment selection mode ("open-close" mode) in which the refrigerant is not flowed into the freezing compartment evaporator 23B while the refrigerant flows to the refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A

(3) The expansion mode ("open-close" mode) in which the refrigerant is made to flow into the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B is determined.

13 and 14, the refrigerant control valve 31 is provided with a full-closed mode ("closed-lung") mode in which no refrigerant flows in both the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B, Mode: mode A), the valve body 312 is switched to the refrigerating compartment selection mode ("open-close" mode: mode B). Next, when the valve body 312 further rotates in the refrigerating compartment selection mode, the mode is switched to the unfolding mode ("open-close" mode: mode C). As the valve body 312 rotates during one-stroke operation, mode B and mode C are alternately switched and a plurality of opening and closing routines are repeated (see Fig. 13). That is, as the valve body 312 rotates, the communication and blocking of the second communication hole H2 and the outlet port P3a are alternately switched in a state in which the first communication hole H1 and the outlet port P2a always communicate with each other (See Fig. 14). Then, the valve body 312 is reversely rotated to alternate between mode B and mode C, and a plurality of opening and closing routines are repeated. At this time, by adjusting the time ratio of the refrigerating chamber selection mode (mode B) and the expansion mode (mode C) in the refrigerant control valve 31, the refrigerant flow rate of the refrigerating evaporator 23A and the refrigerant flow rate of the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23B The ratio can be adjusted.

The refrigerant control valve 31 may be a slide valve having a valve-type or a half-disc shape or the like, but may be a slide valve having a valve body of any other shape. For example, It may be a spool valve in which an internal flow path is formed and communicates the inlet port P1a of the input port P1 and the outlet ports P2a and P3a of the output ports P2 and P3 individually.

≪ Third Embodiment >

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

15, the cooling apparatus 100 according to the third embodiment includes a compressor 21, a condenser 22 installed on the discharge side of the compressor 21, a refrigerating chamber 11 having a refrigerating chamber 11 and a freezing chamber 12, A refrigerating machine evaporator 23A and a freezing machine evaporator 23B connected in parallel with each other between the discharge side of the condenser 22 and the suction side of the compressor 21 and a refrigerant evaporator 23A connected in series to the suction side of the refrigerating machine evaporator 23A A refrigeration circuit 200 having a decompression means 24A for a refrigerator compartment such as a capillary tube and a decompression means 24B for a freezer compartment such as a capillary tube provided in series on a suction side of a freezer compartment evaporator 23B, Respectively.

Here, the refrigerating machine evaporator 23A and the freezing machine evaporator 23B are respectively installed in two refrigerant branching passages 201 and 202 branched from the discharge side of the condenser 22. The refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A is installed to cool the interior of the refrigerator compartment 11 and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B is installed to cool the interior of the freezer compartment 12. [ Further, a check valve 6 for preventing the back flow of the refrigerant is provided on the discharge side of the freezer-applied evaporator 23B.

15, the cooling device 100 of this embodiment adjusts the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into each of the refrigerant branching flow paths 201, 202, thereby controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerating room evaporator 23A and the freezing room evaporator 23B And a coolant control unit (3) for simultaneously and continuously controlling the coolant flow rate.

The refrigerant control unit 3 includes a control valve 31 for controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B and a control device 32 for controlling the control valve 31. [

16, the control valve 31 of this embodiment is a three-way valve provided at a branch point of the refrigerant branching flow paths 201 and 202, and the input port P1 is connected to the refrigerant piping on the condenser 22 side And the first output port P2 is connected to the branch pipe constituting the refrigerant branching flow path 201 on the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A side and the second output port P3 is connected to the refrigerant branching flow path on the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23B side, Is connected to the branch pipe constituting the branch pipe (202).

Specifically, the control valve 31 is provided with an input port P1, a first output port P2, and a second output port P3, as shown in Figs. 16 and 17, S connected to the output ports P2 and P3 and corresponding to the two output ports P2 and P3 in the internal space S of the valve body 311, And two valve bodies 312a and 312b for opening and closing the valves P2a and P3a. Symbol P1a is an inlet connected to the input port P1.

The outlet port formation surface 311x in which the two output ports P2 and P3 outlets P2a and P3a are formed in the control valve 31 of this embodiment is a flat surface. Each of the two valve bodies 312a and 312b slidably rotates on the outlet port forming surface 311x around the respective rotation axis to open and close the respective outlet ports P2a and P3a.

In addition, the contour of the portion of each of the valve bodies 312a and 312b that passes through the outlets P2a and P3a is curved convexly toward the rotating direction. The contour shape is an outer shape of a slide surface that slides the outlet port formation surface 311x when viewed in the direction of the rotation axis of the valve bodies 312a and 312b.

In the present embodiment, the outline shape of the valve body 312a is a curved shape that curves convexly toward the rotational direction when the valve body 312a rotates in the direction of closing the outflow port P2a. On the other hand, the outline shape of the valve body 312b has a curved shape curving convexly toward the rotational direction when the valve body 312b rotates in the direction of closing the outflow port P3a. In addition, the outline shapes of the valve bodies 312a and 312b are involute curves and have the same shape.

The control valve 31 also includes a gear mechanism 313 meshing with the gear portions 312a1 and 312b1 formed on the valve bodies 312a and 312b and an actuator such as a stepper motor for rotating the gear mechanism 313 And the two valve bodies 312a and 312b are interlockingly rotated through the gear mechanism 313 by the actuator. Further, the actuator can forwardly or reversely rotate the valve bodies 312a and 312b. That is, the valve bodies 312a and 312b reciprocate in a predetermined rotation range by the gear mechanism 313.

The control valve 31 controls the actuator by a control signal from the control device 32 so that the two valve bodies 312a and 312b rotate and flow out through the outlets P2a and P3a of the two output ports P2 and P3, .

The control device 32 is a general purpose or dedicated computer having a CPU, a memory, an input / output interface, an AD converter, and the like, and cooperates with a control program stored in a predetermined area of the memory in a CPU, a peripheral device, .

More specifically, the control device 32 detects the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 4A, which is installed in the interior of the refrigerating compartment 11 and detects the internal temperature of the refrigerating compartment 11, The detection temperature from the temperature sensor 4B for detecting the internal temperature of the freezing compartment 12 and the detection temperature from the external air temperature sensor 5 for detecting the external air temperature provided outside the cooling device 100 are obtained .

In addition, the controller 32 calculates the load of the refrigerating compartment 11 or the variation thereof by the indoor temperature and the outdoor air temperature, calculates the load of the freezing compartment 12 or the variation thereof by the indoor temperature and the outdoor air temperature The opening degree of the outlet port P2a of the first output port P2 of the control valve 31 and the opening ratio of the outlet port P3a of the second output port P3 are calculated. Then, the control device 32 outputs the control signal obtained by this to the control valve 31 to control the control valve 31. [

Next, the control state of the refrigerant flow rate in the refrigerant control section 3 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 18 and 19. Fig.

Each of the valve bodies 312a and 312b is configured such that the outlet P2a of the first output port P2 is opened (opening degree 100%) and the second outlet port P2b is opened P3 is completely closed (opening degree is 0%), the flow rate ratio to the refrigerating chamber side evaporator becomes 100%, and the flow rate ratio to the refrigerating chamber evaporator becomes 0%. The initial position of the present embodiment is a predetermined position at which the outlet P2a of the first output port P2 is expanded and the outlet P3a of the second output port P3 is fully closed.

In the range of the rotation range from 90% to 100% (region C), the outlet P2a of the first output port P2 is fully closed (opening 0%) and the outlet P3a of the second output port P3 ) Is opened (the opening degree is 100%), the flow rate ratio to the refrigerating chamber evaporator becomes 0%, and the flow rate ratio to the refrigerating chamber evaporator becomes 100%. The rotation range 100% of the present embodiment is a predetermined position at which the outlet port P3a of the second output port P3 is expanded while the outlet port P2a of the first output port P2 is completely closed by rotating from the initial position.

The range of the rotation range from 10% to 90% (region B) is set such that both the opening of the outlet P2a of the first output port P2 and the opening of the outlet P3a of the second output port P3 (Adjustable range). In this adjustment region, the outlet P2a of the first output port P2 linearly decreases from 100% to 0% and the outlet P3a of the second output port P3 linearly decreases from 0% to 100% . That is, the rate of change of the opening of the outlet P2a of the first output port P2 is constant and the rate of change of the opening of the outlet P3a of the second output port P3 is also constant. The rate of change of the opening of the outlet P2a and the rate of change of the opening of the outlet P3a are positive and negative.

The inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment 11, the temperature of the inlet temperature and the outlet temperature of the refrigerating chamber side evaporator 23A and the temperature inside the freezing compartment 12, the inlet temperature of the freezing chamber evaporator 23B, The temperature change of the temperature is shown in Fig. The inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment 11 and the freezing compartment 12 can be continuously controlled by continuously changing the evaporating temperature in the refrigerating chamber side evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber side evaporator 23B in the adjustment region as shown in FIG. Able to know.

≪ Effect of Third Embodiment >

According to the cooling apparatus 100 thus configured, the refrigerant control unit 3 continuously changes the flow rates of the refrigerant flowing to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B at the same time, so that the combination pattern of the flow rate ratios can be increased. Therefore, the evaporation temperatures in the refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B can be arbitrarily adjusted, so that it is possible to control the flow rate accurately according to the loads of the refrigerator compartment 11 and the freezer compartment 12. In this way, the cooling efficiency of the compressor 21 can be improved and power consumption can be reduced.

≪ Modification of Third Embodiment >

The present invention is not limited to the third embodiment.

For example, in the third embodiment, a rotation range of 0% to 10% is defined as a developing range (or a full closing range), a rotation range of 10% to 90% ), But the present invention is not limited to this. The rotation range to be used as the adjustment area is not limited to the above, and may be arbitrarily set, for example, from 20% to 80%. It is also possible to have a constant opening degree area in addition to the development area, the adjustment area and the full closed area. The outline shape of the portion passing through the outflow ports P2a and P3a in the valve bodies 312a and 312b is set to a specific shape so as to be divided into the respective regions by the rotation range.

The rate of change of the opening of the output ports P2 and P3 outlets P2a and P3a in the adjustment region can be made to be a plurality of change rates. For example, as shown in Fig. 21, the adjustment region B can be divided into a region B1 having a low rate of change, a region B2 having a high rate of change, and a region B3 having a low rate of change. In Fig. 21, the change rates of the area B1 and the area B3 are the same. In addition, the rate of change of the opening of the output port P2 and the rate of change of the opening of the output port P3 are set to be the same. The rate of change of the area B1 and the area B3 may be different. At this time, by making the outline shape of the portion passing through the outflow ports P2a and P3a of the valve bodies 312a and 312b a specific shape, it is possible to make the adjustment region a plurality of regions having different rate of change.

The temperature inside the refrigerator compartment 11, the temperature at the inlet temperature and the temperature at the outlet of the refrigerator compartment evaporator, the temperature inside the freezer compartment 12, the temperature at the inlet of the freezer compartment and the temperature at the outlet of the freezer compartment Is shown in Fig. As shown in FIG. 22, it can be seen that the inside temperature of the refrigerating chamber 11 and the freezing chamber 12 can be continuously controlled by continuously changing the evaporating temperature in the refrigerating chamber side evaporator and the freezing chamber side evaporator in the adjustment region. By arbitrarily setting the rate of change of the opening of the outlets P2a and P3a, more precise temperature control becomes possible by continuous variation.

23, the rate of change of the opening of the outlet P2a of the first output port P2 and the rate of change of the opening of the outlet P3a of the second output port P3 can be set independently of each other in the adjustment region . That is, the total of the opening of the outlet P2a and the opening of the outlet P3a can be set to be not 100%. In this case, the outline shapes of the portions passing through the outflow ports P2a and P3a of the respective valve bodies are made different from each other. In FIG. 23, the change rate of the outflow port P3a of the second output port P3 is made constant and the rate of change of the outflow port P2a of the first output port P2 is set to a plurality of change rates. Even when the refrigerant flow rate in each of the evaporators 23A and 23B is not equal to the outlet opening ratio of the plurality of output ports due to the difference in temperature (pressure) between the respective evaporators 23A and 23B, 23B can be precisely controlled.

Here, since the evaporator temperature (pressure) also changes when the cooling chamber load varies, the refrigerant flow rate may not be the same even at the same opening degree. In this case, as shown in Fig. 24, the valve body can be rotated in the adjustment region (the adjustment region B3 in Fig. 24) to fine adjust the flow rate to a desired refrigerant flow rate by continuously changing the opening of the outlet port in a plurality of output ports. For example, in step D of Fig. 24 (the refrigerant flow rate ratio at this time is 20% for R side and 80% for F side), the refrigerant flow rate ratio is 25% : 75%, it becomes possible to return the original refrigerant flow rate ratio (R side: 20%, F side: 80%) by rotating the valve body to step E Thus, even when the refrigerant flow rate fluctuates due to variations in the cooling chamber load, it is possible to finely adjust the flow rate of an arbitrary refrigerant by continuously changing the outlet opening of the plurality of output ports by rotating the valve body.

In this embodiment, the outline shapes of the portions passing through the outflow ports P2a and P3a of the respective valve bodies 312 are curved, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The outline shapes may be straight or curved, It may be a combined shape.

<Fourth Embodiment>

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

25, the cooling apparatus 100 according to the fourth embodiment includes a compressor 21 having a refrigerating chamber 11 and a freezing chamber 12, a condenser 22 provided on a discharge side of the compressor 21, A refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A and a freezer compartment evaporator 23B connected in parallel with each other between the discharge side of the condenser 22 and the suction side of the compressor 21 and a refrigerant evaporator 23B connected in series to the suction side of the refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A A refrigeration circuit 200 (for example, a condenser tube) having a decompression means 24A for a refrigerator compartment such as a capillary tube and a decompression means 24B for a freezer compartment such as a capillary tube which is installed in series on the suction side of the freezer compartment evaporator 23B .

Here, the refrigerating machine evaporator 23A and the freezing machine evaporator 23B are respectively installed in two refrigerant branching passages 201 and 202 branched from the discharge side of the condenser 22. The refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A is installed to cool the interior of the refrigerator compartment 11 and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B is installed to cool the interior of the freezer compartment 12. [

25, the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment adjusts the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the respective refrigerant branching passages 201 and 202, thereby controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B And a coolant control unit 3 for individually controlling the flow rates.

The refrigerant control unit 3 includes a refrigerant control valve 31 for controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A and the freezing chamber evaporator 23B and a control unit 32 for controlling the refrigerant control valve 31 Respectively. The control device 32 is a general purpose or dedicated computer having a CPU, a memory, an input / output interface, an AD converter, etc., and cooperates with a CPU, a peripheral device, etc. according to a control program stored in a predetermined area of the memory, 31).

The refrigerant control valve 31 of this embodiment is a three-way valve provided at a branch point of the refrigerant branching passages 201 and 202. The input port is connected to the refrigerant pipe on the condenser 22 side and the first output port is connected to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 23A side and the second output port is connected to a branch pipe constituting the refrigerant branching flow path 202 on the side of the freezer chamber evaporator 23B. The refrigerant control valve (31) is individually controlled to open and close the first output port and the second output port by a control signal from the control device (32).

An embodiment of the open / close operation pattern of the refrigerant control valve 31 by the controller 32 will be described below with reference to Fig.

The controller 32 sequentially proceeds to the refrigerator compartment cooling operation for cooling the refrigerating compartment 11 and the freezer compartment cooling operation for cooling the freezer compartment 12 to control the refrigerant control valve 31 so that the evaporator for supplying the refrigerant to the refrigerator compartment evaporator (23A) and the freezer compartment evaporator (23B). In the present embodiment, a simultaneous stopping period in which no refrigerant is supplied to either of the evaporators 23A and 23B is set between the refrigerator compartment cooling operation and the freezer compartment cooling operation.

Specifically, the control device 32 intermittently supplies the refrigerant by turning on / off the refrigerant control valve 31 after switching the evaporator for supplying the refrigerant (refrigerating chamber cooling operation or freezing chamber cooling operation). For example, after the evaporator for supplying the refrigerant is switched to the evaporator for the refrigerator 23A, the refrigerant control valve 31 is turned ON / OFF to intermittently supply the refrigerant to the evaporator 23A for the refrigerator. After the evaporator for supplying the refrigerant is switched to the freezer chamber evaporator 23B, the refrigerant control valve 31 is turned ON / OFF to intermittently supply the refrigerant to the freezer-applied evaporator 23B.

Here, the control device 32 performs duty control on the refrigerant control valve 31, and sets the duty control period to 3 seconds to 200 seconds. Further, the control device 32 sets the OFF time to be longer than the ON time of the refrigerant control valve 31 in the duty control. The ON time is a refrigerant supply time during which refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator, and the OFF time is a refrigerant recovery time during which refrigerant (particularly liquid refrigerant) is recovered from the evaporator. Therefore, by setting the OFF time longer than the ON time, the refrigerant can be reliably recovered from the evaporator. It is also conceivable that the controller 32 sets the duty ratio (time ratio) so that the difference between the inlet temperature and the outlet temperature of the evaporator can be constantly controlled, for example, between 0 ° C and 10 ° C. The period and the duty ratio in the duty control when the refrigerant is supplied to the refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A and the cycle and the duty ratio in the duty control when the refrigerant is supplied to the freezer compartment evaporator 23B may be the same or different from each other It is possible.

According to the cooling apparatus 100 configured as described above, the evaporator for supplying the refrigerant is switched to one of the refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B, and then the refrigerant control valve 31 is turned ON / OFF so that the refrigerant is intermittently It is possible to reduce the pressure loss caused by the liquid refrigerant in one of the refrigerating machine evaporator 23A and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B and to suppress the rise of the evaporation temperature. As a result, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the heat exchange performance of the refrigerator compartment evaporator 23A and the freezer compartment evaporator 23B, prevent deterioration of the cooling efficiency, and enable energy saving operation. In addition, the cooling time of the cooling chamber becomes appropriate and the temperature quality of the cooling chamber improves. In addition, the possibility of liquid reflux into the compressor can be reduced, thereby improving the durability of the compressor.

Further, since the OFF time is set longer than the ON time of the refrigerant control valve 31 when the control device 32 performs duty control of the refrigerant control valve 31, the recovery of the liquid refrigerant from the evaporator to which the refrigerant is supplied is reliably performed can do.

&Lt; Modification of Fourth Embodiment &gt;

The present invention is not limited to the fourth embodiment.

27, the cooling device 100 is provided with the upper portions 4A and 4B such as a heater for removing the refrigerating room evaporator 23A and the freezer room evaporator 23B, respectively, . In this case, the evaporator (for example, the evaporator for freezer compartment 23A), which is not defrosted by the refrigerant control unit 3 in a state in which one evaporator (for example, freezer compartment evaporator 23B) ) To supply the refrigerant. Here, the control device 32 of the refrigerant control section 3 intermittently supplies the refrigerant to one evaporator (for example, a refrigerating room evaporator) by turning the refrigerant control valve 31 on / off. In this embodiment, the open / close operation pattern of the refrigerant control valve 31 is as shown in Fig.

By doing so, it is possible to turn on / off the refrigerant control valve 31 with the evaporator in which the refrigerant control section 3 is not defrosted in a state where one of the evaporators 23A and 23B is defrosted by the tops 4A and 4B The pressure loss generated by the liquid refrigerant in the evaporators 23A and 23B can be reduced and the rise of the evaporation temperature can be suppressed. Thus, deterioration of the heat exchange performance of the evaporators 23A and 23B can be prevented, deterioration of the cooling efficiency can be prevented, and energy saving operation becomes possible.

The control device 32 acquires the detected temperature from the external air temperature sensor which is provided outside the cooling device 100 and detects the external air temperature (ambient temperature), and controls the operation of the refrigerant control valve 31 The duty ratio (duty ratio) between ON time and OFF time can be varied.

It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and that the configurations described in the embodiments may be combined, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

3: Refrigerant control unit 4A: Temperature sensor in the refrigerating compartment
4B: Temperature sensor in freezer room 5: Outside air temperature sensor
6: Check valve 7: Refrigerant reservoir
11: refrigerator compartment 12: freezer compartment
21: compressor 22: condenser
23A: refrigerating chamber side evaporator 23B: freezing chamber side evaporator
24A: refrigeration chamber side decompression means 24B: refrigeration chamber side decompression means
31: Refrigerant control valve 32: Control device
100: cooling device 200: refrigeration circuit
201: refrigeration side branch flow channel 202: refrigeration side branch flow channel

Claims (20)

Cooling chamber;
A refrigeration circuit including a compressor, a condenser provided on a discharge side of the compressor, an evaporator provided between a discharge side of the condenser and a suction side of the compressor to cool the cooling chamber, and a decompression means provided on a suction side of the evaporator; And
And a refrigerant control unit installed between the condenser and the evaporator and controlling a flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the evaporator by controlling an opening and closing time of the refrigerant control valve. The method according to claim 1,
The refrigerant control unit includes:
And the refrigerant control valve is duty-controlled. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the cycle of the duty control is set between 3 seconds and 200 seconds. 3. The method of claim 2,
And the OFF time is set longer than the ON time of the refrigerant control valve in the duty control. 3. The method of claim 2,
The refrigerant control unit includes:
Wherein the duty ratio is set so that the difference between the inlet temperature and the outlet temperature of the evaporator is constant in the duty control. The method according to claim 1,
And the OFF time is set to be longer than the ON time in the operation of the refrigerant control valve. The method according to claim 1,
The refrigerant control unit includes:
And controls the ratio of the ON time and the OFF time of the refrigerant control valve in accordance with the ambient temperature in a variable manner. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a check valve is provided between the evaporator and the compressor to prevent backflow of the refrigerant. The method according to claim 1,
The refrigerant control valve includes:
Closing routine for sequentially switching a plurality of open / close selection modes consisting of a combination of an open-valve state in which refrigerant is flowed to each of the plurality of evaporators or a close-valve state in which no refrigerant is flowed is repeated a plurality of times during one stroke operation of the valve body Characterized by a cooling device. A plurality of cooling chambers having different cooling temperatures;
A plurality of evaporators connected in parallel to each other between the discharge side of the condenser and the suction side of the compressor and provided correspondingly to the plurality of cooling chambers, A refrigeration circuit having means; And
And a refrigerant control valve provided between the condenser and the plurality of evaporators to control a flow rate of refrigerant flowing to each of the evaporators, wherein in the simultaneous cooling operation for simultaneously cooling the plurality of cooling chambers, And a refrigerant control unit for independently controlling a ratio of the refrigerant flowing to each of the evaporators. 11. The method of claim 10,
The refrigerant control unit includes:
Wherein the controller is configured to alternately perform a refrigerant all-out period in which the refrigerant is flowed to all of the plurality of evaporators by controlling the opening and closing time of the refrigerant control valve, and a part of the refrigerant outflow period in which the refrigerant flows in a part of the plurality of evaporators . 11. The method of claim 10,
The refrigerant control unit includes:
And the refrigerant control valve is duty-controlled. 11. The method of claim 10,
The refrigerant control valve includes:
Closing routine for sequentially switching a plurality of open / close selection modes consisting of a combination of an open-valve state in which refrigerant is flowed to each of the plurality of evaporators or a close-valve state in which no refrigerant is flowed is repeated a plurality of times during one stroke operation of the valve body Characterized by a cooling device. A plurality of cooling chambers having different cooling temperatures;
A plurality of evaporators connected in parallel to each other between the discharge side of the condenser and the suction side of the compressor and provided correspondingly to the plurality of cooling chambers, A refrigeration circuit having means; And
And a refrigerant control unit that is provided between the condenser and the plurality of evaporators and selectively switches the evaporator that supplies the refrigerant from the plurality of evaporators,
The refrigerant control unit includes:
Wherein the controller controls the opening and closing time of the refrigerant control valve after the evaporator for supplying the refrigerant is switched to adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing to the evaporator. A plurality of cooling chambers having different cooling temperatures;
A plurality of evaporators connected in parallel to each other between the discharge side of the condenser and the suction side of the compressor and provided correspondingly to the plurality of cooling chambers, A refrigeration circuit having means;
A refrigerant control unit provided with a refrigerant control valve provided between the condenser and the plurality of evaporators and selectively switching an evaporator for supplying refrigerant from the plurality of evaporators; And
And an upper portion for defrosting at least one of the plurality of evaporators,
Wherein the refrigerant control unit controls the opening and closing time of the refrigerant control valve in a state where any one of the plurality of evaporators is defrosted by the upper portion to adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing to the evaporator that is not defrosted Device. A plurality of cooling chambers having different cooling temperatures;
A plurality of evaporators provided in parallel with each other between the discharge side of the condenser and the suction side of the compressor and provided correspondingly to the respective cooling chambers and a plurality of decompression means provided on the suction side of each evaporator, A refrigeration circuit provided therein; And
And a refrigerant control valve installed between the condenser and the plurality of evaporators to control a flow rate of refrigerant flowing to each of the evaporators, wherein the refrigerant control unit continuously changes the flow rates of the refrigerant flowing to the plurality of evaporators . 17. The method of claim 16,
The refrigerant control unit includes:
And changes the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing to each of the evaporators at different rates of change. 17. The method of claim 16,
The refrigerant control valve includes:
A valve body having an input port connected to the discharge side of the condenser and a plurality of output ports connected to the suction side of the plurality of evaporators; And
And a valve body disposed in the valve body and corresponding to each of the plurality of output ports and opening and closing an outlet connected to the output port,
And the total opening of the outlets in the plurality of output ports is not 100%. 19. The method of claim 18,
Wherein the valve body comprises:
And a closed state in which the plurality of output ports are closed at the same time. 19. The method of claim 18,
The refrigerant control unit includes:
And the outlet opening degree of each of the plurality of output ports is continuously changed in accordance with a load variation of each of the cooling chambers.

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