US20070125119A1

US20070125119A1 - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: US20070125119A1
Application number: US10/569,645
Authority: US
Inventors: Yoshiro Naemura; Shigeru Niki; Kunio Nii; Yasushi Takagi; Ryousuke Yamamoto; Kosaku Adachi; Koji Mishima
Original assignee: TOSHIGA HA PRODUCTS CO Ltd; Toshiba Corp; Toshiba Consumer Marketing Corp
Current assignee: TOSHIGA HA PRODUCTS CO Ltd; Toshiba Corp; Toshiba Consumer Marketing Corp; Toshiba Lifestyle Products and Services Corp
Priority date: 2003-08-26
Filing date: 2004-08-25
Publication date: 2007-06-07
Also published as: KR20060087520A; JP2005098559A; WO2005019748A1; KR100692705B1; EP1669706A1; EP1669706A4

Abstract

A refrigerator stated is characterized in that it includes a machine room (14) formed on a lower part of a rear of a main body of the refrigerator; a refrigerant compressor (12) installed offset to one side in the machine room (14) in a width direction; and a cooler (9) for receiving a refrigerant from the refrigerant compressor (12) and cooling an inside of a storage chamber; wherein the cooler (9) is arranged inside the refrigerator via a heat insulating wall (3 a) of the main body above the refrigerant compressor (12) arranged on one side of the machine room (14) and at a position on an opposite side of the refrigerant compressor (12) in a width direction; and control and power source boards (21) of the refrigerator are arranged in another wide space of the refrigerant compressor (12) in the machine room (14) in a width direction.

As described above, a refrigerator is provided which, by changing the position relationship and structure of the cooler (9), the refrigerant compressor (12), and the control and power source boards (21), can reduce the thermal loss of the cooler (9), improve the heat insulation efficiency, and increase the heat radiation efficiency of the machine room (14) and a condenser (13), and thereby can obtain a power conservation effect.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to an improvement of the arrangement constitution of a refrigerant compressor in a machine room and a cooler.

BACKGROUND ART

For a refrigerator, conventionally, by various measure improvements, power conservation is advanced and the effects thereof are produced. However, in recent years, from the point of view of the resource environment, the reduction of the power consumption has been strongly expected increasingly.
On the other hand, a refrigerant compressor (42) of a conventional refrigerator which is a link of the refrigerating cycle, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, is installed almost at the center of a machine room (44) formed on the lower part of the rear of a refrigerator body (31) in the width direction. And upon receipt of a refrigerant from the compressor (42), a cooler (38) for cold storage and a cooler (39) for freezing for generating cold air for cooling a storage chamber composed of a cold storage space (35) and a freezing space (37) are arranged at the center of the internal upper part of a heat insulating cabinet opposite to the compressor (42). And, a control and power source board (51) is arranged on the outside surface of a heat insulating wall (33) at the opposite position of the cooler for cold storage (38) on the rear of the heat insulating cabinet (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Further, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, as a constitution for increasing the mounting efficiency of the machine room and for increasing the effective internal volume of the refrigerator, there is a constitution (refer to Patent Document 2) that a concavity is formed by making one part of the back of the lower part of the refrigerator body hollow, and a machine room (74) is formed in the concavity to store a compressor (72), a cooler (69) is installed inside the refrigerator neighboring the compressor (72), and an electronic control board (81) is arranged on the rear of the cooler (69) via a heat insulating wall (63). Further, as shown in FIG. 13, as a constitution for increasing the space use efficiency and cooling efficiency without insanitation, there is a constitution (refer to Patent Document 3) that similarly to Patent Document 2, a compressor (102) is installed in a concavity which is formed by making one side of a machine room (104) in the width direction hollow, a cooler (99) is arranged at the position neighboring the compressor (102) via a heat insulating wall, a condenser and a drain hose are installed in the machine room (104) neighboring the compressor (102), and an evaporating dish (83) is arranged on the lower part of the bottom of the main body in front of the compressor (102).

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) 2003-65658
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) 2001-41635
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) 2002-130922

However, in the constitution of Patent Document 1, the position relationship among the coolers (38) and (39) for cold storage and for freezing which are low-temperature endothermic substances, the refrigerant compressor (42) which is a high-temperature member and the control and power source board (51) which is a heating element are close, so that a thermal loss due to heat leakage is caused to each cooler. And it is difficult to obtain the necessary heat insulating wall thickness, and the heat leakage from the refrigerant compressor (42) and the control and power source board (51) into the storage chambers is increased, so that there is a defect of reduction in the cooling effect.
Further, the refrigerant compressor (42) is positioned almost at the center of the main body in the width direction, so that an air flow-in port (50) into the machine room (44) on the upstream side of a partition board (48) for attaching a cooling fan (49) for heat radiation installed at the side of the compressor becomes narrow, and the heat exchange area between fresh air flowing in from an opening (31 b) on the front of the main unit and a flat-shaped condenser (43) arranged on the bottom of the main body becomes extremely small, so that heat radiation efficiency is reduced.
Further, the constitution of Patent Document 2 is intended to increase the space efficiency of the machine room, and similarly to Patent Document 1, the distance between the compressor (72) which is a heat source and the cooler (69) is short, and the control board (81) is arranged on the rear of the cooler (69), so that similarly to Patent Document 1, a thermal loss of the cooler (69) due to heat leakage is caused, and it is difficult to obtain the insulating wall thickness. And even in the constitution of Patent Document 3, it is basically the same in this respect that the cooler and heating element are close to each other, thus the same problem arises.
The present invention is developed with the foregoing in view, and is intended to provide a refrigerator which, by changing the position relationship and structure of a cooler, a refrigerant compressor, and control and power source boards, can reduce the thermal loss of the cooler, improve the heat insulation efficiency, and increase the heat radiation efficiency of a machine room and a condenser, and thereby can obtain a power conservation effect.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

To solve the above problems, the invention of the refrigerator stated in Claim 1 includes a machine room formed on a lower part of a rear of a main body of the refrigerator; a refrigerant compressor installed offset to one side in the machine room in a width direction; and a cooler for receiving a refrigerant from the refrigerant compressor and cooling an inside of a storage chamber; wherein the cooler is arranged inside the refrigerator via a heat insulating wall of the main body above the refrigerant compressor arranged on one side of the machine room and at a position on an opposite side of the compressor in a width direction; and control and power source boards of the refrigerator are arranged in another wide space of the refrigerant compressor in the machine room in a width direction.
Further, the invention of the refrigerator stated in Claim 5 includes a machine room formed on a lower part of a rear of a main body of the refrigerator; a refrigerant compressor installed in the machine room; and control and power source boards of the refrigerator arranged in a side space of the refrigerant compressor in the machine room; wherein the control and power source boards are divided and stacked into two back and forth stages to reduce in height and are installed in a heat radiation duct.
By use of the above constitution, the cooler can preserve a sufficient heat insulating distance space from a high-temperature member such as the refrigerant compressor so that the thermal loss thereof is reduced, a predetermined heat insulating wall thickness can be preserved as a heat insulating cabinet and hence heat leakage can be prevented, and the heat radiation efficiency of the machine room and condenser can be increased so as to contribute to a reduction in the power consumption.
Further, according to the invention, in the space of the machine room with a low ceiling height, the control and power source boards can be mounted compactly and the heat insulating wall thickness on the rear of the freezing chamber can be reserved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a refrigerator indicating an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 viewed from the rear.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the rear of the machine room part shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the machine room part shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the machine room part shown in FIG. 3 viewed from the front.
FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram showing an embodiment of the control and power source boards of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the constitution of the control and power source boards shown in FIG. 4.
FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view of the control and power source boards shown in FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view showing a conventional refrigerator.
FIG. 10 is a rear view of FIG. 9.
FIG. 11 is a rear view showing a machine room of another conventional refrigerator.
FIG. 12 is a vertical sectional view of FIG. 11.
FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view showing the lower part of the rear of still another conventional refrigerator.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, the embodiments of this invention will be described below.
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. A refrigerator body (1) whose vertical sectional view is shown in FIG. 1 and whose perspective view from the rear is shown in FIG. 2 forms a storage space by an inner box (4) installed on the inner face of an outer box (2) via a heat insulating wall (3). And it is divided into a plurality of storage chambers such as a cold storage chamber (5), a vegetable chamber (6), and a freezing chamber (7) by partition walls.
The respective storage chambers, by a cooler (8) for cold storage, a cooler (9) for freezing, and fans (10) and (11) arranged in every cold storage space and freezing space, are cooled and preserved at respective predetermined set temperatures. And the coolers (8) and (9) are supplied with a refrigerant by an operation in the refrigerating cycle composed of a refrigerant compressor (12) and a condenser (13) and so on.
The refrigerant compressor (12) in the refrigerating cycle is installed in a machine room (14) formed on the lower part of the rear of the refrigerator body (1), and is attached onto a compressor base (15) installed in the width direction of the main body via a cushion body.
The condenser (13) is a flat-shaped unit with wires as heat radiation fins fused to the top and bottom of a refrigerant pipe formed zigzag, and is arranged almost overall in the bottom space of the refrigerator body (1) ahead the machine room (14), and upon receipt of the refrigerant gas at high temperature and high pressure from the refrigerant compressor (12), radiates heat from it, and condenses it. And the refrigerant from the condenser 13 is supplied to the cooler (8) for cold storage or the cooler (9) for freezing in each storage chamber via a capillary tube which acts as a pressure reducing pipe and evaporates, thereby cools each storage chamber to a predetermined air temperature.
And, in the machine room (14), as shown in the rear view of the essential section in FIG. 3 and in the vertical sectional view in FIG. 4, a step part (16) projecting on the side of a freezing chamber (7) is formed on the lower part of the rear of the main body, and thereby a space having a predetermined depth and height in the width direction is formed by the step part (16). And the refrigerant compressor (12) is installed offset to one side in the space of the machine room (14) in the width direction, and the other wide space side from the compressor is interconnected as a heat radiation duct (17) to the bottom space of the main body in which the flat-shaped condenser (13) is installed.
In the neighborhood of the refrigerant compressor (12) in the heat radiation duct (17), a partition board (18) for dividing the inside of the machine room (14) in the width direction is provided, and on the bell mouth formed on the partition board surface, a cooling fan (19) is mounted.
By use of the aforementioned constitution, with respect to an air flow-in port (20) into the heat radiation duct (17) of the machine room (14) from the condenser (13) arranged on the bottom of the main body, as shown in FIG. 5, the flow-in opening thereof can be enlarged compared with the conventional one, since a large width can be obtained between the position of the partition board (18) to which the cooling fan (19) in the neighborhood of the refrigerant compressor (12) provided offset to one side of the machine room (14) is attached and a wall (1 a) on the main body side. And by the enlarged width, the heat exchange area of flow-in air for the flat-shaped condenser (13) is spread particularly as shown by the arrow, and the heat radiation efficiency can be increased.
At the opening of the rear of the machine room (14) forming the heat radiation duct (17), laminar control and power source boards (21) for controlling the operation of the refrigerator are arranged. The control and power source boards (21), as shown in FIG. 4, are divided into two pieces and stacked back and forth on the rear of the space of the machine room (14). The height of each of them is changed, and a board (21 a) with a lower height is positioned inside the space, and a board (21 b) with a higher height is arranged along an inclined part (16 a) formed on the upper part of the opening of the step part (16) of the rear of the freezing chamber (7).
And, as understood from the circuit diagram shown in FIG. 6, on the board (21 a) with the lower height, a noise filter circuit (24), a rectifier circuit (25), and a switching power source circuit are loaded, which are composed of high-voltage and comparatively large-scale parts. And on the board (21 b) with the higher height, an inverter switch unit (27), a motor control unit (28) of the refrigerant compressor, and a refrigerator controller not drawn are loaded, which are composed of low-voltage parts and are capable of mounting at low density.
At this time, in the switching power source (26) of the board (21 a) with the lower height, a primary ground (26 a) of the control winding and a power winding (26 b) for motor control are not common and are insulated at a part A.
Further, a part B which is a motor control ground of the board (21 b) with the higher height and a part C which is a ground of the inverter switch unit (27) are connected at one point. Motor control unit (28) is structured so as to detect the 3-phase winding resistance by a 3-shunt resistor and to drive the motor of the refrigerant compressor (12) under the vector control.
Generally, the aforementioned circuit board is often composed of one board of 200 mm×300 mm or so, and the switching power source is composed of a non-insulated circuit. However, the board space is an ineffective volume for the refrigerator, so that it is considered to divide it into two parts and to improve the space efficiency. However, in a case that the circuit boards are divided simply into a high-voltage side board composed of large-scale parts and a low-voltage side board densely mountable, when in the switching power circuit formed on the high-voltage side board with the non-insulated type kept, the control winding of the switching power source circuit and the motor control power source are shared so as to reduce the number of turns, the motor control ground and the ground of the inverter switch unit in the low-voltage side board cannot be connected.
Therefore, a problem arose that the current detection accuracy was lowered and the operation performance and anti-noise performance were reduced. However, by use of the above constitution, even when the rectifier circuit (25) and the switching power circuit (26) which are high-voltage side circuits and the inverter switch unit (27) and the motor control unit (28) which are low-voltage circuits are divided into the two boards (21 a) and (21 b), in the high-voltage side board (21 a) with the lower height, the switching transformer is composed of insulated type, and the ground of the rectifier circuit (25) and the ground (26 b) of the motor control winding of the switching power source unit (26) are not connected, and in the low-voltage side board (21 b) with the higher height, the ground of the inverter switch unit (27) and the ground of the motor control unit (28) are connected. As a result, the anti-external noise performance is increased, and the detection accuracy of the current for driving the inverter can be reserved, thus the motor can be driven stably.
The control and power source boards (21 a) and (21 b) divided into 2 parts as described above are positioned in a container (29) in a truncated pyramid shape shown in FIG. 7 by guide projections. The board (21 a) with the lower height composed of high voltage and comparatively large-scale parts such as the power source circuit is arranged on the innermost side viewed from the rear, in the space of the machine room (14), and the board (21 b) with the higher height mounted low voltage and densely mountable circuit parts such as a microcomputer peripheral circuit is stacked on the outside of the board (21 a) with the lower height. And the opening of the rear of the container (29) is closed by a cover body (30) to prevent foreign substances from entering.
At this time, the bottom of the high-voltage side board (21 a) with the lower height, as shown in FIG. 8, is installed at the position higher by a length h than the bottom of the board (21 b) with the higher height. Thus, even if water and foreign substances enter the installation position of the board for an unexpected reason and are accumulated on the bottom of the container (29), the effect on the control board stays on a level that the accumulated foreign substances firstly reach the low-voltage side circuit board 21 b installed on the lower side and the board (21 b) firstly enters an unfunctional state, and the accumulated foreign substances do not reach the high-voltage side board (21 a) arranged at a higher position, thus the possibility of reaching a failure impairing the safety such as ignition can be reduced.
Further, from the design of layout of the circuit, a high-voltage circuit may be arranged on the low-voltage circuit side board (21 b). However, at that time, when the high-voltage circuit is arranged on the upper side of the low-voltage circuit, the same effect as the aforementioned can be produced.
Further, since the high-voltage side board (21 a) is arranged on the inner side of the machine room (14) than the low-voltage side board (21 b), the high-voltage side board (21 a) is covered by the rear of the board (21 b) with the higher height, thus even when a user touches carelessly the control board, the possibility of touching the high-voltage circuit is reduced, and a safe constitution can be obtained. In addition, since a difference is provided in the height between the boards (21 a) and (21 b) and they are stacked back and forth, there are advantages that an inclined surface can be formed on the top of the machine room 14 and an effective storage space can be formed inside the refrigerator via a heat insulating wall.
From the aforementioned, in the space of the machine room (14) having a lower ceiling, the control and power source boards (21) can be mounted compactly and the heat insulating wall thickness on the rear of the freezing chamber (7) can be reserved.
In the heat radiation duct (17) formed between the inside of the control and power source boards (21) and the step part (16) of the rear of the freezing chamber, furthermore, an inductor (22) which is an electrical part for improvement of the power factor and a heating element is installed so as to promote the heat radiation by the air flowing in the duct (17).
Under the heat radiation duct (17), an evaporating dish (23) for receiving and evaporating defrosted water from the cooler (9) is installed. The evaporating dish (23) requires a storage capacity assuming a maximum defrosted water amount, so that overall the bottom of the heat radiation duct (17) is used, and the end thereof exceeds the lower part of the partition board (18) in the width direction, is extended to the neighborhood of the refrigerant compressor (12) so as to enlarge the volume, and a part of the discharge pipe from the compressor (12) extends into the dish to immerse it in water, and promotes the evaporation of defrosted water by the high temperature refrigerant.
Therefore, the lower end of the partition board (18) to which the cooling fan (19) is attached is bent horizontally and is fixed to the compressor base (15), and under the bent part, the evaporating dish (23) is positioned.
From the aforementioned, the air which is sucked from the lower opening on the front of the refrigerator body (1) passes and exchanges heat with almost overall the flat-shaped condenser (13) and reaches the heat radiation duct (17) from the air flow-in port (20) flows and cools around the refrigerant compressor (12) by the cooling fan (19). Here, the heat-exchanged air flows from the upstream side to the downstream side of the fan (19) over the evaporating dish (23) in the heat radiation duct (17), so that defrosted water from the opening of the top of the evaporating dish (23) can be evaporated more efficiently.
In the constitution of the machine room, the cooler (9) for freezing is arranged inside the refrigerator via the heat insulating wall (3 a) above the refrigerant compressor (12) arranged on one side of the machine room (14) and at the position on the opposite side of the compressor (12) in the width direction, and is kept at a distance from the refrigerant compressor (12) which becomes particularly high in temperature among the parts stored in the machine room. Thus the heat effect thereof is reduced and the thermal loss for cooling is reduced.
Further, the cooler (8) for cold storage is installed on the rear of the cold storage chamber (5) above the cooler (9) for freezing. Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 9, the control and power source board (51) was arranged on the outer wall surface opposite to the cooler (51) for cold storage. But, in this embodiment, as mentioned above, the control and power source boards (21) are arranged inside the machine room (14), so that the cooler (8) for cold storage, similarly to the cooler (9) for freezing, is not affected by the reduction in the heat insulating thickness due to the existence of the control and power source boards (21).
By use of the above constitution, when the refrigerator is operated, the refrigerant compressor (12) sends a refrigerant to the refrigerating cycle, and by the coolers (8) and (9) for cold storage and for freezing and arranged so as to be effectively separated free of thermal effects from the heating members such as the refrigerant compressor (12), the control and power source boards (21), and the inductor (22), each storage member is cooled.
Further, as for the condenser (13) receiving a gas refrigerant at a high temperature from the refrigerant compressor (12), as the refrigerant compressor (12) is installed offset, via the wide air flow-in port (20) formed between the partition board (18) for the cooling fan (19) arranged in the neighborhood of the compressor and the wall (1 a) on the main body side, the heat exchange area of the fresh air flowing in from the opening (1 b) of the front of the main body for the flat surface of the condenser (13) can be made larger, and the heat radiation efficiency can be improved.
And, in the machine room (14), by the refrigerant compressor (12) installed offset to one side and the partition board (18) of the cooling fan, the space of the heat radiation duct (17) can be made larger, and by the control and power source boards (21) installed compactly on the rear, an effective heat radiation duct path can be formed.
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-301550, filed on Aug. 26, 2003 and the prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 2003-3330754, filed on Sep. 22, 2003; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be used for a refrigerator in which the parts are arranging compactly in the machine room by improving the heat exchange efficiency, heat radiation efficiency, and heat insulation efficiency contributes to the power conservation.

Claims

1. A refrigerator, comprising:

a machine room formed on a lower part of a rear of a main body of said refrigerator;

a refrigerant compressor installed offset to one side in said machine room in a width direction; and

a cooler for receiving a refrigerant from said refrigerant compressor and cooling an inside of a storage chamber;

wherein said cooler is arranged inside said refrigerant refrigerator via a heat insulating wall of said main body above said refrigerant compressor arranged on one side of said machine room and at a position on an opposite side of said compressor in a width direction;

control and power source boards of said refrigerator are arranged in another wide space of said refrigerant compressor in said machine room in a width direction, and

said control and power source boards are divided and stacked into two back and forth stages.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein:

another wide space of said refrigerant compressor installed offset is a heat radiation duct from a flat-shaped condenser installed on a bottom of said main body; and

an intra-duct fan is installed in the neighborhood of said refrigerant compressor of said heat radiation duct.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein:

an opening width on an opposite side of said refrigerant compressor from a partition board for partitioning said machine room equipped with said fan in a width direction is an air flow-in port from said condenser.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said control and power source boards and/or an electrical part which are heating elements are installed in a heat exchange relationship to air flowing said heat radiation duct.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein:

among said control and power source boards divided and stacked into two back and forth stages, one is a high-voltage circuit board and the other is a low-voltage circuit board; and

said high-voltage circuit board is arranged at an inner side of said machine room.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein:

a position of a bottom of said high-voltage circuit board is higher than a position of a bottom of said low-voltage circuit board.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein:

in said high-voltage side board, a switching transformer is of insulated type and a ground of a rectifier circuit and a ground of a motor control winding of a switching power unit are not connected; and

in said low-voltage side board, a ground of an inverter switch unit and a ground of a motor control unit are connected.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 5 or 6, wherein:

among said control and power source boards divided and stacked into two back and forth stages so as to make said divided parts different in vertical height, said board with a higher height is arranged along an upward inclined part to an outside of a heat insulating wall in the neighborhood of an opening of a rear of said machine room, and said board with a lower height is arranged at an inner side of said machine room.

9. The refrigerator according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein:

an evaporating dish is loaded in said heat radiation duct unit installed on an opposite side of said refrigerant compressor installed offset to one side in a width direction of a compressor base attached to a bottom of said machine room.