JP6696243B2 - Cooling system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling device.

  Conventionally, as a cooling device applied to, for example, an automatic vending machine, an evaporator, a compressor, a radiator, and an expansion mechanism are sequentially connected by a refrigerant pipe line. The evaporator is provided so that heat can be exchanged with a predetermined cooling target portion in the main body of the vending machine, which is a housing. The compressor sucks and compresses the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator. The radiator dissipates heat by exchanging heat between the refrigerant compressed by the compressor and the ambient air. The expansion mechanism adiabatically expands the refrigerant radiated by the radiator and sends it to the evaporator.

  In such a cooling device, the refrigerant compressed by the compressor is circulated through the radiator, the expansion mechanism, and the evaporator in this order, so that the evaporator evaporates the refrigerant to cool the cooling target portion.

  In the cooling device, a radiator is provided in the vicinity of the outside air suction port formed on the front surface of the vending machine body, and by driving the blower fan, the outside air sucked through the outside air suction port passes through the radiator. Thus, the cooling efficiency is improved by improving the heat radiation efficiency of the radiator (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2012-178100 A

  By the way, in a cup-type vending machine, a beverage dispenser, etc. that prepares and supplies a selected beverage to a beverage container such as a cup by cooking it inside the main body of the vending machine, it is a customer service side from the consideration of the installation environment. It is common that a suction port cannot be provided on the front surface of the vending machine body, the suction port is provided on the bottom portion of the vending machine body, and the air outlet is provided on the back surface of the vending machine body.

  In the cooling device applied to such a cup type vending machine, it is required that the compressor is arranged at a position separated from the front and rear surfaces of the vending machine main body and both left and right side surfaces from the viewpoint of safety and the like. As a result, the compressor is arranged in the upper region of the suction port, and the radiator is arranged in the vicinity of the air outlet. A blower fan is provided between the radiator and the air outlet.

  Therefore, in the above cooling device, the air blown into the inside of the vending machine main body by the blower fan passes around the compressor and then the radiator, and then is automatically sold from the outlet. It is blown outside the machine body. That is, in the above cooling device, the air sucked through the suction port is heated by passing around the compressor, and passes through the radiator in a heated state. As a result, the radiator may not sufficiently dissipate the heat of the refrigerant, which may lead to a reduction in cooling efficiency.

  In view of the above situation, an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device capable of improving the cooling efficiency by improving the heat radiation efficiency of the radiator.

  In order to achieve the above object, the cooling device according to the present invention includes a compressor that sucks and compresses the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator, and a radiator that radiates the refrigerant compressed by the compressor, In a cooling device for cooling a cooling target portion provided inside the housing by adiabatically expanding the refrigerant radiated by the radiator by an expansion mechanism and then supplying the same to the evaporator, when the housing is driven, the housing is cooled. A blower for sucking air into the inside of the casing through a suction port provided at the bottom of the casing and blowing the sucked air to the outside through an outlet provided on the back face of the casing; And a guide member for guiding the air in such a manner that at least a part of the air directly passes through the radiator.

  Further, in the cooling device of the present invention, the guide member guides the air in such a manner that at least a part of the air sucked from the suction port directly passes through a downstream side region of the refrigerant passage in the radiator. It is characterized by

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the cooling device, the blower unit is provided in a manner to face a downstream region of a refrigerant flow path in the radiator in the vicinity of the outlet.

  Further, the invention is characterized in that, in the above cooling device, it is provided in the vicinity of the suction port, and is provided with an auxiliary blower for sucking air guided by the guide member through the suction port when driven. ..

  Further, the present invention provides, in the above cooling device, a temperature detecting unit that detects an external temperature of the housing, and an air blowing unit when the external temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit is lower than a predetermined reference temperature. On the other hand, when the external temperature detected by the temperature detection unit is equal to or higher than the reference temperature, the control unit drives the blower unit and the auxiliary blower unit.

  According to the present invention, when the air blower is driven, air is sucked into the inside of the casing through the suction port provided at the bottom of the casing, and the sucked air is passed through the blowout port provided on the back surface of the casing. Since the guide member guides the air so that it can be blown out to the outside and at least a part of the air sucked from the suction port directly passes through the radiator, the radiator is heated by the compressor. Air that is not present can be blown, and heat exchange in the radiator can be improved. Therefore, it is possible to improve the cooling efficiency by improving the heat radiation efficiency of the radiator.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a cup type vending machine to which a cooling device according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram schematically showing an internal structure of a cup type vending machine to which the cooling device according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a main part of the cooling device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a main part of the cooling device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a characteristic control system of the cooling device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the air flow control processing performed by the control unit shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a cooling device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
1 and 2 each show a cup-type vending machine to which a cooling device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG. 1 is a front view, and FIG. 2 is a schematic internal structure. It is a schematic diagram shown in.

  The cup-type vending machine illustrated here includes a vending machine body 10 that is a rectangular parallelepiped housing having an open front surface, and a front door 12 that opens and closes a front opening 11 of the vending machine body 10. ..

  Such a cup-type vending machine is automatically operated by inserting money from a money insertion slot 13 provided in the front door 12 and pressing one of the product selection buttons 14 provided in the front door 12. The selected product is cooked inside the vending machine body 10, the prepared beverage is supplied to the cup which is the beverage container, and the beverage is provided in the cup from the product outlet 15 provided on the front door 12. is doing.

  In such a cup type vending machine, a cooling device 20 is provided inside the vending machine body 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the cooling device 20 is configured to include a refrigerant circuit 30, a blower fan (blowing means) 40, and a blower guide (guide member) 50.

  The refrigerant circuit 30 includes a compressor 31, a radiator 32, an expansion mechanism 33, and an evaporator 34, which are sequentially connected by a refrigerant pipe 35, and a refrigerant such as carbon dioxide is sealed inside.

  The compressor 31, when driven, sucks and compresses the refrigerant, and discharges the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant. The compressor 31 is arranged in the upper region of the suction port 16a formed in the bottom portion 16 of the vending machine body 10 so as to be supported by the support member 18 that is provided so as to straddle the suction port 16a.

  Although not explicitly shown in the figure, the radiator 32 has a flat refrigerant passage tube in which a plurality of refrigerant passages are arranged in parallel and extends in the left-right direction and extends in a meandering manner in the vertical direction. The corrugated fins are joined between the horizontally extending portions of the refrigerant passage pipe. In this radiator 32, the inlet of the refrigerant flow passage is provided above and the outlet of the refrigerant flow passage is provided below. That is, in the radiator 32, the upper part is the upstream side region 32a of the refrigerant flow path, and the lower part is the downstream side region 32b of the refrigerant flow path.

  The radiator 32 as described above exchanges heat between the refrigerant passing through the refrigerant flow path and the air passing around itself and radiates heat to the refrigerant. The radiator 32 is placed on the front side of the air outlet 17a formed on the rear surface 17 of the vending machine body 10 and on the rear side of the compressor 31 so as to extend in the vertical direction. Has been done. That is, the radiator 32 is provided near the outlet 17a.

  The expansion mechanism 33 is composed of an electronic expansion valve, a capillary tube, or the like, and adiabatically expands the refrigerant (cooling temperature and high pressure refrigerant) radiated by the radiator 32 into a low temperature and low pressure state.

  The evaporator 34 is provided in the cooling water tank 19 for cooling the water component forming the beverage inside the vending machine body 10. The evaporator 34 heat-exchanges the refrigerant kept in the low temperature and low pressure state by the expansion mechanism 33 with the cooling water stored in the cooling water tank 19 to evaporate the refrigerant and cool the cooling water. .. The refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 34 is sucked by the compressor 31 and compressed again, and thus the circulation of the compressor 31, the radiator 32, the expansion mechanism 33, and the evaporator 34 is repeated.

  The blower fan 40 is provided on the rear side of the radiator 32, that is, between the radiator 32 and the outlet 17a. The blower fan 40 is driven when a drive command is given from a control unit (not shown). When driven, the blower fan 40 allows the air sucked from the suction port 16a to pass around the radiator 32 and blows out. The air is blown from 17a to the outside. The blower fan 40 is provided so as to face the lower portion of the radiator 32, that is, the downstream region 32b of the refrigerant flow path.

  The blower guide 50 is formed by bending a steel plate or the like, for example, and has a base portion 51, an inclined rearward extension portion 52, and a rearward extension portion 53.

  The base portion 51 is a flat plate-shaped portion that extends along the up-down direction on the rear side of the compressor 31, and the lower end portion enters the suction port 16a. A part of the front surface of the base portion 51 is supported by the support member 18.

  The inclined rearward extension portion 52 is a flat plate-shaped portion which is continuous with the upper end edge portion of the base portion 51 and extends in a manner of gradually inclining rearward as going upward from the upper end edge portion.

  The rearward extending portion 53 is a flat plate-shaped portion that is continuous with the upper edge portion of the inclined rearward extending portion 52 and extends rearward from the upper edge portion, that is, extends in the vicinity of the radiator 32. ..

  In such a blower guide 50, the rear extension portion 53 is arranged such that the height level thereof is higher than the outlet of the refrigerant passage of the radiator 32. As shown by the arrow in FIG. 3, the blower guide 50 guides a part of the air sucked from the suction port 16a so that the air directly passes through the downstream region 32b of the refrigerant passage of the radiator 32. To do.

  In the cooling device 20 having the above configuration, when the blower fan 40 is driven, the outside air is sucked into the inside of the vending machine body 10 through the suction port 16a, and the sucked air is discharged from the blowout port 17a to the outside. The air guide 50 guides the air in such a manner that a part of the air sucked from the suction port 16a directly passes through the downstream region 32b of the refrigerant passage in the radiator 32. .. Thereby, the air not heated by the compressor 31 can be blown to the downstream side region 32b of the refrigerant passage of the radiator 32, and the heat exchange in the radiator 32 can be improved. Therefore, according to the cooling device 20 of the first embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to improve the cooling efficiency by improving the heat radiation efficiency of the radiator 32.

  In particular, since the blower guide 50 guides a part of the air sucked from the suction port 16a to the downstream side region 32b in the refrigerant passage of the radiator 32, it is possible to secure a sufficient heat exchange area in the radiator 32. Therefore, the heat dissipation efficiency of the radiator 32 can be improved.

  Further, according to the cooling device 20, the blower fan 40 is provided so as to face the downstream side region 32b of the refrigerant flow path of the radiator 32. Therefore, the blower fan 40 is driven to suck the suction fan 16a. Air can be concentratedly passed to the downstream side of the refrigerant passage of the radiator 32, which also ensures a sufficient heat exchange area in the radiator 32, and the heat radiation in the radiator 32 can be ensured. The efficiency can be improved.

<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a main part of a cooling device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 shows a characteristic control system of the cooling device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram shown. The same components as those of the cooling device 20 according to the first embodiment described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and the duplicate description will be omitted.

  The cooling device 21 illustrated here includes, in addition to the refrigerant circuit 30, the blower fan 40, and the blower guide 50, an auxiliary blower fan (auxiliary blower) 60, an external temperature sensor (detector) S1, and a controller 70. Is configured.

  The auxiliary blower fan 60 is provided in a region on the rear side of the suction port 16a, that is, a region on the rear side of the base portion 51 of the blower guide 50. The auxiliary blower fan 60 is driven when a drive command is given from the control unit 70. The blower fan 40 is also driven when a drive command is given from the control unit 70.

  The external temperature sensor S1 detects the external temperature of the vending machine body 10. When the external temperature is detected, the external temperature sensor S1 sends the detection result to the control unit 70.

  The control unit 70 centrally controls the operation of the cooling device 21 in accordance with the programs and data stored in the memory 80, and includes an input processing unit 71, a comparison determination unit 72, and an output processing unit 73. .. The control unit 70 may be implemented by a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program, that is, by software, or by hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit). Alternatively, it may be realized by using software and hardware together.

  The input processing unit 71 inputs the detection result (external temperature) sent from the external temperature sensor S1. The comparison / determination unit 72 reads the reference temperature information stored in the memory 80 from the memory 80, and compares and determines the reference temperature included in the reference temperature information with the external temperature input through the input processing unit 71. .. Here, the reference temperature information is stored in advance in the memory 80 and is information about a reference temperature (for example, about 20 ° C.) that is a threshold value of the blow control process described later. The output processing unit 73 individually sends a drive command or a drive stop command to each of the blower fan 40 and the auxiliary blower fan 60.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the air flow control processing performed by the control unit shown in FIG. The operation of the cooling device 21 will be described while explaining the processing contents of the air blowing control processing.

  In the blow control process, when the external temperature is input from the external temperature sensor S1 through the input processing unit 71 (step S101: Yes), the control unit 70 reads the reference temperature information from the memory 80 through the comparison and determination unit 72 (step S102).

  The control unit 70 that has read the reference temperature information compares and determines through the comparison and determination unit 72 whether or not the external temperature is lower than the reference temperature (step S103).

  When the external temperature is lower than the reference temperature (step S103: Yes), the control unit 70 sends a drive command to the blower fan 40 through the output processing unit 73 and sends a drive stop command to the auxiliary blower fan 60 ( Steps S104 and S105), and then the procedure is returned to end the processing of this time.

  According to this, the air can be sucked into the inside of the vending machine body 10 through the suction port 16a, and the sucked air can be blown out from the blowout port 17a, and the blower guide 50 is sucked in through the suction port 16a. Further, a part of the air is guided in such a manner that the air directly passes through the downstream region 32b of the refrigerant passage in the radiator 32. Thereby, the air not heated by the compressor 31 can be blown to the downstream side region 32b of the refrigerant passage of the radiator 32, and the heat exchange in the radiator 32 can be improved.

  On the other hand, when the external temperature is not lower than the reference temperature (step S103: Yes), that is, when the external temperature is equal to or higher than the reference temperature, the control unit 70 sends a drive command to the blower fan 40 through the output processing unit 73 and also assists. A drive command is sent to the blower fan 60 (steps S106 and S107), and then the procedure is returned to end this processing.

  According to this, when the outside temperature is higher than the reference temperature and the air outside the vending machine body 10 is relatively high, the blower fan 40 as well as the auxiliary blower fan 60 is driven to blow air. The amount of air blown by the guide 50 can be increased. Thereby, the amount of air blown through the radiator 32 is increased, and the heat exchange in the radiator 32 can be improved.

  As described above, according to the cooling device 21 of the second embodiment of the present invention, the heat exchange in the radiator 32 can be made favorable, so that the heat dissipation efficiency in the radiator 32 can be made excellent. As a result, the cooling efficiency can be improved.

  Further, according to the cooling device 21, the control unit 70 drives only the blower fan 40 when the detected external temperature is lower than the reference temperature, and when the detected external temperature is equal to or higher than the reference temperature. Since the blower fan 40 and the auxiliary blower fan 60 are driven, the amount of blown air to the radiator 32 can be adjusted according to the external temperature, and the heat exchange in the radiator 32 can be improved. Therefore, it is possible to improve the cooling efficiency by improving the heat radiation efficiency of the radiator 32.

  The preferred embodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications can be made.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the air guide 50 guides the air passing through a part of the suction port 16a so that the air directly passes through the radiator 32. However, in the present invention, the guide member is The air may be guided so that all the air passing through the suction port directly passes through the radiator.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the radiator 32 is placed near the air outlet 17a so as to extend in the up-down direction, but in the present invention, as the radiator rises upward. You may mount in the aspect which inclines to the front gradually.

  Although one blower fan 40 is provided in the above-described first and second embodiments, a plurality of blower fans may be provided in the present invention, and the number of blower fans to be driven according to the external temperature may be changed. You may make it increase / decrease.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the evaporator 34 is provided in the cooling water tank 19, but in the present invention, the evaporator may be provided not only in the cooling water tank but also in, for example, an ice making machine. ..

10 Vending Machine Main Body 16 Bottom 16a Suction Port 17 Back 17a Air Outlet 19 Cooling Water Tank 20 Cooling Device 21 Cooling Device 30 Refrigerant Circuit 31 Compressor 32 Radiator 33 Expansion Mechanism 34 Evaporator 40 Blower Fan (Blower)
50 Blower guide (guide member)
51 Base 52 Inclined Rear Extension 53 Rear Extension 60 Auxiliary Blower Fan (Auxiliary Blower Means)
70 control part 71 input processing part 72 comparison judgment part 73 output processing part 80 memory S1 external temperature sensor (detection means)

Claims (4)

A compressor that sucks and compresses the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator,
A radiator for radiating the refrigerant compressed by the compressor,
In a cooling device for cooling a cooling target portion provided inside the housing by adiabatically expanding the refrigerant radiated by the radiator by an expansion mechanism and then supplying the same to the evaporator,
When driven, a blowing unit that sucks air into the inside of the casing through a suction port provided at the bottom of the casing and blows the sucked air to the outside through an outlet provided on the back surface of the casing. When,
The one air sucked from the suction port is guided in such a manner that it passes around the compressor and then passes around the upstream region of the refrigerant passage in the radiator, and is sucked from the suction port. And a guide member for guiding the other air in a mode of directly passing around the downstream side region of the refrigerant flow path in the radiator . The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the blower unit is provided in the vicinity of the blowout port so as to face a downstream side region of the refrigerant passage in the radiator. Wherein provided in the vicinity of the suction port, and according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that an auxiliary blower means for drawing air which is guided by the guide member through the suction port when driving Cooling system. Temperature detection means for detecting the external temperature of the housing,
When the external temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit is lower than a predetermined reference temperature, the air blowing unit is driven, while when the external temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit is equal to or higher than the reference temperature, The cooling device according to claim 3 , further comprising: a blowing unit and a control unit that drives the auxiliary blowing unit.

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