JPS6050267B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a refrigerator that circulates cold air from a cooler room to each room using a fan, and in particular includes a cold room that is low enough to make ice, and a large and small refrigerator that is thermally independent from the cold room. It is characterized in that it has two storage compartments, and the storage compartment with a small capacity can be switched to a freezing compartment or a refrigerator compartment using a switching means that controls the amount of cold air from the low-temperature compartment.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the inside of the refrigerator. A thermally independent cold room 2 whose periphery is partitioned by a heat insulating wall; a first storage room 3 adjacent to the cold room 2 and partitioned by a heat insulating wall; the cold room 2, the first storage room 3; A second storage chamber 4 partitioned by a heat insulating wall is provided below.

The first storage chamber 3 and the second storage chamber 4 are thermally independent from each other by a heat insulating wall, and the first storage chamber 3 has a smaller capacity than the second storage chamber 4. There is. As shown in FIG. 2, the cold air circulation path to the low temperature room 2 and the first and second storage rooms 3 and 4 is the entire cold air from the cooler room 5 equipped with a cooler and a blower fan. The cold room 2 forms a ventilation passage 6 that leads the air to the cold room 2, and the cold room 2 has a return passage 7 that communicates with the cooler chamber 5, a communication passage 8 that communicates with another first storage chamber 3 independent of the An independent communication path 9 separate from the communication path 8 communicating with the second storage chamber 4 is formed.

The first storage chamber 3 forms a cold air return path 10 communicating with the cooler chamber 5, and also has a damper 11 (switching means) for opening and closing the communication path 8 from the cold room 2 to the storage chamber 3. The room 3
It is provided in conjunction with a temperature control means that detects and controls the temperature of the air. On the other hand, the second storage chamber 4 forms a cold air return path 12 that communicates with the cooler chamber 5, and also has a damper 13 (switching means) that opens and closes the communication path 9 from the cold room 2 to the storage chamber 4.
is provided in conjunction with a temperature control means that detects and controls the temperature of the chamber 4. When this refrigerator is in normal use, the first storage compartment 3 is used as a freezing compartment, and the second storage compartment 4 is used as a refrigerating compartment with temperature control means set.

In this case, in the cold air circulation from the cooler chamber 5, the entire cold air is sent into the cold room 2 from the ventilation passage 6, and the inside of the cold room 2 is brought to an extremely low temperature to make ice there in a short time. . A part of the cold air in the cold room 2 returns to the cooler room 5 from the return path 7, but most of it passes through the communication paths 8 and 9 to the freezing room 3 and the refrigerator room 4.
It will be sent to

However, since the set temperature of the refrigerator compartment 4 is high, the time during which the damper 13 closes the communication passage 9 by the temperature adjustment means is longer than that of the damper 11 on the other freezer compartment 3 side, and the cold room 4 Most of the cold air is sent to the freezer compartment 3 and maintained at a temperature corresponding to each compartment 3, 4. In addition, depending on the situation of the stored food, for example, when no frozen food is stored, the temperature control means of the first storage chamber 3 may be set to a high temperature, that is, set to a temperature similar to that of a refrigerator. Both the storage room 4 and the second storage room 4 can be widely used as a refrigerating room, and the entire cold air is sent from the cooler room 5 to the low temperature room 2, where it is maintained at an extremely low temperature and ice can be made in a short time. .

The first storage chamber 3 and the second storage chamber 4 are set to a high temperature, and the longer the communication passages 8 and 9 take to close, the faster the time for the inside of the cold room 2 to reach the predetermined temperature is increased. In addition to being able to effectively utilize the storage chambers 3 and 4, the operating time of the compressor is shortened and power consumption is also reduced, resulting in significant power savings.

On the other hand, contrary to the above, the second storage chamber 4 is set to a low temperature,
The two storage compartments 3 and 4 can also be used as freezing compartments. As described above, the present invention provides a refrigerator in which cold air from the cooler is circulated to each room by a fan, including a cold room with a temperature sufficiently low to perform ice making 3, and an adjacent cold room that is connected to the cold room. The storage chambers are equipped with two large and small independent storage chambers, and these two large and small storage chambers are connected to the cold room through independent communication paths, and the communication path leading to the small capacity storage chamber is connected to the cold room. Since the device is characterized by being equipped with a switching means for controlling the amount of cold air and switching the small capacity storage compartment to a freezing room or a refrigerator compartment, by operating the switching means as necessary, the small capacity storage It is very convenient that the storage room can be used as a freezer/room or a refrigerator room, and of the two large and small storage rooms, it is the smaller capacity storage room that can be switched to the freezer or refrigerator room. This makes it easy to control the temperature even when used as a freezing room, and since the cold room and each storage room are located adjacent to each other, it is only necessary to make a hole in the insulation wall, eliminating the need for a long duct configuration. This can have the remarkable effect of preventing

Incidentally, if it is possible to switch a large-capacity storage compartment into a freezing compartment or a refrigerator compartment, the operation time of the refrigeration cycle will be correspondingly longer in order to reach the target temperature of the freezing compartment.
This method has disadvantages in that the cold room is supercooled more than necessary, and the refrigeration capacity must be increased, which is extremely uneconomical and costly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the inside of the refrigerator of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing the cold air circulation of the refrigerator. 1: Refrigerator body, 2: Cold room, 3: First storage room, 4:
Second storage chamber, 5: Cooler chamber, 8, 9: Communication path, 11:
Switching means (damper).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a refrigerator that uses a fan to circulate cold air from the cooler to each room, there is a cold room that is sufficiently low to make ice, and two large and small storage spaces adjacent to the cold room that are thermally independent from the cold room. The two large and small storage chambers are connected to the low temperature chamber through independent communication passages, and the amount of cold air from the low temperature chamber is controlled to be supplied to the communication passage leading to the small capacity storage chamber. A refrigerator characterized by being equipped with a switching means for switching a small capacity storage compartment to a freezing compartment or a refrigerator compartment.