JPH0330069B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (a) Industrial application field The present invention provides a method for promoting freezing when air cooled by a main cooler provided in a cooler room of a refrigerator or the like is circulated inside the refrigerator using a blower. Regarding.

(b) Conventional technology Conventionally, for example, in refrigerators,
As shown in Publication No. 26358, an indirect cooling type cooler and a blower are provided to circulate cold air inside the refrigerator, and the walls of the freezer compartment are constructed with a so-called direct cooling type cooler.
Normally, the freezer compartment and refrigerator compartment are cooled by cold air from an indirect cooling type cooler and direct cooling from a direct cooling type cooler.If cooling of the refrigerator compartment is not required, the indirect cooling type cooler is used. The cooling action is substantially not performed, and the blower is stopped so that the freezer compartment is cooled only by direct cooling from the direct cooling type cooler.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention This configuration aims to improve the cooling capacity of the freezer compartment by omitting wasted cooling capacity when cooling the refrigerator compartment is not necessary. When the blower is stopped, heat exchange between the direct cooling type cooler and the air in the freezer room decreases, so the temperature of the cooler decreases.

However, with such a configuration, it is not possible to arbitrarily accelerate freezing even when it is desired to freeze water or food immediately. In addition, when the blower is stopped, the temperature of the direct cooling type cooler decreases, which promotes cooling of the food surface that is in contact with the cooler, but conversely the freezing of the food surface that is not in contact with the cooler slows down. This is especially noticeable when the contact surface is small and the height is high.

The present invention has been made with the aim of solving this problem.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention is a device in which air cooled by a main cooler provided in a cooler room is circulated into the refrigerator using a blower, and in which an auxiliary cooler provided in the refrigerator and a refrigerant are used. a refrigerant control device that controls whether the liquid flows to both the main cooler and the auxiliary cooler or to one of the main coolers; and a refrigerant control device that starts freezing promotion based on user operation and controls the freezing promotion state. and a device for controlling the temperature inside the refrigerator by controlling the operation of the blower and the refrigeration system, and in the normal cooling operation state, the refrigerant control device controls the refrigerant to the main cooler of one of the two coolers. In the refrigeration promotion state, the refrigerant control device controls the operation of the refrigeration system using the temperature control device, and rotates the blower at high speed to control the refrigeration promotion state. In addition to operating the cooling system so that the air flows to the cooler, the refrigeration system is operated with priority over the normal cooling operation control by the temperature control device, and the blower is rotated at a low speed.

(e) Effects According to the present invention, freezing of water and food can be accelerated as desired. In addition, in the accelerated freezing state, by rotating the blower at low speed, the temperature of the auxiliary cooler can be lowered, improving the direct cooling effect, and also ensuring indirect cooling by the main cooler, which promotes cooling of the entire food. It can be achieved.

(F) Embodiment Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 3. Reference numeral 1 denotes a freezer main body, and the interior thereof is divided by a partition wall 2 into a freezing compartment 3 kept at a freezing temperature and a refrigerating compartment 4 kept at a temperature higher than the freezing temperature. Reference numeral 5 denotes a bottom wall of the freezer compartment 3 which is provided above the partition wall 2 with a distance therebetween, and a main cooler 7 is installed in the cooler room 6 formed between the partition wall 2 and the bottom wall 5. There is. 8 transfers the air cooled by the main cooler 7 to the freezer compartment 3
An electric blower circulates air between the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerator compartment 4.
Cold air is directly sent out from the cold air discharge port in front of the blower 8, and cold air that has descended through the duct 9 is sent out to the refrigerator compartment 4 and circulated as shown by the arrow. 1
0 is the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 4 in the duct 9 depending on the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 4.
This is a thermal damper device that opens and closes the cold air discharge path to the 11 is an electric compressor, 12 is a condenser, 13
is an auxiliary cooler installed in such a way that articles are placed in the area where the cold air discharged into the freezer compartment 3 is easily passed, and the refrigerant passage is formed between two metal plates, or the refrigerant pipe is installed on the underside of the metal plate. It has a structure such as one with a . This auxiliary cooler 13 is for cooling the objects to be frozen by heat conduction, and a small chamber is formed in the freezing chamber 3 corresponding to the cold air discharge port, and the auxiliary cooler 13 is installed on the bottom surface of this small chamber where the objects are placed. 13 may be arranged to make this small chamber a freezing promotion chamber. In this case, the freezing promotion chamber is provided with a cold air circulation port so as to be in communication with other parts of the freezing compartment 3, so that the temperature is maintained at the same temperature as the other parts of the freezing compartment 3 during normal cooling operation, which will be described later. Make it. 14 is a refrigerant control device, and a typical example is a general electromagnetic valve, which operates to control whether the inflowing refrigerant flows into one or the other of two outlet paths. It is also possible to configure the system with a fluid control device that operates in the same way as the above. 15 and 16 are first and second capillary tubes, respectively. Reference numeral 17 denotes a freezing promotion control device, which performs a cooling promotion operation by switching from a normal cooling operation state to a freezing promotion state based on a predetermined operation by the user. When an ice tray filled with new water is placed on the auxiliary cooler 13, the auxiliary cooler 1
When the temperature sensor 18 detects that the temperature of No. 3 has exceeded a predetermined set upper limit temperature, a timer device is started, and the switches 19 and 20 are operated for a fixed period of time determined by the timer device. . 21 is a temperature control device that controls the temperature inside the freezing compartment 3 to maintain it within a predetermined temperature range, and detects the temperature inside the freezing compartment 3, the temperature of the cold air sent to the freezing compartment 3, or the temperature of the main cooler 7. Open and close contacts.

In such a configuration, during normal cooling operation, each contact of the switch 19 is open, and the solenoid valve 14 indicates that the refrigerant is in the electric compressor 11, condenser 12, first
Capillary tube 15, solenoid valve 14, second capillary tube 16, main cooler 7, and electric compressor 11
The switch 20 is connected to the contact point a.
The freezer compartment 3 is maintained at a predetermined temperature by controlling the operation of the electric compressor 11 and the electric blower 8 by opening and closing the temperature control device 21. The refrigerator compartment 4 is maintained at a predetermined temperature by opening and closing the thermal damper device 10.

Now, by placing an ice tray or food on the auxiliary cooler 13, the temperature of the auxiliary cooler 13 changes to the control device 1.
When the temperature exceeds the upper limit set by the temperature detection device included in the temperature detection device 7, the above-mentioned timer device starts, the contacts of the switch 19 close, and the electromagnetic valve 14 causes the refrigerant leaving the first capillary tube 15 to 2 Bypassing the capillary tube 16 and connecting the auxiliary cooler 1
3, the air flows through the main cooler 7, and the switch 20 switches to contact b, causing the electric blower 8 to rotate at a low speed (for example, half the rotation speed of the high speed rotation). In this state, a forced operation circuit 22 that bypasses the temperature control device 21 is formed, and the electric compressor 11 and the electric blower 8 are in continuous operation regardless of the operating state of the temperature control device 21. In this state, the ice tray and food on the auxiliary cooler 13 are not only cooled by the air cooled by the main cooler 7 but also directly cooled from the auxiliary cooler 13 through which the refrigerant flows before the main cooler 7. By doing so, so-called accelerated freezing can be achieved. The refrigerator compartment 4 has a thermal damper device 10
Controlled by

This accelerated cooling state continues for a certain period of time, such as 60 minutes, set in the timer device described above, and after this time, each contact of the switch 19 opens, and the switch 20 switches to contact a, returning to the normal cooling operation state. Become.

In the freezing promotion state, the electric blower 8 rotates at a low speed, so the amount of heat exchanged between the auxiliary cooler 13 and the main cooler 7 with the air inside the refrigerator decreases compared to when operating at high speed. More refrigerant accumulates in the cooler. As a result, the pressure on the suction side of the electric compressor decreases, so the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant decreases, and freezing can be promoted at a lower temperature than when the electric blower 8 is operated at high speed, making the freezing more effective. It is.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the refrigerant circuit of the present invention, in which the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2 indicate the same components. In this circuit, during normal cooling operation, the solenoid valve 14' is closed, and the refrigerant bypasses the auxiliary cooler 13 and passes through the second capillary tube 1.
6 to the main cooler 7. In the accelerated freezing state, the solenoid valve 14' is opened and the refrigerant exiting the first capillary tube 15 flows through the main cooler 7 through the solenoid valve 14' and the auxiliary cooler 13. In this case, there is no problem even if a small amount of refrigerant flows through the second capillary tube 16.

In addition, in FIG. 5, a solenoid valve 14' is provided in parallel to the series circuit of the second capillary tube 16' and the auxiliary cooler 13, so that during normal cooling operation, the refrigerant leaving the first capillary tube 15' is opened. The refrigerant may flow through the main cooler 7 through the solenoid valve 14' located in the main cooler 7, but substantially not flow into the auxiliary cooler 13 due to the resistance of the second capillary tube 16'. In this case, it is desirable that the refrigerant does not flow into the auxiliary cooler 13. In the accelerated freezing state, solenoid valve 1
4' is closed so that a sufficient amount of refrigerant can flow to the auxiliary cooler 13 as well.

Other configurations may be used as a method for controlling the freezing promotion period. One of them is the control device 17.
may be controlled so that when the temperature of the auxiliary cooler 13 exceeds the upper limit setting temperature, freezing promotion is started and when the temperature drops to the lower limit setting temperature, freezing promotion is ended, or a timer device that is manually started may be used. The timer device may be started to promote freezing during a preset period of time. Note that the positions of the blower 8 and the main cooler 7 may be changed as appropriate.

(G) Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention allows the acceleration of freezing of food and ice to be started at a desired time by the user's operation.
Improves usability. Particularly in accelerated refrigeration conditions, the temperature of the auxiliary cooler and main cooler decreases as the electric compressor rotates at low speed, so the direct cooling effect from the auxiliary cooler increases and the temperature of the main cooler also decreases. Since the temperature of the cold air also decreases, indirect cooling effects are also ensured. As a result, the food, etc. on the auxiliary cooler is directly and strongly cooled from the surface that is in contact with the auxiliary cooler, and the surface that is not in contact with the auxiliary cooler is cooled by the cold air from the blower. Therefore, it is possible to perform better freezing promotion as a whole.

The present invention is not limited to refrigerator-freezers, but can have similar effects even when applied to freezers having only a freezing compartment.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Each figure shows an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a refrigerator-freezer, FIG. 2 is a refrigerant circuit diagram,
FIG. 3 shows an electric circuit diagram, and FIGS. 4 and 5 show other embodiments of refrigerant circuit diagrams. 3...Freezing room, 7...Main cooler, 8...Electric blower, 11...Electric compressor, 13...Auxiliary cooler, 14...Refrigerant control device, 17...Freezing promotion control device, 21... ...Temperature control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a device in which air cooled by a main cooler installed in a cooler room is circulated into the refrigerator using a blower, an auxiliary cooler installed in the refrigerator and a refrigerant flowing through both the main cooler and the auxiliary cooler a refrigerant control device that controls whether the refrigerant flows to one of the main coolers or to one of the main coolers;
A device that starts freezing promotion based on a predetermined operation by a user and controls the freezing promotion state, and a device that controls the temperature inside the refrigerator by controlling the operation of the blower and the refrigeration system, and normally In the cooling operation state, the refrigerant control device maintains a state in which the refrigerant flows to one of the main coolers, controls the operation of the refrigeration system by the temperature control device, and controls the blower. In the accelerated freezing state by the device that rotates at high speed and controls the accelerated freezing state, the refrigerant control device operates so that the refrigerant flows to both the coolers, and takes priority over normal cooling operation control by the temperature control device. 1. A method for promoting refrigeration, comprising operating a refrigeration system using a refrigeration system, and rotating the blower at a low speed.