JPH0330070B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a refrigerator in which air cooled by a main cooler provided in a cooling chamber is circulated by a blower to a freezing chamber and a refrigerator chamber, which are formed independently.

(b) Conventional technology Conventionally, this type of quick-freezing refrigerator was developed by Jikosho, for example.
This is shown in Publication No. 55-33185 and Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 55-144964. All of the refrigerators shown here are
If the refrigerator is a so-called direct cooling type refrigerator that has a cooler in the freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment, and rapid cooling of the freezer compartment is required, the refrigerant supply to the refrigerator compartment cooler is stopped and only the freezer compartment cooler is used. This is a configuration that attempts to achieve rapid cooling of the freezer compartment by flowing refrigerant through it.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention According to this configuration, the items in the freezer compartment are rapidly cooled by direct cooling from the freezer compartment cooler, but in such a direct cooling refrigerator, the items are exposed indoors. Frost will grow on the cooler and will need to be scraped off periodically.

On the other hand, with so-called indirect cooling refrigerators in which air cooled by a cooler installed in the cooling chamber is circulated between the freezer and refrigerator compartments using a blower, there is no risk of frost forming inside the storage compartment, but Since it is a cooling method, it has the disadvantage that it lacks rapid cooling ability compared to direct cooling.

The present invention has been made to solve this problem.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a refrigerator in which air cooled by a main cooler provided in a cooling chamber is circulated to a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment, respectively, using a blower. A quick-freezing chamber is partitioned in communication with the freezing chamber, and an auxiliary cooler for cooling the quick-freezing chamber is provided at a position through which the cold air passes before passing through the freezing chamber, and a refrigerant is supplied to the main cooler and the auxiliary cooler. Prepare a flow path control device that controls whether the flow is carried out or to one of the coolers,
A temperature sensing section is provided in the rapid cooling chamber to sense the temperature of the stored articles, and the temperature detection device controls the flow path control device so that the refrigerant always flows only through the main cooler. The refrigerant is caused to flow into the auxiliary cooler when the temperature sensing section detects a predetermined high temperature.

(E) Effect According to the present invention, the quick freezing room can be used in the same way as a freezing room under normal cooling conditions, and when food etc. are stored and the temperature sensor detects a predetermined high temperature, the refrigerant is transferred to the auxiliary cooler. By using the main cooler and auxiliary cooler, the inside of the deep freezing chamber can be kept at a particularly low temperature. Once the temperature of the food, etc. drops, it will continue to be cooled by the normal main cooler. In addition, frost on the auxiliary cooler is removed by sublimation during normal cooling operation, but since dry cold air flows through the auxiliary cooler before passing through the freezer compartment, frost on the auxiliary cooler during quick freezing can be removed. becomes less.

(F) Example Next, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 and 2. Reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator body, and the inside of the refrigerator 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 slightly higher than the freezing point. Reference numeral 5 denotes an insulating bottom wall of the freezer compartment 3, which is provided above the partition wall 2 with a distance between the partition wall 2 and the bottom wall 5.
A main cooler 7 is disposed within a cooling chamber 6 formed between. 8 is an electric blower that circulates the air cooled by the main cooler 7 between the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerator compartment 4. Cold air is directly sent to the freezer compartment 3 from the front of the fan 8, and the duct 9 is still connected to the refrigerator compartment 4. The cold air that has descended through the tube is sent out 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 port. 11 is an electric compressor, 12 is a condenser,
13 is an auxiliary cooler provided to reduce the temperature of the deep freezing chamber in a short time, which will be described later; 14 is a refrigerant flow path control device represented by a three-way valve, which is housed in the heat insulating material of the main body 1; 16 is a capillary tube, which constitutes a refrigeration cycle in which a refrigerant circulates. The refrigerant flow control device 14 may be a so-called three-way solenoid valve having one inlet and two outlets, so that the refrigerant flowing from one input boat flows to one of the two output boats. It may be a known pure fluid element that is switched by a control input of a control boat. Reference numeral 18 denotes a quick-freezing room partitioned into the freezer room 3, which has an inlet 19 into which a portion of the cold air from the duct 9 passes through which the cold air sent out from the electric blower 8 flows, and has a side wall and a front wall (door). has cold air vent 2
0 is set. The auxiliary cooler 13 has a structure in which refrigerant pipes are arranged to intersect with a large number of plate fins, and is installed at the back of the quick freezing chamber 18 so that cold air from the cold air inlet 19 passes between the plate fins. A guard 21 is provided in front of the auxiliary cooler 13 through which cool air can pass. 23
is a temperature detection device equipped with a temperature sensing part 22 installed at a position affected by the temperature of articles stored in the quick freezing chamber 18, and the temperature sensing part 22 detects a predetermined lower limit temperature T _L , that is, the normal cooling operation state. When a temperature within the temperature range or slightly higher than this temperature range is detected, the refrigerant condensed in the condenser 12 flows through the flow path to the main cooler 7 through the capillary tube 16. When the control device 14 is operated to control flow path switching and the temperature sensor 22 is sensing a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined upper limit temperature T _H which is sufficiently higher than the temperature range in normal cooling operation, the condensed refrigerant is The refrigerant flow path control device 14 is operated so that the refrigerant flows through the capillary tube 15, the auxiliary cooler 13, and the main cooler 7 in this order. The operation of the electric compressor 11 and the blower 8 is turned on and off by a thermostat that responds to either the temperature inside the freezer compartment 3, the temperature of the cold air circulating to be discharged to the freezer compartment 3, or the temperature of the main cooler 7. controlled.

With this configuration, if you want to freeze water in an ice cube tray filled with fresh water in a short time, or if you want to freeze bought or cooked food in a short time, you can freeze these foods or ice cube trays in a short time. When these foods and ice cube trays are stored in the quick freezing chamber 18 so that the temperature of these foods and ice cube trays can be detected by the temperature sensor 22, the air cooled by the main cooler 7 because no refrigerant has flowed to the auxiliary cooler 13 until then is stored. However, due to the rise in temperature of the temperature sensing section 22, the temperature detection device 23 cools the inside of the freezing chamber 3 and the quick freezing chamber 18.
4 is activated, the refrigerant is transferred to the electric compressor 11, condenser 12, capillary tube 15, and auxiliary cooler 1.
3. The cold air flowing through the main cooler 7 and the refrigerant reservoir 19 in this order cools the auxiliary cooler 13, and the cold air flowing through the duct 9 passes through the auxiliary cooler 13 and cools the inside of the quick freezing chamber 18 to a sufficiently low temperature. The air in the quick-freezing compartment 18 once flows into the freezing compartment 3 through the cold air outlet 20 and then flows into the cooler 7. Therefore, when food or ice cube trays are stored in the quick-freezing compartment 3 as described above, the air inside the freezing compartment 3 is Since the temperature also rises, the operation time of the electric compressor 11 by the thermostat becomes correspondingly longer, and quick ice making or quick freezing in the quick freezing chamber 18 becomes automatically possible. As rapid freezing progresses, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 22 falls to a predetermined temperature T _L , that is, the temperature range of the normal cooling operation state or a temperature slightly higher than this temperature range, the temperature detection device 23
controls the refrigerant flow control device 14 so that the refrigerant is supplied to the electric compressor 11, condenser 12, flow path control device 14, capillary tube 16, main cooler 7 and refrigerant reservoir 1.
9 and bypasses the auxiliary cooler 13. This state is a normal cooling operation state.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and the difference from FIG. 2 is that the capillary tube 15 has a flow resistance larger than that of the capillary tube 16, and an electromagnetic flow path control device is used. The valve 14 is controlled by the temperature detection device 23 so as to be open when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 22 is a predetermined temperature T _L and closed when the temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature _TH . Therefore, as mentioned above, in normal cooling operation state, solenoid valve 1
4 is open and capillary tubes 15, 16
Due to the resistance, the refrigerant bypasses the auxiliary cooler 13 and flows, and in the case of rapid freezing, the solenoid valve 14 is closed and the refrigerant sequentially flows from the auxiliary cooler 13 to the main cooler 7.

FIG. 4 shows yet another embodiment, in which the resistance of the capillary tube 16' is greater than the resistance of the capillary tube 15', and in normal cooling operation, the solenoid valve 14' is closed and the refrigerant is auxiliary. Cooler 1
In the rapid freezing state, the solenoid valve 14' is opened and the refrigerant flows from the auxiliary cooler 13 to the main cooler 7.

The auxiliary cooler 13 may be one in which a refrigerant pipe is disposed on the back side of a metal plate such as an aluminum plate, or it may be one in which a refrigerant passage is formed between two metal plates. In either case, the metal plates may be arranged in parallel or ventilation holes may be formed in the metal plates to improve heat exchange. The main cooler is a fin cross pipe type in which refrigerant pipes pass through a large number of plate fins, but the presence of the auxiliary cooler allows for miniaturization.

In the above embodiment, the temperature-sensing section 22 is provided at the bottom of the quick-freezing chamber 18 to directly sense the temperature of the articles stored in the quick-freezing chamber 18, but the structure is not limited to this. For example, an article mounting plate made of a thermally conductive plate made of aluminum or the like with a temperature-sensing section 22 attached to the back side may be provided as long as the structure can substantially sense the temperature of the articles stored in the quick freezing chamber 18. Alternatively, the structure may have a large contact area with the stored items. In addition, the temperature sensing part 22 is attached to the stored items.
It is also possible to sense the temperature by attaching it freely. In addition, the quick-freezing compartment 18 has a hole 20 in its wall that communicates with the freezing compartment, so air cooled by the main cooler flows into the quick-freezing compartment 18 from the back, but after this air has once flowed through the freezing compartment 3, , auxiliary cooler 13
It may be configured as a passageway through which the liquid flows into the quick freezing chamber 18.

(G) Effects of the Invention As described above, the quick freezing compartment formed in the freezer compartment is maintained at the same temperature as the freezing compartment under normal cooling conditions, so it can be used for preserving frozen foods. When ice cube trays and food are stored in the freezer compartment, the temperature of the temperature-sensing part rises, causing refrigerant to flow to the auxiliary cooler and main cooler for the quick-freezing compartment, making the quick-freezing compartment particularly cold. Can be done.

Therefore, short-time ice making in an ice tray or short-time freezing of food can be automatically achieved, and when the temperature of the temperature sensing part drops, the flow of refrigerant to the auxiliary cooler is stopped and the main cooler is The ice tray and food can be kept frozen continuously in the quick freezing chamber.

In addition, when the main cooler is defrosted, the temperature in the freezer compartment as well as the quick freezing compartment will rise.
When the defrosting operation is finished, if the temperature of the temperature sensing part rises above a predetermined temperature, the above-mentioned quick freezing is executed.
The temperature of the items in the deep freezing chamber can be lowered.

Furthermore, when the quick freezing operation is finished, the refrigerant does not flow into the auxiliary cooler and the frost in the auxiliary cooler is sublimated by the circulating cold air, so sublimation defrosting can be achieved, and when the quick freezing operation is performed again, the cooling by the auxiliary cooler is This can be done well.

In particular, since dry cold air flows through the auxiliary cooler before it is released into the freezer compartment, there is less frost on the auxiliary cooler when refrigerant is flowing through the auxiliary cooler, and the rapid freezing effect is smoother. will be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Each figure shows an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a longitudinal side view showing the outline of the internal structure of the refrigerator, FIG. 2 is a refrigerant circuit diagram, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are refrigerant circuits of other embodiments. It is a diagram. 3...Freezing room, 4...Refrigerating room, 7...Main cooler, 13...Auxiliary cooler, 14...Refrigerant flow path control device, 18...Quick freezing room, 22...Temperature sensing section, 2
3...Temperature detection device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a refrigerator in which air cooled by a main cooler provided in a cooling chamber is circulated by a blower to a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment, a quick freezing compartment is formed in the freezer compartment and is divided into sections in communication with the freezing compartment, and an auxiliary cooler provided at a position through which cold air passes before passing through the deep freezing chamber, and a auxiliary cooler for cooling the quick freezing chamber; and a control system for determining whether the refrigerant is to flow to both the main cooler and the auxiliary cooler or to one of the main coolers. A flow path control device for controlling a flow path, a temperature sensing section provided to sense the temperature of the articles stored in the quick freezing chamber, and a temperature sensing section that normally flows refrigerant only to the main cooler until the temperature reaches a predetermined high temperature. 1. A quick-freezing refrigerator comprising: a temperature detection device that controls the flow path control device to flow refrigerant to the auxiliary cooler based on the detection of the temperature.