JPH0440145Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Technical Field> The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and particularly relates to temperature control of a refrigerator compartment.

<Prior Art> Recent electric refrigerators are required not only to have a cold storage function, but also to be able to store fresh food in a lower temperature range (for example, freezing temperature range). However, in the forced cold air circulation method, the temperature inside the refrigerator is controlled by the amount of cold air and the amount of circulating air, but since the storage temperature range is close to 0° C., a highly accurate temperature control method is required.

Conventional forced-air circulation type refrigerator-freezers use gas-expansion type damper thermostats, but with this thermostat controlling the opening and closing of the damper, it is difficult to stabilize the temperature distribution in the refrigerator compartment and the average temperature in the refrigerator compartment. . In order to improve this point, in addition to the fan motor for circulating cold air installed near the cooler, the fan motor for circulating cold air inside the refrigerator is rotated to circulate the cold air inside the refrigerator. The temperature distribution is averaged. However, the gas expansion type damper thermostat cannot be controlled by external electrical signals, and it is also impossible to electrically synchronize and control the internal circulation fan motor and the damper thermostat.

<Purpose> Therefore, in view of the above, the present invention aims to provide a refrigerator that can accurately and accurately control the temperature of the refrigerator compartment.

<Embodiment> Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 5. The refrigerator according to the present invention includes a damper device 4 that opens and closes a cold air inlet 3 of a refrigerator compartment 2 in a refrigerator main body 1. , an internal circulation blower 5 that circulates cold air in the refrigerator compartment 2, a first temperature sensor 6A and a second temperature sensor 6B that detect the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 2, and an output signal of the first temperature sensor 6A. and a control device 7 that controls the damper device 4 on and off based on the output signal of the second temperature sensor 6B, and controls the blower 5 on and off based on the output signal of the second temperature sensor 6B.

The refrigerator main body 1 has a freezer compartment 9 in the upper part and a refrigerator compartment 2 in the lower part by a heat insulating partition wall 8, and a ventilation passage 10 is formed in the partition wall 8.
A cooler 11 and a cold air circulation fan 12 are installed in the ventilation path 10.
and a cold air circulation blower including a fan motor 13. A cold air inlet 14 and a cold air outlet 15 are formed in the rear wall and bottom wall of the freezer compartment 9, respectively, and communicate with the ventilation passage 10. Further, a cold air inlet 3 and a cold air outlet 16 are formed in the upper part of the rear wall of the refrigerator compartment 2 and the front part of the ceiling wall, respectively, and communicate with the ventilation passage 10.

The damper device 4 also includes a damper 17 that opens and closes the cold air inlet 3 and a damper motor 18. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the motor 1
A cam 4a is fixed to a motor shaft 18a of No. 8, and an L-shaped link 4c that follows the cam 4a and swings around a shaft 4b is provided, and the damper 17 is formed at the other end of the link 4c. The motors 18 rotate in the same direction, and the control device 7
The drive is stopped every half rotation by a signal from the damper, and FIG. 7 shows the damper in the open state. The damper device 4 is interposed between the cold air inlet 3 and the louver 19.

Further, the two temperature sensors 6A and 6B are, for example, thermistors, the first temperature sensor 6A is arranged in the center of the louver 19, which corresponds to the part that has a correlation with the average temperature in the refrigerator compartment 2, and the blower 5 is a fan. 5a and a fan motor 5b,
It is arranged at the lower end of the louver 19. Furthermore, the second temperature sensor 6B is disposed below the blower 5 at the bottom of the refrigerator compartment 2 where cold air stagnates.

On the other hand, the control device 7 converts the output signal of the first temperature sensor 6A into damper set temperatures To, Tc.
a damper control unit that controls the damper device on and off by comparing it with the air blower, and a blower control unit that controls the blower 5 on and off by comparing the output signal of the second temperature sensor 6B with the air blower set temperatures Ton and Toff. has. These are the first temperature sensor 6A.
And the output signal of the second temperature sensor 6B is A/D
A general one-chip microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as microcomputer) 21 that inputs and processes input via converters 20 and 20A, and a fan motor control relay 22 and damper control relay 23 that are turned on and off by the output signal of the microcomputer 21. It consists of The microcomputer 21 has an internal program.
It has a ROM, data RAM, and ALU, and is driven by a reference clock oscillation circuit 24. The damper set temperatures To, Tc and the blower set temperatures Ton, Toff are set to different temperatures such that To>Ton>Toff>Tc.

1, reference numeral 25 denotes an electric compressor which compresses and discharges refrigerant to the cooler 11, and a gas type thermostat 25A is connected in series to a power source 26 to a parallel connection of the electric compressor 25 and the cool air circulating fan motor 13. The thermostat 25A is disposed in the freezer compartment 9. A series connection of the damper motor 4 and relay 23 and a series connection of the blower motor 5 and relay 22 are connected in parallel to the power source 26. Reference numeral 27 denotes a setting device for switching and setting the refrigerator compartment 2 to various temperature zones such as refrigerated storage and ice temperature storage.

In the above configuration, the microcomputer 21 controls the damper open set temperature To, the damper close set temperature Tc, the ON set temperature Ton of the internal circulation fan motor 5, and the OFF set temperature Toff.
(however, To>Ton>Toff>Tc), the first temperature sensor 6A and the second temperature sensor 6B
The temperature inside the refrigerator is controlled by the output signal. That is, while the electric compressor 25 and the fan motor 13 are operating, the temperature inside the refrigerator compartment 2 is detected by the first temperature sensor 6A and the second temperature sensor 6B. First, if the internal temperature θ1 detected by the first temperature sensor 6A is higher than the damper opening set temperature To,
The microcomputer 21 outputs an ON signal to the relay 23 to open the damper device 4 and allow cold air to flow into the refrigerator compartment 2. In addition, if the internal temperature θ2 detected by the second temperature sensor 6B is higher than the fan motor ON set temperature Ton, the microcomputer 21 outputs an ON signal to the relay 22, drives the fan motor 5b, and blows cold air to the refrigerator compartment 2. It is circulated to equalize the temperature.

Then, the internal temperature θ2 detected by the second temperature sensor 6B is the fan motor OFF set temperature Toff.
When the temperature drops to this level, the blower 5 is stopped. Furthermore, the internal temperature θ1 detected by the first temperature sensor 6A of the refrigerator compartment 2 decreases to the damper opening set temperature.
When Tc is reached, the microcomputer 21 outputs a close signal to the relay 23 to drive the damper device 4 to close. FIG. 2 shows the switching states of the blower 5 and the damper device 4 in response to changes in the internal temperatures θ1 and θ2.

In this way, by independently controlling the damper device and the internal circulation fan motor based on the detection by the two temperature sensors, the temperature distribution inside the refrigerator is made uniform and the average temperature inside the refrigerator (variation in internal temperature over time) is controlled. It is characterized by averaging. This makes it possible to control the temperature inside the refrigerator in a low-temperature range (for example, freezing temperature range), and eliminate food freezing due to excessive cooling and partial temperature differences (high-temperature and low-temperature regions).

Furthermore, the opening set temperature To°C, the closing set temperature Tc°C of the damper device 4, and the internal circulation fan motor 5b
By setting the ON set temperature Ton°C and the OFF set temperature Toff°C to arbitrary temperatures, it becomes possible to control the temperature inside the refrigerator in a complex manner.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that many modifications and changes can be made to the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

For example, by installing the second temperature sensor 6B in a high-temperature part of the refrigerator, it is also possible to rotate the refrigerator circulation fan motor 5b and lower the temperature of the high-temperature part. Furthermore, by installing two or more temperature sensors in the high-temperature region, low-temperature region, and specific locations within the refrigerator, it is also possible to accurately detect temperature differences within the refrigerator and control the damper device, interior circulation fan 5, etc. be.

<Effects> As is clear from the above description, the present invention has a refrigerator main body that is divided into a freezing compartment and a refrigerator compartment by a heat insulating partition wall, a ventilation passage is formed within the partition wall, and a ventilation passage is formed within the partition wall. In the refrigerator, a cooler and a cold air circulation blower are disposed, and a cold air inlet of the refrigerator compartment is communicated with the ventilation passage, the damper device opening and closing the cold air inlet of the refrigerator compartment, and the cold air circulation blower. is separately provided with an internal circulation blower that circulates cold air in the refrigerator compartment, a first temperature sensor and a second temperature sensor that detect the temperature of the refrigerator compartment, and an output signal from both temperature sensors to control the damper. Turn on the device and internal circulation blower.
and a control device that performs OFF control, and the control device includes:
a damper control section that compares the output signal of the first temperature sensor with a set temperature for the damper to control ON/OFF of the damper device; and a damper control unit that compares the output signal of the second temperature sensor with the set temperature for the blower to control internal circulation. The present invention relates to a refrigerator characterized in that it has a blower control section that controls the air blower on and off.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the internal circulation blower and the damper device are ON-OFF controlled by the output signals of separate temperature sensors,
The internal circulation blower and the damper device can be turned on and off at different set temperatures. Therefore, if you want to cool the inside of the refrigerator, you can open the damper, and if you want to maintain a uniform temperature inside the refrigerator, you can turn on the internal circulation fan. It is also possible to synchronize with the refrigeration chamber temperature distribution, and the temperature distribution in the refrigerating chamber and the average temperature inside the refrigerating chamber can be made constant with accuracy and precision, which is an excellent effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a control circuit diagram of a refrigerator showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the driving states of a damper device and a blower corresponding to internal temperature changes, and Fig. 4 is a control flowchart of the same; FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the refrigerator, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part thereof, FIG. 6 is a front view of the refrigerator, and FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a damper device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Refrigerator body, 2... Refrigerator compartment, 3... Cold air inlet, 4... Damper device, 5... Internal circulation blower, 6A, 6B... Temperature sensor, 7... Control device, 8... Insulating partition wall, 9... Freezer room, 10...
...Ventilation path, 11...Cooler, 12...Cold air circulation fan, 13...Fan motor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment are formed in the refrigerator body by a heat insulating partition wall, a ventilation passage is formed in the partition wall, a cooler and a cold air circulation blower are disposed in the ventilation passage, and the refrigerator In a refrigerator in which a cold air inlet of the refrigerator compartment is communicated with the ventilation passage, a damper device that opens and closes the cold air inlet of the refrigerator compartment, and an internal circulation system that is provided separately from the cold air circulation blower and circulates the cold air of the refrigerator compartment. A first temperature sensor and a second temperature sensor that detect the temperature of the refrigerator compartment, and output signals from both temperature sensors turn on the damper device and the refrigerator circulation fan.
and a control device that performs OFF control, and the control device includes:
a damper control section that compares the output signal of the first temperature sensor with a set temperature for the damper to control ON/OFF of the damper device; and a damper control unit that compares the output signal of the second temperature sensor with the set temperature for the blower to control internal circulation. 1. A refrigerator comprising: a blower control unit that controls ON/OFF an air blower.