JPS6367635B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a refrigerated/warm storage that switches between refrigerated and heated storage for storing articles.

Configuration of conventional example and its problems Conventionally, vending machines are generally known as this type of storage with switching between refrigerated and hot storage. Explain with reference to. Hereinafter, refrigeration will be referred to as cold, and heated storage will be referred to as warm.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of a vending machine consisting of a heat insulating wall 2, and the interior of the main body 1 is divided into two product storage chambers 3a and 3b (hereinafter referred to as chambers) by partitioning left and right.
Each room 3a, 3b has product shelves 4a, 4, respectively.
b is provided. Further, the chambers 3a and 3b are provided with evaporators 5a and 5b for cooling, heaters 6a and 6b for heating, and cold air is provided in each of the chambers 3a and 3b.
Blow fans 7a and 7b are arranged to forcefully circulate warm air. Evaporators 5a and 5b arranged in each chamber 3a and 3b are connected in parallel to each other, and a compressor 8, a condenser 9, one outlet 11a of a flow divider 11, a capillary tube 10a, an evaporator 5a, and an accumulator 12a are connected. . Further, the other outlet 11b of the flow divider 11, the capillary tube 10b, the evaporator 5b, and the accumulator 12b are connected to form a cooling system. and the capillary tube 10a
A solenoid valve 13 is disposed at the inlet of the valve. The electromagnetic valve 13 is opened and closed by an electric signal based on a cold/hot operation selection switching command.

In the above configuration, when both the chambers 3a and 3b are in cold operation, the solenoid valve 13 is opened and the refrigerant flows through the refrigerant circuit indicated by the solid arrow in FIG.
Both chambers were cooled. In addition, room 3a is heated, room 3
When cooling the chamber 3b, the solenoid valve 13 is closed so that the refrigerant flows through the refrigerant circuit indicated by the dotted arrow in FIG.
It is operated at a high temperature by a. And both chambers 3a, 3
If both chambers 3a and 3b are in warm operation, the compressor 8 is stopped, and both chambers 3a and 3b are operated at a warm temperature by the heater 6a6b.

As described above, by selectively energizing the heaters 6a, 6b, the compressor 8, and the solenoid valve 13, the chamber 3
In a and 3b, a combination of cold-cold, hot-cold, and hot-hot operation was obtained, and a single vending machine could sell cold products and hot products at the same time.

However, compared to cold-cold operation,
In the case of warm operation, the load on the compressor 8 is significantly reduced and the internal volume of the cooling system is reduced by one evaporator 5a. It has been confirmed that a phenomenon occurs in which the optimum amount of encapsulation differs greatly.

Therefore, if the amount of charged gas is determined based on cold-cold operation, the solution is to install a very large accumulator 12b after the evaporator 5b in order to keep the same amount of refrigerant charged in both cold-cold and cold-hot operations. This increase in the size of the accumulator causes an increase in costs and also increases the installation space. On the other hand, if the amount of gas to be filled is determined based on cold-temperature operation, there is a drawback that a refrigerant shortage phenomenon occurs during cold-cold operation.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, controls the amount of refrigerant circulation in the cooling system according to fluctuations in the amount of cooling load during cold-to-cold operation and cold-to-hot operation, and obtains a stable cooling system. The purpose is to

Structure of the Invention In the present invention, the accumulator of the evaporator in one chamber of the cooling system is arranged in a heat exchange manner with the cooling system downstream of the capillary tube in the other chamber, so that the accumulator of the evaporator in one chamber of the cooling system is arranged to exchange heat with the cooling system downstream of the capillary tube in the other chamber. The amount of refrigerant circulated within the system is controlled by storing refrigerant in the accumulator when switching to a warm operating state.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6. Since the cooling system is only slightly different, parts that are the same as the conventional ones are given the same numbers and their details will not be described. Further explanations will be omitted.

In the figure, an evaporator 5a in one chamber of the cooling system and an evaporator 5b in the other chamber are connected in parallel to each other. That is, the compressor 8, the condenser 9, the flow divider 11, one outlet 11a of the flow divider 11, and the capillary tube 10 of one chamber 3a.
a, the evaporator 5a, and the accumulator 12a are connected, and the other outlet 11b of the flow divider 11 is connected to the other chamber 3b, the capillary tube 10b, the evaporator 5b, and the accumulator 12b. Further, a solenoid valve 13 is installed between the outlet 11a of the flow divider 11 and the inlet of the capillary tube 10a. The accumulator 12a is installed in the other chamber 3b and connected to the evaporator 5a through a conduit 14. Further, the accumulator 12a and the accumulator 12b of the cooling system downstream of the capillary tube 10b of the other chamber 3b are fixed for heat exchange by a substantially C-shaped fixing member 15, and the butyl rubber 16 facilitates heat exchange. The contact is fixed like this. The insertion distance of the inlet pipe 17a of the accumulator 12a is installed at a position sufficiently lower than that of the outlet pipe 18a, and the insertion allowance of the inlet pipe 17b of the accumulator 12b is also installed at a position sufficiently lower than that of the outlet pipe 18b. ing. In addition, each accumulator 12a, 12b
The internal volume of the compressor 8 is set to be suitable for the difference in load fluctuation of the compressor 8 during cold-cold operation and cold-hot operation.

The cold/hot switching operation in the above configuration will be described. When both the product storage chambers 3a and 3b are in cooling operation, the operation of the compressor 8 is controlled by a refrigeration thermostat (not shown) that controls the chamber 3b.

At this time, the electromagnetic valve 13 is open, and the refrigerant flows through the refrigerant circuit indicated by the solid arrow in FIG. 4, cooling the evaporators 5a and 5b and cooling the chambers 3a and 3b. At this time, even if there is some load fluctuation of the compressor 8, the outlet pipes 18 of the accumulators 12a and 12b
Since a and 18b are inserted to a high position,
Liquid return to the compressor 8 can be prevented, and a normal cooling system can be obtained.

Next, the case where the chamber 3a is heated and the chamber 3b is cooled will be described. When the cold/hot switch SW ₁ is switched to warm, the heating heater 6a is energized, and
Solenoid valve 13 is closed. When the solenoid valve 13 is closed, the refrigerant flows through the refrigerant circuit indicated by the dotted line arrow in Figure 4, cooling only the evaporator 5b and cooling the chamber 3b.
At this time, the refrigerating load on the compressor 8 is greatly reduced compared to the case of cold-cold operation. Furthermore, since the solenoid valve 13 is closed during cold-hot operation, the actual internal volume of the cooling cycle is reduced by the amount of the evaporator 5a and the accumulator 12a. For this reason, it has been confirmed through experiments that the appropriate amount of refrigerant sealed during cold-to-hot operation is about 50 to 70 g less than the appropriate amount of refrigerant sealed during cold-to-cold operation.
When determining the appropriate amount of refrigerant to be filled during cold operation,
During cold-hot operation, liquid backs up in the compressor 8, so an amount equivalent to this surplus is stored in the accumulator 12a. That is, when the solenoid valve 13 is closed, the refrigerant flows toward the evaporator 5b and the accumulator 12b.
Refrigerant does not flow into the accumulator 12a.

Then, the accumulator 12b has an outlet pipe 18
It communicates with the accumulator 12a through a, and the internal pressures of each accumulator 12a and 12b are approximately equal. On the other hand, the internal pressure of the evaporator 5a is the same as that of each accumulator 12a, 12b, but the chamber 3a is in a warm storage state, and the evaporator 5a is heated, and the refrigerant inside the evaporator 5a is gasified. Almost no refrigerant accumulates inside. however,
Since the accumulator 12a is installed so as to exchange heat with the accumulator 12b, the temperature becomes very low. Then, the refrigerant is condensed and liquefied in an amount corresponding to the internal pressure of the accumulator 12a, and accumulates inside the accumulator 12a.

3b is heated and controlled.

As described above, the refrigerant circuit can be switched by performing cold-temperature switching control, and the appropriate amount of sealed gas can be controlled during cold-cold operation and cold-hot operation, so there is no need to increase the size of the accumulator 12b. It is now possible to obtain a cooling system suitable for the load fluctuations of the compressor 8, and by simply switching the cold/hot selector switch, the chambers 3a and 3b can obtain cold-cold, hot-cold, and warm-hot operation combinations. , one vending machine can sell cold and hot products at the same time.

Although the present invention has been described using a vending machine as an example, it is not limited to vending machines, and any cooling system that has two evaporators and controls the flow of refrigerant into either one of the evaporators can be used equally. effect can be obtained.

Effects of the Invention The storage of the present invention has two storage chambers formed within the main body, each of which is equipped with a heater for heating and an evaporator for cooling, and the storage state of the chamber can be selectively changed to refrigerated or heated storage. In the storage facility to be switched, when the storage state of each room is changed to cold-temperature operation, the accumulator of the evaporator on the room side, which is at the temperature, is connected to the cooling system downstream from the capillary tube on the room side, where the room is cold, in a heat exchange manner. Because of the large scale, one accumulator is cooled by the other cooling system, and a portion of the refrigerant enclosed in the cooling system is stored in the accumulator. For this reason, the load on the compressor is smaller in cold-to-temperature operation than in cold-to-cold operation, so the optimal amount of refrigerant to be filled in is smaller, but this excess refrigerant can be stored in the accumulator, so during cold-to-cold operation , stable operating conditions can be obtained regardless of whether the operation is cold or hot. Therefore, the operating state of the storage is much more in the cold-cold operating state, and the optimum amount of refrigerant to be enclosed can be determined in the cold-cold operating state.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing a conventional refrigerated/warm storage switching type vending machine, Fig. 2 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of the cooling unit in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a refrigeration system according to an embodiment of the present invention.・Cross-sectional view of a refrigerated vending machine,
4 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of the cooling unit shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part of FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 5. 1...Main body, 3a, 3b...Product storage room, 5
a, 5b...first and second evaporators, 6a,
6b... Heater, 8... Compressor, 9... Capacitor, 10a, 10b... Capillary tube, 11... Flow divider, 12a, 12b... Accumulator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Two storage chambers are formed in the main body, a cooling evaporator and a warming heater are respectively arranged in the two chambers, and a changeover switch is provided to switch between refrigeration and heating operation, and both the evaporators are connected to each other. compressor through a capillary tube and an accumulator, respectively;
A solenoid valve is connected in parallel with the condenser to form a cooling system, and a solenoid valve operated by a changeover switch is provided upstream of the capillary tube on the side of the one evaporator, and the evaporator on the room side, which has the temperature of the one side, is provided. A refrigerated/hot storage type storage in which an accumulator connected to a cooling system is exchanged with a cooling system downstream of the other cold room side capillary tube.