JP2006226615A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator expediting an ice making action by giving priority to an ice making operation, when a rapid ice making operation is started, and preventing cooling performance from being deteriorated by frosting while complying with requirements of a user, by performing the defrosting operation after a fixed ice making action, when instructed to start defrosting while expediting defrosting. <P>SOLUTION: This refrigerator is equipped with a defrosting control means to perform the defrosting operation of a cooler in defrosting start timing set in advance, and a rapid ice making control means to cool the ice making room by increasing cooling power to it for a prescribed period of time by an arbitrary instruction. When the rapid ice making operation is started, the defrosting operation is controlled so as to stop it for a fixed period of time, or until a prescribed number of the ice making operations is completed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a quick ice making operation function of an automatic ice making device.

  Conventionally, refrigerators are those where frost adheres to a cooler that generates cold air by continuing cooling operation, and cooling efficiency decreases when the amount of frost formation increases, so when the preset defrost timing is reached Is designed to melt and remove frost by energizing and heating a defrost heater disposed in the cooler.

  The timing of performing the defrosting operation is calculated by integrating the operation time of the refrigerant compressor in the refrigeration cycle, and when a predetermined time for which the amount of frost to be defrosted stagnates under normal cooling conditions, for example, 8 hours has elapsed. In general, the frost heater is energized, and when the cooler temperature rises to a predetermined temperature due to frost melting, this is detected and the defrosting operation is terminated.

  About this defrosting operation control, when the door is not opened and closed by the defrosting start timing, the forced continuous cooling operation is not executed, and the outside air temperature is also within a predetermined range, there is no need for the defrosting operation. Therefore, a technique has been proposed in which the defrosting start timing is controlled to be postponed for a certain period of time, thereby achieving proper defrosting timing and power saving operation (see Patent Document 1).

  On the other hand, recent refrigerators are generally equipped with an automatic ice making device that automatically supplies water from a water supply tank installed in a refrigeration room to an ice tray, ices it, removes ice, and stores ice. The ice making device automatically continues the ice making operation as long as there is a predetermined amount of water in the water supply tank and the amount of stored ice is not higher than the predetermined level, but if necessary, the ice making chamber can be refrigerated by any operation. There is one that performs ice making operation forcibly and promotes ice making operation to increase ice making capacity.

And a defrost signal may be inputted at the defrost timing in the above-mentioned defrost control during the rapid ice making operation, and in that case, the defrosting operation is suspended and the control method for preferentially continuing the rapid ice making operation On the other hand, there is a control method in which the rapid ice making operation is interrupted and the defrosting operation is performed.
JP-A-7-239168

  However, since the general quick freezing operation time implemented in the refrigerator is about 90 minutes and is relatively short, it is possible to wait for defrosting during that period, but as in the former case, it is necessary. If quick ice making operation is given priority to obtain a large amount of ice and defrosting operation is suspended during that time, defrosting will not be performed for a long time, resulting in frost formation on the cooler. There is a problem that the amount of cooling becomes enormous and the cooling performance is greatly reduced. In addition, if the rapid ice making operation is interrupted by the defrosting operation as in the latter case, the request of the user who wants ice quickly cannot be satisfied. could not.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and when rapid ice making operation is started, the ice making operation is promoted by prioritizing ice making operation, and when a defrost start instruction is given during that time. An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator in which a defrosting operation is performed after a certain ice making operation to prevent deterioration in cooling performance due to frosting at the same time as a user's request.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the refrigerator according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a defrosting control unit that performs a defrosting operation of the cooler at a preset defrosting start timing, and an ice making chamber for a predetermined time according to an arbitrary instruction. And a rapid ice making control means for increasing the cooling power to cool and controlling to stop the execution of the defrosting operation for a certain period of time from the start of the rapid ice making operation. The refrigerator of claim 2 is configured to stop the execution of the defrosting operation until the ice making operation is completed a predetermined number of times when the quick ice making operation is started, as in the case of claim 1. It is characterized by controlling.

  Further, the refrigerator according to claim 4 includes a defrosting control unit that performs a defrosting operation of the cooler at a preset defrosting start timing, and a predetermined number of ice makings according to an arbitrary instruction until the ice making chamber is completed. Rapid ice making control means for increasing the cooling power and cooling, and controlling the execution of the defrosting operation to be stopped for a certain time from when the rapid ice making operation is started or until ice making is completed a predetermined number of times. The refrigerator according to claim 6 detects depletion control means for performing a defrosting operation of the cooler at a preset defrosting start timing, and detects whether the ice amount in the ice storage box is full according to an arbitrary instruction. A quick ice making control means for increasing the cooling power to the ice making chamber until it cools, and performing the defrosting operation for a certain time from when the rapid ice making operation is started or until the ice making is completed a predetermined number of times. It is characterized in that the control to stop.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, even if there is a defrosting start timing, priority is given to the rapid ice making operation, and a certain amount of ice can be made according to the user's request, and the defrosting operation performed thereafter causes frosting. The deterioration of the cooling performance can be prevented.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the refrigerator, with the inside of the refrigerator main body (1) formed of a heat insulating box as a storage space at the top of the refrigerator compartment (2), below it the vegetable compartment (3), and at the bottom The freezing room (4) is arranged independently, and an ice making room (5) and a multi-temperature switching room (not shown) are provided between the refrigerating room (2) and the vegetable room (3) through a heat insulating partition wall. Are arranged side by side, and a dedicated door is provided at the front opening of each storage chamber so as to be freely opened and closed.

  In the rear part of the vegetable room (3), a cooler (6) for a frozen storage space such as a freezer room or an ice making room, and a fan that circulates cold air generated in the cooler (6) into the storage room through a duct ( 7) is arranged, and a cooler (8) and a fan (9) for refrigerated storage space for cooling the refrigerator compartment (2) and the vegetable compartment (3) are provided on the back of the refrigerator compartment (2). By driving the refrigerant compressor (10) installed in the machine room, the refrigerant flows alternately to the coolers (6) and (8), and the cooled cold air is refrigerated and refrigerated by the rotation of the fans (7) and (9). The air is blown to each storage chamber on the side, and the cooling of each is controlled to a predetermined temperature.

  The refrigeration cooler (6) is provided with a defrost heater (11), and by integrating the operation time during which the amount of frost adhering to the cooler (6) is to be defrosted by the cooling operation, For example, when 8 hours have passed, the defrost heater (11) is energized so as to heat the cooler (6) to melt the frost and discharge it as defrost water to the outside.

  The refrigeration cooler (8) has a higher evaporation temperature than the refrigeration cooler (6) and a small temperature difference from the room temperature of the refrigeration chamber (2) to be cooled. The amount of frost on the refrigeration cooler (8) is small, and the frost attached by the air circulation by the fan (9) operation in a state where the refrigerant does not flow through the refrigeration cooler (8) can be removed. As for the refrigeration cooler (8), similarly to the refrigeration cooler (6), the defrost heater (11) is placed in the refrigeration cooler (8) and defrosted by energization heating. Also good.

  The automatic ice making device (12) disposed in the ice making chamber (5) is operated in a normal ice making operation, that is, the water in the water supply tank (13) installed in the refrigerator compartment (2) is made into ice in the ice making chamber (5). The ice is made by supplying it to the tray (12a), and when it is detected that the temperature has been completed, the ice tray (12a) is rotated and twisted to release the ice. In 12a), it falls into an ice storage box (12b) arranged at the bottom and is stored in ice.

  This ice making operation is automatically continued unless there is a predetermined amount of ice making water in the water supply tank (13) and the ice storage amount in the ice storage box (12b) exceeds a predetermined level. When a person wants a large amount of ice, the push button switch (15) for instructing rapid ice making operation provided on the operation display section (14) on the door surface is turned on for a predetermined time if necessary. For example, the refrigerant compressor (10) is forcibly driven for 8 hours, the refrigeration cooler (6) is cooled, the damper of the ice making chamber (5) is opened, and the cold air is concentrated on the ice making tray (12a). The quick ice making operation is made to increase the ice making capacity.

  During the rapid ice making operation, the refrigerant compressor (10) is not limited to continuous operation, and the number of rotations thereof is increased, or the number of rotations of the cooling fan (7) for blowing cool air to the ice making chamber is increased. Further, the ice making capacity may be further increased by lowering the cooling set temperature of the freezing space. Even during the continuous operation, the cooling operation may be stopped because there is no need to cool the cooling device when it becomes −30 ° C. or lower, which is lower than the off temperature of the normal refrigeration cooler (6).

  Thus, during the rapid ice making operation, even when the defrost timing is reached, the predetermined defrosting operation is suspended and the rapid ice making operation is preferentially continued. When the ice making cycle from water supply to deicing is completed, for example, when a certain time set to 150 minutes elapses, the rapid ice making operation is temporarily stopped and the defrosting operation is performed. Then, when the defrosting is completed, the rapid ice making operation is resumed. For example, when a predetermined time, for example, 8 hours has elapsed, the rapid ice making operation is terminated and the normal operation is resumed. Yes.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to a control flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 1 shows only the control related to the present invention. First, when the user turns on the rapid ice making switch (15) (step 1), the ice making timer count for 8 hours is started (step 2). At this time, it is confirmed whether or not defrosting is in progress (step 3). If the defrosting operation is already in progress, the rapid ice making operation is started after waiting for the completion of defrosting (step 4) (step 5).

  When the rapid ice making operation is performed and 150 minutes have passed (step 6), the defrost timer count-up is confirmed (step 7). If the defrost timer count has not reached the predetermined time, the rapid ice making operation is continued, and if the defrost start time has been reached, the defrost operation is started (step 8).

  At this time, in the normal defrost control, in order to minimize the adverse effect on the stored food due to the temperature rise during the defrosting before entering the defrosting operation, the precooling operation in which the room temperature is cooled in advance is performed. Then, since the freezing operation has already been continued for a long time, the defrosting operation is performed by directly energizing the defrosting heater (11) without performing precooling. When the temperature of the refrigeration cooler (6) is not lowered to a predetermined temperature, for example, −25 ° C. or lower, it is desirable to perform a precool operation.

  If the frost is melted and removed by heating the heater, and the completion of the defrosting is confirmed by detecting the temperature rise of the cooler (6) (step 9), the process is shifted to the interrupted rapid ice making operation (step 10). The quick ice making operation is terminated by confirming that 8 hours have elapsed from the start of operation (step 11), and the normal cooling operation is resumed (step 12).

  With the above configuration, even if there is a defrosting start timing during the rapid ice making operation, priority is given to the rapid ice making operation according to the user's request, and a certain amount of ice can be made and the defrosting operation performed thereafter is performed. By preventing the cooling performance from deteriorating due to frost, the desired amount of ice making can be obtained by rapid ice making operation over a predetermined time thereafter.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to a control flowchart shown in FIG. The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that the step after the start of rapid ice making (step 5) of the first embodiment is the time when 150 minutes have passed after the start (step 6). Then, after the start, it is confirmed whether or not the ice making cycle from water supply to deicing is completed twice (step 6 '), and the other steps are the same.

  In the first and second embodiments, the numerical values in steps 6 and 6 'are 150 minutes from the start of rapid ice making, or two ice making cycles. Needless to say, this is not restrictive.

  Further, in the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 in which the same reference numerals are assigned to the same parts as in FIG. 1, when the defrosting operation is performed in step 8, the rapid ice making operation is resumed (step 10). The value of the timer counter for measuring the rapid ice making time at the time is corrected (step 13), whereby the rapid ice making operation end time is extended by the defrosting time.

  Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment is characterized in that the rapid ice making switch (15) is turned on (step 1) and the required number of ice making operations is set (step 2 '). That is, it is an instruction to set the required ice making amount instead of the time for the rapid ice making operation, and the rapid ice making operation is continued only while the necessary ice amount is made according to the setting.

  Therefore, in step 2 ′, for example, when about 100 ice grains are desired, after setting the number of ice making operations to 10 times, it is confirmed whether or not defrosting is in progress (step 3), and the defrosting has already been performed. If in operation, the rapid ice making operation is started (step 5) after waiting for the completion of defrosting (step 4).

  After the start of the rapid ice making operation in step 5, it is confirmed that the ice making cycle from the water supply to deicing has been completed twice (step 6 '), and then the defrost timer count-up is confirmed (step 7). If the count has not reached the predetermined time, the rapid ice making operation is continued as it is. If the count has reached the defrost start time, the defrost operation is started (step 8).

  If the system is switched to rapid ice making operation again (step 10), it is confirmed that the 10 ice making cycles set from the start of operation have been completed (step 11 '), the rapid ice making operation is terminated, and the normal cooling operation is started. Return (step 12).

  The predetermined number of ice making cycles is confirmed by counting the number of rotations after the ice making by twisting and de-icing, but in addition, the actual number of water supply to the ice tray may be counted. Further, the rapid ice making operation may be continued until the ice amount in the ice storage box becomes full, and when the ice storage amount is detected to be full by the ice amount detection lever, the rapid ice making operation may be terminated.

  In the present embodiment, the compressor (10) is continuously operated according to an arbitrary instruction, and the quick freezing operation of the ice making chamber (5) is continued until a predetermined number of ice making operations is completed. By controlling to stop the execution of the defrosting operation for a certain time after the start or until ice making is completed a predetermined number of times, it is possible to meet the user's desire for ice demand and to perform the defrosting operation. It is possible to prevent the deterioration of the cooling performance due to frost formation when not.

  In the fifth embodiment, during the rapid ice making operation according to each of the above embodiments, when the ice making operation is stopped due to the detection of water out of the ice making water supply tank (13) or the full storage of the ice storage amount in the ice storage box (12b), The system is on standby in a normal cooling operation, and when a stop cancellation instruction is given due to water outage notification or the like, the rapid ice making operation is started again.

  As shown in FIG. 5 with the same reference numerals as described above, for example, whether or not the amount of water in the water supply tank (13) has dropped due to the start of rapid ice making in step 5 and whether or not the amount of stored ice is full. Check (step a), and when the water runs out, the water supply operation cannot be performed, and even when the water is full, the ice making operation such as water supply or deicing rotation stops and ice making cannot be performed. ) After that, normal cooling operation control is performed, and when the user notices this by water out notification or the like and replenishes the water supply tank with water, the process proceeds to the rapid ice making operation again by checking in step a.

  Similarly, in steps c and d, there is a step of whether or not the water runs out or the amount of stored ice is full, and the quick ice making operation is continued or interrupted every time. It is possible to secure the amount of ice making.

  The present invention can be used in a refrigerator having a rapid ice making operation function.

It is a rapid ice-making operation control flowchart of the refrigerator which shows 1st Example of this invention. It is a rapid ice making operation control flowchart which shows the 2nd Example of this invention. It is a rapid ice making operation control flowchart which shows the 3rd Example of this invention. It is a rapid ice-making operation control flowchart which shows the 4th Example of this invention. It is a rapid ice making operation control flowchart which shows the 5th Example of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows schematic structure of the refrigerator of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator body 2 Refrigerating room 3 Vegetable room 4 Freezing room 5 Ice making room 6 Refrigerating cooler 7, 9 Cooling fan 8 Refrigerating cooler 10 Compressor
11 Defrost heater 12 Automatic ice making device 12a Ice tray
12b Ice storage box 13 Water supply tank 14 Operation display section
15 Rapid ice making switch

Claims (7)

  A defrosting control means for performing a defrosting operation of the cooler at a preset defrosting start timing, and a rapid ice making control means for increasing the cooling power to the ice making room for a predetermined time by an arbitrary instruction and cooling, The refrigerator is controlled to stop the execution of the defrosting operation for a predetermined time from the start of the rapid ice making operation.   A defrosting control means for performing a defrosting operation of the cooler at a preset defrosting start timing, and a rapid ice making control means for increasing the cooling power to the ice making room for a predetermined time by an arbitrary instruction and cooling, When the rapid ice making operation is started, the refrigerator is controlled to stop the execution of the defrosting operation until the ice making operation is completed a predetermined number of times.   The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the defrosting operation is executed during the rapid ice making operation, a predetermined rapid ice making end time is extended.   Defrosting control means for performing the defrosting operation of the cooler at a preset defrosting start timing, and rapid ice making for increasing the cooling power to the ice making chamber and cooling it until a predetermined number of times of ice making is completed by an arbitrary instruction And a control means for controlling to stop execution of the defrosting operation for a certain period of time from when the rapid ice making operation is started or until ice making is completed a predetermined number of times.   During ice making operation, when ice making operation is stopped due to the detection of water out of the ice making water supply tank or full storage of ice storage, it is waiting in the normal cooling operation and restarted by the release instruction. The refrigerator according to claim 1, 2 or 4.   The defrost control means that performs the defrosting operation of the cooler at the preset defrost start timing, and the cooling power to the ice making chamber is increased and cooled until it is detected that the ice amount in the ice storage box is full by any instruction And a quick ice making control means for controlling the execution of the defrosting operation for a predetermined time from when the rapid ice making operation is started or until ice making is completed a predetermined number of times. .   The rapid cooling operation is performed continuously by lowering the cooling set temperature of the freezing space and increasing the rotation speed of the cooling fan to the compressor and the ice making chamber. The refrigerator described.

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