JPH05126458A - High-humidity cooling/storing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a high-humidity cooling/storing device in which a non- required increasing of temperature in a storing chamber can be prevented and further positive defrosting at a wall surface of the storing chamber is accomplished. CONSTITUTION:During a defrosting operation of a cooler, a micro-computer 41 operates a defrosting heater and a cooling fan and performs a forced circulation of hot air within a duct. The micro-computer 41 stops the operation of the cooling fan when the temperature within the upper storing chamber reaches up to its predetermined temperature in response to the output from an inside temperature sensor 44 of the storing device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a high-humidity cold storage for refrigerating fresh food or the like in a high humidity condition.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When storing fresh foods such as meat, fresh fish, vegetables, etc., it is necessary to avoid drying and to keep them at high humidity and by cooling, and in the past, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 64-24993. A heat-conducting storage box is installed inside the heat-insulating box at intervals, and a duct is provided in this interval, and a refrigeration device is installed in the duct to circulate cold air in the duct, and the inside of the storage box from the wall of the storage box The high humidity cooling storage has a structure that indirectly cools the storage room.

According to this structure, since the cool air does not directly enter the storage box, the internal dehumidifying action is not performed, and the inside of the storage box is kept at a high humidity due to water evaporated from food or water entering from the outside. , Thereby preventing the food from drying out,
It becomes possible to store in a high humidity state while cooling. Since frost is formed in the cooler during the cooling operation, the operating time of the compressor is integrated, or defrosting is performed by energizing the defrosting heater at every predetermined time or at a predetermined time. In the high-humidity cooling storage, water in the atmosphere in the storage room grows as frost on the wall surface of the storage room (wall surface inside the storage box), and therefore it is necessary to melt the frost on these wall surfaces when defrosting the cooler. Therefore, during defrosting of the cooler, if the cooling fan that circulates the air that has exchanged heat with the cooler is stopped in the duct, temperature distribution will occur due to the part of the storage chamber, and after a certain period of time, frost will form from the low temperature part. There is a problem of starting to grow.

On the other hand, when the cooling fan is continuously operated during defrosting of the cooler, warm air that has exchanged heat with the defrost heater is circulated in the duct, so that the wall surface of the storage chamber is evenly heated and the frost on the wall surface is smooth. Can be melted. The temperature transition of each part of the system by the continuous operation of the cooling fan which concerns on FIG. 5 is shown.
The cooler is provided with a defrosting end temperature sensor for detecting the defrosting end temperature of the cooler such as + 10 ° C., and the temperature detected by the defrosting end temperature sensor is shown in the uppermost stage.
The second stage is the temperature of the storage room, and the operation and energization (O) of the defrost heaters installed in the compressor, cooling fan and cooler will be described below.
N), a stop / non-energization (OFF) status is shown.

[0005]

If defrosting is started at time t1 in FIG. 5, the compressor is stopped and the defrosting heater starts to generate heat. The cooling fan remains running. Since the temperature of the cooler rises as the defrost heater heats up, the temperature sensed by the defrost end temperature sensor also rises. As the temperature of the cooler rises, the temperature of the air that exchanges heat with it also rises, and since this warm air is circulated in the duct by the cooling fan, the temperature of the wall of the storage room also rises and the frost is melted, At the same time, the temperature in the storage room rises.

Here, the temperature inside the storage chamber is originally higher than that of the cooler, and the frost on the wall surface of the storage chamber is also low in density, and defrosting on the wall surface of the storage chamber is achieved even at a lower temperature. When the cooling fan is continuously operated as described above, when the temperature of the cooler rises to + 10 ° C. at which defrosting ends, the temperature of the storage chamber also rises unnecessarily and rises to the same + 10 ° C. When the temperature in the storage room rises to such a temperature, there is a problem that the quality of the stored food is deteriorated.

Therefore, the cooling fan is basically stopped during defrosting of the cooler, but the user operates this switch only when a forced operation switch of the cooling fan is provided and frost formation in the storage chamber progresses. There is a method to operate the cooling fan by using this method, but it is necessary for the user to check the timing to stop the cooling fan while observing the melting state of the frost on the wall of the storage room. After all, there was a problem that the temperature unnecessarily increased.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional technical problems, and provides a high-humidity cooling storage cabinet capable of reliably achieving defrosting of the storage room wall surface and preventing an unnecessary rise in the storage room temperature. The purpose is to do.

[0009]

The high-humidity cooling storage box of the present invention is provided with a heat-conductive storage box in the heat-insulating box at a predetermined distance from the heat-insulating box, and the storage box serves as a storage chamber. In addition, the storage space is indirectly cooled by circulating the cool air in the duct, and the cooler and the air that has exchanged heat with the cooler are provided in the duct. It is provided with an air blowing means that circulates in the interior, a defrosting means for the cooler, an internal temperature sensor that detects the temperature in the storage chamber, and a control means, and this control means is used when defrosting the cooler. The air blowing means is stopped while the air blowing means and the air blowing means are operated, and when the temperature in the storage chamber based on the internal temperature sensor rises to a predetermined temperature.

[0010]

When the defrosting of the cooler is started, the control means energizes the defrosting means to generate heat and melts the frost on the cooler. At the same time, by operating the air blower, heat exchanged with the cooler during defrosting and forcedly circulates the hot air (hot air) in the duct, which heats the storage box to the inner wall surface of the storage box. Thaw the frost that has grown. After that, when the temperature in the storage chamber rises to a predetermined temperature based on the internal temperature sensor, the air blowing means is stopped and the forced circulation of the hot air to the duct is stopped.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is a block diagram of a control device 40 as a control means of the high humidity cooling storage cabinet 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the high humidity cooling storage cabinet 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the high humidity cooling storage cabinet 1. Are shown respectively. 2 and 3, the high-humidity cooling storage cabinet 1 is configured by accommodating and arranging a heat-conductive storage box 3 at a predetermined interval inside a main body of a heat insulating box body 2 having an opening on the front surface. The storage box 3 is formed by fixing a heat conduction plate such as a steel plate with a screw and sealing the joint surface with a sealing material, and the inside of the storage box 3 is divided into upper and lower parts by a partition portion 4, and an upper storage chamber is formed above. 5, a lower storage chamber 6 is formed below. The space between the storage box 3 and the heat insulating box 2 and the partition 4
The inside is a duct 8 as a series of cold air passages, and the inside of this duct 8 is divided into a discharge side duct 8A and a return side duct 8B by a dividing plate 9.

A support column 10 extending vertically is attached to the front opening of the heat insulating box body 2, and the opening is further divided into upper and lower parts in front of the partition part 4, and the front opening of the upper and lower storage chambers 5 and 6 partitioned by these. A pair of upper and lower insulated doors 11, 11 and 12, 12 are openably closed. Insulation box 2 top wall 2
A rectangular window hole 14 is opened in A.
The mounting base 15 is attached so as to close the above. A compressor 17, a condenser 18, and a condenser fan 19 which constitute the refrigeration system 16 are provided on the upper surface of the mounting base 15.
Are installed, and the front of these is hidden by a grill 21 having a control panel 20 and the like. A cooler 22 constituting the refrigeration system 16 is attached to the lower surface of the mounting base 15 and faces the duct 8 above the storage box 3, and a fan cover portion (not shown) formed in a drain pan 23 below the cooler 22 is provided. Correspondingly, a cooling fan 24 as an air blower is installed in the duct 8 in front of the cooler 22. Further, a defrost heater 56 as a defrosting unit is disposed in the cooler 22 in a heat exchange manner.

When the cooling fan 24 is operated, the cooler 2
The cold air cooled in 2 is blown out to the discharge side duct 8A of the duct 8 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3, flows backward from the upper surface of the storage box 3, flows into the partition section 4, and then makes a U-turn to make a lower spine. And the return duct 8 flowing under the bottom surface of the storage box 3.
Circulation is carried out by flowing into B and ascending the return duct 8B to return to the suction side of the cooler 22. The wall surface of the storage box 3 is cooled by the cold air circulation, and the storage boxes 3 and 5 are stored in the upper and lower storage chambers 5 and 6.
It is indirectly cooled from the wall surface.

On the other hand, inside the column 10, an outside air introducing duct 26 communicating with the outside is formed at a communicating portion 25 at the front end of the top wall 2A of the heat insulating box 2. The outside air introducing duct 26 communicates with the insides of the upper and lower storage chambers 5 and 6 and the outlets 27 and 28, respectively, from which outside air containing moisture is connected to the upper and lower storage chambers 5, 6.
The structure is introduced in 6 as indicated by the arrow in the figure. In this way, the upper and lower storage chambers 5 and 6 receive indirect cooling from the wall surface of the storage box 3 and the outside air containing a large amount of water is introduced from the outside air introducing duct 26, so that the inside thereof is controlled by the control device 40 described later, for example. Cooling is maintained at a high humidity of 80% to 90% within a range of 5 ° C to + 13 ° C.

The upper surface of the storage box 3 is inclined rearward low, and the dew receiving plate 30 inclined along this inclination is arranged in the upper part of the upper storage chamber 5. In addition, the dew receiving plate 31 that is inclined rearward is arranged in the upper portion of the lower storage chamber 6 as well, and
A communication pipe 32, which communicates the upper and lower storage chambers 5 and 6 and opens above the dew receiving plate 31, is attached to the partition section 4. Furthermore,
The storage box 3 at the bottom of the lower storage chamber 6 has a drainage path 33 for discharging drain water.

In FIG. 1, the controller 40 is a one-chip C
Comprised of a microcomputer 41 composed of PU,
The microcomputer 41 has a setting switch 4
2 and the output of the set value varying unit 43 are input, and further, the inside temperature sensor 44 provided on the upper side of the dew receiving plate 30 so as to detect the temperature inside the upper storage chamber 5, and the temperature inside the return side duct 8B are detected. The output of the control sensor 45 provided on the suction side of the cooler 22 for detection and the output of the defrosting end temperature sensor 53 provided on the cooler 22 for detecting a predetermined defrosting end temperature of the cooler 22 are output. It is input via the sensor signal amplifier 46. The setting changeover switch 42 and the set value varying section 43 are arranged on the control panel 20.
Similarly, the control panel 20 is provided with a temperature display portion 47, and the temperature display portion 47 is provided in the microcomputer 4.
1 is connected to the output side. On the output side of the microcomputer 41, an output relay 48 for controlling the energization of the compressor 17 of the refrigeration system 16, an output relay 54 for controlling the energization of the cooling fan 24, and an output for controlling the energization of the defrost heater 56. The relay 55 is connected. In addition, the microcomputer 41 is a ROM 50 that contains a program.
And a RAM 51 as a memory is built in.

Next, the operation of the microcomputer 41 will be described with reference to FIG. 4, the uppermost stage shows the temperature of the cooler 22 sensed by the defrosting end temperature sensor 53, and the second stage shows the temperature inside the upper storage chamber 5 sensed by the in-compartment temperature sensor 44. Hereinafter, the compressor 17 and the cooling fan 2
Operation of 4 and defrost heater 56, energization (ON), stop
A de-energized (OFF) situation is shown.

When the user operates the setting changeover switch 42, the microcomputer 41 is switched to the setting mode, and then the set value changing section 43 is used, for example, within the desired storage chamber within the range of -5 ° C to + 13 ° C. Set the temperature setting value. This setting mode is canceled after a predetermined time, but during the setting mode, the microcomputer 41 displays the set value on the temperature display section 47, and in other cases, the inside temperature sensor 44
The temperature in the upper storage chamber 5 is displayed based on the above.

The microcomputer 41 itself determines the temperature setting value in the duct on the basis of the temperature setting value in the storage room set as described above, for example, with a predetermined temperature difference, and the temperature setting value in the duct and the control sensor 43 are determined. The compressor 17 is operated / stopped by comparing the temperature inside the duct 8 based on it and turning the output relay 48 ON / OFF between a predetermined upper limit temperature and a lower limit temperature. On the other hand, output relay 5
4 is kept ON, the cooling fan 24 is continuously operated, and the cool air that has exchanged heat with the cooler 22 is forcedly circulated in the duct 8 to average the temperature in the duct 8 and control it to the temperature set value in the duct. To execute.

On the other hand, the microcomputer 41 integrates the operating time of the compressor 17, and when the predetermined integrated value is reached, the output relay 48 is turned off and the compressor 17 is stopped at time t3 in FIG. At this time, the output relay 54 remains ON and the cooling fan 24 continues to operate. At the same time, the output relay 55 is turned ON, and the defrost heater 56 is energized to generate heat.
The defrosting operation of the cooler 22 is started. Due to the heat generated by the defrosting heater 56, the temperature of the cooler 22 sensed by the defrosting end temperature sensor 53 rises from time t3, and the frost on the cooler is melted. As the temperature of the cooler 22 rises, the temperature of the air in the duct 8 that exchanges heat with the cooler 22 also rises, and this warm air is forcedly circulated in the duct 8 by the cooling fan 24, so the temperature of the storage box 3 also rises. The frost that has grown on the inner wall surface of the storage box 3 is also melted. As the temperature of the storage box 3 rises, the temperature of the upper storage chamber 5 sensed by the internal temperature sensor 44 also rises, but it is considered to be sufficient to melt the frost on the inner wall surface of the storage box 3 at time t4, + 4 ° C. When the temperature inside the upper storage chamber 5 rises, the microcomputer 41 turns off the output relay 54 based on the output of the inside temperature sensor 44 to stop the operation of the cooling fan 24. Therefore, the forced circulation of the warm air into the duct 8 is stopped, and the further temperature increase in the upper and lower storage chambers 5, 6 is suppressed, and the upper and lower storage chambers 5, 6 are
Deterioration of the quality of fresh food stored in 6 is suppressed.

Here, the microcomputer 41 continues the defrosting operation of the cooler 22 by the heat generation of the defrosting heater 56 after the time t4, and the temperature of the cooler 22 detected by the defrosting end temperature sensor 53 is detected at the time t5. When it reaches + 10 ° C., the output relay 55 is turned off, the heat generation of the defrost heater 56 is stopped, and the defrost operation of the cooler 22 is completed. In this case, since the operation of the cooling fan 24 is stopped after the time t4, the heat of the defrost heater 56 is used exclusively for heating the cooler 22, so that the defrosting after the time t4 shown in FIG. The rising angle of the temperature of the cooler 22 sensed by the temperature sensor 53 is steeper than the rising angle of the temperature of the cooler shown in FIG. That is, since the frost melting of the cooler 22 is promoted after the time t4, as a result, the time from the time t3 to the time t5 spent for the defrosting operation of the present invention shown in FIG. 4 is the same as that shown in FIG. It becomes shorter than the defrosting operation time from time t1 to time t2 in the case of the conventional defrosting operation. Therefore, the temperature rise in the upper and lower storage chambers 5 and 6 due to the stop of the cooling operation is further suppressed, and the defrosting operation is shortened to contribute to energy saving.

When the defrosting operation is completed, the microcomputer 41 resumes the ON-OFF operation of the compressor 17 and the cooling operation by the continuous operation of the cooling fan 24, so that the temperatures of the upper and lower storage chambers 5 and 6 are lowered again. go. Although the defrosting operation is started by integrating the operation time of the compressor 17 in the embodiment, the defrosting operation may be started at a predetermined time or every predetermined time. Further, in the embodiment, the end of the defrosting operation is detected by detecting the temperature of the cooler 22 by the defrosting end temperature sensor 53, but the present invention is also applicable to a method of energizing the defrosting heater 56 for a predetermined time. It is valid.

[0023]

According to the high humidity cooling storage of the present invention, the defrosting means and the air blowing means are operated during defrosting of the cooler to melt the frost on the cooler and to prevent frost on the inner wall surface of the storage box. Melting is also performed, and the operation of the blowing unit is stopped when the temperature in the storage chamber rises to a predetermined temperature, so that an excessive temperature rise in the storage chamber is suppressed. In addition, the defrosting of the cooler itself is also promoted by stopping the air blowing means, and the defrosting operation time is shortened. Prevents quality deterioration,
In addition, it is possible to contribute to energy saving.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a controller for a high-humidity cooled storage according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the high-humidity cooling storage cabinet of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the high-humidity cold storage of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the temperature transition of each part and the operating condition of the equipment under the control of the controller of the high humidity cooling storage according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a temperature transition of each part and an operation state of equipment by a conventional high humidity cooling storage.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 High-humidity Cooling Storage 2 Insulation Box 3 Storage Box 5 Upper Storage Room 6 Lower Storage Room 8 Duct 16 Refrigerator 17 Compressor 22 Cooler 24 Cooling Fan 40 Control Device 41 Microcomputer 44 Internal Temperature Sensor 45 Control Sensor 53 Except Defrost end temperature sensor 56 Defrost heater

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heat-conductive storage box is provided in the heat-insulating box at a predetermined distance from the heat-insulating box, a storage chamber is formed in the storage box, and the space is a duct. In a high-humidity cooling storage configured to indirectly cool the storage chamber by circulating cold air into the cooler, a cooler, a blowing unit that circulates air that has exchanged heat with the cooler in the duct, and the cooling Defrosting means for the cooler, an internal temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the storage chamber, and a control means, which controls the defrosting means and the blowing means during defrosting of the cooler. A high-humidity cooling storage cabinet which is operated and which stops the air blower when the temperature in the storage chamber based on the internal temperature sensor rises to a predetermined temperature.