JPH11311471A - Method for controlling refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent vegetables from being frozen without providing any exclusive heater on the bottom surface of a vegetable chamber, by operating a defrosting heater for refrigeration when the temperature measured by a fresh air temperature sensor is lower than a set temperature while the operation is at halt. SOLUTION: It is detected whether temperature being detected by a refrigeration temperature sensor is lower than a stop temperature (0 deg.C) during refrigeration freezing operation, and operation is stopped when the temperature is low. It is detected whether the fresh air temperature being detected by a fresh air temperature sensor 102 is lower than a set temperature of 15 deg.C or not. When it is lower, food being accommodated in a refrigeration chamber 14 and a vegetable chamber 16 may be frozen, so that a defrosting heater 96 in an evaporator 50 for refrigeration is energized. Air being heated by the defrosting heater 96 flows into the refrigeration chamber 14 and the vegetable chamber 16, thus preventing the food from being frozen and low-temperature trouble. It is detected whether temperature in the refrigeration chamber is higher than a starting temperature of 5 deg.C or not. If it becomes higher than a starting temperature, the defrosting heater 96 of the evaporator 50 for refrigeration is stopped and refrigeration freezing operation is started.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a refrigerator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent refrigerators, there are refrigerators which are arranged in a refrigerator room, a vegetable room, and a freezing room from the top. In the case of this refrigerator, one evaporator is provided behind the freezer.
The freezing room, the refrigerator room, and the vegetable room were cooled by the evaporator.

[0003]

However, in the case of the refrigerator having the above structure, when the temperature of the room in which the refrigerator is placed (hereinafter referred to as the outside temperature) is low, a freezing room is provided directly below the vegetable room. For this reason, the temperature of the bottom of the vegetable compartment is affected by the temperature of the freezer compartment, and there is a problem that the stored vegetables freeze or cause a low-temperature failure.

For this reason, a dedicated heater is installed on the bottom of the vegetable compartment, and when the outside air temperature is low, the dedicated heater is energized to protect the vegetables and the like in order to prevent freezing.

However, there is a problem that providing such a dedicated heater increases the cost.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a method of controlling a refrigerator capable of preventing freezing of vegetables without providing a dedicated heater on the bottom of the vegetable compartment.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a refrigerator, comprising dividing a refrigerator body into a refrigerated space and a refrigerated space by vertically dividing the main body of the refrigerator by a heat insulating partition.
A first refrigeration room and a second refrigeration room are provided in order from the top, and a freezing room is provided in the freezing space, and a refrigeration evaporator for the first refrigeration room and the second refrigeration room and a refrigeration evaporator for the freezing room are provided. A three-way valve for switching between a first refrigerant flow for flowing the refrigerant from the compressor to the refrigerating evaporator and the refrigerating evaporator and a second refrigerant flow for flowing the refrigerant from the compressor only to the refrigerating evaporator. And a refrigerator that performs a refrigeration / freezing operation in which only the first refrigeration compartment, the second refrigeration compartment, and the freezing compartment is cooled by the first refrigerant flow, and a refrigeration-only operation in which only the freezing compartment is cooled by the second refrigerant flow. A defrosting heater for refrigeration that heats the evaporator for defrosting, and an outside air temperature sensor that measures the outside air temperature of the refrigerator are provided. If the temperature is low, the refrigerating defrost heater is operated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a refrigerator.
In the thing, provided with a refrigeration blower in the refrigeration evaporator,
When the refrigerating defrost heater is operated, the refrigerating blower is also driven.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a refrigerator.
In the thing, provided with a refrigeration blower in the refrigeration evaporator,
The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 4 in which the refrigeration blower is driven in the opposite direction when the refrigeration defrost heater is operated, in the first aspect, wherein the second refrigeration room is a vegetable room.

According to the control method of the refrigerator of the first aspect, when the outside air temperature measured by the outside air temperature sensor is lower than the set temperature while the refrigeration operation is stopped, the refrigeration defrost heater is operated. Thus, the warm air heated by the refrigeration defrost heater flows into the first refrigeration room or the second refrigeration room, and the food stored in these rooms is prevented from freezing.

According to the control method of the refrigerator of the second and third aspects, when the refrigerating blower is driven, the warm air heated by the refrigerating defrost heater is forcibly forced into the first refrigerating chamber or the second refrigerating chamber.
The food is sent to the refrigerator compartment, and the food can be more reliably prevented from freezing.

According to the control method of the refrigerator of the fourth aspect, since the second refrigerator compartment is a vegetable compartment, it is possible to prevent the vegetables stored in the vegetable compartment from freezing even when the outside air temperature is low. Can be.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS.
Explanation will be given based on FIG.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the refrigerator 10 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the refrigerator 10 with each door opened.

First, a refrigerator 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
Will be described.

The cabinet 12 which is the main body of the refrigerator 10
Refrigerator room 14, vegetable room 16, temperature switching room 1
8, a freezing room 22 is provided. In addition, temperature switching room 1
An ice making chamber 20 is provided on the left side of 8. A heat insulating partition 24 is arranged between the vegetable room 16, the temperature switching room 18 and the ice making room 20.

The refrigerator compartment 14 is provided with a refrigerator compartment door 14a which is opened and closed by a hinge. In addition, this refrigerator room 1
In the lower part of 4, a chilled chamber 26 for maintaining the temperature in the refrigerator at about 0 ° C. is provided.

The vegetable compartment 16 is provided with a draw-out type vegetable compartment door 16a, and the vegetable container 28 can be pulled out together with the door.

The temperature switching chamber 18 is provided with a draw-out type temperature switching chamber door 18a.
Can be pulled out.

The freezer compartment 22 also has a drawer-type freezer compartment door 22a.
Is provided, and the freezing container 32 can be pulled out together with the door.

As shown in FIG. 4, an ice making device 34 is provided near the ceiling of the ice making room 20, and an ice storage container 36 is provided below the ice making device 34.

The ice making device 34 includes an ice tray 38, a driving unit 40 for rotating the ice tray 38, and an ice detecting lever 42 for detecting the amount of ice in the ice storage container 36. The tank 44 that supplies water to the ice tray 38 is provided on the left side of the chilled chamber 26.

Next, the refrigerator 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The structure and arrangement of the refrigeration cycle will be described.

First, as shown in FIG.
It is provided in the machine room 48 provided at the bottom of the cabinet 12, that is, at the rear lower part of the freezing room 22.

The refrigerator 10 has two evaporators, one for refrigeration and the other for freezing.
The refrigerator evaporator 50 is disposed behind the vegetable compartment 16, and the freezing evaporator 52 is provided at the rear upper portion of the freezer compartment 22. A refrigeration blower 54 is provided above the refrigeration evaporator 50, and a refrigeration blower 56 is provided above the refrigeration evaporator 52. In addition, refrigeration evaporator 5
Below 0, a defrost heater 96 composed of a glass tube heater is provided. Below the freezing evaporator 52, a defrost heater 98 made of a glass tube heater is provided.

The left side wall and the bottom plate of the temperature switching chamber 18 have a heat insulating structure. Thereby, the temperature switching chamber 1
Even if the inside temperature of the refrigerator 8 is set to the same temperature as that of the refrigerator compartment, there is no influence of the temperature from the freezer compartment 22 and the like existing around the refrigerator compartment. Further, since the back plate of the temperature switching chamber 18 also has a heat insulating structure, it is not affected by the temperature from the refrigerating evaporator 52.

The condenser 62 includes, as shown in FIG.
It is formed into a plate shape by bending a plurality of times, and as shown in FIG.
It is arranged below the bottom of the freezer compartment 22. The accumulator 74 is mounted on the right side of the freezing evaporator 52 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the arrangement of the refrigeration cycle apparatus, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the refrigerant flow path. Hereinafter, the flow of the refrigerant will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

The refrigerant flowing out of the compressor 46 is supplied to the muffler 5
8, through the heat radiating pipe 60, the condenser 62, the dew-proof pipe 64, and the dryer 66 to reach the three-way valve 68. In the three-way valve 68, the refrigerant flow path branches, one of which is directed to the refrigeration capillary tube 70, and the other is directed to the refrigeration capillary tube 72. From the refrigerating capillary tube 70 to the refrigerating evaporator 50, one is provided at the outlet side of the refrigerating capillary tube 72, and then to the refrigerating evaporator 52. Thereafter, the flow returns to the compressor 46 through the accumulator 74 and the suction pipe 76.

The case where the refrigerator compartment 14, the vegetable compartment 16, the freezing compartment 22, and the like are cooled will be described.

When cooling all of the refrigerator compartment 14, the vegetable compartment 16, the ice making compartment 20, and the freezing compartment 22, the three-way valve 68 is provided with a dryer 66 in the refrigerant flow path in FIG.
Is switched to the direction in which the refrigerant from the refrigerant flows into the evaporator 50 for refrigeration. Accordingly, the refrigerant flows through the capillary tube 70 for refrigeration, the evaporator 50 for refrigeration, and the evaporator 52 for freezing. Therefore, the refrigerating evaporator 50 and the freezing evaporator 52 are cooled. In this case, the refrigeration blower 54 and the refrigeration blower 56 are driven to send the cooled air into the refrigeration room 14, the vegetable room 16, the freezing room 22, and the like. This operation state is a refrigeration / freezing operation.

On the other hand, when it is desired to cool only the freezing room 22 and the ice making room 20, the three-way valve 68 is switched so that the refrigerant flows from the freezing capillary tube 72 to the freezing evaporator 52. As a result, the refrigerant does not flow through the refrigeration evaporator 50 and only the refrigeration evaporator 52 is cooled, so that only the ice making chamber 20 and the freezing chamber 22 are cooled. This is a refrigeration-only operation.

Next, the flow of cool air in the refrigeration cycle having the above-described structure will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the flow of the cool air cooled by the cooling evaporator 50 will be described.

The cool air cooled by the cooler evaporator 50 is sent by the cooler blower 54 to the cooler branch space 78 located behind the vegetable compartment 16. The upper portion of the refrigeration branch space 78 is connected to a refrigeration duct 80 provided on the back of the refrigeration compartment 14, and cool air is sent to the refrigeration duct 80. As shown in FIG. 3, the refrigeration duct 80 is bifurcated at the lower portion of the refrigeration compartment 14 and has a substantially U-shaped shape. Cool air outlets 82 are provided at predetermined intervals on the front surface of the refrigeration duct 80, and cool air is blown into the refrigeration compartment 14 from these outlets 82. The cool air that has cooled the refrigerating compartment 14 passes below the chilled compartment 26 and the tank 44 (see FIG. 4), and flows to return ducts 84 provided on the left and right sides of the refrigerating blower 54 and the refrigerating evaporator 50 (see FIG. 3). ), And is blown below the refrigeration evaporator 50. Then, the cool air is cooled again by the refrigeration evaporator 50 and reaches the position of the refrigeration blower 54.

On the other hand, from the refrigerated branch space 78, the vegetable room 1
6. Cold air is blown toward the lower rear part of
Is cooled (see FIG. 4). This cold air flows from the bottom of the vegetable container 28 toward the front, and reaches the return duct 88 provided inside the upper partition body 86 separating the refrigerator compartment 14 and the vegetable compartment 16 (see FIG. 4). The return duct 88 is connected to the return duct 84, and the cool air that has cooled the vegetable compartment 16 also circulates below the refrigeration evaporator 50 (see FIG. 3).

Next, the flow of the cool air cooled by the freezing evaporator 52 will be described.

The refrigeration blower 56 cooled by the refrigeration evaporator 52 reaches the refrigeration branch space 90. The upper part of the freezing branch space 90 communicates with the ice making device 34, and cool air blows out from the upper part to the ice making device 34. The lower part of the freezing branch space 90 communicates with a hole 33 opened in the back plate of the freezing container 32 of the freezing room 22, and cool air blows out from the lower part toward the inside of the freezing container 32.

The cold air that has cooled the ice making chamber 20 flows to the front of the freezing chamber 22, and the cool air that has cooled the inside of the freezing container 32 of the freezing chamber 22 flows to the front of the freezing chamber 22. Then, the cool air flows downward along the front surface of the freezing container 32 and reaches the return duct 92 through the bottom. The cool air flowing into the return duct 92 is circulated to the freezing evaporator 52.

On the right side of the freezing branch space 90, a damper device 94 for sending cool air to the temperature switching chamber 18 is provided. By opening and closing the damper of the damper device 94, the amount of cold air sent to the temperature switching chamber 18 is adjusted. Then, the temperature in the refrigerator is adjusted. The cool air that has cooled the temperature switching chamber 18 is supplied to the temperature switching chamber 18.
Return duct 9 that leads from the bottom to the evaporator 52 for freezing
5 and circulates to a freezing evaporator 52.

Next, the configuration of the electric system of the refrigerator 10 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

A control unit 100 for controlling the refrigerator 10
Comprises a microcomputer, and is provided on the upper rear surface of the cabinet 12 as shown in FIG. An external air temperature sensor 102 for detecting an external air temperature is also provided on a substrate of the control unit 100.

As shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 100 includes a compressor 48, a three-way valve 68, a refrigeration blower 54, a refrigeration blower 56, an ice making device 34, an outside air temperature sensor 102, and a defrost heater for a refrigeration evaporator. 96 and a defrost heater 98 for a freezing evaporator
Is connected. In addition, a refrigeration temperature sensor 104 that detects a refrigeration temperature that is the temperature of the refrigeration compartment 14 is provided near the outlet 82 of the refrigeration compartment 14. The refrigeration temperature sensor is connected to the control unit 100.

(Embodiment 1) A control method of Embodiment 1 for preventing food and vegetables stored in the refrigerator compartment 14 and the vegetable compartment 16 in the refrigerator 10 from being frozen will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step 1, a refrigeration / freezing operation is performed.

In step 2, during the refrigeration and freezing operation,
The temperature detected by the refrigeration temperature sensor 104 is the stop temperature (0
° C), and if the temperature is lower than the stop temperature, the process proceeds to step 3; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 2.

In step 3, the refrigerating and freezing operation is stopped because the temperature of the refrigerating compartment is lower than the stop temperature. When the temperature of the freezer compartment 22 is higher than the set temperature, the three-way valve 6
8, the operation of the compressor 68 is stopped when the temperature of the freezing compartment 22 is low.
Then, the process proceeds to Step 4.

In step 4, the outside air temperature sensor 102
Detects whether the detected outside air temperature is lower than the set temperature (15 ° C.). If the detected outside air temperature is lower than the set temperature, the process proceeds to step 5; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 6.

In step 5, since the outside air temperature is lower than the set temperature, there is a possibility that the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 14 or the vegetable compartment 16 may be frozen. Therefore, the defrost heater of the refrigerator evaporator 50 is used. 96 is energized. This defrost heater 9
The air heated by 6 is supplied to the refrigerator compartment 14 and the vegetable compartment 16.
To prevent freezing and low temperature damage of the food.
Then, the process proceeds to step 6.

In step 6, it is detected whether or not the refrigerator compartment temperature is higher than the starting temperature (5 ° C.). If the temperature is lower than the starting temperature, the state of step 6 is continued. If the temperature is higher than the starting temperature, the process proceeds to step 7. .

In step 7, the defrost heater 96 of the refrigerating evaporator 50 is stopped, and the process returns to step 1 to start the refrigerating and freezing operation.

As shown in the above control method, when the outside air temperature is lower than the set temperature, the defrost heater 9 of the refrigeration evaporator 50 is used.
6 is energized and warm air is sent to the refrigerator compartment 14 and the vegetable compartment 16 to prevent the food stored therein from freezing and preventing low-temperature damage.

(Embodiment 2) Next, Embodiment 2 of the above control method will be described.

In the first embodiment, the defrost heater 96 is operated or stopped depending on whether the outside air temperature is higher or lower than the set temperature. In the second embodiment, however, the lower the outside air temperature, the more the defrosting heater 96 is removed. This is to lengthen the energization time of the frost heater 96. In other words, if the outside air temperature is low, the stored food is more likely to cause a low-temperature failure. Therefore, as the outside air temperature is low, the energization time of the defrost heater 96 is increased, and warmer warm air is sent to prevent freezing and low-temperature failure of the food. It is to prevent.

Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment of the above-described control method will be described.

In the first embodiment, the defrost heater 96 is continuously energized. However, in the third embodiment, the defrost heater 96 is formed of a glass tube heater. is there. That is, the defrost heater 96
Is 1 for a 400-liter class refrigerator, for example.
Although it is about 50 W, in the above-mentioned control method, a necessary amount of heating for preventing freezing of food and the like is 5 to 10 W. Therefore, the duty ratio for the defrost heater 96 is set to 5%. More specifically, after the defrost heater 96 is energized for 5 seconds, the energization is stopped for 95 seconds. By repeating such a heater energizing cycle, power can be saved and the life of the defrost heater 96 can be ensured.

(Fourth Embodiment) In the control method of the fourth embodiment, in addition to the control method of the first embodiment, when the defrost heater 96 is energized, the refrigerating blower 54 is simultaneously rotated. Thereby, since the warm air heated by the defrost heater 96 is forcibly sent to the refrigerator compartment 14 and the vegetable compartment 16, it is possible to more reliably prevent the food from freezing and preventing low-temperature damage.

(Fifth Embodiment) The difference between the fifth embodiment and the fourth embodiment described above is that in the fourth embodiment, the refrigeration blower 54 is rotated in the normal direction, and cool air is refrigerated from the refrigeration duct 80 shown in FIG. Ventilation room 14 sends warm air to vegetable room 16 and vegetable room 16
Was sending warm air from behind. Instead of this, in the fifth embodiment, the rotation direction of the refrigeration blower 54 is reversed and rotated in the opposite direction, and warm air is sent from the return ducts 84 and 86.

In this manner, warm air is reduced in the vegetable room 16.
This control method is effective when it is not necessary to send warm air into the refrigerator compartment 14.

[0060]

As described above, according to the control method of the refrigerator of the present invention, even when the outside air temperature is low, the warm air of the defrost heater can be sent to the first refrigerator compartment and the second refrigerator compartment. It is possible to prevent the food stored therein from freezing and preventing low-temperature damage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the cabinet with the door opened.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view at the rear of a refrigerator cabinet.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a layout diagram of each device constituting the refrigeration cycle.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a refrigerant flow path.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an electric system of the refrigerator.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a control method when the outside air temperature is low.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Refrigerator 12 Cabinet 14 Refrigerating room 16 Vegetable room 18 Temperature switching room 20 Ice making room 22 Freezing room 50 Refrigerating evaporator 52 Refrigerating evaporator 54 Refrigerating fan 56 Refrigerating fan 96 Defrost heater 98 Defrost heater 100 Control part 102 Outside temperature sensor 104 Refrigeration temperature sensor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerator body is vertically divided by a heat insulating partition and divided into a refrigerated space and a refrigerated space. In the refrigerated space, a first refrigerated room and a second refrigerated room are provided in order from the top. A first evacuation chamber for the first refrigerating chamber and the second evacuation chamber for the second refrigerating chamber, and a first evaporator for the freezing chamber. And a three-way valve for switching the refrigerant flow from the compressor to a second refrigerant flow for flowing the refrigerant from the compressor only to the refrigerating evaporator. The first refrigerant flow allows the first refrigerator compartment, the second refrigerator compartment, and the freezer compartment. A defrosting heater for heating a refrigerating evaporator to perform defrosting in a refrigerator performing a refrigeration freezing operation for cooling only and a refrigeration only operation for cooling only a freezing room by a second refrigerant flow; An outside temperature sensor that measures the temperature is installed to stop refrigeration and freezing operation. Outside air temperature when the outside air temperature measured by the sensor is lower than the set temperature, the refrigerator control method characterized by operating the refrigerating defrosting heater during. 2. The method of controlling a refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a refrigeration blower is provided in the refrigeration evaporator, and when the refrigeration defrost heater is operated, the refrigeration blower is also driven. 3. The method of controlling a refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a refrigeration blower is provided in the refrigeration evaporator, and the refrigeration blower is driven in the opposite direction when the refrigeration defrost heater is operated. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second refrigerator compartment is a vegetable compartment.