JP6970428B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a refrigerator for cooling and storing food or the like in a storage chamber, and more particularly to a refrigerator provided with a shielding device for appropriately blocking an air passage connected to the storage chamber.

Conventionally, a refrigerator as described in Patent Document 1 has been known in which a plurality of storage chambers are appropriately cooled by one cooler. FIG. 8 schematically shows the refrigerator 100 described in this document. In the refrigerator 100 shown in this figure, a refrigerating chamber 101, a freezing chamber 102, and a vegetable compartment 103 are formed from above. A cooling chamber 104 in which the cooler 108 is housed is formed on the back side of the freezing chamber 102, and cold air is supplied to each storage chamber on the partition wall 105 that separates the cooling chamber 104 and the freezing chamber 102. The opening 106 for the purpose is formed. Further, a blower fan 107 for blowing cold air is disposed in the opening 106, and a blower cover 110 for covering the blower fan 107 is arranged on the freezing chamber 102 side. A damper 114 is arranged in the middle of the air passage 109 through which the cold air supplied to the refrigerating chamber 101 flows.

The blower cover 110 described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The blower cover 110 is formed with a recess 111 having a substantially quadrangular shape, and an opening 113 is formed by partially cutting out the upper portion of the recess 111. Here, in the situation where the blower cover 110 covers the blower fan 107 described above, the opening 113 of the blower cover 110 communicates with the air passage 109 on the refrigerator main body side.

The refrigerator 100 having the above configuration operates as follows. With reference to FIG. 8, first, when cooling both the refrigerating chamber 101 and the freezing chamber 102, the blower cover 110 is separated from the blower fan 107, the damper 114 is opened, and the blower fan 107 is rotated in this state. Then, a part of the cold air cooled by the cooler 108 inside the cooling chamber 104 is blown to the freezing chamber 102 by the blowing wind of the blowing fan 107. Further, the other part of the cold air is blown to the refrigerating chamber 101 via the air passage 109, the damper 114, and the air passage 109. As a result, both the freezing chamber 102 and the refrigerating chamber 101 are cooled.

On the other hand, when cooling only the refrigerating chamber 101, the blower fan 107 is covered with the blower cover 110, the damper 114 is opened, and the cold air cooled by the cooler 108 is blown by the blower fan 107 in this state. When the blower cover 110 is closed, the opening 113 formed in the upper part of the blower cover 110 communicates with the air passage 109. Therefore, the cold air blown by the blower fan 107 is supplied to the refrigerating chamber 101 via the above-mentioned opening 113, the damper 114, and the air passage 109.

As described above, by using the blower cover 110 having the opening 113 formed therein, it is possible to appropriately cool a plurality of storage chambers with one cooler 108.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-2664

However, in the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1, in order to precisely control the amount of cold air blown by the blower cover 110, it is necessary to precisely control the position of the blower cover 110, but the position of the blower cover 110 is changed. There was a problem that was not always easy to identify. As a countermeasure for this, it is conceivable to constantly monitor the position of the blower cover 110 using a position sensor and control the opening / closing degree of the blower cover 110 based on the output of the position sensor. However, there is a problem that the cost of the entire refrigerator is improved by adopting the position sensor.

As another countermeasure, as an initial operation of the refrigerator, the blower cover 110 is moved to the end of the movable range to specify the initial position of the blower cover 110 and control the opening and closing of the blower cover 110 based on the initial position. It is also possible to do. However, in such an initial operation, in order to reliably move the blower cover 110 to the end portion, the drive mechanism may continue to exert the driving force even after the blower cover 110 reaches the end portion. There is a risk that noise will be generated due to the operation of such a drive mechanism.

Further, even during normal refrigerator operation, the blower cover 110 appropriately opens and closes, but when the blower cover 110 comes into contact with the partition wall 105 to close the air passage 109, a loud contact noise is generated. It is possible that there is a risk of doing so.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to suppress the generation of abnormal noise due to the positioning and opening / closing operation of the cover of the shielding device that appropriately closes the air passage. It is to provide a refrigerator.

The refrigerator of the present invention has a cooling cycle cooler for cooling the air supplied to the storage chamber, a cooling chamber in which the cooler is arranged and an air outlet connected to the storage chamber is formed, and the air outlet. A blower that blows the supplied air toward the storage chamber, a shielding device that at least partially closes the air outlet, and a control device that controls the operation of the refrigerating cycle, the blower, and the shielding device. The shielding device includes a blower cover that covers the blower, a drive mechanism that opens and closes the blower cover, and an elastic member that the blower cover comes into contact with when covering the blower. The blower is supported by a support portion penetrating the main surface portion of the blower cover, and the elastic member is supported by the elastic member. disposed between the supporting portion and the blower, and is disposed between the blower cover and the supporting portion, characterized in Rukoto.

The refrigerator of the present invention has a cooling cycle cooler for cooling the air supplied to the storage chamber, a cooling chamber in which the cooler is arranged and an air outlet connected to the storage chamber is formed, and the air outlet. A blower that blows the supplied air toward the storage chamber, a shielding device that at least partially closes the air outlet, and a control device that controls the operation of the refrigerating cycle, the blower, and the shielding device. comprising the shielding device comprises a blower cover for covering the fan, a drive mechanism for opening and closing the blower cover has an elastic member abutting when said fan cover covering said blower, said drive mechanism A drive shaft that penetrates the blower cover and forms a screw mechanism. The control device rotates the drive shaft with a motor as an initial operation to bring the blower cover into contact with the elastic member. Even after the blower cover comes into contact with the elastic member, an overstep operation of rotating the motor in the direction in which the blower cover is closed is executed, and after the overstep operation, the motor is rotated in the reverse direction in the direction in which the blower cover is opened. It is characterized by letting it.

Further, the refrigerator of the present invention is characterized in that the contact portion of the main surface portion in contact with the elastic member is projected toward the elastic member from the main surface portion of another portion.

Further, in the refrigerator of the present invention, the elastic member is a rubber member attached to the tip end side of the support portion, and the rubber member includes a first annular portion, a second annular portion, and the first annular portion. The blower has a flange portion that protrudes outward in the radial direction, and the support portion has the said support portion. It is inserted inside the tubular portion of the rubber member, the flange portion of the blower abuts on the tubular portion of the rubber member from the outside, and the blower cover is closed when the rubber member is closed. It is characterized in that it comes into contact with the first annular portion.

The refrigerator of the present invention has a cooling cycle cooler for cooling the air supplied to the storage chamber, a cooling chamber in which the cooler is arranged and an air outlet connected to the storage chamber is formed, and the air outlet. A blower that blows the supplied air toward the storage chamber, a shielding device that at least partially closes the air outlet, and a control device that controls the operation of the refrigerating cycle, the blower, and the shielding device. The shielding device includes a blower cover that covers the blower, a drive mechanism that opens and closes the blower cover, and an elastic member that the blower cover comes into contact with when covering the blower. The blower is supported by a support portion penetrating the main surface portion of the blower cover, and the elastic member is supported by the elastic member. disposed between the supporting portion and the blower, and is disposed between the blower cover and the supporting portion, characterized in Rukoto. Therefore, the elastic member has a function of suppressing conduction of vibration generated when the blower rotates to the support member by being arranged between the support portion and the blower. Further, the elastic member is also arranged between the support portion and the blower cover, so that when the blower cover is closed, the main surface portion of the blower cover comes into contact with the elastic member, so that contact noise is generated. It can be deterred.

The refrigerator of the present invention has a cooling cycle cooler for cooling the air supplied to the storage chamber, a cooling chamber in which the cooler is arranged and an air outlet connected to the storage chamber is formed, and the air outlet. A blower that blows the supplied air toward the storage chamber, a shielding device that at least partially closes the air outlet, and a control device that controls the operation of the refrigerating cycle, the blower, and the shielding device. comprising the shielding device comprises a blower cover for covering the fan, a drive mechanism for opening and closing the blower cover has an elastic member abutting when said fan cover covering said blower, said drive mechanism A drive shaft that penetrates the blower cover and forms a screw mechanism. The control device rotates the drive shaft with a motor as an initial operation to bring the blower cover into contact with the elastic member. Even after the blower cover comes into contact with the elastic member, an overstep operation of rotating the motor in the direction in which the blower cover is closed is executed, and after the overstep operation, the motor is rotated in the reverse direction in the direction in which the blower cover is opened. It is characterized by letting it. Therefore, by moving the blower cover away from the elastic member after the overstep operation, the blower cover can be separated from the elastic member and vibration generated from the rotating blower can be prevented from being conducted to the blower cover. ..

Further, the refrigerator of the present invention is characterized in that the contact portion of the main surface portion in contact with the elastic member is projected toward the elastic member from the main surface portion of another portion. Therefore, when the blower cover is moved toward the elastic member side when the blower cover is closed, the contact portion formed on the main surface portion of the blower cover can be surely brought into contact with the elastic member, and the noise reduction effect is remarkable. Can be.

Further, in the refrigerator of the present invention, the elastic member is a rubber member attached to the tip end side of the support portion, and the rubber member includes a first annular portion, a second annular portion, and the first annular portion. The blower has a flange portion that protrudes outward in the radial direction, and the support portion has the said support portion. It is inserted inside the tubular portion of the rubber member, the flange portion of the blower abuts on the tubular portion of the rubber member from the outside, and the blower cover is closed when the rubber member is closed. It is characterized in that it comes into contact with the first annular portion. Therefore, when the flange portion of the blower comes into contact with the rubber member as the elastic body, the vibration generated from the rotating blower is suppressed from being conducted to the support portion. Further, when the blower cover is closed, it comes into contact with the first annular portion of the rubber member, so that the contact noise is suppressed due to the closing operation of the blower cover.

It is a figure which shows the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention, (A) is a front view, (B) is a side sectional view. It is an exploded perspective view which shows the shielding device which the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention has. It is a figure which shows the shielding device which the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention has, (A) is the sectional view which shows the shielding device of a non-closed state, (B) is the sectional view which shows the shielding device of a closed state. .. It is a figure which shows the shielding device which the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention has, (A) is a perspective view, (B) is an enlarged perspective view of the shielding device in a non-closed state, (C) is closed It is an enlarged perspective view of the shielding device in a close state, and (D) is a cut enlarged perspective view of the shielding device in a closed state. It is a block diagram which shows the connection structure of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the cooling operation of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention as a whole. It is a flowchart which shows the initial operation of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged side view which shows the refrigerator which concerns on the background technology. It is a perspective view which shows the blower cover adopted in the refrigerator which concerns on the background technology.

Hereinafter, the refrigerator 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same members are designated by the same reference numerals in principle, and the repeated description will be omitted. Further, in the following description, each direction of up, down, front, back, left and right is appropriately used, and the left and right indicate the left and right when the refrigerator 10 is viewed from the front.

A schematic configuration of the refrigerator 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1A is a front view showing the configuration of each air passage of the refrigerator 10, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator 10. In FIG. 1A, the portion where the air passage is formed is shown by hatching, and in FIG. 1B, the portion where the heat insulating material is formed is shown by hatching.

With reference to FIG. 1B, the refrigerator 10 includes a heat insulating box 11 as a main body, and a storage chamber for storing food or the like is formed inside the heat insulating box 11. As this storage chamber, a freezing chamber 15 is formed in the upper stage, and a refrigerating chamber 16 is formed in the lower stage. Here, instead of the freezing chamber 15, it is possible to form a changing greenhouse in which the indoor temperature can be changed from the refrigerating temperature zone to the freezing temperature zone.

The front surface of the heat insulating box 11 is open, and the heat insulating doors 17 and 18 are provided in the openings corresponding to the storage chambers so as to be openable and closable, respectively. The heat insulating door 17 closes the front surface of the freezing chamber 15, and the upper and lower left upper and lower ends of the heat insulating door 17 are rotatably supported by the heat insulating box body 11. Similarly, the heat insulating door 18 closes the front surface of the refrigerating chamber 16, and the upper and lower left upper and lower ends of the heat insulating door 18 are rotatably supported by the heat insulating box body 11.

The heat insulating box 11 which is the main body of the refrigerator 10 is arranged with a steel plate outer box 12 having an open front surface and a gap in the outer box 12, and a synthetic resin inner box 13 having an open front surface. It is composed of and. A heat insulating material 14 made of foamed polyurethane is filled and foamed in the gap between the outer box 12 and the inner box 13. The heat insulating doors 17 and 18 also adopt the same heat insulating structure as the heat insulating box 11.

The refrigerating chamber 16 and the freezing chamber 15 located below the refrigerating chamber 16 are partitioned by a heat insulating partition wall 19. The heat insulating partition wall 19 has a heat insulating structure similar to that of the heat insulating box 11.

Storage shelves are arranged inside the freezing chamber 15 and the refrigerating chamber 16. Further, in the lower part of the refrigerating chamber 16, a storage container 32 and a storage container 33 that can be pulled out in the front-rear direction are arranged.

Behind the freezing chamber 15, a shielding device 40 for adjusting the cold air supplied to each storage chamber is arranged. As will be described later, when the cloaking device 40 is in the non-closed state, the cold air blown from the blower 31 is blown to each storage chamber, and when the cloaking device 40 is in the closed state, the cooling chamber 20 and each air passage are separated. Can be blocked. The structure and operation of the shielding device 40 will be described later.

A cooling chamber 20 is formed further behind the freezing chamber 15, and a cooler 27, which is an evaporator for cooling the air circulating in the refrigerator, is arranged inside the cooling chamber 20.

The cooler 27 is connected to a compressor 35, a radiator (not shown), and a capillary tube which is an expansion means (not shown) via a refrigerant pipe, and constitutes a vapor compression refrigeration cycle circuit.

With reference to FIG. 1B, the front of the cooling chamber 20 is partitioned by a partition plate 36, and by opening the partition plate 36, an air outlet 30 through which cold air blown to each storage chamber flows is formed. Has been done. A blower 31 for blowing cold air is arranged in front of the blower port 30. As the blower 31, a centrifugal fan such as a turbo fan can be adopted, and the centrifugal fan blows air in the circumferential direction. Further, the shielding device 40 described above performs an opening / closing operation so as to cover the blower 31 and the blower port 30.

With reference to FIG. 1B, an outlet 21 is formed on the rear side surface of the freezing chamber 15 to blow out cold air, which is the air cooled by the cooler 27. Further, at the lower portion of the rear side surface of the freezing chamber 15, a return port 22 that communicates the lower portion of the freezing chamber 15 and the lower portion of the cooling chamber 20 is formed. As shown in FIG. 1 (A), the cold air is blown toward the surroundings by the blower 31 via the freezing chamber supply air passage 29, and then from the outlet 21 formed around the blower 31 to the freezing chamber 15. It is blown out to. Further, the cold air that has cooled the freezing chamber 15 returns to the cooling chamber 20 via the return port 22.

Further, a refrigerating chamber air passage 25 through which cold air blown to the refrigerating chamber 16 flows downward from the shielding device 40 is formed. The refrigerating chamber air passage 25 extends to the vicinity of the lower end of the refrigerating chamber 16. The refrigerating chamber air passage 25 and the refrigerating chamber 16 communicate with each other via a plurality of outlets 23. Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, the lower portion of the refrigerating chamber 16 and the cooling chamber 20 communicate with each other by the refrigerating chamber return air passage 26. Therefore, when cooling the refrigerating chamber 16, the cold air cooled by the cooler 27 inside the cooling chamber 20 is circulated through the refrigerating chamber air passage 25 via the air outlet 30 and the shielding device 40. , Is blown out from the outlet 23 to the refrigerator compartment 16. Further, the cold air that has cooled the refrigerating chamber 16 flows through the refrigerating chamber return air passage 26 shown in FIG. 1A and returns to the cooling chamber 20 from the return port 24 formed at the lower part of the cooling chamber 20.

A refrigerating room damper 34 is interposed in the refrigerating room air passage 25. The refrigerating chamber damper 34 is arranged near the rear of the heat insulating partition wall 19. When the refrigerating chamber damper 34 is opened, cold air can be blown from the cooling chamber 20 to the refrigerating chamber 16 via the refrigerating chamber air passage 25. On the other hand, when the refrigerating chamber damper 34 is closed, the refrigerating chamber air passage 25 is closed in the middle, and cold air is not blown to the refrigerating chamber 16 via the refrigerating chamber air passage 25.

Further, in the inside of the cooling chamber 20, below the cooler 27, a defrost heater 28 is provided as a defrosting means for melting and removing the frost adhering to the cooler 27. The defrost heater 28 is an electric resistance heating type heater.

With reference to FIG. 2, the configuration of the shielding device 40 adopted in the above-mentioned refrigerator 10 will be described. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing each member constituting the shielding device 40 in the front-rear direction. Here, the shielding device 40 is shown upside down.

The shielding device 40 has a blower cover 42 that covers the blower 31, and a shielding base 41 that attaches the blower cover 42 to the main body of the refrigerator 10. The main function of the cloaking device 40 is to appropriately put the above-mentioned blower 31 into a non-closed state or a closed state, so that the cold air blown by the rotation of the blower 31 is supplied to a desired storage chamber. Further, by closing the shielding device 40, the warm air generated in the defrosting process of the cooler 27 is prevented from flowing into the freezing chamber 15 and the like. Here, the warm air is the air heated by the defrost heater 28.

The blower cover 42 is formed by injection molding a synthetic resin material into a substantially lid shape, and has a main surface portion 50 having a substantially square shape when viewed from the front and a side surface portion 51 extending rearward from the peripheral edge portion of the main surface portion 50. have. A screw hole 39 is formed by circularly penetrating the vicinity of the center of the main surface portion 50, and a screw groove is formed by spirally recessing the inner side surface of the screw hole 39. The opening 38 is formed by opening the lower side surface portion 51 of the blower cover 42. The opening 38 has a rectangular shape formed elongated on the left and right sides when viewed from below. Since the opening 38 is formed, even when the shielding device 40 is closed, the cooling chamber 20 and the refrigerating chamber air passage 25 can communicate with each other via the opening 38. The insertion hole 54 is formed by opening the vicinity of the peripheral portion of the main surface portion 50 of the blower cover 42 in a circular shape. As will be described later, the insertion hole 54 is penetrated by the support portion 52 of the shielding base 41. The contact portion 53 is formed by raising the main surface portion 50 around the insertion hole 54 in an annular shape toward the rear side. As described above, the role of the blower cover 42 is to substantially close the blower 31 arranged in the blower port 30 of the cooling chamber 20.

The drive shaft 44 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and is provided with a screw thread (not shown) having a part of its side surface continuously projected in a spiral shape. Here, the screw thread formed on the side surface of the drive shaft 44 and the screw groove formed on the side surface of the screw hole 39 of the blower cover 42 are screwed together under usage conditions. That is, a screw mechanism is formed by the screw thread of the drive shaft 44 and the screw groove of the screw hole 39 of the blower cover 42. A stepping motor (not shown) is built in the drive shaft 44, and the drive shaft 44 rotates by a predetermined angle by the drive force of the motor. When the drive shaft 44 rotates clockwise, for example, when viewed from the front, the blower cover 42 separates from the shielding base 41, and the blower cover 42 closes the blower port 30 shown in FIG. 1B to close the drive shaft 44. Therefore, the cold air blown by the blower 31 is not supplied to the freezing chamber 15. On the other hand, when the drive shaft 44 rotates counterclockwise when viewed from the front, for example, the blower cover 42 moves toward the shielding base 41 side, and the blower port 30 shown in FIG. 1 (B) is not covered by the blower cover 42. , Will be in a non-closed state. Therefore, the cold air blown by the blower 31 is supplied to the freezing chamber 15 via this gap.

The shielding base 41 is a member made of a synthetic resin having a shape similar to that of the blower cover 42 described above. Inside the shielding base 41, a space is formed in which the blower cover 42 can be stored. The shielding base 41 is formed with a support portion 52 that protrudes in a columnar shape toward the rear. Here, three support portions 52 are formed around the drive shaft 44. The support portion 52 penetrates the insertion hole 54 of the blower cover 42 described above. The shielding base 41 is arranged between the rear side surface of the freezing chamber 15 and the partition plate 36 with reference to FIG. 1 (B), and is fixed to the heat insulating box body 11 side.

A rubber member 45 as an elastic member is fixed to the rear end of the support portion 52. The blower 31, which will be described later, is attached to the support portion 52 via the rubber member 45. As a result, the vibration generated from the rotating blower 31 is absorbed by the rubber member 45, and the vibration is suppressed from being conducted to the support portion 52. In particular, since the support portion 52 in the present embodiment is a long member that penetrates the blower cover 42 to support the blower 31, noise may be generated when a large vibration is conducted to the support portion 52. However, by attenuating the vibration with the rubber member 45, it is possible to prevent the support portion 52 from shaking and suppress the generation of noise.

The blower 31 has, for example, a blower fan 55 which is a centrifugal fan, a motor (not shown here) for rotating the blower fan 55, and a fan support portion 56 for rotatably supporting the blower fan 55 and the motor. The flange portion 49 is formed by partially projecting the outer peripheral portion of the fan support portion 56 toward the outside in the circumferential direction. The flange portion 49 exhibits an incomplete annular shape in which the outer peripheral end portion is open. The blower 31 is supported by the support portion 52 described above by fitting the collar portion 49 to the rubber member 45 described above.

Further, in the present embodiment, when the blower cover 42 is moved to the front side end portion, the main surface portion 50 of the blower cover 42 is brought into contact with the rubber member 45. Further, as will be described later, in the present embodiment, in order to detect the position of the blower cover 42 as an initial operation, the drive shaft 44 is rotated until the blower cover 42 comes into contact with another member and stops. .. At this time, the rubber member 45 comes into contact with the blower cover 42, so that noise generated during the initial operation can be suppressed.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the shielding device 40 assembled to the refrigerator 10. FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view showing a non-closed state shielding device 40, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view showing a closed state shielding device 40.

With reference to FIG. 3A, in the non-closed shielding device 40, the drive shaft 44 rotates counterclockwise, so that the blower cover 42 moves to the front end portion. That is, with reference to FIG. 1B, the rear end portion of the blower cover 42 does not abut on the partition plate 36 around the blower port 30. Further, the blower 31 which is a centrifugal fan blows air toward the centrifugal direction, but since the side surface portion 51 of the blower cover 42 is arranged in front of the blower 31, the blower of the blower 31 interferes with the blower cover 42. There is no such thing. Therefore, the cold air blown by the blower 31 is efficiently supplied to each storage chamber.

With reference to FIG. 3B, in the closed shielding device 40, the blower cover 42 is moved to the rear end portion by rotating the drive shaft 44 clockwise. That is, with reference to FIG. 1B, the rear end portion of the blower cover 42 is in contact with the partition plate 36 around the blower port 30 from the front. Further, the blower 31 which is a centrifugal fan blows air toward the centrifugal direction, but since the side surface portion 51 of the blower cover 42 is arranged on the side of the blower 31, the blower of the blower 31 is blocked by the blower cover 42. There is. On the other hand, the side surface portion 51 is not formed at the lower end portion of the blower cover 42, and a rectangular opening 38 is formed. As described above, cold air can be supplied to the refrigerating chamber 16 via the opening 38. At this time, the main surface portion 50 of the blower cover 42 is in contact with the rubber member 45 attached to the rear end of the support portion 52. By doing so, it is possible to suppress the generation of contact noise when the blower cover 42 reaches the rear end.

With reference to FIG. 4, the configuration in which the blower cover 42 abuts on the rubber member 45 described above will be described in detail. 4 (A) is a perspective view showing the shielding device 40, FIG. 4 (B) is a perspective view partially showing the non-closed state shielding device 40, and FIG. 4 (C) is a closed state shielding device. 40 is a perspective view partially showing 40, and FIG. 4 (D) is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 (C).

With reference to FIG. 4B, as described above, the contact portion 53 is formed by partially raising the main surface portion 50 of the blower cover 42. Here, the contact portion 53 is formed in an annular shape so as to surround the insertion hole 54 through which the support portion 52 penetrates.

When the closed state shown in FIG. 4C is entered, that is, when the main surface portion 50 of the blower cover 42 is moved backward, the contact portion 53 described above comes into contact with the lower surface of the rubber member 45 on the paper surface. .. Therefore, the blower cover 42 can be reliably brought into contact with the rubber member 45, and noise generation due to contact with the blower cover 42 and overstep operation of the motor can be suppressed. The overstep operation will be described later.

With reference to FIG. 4D, the rubber member 45 includes an annular first annular portion 46 and a second annular portion 47, and an inner edge portion of the first annular portion 46 and an inner edge portion of the second annular portion 47. It has a cylindrical tubular portion 48 that connects the and. The first annular portion 46, the second annular portion 47, and the tubular portion 48 are made of a rubber material formed by injection molding or the like.

The support portion 52 is inserted into the tubular portion 48 of the rubber member 45. Further, the flange portion 49 of the blower 31 is fitted to the tubular portion 48 of the rubber member 45 from the outside. With such a structure, the support portion 52 and the blower 31 are connected via the rubber member 45 and do not come into direct contact with each other. Therefore, the vibration generated by the rotation of the blower 31 is damped by the rubber member 45, and the large vibration is suppressed from being conducted to the support portion 52.

The contact portion 53 of the blower cover 42 described above contacts the first annular portion 46 of the rubber member 45 from below on the paper surface. That is, a rubber member 45 is interposed between the blower cover 42 and the support portion 52. With such a configuration, the hard blower cover 42 made of synthetic resin is prevented from coming into contact with the hard support portion 52 also made of synthetic resin, and the generation of a loud operation noise is suppressed.

Further, it is the contact portion 53 of the blower cover 42 that comes into contact with the lower surface of the first annular portion 46 of the rubber member 45 on the paper surface, and by doing so, the blower cover 42 is surely attached to the rubber member 45. Can be point-contacted.

With reference to FIG. 5, the connection configuration of the refrigerator 10 having the above configuration will be described. The control device 60 is composed of, for example, a CPU, receives inputs from various sensors described below, performs predetermined arithmetic processing, and controls the operation of various constituent devices such as the compressor 35 based on the processing results. Further, the control device 60 may include a semiconductor storage device that stores various constants and programs for performing the cooling operation. Under the control of the control device 60, each storage chamber is set to a room temperature zone suitable for storing the stored object, and the defrosting process is performed at an appropriate timing.

A temperature sensor 62 and a timer 61 are connected to the input side terminal of the control device 60. The temperature sensor 62 is attached to any or a plurality of the freezing chamber 15 and the refrigerating chamber 16 described above, and measures the indoor temperature thereof. The timer 61 measures the cooling time for cooling the freezing chamber 15 and the refrigerating chamber 16, the operating time for the defrosting heater 28, and the like. Here, the timer 61 is realized as a part of the function provided in the control device 60.

A compressor 35, a blower 31, a shielding device 40, a refrigerator compartment damper 34, and a defrost heater 28 are connected to the output side terminal of the control device 60. Various devices such as the compressor 35 operate based on the output signal output from the control device 60.

Next, based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the operation of the refrigerator 10 will be described with reference to the above-mentioned drawings. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the refrigerator 10 as a whole, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the initial operation of the refrigerator 10.

With reference to FIG. 6, when the power is turned on by connecting the refrigerator 10 to a commercial power source, the control device 60 executes the initial operation of the cloaking device in step S10. This step S10 specifies the initial position of the blower cover 42 of the shielding device 40 shown in FIG. 2, and the details thereof will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7. Further, the control device 60 also executes the initial operation of the shielding device even when it recovers from a power failure or the like.

When the initial operation is completed, in step S20, the control device 60 determines whether or not the compressor 35 of the refrigeration cycle has stopped operating. If the compressor 35 is stopped, that is, if step S20 is YES, the control device 60 performs the defrosting operation in step S30 according to the operating condition of the refrigerator 10. Specifically, the control device 60 determines that the frost formation of the cooler 27 has progressed to a certain level or longer if, for example, the time for cooling each storage is longer than a certain level by operating the compressor 35 of the refrigeration cycle. Then, the defrosting operation is performed in step S30. In the defrosting operation, the control device 60 stops the compressor 35, closes the shielding device 40, closes the refrigerating chamber damper 34, and energizes the defrosting heater 28 to arrive at the cooling chamber 20. Melt and remove frost.

Further, after the defrosting operation in step S30 is completed, the control device 60 executes a return operation for cooling the inside of the cooling chamber 20 to a predetermined temperature in step S40 as a pre-operation for normal cooling control. After that, the control device 60 shifts to step S50.

On the other hand, when the compressor 35 is operating, that is, when NO in step S20, the control device 60 executes normal cooling control for cooling each storage chamber to a predetermined temperature band. Specifically, the control device 60 appropriately opens and closes the shielding device 40 in step S50, appropriately opens and closes the refrigerating chamber damper 34 in step S51, and keeps the freezing chamber 15 and the refrigerating chamber 16 shown in FIG. 2 at predetermined temperatures. Keep in band.

The normal cooling control for cooling each storage chamber while appropriately opening and closing the shielding device 40, the refrigerating chamber damper 34, and the like will be described below.

First, the operation of cooling only the refrigerating chamber 16 will be described. Based on the instruction of the control device 60, the compressor 35 is operated, the refrigerator compartment damper 34 is opened, and the blower 31 is operated. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3B, the shielding device 40 is in the closed state, so that a gap is formed between the blower cover 42 and the partition plate 36 with reference to FIG. 1B. No cold air is supplied to the freezing chamber 15. On the other hand, cold air is blown into the refrigerating chamber 16 from the cooling chamber 20 via the opening 38 (FIG. 2) of the blower cover 42 and the refrigerating chamber air passage 25 (FIG. 1 (B)). By supplying cold air only to the refrigerating chamber 16, the refrigerating chamber 16 can be effectively cooled.

Next, the operation of cooling only the freezing chamber 15 will be described. Based on the instruction of the control device 60, the compressor 35 is operated, the refrigerator compartment damper 34 is closed, and the blower 31 is operated. At this time, the blower cover 42 is in a non-closed state as shown in FIG. 3A. As a result, the air cooled by the cooler 27 is blown by the blower 31 arranged in the vicinity of the blower port 30, passes through the gap between the blower cover 42 and the partition plate 36, and the freezing chamber supply air passage 29 and It passes through the air outlets 21 in sequence and is supplied only to the freezing chamber 15. On the other hand, since the refrigerating chamber damper 34 is in the closed state, cold air is not blown to the refrigerating chamber 16 through the refrigerating chamber air passage 25. By doing so, only the freezing chamber 15 can be effectively cooled.

Further, by keeping the shielding device 40 in the non-closed state and the refrigerating chamber damper 34 in the open state, cold air can be blown to both the freezing chamber 15 and the refrigerating chamber 16 to cool both storage chambers at the same time. ..

With reference to FIG. 7, the initial operation of the cloaking device 40 executed by the control device 60 in order to specify the position of the blower cover 42 immediately after the refrigerator 10 is connected to the commercial power source will be described.

First, in step S11, the power of the refrigerator 10 is turned on. Here, the power may be turned on by connecting the power plug of the refrigerator 10 to a commercial power source, or by recovering the power source from a power failure. Further, even though the control device 60 determines that the blower cover 42 is opened and the cold air is blown to the freezing chamber 15 under the operating condition of the refrigerator 10, the refrigerator of the freezing chamber 15 is actually stored. The following initialization operation may be performed in order to initialize the position of the blower cover 42 when an abnormal operation in which the internal temperature does not decrease occurs.

Next, in step S12, the blower cover 42 is moved by rotating the drive shaft 44 in order to specify the position of the blower cover 42. Specifically, in order to execute the open / close control of the blower cover 42, it is necessary to specify the current position of the blower cover 42, but the refrigerator 10 of this embodiment is a position for measuring the position of the blower cover 42. It does not have a sensor. Therefore, in this embodiment, the initial position of the blower cover 42 is specified by moving the blower cover 42 to the end of the movable range when the refrigerator 10 is turned on or the like.

At this time, the number of pulses applied to the stepping motor that drives the drive shaft 44 is an amount required to move the blower cover 42 from the front end to the rear end of the movable range. For example, the number of steps of the pulse of the stepping motor required to move the blower cover 42 from the front end to the rear end, which is the entire range of movement, is 100, and the blower cover 42 is located near the center of the range of movement. Suppose you are. In this case, the control device 60 pulses the stepping motor until the number of steps reaches 100 in order to move the blower cover 42 to the rear end of the movable range regardless of the position of the blower cover 42. Is applied. Therefore, when the blower cover 42 is moved backward by rotating the drive shaft 44 with the stepping motor, the stepping motor rotates by about 50 steps, and in step S13, after the side surface portion 51 of the blower cover 42. The side surface abuts on the front main surface of the shielding base 41.

Even after the blower cover 42 comes into contact with the shielding base 41, in this embodiment, the pulse for the remaining about 50 steps is applied to the stepping motor built in the drive shaft 44. Such control is also referred to as overstep operation. That is, after the blower cover 42 comes into contact with the shielding base 41, vibration is generated from the stepping motor in which the pulse is continuously applied while the step S14 is NO. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the main surface portion 50 of the blower cover 42 comes into contact with the rubber member 45 attached to the tip of the support portion 52, so that even if vibration is generated from the stepping motor, the vibration is generated. Most of the material is absorbed by the rubber member 45, and no loud noise or vibration is generated.

When the overstep operation by the control device 60 is completed, the control device 60 rotates the stepping motor in the opposite direction by a predetermined number of steps. By doing so, the main surface portion 50 of the blower cover 42 is separated from the rubber member 45 with reference to FIG. 4 (D). Therefore, it is possible to prevent the vibration generated by the rotation of the blower 31 from being conducted to the blower cover 42.

When each of the above steps is completed, the initial operation S10 of the cloaking device is completed. By this step, since the control device 60 can recognize that the position of the blower cover 42 is the rear end of the movable range, the process proceeds to the above-mentioned step S20 in which the normal cooling operation is performed.

The above is a description of the operation of the refrigerator 10 according to this embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

10 Refrigerator 11 Insulation box body 12 Outer box 13 Inner box 14 Insulation material 15 Refrigerator room 16 Refrigerator room 17 Insulation door 18 Insulation door 19 Insulation partition wall 20 Cooling room 21 Air outlet 22 Return port 23 Air outlet 24 Return port 25 Refrigerator room Road 26 Refrigerator room return air passage 27 Cooler 28 Defrost heater 29 Refrigerator room supply air passage 30 Blower 31 Blower 32 Storage container 33 Storage container 34 Refrigerator room damper 35 Compressor 36 Partition plate 38 Opening 39 Screw hole 40 Shielding device 41 Shielding base 42 Blower cover 44 Drive shaft 45 Rubber member 46 First annular part 47 Second annular part 48 Cylindrical part 49 Flange part 50 Main surface part 51 Side part 52 Support part 53 Contact part 54 Insertion hole 55 Blower fan 56 Fan support Unit 60 Control device 61 Timer 62 Temperature sensor 100 Refrigerator 101 Refrigerator room 102 Refrigerator room 103 Vegetable room 104 Cooling room 105 Section wall 106 Opening 107 Blower fan 108 Cooler 109 Air passage 110 Blower cover 111 Recess 113 Opening 114 Damper

Claims (4)

A cooling cycle cooler for cooling the air supplied to the storage chamber, a cooling chamber in which the cooler is arranged to form an air outlet connected to the storage chamber, and the air supplied from the air outlet are provided. It comprises a blower that blows air toward the storage chamber, a shielding device that at least partially closes the air outlet, and a control device that controls the operation of the refrigerating cycle, the blower, and the shielding device.
The shielding device includes a blower cover that covers the blower, a drive mechanism that opens and closes the blower cover, and an elastic member that the blower cover comes into contact with when covering the blower.
The blower cover has a main surface portion and a side surface portion erected from the peripheral side of the main surface portion.
The blower is supported by a support portion penetrating the main surface portion of the blower cover.
The elastic member is disposed between the blower and the support portion, and a refrigerator, characterized in Rukoto disposed between said blower cover and the supporting portion. A cooling cycle cooler for cooling the air supplied to the storage chamber, a cooling chamber in which the cooler is arranged to form an air outlet connected to the storage chamber, and the air supplied from the air outlet are provided. It comprises a blower that blows air toward the storage chamber, a shielding device that at least partially closes the air outlet, and a control device that controls the operation of the refrigerating cycle, the blower, and the shielding device.
The shielding device includes a blower cover that covers the blower, a drive mechanism that opens and closes the blower cover, and an elastic member that the blower cover comes into contact with when covering the blower.
The drive mechanism is a drive shaft that penetrates the blower cover and forms a screw mechanism.
The control device is
By rotating the drive shaft with a motor as an initial operation, the blower cover is brought into contact with the elastic member.
Even after the blower cover comes into contact with the elastic member, an overstep operation of rotating the motor in the direction in which the blower cover closes is executed.
A refrigerator comprising the reverse rotation of the motor in a direction in which the blower cover is opened after the overstep operation. The refrigerator according to claim 1, the contact portion in contact with the elastic member of the main surface portion, than the main surface portions of the other part, characterized in that protrude toward the elastic member. The elastic member is a rubber member attached to the tip end side of the support portion.
The rubber member has a first annular portion, a second annular portion, and a tubular portion connecting the inner edge portion of the first annular portion and the inner edge portion of the second annular portion.
The blower has a flange portion that protrudes outward in the radial direction.
The support portion is inserted inside the tubular portion of the rubber member, and the support portion is inserted into the inside of the tubular portion.
The flange portion of the blower abuts on the tubular portion of the rubber member from the outside.
The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the blower cover comes into contact with the first annular portion of the rubber member when it is closed.

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