JP2010079351A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine wherein abnormally high temperature of a compressor is limited by circulating refrigerating machine oil through a refrigerant circuit without causing stagnation thereof in a heat exchanger, and the compressor can be operated with high reliability. <P>SOLUTION: A refrigerant circulation circuit is constituted of a compressor, a condenser solenoid valve, a condenser, an expander, a distributor, a solenoid valve at the inlet of compartment, a plurality of heat exchangers in compartment, a solenoid valve at the outlet of compartment, and a collector, and heating inlet piping which connects between the solenoid valve at the inlet of compartment and the heat exchanger in compartment through a heating inlet solenoid valve connected in parallel with the condenser solenoid valve from the compressor, and heating outlet piping which connects with the distributor through a heating outlet solenoid valve and the expander from between the heat exchanger in compartment and the solenoid valve at the outlet of compartment are provided in the refrigerant circulation circuit, so that refrigerant flows in the same direction through the heat exchanger in compartment during both cooling operation and heating operation, and stagnation of refrigerating machine oil in the heat exchanger in compartment is limited. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine that sells a product such as a beverage in a container such as a can, a bottle, a pack, or a plastic bottle after being cooled or heated in a refrigerant circuit.

    Reducing carbon dioxide emissions has become a challenge with recent global warming, and energy-saving vending machines have been developed. As one of the methods, a heat pump type vending machine that uses the heat of the condenser, which has been exhausted in the past, to heat the inside of the cabinet has attracted attention (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-7-160937

  However, this vending machine uses the internal heat exchanger as the internal heat exchanger during cooling, and as the condenser during heating, and switches the solenoid valve depending on the cooling heating operation mode of the vending machine. The flow of the refrigerant to the heat exchanger inside the warehouse is changed. Therefore, an operation mode in which the refrigerant flows from the upper side to the lower side in the heat exchanger is acceptable, but in another operation mode, the refrigerant flows from the lower side to the upper side of the heat exchanger. It stays below the heat exchanger. As a result, there has been a problem that the compressor is not sufficiently lubricated and the compressor may have a high temperature abnormality.

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention solves the above problems and suppresses high temperature abnormality of the compressor by circulating the refrigerant circuit without the refrigerating machine oil staying in the heat exchanger. The purpose is to provide a vending machine capable of operating a high compressor.

In order to achieve the above object, the vending machine according to claim 1 of the present invention has a plurality of product storages for cooling and heating, and selectively cools the product storages according to the cooling and heating operation mode. A vending machine for heating,
A compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that is provided outside the refrigerator and that condenses the refrigerant from the compressor via a condenser solenoid valve, an expander that expands the refrigerant, and distributes the refrigerant into each product storage Distributor, a plurality of internal heat exchangers that cool or heat the interior of the warehouse via the interior solenoid valve from the distributor, and refrigerant from the interior heat exchanger via the interior outlet solenoid valve In a vending machine equipped with a refrigerant circulation circuit in the collector to be returned to the compressor, and used as a cooling and heating as the internal heat exchanger as an evaporator and a condenser,
Refrigerant that flows through the internal heat exchanger when the internal heat exchanger is used as an evaporator or a condenser, and the internal heat exchanger piping is determined so that the refrigerant inlet and the refrigerant outlet are positioned at the upper and lower parts. It is characterized in that it is connected by piping so as to be the same as the flow of.

  A vending machine according to a second aspect of the present invention is the vending machine according to the first aspect, which is added to the refrigerant circulation circuit via a heating inlet electromagnetic valve connected in parallel with the condenser electromagnetic valve from the compressor. A heating inlet pipe for coupling between the inside inlet solenoid valve and the inside heat exchanger, and between the inside heat exchanger and the inside outlet solenoid valve through a heating outlet solenoid valve and an expander. And a heating outlet pipe connected to the distributor.

The vending machine according to claim 1 according to the present invention is a vending machine having a plurality of cooling and heating product storages, and selectively cooling or heating the product storages according to an operation mode of cooling and heating,
A compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that is provided outside the refrigerator and that condenses the refrigerant from the compressor via a condenser solenoid valve, an expander that expands the refrigerant, and distributes the refrigerant into each product storage Distributor, a plurality of internal heat exchangers that cool or heat the interior of the warehouse via the interior solenoid valve from the distributor, and refrigerant from the interior heat exchanger via the interior outlet solenoid valve In a vending machine equipped with a refrigerant circulation circuit in the collector to be returned to the compressor, and used as a cooling and heating as the internal heat exchanger as an evaporator and a condenser,
Refrigerant that flows through the internal heat exchanger when the internal heat exchanger is used as an evaporator or a condenser, and the internal heat exchanger piping is determined so that the refrigerant inlet and the refrigerant outlet are positioned at the upper and lower parts. By connecting the pipes so as to be the same as the flow of the refrigerant, the refrigerant can flow in the same direction in the internal heat exchanger in both the cooling operation and the heating operation. By circulating the refrigerant circuit without stagnation, the high temperature abnormality of the compressor can be suppressed, and the compressor can be operated with high reliability.

  Exemplary embodiments of a vending machine according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

  First, a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1 is a perspective view showing a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vending machine shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the internal heat exchanger and a refrigerant. It is a circuit diagram. FIG. 4 is a side view of the internal heat exchanger according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control device. FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing a refrigerant flow in a cooling operation for cooling all three chambers, and FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a refrigerant flow in a heat pump operation for cooling one chamber and heating two chambers.

  In these drawings, the vending machine has a main body cabinet 10 formed as a rectangular heat insulator having an open front surface, an outer door 20 and an inner door 30 provided on the front surface, and an interior of the main body cabinet 10 in two directions. The bottom plate 11 is partitioned and formed at the stage, and the upper part is cooled by, for example, three independent product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c separated by two heat insulating partition plates 40w, and the lower part product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c are cooled or Cooling / heating of the vending machine by the temperature sensor Ta, Tb, Tc disposed inside the machine room 50 for storing the cooling / heating unit 60 for heating and the outer door 20 and in the product storages 40a, 40b, 40c. And control means 90 for controlling operation and the like.

  More specifically, the outer door 20 is used to open and close the front opening of the main body cabinet 10 and is not shown in the figure. Product display room, selection button for selecting the product to be sold, money slot for inserting money, product outlet 21 for taking out the paid-out product, etc. Is arranged.

  The inner door 30 opens and closes the front surfaces of the product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c to keep the products in the interior warm. The inner door 30 is a box-shaped structure that is divided into upper and lower stages and has a heat insulator inside. The upper inner door 30a is pivoted at one end to the outer door 20, and the other end is engaged with the outer door 20, and the upper inner door 30a is opened at the same time as the outer door 20 is opened to facilitate replenishment of goods. It is to make. The lower inner door 30b is in a closed state when one end pivots on the main body cabinet 10 and the other end is hooked on the main body cabinet 10 with a latch (not shown) and the outer door 20 is opened. It is possible to prevent the cool air or warm air in the storage cases 40a, 40b, and 40c from flowing out, and to open as necessary during maintenance.

  The product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c are for storing products such as canned beverages and beverages containing plastic bottles at a desired temperature, and the capacity of the storage units is the product storage units 40a, 40c. , 40b in a large manner. In this embodiment, the product storage 40a is exclusively used for cooling, and the product storages 40b and 40c are also used for cooling and heating. The product storage racks 40a, 40b, and 40c store the products in a manner that they are arranged in the vertical direction, and are provided with a product storage rack R that includes a product delivery mechanism for discharging the products one by one in response to a sales signal. There is a product carry-out chute 42 for carrying the discharged product S to the sales port 21 of the outer door through a carry-out door 31 installed in the inner door 30b.

  The cooling / heating unit 60 includes a compressor 61, a condenser 62, expanders 63 and 79, an accumulator 69, and an auxiliary heat exchanger 76 in the machine room 50, and the internal heat in the storage across the bottom plate 11. It has the exchangers 65a, 65b, and 65c and is configured by connecting each device with a refrigerant pipe. The cooling / heating unit 60 cools or heats the product S in the product storage rack R by circulating cold air or warm air in the cabinet according to the cooling / heating operation mode.

  The cooling and heating compressor 61 is for compressing the refrigerant and circulating in the circuit. During the cooling operation, the evaporation temperature is about −10 ° C. and the condensation temperature is about 40 ° C., and during the heating operation, the evaporation is evaporated. A temperature of about −10 ° C. and a condensation temperature of about 60 ° C. are used.

  The condenser 62 is a fin tube type heat exchanger, and discharges unnecessary condensation heat during the cooling operation. A fan 62f is installed at the rear of the condenser 62. The fan 62f sucks air from the front opening of the machine chamber 50, sucks heat of condensation by the condenser 62, and absorbs exhaust heat of the compressor 61. Thus, the air is exhausted to the rear opening of the machine room 50.

  The expander 63 decompresses the refrigerant passing during the cooling operation and adiabatically expands, and is, for example, a capillary, a temperature expansion valve, or an electronic expansion valve.

  The internal heat exchanger 65a is for cooling the product storage 40a, and the internal heat exchangers 65b and 65c are for cooling or heating the product storage 40b and 40c. It is installed at the bottom of the storage. The internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, and 65c are surrounded by the wind tunnel 67 in each of the product storage boxes 40a, 40b, and 40c, and a fan 65f is installed behind them and a duct 67d is installed behind them. Has been. For cooling and heating in the product storage, the air cooled or heated by the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c is blown to the product S in the product storage, and the duct 67d as shown by the arrow in FIG. It is done by collecting more.

  Further, the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, and 65c are fin tube type heat exchangers as shown in FIG. 3, and include heat transfer pipes 65p and heat radiation fins 65f. The heat dissipating fins 65f are stacked at equal intervals in parallel with the paper surface in the drawing and are heat-transfer bonded to the wall surface of the heat transfer pipe 65p. The heat transfer pipe 65p is formed in such a manner that a plurality of U-shaped pipes and U-bends are alternately connected to proceed sequentially downward from above as a single continuous pipe. The internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, and 65c shown in FIG. 3 have a plurality of U-shaped tubes arranged in a staggered manner, and some have upward piping, but the entire refrigerating machine oil flows without stagnation. As shown, piping is formed from top to bottom.

  In addition, although the internal heat exchanger 65a, 65b, 65c shown in FIG. 3 has arrange | positioned the several U-shaped pipe | tube in zigzag form, you may arrange | position in the checkered form.

  The accumulator 69 is a sealed container for flowing the refrigerant evaporated from the internal heat exchangers 65 a, 65 b and 65 c, separating the gas and liquid to store the liquid refrigerant, and returning the gas refrigerant to the compressor 61. The accumulator 69 is also a container for storing the refrigerant remaining in the refrigerant circulation of the circuit.

  The auxiliary heat exchanger 76 is a fin tube type heat exchanger, and discharges unnecessary condensation heat during heating operation.

  The expander 79 decompresses the refrigerant passing during the heating operation and adiabatically expands, and is, for example, a capillary, a temperature expansion valve, or an electronic expansion valve. Further, by connecting a heating outlet pipe 84 to be described later to the upstream side of the expander 63, the expander 79 can also be used as the expander 63.

  The refrigerant circuit configuration of the cooling / heating unit 60 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The refrigerant circuit configuration includes a cooling circuit 60A that only cools the inside of the cabinet and a heating / cooling circuit 60B that simultaneously performs cooling and heating inside the cabinet (performs a heat pump operation). In addition, the enclosure of the dotted line in the figure has shown typically goods storage 40a, 40b, 40c.

  The cooling circuit 60A is connected to the flow divider 64 via the compressor 61, the condenser electromagnetic valve 68, the condenser 62, the check valve 71, and the expander 63. The internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c are connected to the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c via the valves 70a, 70b, 70c, and the internal heat exchanger 65b, 65c is connected to the internal heat exchanger 65a, 65c. This is a circuit that collects pipes through the valves 72b and 72c in the collector 67 and then returns to the compressor 61 through the accumulator 69.

  On the other hand, in the heating / cooling circulation circuit 60B, in addition to the cooling circulation circuit 60A, the inside inlet solenoid valves 70b, 70c are connected via the heating inlet solenoid valves 68b, 68c connected in parallel with the condenser solenoid valve 68 from the compressor 61. Heating inlet pipes 81b and 81c for connecting the inside heat exchangers 65b and 65c, and outlet pipes connected between the inside heat exchangers 65b and 65c and the inside outlet electromagnetic valves 72b and 72c, respectively. 82b and 82c and the outlet pipes 82b and 82c are connected via heating outlet solenoid valves 83b and 83c, and the auxiliary heat exchanger 76 and the heating outlet pipe 84 connected to the distributor 64 via the expander 79 are provided. It has been. Thus, the heating / cooling circulation circuit 60B is connected from the compressor 61 to the internal heat exchangers 65c, 65b via the heating inlet electromagnetic valves 68b, 68c, and from the internal heat exchangers 65c, 65b to the heating outlet electromagnetic valve 83b, 83c is connected to the distributor 64 via the auxiliary heat exchanger 76 and the expander 79, and is connected to the internal heat exchanger 65a via the internal heat exchange solenoid valve 70a from the flow divider 64. This is a circuit that returns to the compressor 61 via the unit 67 and the accumulator 69.

  As the refrigerant, R134a is used as a refrigerant used within a critical pressure, for example, a fluorocarbon refrigerant. Further, a refrigerant used outside the critical pressure, for example, a carbon dioxide refrigerant may be used.

  The control means 90 controls the cooling or heating of the product storage boxes 40a, 40b, and 40c by the cooling and heating operation mode. As shown in FIG. 5, a CPU and a memory are provided inside, and control such as opening and closing of the solenoid valve of the refrigerant circuit is performed according to the cooling heating operation mode determined by the setting of the operation mode setting SW91. The operation mode indicates the cooling or heating operation of the product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c by C and H, and in the order of (40a, 40b, 40c) from the left side of the product storage unit, for example, all are cooling Is described as CCC mode, and when only the left product storage is heated, it is described as HCC mode. Moreover, the control means 90 is the compressor 61, the condenser solenoid valve 68, the interior heat exchange solenoid valve 70a, 70b, 70c, the interior heat exchange outlet according to the temperatures detected by the interior temperature sensors Ta, Tb, Tc. The internal temperature is maintained at an appropriate temperature by thermocycle operation by controlling the electromagnetic valves 70b and 70c, the heating inlet electromagnetic valves 68b and 68c, the heating outlet electromagnetic valves 83b and 83c, and the like.

  When the operation mode is set to the CCC mode by operating the operation mode setting SW 91 with such a configuration, the control unit 90 includes the condenser solenoid valve 68, the interior heat exchange solenoid valves 70a, 70b, 70c, the interior heat exchange outlet solenoid valve. 72b and 72c are opened, and the heating inlet solenoid valves 68b and 68c and the heating outlet solenoid valves 83b and 83c are closed. As shown by the arrows in FIG. 6, the high-temperature refrigerant and refrigerating machine oil compressed by the compressor 61 are condensed by the condenser 62 to become a liquid, and expand by the expander 63 to become a low-temperature gas-liquid two-phase flow. After being divided into three directions at 64, it flows into the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c. The refrigerant that has flowed in evaporates in the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c, and cools the product storages 40a, 40b, 40c. On the other hand, the refrigerating machine oil that has flowed into the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c flows from the upper side to the lower side without stagnation, and collects in the collector 67 together with the refrigerant to store the liquid refrigerant. Return to the compressor 61 after separation. In this cooling, the controller 90 controls the internal temperature to an appropriate temperature by the thermocycle operation by the internal temperature sensors Ta, Tb, and Tc.

  Next, when the operation mode is set to the CHH mode in which the operation mode setting SW 91 is operated to cool the left one chamber and the middle and right two chambers are heated, the control means 90 controls the heating inlet solenoid valves 68b and 68c, The outlet solenoid valves 83b and 83c and the internal heat exchange inlet electromagnetic valve 70a are opened, and the condenser electromagnetic valve 68, the internal heat exchange electromagnetic valve 70b and 70c, and the internal heat exchange outlet electromagnetic valves 72b and 72c are closed. As shown by the arrows in FIG. 7, the high-temperature refrigerant and refrigeration oil compressed by the compressor 61 are diverted through the heating inlet electromagnetic valves 68b and 68c and flow into the internal heat exchangers 65b and 65c. The refrigerant that has flowed in is condensed, heats the product storage boxes 40b and 40c, gathers via the heating outlet electromagnetic valves 83b and 83c, further condenses in the auxiliary heat exchanger 76, and flows into the expander 79. On the other hand, the refrigerating machine oil that has flowed into the internal heat exchangers 65b and 65c flows from the upper side to the lower side without staying in the heat exchangers, and gathers together with the refrigerant via the heating outlet electromagnetic valves 83b and 83c to perform auxiliary heat exchange. It flows into the inflator 79 via the device 76. The refrigerant and the refrigerating machine oil that have flowed into the expander 79 flow into the internal heat exchanger 65a via the flow divider 64 and the internal heat exchange solenoid valve 70a. The refrigerant that has flowed into the internal heat exchanger 65a evaporates in the internal heat exchanger 65a to cool the product storage 40a, and returns to the compressor 61 via the collector 67 and the accumulator 69 together with the refrigerating machine oil. In this heat pump operation, the inside of the cabinet is maintained at an appropriate temperature by the thermocycle operation as described above.

  As described above, since the refrigerant and the refrigeration oil flow in the same direction in the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, and 65c during the cooling operation and the heating operation, the refrigeration oil stays in the heat exchanger. As a result, the high-temperature abnormality of the compressor is suppressed and the compressor can be operated with high reliability as a result of circulating through the refrigerant circuit.

  As described above, the vending machine according to the present invention is suitable for cooling or heating a product such as a beverage contained in a container such as a can, a bottle, a pack, or a plastic bottle in a refrigerant circuit.

1 is a perspective view showing a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the vending machine shown in FIG. It is a side view of an internal heat exchanger. It is a refrigerant circuit figure concerning the example of the present invention. It is a block diagram of a control apparatus. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of the refrigerant | coolant in the cooling single operation which cools all the three chambers. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of the refrigerant | coolant in the heat pump driving | operation which cools 1 chamber and heats 2 chambers.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Main body cabinet 20 Outer door 30 Inner door 40a, 40b, 40c Product storage 60 Cooling / heating unit 61 Compressor 62 Condenser 63, 79 Inflator 64 Shunt 65a, 65b, 65c Intra-chamber heat exchanger 68 Condenser electromagnetic Valve 68a, 68b Heating inlet solenoid valve 70a, 70b, 70c Inside heat exchange inlet solenoid valve 72b, 72c Inside heat exchange outlet solenoid valve 81b, 81c Heating inlet piping 83b, 83c Heating outlet solenoid valve 84 Heating outlet piping 90 Controller 91 Operation mode selection SW

Claims (2)

A vending machine having a plurality of product storages for cooling and heating, and selectively cooling or heating the product storages according to an operation mode of cooling and heating,
A compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that is provided outside the refrigerator and that condenses the refrigerant from the compressor via a condenser solenoid valve, an expander that expands the refrigerant, and distributes the refrigerant into each product storage Distributor, a plurality of internal heat exchangers that cool or heat the interior of the warehouse via the interior solenoid valve from the distributor, and refrigerant from the interior heat exchanger via the interior outlet solenoid valve In a vending machine equipped with a refrigerant circulation circuit in the collector to be returned to the compressor, and used as a cooling and heating as the internal heat exchanger as an evaporator and a condenser,
Refrigerant that flows through the internal heat exchanger when the internal heat exchanger is used as an evaporator or a condenser, and the internal heat exchanger piping is determined so that the refrigerant inlet and the refrigerant outlet are positioned at the upper and lower parts. The vending machine is characterized by the fact that the pipes are connected so that the flow is the same. Heating that is added to the refrigerant circulation circuit and that couples between the internal inlet solenoid valve and the internal heat exchanger via a heating inlet electromagnetic valve connected in parallel with the condenser electromagnetic valve from the compressor. An inlet pipe and a heating outlet pipe connected to the distributor through a heating outlet solenoid valve and an expander from between the inside heat exchanger and the inside outlet solenoid valve are provided. Item 1. A vending machine according to item 1.

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