JP2015055440A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator in which durability of a light source body of a sterilization/deodorization device is improved and which can be used safely.SOLUTION: A refrigerator includes: a sterilization/deodorization device 35 comprising a deodorization filter having a photocatalyst, and a light source body for exciting the photocatalysis by radiating the deodorization filter; and a refrigerator control unit 54 for controlling the sterilization/deodorization device based on a storage amount or the change in the storage amount in a storage room. The refrigerator control unit 54 is configured so that it turns to a weak mode of holding the light source body in a lights-out state when the storage amount is small, and it turns to a strong mode of lighting the light source body when the storage amount is large. Thereby, as the light source body of the sterilization/deodorization device is turned off when the storage amount is small while it is lighted when the storage amount is large, so that lighting time can be reduced greatly and durability improves significantly.

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a sterilization deodorization apparatus, and more particularly, to a refrigerator that controls sterilization and deodorization ability in accordance with the amount stored in the refrigerator.

  In general, refrigerators store various foods in refrigeration rooms, freezer rooms, vegetable rooms, etc., and store them in a refrigerator. However, some of these foods dissipate odors. There is a demand for sterilization.

  Therefore, what provided the disinfection deodorizing apparatus in a part of cold air circulation path which supplies and circulates cold air to the refrigerator compartment, freezer compartment, vegetable compartment, etc. of a refrigerator is seen (for example, refer patent document 1).

  Some refrigerators provided with such a sterilization deodorization device control the ability of the sterilization deodorization device in accordance with the amount stored in the refrigerator (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2013-57471 A JP 2013-108743 A

  The refrigerators described in each of the above patent documents are all related to the applicant's invention, and can sterilize and deodorize cold air, and also variably control the sterilization and deodorization capacity according to the amount of storage, so it is efficient while saving power. There is an advantage that it can be sterilized and deodorized.

  However, the above-mentioned patent document, particularly the one described in Patent Document 2 that controls the sterilization and deodorizing ability according to the amount of storage, is practically used although the sterilization and deodorizing ability of the sterilization and deodorization device is controlled according to the amount of storage. There were some problems in the process.

  In particular, in a method of sterilization and degreasing by irradiating light to a deodorization filter impregnated with silver oxide or the like as a sterilization deodorization apparatus, improving the durability of the light source body that irradiates light to the deodorization filter is one of the problems. It was as. That is, the refrigerator continues to be used after purchase, and while the light source body increases or decreases its light amount in order to change the sterilization and deodorizing ability, the light source continues to be lit constantly, and there is concern about its durability.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a point, and provides the refrigerator which improves the durability of a light source body and can be used in comfort.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the present invention provides a sterilization / deodorization device including a deodorization filter having a photocatalyst and a light source body that irradiates the photocatalyst to excite the photocatalyst, and changes in the storage amount or the storage amount in the storage chamber And a refrigerator control unit for controlling the sterilization deodorizing device, the refrigerator control unit is set to a weak mode in which the light source body is kept in the off state when the storage amount is small, and the light source body is turned on when the storage amount is large. This is a configuration in which the strong mode is selected.

As a result, the light source body of the sterilization deodorizing device is turned on when the storage amount is large, but is turned off when the storage amount is small, so the lighting time can be greatly reduced, and its durability is dramatically improved. To do.

  The refrigerator of the present invention can drastically improve the durability of the light source body of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus, and can provide a highly reliable refrigerator in which the light source body does not break during use.

Front view of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Front view when opening the refrigerator door in the first embodiment Schematic sectional view of the refrigerator in the first embodiment Explanatory drawing which shows the cold air duct arrangement configuration of the refrigerator in the first embodiment The front view which shows the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator in the same Embodiment 1, and the duct cover of a refrigerator compartment duct Schematic cross-sectional view of a storage room provided with a stored item detection means of the refrigerator in the first embodiment Explanatory drawing explaining the stored article detection by the stored article detection means of the refrigerator in the first embodiment Sectional drawing which shows the disinfection deodorizing apparatus attachment part of the cool air return flow path of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 The perspective view which shows the disinfection deodorizing apparatus of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 The front view which looked at the sterilization deodorizing apparatus of FIG. 9 from the X direction of the same figure Control block diagram of the refrigerator in the first embodiment Control flow diagram showing sterilization deodorization control of the refrigerator in the first embodiment

  1st invention is a refrigerator main body provided with the storage room, the disinfection deodorization apparatus which performs the disinfection deodorization of the cold air which circulates through the storage chamber of the said refrigerator main body, and the quantity of the accommodation accommodated in the inside of the said storage chamber And a refrigerator control unit for controlling the sterilization deodorization device based on an output from the stored item detection means, the sterilization deodorization device irradiates the deodorization filter having a photocatalyst and the deodorization filter. A light source body that excites the photocatalyst, and the refrigerator control unit is in a weak mode in which the light source body is kept in a light-off state when the storage object detection means detects that the storage amount is low, and the storage amount is large. When a light is detected, the light source body is turned on in a strong mode.

  As a result, the light source body of the sterilization deodorization device is turned on when the storage amount is large, but is turned off when the storage amount is small, so the lighting time can be greatly reduced, and its durability is dramatically improved. To do.

  In a second aspect based on the first aspect, the refrigerator control unit is configured to periodically turn on the light source body in the strong mode with a large amount of storage.

  As a result, the lighting time of the light source body can be reduced even in the strong mode where the storage amount change is large, the durability of the light source body can be improved, and the photocatalyst remains when the light source body is turned off. The sterilization and deodorization can be continued using the excitation effect.

According to a third invention, in the first or second invention, the storage object detection means is disposed in a light emitting means including a light source for irradiating the storage object stored in the storage room, and inside the storage room, It comprises light quantity detecting means for detecting the light quantity irradiated by the light emitting means through the stored items stored in the storage chamber.

  Thereby, the direct detection of the storage amount can be realized with a simple configuration of a combination of a light source such as an LED and a light receiving means such as a light amount detection means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the apparatus includes a door open / close detection unit that detects an open / closed state of the door that opens / closes the storage chamber, and the door open / close detection unit detects a closed state of the door. In the above-described configuration, a series of operations of detection of stored items by the stored item detecting means and sterilization / deodorizing device control based thereon is performed.

  This eliminates the influence of disturbance caused by performing control when the door is open, for example, when detecting the amount of storage by the amount of light, eliminating the influence of light from the outside of the storage room, with high accuracy. The stored amount can be detected and the sterilization and deodorizing ability can be controlled.

  According to a fifth invention, in the third or fourth invention, the light emission means of the stored item detection means is constituted by illumination means provided in a storage room.

  This makes it possible to configure the light emitting means with a simple configuration without providing any special light emitting means.

  According to a sixth aspect, in the third to fifth aspects, the light emission means of the stored item detection means includes a plurality of light sources, and the stored amount is detected by sequentially turning on the plurality of light sources.

  As a result, it is possible to detect a detailed stored item by sequentially turning on and detecting a plurality of light sources, and it is possible to detect a detailed stored item even in a vast storage room. Detection accuracy is improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, although this Embodiment demonstrates the case where it applies to the refrigerator using the storage amount detection means which detects storage amount using a light quantity change, this invention is not limited by this embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the refrigerator door according to Embodiment 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 1. 4 is an explanatory view showing the arrangement of the cold air duct of the refrigerator in the first embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a front view showing the refrigerator compartment and the duct cover of the refrigerator compartment duct in the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a heat insulating box body of a refrigerator main body, an outer box 2 mainly using a steel plate, an inner box 3 formed of a resin such as ABS, an outer box 2 and an inner box. 3 and a foam heat insulating material 4 filled in between.

  The refrigerator main body 1 is heat-insulated into a plurality of storage rooms. The refrigerator compartment 5 is provided at the top, and the ice making chamber 6 or the switching chamber 7 is provided side by side below the refrigerator compartment 5, and the ice making chamber 6 and the switching chamber are provided side by side. The freezer compartment 8 is arranged in the lower part of 7, and the vegetable compartment 9 is arranged in the lowermost part. The doors are respectively formed in the front opening of the refrigerator main body 1 in order to partition the front of each storage room from the outside air. Further, an operation unit 11 for setting the internal temperature of each room, ice making, quick cooling, and the like is disposed near the center of the outer surface of the refrigerator door 10 of the refrigerator room 5.

A plurality of storage shelves 12 are provided in the refrigerating room 5 and are configured to be partially movable up and down. In addition, an outlet 13 for cold air is provided at an appropriate position on the back wall of the refrigerator compartment 5.

  In addition, the storage object detection means 14 is provided in the storage room used most frequently among the storage rooms, for example, the refrigerator compartment 5, and the storage object detection means 14 will be described below with reference to FIGS. To do.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a storage room provided with a storage object detection unit of the refrigerator in the first embodiment, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining detection of storage objects by the storage object detection unit of the refrigerator in the first embodiment. .

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the stored item detecting means 14 includes a light emitting means 15 that also serves as illumination in the refrigerator compartment and a light quantity detecting means 16. The light emitting means 15 is viewed from the front side of the door opening side in the refrigerator. These are arranged in the vertical direction on the left wall surface and the right wall surface located in front of half of the depth dimension in the cabinet and in front of the front end of the storage shelf 12. Further, the light quantity detection means 16 is disposed at a rear position between the storage shelves 12 in the refrigerator compartment 5.

  The light emitting means 15 is composed of a plurality of light sources 15a to 15d such as LEDs arranged at equal intervals in the vertical direction on the front side of the side surface of the storage room, and the light quantity detecting means 16 is light receiving means 16a to 16e between the shelf plates, respectively. Is provided. Reference numerals 17 in FIGS. 6 and 7 denote stored items such as foods placed on the storage shelf 12.

  In addition, as long as the light quantity detection means 16 is arrange | positioned in the position irradiated by the light emission means 15 via structures, such as the storage thing 17 and the storage shelf 12 inside a warehouse, It may be arranged at a position.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the refrigerator main body 1 has a compressor 18 and a high-pressure side component of a refrigeration cycle such as a dryer for removing moisture in a machine room formed in the uppermost rear region in the refrigerator compartment 5. It is stored.

  A cooling chamber 19 for generating cold air is provided on the back of the vegetable compartment 9 and the freezing compartment 8. A rear partition wall 20 is formed between the vegetable compartment 9 and the cooling compartment 19 or between the freezer compartment 8 and the cooling compartment 19. The rear surface partition wall 20 forms a cold air conveying air passage to each chamber, and further has a heat insulating property for insulating the cold air from each chamber.

  A cooler 21 is disposed in the cooling chamber 19, and a cooling fan 22 is disposed in the upper space of the cooler 21. The cooling fan 22 has a function of forcibly convection of the cold air cooled by the cooler 21. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the cooling fan 22 passes the cold air cooled by the cooler 21 to the refrigerating room 5 through the refrigerating room duct 23 extending to the back of the refrigerating room, and is in the middle of the refrigerating room duct 23. Air is blown to the vegetable compartment 9 through the branched vegetable compartment duct 24 and to the switching chamber 7, the ice making chamber 6, and the freezer compartment 8 through the cold air supply port 25 formed in the rear partition wall 20 to cool each chamber. ing. For example, the refrigerator compartment 5 is usually cooled to 1 to 5 ° C. at the lower limit of the temperature at which it is not frozen for refrigerated storage, and the lowermost vegetable compartment 9 is set to 2 ° C. to 7 ° C. at a temperature setting equal to or slightly higher than that of the refrigerator compartment 5. It is said. The freezer compartment 8 is set in a freezing temperature zone, and is usually set at −22 ° C. to −15 ° C. for frozen storage, but for example, −30 ° C. or − It may be set at a low temperature of 25 ° C.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the refrigerator compartment duct 23 is configured by attaching a duct cover 26 to the back wall 3 a of the refrigerator compartment 5, and the ridge wall 26 a provided on the back wall of the refrigerator compartment is between the refrigerator compartment ducts 23. A refrigeration room cold air return duct 27 covered with the duct cover 26 is formed on the side. The cold room return air duct 27 is connected to a cool air return duct 28 beside the cooling room 19 as shown in FIG.

  In the lower space of the cooler 21, a dew condensation prevention heater 29 is disposed. In the case of the present embodiment, the dew condensation prevention heater 29 is a radiant heater, and is a glass tube heater for defrosting the frost and ice adhering to the cooler 21 and its periphery. A drain pan 30 for receiving defrost water generated at the time of defrosting is disposed below the dew condensation prevention heater 29. A drain tube 31 penetrating from the deepest part of the drain pan 30 to the outside of the refrigerator is connected. An evaporating dish 32 is arranged outside the storage on the downstream side of the drain tube 31.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the refrigeration chamber cold air return duct 27 is provided with a sterilization and deodorization device 35 for sterilizing and deodorizing the cold air. Hereinafter, this sterilization deodorizing apparatus 35 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a portion provided with a sterilization deodorization device for the refrigeration chamber cold air return duct, FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the sterilization deodorization device, and FIG. 10 shows the sterilization deodorization device of FIG. FIG. 11 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator, and FIG. 12 is a control flow diagram showing sterilization and deodorization control of the refrigerator.

  8 to 10, the sterilization deodorization apparatus 35 integrally holds a sterilization deodorization apparatus 35 and a temperature sensor 37 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerator compartment in this embodiment in a holder 36 formed of a transparent synthetic resin. These are unitized.

  The holder 36 is adjacent to a substantially rectangular substrate portion 38 via a sterilization deodorization holding portion 39 formed in a substantially square frame shape, and a partition wall portion 40 made of a square frame frame wall of the sterilization deodorization holding portion 39. The sterilization / deodorization holding unit 39 holds the sterilization / deodorization means 43, and the sensor holding unit 41 holds the temperature sensor 37.

  The sterilization and deodorization means 43 includes a deodorization filter 45, a light source body 46 that irradiates light to the deodorization filter 45, and a control board 47 that controls the light source body 46.

  The deodorizing filter 45 is obtained by impregnating or applying a deodorizing material, for example, a metal oxide catalyst component such as manganese oxide, on a fibrous filter such as a non-woven fabric, and further containing silver oxide or titanium oxide having a photocatalytic reaction at the same time. The sterilization / deodorization holding part 39 is mounted on a substantially L-shaped filter holding part 48 formed on the outer wall surface of the substantially square frame part opposite to the sensor holding part 41.

  The light source body 46 is configured by a UV-LED that emits light having a wavelength in the ultraviolet region (UV light having a wavelength of 380 nm) or an LED that emits light having a wavelength in the blue region of visible light of about 400 nm to 580 nm. It is mounted on.

  The control board 47 is attached to the surface of the partition wall 40 opposite to the sensor holding part 41 and is opposed to the deodorizing filter 45, and the light from the light source body 46 passes through the transparent partition wall 40 and deodorizes. The filter 45 is irradiated.

  On the other hand, the temperature sensor 37 (see FIG. 8) attached to the sensor holding part 41 is attached to the upper part of the sensor holding part 41 partitioned by the partition wall part 40 of the sterilization deodorization holding part 39, The lead wire 49 shown in FIG. 10 is pulled down along the partition wall portion 40, and the refrigerator is provided through the inside of the door together with the lead wire 51 from the control substrate 47 through the hole 50 formed in the substrate portion 38 of the holder 36. Connected to the control unit.

The sterilization and deodorization device 35 is arranged so that the longitudinal direction of the holder 36 extends along the cold room return return duct 27 to reduce the cold air flow resistance, and when attached to the inner box back wall 3a, as shown in FIG. In addition, a space portion 52 serving as a refrigeration chamber cold air return duct 27 is formed in the bottom wall 39a of the sterilization / deodorization holding portion 39 having a substantially square frame, the filter holding portion 48, the outer side of the partition wall portion 40 and the outer peripheral portion of the sensor holding portion 41. The deodorizing filter 45 held in the filter holding part 48 and the temperature sensor 37 held in the sensor holding part 41 come into contact with the cold air flowing through the cold room return air duct 27. A plurality of slits 53 are formed in the sensor holding portion 41 of the holder 36 on a surface perpendicular to the flow direction of the cold air in order to ensure the contact between the cold air and the temperature sensor 37.

  Further, the refrigerator control unit 54 connected to the control board 47 of the sterilization deodorizing device 35 detects the output from the stored item detection means 14 and the opening / closing of the refrigerator compartment door 10 as shown in FIG. On / off of energization to the light source body 46 of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus 35 is controlled based on the output from the means 55. Further, the refrigerator control unit 54 controls the compressor 18 and the damper 33 based on the output from the stored item detection means 14, adjusts the cooling amount and the flow of wind, controls each chamber to a set temperature, It also controls the operation / stop of the light-emitting means 15 that also serves as the dew condensation prevention heater 29 and the storage object detection / internal lighting.

  About the refrigerator comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below.

  First, the operation of the refrigeration cycle will be described. The refrigeration cycle is operated by a signal from the refrigerator control unit 54 in accordance with the set temperature in the refrigerator, and the cooling operation is performed. The high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant discharged by the operation of the compressor 18 is condensed to some extent by a condenser (not shown), and further, refrigerant piping (not shown) disposed on the side and back of the refrigerator and the front opening of the refrigerator. Etc.), while condensing and liquefying while preventing condensation in the refrigerator, it reaches a capillary tube (not shown). Thereafter, the capillary tube is depressurized while exchanging heat with a suction pipe (not shown) to the compressor 18 to become a low-temperature and low-pressure liquid refrigerant and reaches the cooler 21 in the cooling chamber.

  Here, the refrigerant in the cooler 21 evaporates, and cool air for cooling each storage chamber is generated in the cooling chamber 19 having the cooler 21.

  The low-temperature cold air generated in the cooling chamber 19 is sent by the cooling fan 22 to the refrigerating room 5, the switching room 7, the ice making room 6, the vegetable room 9, and the freezing room 8. The cold air is diverted using each duct and damper 33 and is blown so that each chamber is maintained in a target temperature zone. And after cooling each chamber, it returns to the cooling chamber 19 again, is cooled by the cooler 21, and circulates to each chamber by the cooling fan 22.

  And if the temperature sensor 37 detects that each chamber, for example, the refrigerator compartment 5, was cooled to preset temperature, the compressor 18 and the cooling fan 22 will stop, and cooling operation will be complete | finished.

  On the other hand, during the cooling operation, in the refrigerator, since the sterilization deodorizing device 35 is provided in the refrigeration chamber cold air return duct 27 of the refrigeration chamber 5, the odor in the cold air is deodorized and sterilized. That is, when the cold air in the cold room return air duct 27 flows to the cooler 21 along the deodorizing filter 45 held in the holder 36, a part of the cold air touches the surface of the deodorizing filter 45 and manganese oxide in the deodorizing filter. The odor is adsorbed by etc. The adsorbed odor is decomposed into a component having a high odor threshold by an oxidation reaction such as manganese oxide of the deodorizing filter 45. In addition, the light from the light source body 46 excites silver oxide or titanium oxide contained in the deodorization filter 45 to cause a photocatalytic reaction, generate OH radicals, and promote the decomposition of the odor adsorbed on the deodorization filter 45. The microbial activity on the surface of the deodorizing filter 45 is inactivated and sterilized.

  Here, in this refrigerator, the sterilization and deodorizing ability of the sterilization and deodorization device 35 is controlled according to the amount of the stored items in the refrigerator compartment 5. Hereinafter, the control will be described.

  Before that, the operation of detecting the amount of stored items by the stored item detecting means 14 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The stored item detection means 14 directly detects the amount of the stored item according to the change in the amount of light in the storage room, and the light output from the light emitting means 15 disposed on the left and right wall surfaces of the refrigerator is the storage room. The stored items 17 stored in the refrigerator compartment 5 and the refrigerator compartment 5 are irradiated. Further, a part of the output light is incident on the light quantity detection means 16 disposed in the refrigerator compartment 5.

  In FIG. 7, when the stored item 17 is stored in the refrigerator compartment 5, any one of the regions A in which the irradiation light 15 x from the light emitting means 15 on both the left and right wall surfaces is shielded by the stored item 17. It shows a state where a region B where one irradiation light 15x is blocked and a region C where neither of the right and left lights is blocked are generated.

  In this case, the light quantity detection means 16 detects and outputs the corresponding light quantity because it is in the region B where the irradiation light from any one of the light emission means 15 is shielded. In addition, when the amount of the stored item 17 is large, the area A that is shielded together increases, so that the amount of light detected by the light amount detector 16 decreases. Further, when the storage amount is small, the area C in which any irradiation light 15a is not shielded increases, so that the amount of light detected by the light amount detection means 16 increases.

  In the case of this embodiment, the above detection operation is performed by the light quantity detection means 16a to 16e between the storage shelves 12, and the light quantity caused by the interposition of the storage items 17 and the difference in the amount of the storage items 17 between the storage shelves. By detecting the change by each of the light quantity detection means 16a to 16e and discriminating the result of the light quantity detection according to a predetermined threshold value set in advance, the amount of stored items 17 in the warehouse (large or small) can be classified. .

  In addition, the above operation is performed by sequentially turning on the light sources 15a to 15d of the light emitting means 15, whereby the storage amount state between the storage shelves 12 can be detected in detail. Therefore, even in a vast storage room, it is possible to accurately detect a stored item in detail.

  The amount of storage in the storage chamber is detected as described above, and the ability control of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus 35 performed using the stored item detection means 14 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, the outline of the ability variable control of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus 35 will be briefly described. When the user opens the door and newly stores the contents in the refrigerator, for example, the refrigerator compartment, and opens the refrigerator compartment door 10, the door opening / closing detection means 55 detects this, and the refrigerator controller 54 stores the output by the output. The object detection means 14 is driven.

  In this embodiment, when the refrigerator compartment door 10 is closed, the light emitting means 15 emits light (the light emitting means in this example also serves as interior lighting, so the light is already emitted by opening the door, and the light emission state is continued as it is. In addition, the light quantity detection means 16 is activated to detect the illuminance in the refrigerator compartment, and the refrigerator control unit 54 instantaneously determines the storage amount according to a predetermined algorithm based on the signal.

  The refrigerator control unit 54 drives the compressor 18 and the damper 33 according to the determined storage amount to perform a cooling operation according to the storage amount, and at the same time, the sterilization deodorizing device according to a predetermined operation pattern based on the determination result. 35 is driven.

  Therefore, in this refrigerator, when the storage amount changes, the sterilization / deodorization ability is immediately switched without delaying the change in the storage amount due to the removal / insertion of storage items, and efficient sterilization / deodorization becomes possible.

  Hereinafter, the control flow of the sterilization and deodorization in FIG. 12 will be described in detail.

  When the door is closed after taking in / out the storage item (step 101), first, the light emitting means 15 is turned on to perform the storage amount detection operation (step 102), and the light quantity detection means 16 detects the light quantity that has increased and attenuated by the storage article. (Step 103). The detected amount of light is compared with a predetermined threshold value to determine the level of the storage amount (step 104). If it is determined that the storage amount is large (step 105), the light source body 46 of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus 35 is turned on. In addition to the strong mode operation to be lit (step 106), the rapid operation is performed until the stored item reaches the set temperature (step omitted). In this embodiment, lighting of the light source body 46 in the strong mode is periodically turned on, for example, turned on for 16 hours and turned off for 6 hours.

  When it is determined that the storage amount is small (step 107), the light source body 46 of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus 35 is turned off in a weak mode operation (step 108), and the power saving operation is performed until the storage room reaches the set temperature. Perform (step omitted).

  Otherwise, it is determined that the storage amount is standard (step 109), and in this example, the operation of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus 35 is set to the weak mode operation (step 110) and the normal operation is performed (step omitted). .

  As described above, in the refrigerator of this embodiment, when the storage amount of the storage item stored in the storage chamber changes, the storage item detection means 14 directly detects this and the sterilization and deodorization ability of the sterilization and deodorization device 35 is detected. Is variably controlled, so that the sterilization and deodorization ability changes immediately without delaying the change in the storage amount due to the insertion and removal of stored items, and efficient sterilization and deodorization becomes possible.

  That is, when it is detected that the storage amount is large, the light source body 46 of the sterilization deodorizing device 35 is turned on, and this light excites silver oxide and titanium oxide of the deodorizing filter 45 to cause a photocatalytic reaction to generate OH radicals. The decomposition of the odor adsorbed by the deodorizing filter 45 is promoted, and the activity of the bacteria on the surface of the deodorizing filter 45 is inactivated and sterilized. Then, strong sterilization and deodorization is performed by adding deodorization action due to adsorption and oxidation of odor by manganese oxide or the like contained in the deodorization filter 45.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the storage amount is small, the light source body 46 of the sterilization deodorizing device 35 is turned off and is in a weak mode state, and deodorization is performed only by the odor adsorption / oxidation action of the deodorization filter 45 by manganese oxide or the like.

  As a result, efficient sterilization and deodorization according to the storage amount becomes possible, and at the same time, the light source body 46 of the sterilization and deodorization device 35 is turned on only in the strong mode with a large storage amount, and the lighting time is greatly reduced. To do. Therefore, the durability of the light source body 46 of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus 35 is dramatically improved, and a highly reliable refrigerator in which the light source body 46 is not cut off during use can be obtained.

  In this embodiment, since the light source body 46 of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus 35 is turned on periodically when the storage amount is large, the lighting time of the light source body 46 even in the strong mode with a large storage amount. Can be reduced. Therefore, the durability of the light source body 46 can be further improved, and when the light source body 46 is extinguished, the sterilization and deodorization function can be continuously performed by utilizing the residual excitation effect of the photocatalyst. Can do.

Further, the stored item detecting means 14 includes a light emitting means 15 having light sources 15a to 15d for irradiating stored items stored in the storage room, and a stored item disposed inside the storage room and stored in the storage room. The light quantity detecting means 16 for detecting the light quantity irradiated by the light emitting means 15 via
Therefore, the storage amount can be directly detected with a simple configuration of a combination of a light source such as an LED and a light amount detection means including a light receiving means, and can be provided at low cost.

  In particular, in this embodiment, the light emitting means 15 is constituted by an illuminating means for illuminating the storage room, so that it is possible to constitute the light emitting means with a simple configuration without providing a special light source dedicated to the detection of stored items. Become.

  The light emitting means 15 is configured to detect the storage amount by providing a plurality of light sources 15a to 15d and sequentially turning on the plurality of light sources 15a to 15d. In addition, even in a vast storage room, it is possible to detect a small amount of stored items, so that the detection accuracy of the storage amount is improved.

  The stored items are detected when the door opening / closing detection means 55 detects that the refrigerator compartment door 10 is in a closed state. Based on the stored amount information, the capacity control of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus is performed. As a result, efficient sterilization and deodorization by highly accurate storage amount detection becomes possible. That is, when the stored object detection operation in which the light emitting unit 15 emits light and the light amount detecting unit 16 detects the light amount when the refrigerator compartment door 10 is opened, the light amount detecting unit 16 not only receives the light amount from the light emitting unit 15 but also externally. Since the amount of light entering through is detected, an error occurs in the detection of the storage amount due to the brightness of the refrigerator installation space. When the refrigerator compartment door 10 is closed as in this embodiment, the operation of detecting the stored item is performed. Can eliminate the influence of the disturbance described above. Therefore, the storage amount can be detected with high accuracy, and more efficient sterilization and deodorization can be performed.

  As described above, this refrigerator performs deodorization by the sterilization and deodorization device 35. The refrigerator of the present embodiment further includes some features, which will be described below.

  One of them is that, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the sterilization deodorization apparatus 35 is also unitized by holding the temperature sensor 37 in the holder 36. As a single unit part, the number of parts can be reduced, and the attachment of the sterilization deodorizing device 35 and the temperature sensor 37 can be completed simply by attaching the unit part to the refrigeration chamber cool air return duct 27, thereby improving the assemblability.

  In addition, in the holder 36 in which the temperature sensor 37 and the sterilization deodorizing device 35 are unitized, a deodorizing filter 45, a light source body 46 for irradiating light to the deodorizing filter 45, and a control board 47 for the light source body 46 are provided. The sterilization / deodorization holding unit 39 for holding these and the sensor holding unit 41 for holding the temperature sensor 37 are juxtaposed side by side so that the deodorization filter 45 and the temperature sensor 37 face the cold air circulation portion. Therefore, the sterilization and deodorization device 35 and the temperature sensor 37 can be integrated in a compact manner, and each of them can come into contact with the cold air flowing through the cold room return air duct 27, and the cold room return air duct 27 can be surely touched. Even if it is provided integrally in the narrow passage inside, it is possible to satisfactorily deodorize, disinfect, etc. and to detect the temperature.

  Further, the holder 36 is formed with a partition wall 40 between the sterilization / deodorization holding unit 39 and the sensor holding unit 41, and the light source body 46 is provided on the surface of the partition wall 40 on the sterilization / deodorization holding unit 39 side. Since the temperature sensor 37 is arranged on the sensor holding part 41 side, the light source body 46 that irradiates light to the deodorizing filter 45 and the control board 47 of the light source body 46 are heated. Even if emitted, the influence of the heat on the temperature sensor 37 can be blocked and eliminated by the partition wall 40. Therefore, even if the sterilization deodorizing device 35 and the temperature sensor 37 are integrated and made compact, the temperature detection accuracy by the temperature sensor 37 is high, and the reliability can be improved.

  Further, the holder 36 is mounted on the back wall of the inner box constituting the refrigeration chamber cold air return duct 27, and the duct cover 26 is attached to the back wall 3a of the inner box 3 so as to cover the holder 36, and is assembled. The holder 36 can be easily attached in a wide space in the inner box, and the assemblability is improved.

  As mentioned above, although the refrigerator concerning this invention was demonstrated using the said embodiment, this invention is not limited to this. That is, the embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. That is, the scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the scope of claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

  For example, although the sterilization / deodorization ability control of the sterilization / deodorization apparatus 35 is two in the present embodiment, “strong mode” and “weak mode”, it is controlled to a multi-stage mode such as strong / medium / weak. It may be.

  Further, the stored item detection means 14 has been described as detecting the stored amount by increasing or decreasing the amount of light. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The storage amount can be detected more accurately than the storage amount detection using the light quantity, and the control accuracy of the sterilization deodorizing apparatus can be further improved by increasing the storage amount detection accuracy.

  Furthermore, although the sterilization deodorization apparatus illustrated what was provided in the refrigerator compartment cold air return flow path 29a, this may be the refrigerator compartment duct 23 or the vegetable compartment duct 24, and the important thing is the refrigerator compartment 19 and the refrigerator compartment 5, What is necessary is just to provide in any part used as the cold air circulation path which connects between each room | chamber interior, such as the vegetable compartment 9 and the freezer compartment 8, and all the flow paths through which the cold air illustrated in this Embodiment circulate are this cold air circulation. It corresponds to a road.

  In addition, the installation positions of the compressor 18 and the cooler 21 are not limited to those described in the embodiment. For example, the compressor 18 may be provided at the lower rear of the refrigerator body 1.

  The refrigerator according to the present invention can drastically improve the durability of the light source body of the sterilization deodorization apparatus, and can provide a highly reliable refrigerator in which the light source body is not cut off during use. Therefore, it can be widely applied to refrigerators for business use as well as home use.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator main body 2 Outer box 3 Inner box 4 Foam insulation material 5 Refrigeration room 6 Ice making room 7 Switching room 8 Freezing room 9 Vegetable room 10 Refrigeration room door 11 Operation part 12 Storage shelf 13 Discharge port 14 Storage thing detection means 15 Light emission means 16 , 16a to 16e Light quantity detection means 17 Storage 18 Compressor 19 Cooling chamber 20 Back partition wall 21 Cooler 22 Cooling fan 23 Refrigeration room duct 24 Vegetable room duct 25 Cold air supply port 26 Duct cover 26a Convex wall 27 Cold room cold air Return duct 28 Cold air return duct 29 Condensation prevention heater 30 Drain pan 31 Drain tube 32 Evaporating dish 33 Damper 35 Disinfection deodorization device 36 Holder 37 Temperature sensor 38 Substrate part 39 Disinfection deodorization holding part 40 Partition wall part 41 Sensor holding part 43 Disinfection Deodorizing means 45 Deodorizing filter 46 Light source body 47 Control board 48 Filter holding part 9,51 leads 50 holes 52 space 53 slits 54 refrigerator control unit 55 a door opening detection means

Claims (6)

Refrigerator body provided with a storage room, sterilization deodorization device for sterilization and deodorization of cool air circulating through the storage room of the refrigerator body, and storage object detection for detecting the amount of storage material stored in the storage room And a refrigerator control unit that controls the sterilization and deodorization device based on an output from the stored item detection unit, and the sterilization and deodorization device includes a deodorization filter having a photocatalyst and a light source that irradiates the filter and excites the photocatalyst The refrigerator control unit is in a weak mode in which the light source body is held in a light-off state when it detects that the stored amount is small by the stored item detection means, and when it detects that the stored amount is large, the light source body Refrigerator configured to be in strong mode to light up. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator control unit is configured to periodically turn on the light source body in the strong mode with a large amount of storage. The stored item detecting means includes: a light emitting unit including a light source for irradiating the stored item stored in the storage chamber; and the light emitting unit disposed inside the storage chamber and stored in the storage chamber. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator is configured with a light amount detection unit that detects a light amount irradiated by the light source. A door opening / closing detection unit for detecting the open / closed state of the door for opening / closing the storage chamber is provided, and the stored item detection means detects the stored item during the period when the door opening / closing detection unit detects the closed state of the door. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the refrigerator is configured to perform a series of operations for sterilization and deodorization device control. The refrigerator according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the light emitting means of the stored item detecting means is an illumination means provided in the storage room. The light emitting means of the stored item detection means includes a plurality of light sources, and the amount of storage is detected by sequentially turning on the plurality of light sources, and the refrigerator according to any one of claims 3 to 5.

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