JP2019066143A - refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a refrigerator that supplies dry air while being simple and inexpensive, readily securing an in-compartment space and suppressing time degradation, and makes an object food semi-dry.SOLUTION: A refrigerator includes: a storage room (vegetable chamber 12) for storing a food to become semi-dry; a cooler 3 for cooling air; a through duct (cooler through vegetable duct 18) for supplying the air cooled by the cooler 3 into the storage room; and a heater 20 for heating the air passing through the through duct.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator.

  The pressure of the gas space in contact with food is fluctuated in the freezing atmosphere by performing decompression and atmospheric pressure introduction in the freezing step and freezing step of freezing food as a storage intended for drying food at home etc. What is known is provided with a means for drying food using a method of drying food comprising a transformation step and a drying step of detecting the moisture content of the food in the transformation step and drying until the predetermined moisture content is reached (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

  A dehumidifying chamber sealed in a vegetable compartment of a refrigerator is provided as a food storage for the purpose of dehumidifying using a polymer electrolyte membrane method, and a dehumidifying device for dehumidifying by a polymer electrolyte membrane method is attached to the dehumidifying chamber. Are known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  As a refrigerator intended to dry food, there is known a refrigerator in which the temperature in a temperature switching chamber disposed inside a heat insulation box of the refrigerator is set to 50 ° C. or higher (for example, see Patent Document 3) ).

Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2009-039000 JP, 2014-095531, A JP, 2010-266109, A

  However, in a refrigerator (storage) as shown in Patent Document 1, a decompression device and a storage room that is much more airtight than the storage room of a normal refrigerator are required. This complicates the construction of the device and causes the cost of manufacturing the device to rise. In addition, the decompression device and the airtight chamber are susceptible to deterioration with time.

  Moreover, in a refrigerator (food storage) as shown in Patent Document 2, a dehumidifying device using a polymer electrolyte membrane is required, and again, the configuration of the device is complicated and the cost of manufacturing is increased. It is also susceptible to aging deterioration.

  And in a refrigerator as shown by patent document 3, both a low temperature storage room and a high temperature storage room which becomes 50 degreeC or more will be provided in the inside of one heat insulation box. Because of this, the temperature difference between the two storage chambers is large, and in particular a large amount of thermal insulation is required between these two storage chambers. Therefore, the interior space is compressed by the heat insulating material, making it difficult to secure the interior space.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems. The purpose is to provide a refrigerator that can supply semi-dry food by supplying dry air with a configuration that is simple, inexpensive, easy to secure in the storage space, and can suppress deterioration with time.

  A refrigerator according to the present invention comprises: a storage room for storing a food to be semi-dried; a cooler for cooling air; a direct duct for supplying air cooled by the cooler into the storage room; And a heater for heating air passing through the duct.

  According to the refrigerator according to the present invention, dry air is supplied in a configuration that is simple, inexpensive, easy to secure in the storage space, and can suppress deterioration with time, so that the target food can be semi-dried. Play.

It is a sectional side view of the refrigerator concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of a refrigerator concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of a refrigerator concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control system of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the relative humidity of the air which flows in into a vegetable compartment from each duct of the refrigerator concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of control operation of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a control timing chart of the refrigerator concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows another example of control operation of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention.

  An embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions will be appropriately simplified or omitted. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Embodiment 1
1 to 7 relate to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are enlarged sectional views of essential parts of the refrigerator, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration, FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the relative humidity of air flowing into the vegetable compartment from each duct of the refrigerator, FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an example of control operation of the refrigerator, FIG. FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing another example of the control operation of the refrigerator.

  In addition, in each figure, the relationship of the dimension of each structural member, a shape, etc. may differ from an actual thing. Moreover, the positional relationship (for example, top-bottom relationship etc.) of each structural member is a thing when installing a refrigerator in a usable state in principle.

(Configuration of refrigerator)
The refrigerator 1 which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention has the heat insulation box 30 as shown in FIG. The front surface (front surface) of the heat insulation box 30 is opened to form a storage space inside. The heat insulation box 30 has an outer case, an inner case and a heat insulating material. The outer box is made of steel. The inner box is made of resin. The inner box is placed inside the outer box. The heat insulating material is, for example, urethane foam, a vacuum heat insulating material, etc., and is filled in the space between the outer case and the inner case. The storage space formed inside the heat insulation box 30 is divided by the one or more partition members into a plurality of storage rooms for storing food.

  As shown in FIG. 1, here, the refrigerator 1 is provided with, for example, a refrigerator compartment 7, a switching compartment 9, an ice making compartment 10, a freezing compartment 11 and a vegetable compartment 12 as a plurality of storage compartments. These storage rooms are arranged in four stages in the vertical direction in the heat insulation box 30.

  The refrigerator compartment 7 is disposed at the top of the heat insulation box 30. Inside the refrigerator compartment 7, a plurality of shelf boards are provided. The inside of the refrigerator compartment 7 is divided into a plurality of spaces (shelf) in the vertical direction by these shelf boards. A space under the lowermost shelf board is a chilled chamber 8.

  The switching chamber 9 is disposed on the left and right sides below the refrigerator compartment 7. The cold storage temperature zone of the switching chamber 9 can be switched by selecting any of a plurality of temperature zones. A plurality of temperature zones which can be selected as a cold storage temperature zone of the switching chamber 9 include, for example, a freezing temperature zone (eg, about -18.degree. C.), a refrigerated temperature zone (eg, about 3.degree. C.), a chilled temperature zone (eg, about 0.degree. C.) It is a soft freezing temperature zone (for example, about -7 ° C) or the like. The ice making chamber 10 is disposed adjacent to the side of the switching chamber 9 and in parallel with the switching chamber 9, that is, on the other side of the refrigerator chamber 7 below the refrigerating chamber 7.

  The freezing chamber 11 is disposed below the switching chamber 9 and the ice making chamber 10. The freezer compartment 11 is mainly used when the storage object is frozen and stored for a relatively long time. The vegetable room 12 is disposed at the lowermost stage below the freezing room 11. The vegetable room 12 is mainly for storing vegetables, large-sized (for example, 2 L etc.) large plastic bottles, etc. with large capacity.

  At an opening formed on the front of the refrigerator compartment 7, a rotary refrigerator compartment door 31 for opening and closing the opening is provided. Here, the refrigerator compartment door 31 is a double door type (double door type), and is comprised by the right door and the left door. An operation panel 5 is provided on the outer surface of the refrigerator compartment door 31 (for example, the left door) on the front surface of the refrigerator 1.

  Each storage room (the switching room 9, the ice making room 10, the freezing room 11 and the vegetable room 12) other than the cold storage room 7 is opened and closed by a drawer type door. In these drawer type doors, the frame provided fixed to the door is slid relative to the rails horizontally formed on the left and right inner wall surfaces of each storage room, whereby the depth direction (front and rear direction) of the refrigerator 1 is obtained. Can be opened and closed.

  Further, inside the switching chamber 9 and the inside of the freezing chamber 11, a switching chamber storage case and a freezing chamber storage case capable of storing a food or the like inside are respectively stored so as to be freely drawn out. Similarly, in the vegetable room 12, a small vegetable case 14 and a large vegetable case 15 capable of storing food and the like therein are retractably stored.

(Cooling mechanism)
The refrigerator 1 is provided with a refrigeration cycle circuit that cools the air supplied to each storage chamber. The refrigeration cycle circuit is composed of a compressor 2, a condenser (not shown), a throttling device (not shown), a cooler 3 and the like. The compressor 2 compresses and discharges the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle circuit. The condenser condenses the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2. The throttling device expands the refrigerant flowing out of the condenser. The cooler 3 cools the air supplied to each storage chamber by the refrigerant expanded by the expansion device. The compressor 2 is disposed, for example, at the lower portion on the back side of the refrigerator 1.

  The refrigerator 1 is formed with an air passage for supplying the air cooled by the refrigeration cycle circuit to each storage room. This air passage is mainly disposed on the back side in the refrigerator 1. The cooler 3 of the refrigeration cycle circuit is installed in the air passage. In addition, a blower 4 is also provided in the air path for sending the air cooled by the cooler 3 to each storage room. When the blower 4 operates, the air (cold air) cooled by the cooler 3 is sent through the air path to the freezing chamber 11, the switching chamber 9, the ice making chamber 10, and the refrigerating chamber 7 to cool these storage chambers. .

  The inside of the refrigerator compartment 7 and the inside of the vegetable compartment 12 are communicated by the refrigeration-vegetable duct 16. The vegetable compartment 12 is cooled by introducing the return cold air from the cold storage compartment 7 into the vegetable compartment 12 through the refrigeration-vegetable duct 16. The cool air that has cooled the vegetable compartment 12 is returned to the inside of the air duct where the cooler 3 is located, through a vegetable compartment return air duct (not shown). Then, it is cooled again by the cooler 3 and cold air is circulated in the refrigerator 1.

  A damper (not shown) is provided at a midway point from the air path where the cooler 3 and the blower 4 are provided to the freezing room 11, the switching room 9, the ice making room 10 and the refrigerating room 7 to the storage rooms. Each damper opens and closes a portion leading to each storage room of the air passage. By changing the open / close state of the damper, it is possible to adjust the blowing amount of cold air supplied to each storage chamber. Also, the temperature of the cold air can be adjusted by controlling the operation of the compressor 2.

  The refrigeration cycle circuit consisting of the compressor 2 and the cooler 3 provided as described above, the blower 4, the air passage and the damper constitute a cooling means for cooling the inside of the storage chamber.

  A control device 6 is accommodated in, for example, an upper portion on the back side of the refrigerator 1. The control device 6 is provided with a control circuit and the like for performing various controls necessary for the operation of the refrigerator 1. As a control circuit included in the control device 6, for example, a circuit for controlling the operation of the compressor 2 and the blower 4 and the opening degree of the damper based on the temperature in each storage chamber and the information input to the operation panel 5 is cited. Be That is, the control device 6 controls the operation of the refrigerator 1 by controlling the above-described cooling means and the like. The temperature in each storage chamber can be detected by a thermistor or the like installed in each storage chamber. The control device 6 also controls communication between the refrigerator 1 and an external device. Specifically, communication with an external device is, for example, reception of a setting temperature change instruction from a smartphone, transmission of information on an in-storage state to a smartphone, or the like.

(Composition of a vegetable room)
FIG.2 and FIG.3 is sectional drawing of the principal part containing the vegetable compartment 12 part with which the refrigerator 1 is equipped. The vegetable room 12 is a storage room for storing food, particularly vegetables. The vegetable room door 32 is a door which can open and close the vegetable room 12 which is a storage room. The large vegetable case 15 is supported by a frame (not shown) of the vegetable compartment door 32. The small vegetable case 14 is placed on the upper side of the large vegetable case 15.

  When the vegetable compartment door 32 is pulled forward, the large vegetable case 15 and the small vegetable case 14 are pulled forward integrally with the vegetable compartment door 32. When only the small vegetable case 14 is slid backward with the vegetable room door 32 pulled out, only the large vegetable case 15 is pulled out. When only the large vegetable case 15 is pulled out, the food can be easily put in and out of the large vegetable case 15.

  The depth of the small vegetable case 14 is smaller than the depth of the large vegetable case 15. With the vegetable compartment door 32 closed, the position of the rear end of the small vegetable case 14 and the position of the rear end of the large vegetable case 15 are aligned. That is, the front end of the large vegetable case 15 is ahead of the front end of the small vegetable case 14. Therefore, on the front side of the small vegetable case 14, the top opening of the large vegetable case 15 is opened upward without being blocked by the small vegetable case 14.

  The refrigerator 1 includes a door open / close detection sensor 13. The door open / close detection sensor 13 is for detecting the open / close state of the vegetable compartment door 32. The door open / close detection sensor 13 is provided at a position facing the vegetable room door 32 at the edge of the front opening of the vegetable room 12. The door open / close detection sensor 13 is, for example, a switch of a general magnet system. That is, for example, the proximity of the magnet embedded in the vegetable compartment door 32 is detected by a pair of reed switches installed in the heat insulation box 30 on the refrigerator 1 main body side.

  Using the detection result of the door open / close detection sensor 13, the control device 6 measures the open time or close time of the vegetable compartment door 32 as necessary, and uses it for various controls. In addition, when the state where the vegetable compartment door 32 is opened continues for a predetermined time or more, the control device 6 can also emit a buzzer sound or the like to alert the user. In addition, although illustration other than the vegetable compartment 12 is abbreviate | omitted this time, the sensor which can detect opening and closing of a door similarly is provided in each other storage compartment.

  The vegetable compartment 12 in the first embodiment is a storage compartment for containing the food to be semi-dried. In particular, the food for semi-drying is stored in the upper small vegetable case 14. Specifically, the food to be semi-dried is, for example, sliced eggplant, shredded radish and the like. In addition, normal storage can also be performed without semi-drying the food in the small vegetable case 14 as described later. When carrying out ordinary storage, the small vegetable case 14 is suitable for storing used vegetables, small vegetables such as cucumber and tomato. In addition, the large vegetable case 15 accommodates food that is normally stored. The large vegetable case 15 is suitable for storing large vegetables, specifically, for example, heavy root vegetables such as spinach, komatsuna, cabbage, leaf vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, potatoes, and radish.

  As described above, the inside of the refrigerator compartment 7 and the inside of the vegetable compartment 12 are communicated by the refrigeration-vegetable duct 16. The refrigerated-vegetable duct 16 in the first embodiment is an example of a communication duct for supplying the air in the refrigerating compartment 7 into the vegetable compartment 12.

  The outlet on the vegetable compartment 12 side of the cold storage-vegetable duct 16 is formed on the upper surface in the vegetable compartment 12. In the first embodiment, the vegetable compartment 12 side of the cold storage-vegetable duct 16 is branched into two hands. And the blower outlet by the side of the vegetable compartment 12 of the cold storage-vegetable duct 16 is formed in two places. One outlet is disposed above the small vegetable case 14. Therefore, the air from the one outlet is blown out into the small vegetable case 14. The other outlet is disposed forward of the front end of the small vegetable case 14. Therefore, the air from the other outlet is blown out into the large vegetable case 15 instead of the small vegetable case 14.

  The inside of the vegetable compartment 12 is in direct communication with the air passage on the rear side of the refrigerator 1 provided with the cooler 3 and the blower 4 and the cooler-vegetable duct 18. The air cooled by the cooler 3 can be introduced directly into the vegetable compartment 12 without passing through the cold storage compartment 7 by passing through the cooler-vegetable duct 18. The cooler-vegetable duct 18 in the first embodiment is an example of a direct duct for supplying the air cooled by the cooler 3 into the storage chamber (vegetable chamber 12).

  A blower-outlet for introducing air from the cooler-vegetable duct 18 into the vegetable compartment 12 is formed on the back of the vegetable compartment 12. The outlet of the cooler-vegetable duct 18 or the direct duct is formed at one side in the vegetable compartment 12. In the first embodiment, the “one side” is the upper side. And the small vegetable case 14 in this Embodiment 1 is an example of the above-mentioned one side in the vegetable compartment 12, ie, an example of the 1st storage container arrange | positioned in the upper side here. Moreover, the large vegetable case 15 in the first embodiment is an example of the second storage container disposed on the other side in the vegetable compartment 12, that is, here, on the lower side. Thus, the outlet of the cooler-vegetable duct 18 is arranged on the same side as the small vegetable case 14. For this reason, the air from the outlet of the cooler-vegetable duct 18 is blown out into the small vegetable case 14.

  The refrigerator 1 is provided with a heater 20. The heater 20 is for heating air passing through the cooler-vegetable duct 18 or through duct. The heater 20 is provided, for example, inside the cooler-vegetable duct 18. Alternatively, for example, the heater 20 may be provided in close contact with the outer peripheral portion of the cooler-vegetable duct 18.

  The cooler-vegetable duct 18 is provided with a cooler-vegetable damper 19. Here, the cooler-vegetable damper 19 is provided, for example, at the suction port on the cooler 3 side of the cooler-vegetable duct 18. By changing the opening degree of the cooler-vegetable damper 19, the flow of air in the cooler-vegetable duct 18 can be adjusted. In the state shown in FIG. 2, the cooler-vegetable damper 19 is fully closed. In this state, the flow of air in the cooler-vegetable duct 18 is shut off. That is, the air cooled by the cooler 3 is not supplied into the vegetable compartment 12. In the state shown in FIG. 3, the cooler-vegetable damper 19 is fully open. In this state, air flows in the cooler-vegetable duct 18. That is, the air cooled by the cooler 3 is supplied into the vegetable compartment 12. Although not shown, the flow rate of air in the cooler-vegetable duct 18 can also be adjusted by bringing the cooler-vegetable damper 19 into an intermediate state between full open and full close. The cooler-vegetable damper 19 according to the first embodiment configured as described above is an example of a first damper for adjusting the flow of air in the cooler-vegetable duct 18, that is, the through duct.

  The cold storage-vegetable duct 16 is provided with a cold storage-vegetable damper 17. Here, the refrigerated-vegetable damper 17 is provided at the aforementioned branch point in the refrigerated-vegetable duct 16. By changing the opening degree of the cold storage-vegetable damper 17, the flow of air in the cold storage-vegetable duct 16 can be adjusted. Focusing on the above-mentioned one of the two outlets of the vegetable duct 16 located above the small vegetable case 14, in the condition shown in FIG. The damper 17 is fully open. In this state, the air from the refrigerator compartment 7 which has passed through the refrigerator-vegetable duct 16 is blown out into the small vegetable case 14 in the vegetable compartment 12. In the state shown in FIG. 3, the one outlet is completely closed by the chilled-vegetable damper 17. In this state, the air from the refrigerator compartment 7 which has passed through the refrigerator-vegetable duct 16 is not blown out into the small vegetable case 14 in the vegetable compartment 12. The refrigerated-vegetable damper 17 according to the first embodiment configured as described above is an example of a second damper for adjusting the flow of air in the refrigerated-vegetable duct 16, that is, the communication duct.

  In the state shown in FIG. 2 among the two outlets of the cold storage-vegetable duct 16, the other outlet is totally closed by the cold storage-vegetable damper 17 in the state shown in FIG. There is. In this state, the air from the refrigerator compartment 7 which has passed through the refrigerator-vegetable duct 16 is not blown out into the large vegetable case 15 in the vegetable compartment 12. On the other hand, in the state shown in FIG. 3, the other outlet is fully opened by the chilled-vegetable damper 17. In this state, the air from the refrigerator compartment 7 which has passed through the refrigerator-vegetable duct 16 is blown out into the large vegetable case 15 in the vegetable compartment 12. Therefore, does the refrigerated-vegetable damper 17 according to the first embodiment configured as described above blow air from the refrigerating compartment 7 through the refrigerated-vegetable duct 16 into the small vegetable case 14? Also, it can be said that it is what is switched to be blown out into the large vegetable case 15.

  For example, a plurality of ventilating holes are formed on the bottom of the small vegetable case 14. In other words, ventilating holes are formed in the surface of the first storage container on the second storage container side. For this reason, in the state of FIG. 2, the air from the refrigerator compartment 7 blown out from the refrigerator-vegetable duct 16 into the accessory vegetable case 14 is supplied to the inside of the big vegetable case 15 through these air vents. Can.

(Control system of refrigerator)
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control system of the refrigerator 1. The control device 6 includes, for example, a microcomputer, and includes a processor 6a and a memory 6b. The control device 6 causes the processor 6a to execute a program stored in the memory 6b to execute a preset process and control the refrigerator 1.

  The operation panel 5 includes an operation unit 5a and a display unit 5b. The operation unit 5a is an operation switch for setting the cold storage temperature of each storage room and the operation mode of the refrigerator 1. The display unit 5 b is a liquid crystal display that displays various information such as the temperature of each storage room. The operation panel 5 may include a touch panel that doubles as the operation unit 5a and the display unit 5b.

  A detection signal of the temperature of each storage chamber is input to the control device 6 from the thermistor 21. Further, an operation signal from the operation unit 5 a of the operation panel 5 is also input to the control device 6. Further, a detection signal from the door open / close detection sensor 13 is also input to the control device 6.

  The control device 6 executes a process of controlling the operation of the compressor 2 and the blower 4 so that the inside of each storage chamber is maintained at the set temperature based on the input signal. The control device 6 also controls the open / close state of the chilled-vegetable damper 17 and the cooler-vegetable damper 19. Furthermore, the control device 6 also controls the operation of the heater 20. Then, the control device 6 outputs a display signal to the display unit 5 b of the operation panel 5 to control the display operation of the display unit 5 b.

(Normal mode and semi-dry mode)
The operation modes of the refrigerator 1 which can be set by the operation of the operation unit 5a of the operation panel 5 include at least the "normal mode" and the "semi-dry mode". The “normal mode” is an operation mode in which the food in the vegetable room 12 is stored in a normal state. The “semi-dry mode” is an operation mode for semi-drying the target food stored in the small vegetable case 14 particularly in the vegetable room 12 here.

When the operation mode of the refrigerator 1 is set to the normal mode, the control device 6 performs the following control.
-Refrigerated-The vegetable damper 17 opens one of the two outlets of the refrigerated vegetable duct 16 located above the small vegetable case 14 and closes the other outlet-The cooler-vegetable damper 19 to close the chiller-vegetable duct 18 and turn off the heater 20

  Therefore, in the normal mode, the state shown in FIG. 2 is obtained, and the supply of the air cooled by the cooler 3 into the direct vegetable compartment 12 is shut off. On the other hand, the air from the refrigerator compartment 7 which has passed through the refrigerator-vegetable duct 16 is blown out into the small vegetable case 14 in the vegetable compartment 12. Then, the air from the refrigerator compartment 7 is also supplied into the large vegetable case 15 through the vent holes of the small vegetable case 14. Therefore, the air from the refrigerator compartment 7 is supplied to both the small vegetable case 14 and the large vegetable case 15 in the vegetable compartment 12.

When the operation mode of the refrigerator 1 is set to the semi-dry mode, the control device 6 performs the following control.
-Refrigerated-The vegetable damper 17 closes one of the two outlets of the refrigerated vegetable duct 16, which is disposed above the small vegetable case 14, and opens the other outlet-The cooler-vegetable damper 19 opens the cooler-vegetable duct 18 and turns on the heater 20

  Therefore, in the semi-dry mode, the state shown in FIG. 3 is obtained, and the air from the refrigerator compartment 7 which has passed through the refrigerator-vegetable duct 16 is not blown out into the small vegetable case 14 in the vegetable compartment 12 and only in the large vegetable case 15 Be blown out. The air cooled by the cooler 3 is directly supplied into the small vegetable case 14. At this time, the air from the cooler 3 is heated to the set temperature of the vegetable compartment 12 by the heater 20 and then supplied into the small vegetable case 14 in the vegetable compartment 12. Thus, in the semi-dry mode, the air cooled by the cooler 3 is supplied to the small vegetable case 14 in the vegetable room 12 after being heated by the heater 20 and then supplied. On the other hand, air from the refrigerator compartment 7 is supplied into the large vegetable case 15.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the relative humidity of the air supplied to the vegetable compartment 12, particularly to the small vegetable case 14 in each of the normal mode and the semi-dry mode will be described. FIG. 5 is an excerpt of some elements of the wet air diagram. In FIG. 5, an equivalent relative humidity curve is shown in the case where the horizontal axis represents dry bulb temperature [° C.] and the vertical axis represents absolute humidity (the amount of water vapor contained in 1 kg of dry air) [g / kg]. There is.

  In the normal mode, the small vegetable case 14 of the vegetable compartment 12 is supplied with air from the cold storage compartment 7. The relative humidity of the air in the refrigerator compartment 7 is considered to be approximately 100% due to the influence of the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 7, and the like. Assuming that the preset temperature of the refrigerator compartment 7 is, for example, 3 ° C., the temperature of the air supplied to the vegetable compartment 12 from the refrigerator-vegetable duct 16 is naturally warmed while passing through the refrigerator-vegetable duct 16, for example 6 ° C. become. Since the absolute amount of water vapor contained in the air does not change during movement in the cold storage-vegetable duct 16, when the temperature of the air in the cold storage room 7 rises from 3 ° C. to 6 ° C., the cold storage-vegetable duct 16 The relative humidity of the air supplied to the vegetable compartment 12 is about 80%.

  On the other hand, in the semi-dry mode, the air cooled by the cooler 3 is supplied to the small vegetable case 14 of the vegetable room 12 without passing through the cold room 7. Here, the temperature of the air cooled by the cooler 3 is, for example, −25 ° C. In this case, it is difficult for the temperature of the vegetable compartment 12 to rise to 6 ° C. only when the air at -25 ° C. is naturally warmed while passing through the cooler-vegetable duct 18. Therefore, in the semi-dry mode, the temperature of the air supplied from the cooler-vegetable duct 18 to the vegetable compartment 12 is raised to 6 ° C. by heating the air passing through the cooler-vegetable duct 18 with the heater 20. Since the saturated water vapor content of air at -25 ° C is small, when the temperature of the air rises from -25 ° C to 6 ° C, the relative humidity of the air supplied from the cooler-vegetable duct 18 to the vegetable compartment 12 is about 6% become.

  As described above, according to the refrigerator 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the air cooled by the cooler 3 is heated by the heater 20 through the cooler-vegetable duct 18 to pass through the refrigerator compartment 7 Supply dry air with a configuration that is simple, inexpensive, and easy to secure in the storage space and can suppress deterioration over time by directly supplying it into the vegetable room 12 to perform semi-drying of the target food it can.

  In addition, a refrigeration-vegetable duct 16 for supplying air in the refrigeration compartment 7 into the vegetable compartment 12, and a cooler-vegetable damper 19 for regulating the flow of air in the cooler-vegetable duct 18. It further comprises a refrigerated-vegetable damper 17 for regulating the flow of air in the refrigerated-vegetable duct 16. For this reason, in one vegetable room 12, it can switch and use whether normal preservation or semi-drying is performed.

  Here, as described above, the vegetable compartment 12 side of the cold storage-vegetable duct 16 is divided into two parts, and an outlet disposed above the small vegetable case 14 and an outlet for blowing air into the large vegetable case 15 Two outlets of the are formed. Then, air is blown into the large vegetable case 15 in the normal mode, and switched by the refrigerated-vegetable damper 17 so as to blow out the air into the small vegetable case 14 in the semi-dry mode.

  Therefore, in the semi-dry mode, the dried air can be supplied only to the small vegetable case 14 of the vegetable compartment 12, and the large vegetable case 15 can be supplied with the wet air from the refrigerating compartment 7 as in the normal mode. Therefore, it is possible to semi-dry only the food to be semi-dried while keeping the food which you do not want to semi-dry normally in one vegetable room 12 as usual.

  Also, by forming the ventilation holes in the large vegetable case 15 side of the small vegetable case 14, the water released from the target food in the process of semi-drying the target food in the small vegetable case 14 passes through the ventilation holes. And move into the large vegetable case 15. And the humidity in big vegetable case 15 can be raised, and vegetables etc. in big vegetable case 15 can be stored flexibly. Therefore, it is possible to effectively utilize the water released from the target food in the process of semi-drying without being released to the outside of the refrigerator 1. In addition, since the water produced by the semi-drying is not released to the outside of the refrigerator 1, that is, released to the living space of a person, the humidity of the living space is not unnecessarily increased, and the increase in humidity does not It can suppress giving pleasure.

  As described above, by setting the operation mode of the refrigerator 1 with the operation panel 5, the opening and closing of the cooler-vegetable damper 19 (first damper) and the chilled-vegetable damper 17 (second damper) are switched. be able to. In this sense, the refrigerator 1 includes the operation panel 5 capable of switching the opening and closing of the first damper and the second damper.

  Next, an example of the control operation of the refrigerator 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6. What is described here is an example of control when the predetermined operation mode is the normal mode. Moreover, in the following description, the opening and closing of the cold storage-vegetable damper 17 refers to the opening and closing of the outlet disposed above the small vegetable case 14 of the two outlets of the cold storage-vegetable duct 16. .

  First, in step S1, when the refrigerator 1 is powered on, the control device 6 starts control in a predetermined operation mode, that is, the normal mode. Then, in step S2, the control device 6 opens the refrigerated-vegetable damper 17, closes the cooler-vegetable damper 19, and turns off the heater 20. Therefore, wet air from the refrigerator compartment 7 is supplied into the vegetable compartment 12. After step S2, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the control device 6 confirms whether the semi-dry mode has been set by operating the operation unit 5a of the operation panel 5. That is, specifically, for example, it is confirmed whether the semi-dry button of the operation panel 5 is turned on. If the semi-dry button is not turned on, that is, the semi-dry mode is not set, the process returns to step S2 and the normal mode is continued. On the other hand, when the semi-dry button is turned on and the semi-dry mode is set, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, the semi-dry mode is started. That is, the control device 6 closes the cold storage-vegetable damper 17, opens the cooler-vegetable damper 19, and turns on the heater 20. Therefore, the dried air from the cooler 3 is supplied into the vegetable compartment 12, particularly toward the small vegetable case 14. The supply of moist air from the refrigerator compartment 7 is continued into the large vegetable case 15 in the vegetable compartment 12.

  After step S4, the process proceeds to step S5. The control device 6 waits for a preset time width dt [sec] before starting the process of step S5, and performs the process of step S5 after the time width dt has elapsed. This is the same as when the process returns from step S6 to be described later to step S5.

  In step S5, the control device 6 adds the time width dt to the timer variable time_A which integrates the elapsed time since the start of the semi-dry mode. After step S5, the process proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the control device 6 checks whether the value of the timer variable time_A exceeds a preset semi-dry mode upper limit time time_A_Max [sec]. If the value of the timer variable time_A does not exceed the semi-dry mode upper limit time time_A_Max, the process returns to step S5.

  On the other hand, when the value of the timer variable time_A exceeds the semi-dry mode upper limit time time_A_Max, the process returns to step S2, and the operation mode is changed to the normal mode. Further, at this time, the control device 6 resets the timer variable time_A [sec] to the initial value 0.

  The timing chart of FIG. 7 shows the values of the timer variable time_A, the state of the cold-vegetable damper 17, the cooler-vegetable damper 19 and the heater 20 in the control example of the flow chart of FIG. 6 described above. First, when the control in the normal mode, which is the predetermined operation mode, is started in step S1, the refrigerator-vegetable damper 17 is opened in step S2, the cooler-vegetable damper 19 is closed, and the heater 20 is turned off. .

  As a result of the determination process in step S3, when the semi-dry mode is started, the cold storage-vegetable damper 17 is closed, the cooler-vegetable damper 19 is opened, and the heater 20 is turned on during steps S4 to S6. Also, the value of the timer variable time_A increases according to the elapsed time during this period.

  Then, when the timer variable time_A reaches the semi-dry mode upper limit time time_A_Max, the operation mode returns to the normal mode. That is, by the process of step S2, the refrigerator-vegetable damper 17 is opened in step S2, the cooler-vegetable damper 19 is closed, and the heater 20 is turned off. The timer variable time_A [sec] is reset to 0 at the end of the semi-dry mode.

  The above control example is to end the semi-dry mode when the elapsed time since the start of the semi-dry mode reaches the preset upper limit time. The termination condition of the semi-dry mode is not limited to the elapsed time. Alternatively, for example, the semi-dry mode may be ended when the humidity in or around the small vegetable case 14 becomes a preset humidity.

  The flowchart shown in FIG. 8 is a control example in the case where the semi-dry mode is ended by the humidity around such a small vegetable case 14. In this case, a humidity sensor for detecting the humidity around the small vegetable case 14 is provided. As described above, in the first embodiment, the bottom of the small vegetable case 14 has a vent. Therefore, the humidity sensor may be attached to the back of the bottom of the small vegetable case 14. By doing this, it is possible to detect the humidity of the air in the small vegetable case 14 coming out of the vent without reducing the internal volume of the small vegetable case 14.

  Steps S1 to S4 in FIG. 8 are the same as steps S1 to S4 in FIG. A description of these steps is omitted here. In the control example of FIG. 8, the process proceeds to step S7 after step S4.

  In step S7, the control device 6 detects the air humidity RH_A [%] in the vicinity of the bottom surface of the small vegetable case 14 by the humidity sensor, and acquires the value RH_A of the detection result. After step S7, the process proceeds to step S8. In step S8, the control device 6 checks whether or not the value of the detected humidity RH_A is lower than the preset semi-dry mode end humidity RH_Dfault [%]. If the value of the detected humidity RH_A does not fall below the semi-dry mode end humidity RH_Dfault, the process returns to step S7.

  On the other hand, if the value of the detected humidity RH_A falls below the semi-dry mode end humidity RH_Dfault, the process returns to step S2 and the operation mode is changed to the normal mode. By doing as described above, the degree of dryness (residual water content) of the target food at the end of the semi-dry mode can be made approximately the same each time.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 refrigerator 2 compressor 3 cooler 4 air blower 5 operation panel 5a operation part 5b display part 6 control device 6a processor 6b memory 7 cold storage room 8 chilled room 9 switching room 10 ice making room 11 freezing room 12 vegetable room 13 door open / close detection sensor 14 Small vegetable case 15 Large vegetable case 16 Cold storage-Vegetable duct 17 Cold storage-Vegetable damper 18 Cooler-Vegetable duct 19 Cooler-Vegetable damper 20 Heater 21 Thermistor 30 Thermal insulation box 31 Cold storage room door 32 Vegetable room door

Claims (5)

A storage room for storing food targeted for semi-drying,
A cooler for cooling the air,
A direct duct for supplying the air cooled by the cooler into the storage chamber;
And a heater for heating air passing through the direct duct. The storage room is a vegetable room,
With the cold room,
A communication duct for supplying air in the cold storage room to the vegetable room;
A first damper for adjusting the flow of air in the direct duct;
The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising: a second damper for adjusting the flow of air in the communication duct. An outlet for introducing air from the direct duct into the vegetable room is formed on one side of the vegetable room,
A first storage container disposed on the one side in the vegetable room for storing the target food;
The refrigerator according to claim 2, further comprising: a second storage container disposed on the other side of the vegetable room.   The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein a vent hole is formed in the surface of the first storage container on the second storage container side.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 2 to 4, further comprising an operation panel capable of switching the opening and closing of the first damper and the second damper.

Images