refrigerator

Abstract

To provide a refrigerator capable of saving energy.SOLUTION: A refrigerator according to the present disclosure comprises cooling means of cooling a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber, and a cold storage material. The refrigerator performs a cold storage operation for cooling the cold storage material, and a pre-cooling operation for cooling at least one of the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber to a temperature lower than normal time. Thereby, even when the compressor is stopped, the temperature of the refrigerating chamber can be maintained at a substantially constant temperature due to a cooling ability of the cold storage material.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to refrigerators. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an evaporator with a cold storage function. This evaporator is configured such that two rows of refrigerant flow tubes are provided at an interval in the ventilation direction, the refrigerant flow tube sections of both refrigerant flow tube rows are at the same position in the left-right direction, ventilation gaps are formed between adjacent refrigerant flow tube sections of both refrigerant flow tube rows, cold storage material containers containing cold storage material are arranged to span some of the ventilation gaps that are at the same position in the left-right direction among all the ventilation gaps of both refrigerant flow tube rows, and fins are arranged to span the remaining ventilation gaps that are at the same position in the left-right direction among all the ventilation gaps of both refrigerant flow tube rows. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5525726 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The present disclosure provides a refrigerator that can achieve energy savings. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] A refrigerator according to the present disclosure is a refrigerator including a cooling means for cooling a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment, and a cold storage material, the cooling means including a refrigeration heat exchanger for cooling the refrigerator compartment, a freezer heat exchanger for cooling the freezer compartment, and a switching means for switching a flow path of a refrigerant cycle to the refrigeration heat exchanger or the freezer heat exchanger, the cold storage material being in thermal contact with the refrigeration heat exchanger, and a pre-cooling operation for cooling the freezer compartment to a temperature lower than a normally set internal temperature by the freezer heat exchanger. After the freezer is cooled by pre-cooling,The switching means switches the flow path of the refrigerant cycle to the refrigeration heat exchanger, and the refrigeration material is operated to store cold by the refrigeration refrigeration heat exchanger. Effect of the Invention

[0006] The refrigerator according to the present disclosure can achieve energy saving. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an outline of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a refrigeration heat exchanger according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a refrigeration heat exchanger according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a front view showing a refrigeration heat exchanger according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 5] Cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Figure 3. [Figure 6] Block diagram showing a control configuration of the first embodiment. [Figure 7] Graph showing operation in response to demand response [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] (The knowledge and other information that formed the basis of this disclosure) At the time when the inventors came up with the present disclosure, there was a technique in which a cold storage material was placed in a heat exchanger (evaporator) and air was cooled by the heat exchanger while the cold storage material was also used to cool the air. However, since the conventional technology is applied to a car air conditioner for a vehicle, for example, when the engine is stopped, such as during idling stop, cooling is performed supplementarily using a cold storage material, and a large capacity of the cold storage material cannot be secured due to the installation space. Therefore, the inventors discovered a problem that the conventional technology cannot be applied directly to a refrigerator, and in order to solve the problem, the subject of the present disclosure has been constituted. In view of this, the present disclosure provides a refrigerator that can achieve energy savings.

[0009] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanation of already well-known matters or duplicate explanation of substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid the following explanation becoming more redundant than necessary and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. It should be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

[0010] (Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. [1-1. Configuration] [1-1-1. Refrigerator configuration] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an outline of a refrigerator according to the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the refrigerator 1 has a box-shaped main body 10. A partition plate 11 that divides the internal space of the main body 10 is provided in approximately the center in the vertical direction of the main body 10. The upper side of the partition plate 11 is a refrigeration compartment 12, and the lower side of the partition plate 11 is a freezer compartment 13. A refrigerator compartment door 14 is provided on the front side of the refrigerator compartment 12 so as to be freely opened and closed, and a freezer compartment door 15 is provided on the front side of the freezer compartment 13 so as to be freely opened and closed.

[0011] A refrigeration duct 20 extending in the vertical direction is provided at the rear of the refrigeration compartment 12. A freezing duct 21 extending in the vertical direction is provided at the rear of the freezer compartment 13. A refrigeration heat exchanger 22 serving as a heat exchanger of the present invention is housed inside the refrigeration duct 20. A refrigeration fan 23 is disposed above the refrigeration heat exchanger 22. By driving the refrigeration fan 23, the air inside the refrigeration compartment 12 is sucked in from below the refrigeration duct 20, passes through the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 for heat exchange, and is then blown out from above the refrigeration duct 20 into the inside of the refrigeration compartment 12.

[0012] A refrigeration heat exchanger 24 is housed inside the refrigeration duct 21. A refrigeration fan 25 is disposed above the refrigeration heat exchanger 24. By driving the refrigeration fan 25, the air inside the freezing chamber 13 is sucked in from below the refrigeration duct 21, passes through the refrigeration heat exchanger 24 for heat exchange, and is then blown out from above the refrigeration duct 21 into the inside of the freezing chamber 13. Below the refrigeration duct 21, a heater 26 is disposed.

[0013] A compressor 30 is installed at the upper rear of the main body 10. A condenser 31 is connected to the compressor 30 via a refrigerant pipe 32. A three-way valve 33 is connected to the condenser 31, and the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 is connected to the three-way valve 33 via an expansion mechanism 34. In addition, the three-way valve 33 is connected to the refrigeration heat exchanger 24 via an expansion mechanism 35 . Thus, a refrigeration refrigerant cycle is formed in which the refrigerant sequentially circulates through the compressor 30, the condenser 31, the three-way valve 33, the expansion mechanism 34, and the refrigeration heat exchanger 22, and a refrigeration refrigerant cycle is formed in which the refrigerant sequentially circulates through the compressor 30, the condenser 31, the three-way valve 33, the expansion mechanism 35, and the refrigeration heat exchanger 24. The three-way valve 33 functions as the switching means of the present disclosure. The refrigeration refrigerant cycle and the refrigeration refrigerant cycle can be switched by switching the three-way valve 33. The refrigeration refrigerant cycle and the refrigeration refrigerant cycle function as the cooling means of the present disclosure.

[0014] [1-1-2. Configuration of refrigeration heat exchanger 22] Next, the configuration of the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 will be described. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 of the first embodiment. Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 of the first embodiment. Fig. 4 is a front view showing the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 of the first embodiment. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. 3.

[0015] 2 to 5, the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 is provided with a refrigerant conducting member 40 through which a refrigerant flows. The refrigerant conducting member 40 is formed of a porous flat tube in which a plurality of substantially rectangular passages are continuously arranged. The refrigerant conducting member 40 is formed in a serpentine shape and includes a plurality of flat tubes 41 formed approximately in parallel at a predetermined interval and bent portions 42 connecting the ends of each of the flat tubes 41. In this embodiment, six flat tubes 41 are provided between headers, which will be described later. The number of flat tubes 41 is not limited to this, but can be set arbitrarily. Also, each flat tube 41 and the bent portion 42 may be integral with each other, and a single flat tube 41 may be formed between the headers by meandering.

[0016] In this embodiment, the flat tubes 41 and the bent portions 42 are divided into three regions, an upper region 43, a middle region 44, and a lower region 45, in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, the area is divided into three areas in the vertical direction, but it may be divided into two areas or four or more areas in the vertical direction.

[0017] An inlet header 46 and an outlet header 47 extending vertically are provided at one end of the outermost flat tube 41 . The inlet side header 46 and the outlet side header 47 are attached so as not to protrude from the end faces of the refrigerant conducting member 40. In other words, the end faces of the inlet side header 46 and the outlet side header 47 are flush with the outer surfaces of the flat tubes 41 of the refrigerant conducting member 40. This makes it possible to reduce the thickness dimension of the refrigerant conducting member 40, and when the refrigerant conducting member 40 is housed inside the refrigerating duct 20, it is possible to reduce the internal space of the refrigerating duct 20. As a result, it is possible to increase the internal space of the refrigerating chamber 12.

[0018] In this embodiment, the refrigerant is configured to flow in from the upper part of the inlet header 46 and to flow out from the lower part of the outlet header 47 . The inlet side header 46 and the outlet side header 47 may be provided at different ends of the flat tubes 41, and the inlet side header 46 and the outlet side header 47 may be disposed on both sides of the refrigerant conducting member 40. The refrigerant inlet of the inlet side header 46 may be provided below instead of above, and the refrigerant outlet of the outlet side header 47 may be provided above instead of below.

[0019] 2, a partition plate 48 is provided at a position corresponding to the boundary between the upper region 43 and the middle region 44 of the inlet side header 46. The middle region 44 and the lower region 45 of the inlet side header 46 are in communication with each other. A partition plate 49 is provided at a position corresponding to the boundary between the middle region 44 and the lower region 45 of the outlet side header 47. The upper region 43 and the middle region 44 of the outlet side header 47 are in communication with each other.

[0020] The refrigerant that flows in from the upper part of the inlet side header 46 passes through the inside of the upper region 43 of the refrigerant conducting member 40 and flows to the outlet side header 47. The refrigerant that flows into the outlet side header 47 flows into the middle region 44 of the refrigerant conducting member 40 and then flows to the inlet side header 46, passes through the lower region 45 via the inlet side header 46, and then flows out from the lower part of the outlet side header 47. That is, the refrigerant conducting member 40 is arranged so that its width direction (the vertical direction in Figure 4) is oriented in the air flow direction inside the refrigeration duct 20, and the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant conducting member 40 flows in a direction perpendicular to the air flow direction.

[0021] Air flow paths 50 and cold storage material containers 52 in which cold storage material 51 is sealed are alternately arranged between the flat tubes 41 of the refrigerant conducting member 40. As shown in Fig. 5, a holding member 53 for holding the cold storage material containers 52 is provided on the lower surface of the flat tubes 41 of the refrigerant conducting member 40. In this embodiment, air flow paths 50 are formed in the outermost and central portions, and cold storage material containers 52 are disposed between the air flow paths 50 . Fins 54 are arranged inside the air flow path 50, and are inclined at a predetermined angle to the flat tubes 41 and bent in a zigzag pattern. These fins 54 form a continuous air flow path 50 with an approximately triangular cross-sectional shape inside the air flow path 50. Alternatively, the air flow passage having a rectangular cross section may be formed continuously. The air flow path 50 is formed in the vertical direction (gravity direction) so as to follow the vertical direction of the refrigeration duct 20.

[0022] As a result, the air inside the refrigerator flowing from the bottom to the top of the refrigeration duct 20 flows through the air flow path 50, and at this time, exchanges heat with the refrigerant flowing inside the refrigerant conducting member 40, and is cooled to a predetermined temperature. Also, by exchanging heat between the refrigerant flowing inside the refrigerant conducting member 40 and the cold storage material 51, the cold storage material 51 is also cooled to a predetermined temperature.

[0023] In addition, in this embodiment, since the cold storage material 51 needs to cool the low temperature compartment (approximately -3°C) in the refrigerator compartment 12 which is cooled to approximately 3°C, a cold storage material 51 having a melting point lower than -3°C, for example, a cold storage material 51 having a melting point of -5°C to -15°C, is used.

[0024] In the present embodiment, the lower ends of the fins 54 are located lower than the lower end of the refrigerant conducting member 40. This allows water that is generated as a result of frosting or condensation during heat exchange between the air inside the compartment and the refrigerant to be collected at the lower ends of the fins 54, improving drainage. The fins 54 may be positioned higher than the refrigerant conducting member 40. This allows the fins 54 to be cooled by the refrigerant, thereby improving the heat exchange efficiency of the air inside the compartment.

[0025] [1-1-3. Description of control configuration] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 6, the refrigerator 1 includes a control unit 60. The control unit 60 includes a processor such as a CPU or MPU that executes a program, and memories such as a ROM and RAM, and executes various processes through cooperation between hardware and software such that the processor reads out a control program stored in the memory and executes the process. The control unit 60 controls the compressor 30 , the refrigeration fan 23 , the freezing fan 25 , the three-way valve 33 and the heater 26 based on the temperatures detected by the refrigeration room temperature sensor 61 and the freezing room temperature sensor 62 .

[0026] [1-2. Operation] The operation of the refrigerator 1 configured as above will be described below. [1-2-1. Cooling operation] First, the compressor 30 is driven to send the refrigerant to the condenser 31, and then the three-way valve 33 is switched to send the refrigerant to either the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 or the freezing heat exchanger 24, which function as a cooler. The refrigerant sent to the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 flows in from the inlet header 46 of the refrigerant conducting member 40 and flows inside the upper region 43. The refrigerant that flows to the outlet header 47 flows through the middle region 44 via the outlet header 47, is sent to the inlet header 46, and flows through the lower region 45 via the inlet header 46. The refrigerant that has flowed through the lower region 45 flows out from the outlet header 47 and is returned to the compressor 30.

[0027] When the refrigerating fan 23 is driven while the refrigerant is flowing inside the refrigerating conduction member 40, the air inside the refrigerating chamber 12 passes through the air flow path 50 of the refrigerating heat exchanger 22 as it flows from the bottom to the top of the refrigerating duct 20. As a result, the air inside the refrigerator compartment 12 exchanges heat with the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant conducting member 40 and is cooled. In this case, the cold storage material 51 is also cooled by the coolant flowing through the coolant conducting member 40 .

[0028] The refrigerant sent to the refrigeration heat exchanger 24 exchanges heat with the inside air flowing from the bottom to the top of the refrigeration duct 21 by driving the refrigeration fan 25, and the refrigerant cooled by the refrigerant is returned to the freezing chamber 13.

[0029] [1-2-1. Demand response control operation] Next, we will explain control that responds to demand response (DR) during periods of high power consumption, such as summer. Demand response is a mechanism for reducing the peak power consumption of society as a whole by suppressing power consumption in factories and homes in response to requests from power companies when power consumption in society as a whole peaks (for example, around 2 p.m. in summer). FIG. 7 is a graph showing the operation corresponding to the demand response. In this embodiment, a situation will be described in which power consumption peaks around 2 pm in summer, for example. The control in this embodiment is a control for stopping the compressor 30 in a time period of one hour before and after 2 p.m., which is the peak time for power consumption.

[0030] It is assumed that the refrigerator 1 receives a demand response signal requesting reduction in power consumption from an external server such as an electric power company at 11:00 a.m. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the appliance that received the demand response signal needs to switch to an operation to reduce power consumption two hours later. When the refrigerator 1 receives the demand response signal, the refrigerator 1 starts demand response control. Specifically, the control unit 60 switches the three-way valve 33 at 11:00 to control the refrigerant to flow to the refrigeration heat exchanger 24. In this state, by driving the compressor 30, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 30 passes through the condenser 31 and the expansion mechanism 35, and is sent to the refrigeration heat exchanger 24. The refrigerant sent to the refrigeration heat exchanger 24 exchanges heat with the air inside the freezer compartment 13 in the refrigeration heat exchanger 24, thereby cooling the inside of the freezer compartment 13 to a predetermined temperature. In this case, the predetermined temperature is usually set lower than the internal temperature. In this embodiment, the temperature is controlled to be cooled to, for example, about -19°C to about -24°C. This cooling operation is called a pre-cooling operation.

[0031] When the cooling of the freezing compartment 13 is completed, the control unit 60 switches the three-way valve 33 to control the refrigerant to flow to the heat exchanger 22 for refrigeration. In this state, by driving the compressor 30, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 30 passes through the condenser 31 and the expansion mechanism 34, and is sent to the refrigeration heat exchanger 22. The refrigerant sent to the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 exchanges heat with the inside air in the refrigeration heat exchanger 22, cooling the inside of the refrigeration compartment 12 to a predetermined temperature. At the same time as cooling the refrigeration compartment 12, the cold storage material 51 is cooled by the refrigerant flowing through the refrigeration heat exchanger 22, and cold storage is performed in the cold storage material 51. This cooling operation is called cold storage operation.

[0032] When two hours have passed since the refrigerator 1 received the demand response signal (13:00 in this embodiment), the control unit 60 stops the compressor 30. By stopping the compressor 30, the refrigerator 1 executes an operation to reduce power consumption. In this state, the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 12 can be maintained at an almost constant temperature due to the cooling capacity of the cold storage material 51, and the temperature of the freezer compartment 13 gradually rises but can be maintained at an appropriate temperature even at 3 p.m. when the demand-response control ends.

[0033] [1-3. Effects, etc.] As described above, this embodiment includes a refrigerant conducting member 40 consisting of flat tubes 41 formed at intervals from each other, a cold storage material 51 container arranged between adjacent flat tubes 41 of the refrigerant conducting member 40 and in which cold storage material 51 is sealed, an air flow path 50 formed between the flat tubes 41 and through which air flows, and fins 54 provided on the air flow path 50, the width direction of the refrigerant conducting member 40 is oriented in the ventilation direction, and the ventilation direction of the air flow path 50 is the direction of gravity. As a result, the width direction of the refrigerant conducting member 40 is oriented in the ventilation direction, and the ventilation direction of the air flow path 50 is the direction of gravity, so that when frost or condensation adheres to the fins 54, the condensed water can be drained by its own weight, and the amount of condensed water remaining on the fins 54 can be reduced. This makes it possible to suppress an increase in ventilation resistance due to condensed water and a reduction in the heat exchange area between the fins 54 and the air inside the refrigerator, and to efficiently cool the temperature inside the refrigerator compartment 12. In addition, the heat exchanger can cool the cold storage material 51, and the cold storage material 51 can cool the air inside the refrigerator, thereby saving energy.

[0034] In the present embodiment, the lower ends of the fins 54 are located lower than the lower end of the coolant conducting member 40 . As a result, when frost or condensation forms on the fins 54 during heat exchange between the air inside the compartment and the refrigerant, the lower ends of the fins 54 are positioned below the refrigerant conducting member 40, so that the condensation can be efficiently collected at the lower ends of the fins 54. This improves drainage.

[0035] In this embodiment, the coolant conducting member 40 includes a holding member 53 that holds the cold storage material container 52 . As a result, even when the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 is arranged so that the cold storage material container 52 of the refrigerant conducting member 40 is positioned in the vertical direction (gravity direction), the cold storage material container 52 can be supported. Therefore, the cold storage material container 52 can be prevented from falling.

[0036] In addition, in this embodiment, the refrigerant conducting member 40 is provided with a refrigerant inlet side header 46 and an outlet side header 47, and the inlet side header 46 and the outlet side header 47 are attached so as not to protrude from the end faces of the refrigerant conducting member 40. This allows the thickness dimension of the refrigerant conducting member 40 to be reduced, and when the refrigerant conducting member 40 is housed inside the refrigerating duct 20, the internal space of the refrigerating duct 20 can be reduced. As a result, the internal space of the refrigerating chamber 12 can be increased.

[0037] (Other embodiments) As described above, the first embodiment has been described as an example of the technology disclosed in the present application. However, the technology in the present disclosure is not limited to this, and can be applied to embodiments in which modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, etc. are made. In addition, it is also possible to combine the components described in the first embodiment to create new embodiments.

[0038] FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, in this embodiment, the fins 54 in the lower region 45 and the fins 54 in the upper region 43 are arranged with their positions shifted from each other. More specifically, the fins 54 in the lower region 45 and the fins 54 in the upper region 43 are arranged with a phase shift of 1 / 2. That is, the triangular air flow path 50 in the upper region 43 and the triangular air flow path 50 in the lower region 45 are formed so as to overlap with each other in a plan view.

[0039] The phase of the fins 54 may be shifted such that the phase of the fins 54 in the central region 44 is shifted relative to the phase of the fins 54 in the upper region 43 .

[0040] With this configuration, although the resistance of the inside air flowing through the air flow path 50 increases slightly, the heat exchange area with the ends of the fins 54 in the air flow direction increases, thereby enhancing the leading edge effect and thus improving the heat exchange efficiency.

[0041] FIG. 9 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, in this embodiment as well, the fins 54 in the lower region 45 and the fins 54 in the upper region 43 are arranged so as to be offset from each other. More specifically, the inclination angle of the fins 54 in the lower region 45, which is on the upstream side of the air flow path, is made larger than the inclination angle of the fins 54 in the upper region 43, which is on the downstream side of the air flow path. FIG. 9 partially shows a plan view of the fin 54 when viewed from the upper region 43 and a plan view of the fin 54 when viewed from only the lower region 45. That is, the fins 54 in the lower region 45 are formed at a large angle corresponding to the apex of the triangular air flow path 50 .

[0042] With this configuration, it is possible to ensure a large cross-sectional area of ​​the air flow path 50 in the lower region 45 on the upstream side of the air flow path 50. Therefore, even if frost or condensation forms on the fins 54 when the air inside the compartment exchanges heat with the refrigerant, it is possible to prevent the air flow path 50 from being blocked by the frost or condensation, and it is possible to ensure the flow of air. Although the lower region 45 is located upstream of the air flow path 50 and the upper region 43 is located downstream of the air flow path 50, the refrigeration fan 23 may be rotated in the reverse direction, so that the upper region 43 is located upstream of the air flow path 50 and the lower region 45 is located downstream of the air flow path 50.

[0043] FIG. 10 is a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10, in this embodiment, a refrigeration heat exchanger 22 is provided with a liquid refrigerant reservoir. Specifically, a refrigerant outlet 47a is provided at the top of the outlet header 47, and the refrigerant piping 32 through which the refrigerant flows out is connected to this refrigerant outlet 47a. The refrigerant outlet 47a of the outlet header 47 is disposed above the upper ends of the flat tubes 41 that constitute the refrigerant conducting member 40. The inlet header 46 has a refrigerant inlet 46a provided at its lower portion, and the refrigerant piping 32 is connected to the refrigerant inlet 46a.

[0044] With this configuration, the refrigerant flowing in from the refrigerant inlet 46a of the inlet header 46 is sent from the lower region 45 through the middle region 44 to the upper region 43, and then flows out from the refrigerant outlet 47a of the outlet header 47. At this time, of the refrigerant flowing through the flat tubes 41 in the upper region 43, only gas refrigerant flows out from the refrigerant outlet 47a, and a refrigerant reservoir 55 is formed in which liquid refrigerant is stored below and inside the flat tubes 41 in the upper region 43. Therefore, the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 can have the function of an accumulator with a simple configuration.

[0045] FIG. 11 is a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, in this embodiment as well, a liquid refrigerant reservoir is provided in a refrigeration heat exchanger 22. Specifically, a refrigerant outlet 47a is provided below the outlet header 47, and the refrigerant pipe 32 through which the refrigerant flows out is connected to this refrigerant outlet 47a. The refrigerant outlet 47 a of the outlet header 47 is disposed above the upper ends of the flat tubes 41 in the lower region 45 . The refrigerant inlet 46a of the inlet header 46 is provided at the upper end of the inlet header 46.

[0046] With this configuration, the refrigerant flowing in from the refrigerant inlet 46a of the inlet header 46 is sent from the upper region 43 through the middle region 44 to the lower region 45, and then flows out from the refrigerant outlet 47a of the outlet header 47. At this time, of the refrigerant flowing through the flat tubes 41 in the lower region 45, only gas refrigerant flows out from the refrigerant outlet 47a, and a refrigerant reservoir 55 is formed in which liquid refrigerant is stored below and inside the flat tubes 41 in the lower region 45. Therefore, the refrigeration heat exchanger 22 can have the function of an accumulator with a simple configuration. As a modified example, the heat exchanger 24 for the freezer may be provided with a cold storage material 51 similar to the heat exchanger 22 for the refrigerator. In this case, since the cold storage material 51 is required to cool the freezer 13, the melting point of the cold storage material 51 is preferably −20° C. to −30° C.

[0047] It should be noted that the above-described embodiments are intended to illustrate the technology of the present disclosure, and various modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, and the like can be made within the scope of the claims or their equivalents. [Industrial Applicability]

[0048] INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present disclosure is applicable to refrigerators that can efficiently cool the temperature inside a refrigerator compartment and can achieve energy savings by cooling the air inside the refrigerator compartment using a cold storage material. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 1. Refrigerator 10 Main unit 11 Partition 12 Refrigerator 13 Freezer 14 Refrigerator door 15 Freezer door 20 Refrigeration Duct 21 Refrigeration duct 22 Refrigeration heat exchanger 23 Refrigeration fan 24 Refrigeration heat exchanger 25 Refrigeration Fan 26 Heater 30 Compressor 31 Condenser 32 Refrigerant piping 33 Three-way valve 34 Expansion Mechanism 35 Expansion Mechanism 40 Refrigerant conducting member 41 Flat tube 42 Curved section 43 Upper area 44 Chubu region 45 Lower area 46 Inlet header 46a Refrigerant inlet 47 Exit header 47a Refrigerant outlet 48 Partition 49 Partition 50 Air Flow Path 51 Cold storage material 52 Cool storage container 53 Retaining member 54 Finn 55 Refrigerant Reservoir 60 Control section

Claims

1. A refrigerator equipped with a cooling means for cooling a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment, and a cold storage material, the cooling means includes a refrigeration heat exchanger for cooling the refrigeration compartment, a refrigeration heat exchanger for cooling the freezer compartment, and a switching means for switching a flow path of a refrigerant cycle to the refrigeration heat exchanger or the refrigeration heat exchanger; The heat storage material is in thermal contact with the refrigeration heat exchanger, A pre-cooling operation is performed by the refrigeration heat exchanger to cool the freezer compartment to a temperature lower than the internal temperature that is normally set, a pre-cooling operation for cooling the freezer compartment, and then the switching means switches the flow path of the refrigerant cycle to the refrigeration heat exchanger, and the refrigeration operation of the refrigeration material is performed by the refrigeration heat exchanger.

2. The cooling means includes a compressor; 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the compressor is stopped after the refrigerating compartment is cooled.

3. The cooling means includes a compressor; 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the compressor is stopped after the cold-storage operation and the pre-cooling operation are performed.

4. 4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the pre-cooling operation is performed when an external signal is received, and the cold-storage operation is performed after the freezer compartment is cooled.

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