Refrigerating apparatus
First Claim
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1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising:
- a refrigerant circuit including a compressor, a condenser, a throttle and an evaporator operatively connected to one another in series so as to sequentially receive refrigerant flowing through the circuit in the apparatus;
a compartment to which said refrigerant circuit is operatively connected;
evaporator fan means operatively associated with said evaporator for circulating air through said compartment and past said evaporator so as to effect a cooling operation in which the air in the compartment is cooled in the apparatus;
electric heater means, including an electric heater, operatively associated with said evaporator for facilitating a heating operation in which air in the compartment is heated in the apparatus and for heating any frost adhered to said evaporator to effect a defrosting operation in the apparatus;
an overheating preventing temperature detector for detecting the temperature of air in the vicinity of said electric heater;
an evaporator outlet refrigerant detector for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant at the outlet of said evaporator; and
a controller for effecting refrigerating cycles in the apparatus which include respective ones of the cooling, the heating and the defrosting operations,said controller including first timer means for counting time starting from when the controller has commenced operation and for counting time starting from when a said defrosting operation has been completed,second timer means for counting time starting from when a said defrosting operation is initiated, anddefrost control means operatively connected to said electric heater means, to said evaporator outlet refrigerant detector and to said first timer means for turning said electric heater on to initiate a said defrost operation once said first timer means has counted a predetermined period of time T1 if the temperature detected by said evaporator outlet refrigerant detector is less than a predetermined temperature STE1, for turning said electric heater off to terminate a said defrost operation when said second timer means has counted a predetermined period of time T2, and for turning said electric heater off to terminate a said defrost operation if the temperature detected by said evaporator outlet refrigerant detector is greater than a predetermined temperature STE2,said defrost control means also operatively connected to said overheating preventing temperature detector for turning said electric heater on to initiate a said defrost operation once said first timer means has counted said predetermined period of time T1 and if the temperature detected by said overheating preventing temperature detector is less than a predetermined temperature STHK1, and for turning said electric heater off to terminate a said defrost operation if the temperature detected by said overheating preventing temperature detector is greater than a predetermined temperature STHK2.
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Abstract
A refrigerating apparatus is conventionally provided with an electric which is fed with an electric current to effect heating and defrosting operations, a defrosting control device including a defrosting timer and an evaporator outlet refrigerant temperature detector for controlling the electric current fed to the electric heater, and an overheating preventing temperature detector for preventing the occurrence of abnormal overheating by the electric heater. The refrigerating apparatus of the present invention can regularly effect defrosting even if any anomaly should arise in the evaporator outlet refrigerant temperature detector. Specifically, the overheating preventing temperature detector is connected to the defrosting control device, and a detection temperature signal from either the evaporator outlet refrigerant temperature detector of the overheating preventing temperature detector is used to commence and terminate defrosting.
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Citations
1 Claim
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1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising:
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a refrigerant circuit including a compressor, a condenser, a throttle and an evaporator operatively connected to one another in series so as to sequentially receive refrigerant flowing through the circuit in the apparatus; a compartment to which said refrigerant circuit is operatively connected; evaporator fan means operatively associated with said evaporator for circulating air through said compartment and past said evaporator so as to effect a cooling operation in which the air in the compartment is cooled in the apparatus; electric heater means, including an electric heater, operatively associated with said evaporator for facilitating a heating operation in which air in the compartment is heated in the apparatus and for heating any frost adhered to said evaporator to effect a defrosting operation in the apparatus; an overheating preventing temperature detector for detecting the temperature of air in the vicinity of said electric heater; an evaporator outlet refrigerant detector for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant at the outlet of said evaporator; and a controller for effecting refrigerating cycles in the apparatus which include respective ones of the cooling, the heating and the defrosting operations, said controller including first timer means for counting time starting from when the controller has commenced operation and for counting time starting from when a said defrosting operation has been completed, second timer means for counting time starting from when a said defrosting operation is initiated, and defrost control means operatively connected to said electric heater means, to said evaporator outlet refrigerant detector and to said first timer means for turning said electric heater on to initiate a said defrost operation once said first timer means has counted a predetermined period of time T1 if the temperature detected by said evaporator outlet refrigerant detector is less than a predetermined temperature STE1, for turning said electric heater off to terminate a said defrost operation when said second timer means has counted a predetermined period of time T2, and for turning said electric heater off to terminate a said defrost operation if the temperature detected by said evaporator outlet refrigerant detector is greater than a predetermined temperature STE2, said defrost control means also operatively connected to said overheating preventing temperature detector for turning said electric heater on to initiate a said defrost operation once said first timer means has counted said predetermined period of time T1 and if the temperature detected by said overheating preventing temperature detector is less than a predetermined temperature STHK1, and for turning said electric heater off to terminate a said defrost operation if the temperature detected by said overheating preventing temperature detector is greater than a predetermined temperature STHK2.
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Specification
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Current AssigneeMitsubishi Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.)
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Original AssigneeMitsubishi Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.)
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InventorsTakahashi, Toshimasa, Fudono, Kanji, Ogawa, Hiroshi, Yamashita, Toshio
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Primary Examiner(s)Tanner, Harry B.
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Application NumberUS07/477,764Time in Patent Office417 DaysField of Search62/156, 62/155, 62/154, 62/234, 62/140, 62/126, 62/128, 62/129US Class Current62/156CPC Class CodesF25D 21/002 Defroster control
