CN109196290B

CN109196290B - Refrigerator with a door

Info

Publication number: CN109196290B
Application number: CN201780033004.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 滨田和幸; 西村晃一; 山口�太郎; 乾雄人; 堀尾好正; 垣内翔太; 正久昌利
Original assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd
Current assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-06-01
Filing date: 2017-05-29
Publication date: 2020-09-15
Anticipated expiration: 2037-05-29
Also published as: WO2017209032A1; CN109196290A

Abstract

The invention provides a refrigerator, which is provided with a refrigerating chamber pipeline (28) provided with a refrigerating chamber air door (37) and a vegetable chamber pipeline (30) provided with a vegetable chamber air door (75). The refrigerating chamber duct (28) and the vegetable chamber duct (30) are independently connected to the cooling chamber (23) at different positions with respect to the cooling chamber (23).

Description

Refrigerator with a door

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator having a vegetable room damper and the like.

Background

In general, a refrigerator is configured to generate cold air in a cooling chamber on the back surface of a refrigerator main body, and the cold air is circulated through a refrigerating chamber, a freezing chamber, a vegetable chamber, and the like by a blower (e.g., a cooling fan) to cool foods in the respective chambers. Further, a refrigerator is known which is provided with a refrigerating room damper for adjusting a circulation amount of cold air to a refrigerating room and a vegetable room damper for controlling a circulation amount of cold air to a vegetable room, and which is capable of efficiently cooling the vegetable room (see, for example, patent document 1).

Fig. 32 shows a refrigerator described in patent document 1. As shown in fig. 32, in conventional refrigerator 100, cooling compartment 101 is disposed on the rear surface of freezing compartment 102, and cool air is generated in cooling compartment 101. The cold air generated in cooling compartment 101 is supplied from cold air passage portion 105 to refrigerating compartment 103 via refrigerating compartment duct 106. Cold air passage 105 is provided in a portion of partition plate 104 that partitions refrigerating room 103 and freezing room 102 and faces the upper surface of cooling room 101. The cold air is supplied to vegetable compartment 108 through vegetable compartment duct 107 branched from the middle of cold air passage portion 105. A refrigerating compartment damper 109 is provided in a group at a connection portion of the refrigerating compartment duct 106 to the partition plate 104.

Further, a vegetable compartment damper 110 is assembled in a branch portion of the cold air passage portion 105 to the vegetable compartment duct 107 formed in the partition plate 104. With this configuration, the amounts of cold air supplied to refrigerating room 103 and vegetable room 108 can be controlled.

In addition, in the conventional refrigerator 100 shown in fig. 32, a cooling fan 111 and a cooler 112 are disposed in the cooling compartment 101.

According to refrigerator 100 described in patent document 1, the amount of cold air supplied to vegetable compartment 108 can be controlled independently of the amount of cold air supplied to refrigerating compartment 103. Therefore, there is an advantage that the inside of vegetable compartment 108 is efficiently cooled without being excessively cooled or dried.

However, in conventional refrigerator 100 configured as described above, cold air is branched and supplied to vegetable compartment 108 from the middle of cold air passage portion 105 (which supplies cold air from cooling compartment 101 to refrigerating compartment 103). Therefore, the amount of cold air supplied to refrigerating compartment 103 changes due to the opening and closing of vegetable compartment damper 110, and variation occurs in the cooling performance of refrigerating compartment 103.

For example, when vegetable compartment damper 110 is closed, all of the cold air from cooling compartment 101 supplied through cold air passage portion 105 is supplied to refrigerating compartment 103. However, when vegetable compartment damper 110 is opened, a part of the cold air supplied from cooling compartment 101 via cold air passage portion 105 branches into vegetable compartment duct 110 and flows into vegetable compartment 108, and the amount of cold air supplied to refrigerating compartment 103 is reduced by the amount corresponding to the branch, and thus, the cooling performance of refrigerating compartment 103 varies.

Further, the cold air from cooling compartment 101 to vegetable compartment 108 is blown up to the branched portion of cold air passage portion 105 of partition plate 104 provided above cooling compartment 101, and then supplied to vegetable compartment 108 below cooling compartment 101. Therefore, the vegetable compartment duct 107 has a long entire length and a large passage resistance. Therefore, in such conventional refrigerator 100, there is a problem that the cooling capacity is reduced due to a reduction in the amount of cold air circulating as a whole when vegetable compartment 108 is cooled by opening vegetable compartment damper 110.

Meanwhile, some refrigerators are configured to be provided with a refrigerating room damper for adjusting the amount of cold air to be circulated into the refrigerating room and a freezing room damper for controlling the amount of cold air to be circulated into the freezing room, and thus can efficiently cool the refrigerating room and the freezing room (see, for example, patent document 2).

However, in the conventional refrigerator described in patent document 2, the freezing chamber damper is disposed in an exhaust air passage (cooling fan cover opening) through which air is blown from a cooler housing chamber in which a cooler is housed into the freezing chamber by a cooling fan. Therefore, the space of the cool air discharge duct increases, and the storage capacity decreases.

Further, some refrigerators are configured to have a low-temperature compartment provided below a refrigerating compartment, having a container and a top plate, and set to a temperature range lower than that of the refrigerating compartment (see, for example, patent document 3). In such a refrigerator, the air cooled in the refrigerating chamber flows into the container of the low-temperature chamber from a gap between the lower portion of the container of the low-temperature chamber and the bottom surface of the refrigerating chamber or a gap between the container of the low-temperature chamber and the top plate, flows into the container of the low-temperature chamber, then flows to the rear surface of the low-temperature chamber, and returns to the refrigerating chamber from the return air passage on the rear surface of the partition body at the lower portion of the refrigerating.

However, in the conventional refrigerator as described in patent document 3, there is a problem that the temperature in the low-temperature chamber rises due to the flow of the air having a high temperature after cooling the refrigerating chamber into the low-temperature chamber, and it is difficult to stably maintain the temperature in the low-temperature chamber at a predetermined temperature.

On the other hand, in a conventional refrigerator in which a refrigerating chamber is disposed above a freezing chamber, a downstream side of a flow path area of a refrigerating chamber duct is configured to be wider than an upstream side of cold air in order to improve a temperature distribution in the refrigerating chamber when the cold air is blown upward from below (see, for example, patent document 4).

However, in the conventional refrigerator described in patent document 4, when the effective internal volume of the refrigerating room is increased, the thickness in the depth direction of the air passage of the refrigerating room duct is limited, and therefore the size in the width direction is increased. Therefore, the aspect ratio (width (long side)/depth (short side)) represented by the ratio of the width (long side) to the depth (short side) in the air passage is increased, and the aspect ratio of the refrigerating compartment duct is generally designed to be larger than 5. However, if the aspect ratio is increased with the same cross-sectional area (cross-sectional area of the horizontal cross-section of the refrigerating compartment duct), the flow path resistance increases, and the cooling efficiency decreases. Further, there is a problem that the feeling of existence of the refrigerating room duct in the refrigerating room becomes high, and the design property is deteriorated.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2015-25589

Patent document 2: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2011-7452

Patent document 3: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2015-38391

Patent document 4: japanese patent laid-open No. 2000-146404

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a refrigerator capable of stabilizing the amount of cold air supplied to a refrigerating chamber and improving the cooling performance of the refrigerating chamber regardless of the opening and closing of a vegetable chamber damper.

Specifically, a refrigerator according to an example of an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a refrigerator main body; a refrigerating chamber, a freezing chamber and a vegetable chamber arranged in the refrigerator main body; a cooling chamber provided behind the freezing chamber and generating cold air to be supplied to the refrigerating chamber, the freezing chamber, and the vegetable chamber; a refrigerating compartment duct guiding cold air from the cooling compartment to the refrigerating compartment; and a vegetable compartment duct that guides cold air from the cooling compartment to the vegetable compartment. The refrigerating chamber pipeline is provided with a refrigerating chamber air door, and the vegetable chamber pipeline is provided with a vegetable chamber air door. In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the amount of cold air supplied to the refrigerating chamber and the vegetable chamber can be controlled by opening and closing the dampers (refrigerating chamber damper and vegetable chamber damper). The refrigerating chamber duct provided with the refrigerating chamber damper and the vegetable chamber duct provided with the vegetable chamber damper are connected to the cooling chamber at different positions of the cooling chamber independently of each other.

According to this configuration, the cold air from the cooling compartment is supplied to the refrigerating compartment duct and the vegetable compartment duct independently of each other. Thus, even if the vegetable chamber damper is opened or closed, the amount of cold air supplied to the refrigerating chamber duct is not affected by the opening or closing of the vegetable chamber damper, and the amount of cold air supplied to the refrigerating chamber can be stabilized, thereby improving cooling performance.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the vegetable compartment duct may be connected to the cooling compartment in a rear projection plane of the freezing compartment located in front of the cooling compartment.

According to the structure, the vegetable chamber pipeline does not penetrate through the partition plate part which is arranged above the cooling chamber and used for separating the refrigerating chamber from the freezing chamber. With this configuration, the duct length of the vegetable compartment duct can be reduced, and the passage resistance can be reduced. This can increase the amount of cold air circulation and improve cooling performance.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the vegetable compartment damper may be mounted to the vegetable compartment duct and may be located in the rear projection plane of the freezing compartment together with the vegetable compartment duct.

According to such a configuration, the vegetable room damper can be incorporated into the refrigerator main body by merely providing the vegetable room duct to the refrigerator main body, and productivity can be significantly improved as compared with a case where the vegetable room damper is separately incorporated at a position different from the vegetable room duct, for example, at a partition plate that partitions between the refrigerating room and the freezing room. Further, since the vegetable compartment duct is connected to the cooling compartment in the rear projection surface of the freezing compartment located in front of the cooling compartment, the duct length of the vegetable compartment duct can be shortened and the passage resistance can be reduced, and therefore, the amount of cold air circulation can be increased and the cooling performance can be improved.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the cooling chamber may include a cooler and a cooling fan located above the cooler, and the vegetable compartment damper may be disposed at a position overlapping the cooling fan.

According to such a configuration, the vegetable compartment duct can be shortened by the length of the partition plate that passes above the cooling compartment between the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment, and the passage resistance can be reduced, the amount of cold air circulation can be increased, and the cooling performance can be improved. At the same time, the distance from the vegetable compartment to the vegetable compartment damper can be secured by the height dimension of the cooler. Thus, when the cold air cycle is stopped, warm cold air having high humidity in the vegetable room can be prevented from rising in the vegetable room duct, reaching the vegetable room duct, and being frozen by dew condensation when the cold air cycle is restarted. Therefore, according to the structure, the cooling performance is improved, the bad operation of the vegetable chamber air door is prevented, and the reliability is ensured.

In addition, in the refrigerator according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the vegetable compartment duct may be disposed to overlap with a refrigerating compartment return duct from the refrigerating compartment to the cooling compartment in a front-rear direction. Further, the vegetable compartment duct and the refrigerating compartment return duct may be respectively formed of a material having elasticity. In addition, the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be configured such that the vegetable compartment damper is sandwiched between the vegetable compartment duct and the refrigerating compartment return duct.

With this configuration, the vegetable compartment damper can be reasonably assembled to the vegetable compartment duct by the refrigerating compartment return duct. Further, the air tightness can be ensured by the elastic force of the vegetable compartment duct and the refrigerating compartment return duct, and it is not necessary to provide a sealing member or the like for ensuring the air tightness as in the case of separately assembling the vegetable compartment duct and the refrigerating compartment return duct, so that the structure can be simplified and the productivity can be improved.

Further, the present disclosure provides a refrigerator capable of suppressing a space around a cooler storage chamber (cooling chamber) and improving the internal volume efficiency.

Specifically, a refrigerator according to an example of an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a refrigerating chamber; a freezing chamber; a cooling chamber disposed behind the freezing chamber; a refrigerating chamber damper for controlling the amount of cold air supplied from the cooling chamber to the refrigerating chamber; and a freezing chamber air door arranged on the cold air return passage part of the cold air return cooling chamber. In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, a damper is not provided in a cold air discharge passage for supplying cold air from the cooling compartment to the freezing compartment, and the cooling compartment and the freezing compartment are kept in a state of communication.

With such a configuration, in the refrigerator having the freezer damper, the space around the cooler storage compartment (cooling compartment) can be suppressed without increasing the space of the cool air discharge duct, and the internal volume efficiency can be improved.

In addition, in the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, a freezing chamber damper may be provided in a partition plate (freezing chamber back plate) that partitions the freezing chamber and the cooling chamber. With this configuration, the space around the cooler storage chamber can be further suppressed, and the storage interior volume efficiency can be improved.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the freezing chamber damper may include a frame, a driving device, and a flap, and the freezing chamber damper may be configured to be rotated toward the cooling chamber by the driving device. With this configuration, the space around the cooler storage chamber can be further suppressed, and the storage interior volume efficiency can be improved.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the freezing compartment damper includes a plurality of flaps, and the plurality of flaps are opened and closed by the driving device. With this configuration, the space for the operation of the flap can be suppressed, and the efficiency of the storage volume can be improved.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the frame and the flap may be disposed to be inclined toward the cooling chamber side with respect to a vertical plane parallel to the front surface or the rear surface of the refrigerator. According to the structure, the drainage of defrosting water and the like attached to the air door of the freezing chamber can be improved, and the reliability of the air door of the freezing chamber can be improved. In addition, the defrosting water and the like attached to the freezing chamber damper can be prevented from flowing to the freezing chamber and freezing.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, a cold air return duct for returning cold air supplied to the cold room to the cooling room may be further provided at a side portion of the cooler. In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the driving device of the freezing chamber damper and the flap may be arranged in parallel with each other, and the driving device may be disposed on the refrigerating chamber return duct side when viewed from the front of the refrigerator. According to the structure, the left and right deviation of the freezing chamber air door of the cooler can be improved, and the cooling efficiency can be improved.

In addition, the refrigerator according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a glass tube heater disposed below the cooling chamber. In this case, the outer contour (frame) of the freezing chamber damper may be made of a heat-resistant material capable of receiving heat from the glass tube heater. According to the structure, in the refrigerator with the freezing chamber air door, the space around the cooler containing chamber is restrained, the inner volume efficiency of the refrigerator is improved, and the reliability of the freezing chamber air door is improved.

In addition, the refrigerator according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a heater cover disposed above the glass tube heater. In this case, a part of the heater cover may be provided between the glass tube heater and the freezing compartment damper. According to the structure, in the refrigerator with the freezing chamber air door, the space around the cooler containing chamber is restrained, the inner volume efficiency of the refrigerator is improved, and the reliability of the freezing chamber air door is improved.

Further, the present disclosure provides a refrigerator that is less susceptible to load fluctuations of the refrigerating compartment and can stably maintain the temperature in the low-temperature compartment at a predetermined temperature.

Specifically, a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a refrigerating chamber; a freezing chamber; a partition plate for partitioning the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber; a cooling chamber disposed behind the freezing chamber; a low-temperature chamber (for example, a micro-freezing chamber) provided below the refrigerating chamber; and a refrigerating chamber duct for supplying cold air to the refrigerating chamber and the low-temperature chamber, respectively. The low-temperature compartment is partitioned by a ceiling in the refrigerating compartment, has a container therein, and is maintained in a temperature range lower than that of the refrigerating compartment. In addition, the refrigerator according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure further includes cold air return ports (1 st cold air return port and 2 nd cold air return port) provided at the partition plate and the top plate, respectively, and a cold air return passage portion through which cold air returned from the refrigerating compartment to the cooling compartment passes. The cold air return passage portion is configured such that cold air returned from the refrigerating chamber to the cooling chamber is returned from a cold air return port (1 st cold air return port) provided in the top plate to the cooling chamber via a space outside the container in the low-temperature chamber and a cold air return port (2 nd cold air return port) provided in the partition plate.

According to this configuration, the air having a high temperature after cooling the refrigerating compartment flows outside the container in the low-temperature compartment, and thus the temperature in the low-temperature compartment can be stably maintained at the predetermined temperature without being affected by the load fluctuation of the refrigerating compartment.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the cold air return port provided in the top panel and the cold air return port provided in the partition panel may be arranged to be shifted from each other in the left-right direction when viewed from the front of the refrigerator. According to such a configuration, the garbage and the like entering from the refrigerating chamber into the cold air return port provided in the top plate do not directly fall into the cold air return port provided in the partition plate, so that the adverse effect of the garbage and the like on the cold air return port can be reduced, and the stable cooling capacity of the refrigerating chamber can be ensured.

Further, the refrigerator according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure may include: a refrigerating chamber air door for controlling the supply of cold air to the refrigerating chamber; a refrigerating chamber temperature sensor; a low-temperature chamber air door for controlling the supply of cold air to the low-temperature chamber; and a cold room temperature sensor. In this case, the refrigerating compartment temperature sensor and the low-temperature compartment temperature sensor may be disposed in the refrigerating compartment duct. With this configuration, the assembly process can be simplified.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the refrigerating compartment temperature sensor and the low-temperature compartment temperature sensor may be disposed to be opposed to each other in the left-right direction of the refrigerating compartment duct. According to this configuration, the temperature in the refrigerating chamber is controlled by detecting the return air from the refrigerating chamber, and therefore the low-temperature-chamber temperature sensor is less likely to be affected by the return air from the refrigerating chamber, and the temperature in the low-temperature chamber can be maintained at the predetermined temperature more stably.

Further, the present disclosure provides a refrigerator that appropriately sets an aspect ratio (long side/short side) represented by a ratio of a long side to a short side of a horizontal cross section of an air passage of a refrigerating compartment duct, and ensures cooling performance without impairing design of the refrigerating compartment duct.

Specifically, a refrigerator according to an example of an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a freezing chamber; a refrigerating chamber disposed at an upper portion of the freezing chamber; a cooling chamber disposed behind the freezing chamber; a refrigerating chamber duct and a refrigerating chamber damper disposed at a rear surface of the refrigerating chamber; and a low temperature chamber disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerating chamber and maintained at a temperature lower than that of the refrigerating chamber. In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, an aspect ratio (long side/short side) represented by a ratio of a long side to a short side of a horizontal cross section of the air passage of the refrigerating compartment duct may be set such that the refrigerating compartment door portion, the low temperature compartment portion, and the refrigerating compartment portion are sequentially increased.

With this configuration, the aspect ratio of the refrigerating compartment duct can be appropriately set, the effective internal volume of the refrigerator can be increased, and the cooling performance can be ensured without impairing the design of the refrigerating compartment duct.

Further, in the refrigerator according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the refrigerating compartment duct may have a discharge port at a side surface, and a rib covering the discharge port may be provided at a front surface side portion. According to this configuration, the discharge port on the front side portion of the refrigerating compartment duct cannot be seen when viewed from the front of the refrigerator, and therefore, the design of the inside of the refrigerating compartment can be improved.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the lower surface of the discharge port may have an inclined surface that is upward with respect to the flow of the cool air. With this configuration, the air passage resistance of the cold air flowing upward from below can be reduced, and the cooling performance of the refrigerating compartment can be further improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an external appearance of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the front.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the interior of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the front.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the side, taken along the vertical direction.

Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining a cold airflow of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a freezing chamber portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the front.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the cooling chamber portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, taken along line 6-6 of fig. 5, as viewed from the side.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the vegetable compartment duct portion and the refrigerating compartment return duct portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the side, taken along line 7-7 in fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a cooling compartment portion of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a cooling chamber portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from a cooling chamber side.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the cooling chamber in the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the cooling chamber side, in a state where a part of the cooling chamber forming plate is left.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a relationship between a cooling compartment forming plate and a vegetable compartment duct of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the freezing compartment side.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a cooling compartment forming plate and a vegetable compartment duct of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the freezing compartment side.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing a refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 14A is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of a refrigerating chamber portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the cross section being cut in the vertical direction.

Fig. 14B (a) to (C) are views each schematically showing a cross section obtained by horizontally cutting the part a, the part B, and the part C of fig. 14A according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 14C is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the refrigerating compartment duct of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure cut in the horizontal direction.

Fig. 14D is a diagram for explaining the structure and function of the discharge port of the refrigerating compartment duct of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged sectional view of a main portion of a refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 16 is a plan view of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the front of the refrigerator, inside the refrigerating chamber.

Fig. 17 is an enlarged front view showing a main part inside a refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 18 is an exploded perspective view showing a refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 19 is a perspective view of the rear portion of the freezing chamber in the refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the rear side of the refrigerator.

Fig. 20 is an enlarged perspective view of a rear portion of the freezing chamber in the refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the rear side of the refrigerator.

Fig. 21 is another enlarged perspective view of the rear portion of the freezing chamber in the refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the rear side of the refrigerator.

Fig. 22 is an enlarged side view showing a deodorization unit mounting portion at a rear portion of a freezing chamber in a refrigerating chamber of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 23 is an enlarged perspective view showing a deodorization unit mounting portion at a rear portion of a freezing chamber in a refrigerating chamber of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 24 is a perspective view of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, with the cooler removed, and with the cooling compartment viewed from the rear side.

Fig. 25 is a plan view of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, with the cooler removed, and with the cooling compartment viewed from the rear side.

Fig. 26 is a plan view of a back panel of a freezing chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the front.

Fig. 27 is an exploded perspective view of a cooling compartment component of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 28 is a perspective view of the cooling compartment of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from obliquely above from the front.

Fig. 29 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part of a cooling chamber of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 30 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing another example of a main part of a cooling chamber of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 31A is a perspective view showing a freezer door of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 31B is a sectional view of a freezer damper of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 32 is a diagram illustrating a flow of cold air in a conventional refrigerator.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, examples of embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

(embodiment mode)

Fig. 1 to 4 are views for explaining the overall configuration of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 5 to 12 are views for explaining a cold air supply structure from the cooling compartment to the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 13 to 23 are diagrams for explaining the refrigerating compartment structure of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 24 to 31 are diagrams for explaining the configuration of a portion extending from the freezing compartment to the cooling compartment of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, the term "front" refers to a front direction of the refrigerator, the term "rear" refers to a rear direction of the refrigerator, and the term "upper" refers to a top direction of the refrigerator.

<1-1. Overall Structure of refrigerator >

First, the overall structure of a refrigerator according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 4.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an external appearance of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the front. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the interior of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the front. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the side, taken along the vertical direction. Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining a cold airflow of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

In fig. 1 to 4, a refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure includes a refrigerator main body 1 having a front opening. The refrigerator main body 1 is composed of an outer box 2 made of metal, an inner box 3 made of hard resin, and a foaming and heat insulating material 4 filled between the outer box 2 and the inner box 3. The interior of the refrigerator main body 1 is partitioned by

partitions

5, 96, and the like to form a plurality of storage compartments. Each storage compartment of the refrigerator main body 1 is configured to be openable and closable by a rotatable door 97 and a drawer-

type door

8, 9, 10, 11 that employ the same heat insulating structure as the refrigerator main body 1.

The plurality of storage compartments formed in the refrigerator main body 1 are configured by an uppermost refrigerating compartment 14, a switching compartment 15 provided below the refrigerating compartment 14 and capable of switching temperature ranges, an ice making compartment 16 provided beside the switching compartment 15, a freezing compartment 18 provided between the switching compartment 15 and the ice making compartment 16 and a lowermost vegetable compartment 17, and a lowermost vegetable compartment 17. A plurality of shelves 20 are provided in the refrigerating compartment 14. In the lower part of the refrigerating compartment 14, a partial (partial) compartment 21 and a fresh-keeping (child) compartment 22 having different cooling temperature ranges are provided in two upper and lower layers.

The refrigerating chamber 14 is a storage chamber for refrigerating and storing foods and the like, and is set or cooled to a low temperature of about no freezing of foods and the like, and specifically, is usually 1 to 5 ℃. The freezing chamber 21 provided in the refrigerating chamber 14 is set to a temperature suitable for freezing preservation, for example, -2 to-3 ℃. The crisper 22 is set or cooled to a temperature lower than the refrigerator compartment 14 and higher than the freezer compartment 21, for example, about 1 ℃.

The vegetable compartment 17 is a storage compartment set or cooled to a temperature equal to or slightly higher than that of the refrigerating compartment 14, and specifically set to 2 to 7 ℃. Since the vegetable compartment 17 is in a high humidity state due to moisture emitted from food items such as vegetables, condensation may occur when the vegetable compartment is locally cooled too much. Therefore, the vegetable compartment 17 is configured to reduce the amount of cooling by setting the temperature to a relatively high temperature, and further suppress the occurrence of condensation caused by local supercooling.

Freezing chamber 18 is a storage chamber set to a freezing temperature range, and is set or cooled to-22 to-18 ℃. However, in order to improve the frozen state, the temperature may be set or cooled to a low temperature such as-30 ℃ or-25 ℃.

The switching chamber 15 is a storage chamber in which the temperature in the interior can be changed, and is configured to be switchable from a refrigeration temperature range to a freezing temperature range according to the application.

On the other hand, cooling chamber 23 is provided on the rear surface of freezing chamber 18. The cooling compartment 23 is provided with a cooler 24 that generates cold air and a cooling fan 25 that supplies the cold air to each compartment. A defrosting unit (hereinafter referred to as a glass tube heater) 26 including a glass tube heater or the like is provided below the cooler 24.

The cooler 24 is annularly connected to the compressor 27, a condenser (not shown), a heat radiation pipe (not shown) for heat radiation, and a capillary tube (not shown) to form a refrigeration cycle, and is cooled by circulation of a refrigerant compressed by the compressor 27.

Further, the cooling fan 25 is provided above the cooler 24. Cooling fan 25 supplies cold air to refrigerating room 14, freezing room 18, vegetable room 17, and the like via refrigerating room duct 28, freezing room duct 29 (fig. 6), and vegetable room duct 30 connected to the downstream side of cooling fan 25, and cools these respective rooms.

The structure of each of cooling chamber 23, refrigerating chamber 14, freezing chamber 18, and vegetable chamber 17 and the structure of cooling each chamber will be described below.

<1-2. Cooling Chamber and Cold air supply Structure >

The cooling compartment 23 and the cold air supply structure will be described with reference to fig. 3, 5 to 11, and 12.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a freezing chamber portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the front. Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the cooling chamber portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, taken along line 6-6 of fig. 5, as viewed from the side. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the vegetable compartment duct portion and the refrigerating compartment return duct portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the side, taken along line 7-7 in fig. 5. Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a cooling compartment portion of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a cooling chamber portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from a cooling chamber side. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the cooling chamber in the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the cooling chamber side, in a state in which a part of the cooling chamber forming plate is left. Fig. 11 is a plan view of a relationship between a cooling compartment forming plate and a vegetable compartment duct of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the freezing compartment side. Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a cooling compartment forming plate and a vegetable compartment duct of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the freezing compartment side.

As shown in fig. 6, cooling compartment 23 is located on the rear surface of freezing compartment 18, and is formed of cooling compartment forming plate 31 and inner box 3. A cooling fan 25 is attached to an upper portion of the cooling chamber forming plate 31, and the cooling fan 25 is disposed above the cooler 24. A freezing chamber back surface plate (partition plate) 32 is attached to the front surface side of the cooling chamber forming plate 31, and the freezing chamber back surface plate 32 is disposed so as to cover the downstream side of the cooling fan 25. A freezing chamber duct 29 communicating with the downstream side of the cooling fan 25 is formed between the freezing chamber back surface plate 32 and the cooling chamber 23.

On the downstream side of the cooling fan 25, a refrigerating chamber duct 28 of the refrigerating chamber 14 and a vegetable chamber duct 30 of the vegetable chamber 17 are connected to the cooling chamber 23 at different positions, respectively, independently from each other. As shown in fig. 4 and the like, the upper surface of cooling chamber 23 on the downstream side of cooling fan 25 is connected to refrigerating chamber duct 28 via 1 st cold air supply port 33 provided in partition plate 5 (which partitions refrigerating chamber 14 and freezing chamber 18). As shown in fig. 10, 11 and 12, a 2 nd cold air supply port 34 is provided on a side of the cooling compartment 23 on the upper portion on the downstream side of the cooling fan 25, and the 2 nd cold air supply port 34 is connected to the vegetable compartment duct 30. That is, the refrigerating compartment duct 28 and the vegetable compartment duct 30 are connected to each other at different positions in the cooling compartment 23 in a manner independent from each other. The cold air generated in the cooler 24 is supplied to the 1 st cold air supply port 33 and the 2 nd cold air supply port 34 by the cooling fan 25 in a form independent from each other, and is supplied to the refrigerating compartment duct 28 and the vegetable compartment duct 30, respectively.

As shown in fig. 6, a heater cover 35 having an umbrella-shaped cross section for covering the glass tube heater 26 is provided below the cooler 24, and a drain port 36 for discharging the defrosting water to the outside is provided in the bottom surface of the cooling chamber 23.

<1-3 > refrigerating compartment and cooling structure thereof

Next, a cooling structure of refrigerating room 14 and refrigerating room 14 will be described with reference to fig. 3, 13 to 22, and 23.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing a refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 14A is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of a refrigerating chamber portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the cross section being cut in the vertical direction. Fig. 14B (a) is a view schematically showing a cross section when the portion a of fig. 14A of the embodiment of the present disclosure is cut in the horizontal direction. Fig. 14B (B) is a view schematically showing a cross section when the portion B of fig. 14A of the embodiment of the present disclosure is cut in the horizontal direction. Fig. 14B (C) is a view schematically showing a cross section when the portion C of fig. 14A of the embodiment of the present disclosure is cut in the horizontal direction. Fig. 14C is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the refrigerating compartment duct of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure cut off in the horizontal direction. Fig. 14D is a view for explaining a discharge port of a refrigerating compartment duct of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 15 is an enlarged sectional view of a main portion of a refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 16 is a front view showing the inside of the refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 17 is an enlarged front view showing a main part inside a refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 18 is an exploded perspective view showing a storage compartment of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 19 is a perspective view of the rear part of the freezing chamber in the storage chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the back. Fig. 20 is an enlarged perspective view of a rear portion of the freezing chamber in the storage chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the back. Fig. 21 is an enlarged perspective view of the rear part of the freezing chamber in the storage chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the back side near the front side. Fig. 22 is an enlarged side view showing a deodorization unit mounting portion at a rear portion of a freezing chamber in a storage chamber of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The refrigerating compartment 14 is located at the uppermost part of the refrigerator main body 1, and includes a plurality of shelves 20 as shown in fig. 3 and 14A to 14D. A refrigerating compartment duct 28 is provided on the rear surface of the refrigerating compartment 14.

The refrigerating compartment duct 28 is constituted by a duct member 28a and a duct cover 28 b. Specifically, as shown in fig. 18, refrigerating room duct 28 is configured such that a refrigerating room side surface of duct member 28a made of foamed styrene is covered with duct cover 28b made of resin. As shown in fig. 3 and 4, refrigerating compartment duct 28 is attached to the rear surface of refrigerating compartment 14 so as to cover 1 st cold air supply port 33 of partition plate 5 (which partitions between refrigerating compartment 14 and freezing compartment 18), and communicates with cooling compartment 23. As shown in fig. 4, a refrigerating compartment damper 37 is assembled to the 1 st cold air supply port 33. Refrigerator 90 is configured to control the amount of cold air supplied from cooling compartment 23 to refrigerating compartment 14 by opening and closing refrigerating compartment damper 37. As shown in fig. 18, refrigerating room damper 37 is fixed to 1 st cold air supply port 33 by a damper fixing frame 38.

The refrigerating room damper 37 is composed of a two-way damper having a refrigerating room damper portion 39 for controlling the amount of cold air supplied to the refrigerating room 14 and a freezer chamber damper portion 40 for controlling the amount of cold air supplied to the freezer chamber 21. The refrigerating compartment damper 37 is driven by 1 motor (not shown) for refrigerating and freezing in the refrigerating compartment damper driving motor unit 41.

On the other hand, as shown in fig. 14A and 15, the upper one of the micro freezing chamber 21 and the refreshing chamber 22 provided in the lower part of the refrigerating chamber 14 is formed between the ceiling 43 of the shelf plate which is the lowermost layer and the freezing chamber 21 provided below the refreshing chamber 22. The fresh food compartment 22 is preferably formed to fill the width of the refrigerated compartment 14. In the fresh ice compartment 22, the fresh ice compartment container 44 is provided to be freely movable in and out. Refrigerator 90 is configured such that cold air inlet 22a communicating with the downstream side of refrigerating room damper 39 (see fig. 10) of refrigerating room duct 28 is provided behind fresh-keeping ice compartment 22, and cold air is taken in from cold air inlet 22a to cool fresh-keeping ice compartment 22.

As shown in fig. 15, the fresh ice compartment 22 is provided with a slit-shaped cold air return port (fresh ice side) (1 st cold air return port) 45 at the rear of the top plate 43, and a cold air return passage portion (fresh ice side) 46 connected to the refrigerating compartment 14 via the cold air return port (fresh ice side) 45 at the rear of the fresh ice compartment container 44. Further, at the front end portion of the fresh ice compartment container 44, as shown in fig. 14A, an opening portion 48 communicating with the inside of the refrigerating compartment 14 is provided between the lower portion of the fresh ice compartment door/handle portion 47 and the ceiling member 50 of the freezer compartment 21 located below the fresh ice compartment container 44. The refrigerator 90 is configured such that the cold air in the refrigerating compartment 14 flows into the cold air return passage portion (ice fresh side) 46 together with the cold air having cooled the ice fresh food compartment 22 and overflowed from the ice fresh food compartment container 44 through a gap (not shown) in the outer periphery of the ice fresh food compartment container 44.

In addition, the fresh ice compartment 22 is provided with a temperature adjusting heater 49 laid on a ceiling member 50 of the freezing compartment 21 located below the fresh ice compartment container 44. The refrigerator 90 is configured to energize the temperature adjusting heater 49 to maintain the set temperature when the temperature inside the fresh ice compartment 22 is lower than the set temperature due to the cooling radiation from the freezing compartment 21 located below the fresh ice compartment 22. The temperature-adjusting heater 49 is controlled by an ice-temperature fresh-keeping compartment temperature sensor (not shown) provided at an appropriate location in the ice-temperature fresh-keeping compartment 22.

On the other hand, as shown in fig. 14A, the freezing chamber 21 located below the refreshing compartment 22 is composed of an inner wall surface of the inner box 3 of the refrigerator main body 1, a water storage container compartment forming plate (not shown), and a ceiling member 50 also serving as a bottom surface of the refreshing compartment 22. The freezing chamber 21 is formed by being partitioned, for example, by the water storage chamber. The freezing chamber 21 has a front opening, and is configured to be openable and closable by a freezing chamber door 51 provided in the front opening. Inside the freezing chamber 21, the freezing chamber container 52 is provided to be freely accessible.

A heat insulator 53 made of foamed styrene or the like is assembled to the ceiling member 50 constituting the freezing chamber 21. A fine freezing cold air passage 54 communicating with the downstream side of the fine freezing chamber damper 40 of the refrigerating chamber duct 28 is formed in the heat insulator 53, and cold air is supplied into the fine freezing chamber 21 to cool the fine freezing chamber 21.

As shown in fig. 15, 19 to 20, and 21, the freezing compartment 21 is provided with a cold air return opening (freezing side) 55 in the form of a slit at the rear portion of the top plate member 50, as in the case of the fresh ice compartment 22. Further, in the freezing chamber 21, a space portion is provided behind the freezing chamber container 52, and a cold air return passage portion (freezing side) 56 is formed. The refrigerator 90 is configured such that the cold air in the refrigerating chamber and the cold air in the cold air return passage portion (ice temperature fresh side) 46 at the rear of the ice temperature fresh-keeping compartment 22 flow to the cold air return passage portion (fine freezing side) 56.

As shown in fig. 15, in the freezing chamber 21, a cold air merging return port (2 nd cold air return port) 57 communicating with the cold air return passage portion (freezing side) 56 is provided in the rear portion of the partition plate 5 which also serves as the bottom surface thereof. In refrigerator 90, cold air merging return port 57 is connected to refrigerating room return duct 58 (see fig. 7), and cold air that has cooled refrigerating room 14 and refreshing chamber 22 merges with freezer cooling cold air that has overflowed from freezer compartment 52 and returns to cooling chamber 23.

That is, duct portions for returning the cold air in the refrigerating chamber 14, the refreshing chamber 22, and the freezing chamber 21 to the cooling chamber 23 are formed by using the rear spaces of the refreshing chamber 22 and the freezing chamber 21.

The cold air return port (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 45 and the cold air return port (fine freezing side) 55 are provided at positions vertically opposed to each other, and the cold air return port (fine freezing side) 55 and the cold air merging return port 57 are provided at positions not vertically opposed to each other, that is, are provided at positions shifted in the left-right direction.

As shown in fig. 4, 24, 25, and the like, refrigerating room return duct 58 of cooled air return cooling room 23 is provided on the side (side) of cooling room 23, and the lower end side of refrigerating room return duct 58 is opened to the lower side surface of cooling room 23, whereby cooled air is returned to cooling room 23. The refrigerating compartment return duct 58 has a concave groove 58b on the rear surface. The concave groove 58b is pressed against the inner wall surface of the back surface of the inner box 3, and a duct passage portion is formed between the refrigerating chamber return duct 58 and the inner surface of the back surface wall.

As shown in fig. 16 and 17, in the freezing chamber 21, a refrigerating chamber temperature sensor 59 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerating chamber 14 and controlling the refrigerating chamber damper 39 is provided in a portion (see fig. 20) between the cold air return port (freezing side) 55 and the cold air merging return port 57 of the cold air return passage portion (freezing side) 56. A freezing chamber temperature sensor 60 for detecting the temperature of the freezing chamber 21 and controlling the freezing chamber damper 40 is provided at a diagonal portion on the opposite side of the freezing chamber duct 28 with respect to the freezing chamber temperature sensor 59.

As shown in fig. 22 and 23, a deodorization unit 61 disposed along the flow of the cold air is detachably provided in a space between a cold air return port (slightly frozen side) 55 of a cold air return passage portion (slightly frozen side) 56 and a cold air merging return port 57.

The deodorization unit 61, the refrigerating compartment temperature sensor 59, and the freezer temperature sensor 60 are integrally attached to an attachment portion 28bb (attachment portions for the refrigerating compartment temperature sensor 59 and the freezer temperature sensor 60 are not shown) provided at a portion of the duct cover 28b constituting the refrigerating compartment return duct 58 (see fig. 19 to 23).

Fig. 14B (a) to (C) are cross-sectional views schematically showing, in refrigerating compartment duct 28 in fig. 14A of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, a case where a portion a (refrigerating compartment door portion) is cut in the horizontal direction, a case where a portion B (freezing compartment rear portion) is cut in the horizontal direction, and a case where a portion C (refrigerating compartment duct portion) is cut in the horizontal direction, respectively.

As shown in fig. 14B (a) to (C), when the a-portion aspect ratio (hereinafter, referred to as the aspect ratio) represented by the ratio of the long side W to the short side D of the cross section of duct member 28a in refrigerating compartment duct 28 in the horizontal direction is W1/D1, the B-portion aspect ratio is W2/D2, and the C-portion aspect ratio is W3/D3, the a-portion aspect ratio < B-portion aspect ratio < C-portion aspect ratio are given.

Fig. 14C is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the refrigerating compartment duct is horizontally cut. Fig. 14D is a view for explaining a discharge port of a refrigerating compartment duct of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 14C and 14D, duct cover 28b covering the surface of duct member 28a on the side of refrigerating compartment 14 has extending ribs 28C on both left and right sides of duct cover 28 b. The extension rib 28c extends from the duct cover 28b to the left and right, and is formed integrally with the duct cover 28 b. The extension rib 28c may not necessarily be formed integrally with the duct cover 28b, and may be formed as a separate member and attached to the duct cover 28 b.

As shown in fig. 14C, extended rib 28C has an inclined surface inclined to the back side (the back side of refrigerator 90), and extends further to the back side with a further increased angle at the end (i.e., extends so that the angle at which it curves from the surface of duct cover 28b on the side of refrigerating compartment 14 to the back side becomes further increased). The extending rib 28c is provided to extend leftward and rightward from the duct cover 28b to such an extent that the side discharge port 28d provided in the duct member 28a cannot be directly seen when the user views the refrigerator compartment 14 from the front.

As shown in fig. 14D, the lower surface of the side discharge port 28D has an inclined surface that is inclined upward with respect to the flow of the cold air (inclined surface that is inclined so that the cold air flows upward).

<1-4 > freezer and cooling structure thereof

Next, the freezing chamber and its cooling structure will be described with reference to fig. 2, 3, 24 to 30, 31A, and 31B.

Fig. 24 is a perspective view of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from the rear side, showing the cooling compartment with the cooler removed. Fig. 25 is a plan view of the cooling compartment of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure with the cooler removed, as viewed from the rear side. Fig. 26 is a plan view showing a back panel of a freezing chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 27 is an exploded perspective view of a cooling compartment component of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 28 is a perspective view of the cooling compartment of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from obliquely above from the front. Fig. 29 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part of a cooling chamber of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 30 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing another example of a main part of a cooling chamber of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 31A is a perspective view showing a freezer door of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 31B is a sectional view of a freezing chamber damper of the embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 3, freezing compartment 18 is disposed below refrigerating compartment 14 and in front of cooling compartment 23. Inside freezing chamber 18, freezing chamber container 62 is provided to be openable and closable by drawing door 11. The freezing chamber container 62 is composed of a lower container 62a and an upper container 62b placed above the lower container. As described above, freezing chamber back plate 32 is disposed between freezing chamber 18 and cooling chamber 23, and freezing chamber duct 29 (see fig. 6) communicating with the downstream side of cooling fan 25 of cooling chamber 23 is formed between freezing chamber back plate 32 and cooling chamber forming plate 31.

As shown in fig. 24 and the like, the cold air outlets 63 are provided in the freezing chamber back panel 32 in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction. The uppermost cold air outlet 63 supplies cold air to the ice making compartment 16 and the switching compartment 15, the middle cold air outlet 63 supplies cold air to the upper container 62b of the freezing compartment container 62, and the lowermost cold air outlet 63 supplies cold air to the lower container 62 a.

As shown in fig. 24 and the like, in freezing room 18, a frozen/cold air return port 64 communicating with the lower portion of cooling room 23 is provided in the lower portion of freezing room back panel (partition panel) 32. As shown in fig. 29, the cool/cool air return port 64 is constituted by a freezing chamber side port frame portion 65 and a cooling chamber side port frame portion 66. The freezing chamber side opening frame portion 65 and the cooling chamber side opening frame portion 66 are inclined rearward with respect to the vertical line, that is, toward the cooling chamber 23 side, toward the upper end. In the chilled cold air return port 64, a grill 67 is attached to the freezing chamber side port frame portion 65, and a freezing chamber damper 68 is attached to the cooling chamber side port frame portion 66.

Grid 67 provided in freezing chamber side opening frame portion 65 is a member for rectifying the cold air flowing from freezing chamber 18 to cooling chamber 23, and each of a plurality of grid pieces 69 of grid 67 is inclined so that the cooling chamber side end portion is located above the freezing chamber side end portion. As shown in fig. 29, the grid piece 69 of the grid 67 is configured such that the length of the grid piece 69 located below increases in the front-rear direction, and is arranged along the rear surface of the freezing chamber container 62 in the freezing chamber 18.

On the other hand, freezing room damper 68 provided in cooling room side opening frame portion 66 controls opening and closing of the cold air supplied to freezing room 18. As shown in fig. 31A and 31B, the freezing chamber damper 68 is configured such that a plurality of flaps 71 (3 flaps 71 in the example of the present embodiment) made of a heat-resistant resin are provided in a damper housing (housing) 70 made of a heat-resistant resin, for example, a polyphenylene sulfide resin (PPS resin). Freezing chamber damper 68 is configured such that the cooling chamber side end portions of a plurality of flaps 71 are pivotally supported by a damper frame 70, and as shown in fig. 29, flaps 71 open on the cooling chamber 23 side opposite freezing chamber 18. The freezing compartment damper 68 is driven by a freezing damper driving motor unit 72 fixed to one end of the damper frame 70. In fig. 31B, solid line drawing lines show a state when the flap 71 is closed, and broken line drawing lines show a state when the flap 71 is opened.

As shown in fig. 25, the freezing compartment damper 68 is attached to the freezing compartment back panel 32 and unitized by engaging (bump-engaging) a damper frame 70 with a pawl 73 provided in the cooling compartment side opening frame portion 66 in a state in which the freezing damper driving motor unit 72 is fixed. The freezing chamber damper 68 is provided such that the cooling chamber side of the freezing chamber damper 68 is inclined along the inclination of the cooling chamber side opening frame portion 66 so as to be positioned below the freezing chamber side. That is, the damper frame 70 and the flap 71 of the freezing chamber damper 68 are provided on the cooling chamber 23 side in an inclined manner with reference to a vertical plane parallel to the front surface or the back surface of the refrigerator 90, so that (the end portion of) the cooling chamber side of each of the damper frame 70 and the flap 71 of the freezing chamber damper 68 is located below (the end portion of) the freezing chamber side.

Further, as shown in fig. 29, freezing room damper 68 is provided so that the cold air flowing into cooling room 23 along each of the plurality of flaps 71 flows toward the lower edge of cooler 24. Specifically, for example, in the present embodiment, the freezing compartment damper 68 is provided such that the upper portion (the upper piece portion of the damper frame 70) is positioned above the lower end edge of the cooler 24 and the lower portion (the lower piece portion of the damper frame 70) is positioned below the lower end of the cooler 24. With this configuration, the cold air flows to the lower portion of the lower edge of the cooler 24.

Further, freezing chamber damper 68 is provided such that the lower portion (lower side portion of damper frame 70) is positioned above glass tube heater 26 (fig. 24). Further, the freezing compartment damper 68 is set to be surely in contact with the warm and cold air heated by the glass tube heater 26 at the time of defrosting.

On the other hand, lower side 66a (fig. 29) of cooling chamber side opening frame portion 66 supporting freezing chamber damper 68 has a double wall, and the lower surface of lower side 66a is formed in a shape protruding in an arc shape toward cooling chamber 23 (a shape protruding toward glass tube heater 26 side from bottom surface 23a of cooling chamber 23). In this manner, cooling chamber side opening frame portion 66 is configured to prevent radiant heat from glass tube heater 26 from directly radiating to freezing chamber damper 68. Further, gap portion 66b of the double wall portion of lower side 66a of cooling compartment side opening frame portion 66 is configured to be opened to freezing compartment 18 and cooled by freezing compartment cold air, and is configured to be able to suppress excessive temperature rise due to radiant heat from glass tube heater 26.

Further, as shown in fig. 25, freezing compartment damper 68 is disposed at a position shifted outward from heater portion 26a so that freezing damper driving motor unit 72 does not face heater portion 26a of glass tube heater 26 in the longitudinal direction of glass tube heater 26. For example, in the present embodiment, the motor unit 72 for driving the freezing damper is located on the refrigerating compartment return duct 58 side near the cooling compartment 23. By being arranged at such a position, the freezing damper driving motor unit 72 is arranged so as to be positioned outside the heater unit 26a, and the plurality of flaps 71 of the freezing damper 68 are positioned at portions closer to the center line in the left-right direction of the cooler 24.

As shown in fig. 24, freezing room damper 68 is provided only in frozen cold air return port 64, and no damper is provided in the cold air discharge passage from cooling room 23 to cold air outlet 63, and cooling room 23 and freezing room 18 are maintained in a state of communication.

<1-5 > vegetable room and cooling structure thereof

Next, the vegetable compartment and the cooling structure thereof will be described with reference to fig. 3, 4, 8 to 11, and 12.

Vegetable compartment 17 is disposed in the lowermost portion of refrigerator main body 1 below freezing chamber 18, as shown in fig. 3. Vegetable compartment 17 is configured to be freely accessible by opening and closing vegetable compartment container 17a by drawing out door 10, similarly to freezing compartment 18. As shown in fig. 8 and 9, vegetable compartment duct 30 for supplying cold air to vegetable compartment 17 is disposed so as to overlap (be adjacent to) refrigerating compartment return duct 58 near cooling compartment 23 on the front surface. As shown in fig. 4 and 10, the upper portion of vegetable compartment duct 30 is connected to the 2 nd cold air supply port 34 provided in cooling compartment 23.

As described above, the 2 nd cold air supply port 34 is formed independently of the 1 st cold air supply port 33 (which is a cold air supply port to the refrigerator compartment 14) (see fig. 10). That is, 2 nd cold air supply port 34 is provided at a position below partition plate 5 (which partitions refrigerating compartment 14 and freezing compartment 18 located above cooling compartment 23). More specifically, 2 nd cold air supply port 34 is provided in a portion of the rear projection surface of freezing chamber 18 on the downstream side of cooling fan 25 at substantially the same height as cooling fan 25. The lower end of vegetable compartment duct 30 connected to cold air supply port 2 is configured to open to the upper portion of vegetable compartment 17 and supply cold air to vegetable compartment 17.

As shown in fig. 10, vegetable compartment duct 30 has opening 74 at the side of its upper end, and opening 74 is connected to cold air supply port 2 34 in a butt joint manner. A vegetable compartment damper 75 is assembled in the vicinity of a connection portion between the vegetable compartment duct 30 and the 2 nd cold air supply port 34, specifically, at substantially the same height as the cooling fan 25 (within the height range of the cooling fan 25).

As shown in fig. 8, vegetable room damper 75 is fitted into a concave groove 58b formed in the front surface of refrigerating room return duct 58 and serving as a vegetable room duct passage portion. Vegetable compartment duct 30 is fitted and attached to the front surface of concave groove 58b of refrigerating compartment return duct 58 in this state, and vegetable compartment damper 75 is sandwiched and fixed between refrigerating compartment return duct 58 and vegetable compartment duct 30. Vegetable compartment duct 30 and refrigerating compartment return duct 58 are formed of a material having elastic force such as polystyrene foam, and are configured to ensure airtightness between them and to ensure airtightness of vegetable compartment damper 75 by the elastic force. Further, the vegetable compartment damper 75 has a vegetable damper driving motor unit 76 and a damper blade 75a driven by the vegetable damper driving motor unit 76. Vegetable compartment damper 75 is configured such that a damper piece 75a opens in a direction opposite to the cold air flow flowing through vegetable compartment duct 30 (upward in the present embodiment). The opening direction of the flap 75a of the vegetable compartment damper 75 is opposite to the opening direction of the damper of the refrigerating compartment duct 28.

The cold air having cooled vegetable compartment 17 is returned to cooling compartment 23 (see fig. 3) via a vegetable compartment return duct (not shown) provided in the top surface of vegetable compartment 17.

Hereinafter, the operation and operational effects of refrigerator 90 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flow of cold air.

First, cooling of refrigerating room 14 and vegetable room 17 in refrigerator 90 according to the present embodiment will be described.

In refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, when the temperature of refrigerating room 14 is higher than the set temperature, compressor 27 and cooling fan 25 are driven to supply cold air generated by cooler 24 to the downstream side of cooling fan 25 (see fig. 2 to 4).

Cold air supplied to the downstream side of cooling fan 25 is supplied from 1 st cold air supply port 33 (which is located at the upper portion on the downstream side of cooling fan 25 and opens at the upper surface of cooling chamber 23) to refrigerating compartment duct 28 via refrigerating compartment damper 37, and is blown out to refrigerating compartment 14 from cold air blow-out ports (not shown) opening at both left and right side surfaces of refrigerating compartment duct 28, thereby cooling the inside of refrigerating compartment 14 (see fig. 4).

The cold air supplied to the downstream side of cooling fan 25 is supplied from 2 nd cold air supply port 34, which is open on the upper side surface on the downstream side of cooling fan 25, to vegetable compartment duct 30 through vegetable compartment damper 75, and is supplied from the lower end opening of vegetable compartment duct 30 to vegetable compartment 17, thereby cooling the inside of vegetable compartment 17.

When the temperature of vegetable compartment 17 (the cooling temperature of which is set higher than the temperature of refrigerating compartment 14) reaches the set temperature, vegetable compartment damper 75 is closed, the supply of cold air to vegetable compartment 17 is stopped, and vegetable compartment 17 is maintained at the set temperature.

As described above, in refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, cold air supply port 2 34 for supplying cold air to vegetable compartment 17 and cold air supply port 1 for supplying cold air to refrigerating compartment 14 are provided independently of each other in cooling compartment 23, and cold air is supplied independently from cooling compartment 23 directly to vegetable compartment duct 30. With this configuration, even if vegetable room damper 75 is closed, the same amount of cold air as that when vegetable room damper 75 is opened can be supplied without changing the amount of cold air supplied to refrigerating compartment duct 28.

Therefore, refrigerating room 14 can be cooled at the same level as when cold air is supplied to vegetable room 17, and stable cooling can be performed without being affected by the opening and closing of vegetable room damper 75.

In refrigerator 90 according to the present embodiment, cold air supply port 1 is provided on the upper surface of upper cooling compartment 23 on the downstream side of cooling fan 25, and cold air supply port 2 34 is provided on the side surface of upper cooling compartment 23 on the downstream side of cooling fan 25. As described above, in refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, refrigerating compartment duct 28 and vegetable compartment duct 30 are configured to open on different surfaces of cooling compartment 23, and refrigerating compartment duct 28 and vegetable compartment duct 30 are configured to open in cooling compartment 23 independently of each other. Further, refrigerator 90 is not limited to such a configuration, and may be provided with 1 st cold

air supply port

33 and 2 nd cold air supply port 34 on the same surface of cooling compartment 23, for example, on the upper surface of cooling compartment 23 on the downstream side of cooling fan 25, independently of each other. In this case, the 1 st cold air supply port 33 and the 2 nd cold air supply port 34 may be provided separately from each other so that the cold air supplied to the 1 st cold air supply port 33 and the 2 nd cold air supply port 34 is not affected by the opening and closing of the storage compartment damper 37 or the vegetable compartment damper 75.

Vegetable compartment duct 30 is directly connected to cooling chamber 23 on the downstream side of cooling fan 25, and is connected to cooling chamber 23 on the rear projection surface of freezing chamber 18 located in front of cooling chamber 23. In other words, vegetable compartment duct 30 is connected to cooling compartment 23 at a position lower than the upper surface of freezing compartment 18 and above the bottom surface of freezing compartment 10. According to such a configuration, vegetable compartment duct 30 does not penetrate partition plate 5 that partitions between refrigerating compartment 14 and freezing compartment 18 above cooling compartment 23, and therefore, the duct length can be reduced by a corresponding amount, and the passage resistance can be reduced by a corresponding amount.

As a result, the amount of cold air circulating through refrigerator 90 that circulates through vegetable compartment duct 30, refrigerating compartment duct 28, and the like, that is, the amount of cold air circulating through refrigerator 90 that circulates by cooling fan 25, can be increased. Therefore, at least the cooling performance can be improved by the amount corresponding to the increase in the amount of the cooled air circulation.

Further, since the vegetable compartment damper 75 is provided at a height that overlaps the cooling fan 25 of the cooling compartment 23 (so that at least a part of each of the cooling fan 25 and the vegetable compartment damper 75 is positioned at the same height in the vertical direction), the effect of improving the cooling performance can be sufficiently exhibited, and the reliability of the refrigerator can be ensured by preventing malfunction.

That is, the vegetable compartment 17 is set to a high temperature and the humidity is also high. Therefore, when the vegetable room damper 75 is closed and the circulation of the cold air is stopped, warm cold air having high humidity may flow backward from the inside of the vegetable room 17 into the inside of the vegetable room duct 30. When warm cold air with high humidity contacts the vegetable room damper 75, moisture condenses, and when cooling of the vegetable room 17 is restarted, the condensed water that has condensed out freezes due to the cold air supplied to the vegetable room 17, and there is a possibility that the vegetable room damper 75 may be opened or closed poorly.

However, in refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, vegetable room damper 75 is provided at a height that overlaps cooling fan 25. With this configuration, the distance from vegetable compartment 17 to vegetable compartment damper 75 can be ensured, and vegetable compartment damper 75 can be separated upward from vegetable compartment 17 by the height of cooler 24. This can prevent warm cold air with high humidity in vegetable compartment 17 from rising into vegetable compartment duct 30 and reaching vegetable compartment damper 75 when the cold air circulation is stopped, and from condensing on vegetable compartment damper 75.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent malfunction due to freezing of vegetable room damper 75 when the cooling air circulation to vegetable room 17 is restarted, and reliability of refrigerator 90 can be improved.

In other words, as in refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, vegetable compartment duct 30 is connected to cooling compartment 23 in the rear projection plane of freezing compartment 18 located in front of cooling compartment 23, and vegetable compartment damper 75 is incorporated in vegetable compartment duct 30 at a height that overlaps cooling fan 25 (see fig. 7 and 8), so that cooling performance can be improved, malfunction of vegetable compartment damper 75 can be suppressed, and reliability of the refrigerator can be ensured.

Further, since vegetable compartment damper 75 is provided in vegetable compartment duct 30, assembly of vegetable compartment damper 75 is facilitated as compared with a case where a separate vegetable compartment damper is incorporated in a position different from vegetable compartment duct 30, for example, as in the related art, in partition plate 5 partitioning between refrigerating compartment 14 and freezing compartment 18. Therefore, according to such a configuration, productivity can be greatly improved.

That is, vegetable compartment damper 75 of refrigerator 90 according to the present embodiment can be incorporated into vegetable compartment duct 30 separately from refrigerator main body 1. Therefore, the vegetable compartment damper 75 can be assembled to the refrigerator main body 1 as well as the vegetable compartment duct 30 to which the vegetable compartment damper 75 is assembled can be assembled to the side of the cooling compartment 23. This facilitates assembly of the vegetable compartment damper 75 to the refrigerator main body 1. Furthermore, since vegetable compartment damper 75 can be attached and detached together with vegetable compartment duct 30 only by attaching and detaching freezing compartment back panel 32 (see fig. 6 and 8) on the front surface of cooling compartment 23, maintenance becomes easy and convenience can be improved.

Further, in refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, vegetable compartment duct 30 is disposed so as to overlap refrigerating compartment return duct 58 extending from refrigerating compartment 14 to cooling compartment 23 (disposed adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction of refrigerator 90). Further, vegetable compartment duct 30 and refrigerating compartment return duct 58 are each formed of a material having elasticity, such as foamed styrene. As shown in fig. 8, vegetable compartment damper 75 is sandwiched between vegetable compartment duct 30 and refrigerating compartment return duct 58. With such a configuration, productivity can be further improved.

Specifically, since vegetable chamber damper 75 is sandwiched between vegetable chamber duct 30 and refrigerating chamber return duct 58, vegetable chamber damper 75 is first assembled between vegetable chamber duct 30 and refrigerating chamber return duct 58 outside refrigerator main body 1. The assembly of vegetable compartment duct 30, refrigerating compartment return duct 58, and vegetable compartment damper 75 to refrigerator main body 1 can be completed only by assembling the assembly including vegetable compartment duct 30 and refrigerating compartment return duct 58, to which vegetable compartment damper 75 is assembled, beside cooling compartment 23. This can improve productivity.

Further, the vegetable compartment duct 30 and the refrigerating compartment return duct 58 are formed of a foamed styrene or the like, and have elastic force. With this configuration, vegetable compartment damper 75 can be assembled in an airtight state to refrigerator main body 1 by utilizing the elastic force of vegetable compartment duct 30 and refrigerating compartment return duct 58 without using a sealing member or the like. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately use a sealing member or the like for securing airtightness as in the case of assembling the vegetable room damper to the partition plate in the related art, and it is possible to simplify the structure and shorten the process, and to further improve the productivity.

Further, the vegetable compartment damper 75 is elastically supported by the vegetable compartment duct 30 and the refrigerating compartment return duct 58. With this configuration, it is possible to suppress the generation of noise due to micro-vibration that is likely to occur during opening and closing operations, and it is possible to provide a refrigerator with high quietness.

Next, the cooling and cold air returning operation of refrigerating room 14 in refrigerator 90 will be described.

As described above, refrigerating room 14 is cooled by being supplied with cold air through refrigerating room duct 28 (see fig. 4). At this time, a part of the cold air supplied to refrigerating compartment duct 28 is also supplied to freezer compartment 21 and fresh-keeping compartment 22 provided in the lower part of refrigerating compartment 14, and freezer compartment 21 and fresh-keeping compartment 22 are also cooled (see fig. 3).

Here, the cooling of the respective compartments (the refrigerating compartment 14, the freezing compartment 21, and the refreshing compartment 22) will be described.

Cooling of refrigerating room 14 is controlled by opening and closing refrigerating room damper 39 (see fig. 8) operated based on an output from refrigerating room temperature sensor 59 (see fig. 16), and is maintained at a set temperature.

The fresh food compartment 22 is controlled to cool the inside of the compartment by opening and closing the refrigerating compartment damper 39 together with the refrigerating compartment 14, and is maintained at a temperature lower than that of the refrigerating compartment 14 by the radiation of cold from the freezer compartment 21 located below the fresh food compartment 22.

At this time, the fresh ice compartment 22 may be in an overcooled state, i.e., a state in which the temperature is too low than the set temperature due to excessive cooling radiation from the freezer compartment 21, but in this case, a temperature adjusting heater 49 (see fig. 14A) installed on the bottom surface of the fresh ice compartment 22 generates heat based on an output from a fresh ice compartment temperature sensor (not shown), and the fresh ice compartment 22 is maintained at the set temperature.

The freezing chamber 21 is controlled to cool the inside thereof by opening and closing a freezing chamber damper 40 (see fig. 8) operated based on an output from a freezing chamber temperature sensor 60 (see fig. 16), and is maintained at a set temperature.

In this manner, in refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, since it is possible to cool and control fresh-keeping ice compartment 22 and freezer compartment 21, which are provided in the lower portion of refrigerating compartment 14, to different temperature ranges, it is possible to improve usability.

In refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, as described above, in order to control cooling of vegetable compartment 17, even if vegetable compartment damper 75 is opened or closed, a constant and stable amount of cold air to be supplied to cold storage compartment 14 can be supplied to cold storage compartment 14 without changing the amount of cold air to be supplied to cold storage compartment 14, and therefore, the temperature accuracy of fresh-keeping ice compartment 22 and freezer compartment 21, which require high control accuracy, can be set to a desired high level, and the quality of food stored in each compartment can be improved.

In addition, in the refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, an example in which two compartments, the fresh ice compartment 22 and the freezer compartment 21, are provided is shown, but only one compartment may be provided.

In refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, as shown in (a) to (C) of fig. 14B, when the a-portion aspect ratio (hereinafter, referred to as the aspect ratio) represented by the ratio of long side W to short side D of duct member 28a in refrigerating compartment duct 28 is W1/D1, the B-portion aspect ratio is W2/D2, and the C-portion aspect ratio is W3/D3, the a-portion aspect ratio < B-portion aspect ratio < C-portion aspect ratio are in relation. Therefore, the aspect ratio of the refrigerating compartment duct 28 can be appropriately set. That is, the aspect ratio can be set to an optimum aspect ratio that maximizes the effective internal volume of refrigerator 90, and cooling performance can be ensured without impairing the design of refrigerating compartment duct 28.

Extension ribs 28C extending in the left-right direction and formed integrally with duct cover 28b are provided on both left and right sides of duct cover 28b covering the surface of duct member 28a on the side of refrigerating room 14 (see fig. 14C). With this configuration, side outlet 28d on the front side of refrigerating compartment duct 28 is not directly visible from the front of refrigerator 90, and the design in refrigerating compartment 14 can be improved.

Further, as shown in fig. 14D, the lower surface of the side discharge port 28D has an inclined surface that directs the cold airflow upward. With this configuration, the air passage resistance of the cold air flowing from below to above in refrigerating room duct 28 can be reduced, and the cooling performance of refrigerating room 14 can be further improved.

Next, the operation of returning the cold air having cooled the refrigerating compartment 14, the refreshing compartment 22, and the freezing compartment 21 to the cooling compartment 23 will be described.

As shown in fig. 15, the cold air cooled in the refrigerating compartment 14 first flows through a cold air return opening (ice fresh side) 45 at the rear of the top surface of the fresh ice compartment 22 and a gap (see fig. 14A) between an opening 48 at the lower side of the fresh ice compartment door/handle 47 and the outer peripheral portion of the fresh ice compartment container 44 to a cold air return passage portion (ice fresh side) 46 at the rear of the fresh ice compartment 22.

The cold air flowing to the cold air return passage portion (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 46 behind the ice temperature fresh-keeping compartment 22 flows from the cold air return port (fine freezing side) 55 provided in the ceiling member 50 of the fine freezing compartment 21 to the cold air return passage portion (fine freezing side) 56 behind the fine freezing compartment 21.

The cold air flowing to the cold air return passage portion (the freezer side) 56 at the rear of the freezer compartment 21 is returned to the cooling compartment 23 from a cold air merging return port 57 provided in the partition plate 5 which becomes the bottom surface of the freezer compartment 21 through a refrigerator compartment return duct 58.

At this time, the cold air having cooled the refreshing chamber 22 overflows from the refreshing chamber container 44, merges with the cold air from the refrigerating chamber 14 at a cold air return passage portion (refreshing side) 46 in the refreshing chamber 22, passes through a cold air return passage portion (freezing side) 56 behind the freezing chamber 21 from a cold air return port (freezing side) 55 provided in the ceiling member 50 of the freezing chamber 21, and returns from a cold air merging return port 57 to the cooling chamber 23 via a refrigerating chamber return duct 58.

The cold air in the freezer compartment 21 overflows from the freezer compartment container 52, flows into a cold air return passage portion (freezer side) 56 at the rear of the freezer compartment 21, merges with the cold air from the refrigerator compartment 14 and the crisper compartment 22, and returns from a cold air merging return port 57 to the cooling compartment 23 through a refrigerator compartment return duct 58.

As described above, in refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, the cold air in refrigerating room 14, the cold air in refreshing chamber 22, and the cold air in freezing chamber 21 can be returned to cooling room 23 via cold air return port (refreshing side) 45, cold air return passage portion (refreshing side) 46 provided behind refreshing chamber 22 in refrigerating room 14, cold air return port (freezing side) 55, cold air return passage portion (freezing side) 56 provided behind freezing chamber 21, and cold air merging return port 57. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a duct portion for returning the cold air in each compartment (the fresh food compartment 22 and the freezer compartment 21) to the cooling compartment 23 in the refrigerating compartment 14 along the refrigerating compartment duct 28. Therefore, the internal volume of refrigerating room 14 can be increased by an amount corresponding to the duct that does not need to be separately provided, and more food materials can be cooled and stored.

The main flow of the cold air flowing from the refrigerating compartment 14 to the cold air return passage portion (slightly frozen side) 56 of the cold air merging return port 57 through the refreshing compartment 22 is located on a line connecting the cold air return port (slightly frozen side) 55 and the cold air merging return port 57. The cold air includes cold air from the fresh food compartment 22 and cold air from the freezer compartment 21, but most of the cold air is cold air from the fresh food compartment 14. In refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, since refrigerating room temperature sensor 59 (see fig. 16 and 17) is provided between cold air return port (slightly frozen side) 55 through which the main stream of cold air flows and cold air merging return port 57, the temperature of refrigerating room 14 can be accurately detected. Therefore, the temperature of the refrigerating compartment 14 can be controlled to the set temperature with high accuracy.

On the other hand, a freezer temperature sensor (low-temperature chamber temperature sensor) 60 is provided in a portion other than a line between a cold air return port (slightly frozen side) 55 and a cold air merging return port 57, in which a cold air flow of a cold air return passage portion (slightly frozen side) 56 in the freezer chamber 21 becomes a main flow, and in the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 16 and 17, is provided in a diagonal portion on the opposite side in the left-right direction across the freezer compartment duct 28 and the freezer temperature sensor 59 when the freezer 90 is viewed from the front. With this configuration, the temperature of the freezing chamber 21 can be accurately detected, and the control can be performed with high accuracy. That is, the cold air in refrigerating room 14 is small in the diagonal portion on the opposite side of refrigerating room duct 28 and refrigerating room temperature sensor 59, most of the cold air flowing in this portion is the cold air in freezer room 21, and the cold air in freezer room 21 is in a floating state in this portion. Therefore, according to such a configuration, the temperature in the freezing chamber 21 can be accurately detected, and the temperature can be accurately controlled.

On the other hand, the crisper 22 is cooled to a temperature lower than the temperature of the refrigerating chamber by the cooling radiation from the freezer 21 as described above, and when the cooling temperature of the freezer 21 changes, the temperature of the crisper 22 is easily changed by the influence of the cooling radiation.

However, in the refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, the temperature of the fresh ice compartment 22 can be controlled to the set temperature by turning on and off the temperature adjusting heater 49 on the bottom surface of the fresh ice compartment 22 based on the output from the fresh ice compartment temperature sensor, and the temperature of the fresh ice compartment 22 can be controlled with high accuracy.

In the temperature control of the fresh ice compartment 22, the cold air can be supplied to the fresh ice compartment 22 by providing a damper and opening and closing the damper, as in the case of the refrigerating compartment 14 and the freezing compartment 21. However, if the heater system as in the present embodiment is adopted, a space for providing a damper and a passage structure are not necessary, and the temperature of the fresh ice compartment 22 can be controlled easily without reducing the volume of the refrigerating compartment.

Since refrigerating room temperature sensor 59 and freezer temperature sensor 60 are attached to duct cover 28b of refrigerating room duct 28, refrigerating room temperature sensor 59 and freezer temperature sensor 60 can be incorporated at predetermined positions by attaching duct cover 28b to the inside of the refrigerating room. Therefore, as compared with the case where the duct cover 28b and the sensors (the refrigerating chamber temperature sensor 59 and the freezing chamber temperature sensor 60) are separately assembled, the workability can be greatly improved, and the productivity can be improved.

In addition, in refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 21 to 23, since deodorization unit 61 is attached to duct cover 28b, assembly of deodorization unit 61 is facilitated, and productivity can be further improved. Further, by providing the deodorization unit 61, the odor transferred from the food in the refrigerating chamber 14 to the cold air can be removed, and a sanitary refrigerator can be obtained.

Further, a cold air return port (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 45 (see fig. 15) and a cold air return port (freezing side) 55 constituting a cold air return passage in the refrigerating compartment 14 and a cold air merging return port 57 are provided so as to be shifted in position in the left-right direction when the refrigerator 90 is viewed from the front. Therefore, even if debris such as food materials falls from the cold air return port (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 45 or the cold air return port (micro-freezing side) 55 through the cold air return port (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 45, it is possible to prevent the debris from falling on the cold air merging return port 57 and blocking the cold air merging return port 57, or to reduce the opening area of the cold air merging return port 57, and it is possible to maintain good cold air return performance over a long period of time.

Finally, the cooling and cold air returning operation of freezing chamber 18 will be described.

As shown in fig. 4, 5, and 9, cool air from the downstream side of cooling fan 25 is supplied from cool air outlet 63 of freezing compartment back surface plate 32 to freezing compartment 18 and cools it. The cold air from the left cold air outlet 63 at the uppermost stage among the cold air outlets 63 is supplied to the ice making chamber 16, and the cold air from the right cold air outlet 63 at the uppermost stage is supplied to the switching chamber 15, thereby cooling each chamber. The cold air that has cooled freezer compartment 18, ice-making compartment 16, and switching compartment 15 is returned to cooling compartment 23 from frozen cold air return opening 64 provided in the lower portion of freezer compartment 18.

Here, in refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 6 and 8, since freezing compartment damper 68 is provided in cold-air return port 64 of freezing compartment 18, the amount of cold air supplied to freezing compartment 18 can be controlled by opening and closing freezing compartment damper 68. Therefore, although freezing room 18 has reached the set temperature, the temperature of refrigerating room 14 is high, compressor 27 and cooling fan 25 are driven, and cold air is supplied to freezing room 18 to prevent overcooling, thereby achieving good freezing preservation.

In refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, in particular, freezing room damper 68 is not provided on the side of cold air outlet 63 of freezing room 18 but on the side of cold air return opening 64 in the lower part of freezing room 18, and therefore, it is possible to obtain stable damper operation while simplifying the configuration, and it is possible to improve the accuracy of temperature control of freezing room 18 and improve reliability.

That is, freezing chamber 18 is provided in close proximity to the front surface of cooling chamber 23 (see fig. 6), and cold air outlet 63 provided in the upper portion of freezing chamber 18 communicates with the downstream side of cooling fan 25 of cooling chamber 23 (see fig. 5). In such a configuration, during the defrosting operation of cooler 24, the high-humidity warm air after defrosting rises in cooling compartment 23 by the flow of the air, and reaches cold air outlet 63. If freezing room damper 68 is provided on the side of cold air outlet 63, warm cold air of high temperature and high humidity contacts freezing room damper 68 to cause condensation, and may freeze to cause malfunction when the cooling operation is restarted after the defrosting operation is completed. In order to prevent this freezing, a heater dedicated to freezing prevention needs to be provided to the freezing chamber damper 68, which complicates the structure.

However, since the freezing room damper 68 is provided in the cold-air return port 64 in the lower part of the cooling room 23 as in the refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, most of the hot and humid air generated during defrosting is generated above the cold-air return port 64 by flowing and rises as it is, and therefore, the amount of the hot and humid air contacting the freezing room damper 68 is extremely small and the humidity is low, and the freezing due to dew condensation is slight. Therefore, the operation of the freezing compartment damper 68 can be stably performed. In the refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, freezing can be prevented by residual heat generated by the glass tube heater 26 for defrosting. With this configuration, the structure can be simplified without requiring a heater dedicated for defrosting or the like. In other words, the reliability can be improved while the temperature control accuracy is improved.

Further, as shown in fig. 11, 24, and the like, the freezing compartment damper 68 is configured by combining a plurality of flaps 71, and therefore, the front-rear width dimension when each of the plurality of flaps 71 is opened can be significantly reduced as compared with the front-rear width dimension of a damper configured by one flap. Therefore, the space in which freezing chamber damper 68 is provided can be greatly reduced while freezing chamber damper 68 itself is made compact, and the volume in freezing chamber 18 can be increased by that amount.

As shown in fig. 31B, the plurality of flaps 71 of the freezing compartment damper 68 are provided so as to be opened toward the cooling compartment 23. With this configuration, the volume of freezing chamber 18 can be increased. That is, if freezing chamber damper 68 is configured such that each of swing pieces 71 is opened toward freezing chamber 18, and each of swing pieces 71 is protruded toward freezing chamber 18, freezing chamber container 62 has to be set at a position forward by a corresponding amount, and the volume of freezing chamber container 62, in other words, the volume of freezing chamber 18 has to be reduced. However, with the configuration of refrigerator 90 according to the present embodiment, such a problem can be solved, and the volume of freezer compartment 18 can be increased.

As shown in fig. 29, cooling chamber side opening frame portion 66 of chilled cold air return opening 64 to which freezing chamber shutter 68 is attached is inclined so as to be positioned further rearward, i.e., on the cooling chamber 23 side, as it goes upward with respect to the vertical line, that is, so that the end portion of freezing chamber shutter 68 attached to cooling chamber side opening frame portion 66 on the cooling chamber 23 side is inclined so as to be positioned lower than the end portion on the freezing chamber 18 side. With this configuration, even if dew condensation occurs due to contact with warm cold air generated in cooling chamber 23 during defrosting operation of cooler 24, the dew condensation water flows down to cooling chamber 23 side and is discharged to the outside through drain port 36. Therefore, dew condensation water can be prevented from flowing down to the freezing chamber 18 side and freezing in the freezing chamber 18 to form ice pieces, which may cause malfunction.

In addition, in the defrosting operation, normally, freezing room damper 68 is closed, and warm/cold air in cooling room 23 cannot enter freezing room 18.

Furthermore, as shown in fig. 24 and 25, since freezing room damper 68 is provided in proximity to glass tube heater 26 in the lower portion of cooling room 23, the temperature rises during the defrosting operation. However, since the damper frame body 70 and the plurality of flaps 71 and the like constituting the freezing compartment damper 68 are formed of a heat-resistant material, thermal deformation and the like can be prevented, and a good damper operation and function can be ensured over a long period of time.

In particular, in refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, since freezing chamber damper 68 is provided such that its lower portion (lower side portion of damper frame 70) is located above glass tube heater 26 without being located directly beside it, freezing chamber damper 68 can be separated from glass tube heater 26 by a certain amount, and thus the direct thermal influence by the radiant heat ray can be reduced, and the temperature rise can be suppressed. On the other hand, even if the warm cold air heated by the glass tube heater 26 with less moisture surely comes into contact with the freezing chamber damper 68 and frosts on the freezing chamber damper 68, the defrosting can be surely performed, and therefore the damper operation becomes good.

Further, lower side 66a of cooling chamber side opening frame portion 66, which has a short distance from glass tube heater 26 and supports the lower portion of freezing chamber damper 68, has a shape protruding toward cooling chamber 23 (a shape protruding toward glass tube heater 26 side from bottom surface 23a of cooling chamber 23) (see fig. 29). With this configuration, radiant heat rays from glass tube heater 26 can be prevented from directly radiating to the lower edge of the door frame of freezing chamber damper 68, and extreme temperature rise can be prevented. Lower side 66a of cooling chamber side opening frame portion 66 is formed of a double wall, and gap portion 66b of the double wall has a shape that opens toward freezing chamber 18. With this configuration, in addition to the cooling action by the cold air in freezer compartment 18, an extreme temperature rise can be prevented, and a good damper operation can be ensured.

Further, as shown in fig. 30, the direct thermal influence caused by the radiation of the radiant heat rays from glass tube heater 26 can be further surely suppressed by providing heat shield plate 77 on heater cover 35 above glass tube heater 26, or by providing heat shield plate portion to extend heater cover 35 toward freezing chamber damper 68, and shielding it, thereby further reliably suppressing the temperature rise of freezing chamber damper 68.

Further, as shown in fig. 25, since freezing compartment damper 68 is provided at a position not facing heater portion 26a of glass tube heater 26, and for example, in the present embodiment, is provided on the side of refrigerating compartment return duct 58 and vegetable compartment duct 30 (see fig. 7) near cooling compartment 23, direct thermal influence on freezing compartment damper driving motor unit 72 due to irradiation of radiant heat rays from glass tube heater 26 can be reduced. This prevents an extreme temperature rise in the refrigeration damper driving motor unit 72, which is a precision component incorporating a plurality of gears and the like, and ensures stable damper operation.

In this manner, while maintaining the configuration in which freezer damper driving motor unit 72 is positioned outside heater unit 26a, freezer damper 68 is configured such that freezer damper driving motor unit 72 is provided at a position on the side of refrigerating room return duct 58 adjacent to cooling room 23. With this configuration, the portions of the flaps 71 that open and close the flow path of the cold air are positioned closer to the center line of the cooler 24, and the cold air returned to the cooling compartment 23 can be efficiently brought into contact with the cooler 24. This makes it possible for the cooler 24 to exhibit the original cooling performance of the cooler 24 itself at a high level, and the cooling performance can be greatly improved.

As shown in fig. 30, the freezing compartment damper 68 is provided such that its upper portion (upper piece portion of the damper frame 70) is positioned above the lower end edge of the cooler 24 and its lower portion (lower side 66a portion of the damper frame 70) is positioned below the lower end of the cooler 24. With this configuration, the cold air returned to cooling compartment 23 can be reliably made to flow to the portion below the lower end surface of cooler 24. Therefore, most of the cold air flows upward from the lower end surface of the cooler 24, and the cooling performance of the entire cooler 24 can be further improved by effectively utilizing the cooling of the cooler 24.

The freezing chamber damper 68 is formed into a unit by colliding and engaging with the cooling chamber side opening frame portion 66 provided in the freezing chamber back surface plate 32 (see fig. 29, 31A, and 31B). With this configuration, the assembly of the freezing chamber damper 68 to the freezing chamber 18 can be easily performed by attaching the freezing chamber back panel 32, and productivity can be improved.

On the other hand, as shown in fig. 29, a grill 67 is attached to the cold air return port 64 on the freezing compartment 18 side of the freezing compartment damper 68. The grid 67 has a plurality of grid segments 69. The grid 67 is provided obliquely so that the cooling chamber side end of each grid sheet 69 is positioned above the refrigerator compartment side end. With this configuration, when the freezing chamber container 62 is drawn out, the glass tube heater 26 and the like located on the back side thereof can be prevented from being seen between the grid pieces 69, and the sense of discomfort and the like given to the user can be eliminated. In addition, the design of refrigerator 90 can be improved.

The plurality of grid pieces 69 of grid 67 are formed so that the length of the lower grid piece 69 is longer in the front-rear direction, and the grid pieces have a shape along the rear surface of freezing chamber container 62 in freezing chamber 18. With this configuration, the flow of cold air in freezing chamber 18 can be smoothed, and cooling performance can be improved.

As described above, refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment includes: a refrigerating compartment 14; refrigerator main body 1 provided with freezing chamber 18 and vegetable chamber 17; cooling chamber 23 provided behind freezing chamber 18 and generating cold air to be supplied to refrigerating chamber 14, freezing chamber 18, and vegetable chamber 17; a refrigerating chamber duct for guiding the cold air from the cooling chamber 23 to the refrigerating chamber; and a vegetable compartment duct 30 for guiding the cold air from the cooling compartment 23 to the vegetable compartment 17. Refrigerating compartment duct 28 is provided with refrigerating compartment damper 37, and vegetable compartment duct 30 is provided with vegetable compartment damper 75. Refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment is configured such that the amount of cold air supplied to refrigerating room 14 and vegetable room 17 can be controlled by opening and closing each damper (refrigerating room damper 37 and vegetable room damper 75). Further, refrigerating compartment duct 28 provided with refrigerating compartment damper 37 and vegetable compartment duct 30 provided with vegetable compartment damper 75 are connected to cooling compartment 23 at different positions with respect to cooling compartment 23, independently of each other.

With this configuration, cold air from cooling compartment 23 is supplied to refrigerating compartment duct 28 and vegetable compartment duct 30 independently of each other. Accordingly, even if vegetable room damper 75 is opened or closed, the amount of cold air supplied to refrigerating room duct 28 is not affected by the opening or closing, and the amount of cold air supplied to refrigerating room 14 can be stabilized to improve cooling performance.

In refrigerator 90 according to the present embodiment, vegetable compartment duct 30 may be connected to cooling compartment 23 in the rear projection plane of freezing compartment 18 located in front of cooling compartment 23. With this configuration, vegetable compartment duct 30 does not penetrate partition plate 5 that passes between refrigerating compartment 14 and freezing compartment 18 above cooling compartment 23. With this configuration, the duct length of the vegetable compartment duct 30 can be shortened, and the passage resistance can be reduced. This can increase the amount of cold air circulation and improve cooling performance.

Refrigerator 90 according to the present embodiment may be configured such that vegetable room damper 75 is assembled to vegetable room duct 30 and positioned together with vegetable room duct 30 on the rear projection surface of freezer compartment 18. With such a configuration, vegetable room damper 75 can be assembled to refrigerator main body 1 only by providing vegetable room duct 30 to refrigerator main body 1, and productivity can be significantly improved as compared to a case where vegetable room damper 75 is separately assembled to a position different from vegetable room duct 30, for example, partition plate 5 partitioning between refrigerating room 14 and freezing room 18. Furthermore, since vegetable compartment duct 30 is connected to cooling compartment 23 in the rear projection plane of freezing compartment 18 located in front of cooling compartment 23, the duct length of vegetable compartment duct 30 can be shortened and the passage resistance can be reduced, and therefore, the amount of cold air circulation can be increased and the cooling performance can be improved.

In refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, cooling chamber 23 includes cooler 24 and cooling fan 25 positioned above it, and vegetable chamber damper 75 may be provided at a position at a height that overlaps cooling fan 25.

With this configuration, vegetable compartment duct 30 can be shortened by the length of partition plate 5 above cooling compartment 23 passing between partitioned refrigerating compartment 14 and freezing compartment 18, and passage resistance can be reduced, and the amount of cold air circulation can be increased, thereby improving cooling performance. At the same time, the distance from the vegetable compartment 17 to the vegetable compartment damper 75 can be secured to the height of the cooler 24. This can prevent warm cold air having a high humidity in vegetable compartment 17 from rising in vegetable compartment duct 30 and reaching vegetable compartment duct 30 when the cold air cycle is stopped, causing dew condensation and freezing when the cold air cycle is restarted. Therefore, according to such a configuration, the cooling performance can be improved, and the reliability can be ensured by preventing the malfunction of the vegetable room damper 75.

In refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, vegetable compartment duct 30 may be disposed so as to overlap refrigerating compartment return duct 58 extending from refrigerating compartment 14 to cooling compartment 23 (so as to be adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction of refrigerator 90). In refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, vegetable compartment duct 30 and refrigerating compartment return duct 58 may be formed of a material having elasticity. With this configuration, airtightness can be ensured by the elastic force of vegetable compartment duct 30 and refrigerating compartment return duct 58, and it is not necessary to provide a sealing member or the like for ensuring airtightness as in the case of separately incorporating into partition plate 5, and the configuration can be simplified and productivity can be improved. In refrigerator 90 of the present embodiment, vegetable compartment damper 75 may be sandwiched between vegetable compartment duct 30 and refrigerating compartment return duct 58. With this configuration, vegetable compartment damper 75 can be reasonably assembled to vegetable compartment duct 30 by refrigerating compartment return duct 58.

The present disclosure is not limited to the examples of the above embodiments, and the refrigerator described below is also included in the scope of the present disclosure.

That is, the refrigerator 90 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can suppress the space around the cooler accommodating chamber (cooling chamber 23, the same applies to the following) and improve the internal volume efficiency.

Specifically, refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a refrigerating compartment 14; a freezing chamber 18; cooling chamber 23 disposed behind freezing chamber 18; refrigerating room damper 37 for controlling the amount of cold air supplied from cooling room 23 to refrigerating room 14; and a freezing chamber damper 68 provided at a frozen cold air return port of the cold air return cooling chamber 23 supplied to the freezing chamber 18. Refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure is configured to maintain cooling chamber 23 and freezing chamber 18 in a state of communication without providing a damper in a cold air discharge passage for supplying cold air from cooling chamber 23 to freezing chamber 18.

According to such a configuration, in the refrigerator having the freezer damper, the space around the cooler storage compartment can be suppressed without increasing the space of the cool air discharge duct, and the internal volume efficiency can be improved.

In refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, freezing room damper 68 may be disposed in a partition plate (freezing room back plate 32) that partitions freezing room 18 and cooling room 23. With this configuration, the space around the cooler storage chamber can be further suppressed, and the storage interior volume efficiency can be improved.

In refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, freezing room damper 68 may include a housing (damper housing) 70, a driving device (freezing damper driving motor unit) 72, and a flap 71. The freezing chamber damper 68 may be configured such that the flap 71 is rotated toward the cooling chamber 23 by the driving device 72. With this configuration, the space around the cooler storage chamber can be further suppressed, and the storage interior volume efficiency can be improved.

In the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the freezing-chamber damper 68 may include a plurality of flaps 71, and the flaps 71 may be opened and closed by a driving device 72. With this configuration, the space for the operation of the flap 71 can be suppressed, and the storage volume efficiency can be improved.

In refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, frame 70 and flap 71 may be inclined toward cooling compartment 23 with respect to a vertical plane parallel to the front surface or rear surface of refrigerator 90 as a reference, as freezing compartment damper 68. With this configuration, drainage of defrosting water and the like adhering to freezing chamber damper 68 can be improved, and reliability of freezing chamber damper 68 can be improved.

Refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure may further include refrigerating room return duct 58 provided on a side of cooler 24 to return cool air supplied to refrigerating room 14 to cooling room 23. In refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, freezer damper 68, drive device 72, and flap 71 are provided in parallel with each other, and drive device 72 may be disposed on the side of refrigerating room return duct 58 as viewed from the front of refrigerator 90. With this configuration, the right-left offset of the freezer damper 68 with respect to the cooler 24 can be improved, and the cooling efficiency can be improved.

Further, the refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a glass tube heater 26 disposed below the cooling chamber 23. In this case, the outer contour (damper frame 70) of freezing room damper 68 is preferably made of a heat-resistant material capable of receiving heat from glass tube heater 26. With such a configuration, in the refrigerator having the freezing-chamber damper, the space around the cooler storage chamber can be suppressed, the internal volume efficiency can be improved, and the reliability of the freezing-chamber damper 68 can be improved.

The refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a heater cover 35 disposed above the glass tube heater 26. In this case, a part of the heater cover 35 may be provided between the glass tube heater 26 and the freezing compartment damper 68. With such a configuration, in the refrigerator having the freezing-chamber damper, the space around the cooler storage chamber can be suppressed, the internal volume efficiency can be improved, and the reliability of the freezing-chamber damper 68 can be improved.

Further, the present disclosure provides refrigerator 90 that is less susceptible to load fluctuations of refrigerating room 14 and can stably maintain the temperature in the low-temperature room at a predetermined temperature.

Specifically, refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a refrigerating compartment 14; a freezing chamber 18; a partition plate 5 partitioning the refrigerating chamber 14 and the freezing chamber 18; cooling chamber 23 disposed behind freezing chamber 18; a low-temperature compartment (at least one of the fresh food compartment 22 and the freezer compartment 21, the same applies hereinafter) provided in the refrigerating compartment 14 at a lower portion of the refrigerating compartment 14; and a refrigerating compartment duct 28 for supplying cold air to the refrigerating compartment 14 and the low-temperature compartment, respectively. The low-temperature compartment is partitioned by a ceiling plate 43 in the refrigerating compartment 14, has a container (at least one of the crisper container 44 and the freezer container 52) therein, and is maintained at a temperature lower than that of the refrigerating compartment 14. Furthermore, refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure further includes: a cold air return port (cold air merging return port 57) (2 nd cold air return port) provided in partition plate 5; a cold air return port (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 45 (1 st cold air return port) provided in the top plate 43; and a cold air return passage portion (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 46 (or a cold air return passage portion (fine freezing side) 56, the same applies hereinafter) through which cold air returned from the refrigerating compartment 14 to the cooling compartment 23 passes. The cold air return passage portion (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 46 is configured such that cold air returned from the refrigerator compartment 14 to the cooling compartment 23 is returned from a cold air return port (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 45 provided in the top plate 43 to the cooling compartment 23 via a space outside the container in the low-temperature compartment and a cold air return port (cold air merging return port 57) provided in the partition plate 5.

With this configuration, the air having a high temperature after cooling refrigerating room 14 flows outside the container in the low-temperature room, and is less likely to be affected by the load fluctuation of refrigerating room 14, and the temperature in the low-temperature room can be stably maintained at the predetermined temperature.

In refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, cold air return port (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 45 provided in top plate 43 and cold air return port (cold air merging return port 57) provided in partition plate 5 are arranged so as to be shifted from each other in the left-right direction when viewed from the front of refrigerator 90. With this configuration, the garbage and the like entering from the refrigerating compartment 14 into the cold air return port (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) 45 provided in the top plate 43 do not directly fall to the cold air return port (cold air merging return port 57) provided in the partition plate 5, and the adverse effect of the garbage and the like on the cold air return port (cold air merging return port 57) can be reduced, and stable cooling capacity of the refrigerating compartment 14 can be ensured.

Furthermore, refrigerator 90 according to an example of an embodiment of the present disclosure may include: a refrigerating compartment damper 37 for controlling the supply of cold air to the refrigerating compartment 14; a refrigerating chamber temperature sensor 59; a low-temperature chamber damper (a micro-freezing chamber damper 40) for controlling the supply of cold air to the low-temperature chamber; and a low-temperature chamber temperature sensor (micro-freezer temperature sensor 60). In this case, the refrigerating compartment temperature sensor 59 and the low temperature compartment temperature sensor may be disposed in the refrigerating compartment duct 28. With this configuration, the assembly process can be simplified.

In refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, refrigerating room temperature sensor 59 and the low-temperature room temperature sensor may be arranged to face each other in the left-right direction in refrigerating room duct 28. According to such a configuration, the temperature in refrigerating room 14 can be controlled by detecting the return air from refrigerating room 14, and therefore, the low-temperature-room temperature sensor is less likely to be affected by the return air from refrigerating room 14, and the temperature in the low-temperature room (freezing room 21 in this example) can be maintained at a predetermined temperature more stably.

Further, the present disclosure provides a refrigerator capable of ensuring cooling performance without impairing the design of refrigerating compartment duct 28 by appropriately setting the aspect ratio (long side/short side) represented by the ratio of the long side to the short side of the horizontal cross section of refrigerating compartment duct 28.

Specifically, refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a freezing chamber 18; refrigerating chamber 14 disposed at an upper portion of freezing chamber 18; cooling chamber 23 disposed behind freezing chamber 18; refrigerating compartment duct 28 and refrigerating compartment damper 37 disposed on the rear surface of refrigerating compartment 14; and a low-temperature compartment disposed below refrigerating compartment 14 and maintained at a temperature lower than that of refrigerating compartment 14. In refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, an aspect ratio (long side/short side) represented by a ratio of a long side to a short side of a horizontal cross section of an air passage of refrigerating compartment duct 28 is set such that a refrigerating compartment damper 37 portion, a low-temperature compartment portion, and a refrigerating compartment 14 portion become larger in order.

With this configuration, the aspect ratio of refrigerating compartment duct 28 can be appropriately set to increase the effective internal volume of refrigerator 90, and cooling performance can be ensured without impairing the design of refrigerating compartment duct 28.

Further, in refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, refrigerating compartment duct 28 may have a discharge port (side discharge port 28d) on a side surface, and a rib (extended rib 28c) covering the discharge port may be provided on a front surface side portion. With this configuration, when viewed from the front of refrigerator 90, the discharge port on the front side of refrigerating room duct 28 is not visible, and therefore, the design in refrigerating room 14 can be improved.

In refrigerator 90 according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the lower surface of the discharge port may have an inclined surface that is upward with respect to the flow of the cool air. With this configuration, the air passage resistance of the cold air flowing from below to above in refrigerating room duct 28 can be reduced, and the cooling performance of refrigerating room 14 can be further improved.

Industrial applicability of the invention

As described above, in the present disclosure, the amount of cold air supplied to the refrigerating chamber can be stabilized regardless of the opening and closing of the vegetable chamber damper, and the cooling performance of the refrigerating chamber can be improved.

Description of the reference numerals

1 refrigerator main body

2 outer case

3 inner box

4 foaming heat insulation material

5. 96 division plate

97. 8, 9, 10, 11 doors

14 refrigerating compartment

15 switching chamber

16 Ice making chamber

17 vegetable room

17a vegetable room container

18 freezing chamber

20 shelf

21 micro-freezing chamber (Low temperature chamber)

22 Ice temperature fresh-keeping chamber (Low temperature chamber)

22a cold air inlet

23 Cooling chamber

23a bottom surface

24 cooler

25 Cooling fan

26 defrosting part (glass tube heater)

26a heater section

27 compressor

28 refrigerating compartment duct

28a pipe member

28b pipe cover

28bb mounting part

28c extended Rib (Rib)

28d side discharge (discharge port)

29 freezing chamber pipeline

30 vegetable room pipeline

31 cooling chamber forming plate

32 back board of freezing chamber (partition board)

33 st cold air supply port

34 nd 2 cold air supply port

35 heater cover

36 water discharge outlet

37 refrigerating chamber air door

38 air door fixing frame

39 air door for refrigerating chamber

40 micro-freezing chamber air door (Low temperature chamber air door)

41 motor unit for driving refrigerating air door

43 Top plate

44 container for ice temperature fresh-keeping room

45 Cold air return port (ice temperature fresh-keeping side) (the 1 st cold air return port)

46 Cold air return path part (Ice temperature fresh-keeping side)

Door and handle for 47 temp. fresh-keeping room

48 opening part

49 temperature adjusting heater

50 Top board parts (Top board)

51 micro-freezing chamber door

52 micro-freezing chamber container

53 Heat insulating Material

54 micro-freezing cold air passage

55 Cold air return port (side micro-freezing)

56 Cold air return passage part (side of slight freezing)

57 cold air interflow return port (cold air return port, 2 nd cold air return port)

58 refrigeration compartment return duct

58a, 58b concave grooves

59 temperature sensor for refrigerating chamber

60 micro-freezing chamber temperature sensor (Low temperature chamber temperature sensor)

61 deodorization unit

62 freezing chamber container

62a lower container

62b upper container

63 Cold air blow-out opening

64 frozen cold air return port

65 side opening frame of freezing chamber

66 cooling chamber side opening frame part

66a lower edge

66b gap portion

67 grid

68 freezing chamber air door

69 grid sheet

70 air door frame body (frame body)

71 tablet (flap)

72 electric motor unit (driving device) for driving freezing air door

73 claw piece

74 opening

75 vegetable room air door

75a air flap

76 motor unit for driving vegetable air door

77 heat shield.

Claims

1. A refrigerator, comprising:

a refrigerator main body;

a refrigerating chamber, a freezing chamber and a vegetable chamber arranged in the refrigerator main body;

a cooling chamber provided behind the freezing chamber and generating cold air to be supplied to the refrigerating chamber, the freezing chamber, and the vegetable chamber;

a refrigerating compartment duct guiding cold air from the cooling compartment to the refrigerating compartment; and

a vegetable compartment duct that guides cold air from the cooling compartment to the vegetable compartment,

a refrigerating chamber air door is arranged on the refrigerating chamber pipeline,

a vegetable chamber air door is arranged on the vegetable chamber pipeline,

the cold air supply amount to the refrigerating chamber and the vegetable chamber is controlled by opening and closing the refrigerating chamber air door and the vegetable chamber air door respectively,

the refrigerating compartment duct and the vegetable compartment duct are independently connected to the cooling compartment at different positions of the cooling compartment,

the vegetable compartment duct is configured to overlap a refrigerating compartment return duct from the refrigerating compartment to the cooling compartment in a front-rear direction,

the vegetable chamber duct and the refrigerating chamber return duct are formed of an elastic material, and are configured to sandwich a vegetable chamber damper between the vegetable chamber duct and the refrigerating chamber return duct.

2. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

the vegetable compartment duct is connected to the cooling compartment within a rear projection plane of the freezing compartment located in front of the cooling compartment.

3. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 2, wherein:

the vegetable room damper is assembled to the vegetable room duct and is configured to be located in the rear projection plane of the freezing chamber together with the vegetable room duct.

4. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:

the cooling chamber has a cooler and a cooling fan located above the cooler,

the vegetable room air door is arranged at a height which is overlapped with the cooling fan.