CN112005063B

CN112005063B - Refrigerator with heatable interior

Info

Publication number: CN112005063B
Application number: CN201980027235.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: N·利恩戈德
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2018-04-23
Filing date: 2019-01-16
Publication date: 2022-03-04
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-16
Also published as: CN112005063A; DE102018206221A1; WO2019206465A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a refrigerator, in particular a domestic refrigerator, having at least one interior which is insulated from the surroundings by a heat-insulating layer (48). An inner container (19) and a heat exchanger (12) which can optionally be operated as an evaporator or as a liquefier are arranged in the interior space. The inner container (19) is at least partially lined with a diffusion barrier (20, 26, 40).

Description

Refrigerator with heatable interior

Technical Field

The invention relates to a household appliance, in particular a household refrigerator, having a heatable interior.

Background

In some refrigeration appliances, the individual layers (Fach) are heatable, which has been known for a long time, but for various reasons have not been accepted in the market since, in addition, the required heating means (e.g. resistance heating means or microwave generators) significantly increase the cost of the appliance and the heat flow from the heated to the cooled layer significantly increases the energy consumption.

However, new developments in refrigeration technology (or the use of expansion valves as throttle devices) currently enable flexible refrigerant circuits to be constructed in which the evaporator can also be operated as a liquefier if required and thus heat the layer lattice thermally connected thereto instead of cooling it. Such a refrigerant circuit has significant advantages: no additional components have to be installed in the layer in order to heat the layer, and waste heat can be used for heating, which has already been extracted from the other layers and otherwise has to be released into the surroundings. A refrigeration device having such a flexibly usable layer is described, for example, in DE102013226341a1 or DE102015216933a 1.

A problem with refrigeration devices having a flexible layer is that in these devices the odors released during operation are significantly stronger and adhere for a longer period of time than in conventional pure refrigeration devices.

Such sticking of odours can be largely avoided by the use of metallic (in particular joined from fine-grade steel sheet) inner containers; the cost of such an inner container is, however, extremely high compared to conventional inner containers, which are deep-drawn from plastic. These costs are surprised by users who are not sure whether they need a flexible layer lattice or not. However, the possibility of changing the layer lattice to flexible use at any later point in time after purchasing the appliance may be attractive to the user, as long as this is not associated with high additional costs at the point in time of purchase.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator having a flexible layer, which solves the odor problem at low cost. A further object is to provide a refrigerator which can be produced inexpensively and enables subsequent upgrading of the layer system for flexible use.

The first task mentioned above is solved by a refrigeration appliance (in particular a domestic refrigeration appliance) having: at least one interior space isolated from the surrounding environment by a thermal insulation layer; an inner container; a heat exchanger which can be operated in an alternative manner (wahlweise) as an evaporator or as a liquefier, the inner vessel and the heat exchanger both being arranged in the inner space, the inner vessel being at least partially lined with (ausgekleidet) diffusion barrier (diffusionsdichte Schicht). Furthermore, the inner container can here be a plastic inner container which is inexpensive and can also be used for other refrigeration appliances; the diffusion barrier can keep odorous substances away from the inner container, which can diffuse into the plastic and subsequently evaporate again over a long period of time.

The diffusion preventing layer may be a metal layer.

The cost of such a layer can be kept small, since it does not have to be self-supporting (selbsttragend) if it only has to cover the inner container, and can therefore be constructed as a foil (foil) at least over a part of its surface.

If the interior space is divided in a known manner into a heat exchanger chamber and a storage chamber, at least the heat exchanger chamber can be lined with a relatively sensitive foil, since the foil is protected there against damage caused by the refrigerated goods.

If one compartment of the refrigerator is heated, the heat flow from this compartment to the adjacent cooled compartment is necessarily stronger than when both compartments are cooled. If it is not intended to operate as a heated layer, the insulation between the layers, which is suitable for operation as a heated layer, does not necessarily reduce the available volume of the refrigeration device. It is therefore advantageous if the diffusion barrier is spaced apart from the inner container by an intermediate space over at least one second portion of its surface. If it is required to operate as a hot grid, additional isolation can be obtained through this intermediate space; conversely, if this operation is cancelled because the user does not intend to operate as a thermal stratification, there is also an intermediate space available for use.

The diffusion barrier, which is spaced apart from the inner vessel, requires a certain inherent stiffness; the diffusion barrier layer can therefore expediently consist of a sheet material (for example made of stainless steel) on the second part of its surface.

The intermediate space may comprise a second thermally insulating layer; the second insulating layer may be of the same type as the first insulating layer and may in particular be composed of a foam material.

Furthermore, an air duct can be provided in the intermediate space, which connects the heat exchanger chamber to the storage chamber.

The air channels should also be lined with a diffusion barrier, which may also be a metal foil or a sheet (Blech).

The diffusion barrier should also be arranged on the inside of the door of the refrigerator and can also cover the inner wall of the conventional design, which is made of plastic.

At least a part of the diffusion barrier should be part of a mountable insert (Einsatz) which can be pushed into the inner container. The insert does not have to be inserted and does not occupy unnecessary space in the interior space, as long as it is not intended to operate at high temperatures.

In the case of a control unit for controlling the operation of the heat exchanger as evaporator or as liquefier, the heat exchanger is switched to operate as liquefier or the heat exchanger is operated above a predetermined threshold temperature, which can be ensured by a key (schlussel), in particular by the input of key data. It is thereby ensured that the user who purchases the refrigeration device initially having an inner container exposed in the storage compartment does not operate the storage compartment at such a temperature that: at this temperature, odorous substances may diffuse inward into the inner container to a sustained degree of interference. However, if the user additionally purchases the required lining of the storage compartment, the required key can be made available to the user together with the lining, so that the user can operate the storage compartment at an elevated temperature after the lining has been inserted.

In most cases, operation at high temperatures is only of interest for a limited time. Thus, the control unit should be programmable to: the time-dependent variable temperature of the interior space is set and, in particular, after a predefined period of time of the liquefier operation, is switched to evaporator operation.

Drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention result from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawing shows that:

fig. 1 shows a perspective partial view of a refrigeration device according to the invention in a basic form;

fig. 2 shows a longitudinal section through a heatable chamber of the refrigeration appliance from fig. 1;

fig. 3 shows a refrigerant circuit from the refrigeration appliance of fig. 1;

fig. 4 shows a view of a refrigeration device with an insert placed in front of a heatable chamber;

FIG. 5 shows a cross-section of the insert;

fig. 6 shows a longitudinal section through a heatable chamber (with an insert pushed into it); and

fig. 7 shows a detail of a door of a refrigeration appliance in cross section.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a body 1 of a domestic refrigeration appliance in a perspective partial view. The body 1 comprises a plurality of

storage chambers

2, 3, which

storage chambers

2, 3 are each provided with a heat exchanger, which is not visible in fig. 1. The heat exchanger of the storage chamber 2 is located in the heat exchanger chamber behind a partition wall 4, which partition wall 4 constitutes the rear wall of the storage chamber 2. A fan 6 is arranged in the opening 5 of the partition wall 4.

The side walls 7 of the storage chamber 2 are formed in a known manner by an inner container deep-drawn from plastic, which (not visible in fig. 1) extends in one piece from behind the partition wall 4 and delimits the heat exchanger chamber together with the partition wall 4 and is surrounded by a thermal insulation layer 48.

Here, profiles 8 of L-shaped cross section extend along the side walls 7, which profiles 8 each form a channel 9 with the side wall 7, which channels 9 lead from the front edge region near the door of the storage chamber 2 into the heat exchanger chamber via a cutout of the partition wall 4.

Furthermore, telescopic rails 10 can be provided on the side walls 7 in order to guide a (not shown) stretching box.

Fig. 2 shows a sectional view through the storage chamber 2 and the heat exchanger chamber, here designated by 11, behind it in the depth direction along the axis of the fan 6. A heat exchanger (typically of the plate-type construction) designated by 12 is arranged in the heat exchanger chamber 11 in such a way that air from the storage chamber 2, which enters the heat exchanger chamber 11 via the channel 9, flows through the heat exchanger 12 from below upwards and is blown back into the storage chamber 2 via the opening 5 by the fan 6.

As shown in fig. 3, the heat exchanger 12 is part of a refrigerant circuit in which, at the high-pressure outlet of the compressor 13, there are connected in sequence: a liquefier 14, a first expansion valve 15 or capillary tube, a heat exchanger 12, a second expansion valve 16, an evaporator 17 of the storage chamber 3, and a suction connection of the compressor 13. The evaporator 17 can be of the same type of construction as the heat exchanger 12 and can therefore also be referred to as a heat exchanger in the following. The control unit 18 is arranged to: depending on the predefined setpoint temperature and the actual temperature of the

storage chambers

2, 3, the flow resistance of the expansion valve 16 or, if present, also of the expansion valve 15 is controlled and thus the evaporation pressure in the

heat exchangers

12, 17. In the disassembled state of the refrigeration device shown in fig. 1, the control unit 18 is limited to: a low pressure is set in the heat exchanger 12, in which case the heat exchanger 12 operates as an evaporator and the storage chamber 2 is cooled.

Referring again to fig. 2, the rear side of the dividing wall 4 and the region of the wall of the inner container 19 which engages the heat exchanger chamber 11 are lined with a metal foil 20, typically an aluminium foil. The application of the metal foil 20 should take place during the assembly of the refrigerator, since the rear wall of the inner container 19 is no longer accessible, in particular after the installation of the heat exchanger 12, and the installation of the foil 20 on the finished refrigerator may therefore be associated with uneconomically high expenditure.

Since the foil 20 in the heat exchanger chamber 11 is protected against mechanical damage, a foil with a small wall thickness and, correspondingly, a low material cost may be used, or even only an evaporated (aufgedampft) metal layer, so that the production costs associated with the lining of the heat exchanger chamber 11 are negligible in the total cost of the appliance.

In order to be able to heat the storage chamber 2, the user must remove the stretching chest and the profile 8 and instead attach it to the insert 21 shown in fig. 4. The built-in 21 is a box open toward the front side. The top 22, bottom 23 and side walls 24 of the tank each comprise a thermal insulation layer 25 and a sheet 26 (in particular made of aluminium) mounted on the inside thereof, which insulates the material of the thermal insulation layer 25 from the inside of the tank in a gastight manner, and optionally a fixed cover 27, said cover 27 protecting the thermal insulation layer 25 against deformation during operation. The rear wall 28 of the tank may be constructed exactly the same as the top, bottom and side walls; since the heat dissipated into the heat exchanger chamber 11 by the heat exchanger 12 is always destined to reach the storage chamber 2, a thermal insulation layer may be absent on the rear wall 28; in particular, the rear wall 28 may be constructed solely of sheet material. A hole congruent with the opening 5 is cut in the rear wall 28.

As can also be seen in fig. 5, a channel 29 is provided on the outside of the side wall 24 in order to receive the telescopic rail 10 which remains on the side wall 7 after the drawing box has been removed.

The function of the removed profile 8 is taken over by the grooves 30, which grooves 30 extend along the lower edge of the side walls 24. These grooves 30 are also lined with a metal layer 31, according to the configuration shown in the left half of fig. 5. The metal layer 31 can be configured as a sheet or (if a fixed cover 27 is also provided between the metal layer 31 and the thermal barrier layer 25) as a metal foil which is preferably fixed (in particular adhesively bonded) to the cover 27 over the entire surface. According to the variant shown in the right half of fig. 5, these recesses 30 are filled with metal tubes which, respectively, over a first part 31 of their circumference, shield the thermal insulation layer 25 of the insert 21 from the warm air circulating inside the tube, and which, over a second part 50 of their circumference, rest tightly against the inner container 19 and thus shield its plastic material.

Fig. 6 shows a section through the upper part of the body 1 after the insert 21 has been inserted into the storage chamber 2. The thermal insulation 25 of the bottom 23 reinforces the thermal insulation with respect to the storage compartment 3, so that the heat flow to the storage compartment 3 increases only slightly at most when the storage compartment 2 is operated above ambient temperature.

Since the storage chamber 2 is located in the uppermost position in the body 1, the thermal insulation layer 25 in the top 22 of the insert 21 can be omitted differently from the illustration of fig. 6. Nevertheless, the use of the insert 21 as shown in the figures is still allowed in such a refrigerator: for the refrigerator, a heatable storage chamber is arranged below the cooled storage chamber.

The top 22, the bottom 23 and the majority of the front edge of the side wall 24 extend until they engage directly behind the door 32 which closes the storage compartment 2. Only at the level of the recess 30, a recess 33 is formed in each case at the front edge of the side wall 24, via which recess 33 air from the storage chamber 2 can pass into the channel bounded by the recess 30 and via which air can pass into the heat exchanger chamber 11.

The door 32 comprises a door leaf 34 of known design and a lining 35, the door leaf 34 being hinged to the body 1, the lining 35 being added as an insert 21 in order to allow the storage compartment 2 to operate at elevated temperatures. The door leaf 34 is basically assembled from the following components: an outer panel 36 constituting the visible front and narrow sides of the door leaf 34; an inner wall 37 made of plastic; an insulating layer comprised between the two. The inner wall 37 is shaped by deep drawing as is the inner container. The inner wall 37 includes: a surrounding frame carrying the magnetic seal 38 and connected along its outer edge to the outer sheet 36, and a flat projection 39 surrounded by the frame, the flat projection 39 being embedded in the storage compartment 2. The lining element 35 is placed on this projection 39 and fills the intermediate space between this projection 39 and the front edges of the top 22, bottom 23 and side walls 24 of the insert 21 facing this projection 39.

Fig. 7 shows a section through the edge region of the door 32 according to a suitable development. The lining member 35 includes a plate material 40, and the plate material 40 is shaped as a flat tray having: a rectangular base 41, a wall 42 surrounding the edge of the base 41, and a flange 43 bent outwardly from the edge of the wall 42 remote from the base. In the configuration of fig. 7, the layer 44 made of thermal insulating material covers the bottom 41 and bears against the walls 42. The layer 44 can also be absent, since the heat flowing out of the storage compartment 2 through the door 32 cannot heat up an adjacent storage compartment, and instead the bottom 41 can rest directly on the projection 39 of the inner wall 37, in order thus to achieve a larger available volume of the storage compartment 2.

A channel 46 is formed in the frame of the inner wall 37, which is designated 45 in fig. 7, said channel 46 receiving the anchoring section of the magnetic seal 38. The sealing section 47 of the magnetic seal 38, which projects from the channel 46, is elastically deformable and can be deflected in particular laterally, so that the flange 43 of the lining element 35 is first placed in abutment on the frame 45 and can then be clamped between the frame 45 and the sealing section 47 restored into its inoperative position. Therefore, the user mounts the lining member 35 on the door leaf 34 without tools for this purpose.

Furthermore, the position of the lining element 35 on the door leaf 34 can be fixed by contact between the wall 42 and the side edge of the projection 39, as shown in fig. 7.

The control unit 18 comprises a user interface, at which, for example, a setpoint temperature for the

storage chambers

2, 3 can be set. When the refrigeration device is offered for sale to a user in the disassembled state of fig. 1, the adjustment range for the nominal temperature of the storage compartment is limited as a lower limit to the nominal temperature of the storage compartment 3 and as an upper limit to the ambient temperature or a fixed temperature of, for example, 15 ℃ or 20 ℃. Adjacent to the storage chamber 2, a structural unit with a temperature sensor, such as a proximity switch 48 (see fig. 2), can be provided, for example, which proximity switch 48 reacts to the presence of the insert 21 in the storage chamber 2 and, in the presence of the insert 21, allows the setpoint temperature to be set above the aforementioned upper limit. Operation of the storage chamber 2 at high temperatures (i.e. operation of the heat exchanger 12 as a liquefier) is therefore only possible if the insert 21 is actually installed and shields the inner vessel from interfering odorous substances.

Alternatively, the user interface may be arranged to: the key data is received from the user, who is provided for use by the manufacturer together with the insert 21 and the lining element 35, in order to allow the setpoint temperature to be set above the aforementioned upper limit after successful input of the key data. Thus, the user is responsible for ensuring that after he has started operation at high temperatures: the insert 21 and the lining element 25 are actually installed in high-temperature operation.

The control unit 18 supports the operation of the storage chamber 2 at high temperature only for a limited period of time, and after the period of time has elapsed, returns to such an operating mode without user intervention: in this operating mode, the nominal temperature of the storage compartment 2 is equal to the ambient temperature or lower. It is thus possible to ensure that: the fermentation process taking place in the food stored in the storage chamber 2 at an elevated temperature can be terminated in time and the food can be taken out for an optimum maturation period in order to be consumed or further processed. In individual cases, the elevated temperature and the setpoint value of the cooling temperature set as a function of the elevated temperature and the duration of the warning storage phase can be freely programmable by the user; furthermore, the temperature and duration that are optimal for certain fermentation processes (e.g. the making of yoghurt or the fermentation of dough) can be stored in the control unit 18 and can be retrieved by the user when needed.

List of reference numerals

1 main body

2 storage Chamber

3 storage chamber

4 partition wall

5 opening

6 blower

7 side wall

8 type profile (Profile)

9 channel

10 telescopic rail

11 Heat exchanger Chamber

12 heat exchanger

13 compressor

14 liquefier

15 expansion valve

16 expansion valve

17 evaporator

18 control unit

19 inner container

20 metal foil

21 built-in part

22 top of the container

23 bottom part

24 side wall

25 thermal isolation layer (

Schicht)

26 plate

27 outer cover

28 rear wall

29 channel

30 groove (Hohlkehle)

31 metal layer

32 door

33 gap (Ausschnitt)

34 door leaf

35 inner lining member

36 outer plate

37 inner wall

38 magnetic seal

39 projection

40 sheet material

41 bottom part

42 wall

43 Flange

44 layers

45 frame

46 channel

47 seal segment

48 proximity switch

49 insulating layer

50 (of the tube circumference) part

Claims

1. A refrigeration device is provided with: -at least one interior space, which is separated from the surroundings by a thermal insulation layer (49), which is divided into a heat exchanger chamber (11) and a storage chamber (2), the side walls (7) of the storage chamber (2) being formed by an interior container (19) deep-drawn from plastic, -the interior container (19), and-a heat exchanger (12), which can optionally be operated as an evaporator or as a liquefier, the interior container and the heat exchanger being arranged in the interior space, characterized in that the interior container (19) is at least partially lined with an anti-diffusion layer (20, 26, 40), at least a portion of which is provided on a insert (21) which can be drawn out of the interior container (19), the insert (21) being a box which is open towards the front side, the door (32) of the storage compartment (2) of the refrigeration device comprises a door leaf (34) and a lining element (35), wherein the lining element (35) is placed on a projection (39) of an inner wall (37) of the door leaf (34) and fills a first intermediate space between the projection (39) and a front edge of the top (22), bottom (23) and side wall (24) of the insert (21) facing the projection (39).

2. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein the diffusion barrier (20, 26, 40) is a metal layer.

3. The refrigerator appliance according to claim 1, wherein the diffusion barrier (20, 26, 40) is a foil (20) on at least one first portion of its surface.

4. The refrigerator appliance according to claim 3, wherein at least the heat exchanger chamber (11) is lined with the foil (20).

5. A cold appliance according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein the diffusion preventing layer is spaced apart from the inner container (19) by a second intermediate space over at least one second part of its surface.

6. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 5, wherein said diffusion barrier is a sheet (26, 40) on a second portion of its surface.

7. The refrigerator appliance according to claim 5, wherein the second intermediate space contains a second thermally insulating layer (25, 44).

8. The refrigerator according to claim 4, characterized in that the diffusion barrier is spaced from the inner container (19) on at least one second portion of its surface by a second intermediate space containing air channels connecting the heat exchanger chamber (11) with the storage chamber (2).

9. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 8, wherein the air channel is lined with a diffusion barrier (31).

10. The refrigeration appliance according to any of claims 1 to 4, 6 to 9, wherein said diffusion barrier is also provided on the inside of the door (32) of said storage compartment (2).

11. Refrigeration appliance according to any of claims 1 to 4, 6 to 9, characterized in that a control unit (18) is provided for controlling the operation of the heat exchanger (12) as an evaporator or as a liquefier, in which case the heat exchanger (12) is switched to operate as a liquefier, or the heat exchanger (12) is operated above a predefined limit temperature, which is ensured by means of a key.

12. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 11, wherein the control unit (18) is programmable to: the temperature of the interior space, which can be varied over time, is set.

13. Refrigeration appliance according to any of claims 1 to 4, 6 to 9, characterized in that a control unit (18) is provided for controlling the operation of the heat exchanger (12) as an evaporator or as a liquefier, in which case the heat exchanger (12) is switched to operate as a liquefier, or the heat exchanger (12) is operated above a predefined limit temperature, which is ensured by the input of key data.

14. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 11, wherein the control unit (18) is programmable to: the temperature of the interior space, which can be varied over time, is set and, after a predetermined period of time of the operation of the liquefier, a change is made to the evaporator operation.

15. A refrigerator appliance as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, 6 to 9, 12 or 14, wherein said refrigerator appliance is a domestic refrigerator appliance.