CN113396307B

CN113396307B - Refrigerator with direct cooling door inner chamber

Info

Publication number: CN113396307B
Application number: CN202080012648.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: B·M·肖克; J·K·贝索尔
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd; Haier US Appliance Solutions Inc
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd; Haier US Appliance Solutions Inc
Priority date: 2019-02-06
Filing date: 2020-01-14
Publication date: 2023-05-16
Anticipated expiration: 2040-01-14
Also published as: CN113396307A; US20200248950A1; WO2020160697A1

Abstract

A refrigeration appliance (100) includes a cabinet (120) defining a cooling chamber. The door (126, 128) is rotatably mounted to the cabinet (120) at a front portion of the cooling compartment. A food storage compartment (123, 300) is defined within the door (126, 128). The refrigerator appliance (100) further includes a system (60) configured for generating a seal of cold air. The sealed system (60) is in direct fluid communication with the in-door food storage chamber (123, 300) to provide cool air directly to the in-door food storage chamber (123, 300).

Description

Refrigerator with direct cooling door inner chamber

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to refrigeration appliances. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a refrigeration appliance having a door-in-door compartment or chamber directly cooled by a sealed cooling system of the refrigeration appliance.

Background

Refrigeration appliances generally include a cabinet defining a cooling chamber (refrigerated chamber) for receiving food for storage. One or more thermally insulated, sealed doors are provided for selectively enclosing a cooled food storage compartment. Consumers often prefer cooling compartments that facilitate the visibility and accessibility of the food product stored therein.

In some refrigeration appliances (commonly referred to as double door refrigeration appliances), a fresh food compartment is positioned within the cabinet adjacent to the freezer compartment. Such a configuration may allow for easy access to the food product stored on the door of the refrigeration appliance. However, the cabinet may be deep and narrow, making it difficult to access food products in the rear of the fresh food and/or freezer compartments.

In other refrigeration appliances, the freezer compartment is positioned above or below the fresh food compartment in the cabinet, commonly referred to as top-or bottom-mounted refrigeration appliances. For example, such a configuration may provide a relatively wide fresh food compartment and/or freezer compartment as compared to a two-door configuration. However, the depth of the fresh food compartment and the freezer compartment may make it difficult to access the food items at the rear of the refrigerator.

Accordingly, it would be useful to have a refrigerator that has features for helping access to food items stored therein.

Disclosure of Invention

Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

In an exemplary embodiment, a refrigeration appliance is provided. The refrigerator defines a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction. The vertical direction, the lateral direction and the transverse direction are mutually perpendicular. The refrigerator includes a cabinet extending from top to bottom in a vertical direction. The cabinet also extends in a lateral direction from left to right. The cabinet defines a fresh food compartment. The fresh food compartment extends in a vertical direction between the top and bottom of the cabinet, in a lateral direction between the left and right sides of the cabinet, and in a lateral direction between the front and rear portions. The front portion of the fresh food storage compartment defines an opening for receiving the food product. The door is rotatably mounted to the cabinet at a front portion of the fresh food storage compartment such that the door rotates between a closed position in which the door sealingly encloses at least a portion of the fresh food storage compartment and an open position for allowing access to the fresh food storage compartment. The door includes a housing including a thermally insulating wall defining a door interior chamber within the housing and a front panel rotatably mounted to the housing of the door such that the front panel of the door permits access to the door interior chamber when the door is in a closed position. The refrigeration appliance also includes a sealed system configured to generate cool air and a conduit fluidly connecting the sealed system directly to the door inner chamber to provide cool air directly from the sealed system to the door inner chamber.

In another exemplary embodiment, a refrigeration appliance is provided. The refrigerator appliance includes a cabinet defining a cooling chamber. The cooling chamber includes a front portion and an opening for receiving the food product. The door is rotatably mounted to the cabinet at a front portion of the cooling chamber such that the door rotates between a closed position in which the door sealingly encloses at least a portion of the cooling chamber and an open position for allowing access to the cooling chamber. The door includes a housing including a thermally insulating wall defining a door interior chamber within the housing and a front panel rotatably mounted to the housing of the door such that the front panel of the door permits access to the door interior chamber when the door is in a closed position. The refrigeration appliance also includes a sealed system configured to generate cool air and a conduit fluidly connecting the sealed system directly to the door inner chamber to provide cool air directly from the sealed system to the door inner chamber.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Drawings

A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures.

Fig. 1 provides a perspective view of an exemplary refrigeration appliance according to one or more embodiments of the present subject matter, with a front panel of the door in an open position and the doors in respective closed positions.

Fig. 2 provides a perspective view of the refrigerator appliance of fig. 1 with both the first fresh food compartment door and the second fresh food compartment door in an open position.

FIG. 3 provides a schematic diagram of an example sealed cooling system that may be used with one or more embodiments of the present subject matter.

Fig. 4 provides a side cross-sectional view of the exemplary refrigerator appliance of fig. 1 and 2 taken along the right door.

Fig. 5 provides a side cross-sectional view of the exemplary refrigerator appliance of fig. 1 and 2 taken along the left door.

Fig. 6 provides a schematic diagram of a cool air supply to a door inner chamber of a refrigerator appliance according to one or more embodiments of the present subject matter.

Fig. 7 provides a schematic illustration of a cool air supply to a door interior compartment of a refrigeration appliance according to one or more additional embodiments of the present subject matter.

Detailed Description

Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation, not limitation, of the invention. Indeed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment, can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention cover such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

As used herein, the terms "first," "second," and "third" may be used interchangeably to distinguish one component from another and are not intended to represent the location or importance of the individual components. Terms such as "inner" and "outer" refer to relative directions with respect to the interior and exterior of the refrigeration appliance (and particularly the food storage compartment(s) defined therein). For example, "interior" or "inwardly" refers to a direction toward the interior of a refrigeration appliance. Terms such as "left", "right", "front", "rear", "top" or "bottom" are used with reference to a user's perspective of approaching a refrigeration appliance. For example, a user stands in front of a refrigerator to open a door and access the food storage compartment(s) to access items therein.

As used herein, approximate terms such as "about," "about," or "approximately" include values within ten percent of the stated value. When used in the context of an angle or direction, these terms include within a range of 10 degrees greater or less than the stated angle or direction, e.g., "substantially vertical" includes angles up to 10 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise from the vertical direction V.

Fig. 1 and 2 provide perspective views of an exemplary refrigeration appliance 100 according to one or more embodiments of the present subject matter. The refrigerator 100 defines a vertical direction V, a lateral direction L, and a transverse direction T, each of which is perpendicular to each other. For example, as can be seen in fig. 1, the refrigeration appliance 100 includes a cabinet or housing 120 extending in a vertical direction V between the top 101 and the bottom 102, in a lateral direction L between the left side 104 and the right side 106, and in a lateral direction T between the front 108 and the rear 110. The cabinet 120 defines a cooling chamber for receiving the food product for storage. As used herein, a chamber may be "cooled" in that the chamber may operate at a temperature below room temperature, for example, less than about 75 degrees fahrenheit (75°f). In the exemplary embodiment, cabinet 120 also defines a mechanical compartment at or near bottom 102 of cabinet 120 for receiving sealed cooling system 60. One or more pipes or conduits (e.g.,

conduits

54, 56, and 58 shown in fig. 1) may extend between the sealed cooling system 60 and the cooling chambers to provide fluid communication therebetween, for example to provide cool air from the sealed cooling system to one or more of the cooling chambers, whereby the cooling chambers may operate at a temperature below room temperature.

In particular, the cabinet 120 defines a fresh food compartment 122 (fig. 2) and a freezer compartment 124 spaced apart from the fresh food compartment 122 in a vertical direction V. For example, in the illustrated embodiment of fig. 1 and 2, the fresh food compartment 122 is positioned at or adjacent to the top 101 of the cabinet 120, and the freezer compartment 124 is disposed at or adjacent to the bottom 102 of the cabinet 120. Based on these, the refrigeration appliance 100 is commonly referred to as a bottom-loading refrigerator. However, it should be appreciated that the benefits of the present disclosure may be applied to, for example, other types and styles of refrigeration appliances, such as top-loading refrigeration appliances or double-door refrigeration appliances. Accordingly, the description set forth herein is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be limiting in any respect to any particular refrigerator compartment configuration.

As can be seen in fig. 2, the fresh food compartment 122 extends in a vertical direction V between the top 101 and the bottom 102 of the cabinet 120 and in a lateral direction L between the left 104 and right 106 sides of the cabinet 120. For example, the fresh food compartment 122 may extend in a vertical direction V from the top 101 to the bottom 102 of the cabinet 120 (e.g., in a double door configuration), or may extend from one of the top 101 or bottom 102 to the freezer compartment 124 (such as in a top-mount configuration or a bottom-mount configuration), e.g., in the illustrated bottom-mount embodiment, the fresh food compartment 122 extends in a vertical direction V from the top 101 to the freezer compartment 124 of the cabinet 120. The fresh food compartment 122 also extends in a transverse direction T from the front portion 134 to the rear portion 136. The front portion 134 of the fresh food storage compartment 122 defines an opening 138 for receiving food items.

The

refrigerating compartment doors

126 and 128 are rotatably mounted (e.g., hinged) to the edges of the cabinet 120 for selectively accessing the fresh food compartment 122. Since the refrigerating

chamber doors

126 and 128 correspond to the fresh food chamber 122, the refrigerating

chamber doors

126 and 128 may also be referred to as fresh food chamber doors. The

refrigeration compartment doors

126 and 128 may be mounted to the cabinet 120 at or near a front portion 134 of the fresh food storage compartment 122 such that the

doors

126 and 128 rotate between a closed position (fig. 1) in which the

doors

126 and 128 cooperatively sealingly enclose the fresh food storage compartment 122 and an open position (fig. 2) for allowing access to the fresh food storage compartment 122. The

doors

126 and 128 may be substantially mirror images, for example, the overall shape and size of each

door

126, 128 may be the same as the

other door

126, 128, but with possible internal variations. Further, a freezing chamber door 130 is disposed below the refrigerating

chamber doors

126 and 128 for selectively entering the freezing chamber 124. The freezer door 130 is coupled to a freezer drawer 132 (fig. 4 and 5) slidably mounted within the freezer compartment 124. The refrigerating

chamber doors

126, 128 and the freezing chamber door 130 are shown in a closed configuration in fig. 1.

For example, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, various storage components are installed in the cooling chamber so as to store food items therein, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. In particular, the storage components may include various combinations of bins 202, drawers 204, and shelves 206 mounted in one or more of the cooling chambers. The bin 202, drawer 204, and shelf 206 are configured to receive food products (e.g., beverages and/or solid food products) and may help to organize the food products.

In addition to fresh food compartment 122 and freezer compartment 124, one or more cooling compartments may be defined in one or both of

doors

126 and 128. For example, one or both of the refrigeration compartment doors (e.g., right door 126 and left door 128 as shown in the example) may include an enclosure 121 (fig. 2) containing a thermally insulating wall 125 (fig. 2) defining one or more cooling compartments therein. For example, the right door 126 may include one or more fresh food storage compartments 123 (fig. 1 and 4), and the left door 128 may include at least one cooling compartment 300. In some embodiments, the chamber 300 in the door 128 may be, for example, a first freezer 300. The freezer compartment 300 may be referred to as an in-door freezer compartment because the compartment 300 may be disposed within one or both of the doors 126 and 128 (e.g., the left door 128 shown in the example) such that the in-door freezer compartment 300 may be accessed without opening the respective doors. As shown, each

door

126 and 128 may include a front panel 127 rotatably mounted to the housing 121 of each

door

126 and 128 such that when the

door

126 or 128 is in a closed position, the front panel 127 allows access to a cooling chamber within the respective door, e.g., fresh food storage compartment 123 in right door 126 and chamber 300 in left door 128, as shown by way of example in fig. 1. In other embodiments, the chamber 300 may be provided in either the right door 126 or the left door 128 alone or in combination with another door inner chamber (e.g., the door inner chamber 123) in the other of the right door 126 or the left door 128.

In various embodiments, fresh

food storage compartments

122 and 123 may be selectively operated in a first temperature range, and freezer compartment 300 may be selectively operated in a second temperature range, including a lower temperature than the first temperature range. For example, the chamber 300 may be an in-door freezer because the chamber 300 may operate at temperatures below the temperature of the fresh

food storage chamber

122 or 123, including at or below the freezing point of water. Additionally, where the in-door freezer 300 is directly fluidly connected to the sealed cooling system 60, the in-door freezer 300 can operate independently of the freezer 124, including at a temperature lower than the temperature of the freezer 124.

For example, the first temperature range of the fresh food compartment 122 may be between about 33 degrees Fahrenheit (33F.) and about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (40F.), such as between about 35 degrees Fahrenheit (35F.) and about 38 degrees Fahrenheit (38F.). Also by way of example, the second temperature range may include temperatures less than 32 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Fahrenheit), such as about 10 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Fahrenheit), such as about 0 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Fahrenheit), and temperatures greater than 40 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Fahrenheit), such as about 45 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher, such as about 60 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher, such as about 70 degrees Fahrenheit (70 degrees Fahrenheit). Still further, it should be appreciated that fresh

food storage compartments

122 and 123 and freezer 300 can be selectively operated at any number of various temperatures and/or temperature ranges as desired or required for each application. For example, door inner chamber 300 may also or alternatively be a flexible chamber or a fresh food chamber.

The sealed system 60 may be in fluid communication with various cooling chambers to provide cool air to these chambers, either alone or in various combinations. In particular, the sealed system 60 may be in direct fluid communication with the door inner chamber 300. For example, the first conduit 54 may extend between and provide fluid communication between the sealed system 60 and one or both of the fresh

food storage compartments

122 and 123, the second conduit 56 may extend between the sealed system 60 and the door inner chamber 300 to provide direct fluid communication from the sealed system 60 to the door inner chamber 300, and the third conduit 58 may extend between and provide fluid communication between the sealed system 60 and the freezer compartment 124.

Fig. 3 provides a schematic illustration of a refrigeration appliance 100, and in particular its sealed cooling system 60. As shown in fig. 3, the refrigeration appliance 100 includes a mechanical compartment 62 that contains, at least in part, components for performing known vapor compression cycles for cooling air. These components include a compressor 64, a heat exchanger or condenser 66, an expansion device 68, and an evaporator 70 connected in series and charged with refrigerant. The evaporator 70 is also a heat exchanger that transfers heat from air passing through the evaporator to the refrigerant flowing through the evaporator 70, thereby evaporating the refrigerant. Based on these, cooling air C is generated and used to cool the

chambers

122, 123, 124, and 300 of the refrigerator appliance 100. The cooling air C may be directed to the

food storage compartments

122, 123, 124, and 300 by the fan 74.

The vaporized refrigerant flows from the evaporator 70 to the compressor 64, which operates to increase the pressure of the refrigerant. This compression of the refrigerant increases its temperature, which is reduced by passing the gaseous refrigerant through a condenser 66 where heat exchange with ambient air occurs to cool the refrigerant. The fan 72 is used to draw air through the condenser 66 (as indicated by arrow a) to provide forced convection for more rapid and efficient heat exchange between the refrigerant and the ambient air.

The expansion device 68 further reduces the pressure of the refrigerant exiting the condenser 66 before being fed as a liquid to the evaporator 70. In general, the vapor compression cycle components, associated fans, and associated compartments in the refrigeration circuit are sometimes referred to as a sealed refrigeration system that is operable to force cool air through the

refrigeration chambers

122, 123, 124, and 300. The refrigeration system 60 depicted in fig. 3 is provided by way of example only. Other configurations using a refrigeration system are within the scope of the invention. For example, the fan 74 may be repositioned to push air through the evaporator 70, a dual evaporator may be used with one or more fans, and many other configurations may be employed.

As can be seen in fig. 4, the in-door fresh food storage compartment 123 and the door 126 may be substantially coextensive. For example, as can be seen in fig. 6, the chamber 123 and the door 126 may be substantially coextensive along the vertical direction V, e.g., the vertical height of the door inner chamber 123 may be about the same as the vertical height of the door 126 (except for the thickness of the insulating walls defining the chamber 123). Referring again to fig. 4, the in-door fresh food storage compartment 123 may extend in a vertical direction from a bottom 152 of the door 126 to a top 154 of the door 126. The fresh food storage compartment 123 within the door and the door 126 may also be substantially coextensive in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction V, such as at least one of the lateral direction L and the transverse direction T, depending on the orientation of the door 126, such as whether the door 126 is in the closed position or the open position. For example, when the door 126 is in the closed position, the door 126 may extend between the left and right sides, e.g., along the lateral direction L, as shown in fig. 1. In such an embodiment, the resilient chamber 123 may extend from the left side of the door 126 to the right side of the door 126 such that the resilient chamber 123 is substantially coextensive with the door 126 along a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction V (e.g., the lateral direction L).

Fig. 5 provides a cross-sectional view taken along the second fresh food compartment door 128, including a food storage compartment 300 (which may be, but is not necessarily, a freezer compartment, as described above) defined within the door 128. Door inner chamber 300 may be substantially coextensive with door 128, similar to chamber 123 and door 126 described above. In the illustrated example embodiment of fig. 5, the door inner chamber 300 includes a plurality of shelves 206 therein. In other embodiments, various additional storage components may be installed within the freezer 300, such as various combinations of bins 202 and/or drawers 204, and/or in lieu of shelves 206.

Fig. 6 provides a schematic diagram of a cool air supply to an interior door chamber 300 according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 6, the cool air supply includes a direct fluid connection from the sealed system 60 (e.g., its evaporator 70) to the door inner chamber 300 via the conduit 56. For example, due to the direct connection from sealed system 60 to door inner chamber 300, cool air from sealed system 60 may travel to door inner chamber 300 without passing through freezer compartment 124. In some embodiments, for example, as shown in fig. 6, the blower 160 may be disposed proximate to the evaporator 70. The blower 160 is operable to push cool air 1000 from the evaporator 70 into the duct 56 at the inlet 156 of the duct 56. In some embodiments, blower 160 may be a variable speed blower 160, wherein the speed of variable speed blower 160 may be adjusted based on a temperature setting or set point of door inner chamber 300. In other embodiments, blower 160 may be a single or constant speed blower. As shown, the second conduit 56 extends from the inlet 156 to the outlet 158 in the door inner chamber 300, and a switching device or valve (e.g., a bi-directional shuttle valve 162) is located in the conduit 56.

Still referring to fig. 6, the bi-directional shuttle valve 162 selectively diverts a portion of the air flow (which may be as little as zero percent (0%)) from the second conduit 56 to the third conduit 58. For example, as shown in fig. 6, a bi-directional shuttle valve 162 may be connected to an inlet 164 of the third conduit 58. As shown, the third conduit 58 extends from an inlet 164 to an outlet 166 in the freezer compartment 124. Shuttle valve 162 may thus direct airflow from blower 160 to one or both of

freezer compartments

124 and 300 in any proportion, including directing all (e.g., one hundred percent (100%) of) cool air to freezer compartment 124, directing all (e.g., one hundred percent (100%) of) cool air to door inner compartment 300, or any split or proportion therebetween.

Also shown in fig. 6 is a fourth conduit 170 that extends door inner chamber 300 to freezer compartment 124, for example, from inlet 168 in door inner chamber 300 to outlet 172 in freezer compartment 124. Accordingly, cool air 1000 may flow back from the door inner chamber 300 to the sealed system 60 via the freezer compartment 124. For example, when the shuttle valve 162 is set to guide one hundred percent (100%) of the cold air from the blower 160 to the door inner chamber 300, the freezing chamber 124 may be secondarily cooled, for example, the freezing chamber 124 may be downstream of the door inner chamber 300 and may be cooled by the cold air 1000 from the door inner chamber 300. For example, the freezing compartment 124 may be secondarily cooled when the temperature set point of the door inner compartment 300 is the same as or lower than the temperature set point of the freezing compartment 124. In other cases, for example, when the temperature set point of the freezer compartment 124 is less than the temperature set point of the door inner chamber 300, the shuttle valve 162 may divert some or all of the cool air from the blower 160 into the third conduit 58. In various circumstances, the position of the shuttle valve 162 (e.g., the proportion of cold air 1000 directed to each chamber 124 and 300) may be adjusted based on the temperature set point of the

chambers

124 and 300 and based on temperature measurements from one or more temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors) in each of the

chambers

124 and 300. It should be appreciated that the various conduits (e.g., the second conduit 56, the third conduit 58, and the fourth conduit 170) described herein may be foamed in place, e.g., the cabinet 120 of the refrigerator appliance 100 may be insulated with foamed insulation, and the

conduits

56, 58, and/or 170 may be embedded within the insulation so that the conduits do not encroach into the available food storage space of the

various chambers

122, 124, and/or 300. Accordingly, the cabinet 120 may include a plurality of thermally insulating walls, and the

conduits

56, 58, and/or 170 may extend through the insulation of at least one of the plurality of thermally insulating walls.

Fig. 7 provides a schematic illustration of a cool air supply to an interior door chamber 300 according to one or more additional embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, such as the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 7, a blower 160 (which may be a variable speed blower, as described above with reference to fig. 6) may be directly connected to the inlet 156 of the second conduit 56. In such embodiments, an axial fan 174 may be provided to push air directly from the sealed system 60 into the freezer compartment 124. Accordingly, by circulating the axial flow fan 174, the flow of the cool air 1000 may be distributed between the door inner chamber 300 and the freezing chamber 124. In an example embodiment, the axial flow fan 174 may be a single speed axial flow fan, such that cycling the axial flow fan 174 includes turning the axial flow fan 174 on or off based on the temperature set points of the

chambers

124 and 300 and/or the temperatures monitored by the various temperature sensors therein. As mentioned, the blower 160 may be a variable speed blower, wherein the speed of the variable speed blower 160 may be adjusted based on the temperature set point and/or the monitored temperature. In some cases, for example, when the temperature set point of the freezer compartment 124 is below the temperature set point of the door inner chamber 300, the axial flow fan 174 may be activated to directly cool the freezer compartment 124. Additionally, the check valve 176 may be disposed in a fourth conduit 170 that extends from the door inner chamber 300 to the freezing chamber 124. The check valve 176 may be oriented and configured to allow air to flow from the door inner chamber 300 to the freezer compartment 124 while blocking or impeding air flow in the opposite direction (e.g., from the freezer compartment 124 to the door inner chamber 300). Thus, for example, when the axial flow fan 174 is activated, such as when the temperature set point of the freezing chamber 124 is less than the temperature set point of the door inner chamber 300, the backflow of the cool air 1000 from the freezing chamber 124 to the door inner chamber 300 may be prevented or restricted.

Access to the chamber 300 through the front panel 127 of the door 128 may advantageously increase the accessibility of the food product stored in the chamber 300. For example, when the door inner chamber 300 is a freezer, smaller food items (such as a bag of frozen vegetables) may be stored in the freezer 300 to prevent or reduce such items from being obscured under or behind larger items (such as frozen turkeys, frozen pizzas, etc.) as compared to providing only a single chamber or portion of the refrigerator appliance 100 to store frozen items. Additionally, reducing the number of times the door 130 is opened may also advantageously reduce the energy consumption of the refrigerator appliance, wherein the relatively smaller volume of the door inner chamber 300 may be more easily cooled after only the front panel 127 is opened, as compared to cooling the entire freezing chamber 124 after the door 130 is opened.

Direct fluid communication from sealed system 60 to door inner chamber 300, such as described in the context of the various example embodiments above, provides a number of advantages. For example, when door inner chamber 300 is in direct fluid communication with sealed system 60, rather than downstream of freezer compartment 124 with respect to the flow of cool air 1000, door inner chamber 300 may operate over a wider temperature range. For example, the door inner chamber 300 may operate at a temperature lower than that of the freezing chamber 124. As another example, the door inner chamber 300 may operate at a temperature higher than that of the freezing chamber 124, such as by adjusting the shuttle valve 162 (fig. 6) or circulating the axial flow fan 174 (fig. 7).

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.

Claims

1. A refrigerator appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, the vertical direction, lateral direction, and transverse direction being perpendicular to one another, the refrigerator appliance comprising:

a cabinet extending from a top to a bottom along the vertical direction, the cabinet also extending from a left side to a right side along the lateral direction, the cabinet defining a fresh food compartment extending along the vertical direction between the top and the bottom of the cabinet, along the lateral direction between the left side and the right side of the cabinet, and along the lateral direction between a front portion and a rear portion, the front portion of the fresh food compartment defining an opening for receiving food items;

a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet at the front portion of the fresh food compartment such that the door rotates between a closed position in which the door sealingly encloses at least a portion of the fresh food compartment and an open position allowing access to the fresh food compartment, the door comprising a housing comprising an insulated wall defining a door interior chamber within the housing, the door further comprising a front panel rotatably mounted to the housing of the door such that the front panel allows access to the door interior chamber when the door is in the closed position;

a sealed system configured to generate cold air; and

a conduit fluidly connecting the sealed system directly with the door inner chamber to provide the cool air directly from the sealed system to the door inner chamber;

wherein the cabinet further defines a freezer compartment extending in the vertical direction between the top and bottom of the cabinet and spaced apart from the fresh food compartment in the vertical direction, wherein the duct is a first duct and further comprises a second duct extending from the door inner chamber to the freezer compartment; and is also provided with

The refrigerator further comprises:

a variable speed blower in fluid communication with the sealed system and connected directly to an inlet of the first duct to propel a first portion of the cold air from the sealed system into the first duct;

an axial flow fan in fluid communication with the sealed system to push a second portion of the cool air from the sealed system directly into the freezer compartment; and

a check valve in the second conduit, the check valve oriented within the second conduit such that air flow from the freezer compartment to the door inner chamber through the second conduit is blocked by the check valve.

2. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said cabinet includes a plurality of insulating walls, and said first conduit extends from said sealed system through insulation of at least one of said plurality of insulating walls to said door inner chamber.

3. The refrigerator appliance of claim 1 wherein the door is a first fresh food compartment door further comprising a second fresh food compartment door mirrored from the first fresh food compartment door, whereby when the first fresh food compartment door is in the closed position and the second fresh food compartment door is in the closed position, the first fresh food compartment door and the second fresh food compartment door cooperate to sealingly enclose the fresh food compartment, the second fresh food compartment door comprising a second housing and a second thermally insulating wall, the second thermally insulating wall defining a fresh food storage compartment within the second housing.

4. A refrigeration appliance, the refrigeration appliance comprising:

a cabinet defining a fresh food compartment including a front portion and an opening defined at the front portion for receiving food items;

a sealed system configured to generate cold air; and

wherein the cabinet further defines a freezer compartment positioned below and spaced apart from the fresh food compartment, wherein the duct is a first duct and further comprises a second duct extending from the door inner chamber to the freezer compartment; and is also provided with

The refrigerator further comprises:

5. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 4, wherein said cabinet includes a plurality of insulating walls, and said first conduit extends from said sealed system through insulation of at least one of said plurality of insulating walls to said door inner chamber.

6. The refrigerator appliance of claim 4 wherein the door is a first fresh food compartment door further comprising a second fresh food compartment door mirrored from the first fresh food compartment door, whereby when the first fresh food compartment door is in the closed position and the second fresh food compartment door is in the closed position, the first fresh food compartment door and the second fresh food compartment door cooperate to sealingly enclose the fresh food compartment, the second fresh food compartment door comprising a second housing and a second thermally insulating wall, the second thermally insulating wall defining a fresh food storage compartment within the second housing.