CN113587518A - Refrigerating appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

A refrigeration appliance comprising: the refrigeration system comprises a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and a first pipeline for connecting the compressor, the condenser and the evaporator; the defrosting system comprises the evaporator, a heating part and a second pipeline which is connected with the evaporator and the heating part, wherein a defrosting medium is arranged in the second pipeline, and the defrosting medium circularly flows between the heating part and the evaporator through the second pipeline and is heated when flowing through the heating part. The independent defrosting circulation system provided by the scheme of the invention can realize uniform defrosting.

Description

Refrigerating appliance

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of refrigeration appliances, in particular to a refrigeration appliance.

Background

Refrigerators have become one of the indispensable home appliances in people's daily lives. In recent years, air-cooled refrigerators have been widely used because of their advantages such as high refrigeration speed and uniform room temperature distribution.

An existing air-cooled refrigerator generally adopts an electric heating wire for defrosting, but potential safety hazards exist in local high temperature and electric leakage of the electric heating wire, and the problem that defrosting energy consumption is large exists. On the other hand, the heating wire is generally arranged at the bottom of the evaporator, and defrosting is performed from bottom to top through heat radiation, which easily causes uneven defrosting, so that the defect of difficult precise defrosting design exists.

Still other air-cooled refrigerators adopt semiconductor refrigeration piece to carry out the defrosting operation. Specifically, the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration piece is connected with the evaporator or is contacted with the evaporator through a metal heat pipe for heat exchange to defrost. This contact defrosting mode locally heats the evaporator, and then gradually defrosts by heat radiation and heat conduction. The defects of non-uniform defrosting or prolonged defrosting time caused by non-uniform heat distribution still exist.

In addition, the cold end of the semiconductor refrigerating sheet is connected with the refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator, and the overall efficiency is low due to the limitation of low refrigerating efficiency of the semiconductor, poor refrigerating effect under low temperature and other conditions.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide an improved refrigeration appliance.

Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigeration device, including: the refrigeration system comprises a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and a first pipeline for connecting the compressor, the condenser and the evaporator; the defrosting system comprises the evaporator, a heating part and a second pipeline which is connected with the evaporator and the heating part, wherein a defrosting medium is arranged in the second pipeline, and the defrosting medium circularly flows between the heating part and the evaporator through the second pipeline and is heated when flowing through the heating part.

Compared with a contact type defrosting design adopted by the existing refrigerator, the scheme of the embodiment provides an improved refrigeration appliance, and uniform defrosting is realized based on an independent defrosting circulation system. Specifically, except for the refrigerating system, the heating component and the evaporator form an independent defrosting system, the defrosting medium is heated and pushed to form a closed circulating loop in the evaporator, and the evaporator is directly defrosted based on the defrosting medium flowing in the pipeline. Because the defrosting medium which flows through the evaporator is heated by the heating part instead of air which is positioned between the evaporator and the heating part, the heat of the heating part can be quickly and efficiently transferred to all areas of the evaporator through the defrosting medium. Rather than relying on thermal radiation and conduction to other areas of the evaporator after only a portion of the evaporator has been heated, as in prior contact defrosting designs. Therefore, the embodiment can effectively realize uniform defrosting.

Optionally, along the direction of gravity, the heating part is located below the evaporator, and the heated defrosting medium floats upwards along the second pipeline and flows to the evaporator for heat exchange, and then flows downwards along the second pipeline under the action of gravity to return to the heating part. Therefore, the defrosting medium naturally forms a circulating loop in the second pipeline by utilizing the height difference and the temperature difference. And additional driving structures such as a pump and the like are not needed, so that the cost is reduced.

Optionally, the heating component is attached to at least a part of the section of the second pipeline to heat the defrosting medium flowing through the section. Therefore, the defrosting medium can be effectively heated on the basis of not changing the original structure of the refrigeration appliance as much as possible, and a better defrosting effect is ensured.

Optionally, the heating part is embedded in a pipe wall of at least a part of the section of the second pipeline and is in direct contact with the defrosting medium flowing through the section. The heating mode of direct contact is more favorable to the heat transfer for the medium of defrosting can be effectively heated and then realize the direct defrosting to the evaporimeter.

Optionally, the refrigeration device further comprises: the semiconductor refrigeration module comprises a cold end and a hot end which are opposite, and the heating component is formed by the hot end. Compared with the defects of local high temperature and electric leakage existing in defrosting of the electric heating wire, the semiconductor refrigeration module has higher safety, so that the refrigeration appliance has the advantage of high safety. Furthermore, the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration module heats the defrosting medium which circularly flows in the second pipeline, and defrosting is directly performed based on the defrosting medium. Since the defrosting medium flows to all areas of the evaporator, the refrigeration appliance of the embodiment has no problem of local heating during defrosting, so that uniform defrosting is possible.

Optionally, the semiconductor refrigeration module includes a plurality of semiconductor refrigeration units connected in series, wherein hot ends of different semiconductor refrigeration units are disposed in different sections of the second pipeline, so as to improve temperature uniformity and better achieve uniform defrosting.

Optionally, the refrigeration device further comprises: and the cooling system comprises the cold end, a compressor chamber and a third pipeline which connects the cold end and the compressor chamber, wherein a cooling medium is arranged in the third pipeline, circulates and flows between the cold end and the compressor chamber through the third pipeline and is cooled when flowing through the cold end. Therefore, cold energy at the cold end is introduced into the compressor chamber to cool the compressor or the condenser. Furthermore, the refrigerating capacity of the semiconductor refrigerating module can be increased by applying the cold quantity of the cold end to the compressor chamber capable of forming a large temperature difference, so that the temperature difference between the cold end and the hot end of the semiconductor refrigerating module is increased, and the defrosting efficiency is finally increased.

Optionally, the cooling medium is selected from: gases and fluids. Thus, the cooling system is configured by air cooling, water cooling, or the like, to effectively cool the compressor chamber.

Optionally, along the direction of gravity, the compressor chamber is located below the cold end, and the cooling medium cooled by the cold end flows downwards along the third pipeline to the compressor chamber under the action of gravity for heat exchange, and then flows back to the cold end along the third pipeline in an upward floating manner. Therefore, the cooling medium naturally forms a circulation loop in the third pipeline by utilizing the height difference, and a driving mechanism such as a pump is not required to be additionally arranged, so that the cost is reduced. For example, the cooling medium may be a gas.

Optionally, the cooling system further comprises: and the pump is used for driving the cooling medium to circularly flow between the cold end and the compressor chamber along the third pipeline. Thereby, the cooling medium is efficiently driven by the driving mechanism to circulate in the third pipe. For example, the cooling medium may be a fluid.

Optionally, the refrigeration device further comprises: and the control valve is used for cutting off or conducting the second pipeline. Therefore, the second pipeline is conducted based on the control valve during defrosting, so that the defrosting is directly and uniformly performed through the circulating defrosting medium. Further, the second line is cut off based on the control valve during cooling to maintain the storage chamber at the set storage temperature based on the cooling system.

Optionally, the evaporator includes at least three mouthpiece ends, and the second pipelines are respectively connected to the mouthpiece ends to form a plurality of parallel circulation paths. Therefore, according to the size of the evaporator, single or multiple closed loops are connected in parallel, and accurate defrosting is achieved. For example, for a vertically disposed evaporator, it is common for the lower portion to have a greater amount of frost formation than the upper portion. Accordingly, the solution of the present embodiment may provide the interface end at the middle position of the evaporator to form two upper and lower parallel circulation paths. The defrosting medium heated by the heating module is divided at the interface end and flows to the upper part and the lower part of the evaporator along two parallel circulating paths respectively for defrosting. For the lower part of the evaporator, the parallel circulating paths enable the defrosting medium to return to the heating part to be reheated without flowing through the whole evaporator, and the shorter circulating path is beneficial to improving the defrosting efficiency of the part with serious frosting. For the upper part of the evaporator, the parallel circulating paths allow the heated defrosting medium to flow to the upper part of the evaporator with almost no heat loss, ensuring the defrosting effect to the part.

Optionally, the refrigeration device further comprises: and the control valves are respectively arranged on the plurality of parallel circulating paths, wherein each control valve is used for cutting off or conducting at least one corresponding circulating path. Therefore, the on-off state of each control valve can be controlled according to requirements, so that accurate defrosting of a specific area of the evaporator is realized. For example, for a section where the evaporator is frosted more seriously, a circulation path flowing through the section may be set, and the conduction frequency or the conduction time period of the circulation path of the section may be higher than that of the circulation path flowing through other sections of the evaporator. Therefore, accurate defrosting of the seriously frosted part of the evaporator can be realized.

Optionally, the defrosting medium comprises: a refrigerant. Therefore, the refrigerant is directly heated based on the heating part and is pushed to form a closed circulation loop in the evaporator, and the hot refrigerant in the pipeline directly defrosts. The technical scheme of the embodiment realizes uniform defrosting by reusing the existing materials in the refrigeration appliance, does not need to additionally arrange a pipeline for a defrosting medium to flow, and has low manufacturing cost.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a refrigeration appliance according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a refrigeration appliance according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a variation of the cooling system of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

in the drawings:

1-a refrigeration appliance; 10-a refrigeration system; 101-a compressor; 102-a condenser; 103-an evaporator; 104-a first conduit; 105-a capillary tube; 106-a reservoir; 11-a defrosting system; 111-a heating means; 112-a second conduit; 113-a control valve; 114-an interface end; 12-a semiconductor refrigeration module; 121-cold end; 122-hot side; 13-a cooling system; 131-a third pipeline; 132-a heat sink; 133-a water reservoir; 134-a pump; z-direction of gravity.

Detailed Description

As the background art, the existing air-cooled refrigerator has defects of nonuniform defrosting, long defrosting time and the like due to the defects of electric heating defrosting or semiconductor contact defrosting.

To solve the above technical problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigeration device, including: the refrigeration system comprises a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and a first pipeline for connecting the compressor, the condenser and the evaporator; the defrosting system comprises the evaporator, a heating part and a second pipeline which is connected with the evaporator and the heating part, wherein a defrosting medium is arranged in the second pipeline, and the defrosting medium circularly flows between the heating part and the evaporator through the second pipeline and is heated when flowing through the heating part.

The scheme of the embodiment provides an improved refrigeration appliance, and uniform defrosting is realized based on an independent defrosting circulation system. Specifically, except for the refrigerating system, the heating component and the evaporator form an independent defrosting system, the defrosting medium is heated and pushed to form a closed circulating loop in the evaporator, and the evaporator is directly defrosted based on the defrosting medium flowing in the pipeline. Because the defrosting medium which flows through the evaporator is heated by the heating part instead of air which is positioned between the evaporator and the heating part, the heat of the heating part can be quickly and efficiently transferred to all areas of the evaporator through the defrosting medium. Rather than relying on thermal radiation and conduction to other areas of the evaporator after only a portion of the evaporator has been heated, as in prior contact defrosting designs. Therefore, the embodiment can effectively realize uniform defrosting.

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a refrigeration appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention. The refrigeration appliance may be a refrigerator, freezer, etc.

Specifically, referring to fig. 1, the refrigeration appliance according to the present embodiment may include: refrigeration system 10, the refrigeration system 10 may include a compressor 101, a condenser 102, an evaporator 103, and a first line 104 connecting the compressor 101, the condenser 102, and the evaporator 103.

The refrigeration system 10 is used to maintain a compartment (not shown) of the refrigeration appliance 1 at a set storage temperature. The air flow flowing out of the compartment of the refrigeration device 1 is cooled by the evaporator 103 and then circulates back to the compartment.

For example, the compartment may be a refrigerating compartment, a freezing compartment, a warming compartment.

In one implementation, the refrigeration system 10 may be a vapor compression refrigeration cycle system. Further, the refrigeration system 10 may also include a capillary tube 105.

Further, the refrigeration system 10 may further include an accumulator 106 (shown in fig. 2) for storing the refrigerant flowing in the first line 104.

In one implementation, the refrigeration device 1 may further include: the defrosting system 11 may include the evaporator 103, a heating part 111, and a second pipe 112 connecting the evaporator 103 and the heating part 111, wherein the second pipe 112 has a defrosting medium therein, and the defrosting medium circulates between the heating part 111 and the evaporator 103 through the second pipe 112 and is heated while flowing through the heating part 111.

For example, the defrosting medium may multiplex the refrigerant in the evaporator 103. Thereby, the refrigerant is directly heated by the heating member 111 and pushed to form a closed circulation circuit in the evaporator 103, and is directly defrosted by the hot refrigerant in the pipe. The scheme of the embodiment realizes uniform defrosting by reusing the existing materials in the refrigeration appliance 1, does not need to additionally arrange a pipeline for a defrosting medium to flow, and has low manufacturing cost.

In one variation, the defrosting medium may also be another fluid or gas. For example, a pipeline dedicated for circulating the defrosting medium may be added along the pipeline of the evaporator 103, which may also achieve the defrosting effect based on the defrosting medium heating the evaporator 103.

In one implementation, the refrigeration system 10 may include a control valve 113 for switching the first line 104 on or off. For example, both ends of the evaporator 103 connected to the first pipe 104 may be provided with control valves 113. During normal cooling, the two control valves 113 are closed to open the first line 104 and the compressor 101 is operated. At this time, the refrigerant circulates among the compressor 101, the condenser 102, the capillary tube 105, and the evaporator 103 along the first pipe 104, and the air flow flowing out of the compartment circulates back to the compartment after being cooled by the evaporator 103.

Further, the defrosting system 11 may also include a control valve 113 for switching off or on the second pipeline 112. For example, the evaporator 103 may be provided with a control valve 113 at both ends connected to the second pipe 112. During defrosting, the two control valves 113 are closed to open the second pipe 112, and the compressor 101 is stopped. At this time, the refrigerant circulates between the evaporator 103 and the heating part 111 along the second pipe line 112.

Thereby, the second pipe 112 is conducted based on the control valve 113 during defrosting to directly and uniformly defrost by the circulating defrosting medium. During this time, the two control valves 113 of the aforementioned refrigeration system 10 may be opened to shut off the first line 104 from refrigerant diversion.

Further, the two control valves 113 of the defrosting system 11 may be opened during cooling to cut off the second piping 112, thereby maintaining the storage compartment at the set storage temperature based on the cooling system 10.

In one embodiment, the heating element 111 may be located below the evaporator 103 along a gravity direction (shown as a z direction), and the heated defrosting medium floats upwards along the second pipeline 112 and flows to the evaporator 103 for heat exchange, and then flows downwards along the second pipeline 112 under the action of gravity to return to the heating element 111. Thus, the defrosting medium naturally forms a circulation loop in the second pipe 112 by the difference in height and the difference in temperature. And additional driving structures such as a pump and the like are not needed, so that the cost is reduced.

In a variation, the heating element 111 and the evaporator 103 may be located at the same level in the z direction, and even the heating element 111 may be located above the evaporator 103. At this time, a driving means such as a pump may be added to the defrosting system 11 to drive the defrosting medium to circulate along the second pipe 112. Therefore, the heating part 111 can be placed in the available space in the refrigeration appliance 1, so that the refrigeration appliance 1 is more compact in structure and the overall size of the refrigeration appliance 1 is reduced.

In one implementation, referring to fig. 1, the heating member 111 may be attached to at least a portion of the section of the second pipe 112 to heat the defrosting medium flowing through the section. Therefore, the defrosting medium can be effectively heated on the basis of not changing the original structure of the refrigeration appliance 1 as much as possible, and a better defrosting effect is ensured.

For example, the heating element 111 may be attached to a wall of a section of the second pipe 112 at a zero distance to ensure efficient heat transfer.

For another example, although the heating member 111 and the second pipe 112 are not directly bonded, the heating member 111 may be disposed as close as possible to the second pipe 112, which may also ensure efficient heat transfer.

In a variation, the heating element 111 may be embedded in a wall of at least a portion of the section of the second pipe 112 and directly contact the defrosting medium flowing through the section. The direct contact heating mode is more beneficial to heat transfer, so that the defrosting medium can be effectively heated to further realize direct defrosting of the evaporator 103.

For example, in a partial section of the second pipe 112, the pipe wall of the section may be perforated to embed the heating member 111.

In one embodiment, the heating member 111 may be an electric heating wire or other mechanism with a heat generating function.

In one implementation, the refrigeration device 1 may further include: a semiconductor refrigeration module 12, the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 may include opposing cold and hot ends 121, 122.

Specifically, the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 may include a plurality of pairs of N-type semiconductors and P-type semiconductors. The N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor are connected in series to form a galvanic couple. The carriers of the N-type semiconductor are electrons, and the carriers of the P-type semiconductor are holes. When the N-type semiconductor of the couple pair is connected to the positive pole of direct current and the P-type semiconductor is connected to the negative pole, electrons in the N-type semiconductor move to one side (the side close to the power supply) under the action of an electric field and are polymerized with positive charges of the power supply, and heat is released during polymerization. Similarly, holes in the P-type semiconductor move to one side under the action of an electric field and polymerize with negative charges of the power source, and heat is generated during polymerization. At the same time, the electrons are separated from the holes on the other side (the side away from the power supply), absorbing heat. When the direction of the current is changed, the heat absorption end becomes the heat release end, and the heat release end becomes the heat absorption end. The heat sink end forms the cold end 121 and the heat sink end forms the hot end 122.

Based on the principle, the N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor are connected in series in a large scale to form a loop, and each semiconductor is connected with a semiconductor with different conductivity types, so that the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 is formed.

Further, adjacent semiconductors may be connected using conductors to form a series configuration. For example, the conductor may be made of a metal material such as copper or aluminum.

Further, ceramic plates (not shown) may be disposed on both sides of the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 close to the second pipeline 112 and far from the second pipeline 112, so as to perform the functions of electrical insulation, heat conduction and support.

In one implementation, the heating element 111 may be formed from the hot end 122. For example, hot end 122 may be adjacent to or attached to at least a portion of second tube 112. For another example, at least a portion of the second pipeline 112 may have a through hole formed in a wall thereof, and the hot end 122 of the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 may be inserted into the through hole to directly heat the defrosting medium flowing through the portion.

Compared with the local high temperature and electric leakage defect of the defrosting of the electric heating wire, the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 has higher safety, so that the refrigeration appliance 1 of the embodiment has the advantage of high safety. Further, the hot end 122 of the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 heats the defrosting medium circulating in the second pipe 112, and directly defrosts based on the defrosting medium. Since the defrosting medium flows to each area of the evaporator 103, the refrigeration device 1 of the present embodiment does not have the problem of local heating during defrosting, so that uniform defrosting is possible.

In one implementation, the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 may include a plurality of semiconductor refrigeration units (not shown) connected in series. Wherein each semiconductor refrigeration unit may comprise at least one galvanic couple and each semiconductor refrigeration unit may comprise a cold side 121 and a hot side 122.

Further, at least one of the plurality of semiconductor refrigeration units may include a different number of electrical couple pairs than the other semiconductor refrigeration units.

Further, the hot ends 122 of different semiconductor refrigeration units can be disposed at different sections of the second pipeline 112 to improve temperature uniformity and better achieve uniform defrosting.

In one implementation, the refrigeration device 1 may further include: cooling system 13, said cooling system 13 may comprise said cold end 121, a compressor chamber (not shown) and a third conduit 131 connecting said cold end 121 and compressor chamber.

Specifically, the compressor 101 and the condenser 102 may be disposed in the compressor compartment. It should be noted that fig. 1 and 2 are only schematically illustrated with respect to the compressor 101 and the condenser 102 according to the principle, and the positions of the two in the drawings do not represent the arrangement positions in practical application.

Further, the third pipe 131 has a cooling medium therein, and the cooling medium circulates between the cold end 121 and the compressor chamber via the third pipe 131 and is cooled while passing through the cold end 121.

Thereby, the cold energy of the cold end 121 is introduced into the compressor chamber to cool the compressor 101 or the condenser 102. Further, the refrigerating capacity of the semiconductor refrigerating module 12 can be increased by applying the refrigerating capacity of the cold end 121 to the compressor chamber capable of forming a large temperature difference, so that the temperature difference between the cold end 121 and the hot end 122 of the semiconductor refrigerating module 12 is increased, and the defrosting efficiency is finally increased.

In one embodiment, the cooling medium may be a gas to form the cooling system 13 by air cooling, thereby effectively cooling the compressor chamber.

Fig. 1 and 2 are each schematically illustrated by taking an air-cooled cooling system 13 as an example. Specifically, the cooling system 13 may further include a radiator 132, and the radiator 132 is disposed in the compressor chamber. The third conduit 131 connects the cold end 121 and the radiator 132, and the air flow circulates between the cold end 121 and the radiator 132. The gas cooled by cold end 121 flows along second conduit 121 to radiator 132 and exchanges heat with the heat in the compressor chamber, and then flows back to cold end 121 to be cooled again.

Further, in the gravity direction (shown as the z direction), the compressor chamber may be located below the cold end 121, and the cooling medium (e.g., gas) cooled by the cold end 121 flows downward along the third pipeline 131 to the compressor chamber under the action of gravity for heat exchange, and then flows back to the cold end 121 while floating upward along the third pipeline 131.

Therefore, the cooling medium (such as gas) naturally forms a circulation loop in the third pipeline 131 by utilizing the height difference, and a driving mechanism such as a pump is not required to be additionally arranged, so that the cost is favorably reduced.

In one variation, the cooling medium may be a fluid, such as water. Thus, the cooling system 13 is configured by water cooling to efficiently cool the compressor room.

For example, referring to fig. 3, the cooling system 13 may include a cold end 121 of the semiconductor refrigeration module 12, a water reservoir 133, a pump 134, and a third conduit 131 communicating the cold end 121 and the water reservoir 133. Wherein the water reservoir 133 may be disposed in the compressor chamber and a pump 134 may be used to drive the cooling medium (e.g., fluid) to circulate along the third conduit 131 between the cold end 121 and the compressor chamber. Thereby, the cooling medium is efficiently driven by the driving mechanism to circulate through the third pipe 131.

In a variation, a pump 134 may be provided to drive the cooling medium to circulate along the third pipeline 131 for the cooling system 13 using air cooling.

In one implementation, cold end 121 may be attached to at least a portion of third conduit 131 in a manner similar to the arrangement of hot end 122 and second conduit 112 as heating element 111.

Alternatively, the cold end 121 may be embedded in the wall of at least a section of the third tube 131.

In one implementation, the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 may include a plurality of semiconductor refrigeration units, and the cold ends of the plurality of semiconductor refrigeration units are separately disposed at different sections of the third pipeline 131.

From the above, the present embodiment provides an improved refrigeration device 1, which realizes uniform defrosting based on an independent defrosting cycle system. Specifically, in addition to the refrigeration system 10, the heating component 111 and the evaporator 103 form an independent defrosting system 11, which heats the defrosting medium and pushes the defrosting medium to form a closed circulation loop in the evaporator 103, and the evaporator 103 is directly defrosted based on the defrosting medium flowing in the pipeline.

Since the defrosting medium flowing through the evaporator 103 is heated by the heating part 111 instead of the air between the evaporator 103 and the heating part 111, the heat of the heating part 111 can be rapidly and efficiently transferred to various regions of the evaporator 103 via the defrosting medium. Rather than relying on thermal radiation and conduction to other areas of the evaporator 103 after only a portion of the evaporator 103 has been heated, as in prior contact defrosting designs. Therefore, the embodiment can effectively realize uniform defrosting.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a refrigeration device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the following, only the differences between the refrigeration device 1 shown in fig. 2 and the refrigeration device 1 shown in fig. 1 will be explained in detail. Wherein the capillary tube 105, the compressor 101 and the condenser 102 are not shown in fig. 2.

In particular, the difference from the refrigeration device 1 shown in fig. 1 is that, in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, the evaporator 103 may include at least three port ends 114, and the second pipelines 112 are respectively connected to the port ends 114 to form a plurality of parallel circulating paths.

For example, the evaporator 103 in fig. 1 is provided with only one mouthpiece end 114 at each of the upper and lower ends in the z direction, and the second duct 112 connects the two mouthpiece ends 114 to form a single circulation path from the heating element 111 to the evaporator 103. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the defrosting medium is heated by the heating unit 111, flows upward along the second pipe 112 to the top of the evaporator 103, flows downward through the entire evaporator 103, and flows back to the heating unit 111.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 2, besides the interface ends 114 at the upper and lower ends of the evaporator 103 along the z direction, the middle part of the evaporator 103 along the z direction is provided with one interface end 114, and the second pipeline 112 connects the three interface ends 114 to form two parallel circulating paths. The two parallel circulation paths divide the evaporator 103 into upper and lower portions in the z direction.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 2, the defrosting medium is heated by the heating element 111, and then flows upward along the second pipe 112 to the joint end 114 located at the middle of the evaporator 103 along the z direction according to the arrow shown in the figure, and is divided and flows in the up and down directions. Wherein the defrosting medium flowing upward flows from bottom to top through the upper part of the evaporator 103 and then flows back to the heating part 111 along the second pipe 112. Wherein the defrosting medium flowing downward flows downward through the lower portion of the evaporator 103 and then continues to flow back downward along the second pipe 112 to the heating part 111.

Therefore, according to the size of the evaporator 103, single or a plurality of closed loops are connected in parallel, so that precise defrosting is realized.

For example, for the evaporator 103 vertically arranged as shown in fig. 2, it is common that the frost formation amount of the lower portion thereof is larger than that of the upper portion. Accordingly, the solution of the present embodiment may provide the interface end 114 at the middle position of the evaporator 103 to form two upper and lower parallel circulation paths. The defrosting medium heated by the heating module 111 is branched at the interface end 114 and flows to the upper part and the lower part of the evaporator 103 along two parallel circulating paths for defrosting, respectively.

For the lower part of the evaporator 103, the parallel circulation paths enable the defrosting medium to return to the heating part 111 to be heated again without flowing through the whole evaporator 103, and the shorter circulation path is beneficial to improving the defrosting efficiency for the part with severe frosting.

For the upper part of the evaporator 103, the parallel circulating paths allow the heated defrosting medium to flow to the upper part of the evaporator 103 with almost no heat loss, ensuring the defrosting effect to the part.

In one implementation, the number of interface ends 114 can be flexibly adjusted according to the size of the evaporator 103 to form three, four, or even more parallel circulation paths.

In one implementation, the refrigeration device 1 may further include: a plurality of control valves 113, the plurality of control valves 113 may be respectively disposed on the plurality of parallel circulation paths, wherein each control valve 113 may be configured to cut off or conduct at least one corresponding circulation path. Thus, the on/off state of each control valve 113 can be controlled as necessary to achieve precise defrosting of a specific area of the evaporator 103.

For example, for a section where frost is more severe in the evaporator 103, a circulation path flowing through the section may be provided, and a conduction frequency or a conduction period of the circulation path of the section may be higher than that of the circulation path flowing through other sections of the evaporator 103. Thereby, accurate defrosting of a portion where frost is seriously formed on the evaporator 103 can be realized.

Taking the refrigeration device 1 with two parallel circulation paths as shown in fig. 2, a control valve 113 may be disposed at the junction between the upper end of the evaporator 103 and the second pipeline 112 along the z-direction for switching on or off the upper one of the parallel circulation paths. Further, the defrosting system 13 may be provided with a general control valve 114 at the junction of the upper and lower parallel circulating paths at the lower end of the evaporator 103.

When both control valves 113 in the defrosting system 13 are closed, both upper and lower parallel circulation paths are conducted. While only the lower parallel circulation path is open when the overall control valve 114 in the defrost system 13 is closed.

Therefore, by adopting the scheme of the embodiment, at least one defect of an electric heating defrosting and semiconductor contact defrosting system in the existing air-cooled refrigerator system can be overcome. Specifically, by using the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 and the evaporator 103 to form at least one independent defrosting system 13, the defrosting control is accurate and uniform. Further, the cold quantity of the cold end 121 of the semiconductor refrigeration module 12 is applied to a compressor chamber capable of forming a large temperature difference, so that the refrigeration quantity is increased, and the defrosting efficiency is increased. The refrigeration appliance 1 has the advantages of safety, energy conservation and accurate defrosting.

Although specific embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, even if only a single embodiment is described with respect to a particular feature. The characteristic examples provided in the present disclosure are intended to be illustrative, not limiting, unless differently expressed. In particular implementations, features from one or more dependent claims may be combined with features of the independent claims and features from respective independent claims may be combined in any appropriate manner and not merely in the specific combinations enumerated in the claims.

Although the present invention is disclosed above, the present invention is not limited thereto. Various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (14)

1. A refrigeration appliance (1), characterized by comprising:

-a refrigeration system (10), the refrigeration system (10) comprising a compressor (101), a condenser (102), an evaporator (103) and a first line (104) connecting the compressor (101), the condenser (102) and the evaporator (103);

a defrosting system (11), wherein the defrosting system (11) comprises the evaporator (103), a heating part (111) and a second pipeline (112) connecting the evaporator (103) and the heating part (111), the second pipeline (112) is provided with a defrosting medium, and the defrosting medium circularly flows between the heating part (111) and the evaporator (103) through the second pipeline (112) and is heated when flowing through the heating part (111).

2. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 1, wherein said heating element (111) is located below said evaporator (103) in the direction of gravity, and the heated defrosting medium floats upwards along said second conduit (112) and flows into said evaporator (103) for heat exchange and then flows back downwards along said second conduit (112) to said heating element (111) under the action of gravity.

3. The refrigeration device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the heating element (111) is applied to at least a portion of the section of the second line (112) in order to heat the defrosting medium flowing through said section.

4. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 1, wherein the heating element (111) is embedded in the wall of at least a section of the second line (112) and is in direct contact with the defrosting medium flowing through said section.

5. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 1, further comprising: a semiconductor refrigeration module (12), said semiconductor refrigeration module (12) comprising opposing cold and hot ends (121, 122), said heating element (111) being formed from said hot end (122).

6. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 5, wherein the semiconductor refrigeration module (12) comprises a plurality of semiconductor refrigeration units connected in series, wherein the hot ends of different semiconductor refrigeration units are arranged at different sections of the second pipe (112).

7. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 5, further comprising:

a cooling system (13), the cooling system (13) comprising the cold end (121), a compressor chamber and a third line (131) connecting the cold end (121) and the compressor chamber, the third line (131) having a cooling medium therein, the cooling medium circulating between the cold end (121) and the compressor chamber via the third line (131) and being cooled while flowing through the cold end (121).

8. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 7, wherein said cooling medium is selected from the group consisting of: gases and fluids.

9. Refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the compressor chamber is located below the cold end (121) in the direction of gravity, and the cooling medium cooled by the cold end (121) floats upwards along the third line (131) back to the cold end (121) after having been subjected to heat exchange along the third line (131) under the action of gravity.

10. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 7, wherein the cooling system (13) further comprises: -a pump (134) for driving said cooling medium along said third line (131) in circulation between said cold end (121) and the compressor chamber.

11. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 1, further comprising: a control valve (113) for cutting off or conducting the second line (112).

12. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 1, wherein the evaporator (103) comprises at least three port ends (114), and the second pipelines (112) are respectively connected with the port ends (114) to form a plurality of parallel circulating paths.

13. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 12, further comprising: the control valves (113) are respectively arranged on the plurality of parallel circulating paths, wherein each control valve (113) is used for cutting off or conducting at least one corresponding circulating path.

14. The refrigeration appliance (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said defrosting medium comprises: a refrigerant.

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