CN115875903A - Refrigerator with a door - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a refrigerator, comprising a storage chamber, an evaporator, a chamber air supply duct, a chamber air return duct, and also comprising: the storage device is arranged in the storage room and is provided with an air supply outlet for air flow to flow into the inner space of the storage room and an air return outlet for air flow out of the inner space of the storage room; the air supply damper is arranged on an airflow flow path between the evaporator and the air supply outlet and is configured to be controlled to be opened or closed when the storage device is in a dry mode so as to selectively allow the cooling airflow generated by the evaporator to flow into the storage device and to be controlled to be closed when the storage device is in a moisturizing mode so as to prevent the cooling airflow from flowing into the storage device; and the device return air duct is mutually independent from the compartment return air duct, one end of the device return air duct is directly communicated with the evaporator, and the other end of the device return air duct is communicated with the return air inlet of the storage device, so that return air flow in the storage device is allowed to flow to the evaporator, and the influence of the external environment on the humidity in the storage device is effectively avoided.

Description

Refrigerator with a door

Technical Field

The invention relates to a refrigeration and freezing technology, in particular to a refrigerator.

Background

Along with the improvement of the living standard of people, the food materials are stored more finely. The space that the dry and wet branch stored up is the solitary fixed area mostly in the market at present, however, the user often is different to the demand in dry and wet district in different seasons, and some seasons do not need dry district, and some seasons do not need wet district, and some seasons do and wet district all need, just so cause some subregion spaces to lose effect in some seasons, cause the space waste of refrigerator. Therefore, a refrigerator with a dry-wet adjustable drawer is provided in the prior art to store food materials with different humidity requirements according to different requirements of users.

Such a refrigerator generally performs a drying function by supplying a cooling air current after passing through an evaporator into a drawer, which is provided with an air supply opening and an air return opening, accordingly. When the drawer needs to be moisturized, cooling air flow is not needed in the drawer any more, at the moment, the cooling air flow is prevented from continuously entering the drawer by closing an air supply air door at an air supply opening in the prior art, however, an air return opening of the drawer is ignored, the air return opening of the drawer is directly exposed in the refrigerating chamber, and the condition that the temperature and the humidity in the drawer are influenced when the return air of the refrigerating chamber enters the drawer through the air return opening of the drawer exists.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to overcome at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a refrigerator having a storage space with adjustable dryness and humidity, in which the humidity inside the storage space is not affected by the external environment.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the cost of the refrigerator and simplify the control logic of the refrigerator.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a refrigerator, including a storage compartment for storing articles, an evaporator for providing a cooling airflow, a compartment supply air duct for supplying the cooling airflow to the storage compartment, and a compartment return air duct for returning a return air flow in the storage compartment to the evaporator, further including:

the storage device is arranged in the storage room and is provided with an air supply outlet for air flow to flow into the inner space of the storage room and an air return outlet for air flow of the inner space of the storage room to flow out;

a supply damper disposed in an airflow path between the evaporator and the supply outlet and configured to be controlled to open or close to selectively allow the cooling airflow generated by the evaporator to flow into the storage device when the storage device is in a dry mode and to be controlled to close to prevent the cooling airflow from flowing into the storage device when the storage device is in a moisture retention mode; and

and the device return air duct is mutually independent from the compartment return air duct, one end of the device return air duct is directly communicated with the evaporator, and the other end of the device return air duct is communicated with a return air inlet of the storage device so as to allow return air flow in the storage device to flow to the evaporator.

Optionally, the storage device has a first lateral side close to the evaporator and a second lateral side far from the evaporator in a lateral direction; and is provided with

The air return opening is formed in the rear side of the storage device, and the distance between the air return opening and the first transverse side portion is smaller than the distance between the air return opening and the second transverse side portion.

Optionally, the refrigerator further comprises:

the device air supply duct is independent from the compartment air supply duct, one end of the device air supply duct is directly communicated with the evaporator, and the other end of the device air supply duct is communicated with an air supply outlet of the storage device; and is provided with

The air supply air door is arranged in the air supply duct of the device.

Optionally, an end portion of the compartment air supply duct communicated with the evaporator and an end portion of the device air supply duct communicated with the evaporator are both located above the evaporator, so that the compartment air supply duct and the device air supply duct are both communicated with a space above the evaporator; and is provided with

The end part of the device return air duct communicated with the evaporator is positioned at the lower part or below the evaporator, so that the device return air duct is communicated with the lower space or the lower space where the evaporator is positioned.

Optionally, an air duct cover plate is arranged on the rear side of the storage compartment, the evaporator is located on the rear side of the air duct cover plate, the compartment air supply duct, the device return air duct and the device air supply duct are formed on the rear surface of the air duct cover plate, and the compartment return air duct is formed on the lower portion of the air duct cover plate and located below the evaporator; and is provided with

The air duct cover plate is provided with a device air outlet port communicated with the end part of the other end of the device air supply air duct and a device air return port communicated with the end part of the other end of the device air return air duct, and when the storage device is in a closed state of being completely accommodated in the storage space, the device air outlet port and the device air return port are respectively communicated with the air supply port and the air return port formed at the rear part of the storage device in a sealing manner.

Optionally, the refrigerator further comprises:

the compartment air supply air door is arranged at the end part, close to the evaporator, of the compartment air supply air channel and is used for controllably conducting and/or blocking the compartment air supply air channel so as to selectively convey cooling air flow into the storage compartment; and is

The air supply air door is arranged at the end part of the air supply duct of the device, which is close to the evaporator.

Optionally, the storage device comprises:

the sealed upper cover is fixedly arranged in the storage chamber; and

a drawer having a top opening and configured to be slidably disposed under the sealing upper cover such that the sealing upper cover covers the top opening when the drawer is in a closed state of being completely pushed into the storage compartment to define a closed space between the sealing upper cover and the drawer, and such that the drawer is separated from the sealing upper cover to expose the top opening when the drawer is in an open state of being pulled out from the storage compartment.

Optionally, the sealing upper cover comprises a cover plate extending horizontally and a rear side edge part extending downwards from the rear side edge of the cover plate, the rear side edge part is provided with a first notch opening downwards, and the upper part of the rear end plate of the drawer is provided with a second notch opening upwards; and is

When the drawer is in the closed state, the first notch and the second notch are butted to form the closed air supply opening.

Optionally, the refrigerator further comprises:

the temperature sensing device is used for detecting the temperature in the storage device so as to obtain the humidity in the storage device according to the temperature in the storage device; and is

When the storage device is in a drying mode, the air supply air door is configured to be controlled to be opened when the humidity in the storage device is higher than a preset humidity threshold value corresponding to the drying mode so as to allow the cooling air flow generated by the evaporator to flow into the storage device, and controlled to be closed when the humidity in the storage device is equal to or lower than the preset humidity threshold value corresponding to the drying mode.

Optionally, the temperature sensing device and the air supply outlet are located on the same wall surface of the storage device and are respectively adjacent to two opposite end portions of the wall surface, and the heights of the temperature sensing device and the air supply outlet are the same.

The refrigerator comprises a storage device, a compartment air supply duct and a compartment air return duct, wherein the storage device is arranged in the storage compartment of the refrigerator and is provided with an air supply outlet and an air return inlet. Particularly, the refrigerator further comprises an air supply air door arranged on an airflow flow path between the evaporator and the air supply outlet of the storage device, and a device return air duct communicated with the return air inlet of the storage device and the evaporator, and the storage space with adjustable dryness can be realized in the storage device through the open-close control of the air supply air door. And the device return air duct is independent from the compartment return air duct, one end of the device return air duct is directly communicated with the evaporator instead of being indirectly communicated with the evaporator through the compartment air supply duct, the other end of the device return air duct is communicated with the return air inlet of the storage device, and return air flow in the storage device can directly flow to the evaporator through the device return air duct. The return air in the storage chamber can flow to the evaporator through the chamber return air duct. That is to say, the return air of storing device and the return air of storing compartment are independent each other, do not influence each other, consequently, the humidity of the wet adjustable storing space of doing of injecing in the storing device does not receive the influence of storing compartment. Meanwhile, compared with the scheme that the return air inlet of the storage device is directly communicated with the compartment return air duct in the prior art, the device return air duct directly communicates the return air inlet with the evaporator, which is equivalent to prolonging the return air path between the storage device and the external environment, and when the storage device does not need to convey cooling air flow, the air flow in the space where the evaporator is located cannot influence the humidity in the storage device through the device return air duct, so that the storage quality of articles in the storage device is improved.

Further, when faced with the problem of how to avoid the external environment from affecting the humidity inside the storage device through the return air opening, the inventor has recognized that a return air damper may be added at the return air opening. However, the inventor further recognizes that the addition of the return air damper not only increases the cost of the refrigerator, but also has the disadvantages of small volume, difficult assembly and low production efficiency, and most importantly, the return air damper needs to be accurately controlled, which increases the burden of the control logic. Therefore, the invention designs a solution completely different from the air door principle. The invention has the advantages that the independent device return air duct is arranged, so that the return air of the storage device and the return air of the storage chamber are not influenced mutually, the return air path between the storage device and the external environment is prolonged, the influence of the air flow at the evaporator on the humidity in the storage device is avoided by prolonging the improvement of a pure mechanical structure, namely an air path, the structure is simple, the cost is lower, the assembly process is not required to be increased, the control logic of the refrigerator is simplified, and the practical value is higher.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Some specific embodiments of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter by way of example and not by way of limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar elements or components. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the drawings are not necessarily to scale. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic rear view of a partial structure of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic front view of a partial structure of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a storage device according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic exploded view of a storage device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 1, the refrigerator 1 of the present invention includes a cabinet 10 defining a storage compartment 11, and a storage device 40 disposed in the storage compartment 11. Specifically, the storage compartment 11 may be a refrigeration compartment having a refrigeration storage environment, and may also be a temperature-changing compartment or other fresh-keeping compartment.

Fig. 2 is a schematic rear view of a partial structure of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention, fig. 3 is a schematic front view of a partial structure of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of a storage apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 2 to 4, the refrigerator 1 of the present invention further includes an evaporator 20 for providing a cooling air flow, a compartment supply air duct 12 for supplying the cooling air flow to the storage compartment 11, and a compartment return air duct 13 for returning a return air flow in the storage compartment 11 to the evaporator 20. The storage device 40 has a supply air port 41 for supplying an air flow into its internal space and a return air port 42 for allowing an air flow of its internal space to flow out. It should be noted that the structural members for covering the respective air ducts are omitted in fig. 2 and 3 for the sake of clarity of the air duct structure.

Specifically, the refrigerator further includes a supply air damper 71 and a device return air duct 15.

The air supply damper 71 is disposed on an airflow flow path between the evaporator 20 and the air supply opening 41, and is configured to be controlled to be opened or closed to selectively allow the cooling airflow generated by the evaporator 20 to flow into the storage device 40 when the storage device 40 is in the dry mode, and to be controlled to be closed to prevent the cooling airflow generated by the evaporator 20 from flowing into the storage device 40 when the storage device 40 is in the moisturizing mode. It can be understood that the dry mode and the moisture retention mode are two different functional modes of the storage device 40, and when the storage device 40 is in the dry mode and the moisture retention mode, respectively, the corresponding preset humidity ranges of the inner space thereof are different.

The device return air duct 15 and the compartment return air duct 13 are independent from each other, and one end of the device return air duct 15 is directly communicated with the evaporator 20, and the other end is communicated with the return air inlet 42 of the storage device 40, so that the return air flow in the storage device 40 is allowed to flow to the evaporator 20.

When the storage device 40 is switched to the dry mode, the supply damper 71 is controlled to open to allow the cooling air flow generated by the evaporator 20 to flow into the storage device 40, and the original air in the storage device 40 returns to the evaporator 20 through the return air inlet 42 and the device return air duct 15, thereby replacing the air in the storage device 40. Since moisture in the air flow is condensed on the evaporator 20 when the air flow passes through the evaporator 20 with a relatively low temperature, so that the temperature and humidity of the formed cooling air flow are relatively low, a dry storage space with low temperature and low humidity can be formed in the storage device 40 after the cooling air flow replaces the air in the storage device 40. When the humidity in the storage device 40 is reduced to the preset humidity threshold corresponding to the drying mode, the air supply damper 71 can be controlled to be closed. At this time, even if the return air flow of the storage compartment 11 flows through the compartment return air duct 13, the air flows in the compartment return air duct 13 and the storage compartment 11 do not flow into the storage device 40 and affect the humidity in the storage device 40. Moreover, due to the existence of the device return air duct 15, the airflow path between the storage device 40 and the evaporator 20 is extended, and the airflow at the evaporator 20 cannot easily enter the storage device 40 through the device return air duct 15. When the humidity in the storage device 40 is higher than the preset humidity threshold corresponding to the drying mode, the air supply damper 71 can be opened again, and the operation is repeated, so that the preset humidity threshold corresponding to the drying mode is maintained in the storage device 40.

When the storage device 40 is switched to the moisture retention mode, the air supply damper 71 is controlled to be closed to prevent the cooling air flow from flowing into the storage device 40, and a large amount of moisture is volatilized from the fruits, vegetables and other objects with high moisture content stored in the storage device 40, so that a high-humidity space with high humidity is formed in the storage device 40, and the storage of the fruits, vegetables and other objects is facilitated.

Further, storing device 40 still includes the moisture permeable membrane 47 that allows inside moisture to outwards permeate, and when the humidity in storing device 40 was too high, too much moisture can outwards permeate through moisture permeable membrane 47, avoided appearing the condensation phenomenon in the storing device 40 because of humidity is too big.

Therefore, the dry and wet adjustable storage space in the storage device 40 can be realized through the open and close control of the air supply air door 71. Moreover, the device return air duct 15 and the compartment return air duct 13 are independent from each other, one end of the device return air duct 15 is directly communicated with the evaporator 20, rather than being indirectly communicated with the evaporator 20 through the compartment supply air duct 13, the other end is communicated with the return air inlet 42 of the storage device 40, and return air flow in the storage device 40 can directly flow to the evaporator 20 through the device return air duct 15. The return air in the storage compartment 11 can flow to the evaporator 20 through the compartment return air duct 13. That is to say, the return air of the storage device 40 and the return air of the storage compartment 11 are independent from each other and do not affect each other, and therefore, the humidity of the storage space with adjustable dryness and humidity defined in the storage device 40 is not affected by the storage compartment 11. Meanwhile, compared with the scheme that the return air inlet of the storage device is directly communicated with the compartment return air duct in the prior art, the device return air duct 15 of the invention directly communicates the return air inlet 42 with the evaporator 20, which is equivalent to prolonging the return air path between the storage device 40 and the external environment, when the storage device 40 does not need to convey cooling air flow, the air flow in the space where the evaporator 20 is located is not easy to flow into the storage device 40 through the device return air duct 15 to affect the humidity of the storage device, and the storage quality of articles in the storage device 40 is improved.

In the face of how to avoid the influence of the external environment on the humidity inside the storage device 40 through the return air opening 42, the inventor has recognized that a return air damper may be added at the return air opening 42. However, the inventor further recognizes that the addition of the return air damper not only increases the cost of the refrigerator, but also has the disadvantages of small volume, difficult assembly and low production efficiency, and most importantly, the return air damper needs to be accurately controlled, which increases the burden on the control logic.

Therefore, the invention designs a solution completely different from the air door principle. The independent device return air duct 15 is arranged, so that the return air of the storage device 40 and the return air of the storage compartment 11 are not affected, the return air path between the storage device 40 and the external environment is prolonged, the influence of the air flow at the evaporator 20 on the humidity in the storage device 40 is avoided through the improvement of a pure mechanical structure such as an extended air path, the structure is very simple, the cost is low, the assembly process is not required to be increased, the control logic of the refrigerator 1 is simplified, and the practical value is high.

In some embodiments, the storage device 40 has a first lateral side close to the evaporator 20 and a second lateral side far from the evaporator 20 in the lateral direction. The air return opening 42 is opened at the rear side of the storage device 40, and the distance between the air return opening 42 and the first transverse side portion of the storage device 40 is smaller than the distance between the air return opening 42 and the second transverse side portion of the storage device 40. That is, the return air inlet 42 is closer to the lateral side of the storage device 40 away from the evaporator 20, so that the length of the device return air duct 15 connected between the return air inlet 42 and the evaporator 20 is increased as much as possible, that is, the length of the return air duct of the storage device 40 is increased as much as possible, and the influence of the external environment of the evaporator 20 on the humidity inside the storage device 40 is further reduced.

The inventor has recognized that prior to the present application, the supply air outlet of a storage device having a dry-wet adjustable space was in direct communication with the supply air duct of the storage compartment, and a supply air damper was typically provided at the supply air outlet. When the storage device needs to reduce the humidity, the air supply fan of the refrigerator 1 must be started (no matter whether the storage chamber needs to be refrigerated or not) to deliver cooling air flow into the air supply duct of the chamber. Part of cooling air flow in the air supply duct of the storage chamber flows to the storage chamber, and the other part of cooling air flow flows to the storage device.

To this end, in some embodiments, the refrigerator 1 of the present invention further includes a device air supply duct 14 independent from the compartment air supply duct 12, wherein one end of the device air supply duct 14 is directly communicated with the evaporator 20, and the other end thereof is communicated with the air supply port 41 of the storage device 40, and is used for directly supplying the cooling air flow generated by the evaporator 20 into the storage device 40. The device air supply duct 14 and the compartment air supply duct 12 of the present invention are independent from each other, rather than being indirectly communicated with the evaporator 20 through the compartment air supply duct 12. On one hand, the air supply of the storage 40 and the air supply of the storage chamber 11 are not affected, and when the storage device 40 needs to supply air, whether the storage chamber 11 is in a refrigeration state, whether refrigeration is needed, the amount of refrigeration capacity and the like do not need to be considered, that is, the air supply of the storage device 40 does not affect the temperature of the storage chamber 11; on the other hand, all the air flows sent out through the device air supply duct 14 can flow to the storage device 40, and all the air flows sent out through the compartment air supply duct 11 can flow to the storage compartment 11, so that the air supply quantity when the storage device 40 needs to supply air and the air supply quantity when the storage compartment 11 needs to be cooled are increased, and the humidity adjusting efficiency of the storage device 40 in the drying mode and the cooling efficiency of the storage compartment 11 are improved.

Further, an air supply damper 71 is provided in the device air supply duct 14 to controllably open or close the device air supply duct 14.

In some embodiments, the end of the compartment supply air duct 12 communicating with the evaporator 20 and the end of the device supply air duct 14 communicating with the evaporator 20 are both located above the evaporator 20, so that both the compartment supply air duct 12 and the device supply air duct 14 communicate with the space above the evaporator 20. The end of the device return air duct 15 that communicates with the evaporator 20 is located at the lower portion or below the evaporator 20 so that the device return air duct communicates with the lower space or space where the evaporator 20 is located. Therefore, when the storage compartment 11 and/or the storage device 40 needs to deliver cooling air flow, the air supply fan 72 located above the evaporator 20 is started to drive the air flow to flow through the evaporator 20 from bottom to top, so that a negative pressure state can be formed in the lower space or the lower space of the evaporator 20. That is, the lower space or the lower space of the evaporator 20 is always kept in a negative pressure environment regardless of whether the storage space 11 is cooled alone, or the storage device 40 is dehumidified while the storage space 11 is cooled. Therefore, the air in the lower space or the lower space of the evaporator 20 does not substantially enter the storage device 40 through the device return air duct 15, and the influence of the space in which the evaporator 20 is located on the humidity in the storage device 40 is greatly reduced.

In some embodiments, the storage compartment 11 is provided with an air duct cover 30 at the rear side thereof, and the evaporator 20 is located at the rear side of the air duct cover 30. The compartment air supply duct 12, the device return air duct 15, and the device air supply duct 14 are formed on the rear facing surface of the duct cover 30, and the compartment return air duct 13 is formed on the lower portion of the duct cover 30 and below the evaporator 20. That is to say, the compartment air supply duct 12 and the device return air duct 15 can be directly formed by adsorption, injection molding and other processes when the duct cover plate 30 is formed, and only a layer of sheet-shaped or film-shaped structural member needs to be covered, so that the assembly structure is reduced, the assembly process is simplified, and the influence and the change on the original structure of the refrigerator are reduced to the maximum extent.

Further, the duct cover 30 is provided with a device air outlet port 31 communicating with the other end of the device air supply duct 14 and a device air return port 32 communicating with the other end of the device air return duct 15, and when the storage device 40 is in a closed state of being completely accommodated in the storage space 11, the device air outlet port 31 and the device air return port 32 are respectively in sealed communication with an air supply outlet 41 and an air return inlet 42 formed at the rear portion of the storage device 40, so that the storage device 40 is pushed into the storage space 11 and fluid communication between the storage device 40 and the device air supply duct 14 is realized.

In some embodiments, the refrigerator 1 further includes a compartment air supply damper 73, and the compartment air supply damper 73 is disposed at an end of the compartment air supply duct 12 adjacent to the evaporator 20, and is used for controllably conducting and/or blocking the compartment air supply duct 12 to selectively deliver the cooling air flow into the storage compartment 11. The air supply damper 71 is provided at an end portion of the apparatus air supply duct 14 adjacent to the evaporator 20. This allows completely independent separation of the air supply from the storage compartment 11 and the storage device 40. When the storage compartment 11 does not need to be refrigerated, no cooling air flow flows through the compartment air supply duct 12, so that all cooling air flows driven by the air supply fan 72 flow to the device air supply duct 14; when the storage device 40 does not need to be dehumidified, no cooling air flow flows through the device air supply duct 14, so that all cooling air flows driven by the air supply fan 72 flow to the compartment air supply duct 12, and the humidity adjusting efficiency of the storage device 40 in the drying mode and the refrigerating efficiency of the storage compartment 11 are further improved. When the storage device 40 needs to reduce humidity and the storage chamber 11 needs to be refrigerated, the chamber air supply damper 73 and the air supply damper 71 are both opened, so that part of cooling air flows to the storage chamber 11 through the chamber air supply duct 12, and the other part of cooling air flows to the storage device 40 through the device air supply duct 14, and the humidity reduction of the storage device 40 and the refrigeration of the storage chamber 11 are synchronously realized.

Fig. 5 is a schematic exploded view of a storage device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In some embodiments, the storage device 40 can include a sealed upper lid 43 and a drawer 44. The upper sealing cover 43 is fixedly arranged in the storage compartment 11. The drawer 44 has a top opening and is configured to be disposed under the sealing upper cover 43 in a slidable manner such that the sealing upper cover 43 covers the top opening of the drawer 44 when it is in a closed state of being completely pushed into the storage compartment 11 to define a closed space between the sealing upper cover 43 and the drawer 44, and such that the drawer 44 is separated from the sealing upper cover 43 to expose the top opening of the drawer 44 when it is in an open state of being pulled out of the storage compartment 11.

Compared with the storage device with the sealed barrel body and the drawer in the prior art, the storage device 40 provided by the invention forms a closed space by matching the sealed upper cover 43 and the drawer 44, so that on one hand, the storage device 40 is more miniaturized, the occupied space is smaller, and the cost is lower, on the other hand, each air opening can be directly arranged on the drawer 44, the air flow for adjusting the humidity in the storage device 40 can directly flow into the drawer 44, the air flow resistance is smaller, and the humidity adjusting speed is higher.

Specifically, when the storage device 40 is in a closed state, the device air outlet port 31 on the air duct cover plate 30 is in sealed communication with the air supply outlet 41 of the storage device 40, and the device air return port 32 on the air duct cover plate 30 is in sealed communication with the air return inlet 42 of the storage device 40. In order to further improve the sealing performance, sealing foam may be further disposed between the circumferential edges of the device air outlet port 31 and the air supply outlet 41, and between the circumferential edges of the device return air port 32 and the return air inlet 42, and the sealing foam may be respectively fixed to the circumferential edges of the device air outlet port 31 and the circumferential edges of the device return air port 32.

Further, the inventor has recognized that, in order to facilitate communication with the device blowing duct 14 on the duct cover 30, the blowing port 41 is preferably opened on the rear side of the storage device 40, and the higher the height, the better. For this purpose, the air blowing port 41 may be opened at the uppermost portion of the rear end plate of the drawer 44. However, the inventors have realized that even if the supply air opening 41 is provided at the uppermost part of the drawer 44, its height is not the highest and the risk of blockage by the contents of the drawer 44 is not avoided.

To this end, in some embodiments, the sealing upper cover 43 includes a cover plate 431 extending horizontally and a rear side edge portion 432 extending downward from a rear side edge of the cover plate 431, the rear side edge portion 432 is opened with a first notch 433 opened downward, and an upper portion of a rear end plate 441 of the drawer 44 is opened with a second notch 442 opened upward. When the drawer 44 is in the closed state, the first notch 433 and the second notch 442 are butted and form the closed blowing port 41. That is, the air blowing opening 41 of the present invention is not completely opened on the drawer 44, but is formed by splicing two notches respectively formed on the sealing upper cover 43 and the drawer 44, and the height limit of the drawer 44 is broken through, so that the height of the air blowing opening 41 is as highest as possible, and the height of the highest point of the air blowing opening 41 is higher than the height of the drawer 44, and therefore, the air blowing opening 41 does not have a risk of being blocked by the articles stored in the drawer 44.

In some embodiments, the air return opening 42 is opened at the bottom of the rear end plate 441 of the drawer 44, and the flow path of the cooling air flowing into the storage device 40 from the air supply opening 41 is prolonged, so that the humidity of the storage device 40 is more uniform.

It is understood that the open/close state of the air supply damper 71 is mainly controlled according to the humidity in the storage device 40. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately detect the humidity of the storage device 40. It is generally common to use a humidity sensor to directly sense the humidity in the storage device 40, however, the inventor has recognized that the humidity sensor is expensive and difficult to implement in practical refrigerator products. Furthermore, the inventors have recognized that it is the relative humidity within the reservoir 40 that affects the quality of the stored items, rather than the absolute humidity, and that the relative humidity within the reservoir 40 may also be obtained from the temperature within the reservoir 40.

To this end, in some embodiments, the refrigerator 1 of the present invention further includes a temperature sensing device 80 for detecting the temperature inside the storage device 40, so as to obtain the humidity inside the storage device 40 according to the temperature inside the storage device 40. When the storage device 40 is in the dry mode, the air supply damper 71 is configured to be controlled to open when the humidity in the storage device 40 is higher than a preset humidity threshold corresponding to the dry mode to allow the cooling air flow generated by the evaporator 20 to flow into the storage device 40, and to be controlled to close when the humidity in the storage device 40 is equal to or lower than the preset humidity threshold corresponding to the dry mode. The temperature sensing device 80 is inexpensive, so that the temperature sensing device not only can indirectly detect the humidity in the storage device 40, but also can reduce the cost of the refrigerator 1, and is more practical.

Specifically, the temperature sensing device 80 may be a temperature sensing head.

In some embodiments, the temperature sensing device 80 and the air supply opening 41 are located on the same wall surface of the storage device 40 and are respectively adjacent to two opposite ends of the wall surface, that is, the temperature sensing device 80 and the air supply opening 41 are spaced apart by a certain distance instead of being arranged adjacently. Further, the temperature sensing device 80 is located at the same height as the air blowing port 41. Therefore, the temperature sensing device 80 can be located at one of the positions where the air flow speed in the storage device 40 is the slowest, that is, one of the positions where the humidity adjustment rate is relatively delayed. When the humidity of the cooling air flow is reduced by inputting the cooling air flow into the storage device 40, and the humidity value corresponding to the temperature detected by the temperature sensing device 80 reaches the preset humidity threshold value corresponding to the drying mode, other areas in the storage device 40 also reach the preset humidity threshold value or are lower than the preset humidity threshold value, and at this time, the air supply damper 71 is closed, so that the humidity in the storage device 40 can be ensured to completely meet the requirement.

Further, in order to avoid the temperature sensing device 80 from being influenced by the articles stored in the storage device 40, the temperature sensing device 80 is not fixedly disposed in the storage device 40, but is fixed on the air duct cover 30. Correspondingly, the rear side of the storage device 40 is provided with a temperature acquisition through hole 45 for exposing the temperature sensing device 80 to the inside of the storage device 40. The position of the temperature obtaining through hole 45 corresponds to the position of the temperature sensing device 80, so that the temperature sensing device 80 is exposed in the storage device 40 through the temperature obtaining through hole 45 when the storage device 40 is completely in the storage compartment 11.

In some embodiments, the number of the storage devices 40 may be one, two, or more than two, and when the number of the storage devices 40 is two, two storage devices 40 may be arranged side by side in the transverse direction at the bottom of the storage compartment 11. Accordingly, the number of the relevant structures such as the device supply air duct 14, the device return air duct 15, the supply air damper 71, and the like is kept the same as the number of the storage devices 40.

The refrigerator 1 of the present application is a refrigerator in a broad sense, and includes not only a so-called refrigerator in a narrow sense but also a storage device having a refrigerating, freezing or other storage function, for example, a refrigerator, a freezer, and the like.

It should be further understood by those skilled in the art that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "top", "bottom", and the like used in the embodiments of the present invention to indicate the orientation or the positional relationship are based on the actual use state of the refrigerator 1, and these terms are only used for convenience of description and understanding of the technical solution of the present invention, and do not indicate or imply that the device or component referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

Thus, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while various exemplary embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications which are consistent with the principles of this invention may be determined or derived directly from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be understood and interpreted to cover all such other variations or modifications.

Claims (10)

1. A refrigerator including a storage compartment for storing articles, an evaporator for providing a cooling airflow, a compartment supply air duct for supplying the cooling airflow to the storage compartment, and a compartment return air duct for returning a return air flow in the storage compartment to the evaporator, characterized by further comprising:

the storage device is arranged in the storage room and is provided with an air supply outlet for air flow to flow into the inner space of the storage room and an air return outlet for air flow of the inner space of the storage room to flow out;

a supply damper disposed in an airflow path between the evaporator and the supply outlet and configured to be controlled to open or close to selectively allow the cooling airflow generated by the evaporator to flow into the storage device when the storage device is in a dry mode and to be controlled to close to prevent the cooling airflow from flowing into the storage device when the storage device is in a moisture retention mode; and

and the device return air duct is mutually independent from the compartment return air duct, one end of the device return air duct is directly communicated with the evaporator, and the other end of the device return air duct is communicated with a return air inlet of the storage device so as to allow return air flow in the storage device to flow to the evaporator.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1,

the storage device is provided with a first transverse side part close to the evaporator and a second transverse side part far away from the evaporator in the transverse direction; and is

The air return opening is formed in the rear side of the storage device, and the distance between the air return opening and the first transverse side portion is smaller than the distance between the air return opening and the second transverse side portion.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising:

the device air supply duct is independent from the compartment air supply duct, one end of the device air supply duct is directly communicated with the evaporator, and the other end of the device air supply duct is communicated with an air supply outlet of the storage device; and is provided with

The air supply air door is arranged in the air supply duct of the device.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3,

the end part of the compartment air supply duct communicated with the evaporator and the end part of the device air supply duct communicated with the evaporator are both positioned above the evaporator, so that the compartment air supply duct and the device air supply duct are both communicated with the space above the evaporator; and is provided with

The end part of the device return air duct communicated with the evaporator is positioned at the lower part or below the evaporator, so that the device return air duct is communicated with the lower space or the lower space where the evaporator is positioned.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 3,

an air duct cover plate is arranged on the rear side of the storage compartment, the evaporator is positioned on the rear side of the air duct cover plate, the compartment air supply duct, the device air return duct and the device air supply duct are formed on the rear surface of the air duct cover plate, and the compartment air return duct is formed on the lower portion of the air duct cover plate and is positioned below the evaporator; and is

And the air duct cover plate is provided with a device air outlet port communicated with the end part of the other end of the device air supply air duct and a device air return port communicated with the end part of the other end of the device air return air duct, and when the storage device is in a closed state of being completely accommodated in the storage space, the device air outlet port and the device air return port are respectively and hermetically communicated with the air supply port and the air return port formed at the rear part of the storage device.

6. The refrigerator of claim 3, further comprising:

the compartment air supply air door is arranged at the end part, close to the evaporator, of the compartment air supply air channel and is used for controllably conducting and/or blocking the compartment air supply air channel so as to selectively convey cooling air flow into the storage compartment; and is

The air supply air door is arranged at the end part of the air supply duct of the device, which is close to the evaporator.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the storage device comprises:

the sealed upper cover is fixedly arranged in the storage compartment; and

a drawer having a top opening and configured to be disposed under the sealing upper cover in a push-pull manner such that the sealing upper cover covers the top opening when the drawer is in a closed state of being completely pushed into the storage compartment to define a closed space between the sealing upper cover and the drawer, and such that the drawer is separated from the sealing upper cover to expose the top opening when the drawer is in an open state of being pulled out from the storage compartment.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 7,

the sealed upper cover comprises a cover plate extending horizontally and a rear side edge part extending downwards from the rear side edge of the cover plate, the rear side edge part is provided with a first notch with a downward opening, and the upper part of the rear end plate of the drawer is provided with a second notch with an upward opening; and is

When the drawer is in the closed state, the first notch and the second notch are butted to form the closed air supply opening.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising:

the temperature sensing device is used for detecting the temperature in the storage device so as to obtain the humidity in the storage device according to the temperature in the storage device; and is

When the storage device is in a drying mode, the air supply air door is configured to be controlled to be opened when the humidity in the storage device is higher than a preset humidity threshold value corresponding to the drying mode so as to allow the cooling air flow generated by the evaporator to flow into the storage device, and controlled to be closed when the humidity in the storage device is equal to or lower than the preset humidity threshold value corresponding to the drying mode.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 9,

the temperature sensing device and the air supply outlet are located on the same wall surface of the storage device and are respectively adjacent to two opposite end parts of the wall surface, and the heights of the temperature sensing device and the air supply outlet are the same.

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