EP1605215A2

EP1605215A2 - Refrigerating appliance

Info

Publication number: EP1605215A2
Application number: EP05468010A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Valentin Borovnik; Peter Groznik; Berislav Bukovnik; Zvonko Visnjic; Vlado Bac; Rudi Horvat; Bogomir Romih; Marko Kralj
Original assignee: Gorenje gospodinjski aparati dd
Current assignee: Gorenje gospodinjski aparati dd
Priority date: 2004-06-04
Filing date: 2005-05-27
Publication date: 2005-12-14
Also published as: SI21815A; EP1605215A3

Abstract

The present invention refers to a refrigerating appliance comprising a refrigerating compartment (1), a cold storage compartment (2) and a freezing compartment (3) separated from each other by means of dividing walls (4, 5) and by means of at least one door (6) or flap, and a cooling air channel where in the inflow area thereof is arranged a cooling fan (19) drawing cooling air from the refrigerating compartment (1) and the outlet area of said cooling air channel extends into the cold storage compartment (2). Spaced from back (8) of the refrigerating compartment there is arranged an insulating wall (9) extending over the entire refrigerating compartment (1), said insulating wall comprises a vertical rib (11) extending over the entire height of the wall (9), said rib extends in depth up to the back (8) forming therewith two separate parallel cooling air channels i.e. a suction channel (12) and an injection channel (13). The suction channel (12) is connected via a gap (14) in the insulating wall (9) with the area of the cold storage compartment (2) directly under the dividing wall (4) separating the refrigerating compartment (1) from the cold storage compartment (2).

Description

The present invention relates to a refrigerating appliance comprising a refrigerating compartment, a cold storage compartment and a freezing compartment separated from each other by means of dividing walls and by means of at least one door or flap, and a cooling air channel where in the inflow area thereof is arranged a cooling fan drawing cooling air from the refrigerating compartment and the outlet area of said cooling air channel extends into the cold storage compartment.
The refrigerating appliance of the aforementioned kind is known from the publication WO 01/55655. With this solution, the cold storage compartment is cooled by means of the same cooling system as the refrigerating compartment where cooling is achieved by a vertical insulating partition arranged between the back of the refrigerating appliance and the refrigerating compartment said insulating partition constitutes a vertical cooling air channel together with the back and an evaporator of the refrigerating appliance. At the top of said channel there is arranged a cooling fan drawing the air out of the refrigerating compartment and forcing it into said channel where is cooled down by means of the evaporator. The cooling fan forces cooled air through the cold storage compartment and further into the refrigerating compartment.
In order to achieve different temperature conditions in the refrigerating compartment and the cold storage compartment, respectively, the changing number of revolutions of the cooling fan must result in a variation of the cooled air volume flow. In addition, the on-period of the compressor adjusts to the ambient temperature. Since the entire quantity of the cooled air circulates through the both said compartments, the setting of different temperatures in the refrigerating compartment is limited to a relatively narrow range. However, it has been proven that when the temperature in the cold storage compartment needs to be maintained within boundaries from about -2 °C up to about +3 °C the temperature regulation becomes inefficient.
Thus, it is the object of the present invention to create a refrigerating appliance of the aforementioned kind which will solve the drawbacks of the known solutions.
According to the invention, the object as set forth is solved by providing an insulating wall being spaced from a back of a refrigerating appliance, said insulating wall extending practically over the entire refrigerating compartment and partially extending on its lower end in a cold storage compartment. Said insulating wall comprises at least one vertical rib extending over the entire height thereof and extending in depth all the way to the back of the refrigerating appliance forming therewith at least two separate parallel cooling air channels i.e. a suction channel and an injection channel. The suction channel is connected by means of a gap in the insulating wall with the area of the cold storage compartment directly below a dividing wall which separates the refrigerating compartment from the cold storage compartment. Furthermore, the injection channel is directly connected to the cold storage compartment between the back wall of a drawer for storing goods, said drawer being arranged in the cold storage compartment, and the back of the refrigerating appliance.
An evaporator of the refrigerating appliance is placed in a space between the back of the refrigerating appliance and the insulating wall, said evaporator being either incorporated into the back or spaced a short distance therefrom. It has been provided according to the invention that said rib is and said ribs are, respectively, optionally arranged on the insulating wall in a manner that said two channels and said channels have preferably the same width. Optionally, said channels can be formed with different width.
According to the second embodiment it is provided that there is arranged an additional wall being spaced from the dividing wall which divides the refrigerating compartment from the cold storage compartment, being also arranged on the side of said compartment in the area above the drawer for storing goods. Said additional wall and said dividing wall form an additional cooling air channel being directly connected to the gap in the insulating wall. Thus, more efficient cooling air flow can be achieved through the goods in the drawer.
Furthermore, a cooling fan which drives a cooling air flow through the refrigerating appliance is arranged in the upper area of the insulating wall i.e. at the end facing away from the dividing wall. Said cooling fan is placed in the insulating wall either in parallel with or perpendicular to the back of the refrigerating appliance, the axis thereof being either horizontal or vertical. The regulation of said cooling fan can be performed either manually or by means of respective thermostatic elements. A flap is provided on the housing of said cooling fan on the side facing the interior of the refrigerating compartment, said flap can be operated either manually, thermostatically or electro-mechanically, and is used to change the air flow entering the cooling fan from the refrigerating compartment and/or cooling air suction channel.
The invention will be more readily understood on reading the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1: shows a cross-section of a refrigerating appliance according to the invention along the line I-I of Fig. 2;
Fig. 2: shows a refrigerating appliance according to the invention in direction of the arrow II of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3: shows a cross-section of a refrigerating appliance according to the invention along the line III-III of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4: shows a refrigerating appliance according to the invention as shown in Fig. 2, but directly at the back thereof;
Fig. 5: shows a cross-section of the second embodiment of a refrigerating appliance according to the invention along the line III-III of Fig. 2;
Fig. 6: shows a cross-section of the third embodiment of a refrigerating appliance according to the invention along the line VI-VI of Fig. 7;
Fig. 7: shows a refrigerating appliance according to the invention in direction of the arrow VII of Fig. 6; and
Fig. 8: shows a cross-section of a refrigerating appliance according to the invention along the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7.

A refrigerating appliance according to the invention comprises a refrigerating compartment 1, a cold storage compartment 2 and a freezing compartment 3, said refrigerating compartment 1 and said cold storage compartment 2 being separated one from each other by means of a dividing wall 4 whereas the cold storage compartment 2 and the freezing compartment 3 are separated one from each other by means of a dividing wall 5, and where all said compartments are closed by means of door 6, 7. Spaced from the back 8 of the refrigerating appliance there is arranged an insulating wall 9 extending over the entire refrigerating compartment 1 and partially extending into the cold storage compartment 2 at its lower end. In the space between the back 8 and the insulating wall 9 there is placed an evaporator 10 which is either incorporated in the back 8 or somewhat spaced therefrom. Said insulating wall 9 comprises a vertical rib 11 extending over the entire height of said wall 9 and in depth extending up to the back 8, thus creating two separate parallel air cooling channels i.e. a suction channel 12 and an injection channel 13. Said rib 11 is arranged on the insulating wall 9 in a manner that said channels 12, 13 have preferably the same width. The suction channel 12 is via a gap 14 in the insulating wall 9 connected to the area of the cold storage compartment 2 directly under the dividing wall 4 separating the refrigerating compartment 1 from the cold storage compartment 2. The injection channel 13 is directly connected with the cold storage compartment 2 between the back wall of a drawer 16 (marked with a dot-and-dash line) for storing goods and the back 8 of the refrigerating appliance.
The dividing wall 4 according to the first embodiment is formed in the area of the door 6 of the refrigerating appliance with at least one opening 17 for passing through of the cooling air. Furthermore, the door 6 is formed over the entire width thereof and in the area directly above the dividing wall 4 with a flat projection 18 extending over the depth of the refrigerating appliance up to the area of the opening 17 for the cooling air to pass through, however the latter is not covered in any instance.
The insulating wall 9 is provided in the upper area thereof i.e. at the end facing away from the dividing wall 4 with a cooling fan 19 forcing the cooling air flow over the refrigerating appliance and can be controlled either manually or by means of respective thermostats. The cooling fan 19 is arranged in the insulating wall 9 either in parallel with or perpendicular to the back 8 and in a manner that its rotational axis is either horizontal or vertical. A flap 20 is provided on the housing of the cooling fan 19 on the side facing the interior of the refrigerating compartment 1, said flap 10 being operated either manually, thermostatically or electro-mechanically, and with which the air volume entering the fan 19 can be controlled. Said cooling fan 19 is arranged in the insulating wall 9 in a manner so that it can draw the air either from the refrigerating compartment 1 or the suction channel 12 or both simultaneously, depending on the position of said flap 20.
The cooling fan 19 draws air (arrow B) from the refrigerating compartment 1 and the return air (arrow A) from the suction channel 12, and pushes it into the injection channel 13 where it cools down by means of the evaporator 10. The entire cooling air volume A+B enters the cold storage compartment 2 and cools it down to the temperature controlled by means of a sensor 21. A part of the cooling air flow A is drawn by the fan 19 through the gap 14 in the insulating wall 9 streaming through the suction channel 12 up to said fan 19. The other part of the cooling air flow B streams through the openings 17 in the dividing wall 4 and/or past the door 6 and the flat projection 18, and enters the refrigerating compartment 1 thus cooling it down to the temperature controlled by a sensor 22. Afterwards, the cooling air flow B streams through the flap 20 in the fan 19 where it is mixed with the cooling air flow A from the suction channel 12, and then it is pushed again by the fan 19 into the injection channel 13. Each cooling air flow streams conveniently either through the refrigerating compartment 1 and/or cold storage compartment 2 so that it flows all over the drawers for storing goods found in the compartments 1, 2.
According to the second embodiment of the refrigerating appliance according to the invention, an additional wall 23 is provided which is spaced from the dividing wall 4 that separates refrigerating compartment 1 from the cold storage compartment 2 and on the side of said compartment 2 in the area above the drawer 16 for storing goods, so as said additional wall 23 and said wall 4 form an additional cooling air channel 24. An entrance for the cooling air flow in said channel 24 is provided in the area of the door 6 while said channel 24 is connected at the other end with the insulating wall 9 in a manner that it is connected directly to the gap 14 leading to the suction channel 12. This second embodiment facilitates better cooling air flow over the drawer with the goods since the entire air flow must stream through the entire drawer and up to the door area where it turns and enters said channel 24 and passes the door and the flat projections 18, respectively, and then enters the refrigerating compartment 1.
Another embodiment of the refrigerating appliance according to the invention provides for the spacing between the back 8 of the refrigerating appliance and the insulating wall 9 is divided in three flat channels by means of two ribs 11' extending over the insulating wall 9, namely in a central injection channel 25 and two suction channels 26, 27 arranged along each side of said central channel 25. Here, said ribs 11' extend in depth up to the back 8, and in height from the dividing wall 4 and up to the upper area of the refrigerating appliance. Moreover, the evaporator 10 of the refrigerating appliance is arranged in said spacing i.e. in the central injection channel 25. The top section of the injection channel 25 narrows and terminates in the cooling fan 19. The insulating wall 9 is formed in the area of the central injection channel 25 with a plurality of injection openings 28 comprising injection grids where each of the injection openings 28 can optionally be left ajar or entirely closed by means of a sliding control flap 29 which is regulated either manually or electro-mechanically.
Spaced from the dividing wall 4 separating the cold storage compartment 2 and the freezing compartment 3 the additional wall 23 is arranged, similar to the previously described embodiment, so that the additional channel 24 is created which is connected to the injection channel 25 on one side i.e. in the area of the insulating wall 9, and with the cold storage compartment 2 on the other side, i.e. in the door area. The lateral suction channels 26, 27 join at the cooling fan 19 at the top of the refrigerating appliance while open at the lower end and extending into the cold storage compartment 2 (cf. Fig. 8). A flap 30 covered with a suction grid is provided in the area above the cooling fan 19 and directly under the top of the refrigerating appliance.
With this embodiment the fan 19 draws the air (arrows B) through the flap 30 from the refrigerating compartment 1 and the return air (arrows A) from the suction channels 26, 27 and forces it as the combined air flow A+B into the injection channel 25 where it flows past the evaporator 10 and cools down. One part of the air cooling volume A+B enters the refrigerating compartment 1 through a plurality of the injection openings 28 while the rest of the cooling air volume A+B streams further in the channel 24 and enters the cold storage compartment 2 in the area of the door 6 and cools it down to the temperature controlled by the sensor 21. Thereafter, said rest cooling air volume A+B streams through the cold storage compartment 2 past the drawer 16 for storing goods, and returns as the air flow A into the suction channels 26, 27 past the back 8 of the refrigerating appliance. Each cooling air flow streams conveniently either through the refrigerating compartment 1 and/or cold storage compartment 2 so that it flows all over the drawers for storing goods found in the compartments 1, 2.

Claims

A refrigerating appliance comprising a refrigerating compartment, a cold storage compartment and a freezing compartment separated from each other by means of dividing walls and by means of at least one door or flap, and a cooling air channel, where, in the inflow area thereof is arranged a cooling fan drawing cooling air from the refrigerating compartment and the outlet area of said cooling air channel extends into the cold storage compartment, characterized by that spaced from a back (8) of a refrigerating appliance there is arranged an insulating wall (9) extending practically over the entire refrigerating compartment (1) said insulating wall (9) partially extends on its lower end in a cold storage compartment (2), said insulating wall (9) comprises at least one vertical rib (11; 11') extending over the entire height of said wall and extending in depth all the way to the back (8) of the refrigerating appliance forming therewith at least two separate parallel cooling air channels i.e. a suction channel (12; 26, 27) and an injection channel (13; 25), said suction channel (12; 26, 27) is connected with the area of the cold storage compartment (2) directly below a dividing wall (4) which separates the refrigerating compartment (1) from the cold storage compartment (2), said injection channel (13) is connected to the cold storage compartment (2), and that a cooling fan (19) is arranged in the upper area of the insulating wall (9) i.e. at the end facing away from the dividing wall (4).
A refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, characterised by that an evaporator (10) is arranged in the spacing between the back (8) of the refrigerating appliance and the insulating wall (9), said evaporator being either incorporated into the back (8) or slightly spaced therefrom.
A refrigerating appliance according to claims 1 and 2, characterised by that the width of the channels (12, 13; 25, 26, 27) differs from each other.
A refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, characterised by that the insulating wall (9) is formed in the area of the injection channel (25) with a plurality of injection openings (28) which can optionally be left ajar or entirely closed by means of a sliding control flap (29) which is regulated either manually or electro-mechanically.
A refrigerating appliance according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterised by that the cooling fan (19) that forces the cooling air flow over the refrigerating appliance can be controlled either manually or by means of respective thermostats (21, 22).
A refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, characterised by that spaced from the dividing wall (4) which separates the refrigerating compartment (1) from the cold storage compartment (2) and on the side of said compartment (2) in the area above a drawer (16) for storing goods there is arranged an additional wall (23) so that it forms with said dividing wall (4) an additional cooling air channel (24) which is via a gap (14) in the insulating wall (9) directly connected with the suction channel (12) and the injection channel (25), respectively.
A refrigerating appliance according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterised by that the cooling fan (19) arranged in the insulating wall (9) either in parallel with or perpendicular to the back (8) of the refrigerating appliance and where the rotational axis of said fan can be either horizontal or vertical.
A refrigerating appliance according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterised by that a flap (20, 30) is provided on the housing of the fan (19) on the side facing the interior of the refrigerating compartment (1), said flap can be operated either manually or electro-mechanically and with which a cooling air volume can be manipulated that enters into the fan (19) from the refrigerating compartment (1) and/or the cooling air suction channel (12).