EP1957916A1

EP1957916A1 - Refrigeration device comprising a water tank

Info

Publication number: EP1957916A1
Application number: EP06807683A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Martin Buchstab; Irene Dumkow; Adolf Feinauer; Klaus Flinner; Bernd Heger; Peter Nalbach; Kasim Yazan
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2005-11-30
Filing date: 2006-10-31
Publication date: 2008-08-20
Also published as: US9879903B2; US20090044560A1; US20150203344A1; CN101317060A; DE102005057165A1; WO2007062952A1; US9097458B2

Abstract

The invention relates to a refrigeration device comprising a heat-insulated housing (1, 8), which contains a storage compartment (2), a water tank (12), a fan (7) for propelling a stream of cold air that passes through an evaporator (6) and a distribution unit (21) for the controlled distribution of the stream of cold air along at least two circulation paths (9, 2, 24; 13, 24), the first (13, 24) of which is in closer thermal contact with the water tank (12) than the second (9, 2, 24).

Description

Refrigerating appliance with water tank

The present invention relates to a refrigerator with a heat-insulating housing, housed in the housing storage chamber for refrigerated goods and a water tank. Such a refrigeration device is known from WO 03/033976 A1.

The water tank of such a refrigerator is generally used to supply a drinking water dispenser, which is mounted on an outer side of the housing of the refrigerator, and is in thermal contact with the storage chamber to ensure cooling of its contents and thus of the dispensed at the dispenser drinking water.

In order to prevent that at temperatures of the storage chamber under O ⁹ C the contents of the tank freezes, the tank is embedded in an insulating layer of the door in the known refrigeration device, so that it assumes a temperature between that of the storage chamber and the ambient temperature.

The all-embedding of the tank in insulation material means that when water has been tapped and fresh water flows, it takes a very long time for the tank contents to return to its steady state temperature. In addition, the storage chamber must have a much lower temperature than the desired steady-state temperature of the tank, so that the latter reaches a value acceptable to the user; that is, the storage chamber must have freezing temperature. Another problem is that the temperature in the tank depends on the ambient temperature of the refrigerator.

Object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator with a water tank, which allows to set the temperature of the water tank, regardless of the ambient temperature and the temperature of the storage chamber.

The object is achieved by a refrigerator with a heat-insulating housing, housed in the housing storage chamber for refrigerated goods and a water tank having a fan for driving a running through an evaporator cold air flow and a manifold for controlled distribution of the cold air flow to at least two circulation paths, of which the first in closer thermal contact with the water tank is the second. By controlling the cold air flow rates on the two circulation paths, it is possible to keep both the storage chamber and the water tank at independently definable set temperatures.

In the simplest case, the control by the manufacturer or user of the refrigerator, for example, by adjusting passage cross sections of the two circulation paths, be made permanent in order to obtain a quantitative distribution of the cold air flow to the two circulation paths, which results in a desired cooling of the water tank.

Alternatively, a temperature sensor can also be assigned to the water tank, and the distributor device is set up to regulate the cold air flow rate on the first circulation path as a function of the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

It may also be provided a sensor for detecting or measuring the flow of water through the tank to easily determine the refrigerant demand of the tank.

According to a simple embodiment, the water tank is arranged in the storage chamber, and the storage chamber has at least two inlet openings for the cold air flow, of which one, which is attributable to the first circulation path, is aligned with the tank. With such a structure, the water tank is blown through this outlet opening with fresh cold air before it is distributed in the storage chamber, and can thereby be preferably cooled. That is, although the water tank is in the storage chamber, it may reach a temperature that is well below the mean temperature of the storage chamber.

In order to avoid a strong inflow of heat into the tank from the surrounding storage chamber, the tank can be arranged directly on a wall of the heat-insulating housing or in a niche of this wall.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the tank is disposed outside the storage chamber, and the first circulation path has an upstream portion that extends over the tank and a downstream portion that passes through the storage chamber. Again, the tank can be cooled more than the storage chamber. Air already After heating up the tank, it can then be used to cool the storage chamber. This is particularly useful when the temperature difference between the tank and the storage chamber is large, for example, when the storage chamber has a basement compartment through which passes the first circulation path after passing through the tank.

If the temperature of the tank is only slightly lower than that of the storage chamber, or if the temperature of the storage chamber is lower than that of the tank, it is not appropriate to pass heated air to the storage chamber to the storage chamber. In this case, the tank is expediently arranged outside the storage chamber, and the first circulation path runs over the tank, bypassing the storage chamber. Such a construction is also useful when the tank temperature is lower than that of the storage chamber. A refrigerator housing, in which the first circulation path is separated from the storage chamber, is therefore suitable for both a refrigerator and a freezer and can be manufactured inexpensively in large quantities because of this versatility

In these latter cases, the tank is preferably embedded in an insulating layer of a wall of the housing.

In this case, the first circulation path can run between the storage chamber and the tank. In order to keep the thickness of the wall low, it may also be expedient if the first circulation path extends in an angle bounded on the one hand by the tank and on the other hand by the storage chamber.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures. Show it:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic section through a refrigerator according to a first

Embodiment of the invention;

2 shows a section according to a second embodiment;

3 shows a section according to a third embodiment; - A -

4 shows a section according to a fourth embodiment;

Fig. 5 is a view of the inside of the door of the refrigerator of Fig. 4; and

6 is a partial section along the line Vl-Vl of Fig. 5th

Fig. 1 shows a schematic section through a refrigerator in no-frost construction, which represents a first embodiment of the invention. A body 1 of the refrigerator is in a known manner from a solid outer skin and a storage chamber 2 bounding, one-piece plastic deep-drawn inner container 3 joined together, and a space between the outer skin and inner container 3 is filled with insulating foam material.

In one of the storage chamber 2 separated chamber 5 is an evaporator 6 and a fan 7. An inlet opening 17 is formed at one of the door 8 facing the end of the chamber 5 between this and the storage chamber 2. It is, as it lies outside of the sectional plane of Fig., Indicated in this as a dashed contour. Adjacent to the rear wall of the body 1 extends a distribution channel 9, which communicates on the one hand with the chamber 5 and on the other hand via a plurality of vertically distributed openings 10 with the storage chamber 2. At the inlet of the distribution channel 9, a flap 1 1 is mounted, which blocks the distribution channel 9 in the position shown and an opening 38 releases, which opens into the storage chamber 2 adjacent to a water tank 12. The rear walls of the tank 12 and the inner container 3 define a tank cooling passage 13 through which cold air flows after passing through the opening 38 before being distributed in the storage chamber 2.

A supply line 14 of the tank is provided to be connected to a public drinking water network; a discharge line 15 is guided through a hinge of the door 8 to a drinking water dispenser 16 arranged centrally in the door 8. The supply line 14 can simultaneously serve to supply an ice maker, which is not shown in the figure, since it is not directly related to the invention.

In the representation of FIG. 1, it is shown that the tank cooling channel 13 extends along the rear side of the roughly cuboidal tank 12 placed in the storage chamber 2 extends. In order to restrict a heat exchange of the tank 12 with the rest of the storage chamber 2, the tank cooling channel 13 may also extend beyond side walls of the tank 12 outside the cutting plane of the figure, or the tank 12 may in the width direction of the body 1 each from a side wall to extend opposite to immediately adjacent to the insulating layer and so to prevent heat exchange with the rest of the storage chamber via the side walls.

In a modification shown in Fig. 2, the tank cooling channel 13 is also guided along the bottom and front of the tank 12 and extends from there to the inlet opening 17 of the chamber 5. This construction allows the cold air used for cooling the tank 12 completely separated from that which flows through the rest of the storage chamber 2. Unlike in the embodiment of FIG. 1, it can thus not come to a temporary heating of the storage chamber 2, if a large amount of water from the tank 12 is tapped and replaced with hot water and the air in the tank cooling channel 13 is thereby warmer than in the remaining storage chamber 2.

Fig. 3 shows a third embodiment of the refrigerator according to the invention. As in the previously considered embodiments, a chamber 5 with evaporator 6 and blower 7 is divided in the body 1 above the storage chamber 2, and a flap 1 1 is movable between a position shown in the figure, in which they along the rear wall of the storage chamber. 2 extending distribution channel 5 blocks and a tank cooling passage 13 releases, and a position in which it releases the distribution channel 9 and the tank cooling passage 13 blocks. The tank cooling channel 13 in this embodiment comprises a first portion 18 which extends inside the body 1 to the door 8, and a second portion 19 which extends in the interior of the door 8 between the tank 12 and the storage chamber 2. The sections abut against each other at two inclined surfaces of the body 1 and the door 8, which face each other in parallel with the door 8 closed, thereby holding a rubber seal 39 compressed.

In the illustration of FIG. 3, the second section 19 opens below the tank 12 into the storage chamber 2. Alternatively, it would be considered to guide the second section 19 inside the door 8 upwards again and back to the inlet opening (not shown) of the chamber 5 so as to realize separate flow paths on the one hand through the storage chamber 2, on the other hand, along the tank 12 and thereby prevent warmed air at the tank over the temperature of the storage chamber 2 in the storage chamber 2 is discharged.

Instead of the mounting of the tank 12 in the door 8 above the drinking water dispenser 16 shown in Fig. 3 would also be considered to place in this area an icemaker and to arrange the tank instead in the door height of the drinking water dispenser 16.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4, the flow direction of the air in the chamber 5 from back to front, in contrast to the above-considered embodiments. Distribution channels 20 (see FIG. 5) for distributing cold air out of the chamber 5 in the storage chamber 2 extend outside the sectional plane of FIG. 4 in the door 8 and are not shown in FIG. 4 for the sake of clarity. A valve 21 is switchable between a position in which it connects the distribution channels 20 with the chamber 5, and a position in which it feeds a tank cooling channel 13 running inside the door 8. Parts of the tank cooling channel 13, which are outside the sectional plane of Fig. 4, are shown in the figure as a dashed outline. The tank cooling channel 13 runs along the side walls of the tank 12, passes through a niche below the tank 22, which contains the water dispenser 16, and finally extends to a transition piece 23 at the bottom of the door 8, to which in the body 1, an intake passage 24 connects. This extends below the bottom of the storage chamber 2 and along the rear wall. Intake openings 25 formed in the region of the rear wall between intake duct 24 and storage chamber 2 allow the return of air from storage chamber 2 to evaporator chamber 5.

5 shows a view of the rear side of the door 8. In an inclined surface 26 in the upper region of the door are three openings 27, 27, 28, which are opposite openings 8 of the body 1 with the door closed, and of which in a first position the valve 21, the two outer 27 and in a second position, the middle 28 is fed with cold air. The two openings 27 belong to distribution channels 20 which extend vertically downwardly along the inside of the door 8 and each have a plurality of outlet openings 29 at different heights, via which cold air is discharged distributed over the height of the storage chamber 2. The opening 28 belongs to the running between the two distribution channels 20 tank cooling channel 13, whose hidden in the figure outline is also shown in dashed lines. The tank cooling channel 13 is delimited from the storage chamber 2 by a flat plastic shell 30 which extends from the opening 28 over substantially the entire height of the door to an opening 40 at its lower edge and in its upper region a projecting into the storage chamber 2 Bulge 31, which covers the tank 12 and the niche 22.

As can be seen more clearly in the section of FIG. 6, the door 8, like the body, is constructed of a solid outer skin, a plastic inner wall 33 and an insulating foam layer 34 interposed therebetween, and has a recess 32 covered by the shell 30 on, in which the tank 12 is housed. In the illustration of Fig. 6, the tank cooling channel 13 extends on either side of the tank 12 at an angle 36 which is bounded on the one hand by side walls of the tank 12 and on the other hand by the shell 31 which separates the channel 13 from the storage chamber 2. A gap 35 between the tank 12 and the shell 31 is filled with insulation material to largely decouple the tank 12 of the storage chamber 2 thermally. However, the gap 35 could also be left empty to also act as the tank cooling channel 13.

In order to intensify the heat exchange between the tank 12 and the air flowing in the cooling channel 13, the tank 12 may be provided with projecting cooling fins 37, as shown.

Due to the arrangement of the tank 12 in one of the insulating walls of the refrigerator housing between the cooled storage chamber 2 and the environment, a temperature sets in the tank 12, which is between those of the storage chamber 2 and that of the environment, without the channel 13 with cold air would have to be charged. A supply of the channel 13 with cold air is only required if a lower temperature of the water in the tank is desired than automatically sets in the thermal equilibrium between the storage chamber and the environment, or if a rapid cooling of the tank contents is desired. To ensure the latter, as explained above, the temperature of the water in the tank can be detected by means of a temperature sensor, not shown, and the channel 13 with cold air be applied when the detected temperature is above a target value; but it is also possible to detect that or how much water is tapped at the drinking water dispenser 16 to then feed a fixed or the tapped amount of water proportional amount of cold air into the channel 13 and fresh so cool down the tank 12 nachgeströmtes water quickly. Such a control of the cooling of the tank 12 is in particular inexpensive to implement refrigeration equipment, which are equipped with a built-in water filter and a measuring device for detecting the cumulative flow of water through the filter. Such a measuring device conventionally serves to estimate, on the basis of the water consumption, when the filter has been used up and needs to be replaced; but it is also readily usable to estimate the cooling demand on the water tank 12 qualitatively or quantitatively.

Claims

claims

1 . Refrigerating appliance with a heat-insulating housing (1, 8), one in the housing

(1, 8) housed storage chamber (2) for refrigerated goods and a water tank (12), characterized by a fan (7) for driving a via an evaporator (6) extending cold air flow and a distribution device (1 1, 21) for the controlled distribution of the Cold air flow on at least two circulation paths (9, 2, 13), of which the first (13) is in closer thermal contact with the water tank (12) than the second (9, 2).

2. Refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the water tank (12) in the storage chamber (2) is arranged and the storage chamber (2) has at least two inlet openings (10, 38) for the cold air flow, of which one (38) the tank (12) is aligned.

3. Refrigerating appliance according to claim 2, characterized in that the tank (12) is arranged directly on a wall of the heat-insulating housing (1, 8) or in a niche of the wall.

4. Refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the tank (12) outside the storage chamber (2) is arranged that an upstream

Section (13) of the first circulation path via the tank (12) and a downstream portion of the first circulation path through the storage chamber (2).

5. Refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the tank (12) outside the storage chamber (2) is arranged and that the first circulation path (13, 24), bypassing the storage chamber (2) via the tank (12).

6. Refrigerating appliance according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the tank (12) in an insulating layer of a wall (8) of the housing (1, 8) is embedded.

7. Refrigerating appliance according to claim 6, characterized in that the first circulation path

(13) between the storage chamber (2) and the tank (12) passes through (35).

8. Refrigerating appliance according to claim 6, characterized in that the first circulation path (13) extends in an on the one hand by the tank (12) and on the other hand by the storage chamber (2) limited angle (36).

9. Refrigerating appliance according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the water tank (12) on a door (8) of the housing (1, 8) is arranged.

10. Refrigerating appliance according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the distributor device (1 1, 21) comprises a directional control valve.

1 1. Refrigerating appliance according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a measuring device for detecting

Water flow through the tank (12).