EP3032199A1

EP3032199A1 - Cooling appliance

Info

Publication number: EP3032199A1
Application number: EP15195817.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Davi De Marco; Minghui Wang
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2014-12-12
Filing date: 2015-11-23
Publication date: 2016-06-15
Also published as: CN105737483B; CN105737483A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cooling appliance. The cooling appliance (1) includes a storage compartment (12) having a front opening (10), and an evaporator (2, 3) disposed along a top wall (14), where the storage compartment (12) has the top wall (14). According to suggestions of the present invention, the cooling appliance further includes an air guiding component (7) that is disposed along the top wall (14) and is close to the front opening (10), where the air guiding component (7) includes a downward guide wall (71), and the guide wall (71) inclines upwards from front to back, so that air with a relatively high temperature may be guided towards to the rear; therefore, frost can be relatively concentrated in the evaporator or in a region that is cooled by the evaporator and is not easily observed.

Description

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a cooling appliance, and in particular, to a household cooling appliance that has an evaporator disposed along a top wall.

Related Art

For a cooling appliance having a storage compartment, when a user opens a door, warm air enters the storage compartment, and tends to flow upwards or to a cooling source (for example, an evaporator). When the warm air comes into contact with surfaces having a relatively lower temperature, frost is easily formed on these surfaces. When the evaporator is disposed along a top wall of the storage compartment, the "warm air" that just enters the storage compartment from the outside and has a relatively high temperature easily moves towards the top of the storage compartment, as a result of that frost is easily formed on the top region.

SUMMARY

An objective of the present invention is to overcome the foregoing at least one technical problem existing in the prior art, to provide an improved cooling appliance.
The foregoing objective can be achieved by means of characteristics in independent claims. Preferable embodiments of the present invention are the subject of the accompanying drawings, the specification, and dependant claims.
An aspect of the present invention relates to a cooling appliance. The cooling appliance includes: a storage compartment having a front opening, where the storage compartment has a top wall; and an evaporator disposed along the top wall. The cooling appliance further includes an air guiding component that is along the top wall and is close to the front opening, where the air guiding component includes a downward guide wall, and the guide wall inclines upwards from front to back.
Therefore, when relatively warm air flows nearby a relatively cold top wall, the warm air may be guided by the guide wall inclining upwards from the front to the back, and flow backwards to the evaporator and /or a cold region cooled by the evaporator, so that moisture in the air is removed here, which helps to increase concentration of frost, for example, warm air remaining on a front edge of the top wall may be reduced, and accordingly, a quantity of frost formed in the front of the top wall may be reduced, or frost is even completely avoided from being formed here. In another aspect, because frost may be concentrated in the cold region behind the guide wall, for a refrigerator that can support automatic defrosting/manual defrosting, it helps to speed up defrosting. In addition, because the guide wall is higher in the front and is lower in the back, it is not easy for a user to observe frost behind the guide wall, and for a refrigerator that supports manual defrosting, this helps to extend a defrosting period.
The cooling appliance may be a refrigerator for storing to-be-cooled food, a wine cabinet, or the like. The air guiding component according to the present invention is particularly suited for a freezing chamber whose storage temperature is lower than zero degrees.
The evaporator disposed along the top wall may include an evaporator that is disposed along a side of the top wall facing the storage compartment and/or an evaporator that is disposed along a side (for example, a side facing a heat insulation layer) of the top wall deviating from the storage compartment. The evaporator may cling to the top wall or a distance may exist between the evaporator and the top wall. The evaporator not only may be disposed along the top wall, but also may be disposed along another wall, for example, the evaporator may entangle the top wall, a pair of side walls, and a bottom wall of the storage compartment.
The top wall of the storage compartment may be formed by a top wall of a box-type inner container. In an optional embodiment, when a heat insulation board for insulating two storage compartments is fixed in the box, the top wall of the storage compartment may also be formed by a lower board of such a heat insulation board.
In a possible embodiment, the guide wall has a curved surface sagging towards the top wall, which particularly helps the air flow backwards and upwards, thereby flowing to the region of the top wall located behind the guide wall.
In a possible embodiment, a gap exists between the guide wall and the top wall, and the gap gradually increases from the back to the front. On the one hand, heat exchange between the top wall and the guide wall may be reduced, which helps to prevent the guide wall from being cooled to a temperature that may condense or frost the moisture in the air, thereby preventing frost from being formed on the guide wall. On the other hand, because the gap between the guide wall and the top wall gradually increases, a part of the guide wall closer to the front opening has a higher temperature, which particularly helps to form frost on a region that is most easily observed by the user.
In a possible embodiment, a storage container located in the storage compartment is included, where the storage container includes a front container wall that is close to the front opening, the air guiding component includes a front shielding wall facing the front opening, and a front surface of the front shielding wall and a front surface of the front container wall are located in a same plane, or a front surface of the front shielding wall is closer to the front opening than a front surface of the front container wall is. When the warm air moves upwards along the front container wall of the storage container and flows backwards between the storage container and the air guiding component, because the front shielding wall of the air guiding component is not located behind the front container wall, it may be avoided that the warm air is blocked by the front shielding wall of the air guiding component and remains here to from frost, when the warm air flows above the top of the storage container.
In a possible embodiment, the front container wall includes a handle portion having a handle groove, an air passage is formed between the guide wall and a top surface of the handle portion, an intake of the air passage is located between a lower end of the front shielding wall and the handle portion, and the air passage gradually becomes larger from the front to the back. The air passage gradually becoming larger from the front to the back is formed between the handle portion and the guide wall, which helps the air flow backwards and upwards smoothly.
In a possible embodiment, the lower end of the front shielding wall is connected to a front end of the guide wall, and an angle between the front shielding wall and the guide wall is an acute angle. Because the guide wall inclines upwards from the front to the back, and the angle between the front shielding wall and the guide wall is an acute angle, the guide wall is almost invisible to the user.
In a possible embodiment, the air guiding component is fixed to the top wall by using a screw or is fixed to the top wall by using a fastening structure.
In a possible embodiment, the evaporator includes a first evaporator that is located outside the storage compartment and is disposed along an outer surface of the top wall facing a heat insulation layer.
In a possible embodiment, characterized in that the evaporator includes a second evaporator that is located in the storage compartment and is disposed along the top wall, and a support bar for supporting the second evaporator, where the air guiding component is located in front of the support bar, and the support bar has multiple air vents that are through the support bar, so that air from an air passage flows backwards through the air vent. Therefore, even if anther functional part exists in a rear side of the air guiding component, the air may still flow backwards smoothly. In a particularly preferable embodiment, a width of at least one air vent is greater than 5 centimeters and /or an area is greater than 4.5 square centimeters. Particularly preferably, a total area of the multiple air vents occupies at least 35% of a projected area of the air passage, where the projected area is on a plane on which the air vents are located, so that the air from the air passage may smoothly flow to the rear through the air vent, for example, the air flows to the second evaporator. Experiments show that when the area of the air vent reaches at least 35% of the projected area of the air passage, where the projected area is on the plane on which the air vents are located, little air remains in the air passage.
In a possible embodiment, the support bar and the air guiding component are integrally formed.
The structure of the present invention and other inventive objectives and beneficial effects of the present invention become more comprehensible through the description of preferable embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As a part of this specification and for further understanding of the present invention, the following accompanying drawings describe specific implementation manners of the present invention, and are used to describe the principle of the present invention together with the specification.

FIG. 1: is a schematic partial three-dimensional view of a cooling appliance according to a first preferable embodiment of the present invention, where a door is not shown;
FIG. 2: is a schematic partial cross-sectional view along a direction A-A in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3: is a schematic partial cross-sectional view along a direction B-B in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4: is a schematic three-dimensional view of a support bar according to the first preferable embodiment;
FIG. 5: is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a cooling appliance according to a second preferable embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 6: is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a cooling appliance according to a third preferable embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, a cooling appliance 1 includes a heat insulation box 11 having a storage compartment 12. A front opening 10 of the storage compartment 12 may be selectively closed or opened by using a heat insulation door connected to the box 11 (not shown in the figure).
The box 11 has a box-type inner container 13, including a top wall 14, a rear wall (not shown in the figure) facing the front opening 10, a bottom wall 15, and a pair of side walls 16. An inner surface of the inner container 13 faces the storage compartment 12 and defines a boundary of the storage compartment 12, so that a top wall of the storage compartment 12 is formed by the top wall 14 of the inner container 13. An outer surface of the inner container 13 faces a heat insulation layer (not shown in the figure) and is tightly combined with the heat insulation layer.
Multiple storage containers 17 are disposed in the storage compartment 12. In this embodiment, the storage container 17 is a drawer. A storage container 17 located on the top of the storage compartment 12 is close to the top wall 14, but a specific distance exists between the storage container 17 and the top wall 14.
The storage container 17 has a front container wall 171 that is close to the front opening 10 and the top wall 14, where a gap exists between a top surface 172 of the front container wall 171 and the top wall 14 in a vertical direction. In this embodiment, a handle portion 173 having a handle groove 174 is provided on an upper end of the front container wall 171, where a user may hold the handle portion 173 to pull the storage container 17 out of the storage compartment 12 or push the storage container 17 into the storage compartment 12. The handle portion 173 may be integrally formed on the front container wall 171, or may be connected to the storage container 17 as an independent component.
The cooling appliance 1 includes a first evaporator 2 disposed along outer surfaces of the top wall 14, the bottom wall 15, and the side wall 16. The first evaporator 2 is embedded in the heat insulation layer, and may be fixed on the inner container 13 by entangling an outer side of the inner container 13. The first evaporator 2 has an evaporation tube that is close to the front opening 10, and therefore, a temperature of a region of the top wall 14 that is close to the front opening 10 is relatively low.
The cooling appliance 1 includes a second evaporator 3 disposed along an inner side of the top wall 14. The second evaporator 3 and the first evaporator 2 may be disposed in parallel or in series.
Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, the cooling appliance 1 includes a support bar 5 for supporting the second evaporator 3. The support bar 5 is fixed on the top wall 14, and has an accommodating portion 51 for accommodating a front end of the second evaporator 3. Specifically, the support bar 5 includes an installation portion 52 for being fixed to the top wall 14. The installation portion 52 is located above the accommodating portion 51, and the installation portion 52 is suited to be fastened to a fastening structure 6 extending downwards from the top wall 14. The installation portion 52 may have a front installation wall 521 facing the front opening 10, where the front installation wall 521 has a pair of first air vents 54 exposed to the front opening 10, and each first air vent 54 corresponds to a corresponding fastening structure 6, so that fastening and fixation of the fastening structure 6 and the support bar 5 may be released by using a tool by that the tool passes through the front installation wall 521 through the first air vent 54.
The cooling appliance 1 includes an air guiding component 7 connected to a front end of the support bar 5. Specifically, the air guiding component 7 is connected to an upper end of the front installation wall 521 and extends forwards. In this way, the air guiding component 7 together with the support bar 5 is fixed on the top wall 14. In this embodiment, the support bar 5 and the air guiding component 7 are integrally formed.
The air guiding component 7 extends over the entire width of the storage compartment 12. Two ends of the air guiding component 7 connect a corresponding side wall 16. In the vertical direction, the air guiding component 7 and the first evaporator 2 are disposed along the top wall 14, and the air guiding component 7 overlaps the evaporation tube that is close to the front opening 10.
The air guiding component 7 includes a downward guide wall 71 facing the storage container 17. The guide wall 71 gradually inclines upwards from front to back (that is, in a direction from the front opening 10 to a rear wall of the storage compartment 12). In a width direction of the storage compartment 12, the guide wall 71 may have a specific cross-sectional shape. In this embodiment, the guide wall 71 has a curved surface sagging towards the top wall 14. A gap exists between the guide wall 71 and the top wall 14, and the gap between the guide wall 71 and the top wall 14 gradually decreases from the front to the back, as shown in FIG. 2. Multiple strip-shape ribs 73(as shown in FIG. 3) may be provided on a side of the air guiding component 7 facing the top wall 14.
In the vertical direction, the guide wall 71 overlaps at least a part of the top surface 172 of the front container wall 171, and a gap exists between the two, where this gap gradually increases from the front to the back. In this way, an air passage 8 gradually becoming larger from the front to the back direction is formed between the guide wall 71 and the top surface 172.
The air guiding component includes a front shielding wall 72 facing the front opening 10. An upper end of the front shielding wall 72 is connected to the top wall 14, a lower end of the front shielding wall 72 is connected to a front end of the guide wall 71, and an acute angle is formed between the two.
In this embodiment, a front surface of the front shielding wall 72 and a front surface of the handle portion 173 are located in a same plane, an intake of the air passage 8 is located between a lower end of the front shielding wall and the handle portion 173. In an optional embodiment, a front surface of the front shielding wall 72 may also be closer to the front opening 10 than a front surface of the handle portion 173 is.
Besides the first air vent 54 corresponding to the corresponding fastening structure 6, the front installation wall 521 has multiple second air vents 53 that are wider than the first air vent 54. The first air vent 54 and the second air vent 53 are located at the end of the air passage 8, are in fluid communication with the air passage 8, and are located on a relatively cold region that is behind the front installation wall 521. In this embodiment, a width of the first air vent 54 is greater than 2 centimeters, and a ventilation area of the first air vent 54 is greater than 1.5 square centimeters; and a width of the second air vent 53 is greater than 5 centimeters (for example, 6 centimeters to 7 centimeters), and an area of the second air vent 53 is greater than 4.5 square centimeters, so that a total ventilation area on the installation wall 521 is greater than 16 square centimeters. Preferably, the ventilation area on the installation wall 521 occupies at least 35%t of a total area of the installation wall 521; in other words, a total area of multiple air vents 53 and 54 occupies at least 35%, for example, 45%, of a projected area of the air passage, where the projected area is on a plane on which the air vents 53 and 54 are located.
In this way, air from the air passage 8 may flow behind the support bar 5 through the air vent 53, and particularly flow to the second evaporator 3 and the top wall 14 cooled by the first evaporator 2 and the second evaporator 3.
After a user closes the storage compartment 12, "warm air" that just enters the storage compartment 12 and has a relatively high temperature flows upwards though a gap between the door and the storage container 17. Nearby the top wall 14, the "warm air" enters the air passage 8 and is guided by the guide wall 71 to smoothly enter the air vent 53 and flow backwards, so that the "warm air" may flow behind the support bar 5, and moisture in the "warm air" may also be removed by that the er closes is in contact with the second evaporator 3 and the top wall cooled by the first evaporator 2, which helps frost in the storage compartment 12 be gathered in a position that is not easily observed by the user, therefore the user does not need frequently defrost. Because frost may be relatively concentrated, this also helps to improve defrosting efficiency.
FIG. 5 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a cooling appliance 1 a according to a second embodiment of the present invention. For technical feature same as those of the first embodiment, reference numerals of FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 are continuously used in FIG. 5. The embodiment of FIG. 5 mainly differs from the foregoing embodiment in that: in this embodiment, the first evaporator 2 is disposed on an outer side of the top wall 14, but the second evaporator that is located in the storage compartment 12 and is disposed along the inner side of the top wall 14 is removed. Correspondingly, the support bar for supporting the second evaporator is also removed. The air guiding component 7 may be directly fixed on the top wall 14 by using a screw. As an optional embodiment, the air guiding component 7 may also be fixed to the top wall 14 by using a fastening structure 6 similar to that in the first embodiment.
Air flows backwards though the air passage 8 between the air guiding component 7 and the storage container 17, and is blown to the top wall 14. Moisture in the air may be removed from the air by that the air is in contact with a part of the top wall 14 located behind the air guiding component 7, so that frost may be relatively centrally formed on a region behind the guiding component 7.
FIG. 6 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a cooling appliance 1 b according to a third embodiment of the present invention. For technical feature same as those of the first embodiment, reference numerals of FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 are continuously used in FIG. 6. The embodiment of FIG. 6 mainly differs from the first embodiment in that: in this embodiment, a storage container 17b of a front container wall 171b is roughly straight in a vertical direction. A front surface of the front container wall 171 b and the front surface of the front shielding wall 72 are located in a same plane, and when air flows upwards between the front container wall 171 b and the guide wall 71, some air flows into the storage container 17, and some air is guided by the guide wall 71 to flow backwards, so that the air does not remain in a front edge region of the top wall 14, and may be guided to flow backwards, thereby preventing frost from being forming in an region that is most easily observed by a user, that is, this helps to extend a defrosting period of the cooling appliance.
Various embodiments for describing each single part with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 7 may be combined in any given manner to achieve the technical effects of the present invention. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the shown embodiments, and generally means other than the shown means may be used, as long as they can achieve the same effect.

Claims

A cooling appliance (1, 1 a, 1 b), comprising:
a storage compartment (12) having a front opening (10), wherein the storage compartment (12) has a top wall (14);

an evaporator (2, 3) disposed along the top wall (14); and

characterized by further comprising an air guiding component (7) that is disposed along the top wall (14) and is close to the front opening (10), wherein the air guiding component (7) comprises a downward guide wall (71), and the guide wall (71) inclines upwards from front to back.
The cooling appliance (1, 1 a, 1 b) according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide wall (71) has a curved surface sagging towards the top wall (14).
The cooling appliance (1, 1 a, 1b) according to claim 1, characterized in that a gap exists between the guide wall (71) and the top wall (14), and the gap gradually increases from the back to the front.
The cooling appliance (1, 1a, 1b) according to claim 1, characterized by comprising a storage container (17) located in the storage compartment (12), wherein the storage container (17) comprises a front container wall (171) that is close to the front opening (10), the air guiding component (7) comprises a front shielding wall (72) facing the front opening (10), and a front surface of the front shielding wall (72) and a front surface of the front container wall (171) are located in a same plane, or a front surface of the front shielding wall (72) is closer to the front opening (10) than a front surface of the front container wall (171) is.
The cooling appliance (1, 1a, 1b) according to claim 4, characterized in that the front container wall (171) comprises a handle portion (173) having a handle groove (174), an air passage (8) is formed between the guide wall (71) and a top surface (172) of the handle portion (173), an intake of the air passage (8) is located between a lower end of the front shielding wall (72) and the handle portion (173), and the air passage (8) gradually becomes larger from the front to the back.
The cooling appliance (1, 1 a, 1 b) according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the lower end of the front shielding wall (72) is connected to a front end of the guide wall (71), and an angle between the front shielding wall (72) and the guide wall (71) is an acute angle.
The cooling appliance (1, 1 a, 1 b) according to claim 1, characterized in that the air guiding component (7) is fixed to the top wall (14) by using a screw or is fixed to the top wall (14) by using a fastening structure (6).
The cooling appliance (1, 1 a, 1b) according to claim 1, characterized in that the evaporator (2, 3) comprises a first evaporator (2) that is located outside the storage compartment (12) and is disposed along an outer surface of the top wall (14) facing a heat insulation layer.
The cooling appliance (1, 1 a, 1 b) according to claim 1 or 8, characterized in that the evaporator (2, 3) comprises a second evaporator (3) that is located in the storage compartment (12) and is disposed along the top wall (14), and a support bar (5) for supporting the second evaporator (3), wherein the air guiding component (7) is located in front of the support bar (5), and the support bar (5) has multiple air vents (53, 54) that are through the support bar (5), so that air from an air passage (8) flows backwards through the air vent (53, 54).
The cooling appliance (1, 1 a, 1b) according to claim 9, characterized in that a width of at least one air vent (53) is greater than 5 centimeters and /or an area of at least one air vent (53) is greater than 4.5 square centimeters.
The cooling appliance (1, 1 a, 1 b) according to claim 9, characterized in that a total area of the multiple air vents (53, 54) occupies at least 35% of a projected area of the air passage (8), wherein the projected area of the air passage (8) is on a plane on which the air vent (53, 54) is located.
The cooling appliance (1, 1 a, 1b) according to claim 9, characterized in that the support bar (5) and the air guiding component (7) are integrally formed.