EP3699520A1

EP3699520A1 - Refrigeration appliance

Info

Publication number: EP3699520A1
Application number: EP20152895.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Xiupeng Chen; Xuan Zhou
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2019-02-20
Filing date: 2020-01-21
Publication date: 2020-08-26
Anticipated expiration: 2040-01-21
Also published as: EP3699520B1; CN209819989U; PL3699520T3

Abstract

A refrigeration appliance (100) comprising a housing (10), a liner (20), and an air duct assembly (30) configured to define an air duct (50), the liner (20) being located inside the housing (10), a back wall (21) of the liner (20) being recessed toward the housing (10) to form a groove (40), and the air duct (50) being located in the groove (40). Based on the foregoing solution, space occupied by the air duct (50) in a storage compartment can be reduced, and in addition, overall consistency inside the storage compartment of the refrigeration appliance (100) can be improved.

Description

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

Embodiments of the utility model relate to the technical field of household appliances, and in particular, to a refrigeration appliance.

Related Art

For a current frost-free refrigerator, a fan is usually used to blow cold air to each compartment of the refrigerator for refrigeration.
However, an air duct in the frost-free refrigerator usually needs to occupy space of a storage compartment, resulting in a relatively small volume of the storage compartment.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the utility model are intended to reduce space occupied by an air duct in a storage compartment.
To solve the foregoing technical problem, the embodiments of the utility model provides a refrigeration appliance including a housing, a liner, and an air duct assembly configured to define an air duct, the liner being located inside the housing, a back wall of the liner being recessed toward the housing to form a groove, and the air duct being located in the groove.
In comparison to the prior art, technical solutions of the embodiments of the utility model have the following beneficial effects.
The back wall of the liner of the refrigeration appliance is recessed in a direction toward the housing to form the groove. The air duct assembly may define one air duct, and the air duct is disposed in the groove. Because the groove is formed, on a basis of a storage compartment formed in the liner, with the back wall recessed in the direction toward the housing, space occupied by the air duct in the storage compartment can be reduced. In addition, overall consistency inside the storage compartment of the refrigeration appliance may further be improved.
Optionally, the groove includes at least one curved side wall, two ends of the curved side wall being respectively connected to the back wall of the liner and a side wall of the groove. The curved side wall is used to guide air, so that an appearance of the storage compartment can be optimized, and integrity of the storage compartment can be improved. In addition, cold air is blown out through the curved side wall formed by the groove, to prevent air from hitting a side wall of the liner, thereby reducing air resistance and directing air forward.
Optionally, the curved side wall is tangent to the back wall of the liner, so that the air resistance can further be reduced, wind field can be optimized, a cooling speed in the storage compartment can be increased, thereby facilitating cooling of food materials.
Optionally, the curved side wall is tangent to the side wall of the groove, so that the air resistance can further be reduced, wind field can be optimized, a cooling speed in the storage compartment can be increased, thereby facilitating cooling of food materials.
Optionally, the groove includes a curved top wall being connected to a top wall of the liner.
Optionally, the curved top wall is tangent to the top wall of the liner.
Optionally, the air duct assembly includes a front cover plate and an air duct member, the air duct member being located between the front cover plate and a back wall of the groove.
Optionally, the front cover plate protrudes from a plane on which a notch of the groove is located.
Optionally, a distance by which the front cover plate protrudes from the plane on which the notch of the groove is located is not greater than 10 mm.
Optionally, a gap is provided between a side end of the front cover plate and the curved side wall of the groove for cold air to flow out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigeration appliance according to an embodiment of the utility model;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along a direction A-A;
FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged view of FIG. 2 at I;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along a direction B-B; and
FIG. 5 is a partial schematic structural diagram of a refrigeration appliance according to an embodiment of the utility model.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to make the foregoing objective, features, and advantages of the embodiments of the utility model more clearly and easier to understand, specific embodiments of the utility model are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigeration appliance according to an embodiment of the utility model. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along a direction A-A. FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged view of FIG. 2 at I. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along a direction B-B. FIG. 5 is a partial schematic structural diagram of a refrigeration appliance according to an embodiment of the utility model. A specific structure of the refrigeration appliance is described below with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5.
In specific implementation, a refrigeration appliance 100 may include a housing 10, a liner 20, and an air duct assembly 30. The liner 20 is located inside the housing 10. A portion of a back wall 21 of the liner 20 is recessed toward the housing 10 to form a groove 40. The air duct assembly 30 defines an air duct 50, the air duct 50 providing a flow passage for air blown by a fan, and the air duct 50 being located in the groove 40.
In the embodiment of the utility model, the air duct assembly 30 may include a plurality of components, where some components may be located in the groove 40, and other components may be located outside the groove 40. For example, the air duct assembly 30 includes an air duct member 32 and a front cover plate 31. The air duct member 32 is located in the groove 40, and the front cover plate 31 is located outside the groove 40.
The groove 40 for accommodating the air duct 50 is formed by the portion of the back wall of the liner 20 being recessed in a direction toward the housing 10, so that there is no need to occupy too much space in the storage compartment. Therefore, in comparison to the prior art in which an air duct needs to be disposed in a storage compartment, space occupied by the air duct 50 in the storage compartment can be effectively reduced. In addition, when the air duct 50 is located in the groove 40, the air duct assembly 30 configured to define the air duct 50 is at least partially located in the groove, that is, only a small portion of the components of the air duct assembly 30 may protrude from the groove 40, so that overall consistency in the storage compartment of the refrigeration appliance 100 can be improved.
In some embodiments, a manner in which the air duct 50 and the air duct assembly 30 provided in the embodiments of the utility model are arranged is used, so that a distance between the air duct assembly 30 and the liner 20 can be shortened, a distance between a glass shelf and the air duct assembly 30 can be reduced, and a volume of the refrigeration appliance 100 can be increased.
In specific implementation, the groove 40 includes at least one curved side wall 41. Two ends of the curved side wall 41 are respectively connected to the back wall 21 of the liner 20 and a side wall 43 of the groove 40.
The groove 40 may include one curved side wall 41, or may include two curved side walls 41. A specific quantity of curved side walls 41 disposed in the groove 40 may be set according to factors such as a quantity of air outlets of the air duct assembly 30, a size or an arranging position of an air outlet of the air duct assembly 30. The disposed curved side wall 41 can guide air without needing to dispose additional air guide components, so that a quantity of components of the refrigeration appliance 100 can be reduced, and a structure of the refrigeration appliance 100 can be simplified. In addition, because the structure of the refrigeration appliance 100 is simplified, installation steps can be reduced, and costs of refrigeration appliance 100 can be reduced.
In one embodiment of the utility model, the curved side wall 41 is tangent to the back wall 21 of the liner 20. When the fan operates, because the curved side wall 41 is tangent to the back wall 21 of the liner 20, air can be prevented from hitting a side wall of the liner 20, so that air resistance is reduced and air can be directed forward. In this way, air may be guided to a front end of the liner 20, that is, a region that is of the liner 20 and that is close to a door of a refrigerator, to optimize a wind field, thereby increasing a cooling speed in the storage compartment, and facilitating cooling of food materials. A direction of arrows in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 is an approximate direction of cold air.
In another embodiment of the utility model, the curved side wall 41 is tangent to the side wall 43 of the groove 40, and air can be guided out along the curved side wall 41 and in a direction in which the curved side wall 41 is tangent to the side wall 43 of the groove 40, to reduce the wind resistance, so that the air resistance can further be reduced, and the cooling speed in the storage compartment can be increased.
Referring to FIG. 3, in specific implementation, the groove 40 may further include a curved top wall 42. The curved top wall 42 is connected to a top wall 22 of the liner 20.
In an embodiment of the utility model, the curved top wall 42 is tangent to the top wall 22 of the liner 20, and cold air flowing out from the curved top wall 42 can be guided out from the curved top wall 42 and in a direction in which the curved top wall 42 is tangent to the top wall 22 of the liner 20, so that the air resistance can further be reduced, the wind field can be optimized, the cooling speed in the storage compartment can be increased, thereby facilitating the cooling of food materials.
The curved side wall 41 or the curved top wall 42 is used to guide air, so that an appearance of the storage compartment can be optimized, and integrity of the storage compartment is improved. In addition, cold air is blown out through a curved surface presented by the groove 40, to prevent the air from hitting the side wall of the liner 20, thereby reducing the air resistance and directing air forward.
Still referring to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, in specific implementation, the air duct assembly 30 includes the front cover plate 31 and the air duct member 32. The air duct member 32 is located between the front cover plate 31 and a back wall 45 of the groove 40.
A gap is provided between a side end 31a of the front cover plate 31 and the curved side wall 41 of the groove 40 for cold air to flow out. The air duct member 32 is provided with an air outlet. When the fan operates, cold air is blown out through the air outlet, and under guidance of the curved side wall 41 or the curved top wall 42, cold air flows out through the gap between the side end 31a of the front cover plate 31 and the curved side wall 41 of the groove 40 and enters the storage compartment, and then returns to the air duct assembly 30 through a return air inlet disposed at bottom of the liner 20, so that a cycle is completed.
In specific implementation, several air outlets may be disposed at one side of the air duct member 32, or several air outlets may be disposed at two sides of the air duct member 32, or several air outlets may be disposed at a top of the air duct member 32, or air outlets may be disposed at two sides and the top of the air duct member 32.
In one embodiment of the utility model, in order to improve strength of the front cover plate 31, several stiffeners 311 are disposed on the front cover plate 31.
In one embodiment of the utility model, the air duct member 32 is located in the groove 40, and the front cover plate 31 is located outside the groove 40. It may be understood that the front cover plate 31 may also be disposed in the groove 40 according to an actual application requirement.
In specific implementation, the front cover plate 31 may protrude from a plane on which a notch of the groove 40 is located, so that overall consistency in the storage compartment of the refrigeration appliance 100 can be improved, thereby achieving a better overall effect of the storage compartment.
In one embodiment of the utility model, the front cover plate 31 may be connected to the curved side wall 41 of the groove 40. For example, a hook is disposed on the front cover plate 31, a slot corresponding to the hook is disposed on the curved side wall 41, and the front cover plate 31 is engaged with the curved side wall 41. In another embodiment of the utility model, the front cover plate 31 is connected to the side wall 43 of the groove 40.
In the embodiment of the utility model, a distance d by which the front cover plate 31 protrudes from the plane on which the notch of the groove 40 is located is not greater than 10 mm. For example, the distance by which the front cover plate 31 protrudes from the plane on which the notch of the groove 40 is located is 5 mm.
It may be understood that, in practical application, the distance d by which the front cover plate 31 protrudes from the plane on which the notch of the groove 40 is located may be set based on an actual size, refrigerating capacity, and the like of the storage compartment of the refrigeration appliance 100.
To seal the air duct assembly 30 to prevent cold air from leaking out from other locations except the air outlet, in one embodiment of the utility model, the air duct assembly 30 further includes a rear cover plate 33. The rear cover plate 33 is located between the air duct member 32 and the back wall 45 of the groove 40, and the rear cover plate 33 may be fixed to the back wall 45 of the groove 40. In another embodiment of the utility model, the air duct assembly 30 includes a seal, the seal being located between the air duct member 32 and the back wall 45 of the groove 40.
Although the utility model is disclosed above, the utility model is not limited thereto. Various alterations and modifications may be made by a person skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the utility model, and therefore the protection scope of the utility model should be subject to the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

A refrigeration appliance (100) comprising a housing (10), a liner (20), and an air duct assembly (30) configured to define an air duct (50), wherein
the liner (20) is located inside the housing (10), a back wall (21) of the liner (20) being recessed toward the housing (10) to form a groove (40); and
the air duct (50) is located in the groove (40).
The refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the groove (40) comprises at least one curved side wall (41), two ends of the curved side wall (41) being respectively connected to the back wall (21) of the liner (20) and a side wall (43) of the groove (40).
The refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that the curved side wall (41) is tangent to the back wall (21) of the liner (20).
The refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the curved side wall (41) is tangent to the side wall (43) of the groove (40).
The refrigeration appliance (100) according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the groove (40) comprises a curved top wall (42) being connected to a top wall (22) of the liner (20).
The refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 5, characterized in that the curved top wall (42) is tangent to the top wall (22) of the liner (20).
The refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that the air duct assembly (30) comprises a front cover plate (31) and an air duct member (32), the air duct member (32) being located between the front cover plate (31) and a back wall (45) of the groove (40).
The refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 7, characterized in that the front cover plate (31) protrudes from a plane on which a notch of the groove (40) is located.
The refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that a distance by which the front cover plate (31) protrudes from the plane on which the notch of the groove (40) is located is not greater than 10 mm.
The refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that a gap is provided between a side end (31a) of the front cover plate (31) and the curved side wall (41) of the groove (40) for cold air to flow out.