JP2000241066A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten defrosting time by laterally bending the lower end of a drainage pipe for flowing down the defrost water from an evaporator by leading out the lower end from the bottom plate of a heat insulating box and facing it against a vapor pan disposed in a machine room thereby suppressing intrusion of vapor into the drainage pipe to retard frosting of the evaporator. SOLUTION: In a forced chill circulation refrigerator, chill is fed to a refrigeration compartment, freezing compartment and the like, and returned back to an evaporator 8 through a chill return path formed in the partition wall 12 between the chambers or the like. A drainage trough 13 is made in the rear of the partition wall 12 and provided with a defrost heater 14. Defrost water collected in the drainage trough 13 flows down through a drainage pipe 17 to a vapor pan 16 disposed in a machine room 15 located at the lower rear part of a heat insulating box 1 and then it is evaporated by utilizing heat generated from a compressor 18, and the like. Lower end of the drainage pipe 17 located above the vapor pan 16 is bent laterally and upper part of the lower end is cut off obliquely to direct the drain outlet 17c upward thus reducing the quantity of vapor entering into the drainage pipe 17 from the vapor pan 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a shape of a drain pipe for flowing defrost water from an evaporator to an evaporating dish in a machine room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A refrigerator has a refrigerator compartment 5, a freezer compartment 6, and a vegetable compartment 7 as shown in FIG. 1, for example. Cold air generated by an evaporator 8 disposed behind the freezer compartment 6 is provided in the refrigerator. While being supplied to the freezing room 6 by the blower fan 9, it is also supplied to the refrigerator room 5 and the vegetable room 7 via the cool air duct 10 and the like, and the cool air supplied to each room is formed on the partition walls 11, 12 and the like. It is returned to the evaporator 8 via a cold air recirculation path (not shown). FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the lower rear portion of such a refrigerator. By the way, the temperature of the evaporator 8 drops to about −30 ° C. during the operation of the compressor 18, but the cool air returned to the evaporator 8 from the refrigerator compartment 5 or the like via the cool air recirculation path (not shown) is 5 to 7 times. ℃, and
Frost is generated on the surface of the evaporator 8 due to the presence of moisture,
Condensation. The amount of the adhering frost increases as the operation time of the compressor 18 elapses, and accordingly, the heat exchange performance of the evaporator 8 decreases. Therefore, the defrosting heater 14 disposed below the evaporator 8 is turned on to perform the defrosting operation. At this time, the defrosting water flowing down from the evaporator 8 is supplied to the partition wall 12.
Drain gutter 13 provided at the rear of the
The gas flows down to the evaporating dish 16 in the machine room 15 through the evaporator 17, and is evaporated by utilizing the heat generated by the compressor 18.

[0003]

However, in the refrigerator as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, since the drain port of the drain pipe 17 is opposed to the opening surface of the evaporating dish 16, the steam rising from the evaporating dish 16 is not removed. Ascends to drain gutter 13 via drain pipe 17,
As a result, there is a problem that the amount of frost formed on the evaporator 8 increases and the defrosting operation time increases. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator in which steam is less likely to enter the drain pipe.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has an upper end connected to a drain gutter provided at a lower portion of an evaporator, and an intermediate portion having a freezing room or the like. A drain pipe buried in the heat insulating material of the heat insulating box, the lower end of which is led out from the bottom plate of the heat insulating box and faces the evaporating dish provided in the lower machine room, and the defrost water from the evaporator flows down. In the refrigerator provided, the lower end of the drain pipe is bent laterally. In addition, the upper end of the drain pipe bent in the lateral direction is cut obliquely so that the drain port faces upward. In the machine room equipped with a blower, the lower end of the drain pipe is bent in the same direction as the flow of the wind, and the drain port is directed to the leeward side.

In addition, a rotation stopper for preventing rotation of the drain pipe is provided at the upper or lower part of the drain pipe, and the outer periphery of the upper part of the drain pipe and the upper part of the drain pipe are accommodated as the rotation stopper. In order to achieve this, at least one flat portion facing the housing portion formed in the inner box of the heat insulating box body is provided. Alternatively, as the rotation stopper, a vertical protrusion or a groove is provided at a predetermined position on the upper outer periphery of the drain pipe, and the protrusion corresponds to a predetermined position on a side wall of a housing formed in the inner box of the heat insulating box. Groove or a convex portion corresponding to the groove is provided. Or, as the rotation stop,
The lower cross-sectional shape of the drainage pipe and the insertion hole of the drainage pipe provided in the bottom plate of the heat-insulating box are each configured to have a rectangular shape or an elliptical shape.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a cold air forced circulation refrigerator, and 1 is an outer box 2 made of a steel plate.
And an inner box 3 made of a synthetic resin, a heat insulating material 4 and the like, and having a refrigerator compartment 5, a freezing compartment 6, and a vegetable compartment 7. Behind the freezing room 6 there is an evaporator 8 and a blower fan (blower) 9 for sending cool air generated by the evaporator 8 to each of the chambers 5 to 7, and cool air to the refrigeration room 5 and the vegetable room 7. Is sent through a cool air duct 10 or the like, and the cool air sent to each of the chambers 5 to 7 is transferred to a partition 11 between the refrigerator compartment 5 and the freezer compartment 6 and a partition wall 12 between the freezer compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment 7 etc. It returns to the evaporator 8 through the formed cold air recirculation path (not shown).

A drain gutter 13 is provided at the rear of the partition wall 12, and a defrost heater 14 which is turned on during the defrost operation is provided at substantially the center of the drain gutter 13. The drain gutter 13 is for receiving the defrost water flowing down from the evaporator 8 during the defrost operation. The defrost water collected in the drain gutter 13 is used for the machine room 15 at the lower rear of the heat insulating box 1. Drain pipe 17 to evaporating dish 16 provided in
And evaporates using the heat generated by the compressor 18 and the like.

Hereinafter, the drainage pipe 17 and its attachment, which are features of the present invention, will be described. FIG. 2A is an enlarged view of the lower rear portion of the refrigerator as shown in FIG.
The lower end of the drainage pipe 17 located at the top of the drainage pipe 17 is bent laterally, and the upper end of the drainage pipe 17 is cut obliquely so that the drainage port 17c faces upward.
To reduce the amount of steam that enters the vessel. In addition,
As shown in FIG. 2B, the upper part of the drain pipe 17 is integrally provided with a bottomed cylindrical concave portion 17b having a suction port 17a disposed at the center thereof. Is housed in a housing portion 3a formed in the inner box 3 of
On the outer periphery of the lower part of the drain pipe 17, a convex part 17d for closing a gap with an insertion hole 2b formed in the bottom plate 2a of the heat insulating box 1 is provided.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment.
Some refrigerators are provided with a blower fan (blower) 19 on one side of the machine room 15 to blow air to the compressor 18 and the like. In such a refrigerator, the lower end of the drain pipe 17 is bent in the same direction as the flow of the wind, and the upper end of the drain pipe 17 is cut off obliquely.
To reduce the amount of steam that enters the vessel. Also,
2 (A) and 2 (B) shown in FIG.
The inner box 3 has a receiving portion 3a for receiving the concave portion 17b, but in the present invention, at least one near both the outer surface of the concave portion 17b and the receiving portion 3a as shown in FIG. An opposed flat portion is provided, and this is used as a rotation stopper of the drain pipe 17.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C show specific examples of the rotation stopper described above. The drain pipe 17 of FIG. 4A has four flat portions 17e at the top. Shape recess
While 17b is provided, the accommodating portion (3a) formed in the inner box 3 also has the same shape. In the drain pipe 17 of (B), one flat portion 17e is provided on the outer surface of the concave portion 17b, while it is formed in the inner box 3. The housing portion (3a) has the same shape. In the drain pipe 17 of (C), two flat portions 17e are provided at predetermined positions of the concave portion 17b, while the housing portion (3a) formed in the inner box 3 has the same shape. The rotation of the drain pipe 17 is prevented.

The rotation stopper of the drain pipe 17 is not limited to the one described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a vertical projection 17f is provided at a predetermined position on the outer surface of a bottomed cylindrical recess 17b. A configuration in which a groove 3b corresponding to the convex portion 17f may be provided at a predetermined position on the side wall of the facing housing portion 3a,
Drainage pipe provided in the lower part of drainage pipe 17 and bottom plate 2a of heat insulation box 1
The rotation of the drain pipe 17 can be prevented by making each of the insertion holes 2b of the 17 into a square shape or an elliptical shape as shown in FIG.

[0012]

According to the refrigerator having the drain pipe described above, the invasion of steam into the drain pipe is reduced, so that the frost on the evaporator is reduced, and the defrosting time is shortened. Not only the power consumption is reduced, but also the temperature inside the refrigerator becomes more stable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a refrigerator according to the present invention and a conventional example.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are an enlarged side sectional view of a main part and a perspective view of a drain pipe, respectively, showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of a machine room according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a drain pipe according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a drain pipe and an inner box according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part of a drain pipe according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side sectional view of a main part showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Insulated box 2 Outer box 2a Bottom plate 2b Insertion hole 3 Inner box 4 Insulation material 8 Evaporator 9 Blower fan (Blower) 13 Drain gutter 14 Defrost heater 15 Machine room 16 Evaporating dish 17 Drain pipe 17a Suction port 17b Concave 17c Drain Mouth 17d Convex part 17e Flat part 17f Convex part 18 Compressor 19 Blower fan (blower)

Claims (7)

[Claims] An upper end is connected to a drain gutter provided at a lower portion of an evaporator, an intermediate portion is buried in a heat insulating material of a heat insulating box having a freezing room and the like, and a lower end is led out from a bottom plate of the heat insulating box. In a refrigerator provided with a drain pipe for allowing defrost water from the evaporator to flow down to an evaporating dish provided in a lower machine room, wherein a lower end of the drain pipe is bent laterally. Refrigerator to feature. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the upper end of the drain pipe bent in the lateral direction is obliquely cut off, and the drain port faces upward. 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein in the machine room provided with a blower, the lower end of the drain pipe is bent in the same direction as the flow of wind. 4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a rotation stopper for preventing rotation of the drain pipe is provided at an upper part or a lower part of the drain pipe. 5. A flat portion facing at least one of an outer periphery of an upper portion of the drainage pipe and a receiving portion formed in an inner box of the heat insulating box for receiving an upper portion of the drainage pipe as the rotation stopper. The refrigerator according to claim 4, further comprising: 6. A vertical protrusion or groove is provided at a predetermined position on the upper outer periphery of the drainage pipe as the rotation stopper, while the rotation stop is provided at a predetermined position on a side wall of a housing formed in the inner box of the heat insulating box. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein a groove corresponding to the convex portion or a convex portion corresponding to the groove is provided. 7. The rotation stopper according to claim 1, wherein the lower cross-sectional shape of the drain pipe and the insertion hole of the drain pipe provided in the bottom plate of the heat insulating box are square or elliptical, respectively. A refrigerator according to claim 3 or 4.