JP2002081845A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a defrosting time of an evaporator, improve a circulation of cold air at the time of cooling operation and save electric energy in a cold air forced circulation type refrigerator. SOLUTION: There is provided a refrigerator in which a defrosting heater and a protection cover for protecting the defrosting heater against defrosted water are installed below an evaporator arranged at a rear part of a storing chamber or a freezer chamber. A partition plate 22 is arranged along with an evaporator 10 from a lower end of its back surface. A hot air passage 23 communicating with an upper part of the evaporator 10 is installed between the evaporator 10 and an inner box 3 placed at a rear part of it. A damper thermocouple 24 is arranged at an inlet of the hot air passage 23. When the defrosting heater 15 is not electrically energized, the damper thermo-couple 24 is closed to cause the circulating cold air to be flowed to the evaporator 10. When the defrosting heater 15 is electrically energized, the damper thermocouple 24 is opened to cause the cold air from the defrosting heater 15 to be branched to the evaporator 10 and the hot air passage 23, thereby the defrosting is carried out from two directions at the upper part and the lower part of the evaporator 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator of a forced air circulation type, and more particularly to a structure for efficiently defrosting an evaporator in a short time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A refrigerator of the cold air forced circulation type includes, for example, a freezing room 7, a refrigerating room 8, and a vegetable room 9 as shown in FIG. Is supplied to the freezing chamber 7 by the blower 11 and is connected to the cold air distribution chamber 12.
The cold air supplied to each of the refrigerator compartment 8 and the vegetable compartment 9 is supplied to the cold compartment 8 between the freezing compartment 7 and the vegetable compartment 9 through the cold air return path 6a. ,
The evaporator 10 is returned to the evaporator 10 through 6b.

The temperature of the evaporator 10 drops to about -30 ° C. during the operation of the compressor 20. On the other hand, the cool air returning to the evaporator 10 through the cool air recirculation path 6b is 5 cm.
Since the temperature of the evaporator 10 rises to about 7 ° C. and is accompanied by moisture, frost is generated on the surface of the evaporator 10 and freezes.
The amount of frost adhering to the evaporator 10 increases as the operation time of the compressor 20 elapses, and accordingly, the heat exchange performance of the evaporator 10 decreases. Therefore, as shown also in FIG. 4, a heater 15 for defrosting is arranged in parallel below the evaporator 10, and the evaporator 10 is utilized by utilizing its radiant heat and natural convection heat.
While the evaporator 10 and the heater 1 for defrosting
A protective cover 16 made of an aluminum plate is provided between the five to protect the defrost heater 15 from defrost water flowing down from the evaporator 10. The defrosting heater 15 and the protective cover 16 are configured to be fixed to a pair of supports 21 projecting from the lower left and right ends of the evaporator 10 to the center of the gap 14 below.

However, in the above-described configuration, the blower 11 is stopped during defrosting and the heater 15 for defrosting is used.
Is heated, and the evaporator 10 is heated by the radiation heat and natural convection heat.
Since the frost attached to the evaporator is melted and defrosted, it is easy to concentrate below the evaporator, so that the heating is not efficient and the defrosting time is long, and the temperature inside the refrigerator may be increased by the defrosting heat. There was a problem that there is. Further, since the protective cover 16 is located at the center of the lower portion of the evaporator 10, the cool air passage between the outlets of the cool air recirculation passages 6a and 6b and the evaporator 10 is narrowed. In addition to having a bad influence on circulation, there is a fear that it may hinder a rise in warm air to the evaporator 10 during defrosting.

[0005]

In the present invention, in view of the above problems, the heating of the evaporator at the time of defrosting can be made uniform, the time for slow frosting can be shortened, and the circulation of cool air during the cooling operation can be reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator that is improved and consumes less power.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problem by providing a heat insulating partition in which a heat insulating material is filled between an outer box and an inner box by a heat insulating partition, a plurality of storage compartments. Compartment, a freezing compartment, etc., and a heater for defrosting is arranged substantially in parallel and horizontally below the evaporator arranged behind the storage compartment or the freezing compartment, and the evaporator and the heater for defrosting are provided. A protective cover for protecting the defrosting heater from defrosting water is provided therebetween, and cool air generated by the evaporator is supplied to the freezing chamber by a blower disposed in an upper gap of the evaporator, The air is supplied to the refrigerator compartment and the storage compartment via a duct, returns the cool air to the evaporator through a cool air recirculation passage formed in the heat insulating partition, turns on the defrosting heater at the time of defrosting, Smell in the refrigerator that will do the defrost A partition plate is provided from the lower rear side in parallel with the evaporator, and a warm air passage communicating with the evaporator above the evaporator is provided between the evaporator and the inner box behind the evaporator. It has a configuration in which a damper thermo is arranged.

When the defrost heater is not energized,
The damper thermostat is closed so that circulating cool air passes through the evaporator.

When the defrost heater is energized,
A configuration in which the damper thermostat is opened, the warm air of the heater for defrost is branched to the evaporator side and the warm air passage side, and defrosting is performed from two directions of an upper part and a lower part of the evaporator. Has become.

On the other hand, the defrosting heater and the protective cover are provided at a lower intermediate portion between the evaporator and the warm air passage, so that a front gap is enlarged.

The distance between the heater for defrosting and the protective cover is widened.

Further, the protection cover has a configuration in which both ends are formed short.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on examples with reference to the accompanying materials. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a refrigerator according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged side sectional view of a main part of the refrigerator according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3A is an enlarged side sectional view of a main part showing a state of the refrigerator according to the present invention when it is cooled, and FIG. The same parts as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator main body comprising an outer box 2, an inner box 3, and a foam insulating material 4 filled between the two. The inside of the inner box 3 is divided into a freezer compartment 7, a refrigerator compartment 8, and a vegetable compartment 9 by upper and lower two heat insulating partitions 5 and 6. Behind the freezing room 7, there is an evaporator 10 and a blower 11 for circulating the cool air generated by the evaporator 10 to each of the rooms 7 to 9. The cold air is first sent into the refrigerator compartment 8 from the refrigerator cold air outlet 8a through the cool air duct 13 connected to the cool air distribution compartment 12 at the rear of the freezer compartment 7, and then the cold compartment of the vegetable compartment under the refrigerator compartment 8 is supplied. It is fed into the vegetable compartment 9 from the entrance 8b via a vegetable compartment duct (not shown). The cool air sent into each of the chambers 7 to 9 is a cool air recirculation passage 6 a formed in the heat insulating partition 6 between the freezing room 7 and the vegetable room 9,
It is configured to return to the evaporator 10 through 6b.

A gutter-shaped dew receiving portion 14 is provided at the rear of the heat insulating partition 6 located directly below the evaporator 10.
a (see FIG. 2), and a defrosting heater (glass tube heater) 15 which is turned on at the time of defrosting,
And an aluminum protective cover 1 for protecting the defrost heater 15 from defrost water flowing down from the evaporator 10.
6 is provided, and the defrost water flowing down to the dew receiving portion 14a is discharged through a drain pipe 17 to an evaporating dish 19 in a machine room 18 formed at a lower rear portion of the refrigerator main body 1, and It is designed to evaporate using heat and the like. The defrost heater 15 and the protective cover 16
Is fixed to a pair of supports 21 (see FIG. 2) projecting downward from both lower ends of the evaporator 10.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are enlarged views of a main part according to the present invention. A partition plate 22 is provided in parallel with the evaporator 10 from the lower rear end, and the evaporator 10 and the rear thereof are disposed. A warm air passage 23 is provided between the inner box 3 and the upper side of the evaporator, and a damper thermo 24 is provided at an entrance of the warm air passage 23.

When the defrost heater 15 is not energized, as shown in FIG.
Is closed so that the circulating cool air passes through the evaporator 10 side. Further, when the defrost heater 15 is energized, the damper thermo 24 is opened as shown in FIG. 3B, and the warm air of the defrost heater 15 is transferred to the evaporator 10 side and the warm air passage 23 side. The defrosting is performed from two directions, that is, the upper part and the lower part of the evaporator 10.

On the other hand, the defrosting heater 15 and the protective cover 16 are arranged at a lower intermediate position between the evaporator 10 and the warm air passage 23, and the protective cover 16 and the defrosting heater 15 are connected to each other. In addition to widening the interval, both ends of the protective cover 16 are formed to be short so that the warm air of the defrost heater 15 is branched to the evaporator 10 side and the warm air passage 23 side.

Next, the operation and effects of the above embodiment will be described. The radiant heat and the natural convection heat from the defrost heater 15 are transferred to the upper part of the evaporator 10 more quickly to the evaporator 10 side, so that the defrost time is shortened.

Since the space in front of the protective cover 16 and the defrosting heater 15 is enlarged, the flow of the cool air returning to the evaporator 10 from the outlets of the cool air recirculation passages 6a and 6b during the cooling operation. Can be better.

Further, the distance between the protective cover 16 and the defrosting heater 15 is increased, and the protective cover 16
Since both ends are formed short, the flow of warm air of the defrost heater 15 at the time of defrost is improved, and warm air can be efficiently guided to the evaporator 10 side and the warm air passage 23 side.

In the above embodiment, the evaporator 10 is disposed behind the freezing room 7, but may be disposed behind a storage room such as the vegetable room 9. (Not shown)

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the heat generated by the defrosting heater during defrosting is quickly transmitted to the upper part of the evaporator, the rise in the internal temperature during defrosting is suppressed. , A refrigerator that uniformizes the heating of the evaporator during defrosting, shortens the defrosting and frosting time, improves the circulation of cool air during the cooling operation with the expansion of the front gap, and reduces power consumption. Becomes

[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.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side sectional view of a main part of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side sectional view (A) of a main part showing a state of the refrigerator according to the present invention at the time of cooling, and an enlarged side sectional view (B) of the main part showing a state of a defrosting state.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side sectional view of a main part of a refrigerator according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator main body 2 Outer box 3 Inner box 4 Foam insulation material 5 Heat insulation partition 6 Heat insulation partition 6a Cold air recirculation path 6b Cold air recirculation path 7 Freezing room 8 Refrigeration room 8a Cold air outlet 8b Cold air inlet 9 Vegetable room 10 Evaporator 11 Blower 12 Cold air distribution chamber 13 Cold air duct 14 Air gap 14a Dew receiving part 15 Defrosting heater (glass tube heater) 16 Protective cover 17 Drain pipe 18 Machine room 19 Evaporating dish 20 Compressor 21 Support 22 Partition plate 23 Hot air passage 24 Damper thermo

Claims (6)

[Claims] An interior of a heat insulating box formed by filling a heat insulating material between an outer box and an inner box is divided into a refrigerator room, a plurality of storage rooms, a freezing room, and the like by a heat insulating partition body. Protection for arranging heaters for defrosting substantially in parallel and horizontally below the evaporator arranged behind the chamber, and for protecting the heater for defrost from defrost water between the evaporator and the heater for defrosting. A cover is provided, and the cool air generated by the evaporator is supplied to the freezing room by a blower arranged in an upper gap of the evaporator, and is supplied to the refrigerator room and the storage room via a cool air duct, A refrigerator configured to return cold air to the evaporator through a cool air recirculation passage formed in the heat insulating partition, turn on the defrosting heater at the time of defrosting, and perform defrosting of the evaporator, A partition plate is installed from the lower rear end Rutotomoni, refrigerator said warm air passage leading to the upper part of the evaporator is provided, and characterized by being arranged damper thermo the inlet of the warm air passage between the evaporator and the inner box behind. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein when the defrost heater is not energized, the damper thermostat is closed so that circulating cool air passes through the evaporator. 3. When the defrost heater is energized, the damper thermostat is opened, and the warm air of the defrost heater is branched to the evaporator side and the warm air passage side to defrost the evaporator. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the operation is performed from two directions: an upper part and a lower part. 4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the heater for defrosting and the protective cover are provided at a lower intermediate portion between the evaporator and the warm air passage, and a front gap is enlarged. 5. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the defrosting heater and the protective cover is increased. 6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein both ends of the protective cover are formed short.