JP2011064340A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator saving electric power and suppressing drying of stored objects within a storage compartment. <P>SOLUTION: The refrigerator includes: the storage compartment 2 storing the storage objects; a cold air passage 22 arranged behind the storage compartment 2, having cold air made to flow therein and including right and left passages 51, 52 branched in right and left directions and extended vertically; a metallic cooling panel 53 covering the back face of the storage compartment 2 and emitting cold of the cold air made to flow in the cold air passage 22 to the storage compartment 2; a recess 54 formed between the right and left passages 51, 52; and discharge ports 22a opened opposing to both side faces 54a of the recess 54 and discharging the cold air made to flow in the cold air passage 22 to inside of the storage compartment 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a metal cooling panel that covers the back of a storage room.

  A conventional refrigerator is disclosed in Patent Document 1. This refrigerator has a refrigerator compartment in the upper part for storing stored items in a refrigerator. A cold air passage extending in the up-down direction and through which the cold air flows is provided in a projecting manner at a central portion in the left-right direction on the back of the refrigerator compartment. Discharge ports for discharging cool air are opened on both side walls of the cool air passage protruding forward. Moreover, the back surface of a refrigerator compartment is covered with the metal cooling panel distribute | arranged to the right and left of a cold air | gas channel | path.

  The cold air flowing through the cold air passage is discharged into the refrigerating chamber from the discharge ports provided on both side walls toward the outside. The cold air discharged from the discharge port flows along the back surface of the refrigerator compartment, changes direction at the left and right ends, and flows forward along the side wall of the refrigerator compartment. At this time, the cooling panel is cooled by the cold air, and cold heat is uniformly emitted from the entire back surface of the refrigerator compartment. Moreover, the cold air | gas which distribute | circulates along the side wall of a refrigerator compartment reduces a flow velocity, reaches | attains a center part from the front part of a refrigerator compartment, and cools a store thing. Thereby, the cool air which hits a store thing directly can be reduced and drying of a store thing can be controlled.

  Moreover, the said patent document 1 discloses the refrigerator which provided the directing means which changes the distribution direction of the cold air discharged from the discharge port facing the discharge port. In this refrigerator, the cold air discharged from the discharge port is guided forward or obliquely forward by the directing means, and flows through the refrigerator compartment to cool the stored items.

JP 2009-63245 A (pages 5 to 10 and FIG. 5)

  However, according to the former conventional refrigerator, the cold air flows along the back wall and the side wall of the refrigerating room, and the temperature difference between the outside outside the cabinet and the cold air via the back wall and the side wall becomes large. For this reason, there is a problem that heat loss increases and power consumption of the refrigerator increases.

  On the other hand, according to the latter refrigerator, the central part and the front part of the refrigerator compartment are cooled by the low-temperature cold air guided forward or obliquely forward by the directing means, so that power saving can be achieved. However, there is a problem that the cool air sent forward or obliquely strikes the stored material in a wide range and the stored material is dried.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that can save power and suppress drying of stored items in a storage room.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a storage room for storing stored items, a cold air having a left passage and a right passage which are arranged behind the storage chamber and through which the cold air circulates and branch left and right and extend up and down. A passage, a metal cooling panel that covers the back of the storage chamber and discharges the cold air flowing through the cold passage to the storage chamber, and a recess formed between the left passage and the right passage And an outlet that opens opposite to both side walls of the recess and discharges cool air flowing through the cool air passage into the storage chamber.

  According to this configuration, the cold air flowing through the cold air passage is branched into the right passage and the left passage, and is discharged from a discharge port that opens to face both side walls of the recess. The cold air discharged from the discharge ports on both side walls of the recess collides and changes its direction, and is guided forward through the central portion in the left-right direction of the storage chamber. Moreover, the metal cooling panel which covers the front surface of the cold air passage is cooled by the cold air flowing through the cold air passage, and the heat is uniformly discharged from the entire back surface of the storage chamber.

  Moreover, the present invention is characterized in that, in the refrigerator having the above-described configuration, both side walls of the concave portion are inclined surfaces whose front portions are separated from each other than the rear portion.

  In the refrigerator having the above-described configuration, the present invention includes a ceiling duct that is disposed on a ceiling surface of the storage chamber and communicates with the cool air passage, and a ceiling discharge opening that opens at a front portion of the ceiling duct. It is said. According to this configuration, the cold air flowing through the cold air passage flows into the ceiling duct at the upper part of the storage room, and is discharged from the ceiling discharge port to the front part of the storage room. Since the cold air passage branches into a right passage and a left passage, the flow passage area is formed narrow, and the cold air can be easily guided to the ceiling duct.

  Moreover, the present invention is characterized in that in the refrigerator configured as described above, an inner surface of the recess is covered by the cooling panel. According to this configuration, the cool air discharged from the discharge port comes into contact with the cooling panel on the inner surface of the recess, and the cooling panel can be further cooled.

  According to the present invention, the cold air passage covered with the cooling panel behind the storage chamber is branched into the left passage and the right passage, and the cold air is discharged from the discharge ports opened on both side walls of the recess formed between the two. The cold heat of the cold air flowing through the cold air passage can be discharged uniformly from the cooling panel and the cold air can be circulated forward with a narrow width through the center in the left-right direction of the storage chamber. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the cool air flowing along the back wall and the side wall of the storage chamber immediately after being discharged from the discharge port, and to reduce the cool air directly hitting the stored items. Therefore, the power saving of the refrigerator can be achieved, and the range in which the stored items in the storage room are easily dried can be more narrowly suppressed.

The front view which shows the refrigerator of embodiment of this invention Front sectional drawing which shows the refrigerator of embodiment of this invention The front view which shows the duct panel of the refrigerator of embodiment of this invention The rear view which shows the duct panel of the refrigerator of embodiment of this invention Top sectional drawing which shows the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator of embodiment of this invention

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a refrigerator according to an embodiment. The refrigerator 1 is provided with a plurality of storage rooms inside a heat insulating box 1a (see FIG. 2). In the upper part of the refrigerator 1, a refrigerator compartment 2 in which stored items are refrigerated and opened and closed by doors 2 a and 2 b is arranged. A plurality of door pockets 2e are provided on the inner surfaces of the doors 2a and 2b.

  A tank chamber 12, an accessory storage chamber 13, and a chilled chamber 14, which are separated from the upper portion by a partition plate 15, are provided side by side at the lower portion of the refrigerator compartment 2. The tank chamber 12 stores a water tank 10 for ice making. The accessory storage chamber 13 stores small storage items such as eggs. The chilled chamber 14 is maintained at a lower temperature than the upper part of the refrigerator compartment 2 as will be described in detail later.

  Below the refrigerating room 3, the freezing room 3 and the ice making room 5 are arranged via a heat insulating wall 7. The ice making chamber 5 is opened and closed by a door 5a, and water is supplied from a water tank 10 to make ice and store ice. The freezer compartment 3 stores stored items in a frozen state, and has an upper chamber 3c opened and closed by a door 3a and a lower chamber 3d opened and closed by a door 3b. The upper chamber 3c and the ice making chamber 5 are arranged side by side with a partition wall 11 therebetween. The upper chamber 3c and the ice making chamber 5 and the lower chamber 3d are partitioned by a partition wall 8 (see FIG. 2) provided at the front, and communicate with each other behind the partition wall 8.

  Below the freezer compartment 3, the vegetable compartment 4 is arranged via the heat insulation wall 9 (refer FIG. 2). The vegetable compartment 4 is opened and closed by a door 4a, and is maintained at a temperature higher than that of the refrigerator compartment 1 and suitable for refrigerated storage of vegetables and fruits.

  FIG. 2 shows a front sectional view of the refrigerator 1. A cool air passage 22 through which cool air flows is provided behind the refrigerator compartment 2. The cold air passage 22 is formed by a duct panel 50 disposed on the back surface of the refrigerating chamber 2 as will be described in detail later. In the duct panel 50, an outlet 2d disposed on the back surface of the chilled chamber 14 is opened. A ceiling duct 60 communicating with the cold air passage 22 is provided on the ceiling surface of the refrigerator compartment 2 so as to extend in the front-rear direction. A ceiling discharge port 60 a for discharging cool air is opened in front of the ceiling duct 60.

  A cold air passage 21 communicating with the cold air passage 22 via a damper 25 is provided behind the freezing chamber 3 and the ice making chamber 5. A blower fan 24 is disposed in the upper part of the cool air passage 21. In the lower part of the cool air passage 21, a cooler chamber 21a that is widened to the left and right is provided, and a cooler 23 is disposed in the cooler chamber 21a. The cooler 23 is connected to a compressor (not shown) and disposed on the low temperature side of the refrigeration cycle, and generates heat by exchanging heat with the air flowing through the cool air passage 21.

  A discharge port 3e that faces the freezer compartment 3 is opened at the upper part of the cooler chamber 21a, and a return port 3f that opens the cool air to the cool air passage 21 facing the cooler 20 is opened at the lower part. On the upper surface of the vegetable compartment 4, an inflow port 4b opens at one end in the left-right direction. A connecting passage 26 that connects the outlet 2d and the inlet 4b is provided on the side of the cold air passage 21. In addition, a return port (not shown) that opens to the lower end of the cold air passage 21 is formed at the other end of the upper surface of the vegetable chamber 4 in the left-right direction.

  3 and 4 are a front view and a rear view showing the duct panel 50. FIG. The duct panel 50 covers the back of the refrigerator compartment 2 above the partition plate 15 (see FIG. 1) and the back of the chilled chamber 14. The duct panel 50 is formed by covering the front surface of a duct member 55 made of a heat insulating material such as polystyrene foam with a decorative panel 57 made of a resin molded product. On the front surface of the decorative panel 57, a metal cooling panel 53 that covers most of the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 2 is disposed.

  The cold air passage 22 is recessed on the back side of the duct member 55. A cushion material 56 that is in contact with the heat insulating box 1a (see FIG. 5) is attached to the periphery of the cold air passage 22 so that the cold air passage 22 is sealed. The lower part of the cool air passage 22 branches immediately after the damper 25, and a discharge port 14a for discharging cool air to the chilled chamber 14 is provided. An outlet 2d through which the cool air in the refrigerator compartment 2 flows out opens at one end of the back surface of the chilled chamber 14.

  The cool air passage 22 has a left passage 51 and a right passage 52 that branch in the left and right directions above the partition plate 15 (see FIG. 1) and extend in the vertical direction. A concave portion 54 is formed between the left passage 51 and the right passage 52 so as to be recessed rearward. The decorative panel 57 and the cooling panel 53 are formed to bend along the inner surface of the recess 54.

  Since the cold air passage 22 is branched into the left passage 51 and the right passage 52, the flow area of the cold air can be narrowed to increase the flow velocity. Thereby, cold air can be easily led to the discharge port 22a and the ceiling duct 60 in the upper part of the refrigerator compartment 2. Further, as will be described later, the cold air flowing through the left passage 51 and the right passage 52 is transmitted to the cooling panel 53. At this time, since the left passage 51 and the right passage 52 are separated from each other by a predetermined amount via the recess 54, the cold heat of the cold air can be easily transmitted to the entire cooling panel 53.

  FIG. 5 shows a top sectional view of the refrigerator compartment 2. Both side walls 54a of the recess 54 are formed of inclined surfaces whose front parts are separated from each other rather than the rear part. Covers 58 made of a resin molded product and extending in the vertical direction are engaged with the side walls 54a by engaging claws (not shown). The cover 58 forms a discharge port 22a that faces the refrigerator compartment 2 by a plurality of openings arranged vertically.

  The discharge ports 22a of the side walls 54a of the recess 54 are provided at positions facing each other. The cold air flowing through the left passage 51 and the right passage 52 is collectively discharged from the discharge port 22a to the central portion in the refrigerator compartment 2 as indicated by an arrow A1. The cool air discharged from the left and right discharge ports 22a merges, and the respective velocity vectors in the left and right directions are offset and the velocity vectors in the front and rear directions are added. Thereby, the cold air is guided forward with a narrow width in the left-right direction as indicated by an arrow A2.

  Further, the cooling panel 53 is inclined in the back direction with a large curvature from the left and right ends of the recess 54 toward the outside, and is bent forward with a small curvature at both ends of the refrigerator compartment 2. Thereby, the cooling panel 53 is formed in the substantially V shape which has the trough part 53a in the both ends of the refrigerator compartment 2 on either side of the recessed part 54. As shown in FIG.

  In the refrigerator 1 having the above configuration, the refrigeration cycle is operated by driving the compressor, and the cooler 23 is maintained at a low temperature. The air flowing through the cool air passage 21 by driving the blower fan 24 exchanges heat with the cooler 23, and the cool air is discharged from the discharge port 3 e to the freezer compartment 3. The cold air discharged from the discharge port 3e flows through the freezer compartment 3 and the ice making chamber 5 and returns to the cooler 23 through the return port 3f. Thereby, the freezing room 3 and the ice making room 5 are cooled.

  When the damper 25 is opened, the cold air flowing through the cold air passage 21 flows into the cold air passage 22. A part of the cool air flowing through the cool air passage 22 is discharged from the discharge port 14 a to the chilled chamber 14. Cold air immediately after heat exchange with the cooler 23 is sent to the chilled chamber 14 so that the chilled chamber 14 is maintained at a lower temperature than the upper portion of the refrigerator compartment 2.

  The cold air flowing through the cold air passage 22 above the chilled chamber 14 is branched into the left passage 51 and the right passage and discharged from the discharge port 22a to the refrigerator compartment 2. The cold air discharged from the discharge port 22a flows forward in the refrigerator compartment 2 (arrow A2), and the inside of the refrigerator compartment 2 is cooled by the cold heat radiated from the cold air moving forward in the center in the left-right direction.

  The cold air flowing into the ceiling duct 60 from the cold air passage 22 discharges the cold air along the ceiling surface of the refrigerator compartment 2 through the ceiling discharge port 60a. The cool air discharged from the ceiling discharge port 60a flows in front of the refrigerator compartment 2 and flows down along the doors 2a and 2b to cool the inside of the door pocket 2e. And the cool air which cooled the refrigerator compartment 2 and the chilled chamber 14 flows out from the outflow port 2d.

  The cold air flowing out from the outlet 2d flows through the connecting passage 26 and flows into the vegetable compartment 4 through the inlet 4b. The cold air that has flowed into the vegetable compartment 4 flows through the vegetable compartment 4 and returns to the cooler 23 via a return port (not shown). Thereby, the vegetable compartment 4 is cooled.

  Further, the cold air flowing through the left passage 51 and the right passage 52 of the cold passage 22 is transmitted to the cooling panel 53 via the duct member 55 and the decorative panel 57. Further, the cold heat discharged from the discharge port 22 a is transmitted to the cooling panel 53 in the recess 54. The cold heat transmitted to the cooling panel 53 is uniformly emitted from the entire back surface of the refrigerator compartment 2. Thereby, the inside of the refrigerator compartment 2 can be cooled uniformly.

  At this time, cold heat is released from the right and left direction to the valley portions 53 a at the left and right ends of the cooling panel 53, and the air in the vicinity of the valley portions 53 a is cooled more than the position near the recess 54. For this reason, the air layer of the valley portion 53a, which is substantially V-shaped, descends along the valley portion 53a by convection generated by cooling. At the same time, air having a relatively high temperature in the refrigerator compartment 2 is attracted to the upper portion of the valley portion 53a by a pressure difference caused by a change in the volume of the cold air that has moved downward. Thereby, the pressure of the lower part of the trough part 53a rises, and it is pushed ahead, and forms the gentle distribution path along the side wall of the refrigerator compartment 2.

  According to this embodiment, the cold air passage 22 covered with the cooling panel 53 behind the refrigerating chamber 2 is branched into the left passage 51 and the right passage 52 and is opened to both side walls 54a of the concave portion 54 formed between the two. Since the cold air is discharged from the outlet 22a, the cold air flowing through the cold air passage 22 is uniformly discharged from the cooling panel 53, and the cold air is circulated forward with a narrow width through the center in the left-right direction of the refrigerator compartment 2. Can do. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the cool air flowing along the back wall and the side wall of the refrigerating chamber 2 immediately after being discharged from the discharge port 22a, and to reduce the cool air directly hitting the stored items. Therefore, power saving of the refrigerator 1 can be achieved, and the range in which the stored items in the refrigerator compartment 2 are easily dried can be more narrowly suppressed.

  Further, both side walls 54 a of the recess 54 may be formed substantially perpendicular to the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 2. However, as shown in the present embodiment, if the front portions are formed on the inclined surfaces separated from the rear portions, the cold air discharged from the discharge ports 22a of the side walls 54a can be smoothly merged and guided forward.

  Moreover, since the ceiling discharge port 60a opened in the front part of the ceiling duct 60 is provided, the inner surface side of the doors 2a and 2b of the refrigerator compartment 2 can be cooled easily. At this time, the flow path of the cool air can be narrowed by the left passage 51 and the right passage 52 branched to the left and right to increase the flow velocity, and the cool air can be easily guided to the ceiling duct 60.

  Moreover, since the inner surface of the recessed part 54 is covered with the cooling panel 53, the cold air discharged from the discharge port 22a contacts the cooling panel 53 in the recessed part 54. Thereby, condensation can be suppressed by the cool air and more cold heat can be transmitted to the cooling panel 53.

  In addition, the cooling panel 53 is inclined inward from the left and right ends of the recess 54 and bent forward at both ends of the refrigerator compartment 2 so as to have valleys 53a. The air in the vicinity of the valley 53a is cooled more than the position near the recess 54. For this reason, the air layer of the valley portion 53a, which is substantially V-shaped, descends along the valley portion 53a by convection generated by cooling. At the same time, air having a relatively high temperature in the refrigerator compartment 2 is attracted to the upper portion of the valley portion 53a by a pressure difference caused by a change in the volume of the cold air that has moved downward. Thereby, the pressure of the lower part of the trough part 53a rises, it is pushed ahead, a gentle distribution path along the side wall of the refrigerator compartment 2 can be formed, and cold air can be distributed to the side wall vicinity.

  According to this invention, it can utilize for the refrigerator provided with the metal cooling panel which covers the back surface of a store room.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator 2 Refrigerating room 2d Outlet 3 Freezing room 3e Discharge port 3f Return port 4 Vegetable room 4b Inlet 5 Ice making room 7, 9 Heat insulation wall 12 Tank room 13 Small article storage room 14 Chilled room 15 Partition plate 21, 22 Cold air passage 22a Discharge port 23 Cooler 24 Blower fan 25 Damper 26 Connection passage 50 Duct panel 51 Left passage 52 Right passage 53 Cooling panel 54 Recess 55 Duct member 57 Cosmetic panel 58 Cover 60 Ceiling duct 60a Ceiling discharge port

Claims (4)

  A storage room for storing the stored items, a cold air passage arranged behind the storage room and flowing through the left and right sides, and having a left passage and a right passage extending up and down, and covering the back of the storage room A metal cooling panel that discharges the cold heat of the cold air flowing through the cold air passage to the storage chamber, a recess formed between the left passage and the right passage, and an opening that faces both side walls of the recess. And a discharge port for discharging the cold air flowing through the cold air passage into the storage chamber.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein both side walls of the concave portion are inclined surfaces whose front portions are separated from each other than the rear portion.   The ceiling duct which is arranged on the ceiling surface of the storage room and communicates with the cold air passage, and the ceiling discharge port which opens at the front part of the ceiling duct. Refrigerator.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an inner surface of the recess is covered with the cooling panel.

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