JPH0252974A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To attain a significantly high relative humidity and a uniform temperature by an arrangement wherein a blower circulates a closed loop air flow in heat exchanging relationship with an evaporator along a channel. CONSTITUTION: When a refrigeration circuit and fans 21, 23 are operating, the fan 23 generates a forced air flow of closed loop along a hollow space or a channel 10. The forced air flows upward along a passage 12 on the rear wall of a storage section, flows toward the side wall at the top of the storage section, thence flows downward along the passage 12 and flows toward an evaporator 9 in a branch channel 17 on the bottom of the storage section before returning back to the fan 23 through an opening 15. The air flows through the channel 10 entirely while being cooled by an evaporator 9 and cools down the internal environment of the storage section 5 through a wall 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION The present invention relates to refrigerators, and more particularly to domestic refrigerators having at least one compartment maintained at substantially uniform temperature and high relative humidity. 9.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is well known, refrigerators are usually conveniently provided with a ventilated evaporator, the defrost phase of which is controlled by a timer device (e.g., 1987 by the same applicant). ), this cold 1aIII! //1 When used for freezing foods or storing frozen foods, these foods are provided with a stream of air cooled by an evaporator and circulated in a closed loop inside the appropriate freezing compartment. In this case, the section is usually referred to as a "frost-free" section.

Alternatively, if the refrigerator is used for storing food at a temperature above 0°C, or if a storage compartment is provided for storing food at a temperature of 0°C, In order to better maintain a high relative humidity inside the storage compartment itself, it is generally preferred to cool the storage compartment by means of a so-called "static" evaporator, ie an evaporator without a ventilation controller. For example, 45 for an Italian patent application dated July 9, 1987 by the same applicant.
No. 732 A/87 describes a refrigerator consisting of a refrigeration compartment with a ventilated evaporator and a storage compartment with a static evaporator.

PROBLEMS SOLVED BY THE INVENTION According to methods such as A, the relative humidity within the storage compartment is maintained at a fairly high value, but not as high as is desirable for very good storage of certain food products.

In any case, it is known that temperature strata occur in storage compartments with static evaporators, so that the same storage compartment cannot, undesirably, be used uniformly. . In fact, if the area of the storage compartment changes, the temperature will also change, and therefore, in order to store it correctly, the various foodstuffs must be located correspondingly within said compartment.

However, this is an inconvenient operation that the user can hardly perform. Therefore, the main scope of the invention is to provide a simple and reliable refrigerator with at least one compartment, which provides a significantly high relative humidity and uniform walnut conditions.

Another scope of the invention is to provide a refrigerator of the type described above, in which said compartments are maintained at a fairly constant and uniform temperature.

These ranges include a refrigeration circuit having at least one evaporator associated with a blow' device in a refrigerator with at least one first compartment having a uniform temperature and high relative humidity; The blowing device is housed in a channel substantially surrounding and separated from the compartment, the blowing device blowing air in an open loop in heat exchange relation with the evaporator along the channel. Obtained in a refrigerator characterized in that the flow can be circulated.

Preferably, the evaporator is at least partially housed within the channel and arranged within the air stream.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, given by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

With particular reference to FIG. 1, in the example described,
The refrigerator consists of an insulated cabinet 4, which is provided with two separate compartments 5.6, which can be accessed, for example, via a suitable separate door 7.8. Can be done.

As will become clear later on, said compartments 5.6 are preferably food storage compartments and freezing compartments, respectively.

The refrigerator therefore has at least one evaporator 9, preferably of the finned coil type, as described in the above-mentioned Italian utility model application No. 34059.
It may be as described in B/87.

Said evaporator 9 is coupled into a refrigeration circuit and, although not shown for reasons of clarity, may for example be a compressor of the type described in the above-mentioned Italian patent application No. 45732 A/87. .

The storage compartment 5 (with the exception of the part corresponding to the access door 7) is delimited by a channel or hollow space 10.

Referring to FIG. 2, the walls 11 of the storage compartment 5 are not shown and the channel 10 is provided with a set of selective air passages 12 corresponding to the rear and side walls. For example, such an air flow path 12 (preferably a second
(shaped as shown in the figure) are defined by ribs or similar ribs, generally indicated by the reference numeral 13 in FIG. is placed above.

On the contrary, corresponding to the top (indicated by 27 in FIG. 2) and the bottom of the storage compartment 5 are hollow spaces 1
0 preferably has no such curve.

More specifically, with respect to the bottom of the storage compartment 5, the hollow space 10 extends through suitable openings 14.15 provided in the compartment wall 16 separating the compartments 5 and 6 from each other. A branch channel 17 houses a portion 91 of the evaporator 9 (see FIG. 3).

Also referring to FIG.
2.93 extend laterally outwardly from each side of branch 17.

The branch channel 17 and the evaporator 7I19 are preferably supported by walls 18 shaped as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The wall portion 18 having the shape described above extends over the entire 1'' of the compartment 6,
It includes a front entrance opening 19 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) and an exit opening 20 (see FIGS. 1 and 3).

A motor-driven fan, preferably a propeller fan 21, is arranged near the outlet 1''.

Said channel 10 is provided with a lateral section, member 22, above the section II wall 16, preferably in the vicinity of the opening 15, which section 22, as will become clear later on, is provided with a section 22 above the channel A7 wall 16, preferably in the vicinity of the opening 15. It has the role of defining an m-loop flow path along the .

Also accommodated in the hollow space 10 is a motor-driven fan 23, which is a centrifugal fan and is arranged near the opening 15.

Obviously, the refrigerator is also provided with sensing and control devices, which are well known per se, and which are not shown for the sake of simplicity, such as the refrigeration circuit fan 21.2.
3 and the operation can be controlled II''9.

For example, the fans 21, 23 are operated simultaneously only during the operating state of the compressor of the refrigeration circuit, and the compressor is also equipped with a conventional timer device to enable periodic defrosting of the evaporator 9. may be provided. As mentioned above, the cooling ja with fan 21.23
l! The sensing and control devices relating to the li circuits may be of any suitable type and do not form part of the invention, for example they are described above and described in Italian Patent Application No. 45732 A/ 87 and/or of the type described in European Patent Application No. 0250909.

Preferably, the fan 23 can be operated independently of the refrigeration circuit, for example the electric motor 24 (see FIG. 2) driving the fan 23 is capable of sensing the temperature in the storage compartment 5. The motor 24 is activated only when such temperature is higher than a predetermined value (eg 5C).

- On the other hand, the operation of the refrigeration circuit and fan 21 is controlled by a thermostat (schematically indicated as 26 in FIG. 1).
, which detects when the temperature inside the refrigeration compartment 6 reaches a predetermined temperature of 1 (e.g. -18
0) The refrigeration circuit and fan 21 can only be operated when the temperature is higher than that.

In any event, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the sensing and control device described above may be subject to many modifications as in this case.

When the refrigeration circuit and fans 21 and 23 are operating,
Fan 23 generates a closed loop forced air flow along hollow space or channel 10, which is indicated by arrows (A) in FIGS. 2 and 3.

More specifically, such forced air is
It flows upwards along the passage 12 in the rear wall, at the top of the storage compartment towards its side wall, there downwards along the passage 12 and towards the evaporator 9 in the branch channel 17 at the bottom of the storage compartment. Finally, it passes through the opening 15 and returns to the fan 23.

As a connecting beam, air flow passes through all channels 10,
This air is cooled by the evaporator 9 and cools the environment inside the storage compartment 5 via the ull.

In this connection, in the refrigerator according to the invention, the storage compartment 5 cooling element does not consist of a conventional evaporator, but rather the cooling wall 1 of the storage compartment itself.
It can be pointed out that it consists of 1.

As a result, advantages such as numbers can be obtained.

The walls 11 (cooled by the air flow (A)) have an approximately uniform temperature, so that no temperature strata occur within the storage compartment 5, which is an object of the invention.

Compared to the conventional case, the cooling W11 has a larger surface and therefore has a higher and more constant average temperature in case of long-term use (if the temperature characteristics are equal) .

Thanks to the higher average '/AA degrees of the cooling walls 11 and the fact that the air flow (A) along the channels 10 is completely separated with respect to the storage compartment 5, this storage compartment Items that are kept at high temperatures and stored can handle less moisture,
This is another object of the invention.

Storage 1a (18 Since the screen 5 is almost surrounded by the hollow space 10 that generates the air flow (A), the storage i
There is less heat exchange between the environment inside the compartment and the environment outside the cabinet 4. In fact, the heat possibly penetrating the cabinet 4 from the outside environment is blocked by the air flow (A) and is cut off via the evaporator 9.

In conclusion, the cold M storage according to the present invention is provided with a storage section 11fJ5 that can store 1 m of food in an excellent condition, and for example, the degree to which the weight of food stored in the storage section 5 is reduced is It was experimentally found that the amount was reduced by approximately 0% compared to the conventional one.

The temperature uniformity is further improved, as already mentioned, by the fact that the channels 10 at the top 27 and bottom of the storage compartment 5 are not provided with ribs 13, so that the corresponding areas of the hollow space 10 are It acts as a suitable pressure compensation chamber, allowing the air flow along the various passageways 12 to have a uniform velocity.

Regarding the refrigeration compartment 6 which is separated from the storage compartment 5,
Fan 21 can generate a closed loop environment of air impinging on portions 92,93 of evaporator 9. Such air circulation is known per se and is indicated by the arrow (B) in FIGS. 2 and 3. In particular, the air flow (B) circulates through the openings 19 in the support wall 18, is cooled by the evaporator sections 92, 93 and returns into the refrigeration compartment 6.

Thus, the refrigerator according to the invention uses a single evaporator 9 to successfully cool two separate air streams (A) and (B), one of which is located in the storage compartment 5. indirectly cold DI t, , the other one directly cools the refrigeration compartment 6, so the simple structure of the book [12 is also revealed.

However, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the branch 17 of the channel 10, instead of being separate from the compartment 6, may also communicate with it, for example downstream of the evaporator 9. be. According to this embodiment, air flow (A), not shown for simplicity,
(B) is mixed inside the refrigerated compartment 6. In other embodiments, if part 92,93 of evaporator 9 is not provided and branch channel 17 communicates with refrigeration compartment 6, a single line along channel 1o and through compartment 6 may be provided. One air stream may be circulated.

Of course, the refrigerator described above can be further modified in many ways without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, the flow passage 12 may be omitted or of a different shape, and the fans 21, 23 may be of different types.

Furthermore, the device may have a single or more storage compartment 5, in which case the evaporator section 9
2.93, it is not necessary to provide the fan 21 and the shaped wall 18.

The branch channel 17 of the hollow space 10 may have a different shape, and the evaporator may of course be arranged outside the channel 10 and in heat exchange relationship with it.

In both cases, the heat exchange between the evaporator 9 and the channels 10 takes place relatively far from the walls 11 of the storage compartment 5, avoiding the formation of significantly colder areas on the same walls 11. Preventing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the refrigerator according to the invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective front view of the refrigerator in FIG. Many parts have been omitted in order to
FIG. 2 is a schematic, enlarged, perspective view of certain parts of the refrigerator in the figures; In the figure: 5...First compartment 6...Another compartment 9...Evaporator 10...Channel 12...Flow path 16 ...... Compartment wall 17 ... Channel branch 21.23 ... Blow device 27 ... Pressure compensation chamber 92.93 ... Evaporator Part A, 13... air flow.

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) A refrigerator with uniform temperature and high relative humidity in at least one first compartment, comprising a refrigeration circuit having at least one evaporator associated with a blowing device (23); ) is a channel ( ) substantially surrounding said compartment (5) and separated therefrom;
10), characterized in that the blowing device is capable of circulating a closed-loop air flow (A) along the channel in a heat exchange relationship with the evaporator (9) . (2) In the refrigerator according to claim 1,
Said evaporator (9) is at least partially connected to said channel (
10) and placed in said air stream (A). (3) In the refrigerator according to claim 2,
Said evaporator (9) is at least partially connected to said channel (
10), the refrigerator being housed in a branch (17) of the refrigerator, said channel extending in an area relatively remote from said first compartment (5). (4) In the refrigerator according to claim 3,
It also includes at least one further compartment separated from said first compartment by a compartment wall, said channel branch (1
7) passes through the partition wall (16) to the other partition (6).
A refrigerator that extends into the interior. (5) In the refrigerator according to claim 4,
A refrigerator in which said channel branch (17) communicates with said further compartment (6). (6) In the refrigerator according to claim 4,
Said channel branch (17) is separated from said further compartment (6) and at least a part (92,
93) extends outside the channel branch and is arranged in another closed-loop air stream (B), which air stream is separated into another section (6) by means of another blowing device (21). A refrigerator that can circulate inside. (7) A refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the channel (10) comprises a plurality of shaped passages (12) for the air flow (A). (8) In the refrigerator according to claim 7,
Said channel (10) has at least one pressure compensating chamber (27) in communication with said shaped flow path (12).
Including refrigerator.