JPH04288466A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make an exclusive passage for sending air, cooled by a cooler, into a vegetable chamber unnecessary and prevent the vegetable chamber from suffering from the shortage of cooling even when said exclusive passage is eliminated. CONSTITUTION:Cold air, sent into a refrigerating chamber 9 through a refrigerating chamber sending passage 24, is sent into a vegetable chamber 10 through a refrigerating chamber returning passage 25. The cold air, sent into the vegetable chamber 10, is returned into a cooler through a vegetable chamber returning passage 26. A branch passage 27 is formed on a heat insulating cover 18, covering a damper device 20 controlling the supply of the cold air from the cooler into the refrigerating chamber sending passage 24, whereby a part of the cold air, supplied to the refrigerating chamber sending passage 24, is supplied from the branch passage 27 into the refrigerating chamber returning passage 25 so as to be mixed with air which has already cooled the refrigerating chamber 9.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Object of the invention]

0002

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a refrigerator compartment above the freezer compartment,
This invention relates to a refrigerator in which a vegetable compartment is formed below the freezer compartment.

0003

2. Description of the Related Art Refrigerators are usually arranged in order from the top: a freezer compartment, a refrigerator compartment, and a vegetable compartment. However, since the refrigerator compartment is used more frequently than the freezer compartment, it is important to consider the ease of opening and closing the door and putting food in and out.
In recent large-sized refrigerators, it is considered that the refrigerator compartment, freezer compartment, and vegetable compartment are arranged in this order from the top.

On the other hand, in so-called fan-cooled refrigerators, a cooler is conventionally installed at the back of the freezer compartment, and air cooled by the cooler is sent to each compartment, and from each compartment the air is distributed exclusively to each compartment. The water is returned to the cooler via the return path.

[0005] Following this conventional technology, in the case where the refrigerator compartment is formed above the freezer compartment and the vegetable compartment is formed below the freezer compartment, the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment are connected to each other by a cooler. It is configured to supply cooled air to each compartment through a refrigerator compartment outgoing path and a crisper compartment outgoing path, and return the cold air supplied to each compartment to the cooler through a refrigerator compartment return path and a vegetable compartment return path. .

[0006]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] When a refrigerator compartment and a vegetable compartment are provided below the freezer compartment, both the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment are located below the cooler. A part of the outgoing route for supplying cold air to the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment can be shared, and a part of the return route for returning the cold air supplied to the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment to the cooler can also be shared. However, if the refrigerator compartment is installed above the freezer compartment and the vegetable compartment is installed below the freezer compartment, the refrigerator compartment and vegetable compartment will be located above and below each other with the cooler in between. For the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment, dedicated cold air outbound and return routes must be provided, respectively. For this reason, the structure of the ventilation passage for circulating cold air becomes complicated, which tends to increase pressure loss, resulting in an increase in the size of the fan device and an increase in air blowing noise.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its object is to provide a refrigerator compartment above the freezer compartment and a vegetable compartment below the freezer compartment, in which the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment are separated. To provide a refrigerator which can simplify the outward route for supplying cold air to the cooler and the return route for returning the supplied cold air to the cooler.

[Configuration of the invention]

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The refrigerator of the present invention has a refrigerator compartment above the freezer compartment and a vegetable compartment below the freezer compartment, in which food is sent to the refrigerator compartment via an outbound path for the refrigerator compartment. A return route for the refrigerator compartment for returning cold air is connected to the vegetable compartment,
The cold air sent to the vegetable compartment via this return route for the refrigerator compartment is returned to the cooler via the return route for the vegetable compartment, and it also covers a damper device that controls the supply of cold air from the cooler to the return route for the refrigerator compartment. The heat insulating cover is characterized by forming a branch passage for supplying part of the cold air supplied to the outward passage for the refrigerator compartment to the return passage for the refrigerator compartment.

0010

[Operation] Air to be returned to the cooler from the refrigerator compartment is once blown out to the vegetable compartment from the refrigerator compartment return route, and then returned to the cooler through the vegetable compartment return route. Moreover, since a part of the cold air supplied to the outward path for the refrigerator compartment is diverted to the return path for the refrigerator compartment, the vegetable compartment will not be insufficiently cooled. Therefore, an outbound path dedicated to the vegetable compartment for supplying air cooled by the cooler to the vegetable compartment can be omitted.

[0011] Furthermore, since a branch channel is formed in the heat insulating cover that covers the damper device in order to flow part of the cold air supplied to the outward path for the refrigerator compartment to the return channel for the refrigerator compartment, it is not necessary to configure the branch channel with a separate duct. disappears.

0012

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, as shown in FIG. The upper and middle heat insulating partition walls 2 and 3 are partitioned left and right by a vertical heat insulating partition wall 5. And these partition walls 2 to 5
Thus, a main freezer compartment 6, an auxiliary freezer compartment 7 and an ice-making compartment 8 above the main freezer compartment 6, a refrigerator compartment 9 one stage above the main freezer compartment 6, and a vegetable compartment 10 below the main freezer compartment 6 are divided into sections.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cooler chamber 11 is formed in a portion of the insulation box 1 that corresponds to the back insulation wall of the main freezer compartment 6, auxiliary freezer compartment 7, and ice making compartment 8. . Inside this cooler chamber 11 is a fan device 12 and a cooler 1.
3 are arranged in a vertical positional relationship, and the fan device 12 is located in the cooler 13 in the refrigerator compartment 9 and the vegetable compartment 10.
The cooled air is circulated through the following route. Note that the cold air circulation to the main freezer compartment 6, auxiliary freezer compartment 7, and ice making compartment 8 is similar to that of a conventional refrigerator in which a cooler compartment is formed in a portion corresponding to the back of the freezer compartment.
Further, since it is not directly related to the present invention, a description thereof will be omitted.

That is, in FIG. 1, a decorative cover 14 is provided at the back of the main freezing compartment 6, the auxiliary freezing compartment 7, and the ice making compartment 8. On the back side of this decorative cover 14, there is a first
A duct 15 is provided, and this first duct 15 connects an air outlet 16 formed in the front wall of the cooler chamber 11 and a second duct 17 shown in FIG. 3 formed in the back insulation wall of the insulation box 1. It communicates with the lower end entrance of. Therefore, the cool air in the cooler chamber 11 is blown from the air outlet 16 to the second duct 17 through the first duct 15 by the fan device 12. The second duct 17 extends upward,
As shown in FIG. 1, its upper end outlet opens into a damper chamber 19 of a heat insulating cover 18 disposed at the lower end portion of the back of the refrigerator compartment 9. The heat insulating cover 18 is made of, for example, foamed plastic, and covers the damper device 20 attached to the heat insulating box 1 so as to accommodate the damper device 20 in the damper chamber 19. This damper device 20 operates to open and close when two temperature sensors (not shown) that detect the temperature inside the refrigerator compartment 9 and the vegetable compartment 10 detect the opening set temperature and the closing set temperature, respectively. It is composed of

A decorative panel 21 is disposed above the heat insulating cover 18, and the decorative panel 21 is provided with a third duct 22 extending upward as shown in FIG. The lower end of this third duct 22 is connected to the damper chamber 1
9 and the upper end thereof is connected to an air outlet 23 that opens into the refrigerator compartment 9.
A refrigerating compartment outward path 24 for supplying cold air in the cooler compartment 11 to the refrigerating compartment 9 is configured.

On the other hand, the cold air supplied to the refrigerator compartment 9 is sent to the vegetable compartment 10 through the refrigerator compartment return route 25, and the cold air further sent to the vegetable compartment 10 is sent to the cooler compartment 11 through the vegetable compartment return route 26. It is set to be returned to . this house,
As shown in FIG. 2, the return path 25 for the refrigerator compartment extends rearward from the inlet 25a on the front upper surface of the upper heat insulating partition wall 2, and further extends downward at the rear right side of the heat insulating box 1. The outlet 25b at the lower end thereof is opened into the vegetable compartment 10. And the heat insulation cover 18
As shown in FIG. 1, a branch passage 27 is formed that extends downward from the damper chamber 19, and the lower end of this branch passage 27 communicates with an intermediate portion of the return passage 26 for the refrigerator compartment. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the vegetable compartment return path 26 is provided in the lower heat insulating partition wall 4 so as to extend rearward from the inlet 26a at the front thereof, and the outlet (not shown) at the rear thereof. )
is communicated with the lower part of the cooler chamber 11.

In the above configuration, when the temperature inside the main freezing compartment 6 reaches a predetermined temperature or higher (at this time, the damper device 20 is in an open state), a temperature sensor (not shown) detects this and the compressor (also not shown) and fan device 12 are activated. Then, the cold air cooled by the cooler 13 flows from the air outlet 16 to the outgoing path 24 for the refrigerator compartment.
is sent to the first duct 15 of After that, the cold air becomes the second
It is sent to the damper chamber 19 through the duct 17, and although part of it is diverted to the branch channel 27 in the damper chamber 19, most of it flows to the third duct 22 side and is supplied into the refrigerator compartment 9 from the outlet 23. The cold air blown out from the air outlet 23 cools the inside of the refrigerator compartment 9, and then flows into the refrigerator compartment return passage 25 and the branch passage 2.
It is mixed with the cold air supplied from 7 and supplied into the vegetable compartment 10. The cold air supplied into the vegetable compartment 10 is returned to the cooler compartment 11 through the vegetable compartment return path 26 and is cooled again by the cooler 13, thus circulating.

In this case, the return route 24 for the refrigerator compartment from the refrigerator compartment 9
The cold air flowing into the refrigerator compartment 9 is the cold air that has cooled the inside of the refrigerator compartment 9, so the temperature has increased somewhat, but the cold air is mixed with the cold air from the branch channel 27, and the vegetable compartment 10 is Since it is not necessary to cool the vegetable compartment 10 to such a low temperature, the cooling effect on the vegetable compartment 10 is not impaired. When the cold air circulating in the above manner cools the refrigerator compartment 9 and the vegetable compartment 10 to their respective predetermined closing set temperatures, the damper device 20 operates to close, thereby stopping the cooling of the refrigerator compartment 9 and the vegetable compartment 10. be done.

According to this embodiment, the cold air sent to the refrigerator compartment 9 is sent to the vegetable compartment 10 through the return path 24 for the refrigerator compartment, so that the cold air cooled by the cooler 13 can be sent to the vegetable compartment 10. There is no need for a dedicated outbound route for sending the data to 10. Therefore, the configuration of the air passage for circulating cold air can be simplified, so that pressure loss in the air passage is reduced, and the fan device 12 can be made smaller and have lower noise levels.

[0020] Furthermore, by providing the branch passage 27 which diverts a part of the cold air passing through the outward passage 24 for the refrigerator compartment to the return passage 25 for the refrigerator compartment, the cold air after cooling the refrigerator compartment 9 as described above is transferred to the vegetable compartment. 10, the vegetable compartment 10 can be sufficiently cooled. Moreover, since the branch flow passage 27 is formed in the heat insulating cover 18 that covers the damper device 20, there is no need to manufacture a duct for forming the branch flow passage 27 as a separate part, which increases the number of parts and the number of assembly steps. can be prevented.

[0021]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention described above, the return path for the refrigerator compartment for returning cold air sent to the refrigerator compartment is communicated with the vegetable compartment, and the cold air is sent to the vegetable compartment via the return route for the refrigerator compartment. The cold air is returned to the cooler via the return path for the crisper compartment, and a branch path is provided to supply part of the cold air supplied to the return path for the refrigerator compartment to the return path for the refrigerator compartment. Since a dedicated passage for supplying the cold air to the vegetable compartment is not required, the configuration of the air passage for circulating the cold air can be simplified, and in this way, the cold air after cooling the refrigerator compartment can be supplied to the vegetable compartment. Even if you do so, there is no risk that the vegetable compartment will be insufficiently cooled.

[0022] Furthermore, by forming the above-mentioned diversion channel in the heat insulating cover that covers the damper device, there is no need to manufacture a duct for constructing the diversion channel as a separate component.
It has excellent effects such as:

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

[Fig. 1] Enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional side view of essential parts showing one embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 2] Side view of the entire refrigerator shown in partial cross section

[Figure 3]
Partial front view of a refrigerator to show the schematic configuration of the air duct

[Figure 4] Schematic front view of the entire refrigerator with the door removed

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a heat insulating box body, 6 is a main freezer compartment, 7 is an auxiliary freezer compartment, 8 is an ice making compartment, 9 is a refrigerator compartment, 10 is a vegetable compartment, 11 is a cooler compartment, 1
2 is a fan device, 13 is a cooler, 19 is a damper chamber, 2
0 is a damper device, 24 is an outgoing path for the refrigerator compartment, 25 is a return path for the refrigerator compartment, 26 is a return path for the vegetable compartment, and 27 is a branch path.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: The inside of the insulating box is partitioned by an insulating partition wall to form a refrigerator compartment above the freezing compartment, and a vegetable compartment below the freezing compartment, and each compartment is cooled by a cooler. Cooled air is circulated by a fan device, and a return route for the refrigerator compartment for returning cold air sent to the refrigerator compartment via the outward route for the refrigerator compartment is communicated with the vegetable compartment. A damper device configured to return the cold air sent to the vegetable compartment via the return path for the refrigerator compartment to the cooler via the return route for the vegetable compartment, and to control the supply of cold air from the cooler to the outward route for the refrigerator compartment. 1. A refrigerator characterized in that a heat insulating cover covering the refrigerator is provided with a branch passage for supplying part of the cold air supplied to the outward passage for the refrigerator compartment to the return passage for the refrigerator compartment.