JPH08261628A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an energy saving type refrigerator which makes the most use of radiant heat of a glass tube heater with high efficiency and enhance defrosting efficiency and protect cooling efficiency from being degraded without increasing partially the temperature of a vaporizer at the time of restarting freezing operation. CONSTITUTION: In a refrigerator which forcedly circulates chilled air from a vaporizer 7 by means of a fan 8, the vaporizer 7, which is laid out on a circulation flow passage 2a, consists of a plurality of heat exchangers which comprise plate fins and heat exchanger tubes and are laid out in spiral shape while a defrosting heater 9 is installed to the central part of the vaporizer as well. The vaporizer is installed so that its spiral center line may be horizontal. A heater cover 10, which are formed with aluminum or the like, is installed to the upper part of the defrosting heater. The upper part of the vaporizer 7 is thicker than the defrosting heater while the lower part is thinly wound. The in-flow side of refrigerants is laid out in the spiral center and wound up in such a fashion that the refrigerants may flow over from the lateral side of the defrosting heater.

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 an arrangement of an evaporator and a glass tube heater.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to forcibly remove the frost adhering to the cooler of the refrigerator and its surroundings, a defrosting device for a refrigerator using the heat of a heater has come to be widely used. However, in the conventional refrigerator, since the heater is arranged below the flat plate-shaped evaporator as shown in FIG. 4, the lower part of the evaporator is irradiated with radiant heat and gradually defrosts from the lower part to the upper part. Not only does it take a long time to defrost, but the upper part of the evaporator is not completely defrosted even when the temperature of the lower part of the evaporator rises, and the temperature of the lower part of the evaporator becomes partially high when defrosting is completed and freezing is restarted. However, there was a problem that the cooling efficiency was deteriorated.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the problems described above, efficiently uses the heat of the heater, enhances the defrosting efficiency, and partially raises the temperature of the evaporator when the freezing is restarted. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an energy-saving refrigerator that does not deteriorate the cooling efficiency.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a refrigerator in which cool air from the evaporator is forcedly circulated by a blower fan, and the evaporator disposed in the circulation passage has a flat plate fin and a heat transfer tube. The heat exchanger is composed of a plurality of heat exchangers and is arranged in a spiral shape, and a defrosting heater is arranged at the center of the evaporator. Then, the evaporator is installed so that the center line of the spiral is horizontal, a heater cover formed of aluminum or the like is provided above the defrosting heater, and the evaporator is more than the defrosting heater. The upper part is thickly wound, and the lower part is thinly wound, the inflow side of the refrigerant is arranged in the spiral center part, and the refrigerant is started to flow upward from the side part of the defrosting heater.

[0005]

As described above, in the defrosting apparatus such as the refrigerator of the present invention, the evaporator is installed so that the center line of the spiral is horizontal, and the evaporator is thicker above the defrosting heater.
A heater is formed by winding a lower part in a thin spiral shape, arranging the refrigerant inflow side in the spiral center part, and arranging in a spiral shape so that the refrigerant flows upward from the side part of the defrosting heater. In addition to radiating the radiant heat from the whole evaporator, the radiant heat is radiated more strongly to the part where much frost is attached at a lower temperature to uniformly defrost the whole.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A refrigerator according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing an embodiment of a refrigerator according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are partially enlarged views of FIG. As shown in the figure, the refrigerator body 1 is divided into a freezing compartment 3 and a refrigerating compartment 4 by a partition wall 2 having a cool air return path 2a, and a cooling compartment 6 partitioned by a partition plate 5 at the rear of the freezing compartment 3. The cooling chamber 6 is provided with an evaporator 7 described below at the bottom and a fan 8 at the top. In the evaporator 7, a heat exchanger 71 formed by inserting a heat transfer tube 7b into a flat plate fin 7a formed in an arc shape is arranged in a spiral shape,
Each of the heat transfer tubes 7b is connected by a bend 7c, and is installed in the lower part of the rear surface of the freezing chamber 3 such that the center line of the spiral is horizontal. The defrosting glass tube heater 9 is arranged at the center of the spiral evaporator 7. Reference numeral 10 is a heater cover made of aluminum or the like, which covers the defrosting water from the evaporator 7 and the like so as not to damage the glass tube heater 9 and damage it. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the heat transfer tube 7b is formed by a U-shaped tube 7b1, and in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the heat transfer tube 7b is formed by an I-shaped tube 7b2. Further, in the heat exchanger 71, as shown in FIG. 2, the side of the capillary tube 11 into which the refrigerant flows is arranged in the spiral center part, and the refrigerant is moved upward from the side part of the defrosting glass tube heater 9. The winding is started in a flowing manner, and the upper portion of the defrosting glass tube heater 9 is double-wound and the lower portion is single-wound. In addition, 11 is a capillary tube, 12 is an accumulator, 13 is a water channel which drains defrost water.

The operation of the above arrangement will be described below. First, the freezing and refrigerating operations of the refrigerator will be described. The refrigerant sent from the compressor (not shown) is
Heat transfer tube 7 of evaporator 7 via capillary tube 11
The heat is taken from the flat plate fins 7a that have flowed into b, and have taken away heat from the surroundings, evaporated, and sent out to a condenser (not shown) via the accumulator 12. On the other hand, the air flowing in from the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerator compartment 4 through the air passage 2a absorbs heat by the evaporator 7 and is cooled, and this cool air is forcedly blown to the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerator compartment 4 by the fan 8. And is circulating. When the operation is performed for a long time as described above, the water contained in the air from the freezing compartment 3 and the refrigerating compartment 4 adheres to the evaporator 7 and its surroundings as frost, thereby reducing the refrigeration efficiency. Therefore, the refrigerator is provided with a frost detector (not shown) and the like, and when the adhesion of frost is detected, the compressor (not shown) and the fan 8 are provided.
The above operations are interrupted, and a current is passed through the defrosting glass tube heater 9 to start defrosting.

Next, the defrosting operation will be described. When an electric current flows through the glass tube heater 9, the glass tube heater 9 generates radiant heat, and the radiant heat irradiates the evaporator 7, the heater cover 10, etc. arranged spirally evenly, and the frost attached to the evaporator 7 etc. Melts rapidly and this defrost water is falling down. The heater cover 10 provided above the glass tube heater 9 protects the glass tube heater 9 from this defrost water. The defrosted water that has melted and dropped passes through the water passage 13 and is guided to an evaporation tray (not shown) provided in the lower part of the refrigerator to evaporate. When the defrosting is completed, the current flowing through the glass tube heater 9 is cut off, and the operation as the refrigerator is started again.

[0009]

As described above, according to the refrigerator of the present invention, the evaporator is installed so that the center line of the spiral is horizontal, and the evaporator is thicker above the defrosting heater and below the defrosting heater. Is wound in a thin spiral, and the inflow side of the refrigerant is arranged in the center of the spiral, and the spiral is arranged so that the refrigerant flows upward from the side of the defrosting heater. In addition to irradiating the entire radiant heat of the evaporator, the radiant heat of the heater is used efficiently because the radiant heat of the heater is radiated with stronger radiant heat to the part where much frost adheres at a lower temperature to uniformly defrost the whole. It is possible to provide an energy-saving refrigerator in which the defrosting efficiency is improved and the temperature of the evaporator is not partially increased when the freezing is restarted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing an embodiment of a refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a conventional refrigerator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Refrigerator Main Body 2 Partition Wall 3 Freezer Room 4 Refrigerator Room 5 Partition Plate 6 Cooling Room 7 Evaporator 7a Plate Fin 7b Heat Transfer Tube 7b1 U-shaped Tube 7b2 I-shaped Tube 7c Bend 8 Fan 9 Defrosting Glass Tube Heater 10 Heater Cover 11 Capillary tube 12 Accumulator 2a Wind channel 13 Water channel 71 Heat exchanger

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. In a refrigerator in which cold air from an evaporator is forcedly circulated by a blower fan, the evaporator arranged in the circulation passage is composed of a plurality of heat exchangers which are spirally arranged and each of which comprises a plate fin and a heat transfer tube. A refrigerator characterized in that a defrosting heater is arranged in the center of the evaporator. 2. The evaporator is configured by arranging a plurality of heat exchangers, each having a heat transfer tube inserted through a flat plate fin, in a spiral shape, and sequentially connecting each heat transfer tube with a bend. The refrigerator according to claim 1. 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the evaporator is installed such that the center line of the spiral is horizontal. 4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the evaporator is arranged such that a refrigerant inflow side is arranged in the spiral center part. 5. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the horizontally installed evaporator has a thicker upper portion and a thinner lower portion than the defrosting heater. 6. The horizontally installed evaporator has a refrigerant inflow side disposed in the spiral center part, and a heat exchanger is wound so that the refrigerant flows upward from a side part of the defrosting heater. The refrigerator according to claim 3, which is the first to be used. 7. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the flat plate fin has a spiral inner side short and an outer side long. 8. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the flat plate fin is formed in an arc shape along a spiral shape. 9. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the defrosting heater is a glass tube heater. 10. The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein a heater cover for preventing defrost water is provided on an upper portion of the defrosting heater. 11. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the heat transfer tube is a U-shaped tube. 12. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the heat transfer tube is an I-shaped tube.