KR100652776B1 - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, comprising: a main body including a cooling chamber, an air passage having a heat exchange section standing in communication with the cooling chamber, and a return passage for returning air from the cooling chamber to a bottom side of the heat exchange section; ; A defrost water tray having a drain hole and a guide inclined surface for guiding defrost water to the drain hole and disposed in a bottom region of the heat exchange section of the air passage; It is characterized in that it comprises an evaporator having a plurality of heat transfer fins disposed in the heat exchange section so as to be heat-exchangeable with the air, the lower one region is inclined toward the opposite side of the return flow path in contact with the guide slope. As a result, a refrigerator is provided, which improves the flowability of water during defrosting to reduce the amount of implantation and to suppress energy consumption.

Description

Refrigerator {REFRIGERATOR}

1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional refrigerator,

2 is a perspective view of the evaporator of FIG. 1,

3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

4 is an enlarged view of the evaporator region of FIG. 3;

5 is a view along the line VV of FIG. 4;

6 is a view showing an evaporator region of a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present disclosure corresponding to FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a view along the line VII-VII of FIG. 6.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

 1: body 3a: freezer

7a: air flow path 9a: freezer return flow path

10: evaporator 11: heat pipe

13: heating fin 14a: defrost water guide

17: defrost heater 21: defrost water tray

22a: drain hole 22b: guide slope

The present invention relates to a refrigerator. More particularly, the present invention relates to a refrigerator in which water flow during defrosting is improved to reduce the amount of implantation and to suppress energy consumption.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional refrigerator, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the evaporator of FIG. 1. As shown in these figures, the refrigerator is hinged to the main body 101 and the main body 101 in which the freezing chamber 103a and the refrigerating chamber 103b are formed along the up-down direction with the partition 104 interposed therebetween. And a freezer compartment door 105a and a refrigerating compartment door 105b for rotating and opening the freezer compartment 103a and the refrigerating compartment 103b.

The compressor 106 is installed in the lower rear region of the main body 101, and one side of the compressor 106 is provided with a condenser (not shown) for receiving and condensing refrigerant from the compressor 106.

Air passages 107a and 107b are formed in the rear regions of the freezing chamber 103a and the refrigerating chamber 103b, respectively. The evaporator 110 is installed.

The evaporator 110 has a plurality of heat transfer tubes 111 spaced apart from each other in a horizontal direction in the flow direction of air and communicated with each other to allow the refrigerant to flow therein, and different pitches with coupling holes formed through the plate surface. It has a plurality of heat transfer fins 113 which are coupled to be spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal direction of the heat transfer tube (111). A pair of holder members 115a and 115b are coupled to both end regions along the longitudinal direction of the heat transfer tube 111 to support the heat transfer tube 111.

Defrost heaters 117 are installed on both sides along the thickness direction of the evaporator 110 to remove the frost formed on the evaporator 110 by heating the evaporator 110. A blowing fan 119 is provided to provide the freezing chamber 103a and the refrigerating chamber 103b.

The defrost water tray 121 is installed below the evaporator 110 so as to collect and discharge the defrosted water that has been melted during defrosting, and a partition wall disposed between the evaporator 110 and the defrost water tray 121 ( The freezer compartment return passage 109a and the refrigerator compartment return passage 109b are respectively formed in the freezing chamber 103a and the refrigerating chamber 103b so that the air in the freezer compartment 103b can be returned to the evaporator 110 side.

 By this configuration, when the blowing fan 119 is rotated, the air in the freezing chamber 103a and the refrigerating chamber 103b flows back into the evaporator 110 region through the corresponding return passages 109a and 109b, and the evaporator 110. After the heat exchange while passing through) is provided to the freezer compartment (103a) and the refrigerating chamber (103b).

Water in the air during heat exchange with the evaporator 110 is implanted in the heat transfer tube 111 and the heat transfer fins 113 of the heat exchanger, and thus the flow resistance of the air is formed in the heat transfer tube 111 and the heat transfer fins 113. Not only increases, but also inhibits heat exchange. Therefore, when the defrost cycle arrives, the control unit (not shown) causes the power to be applied to the defrost heater 117 to heat-melt the frost formed to be discharged in the form of defrost water.

By the way, in the conventional refrigerator, each heat transfer fin 113 is formed of a rectangular plate-like member so that the defrosting water in the lower edge of each heat transfer fin 113 in the form of relatively large water droplets due to the surface tension during defrosting do. At this time, when switching to the cooling operation, the water droplets remaining on the lower end of the heat transfer fins 113 immediately solidify and turn into ice lumps, resulting in the consumption of energy to make unnecessary ice. In addition, the water droplets turned into ice acts as a coagulation tube to increase the amount of implantation, causing a loss of wind pressure, as well as to increase the power consumption of the defrost heater 117 during the next defrosting.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator capable of reducing the amount of implantation and reducing energy consumption while improving the flowability of water during defrosting.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cooling chamber and a main body having an air passage having a heat exchange section standing in mutual communication with the cooling chamber; A defrost water tray having a drain hole and a guide inclined surface for guiding defrost water to the drain hole and disposed in a bottom region of the heat exchange section of the air passage; It is achieved by a refrigerator, characterized in that it comprises an evaporator having a plurality of heat transfer fins disposed in the heat exchange section so as to be heat-exchangeable with air and at least one lower region is in contact with the guide slope.

Here, a return flow path for returning air from the cooling chamber is formed at one side of the bottom of the heat exchange section of the air flow path, and the heat transfer fin is inclined downwardly to the opposite side of the return flow path to be in contact with the guide slope. desirable.

And, it is effective that the one end of the heat transfer pin is in point contact with the guide inclined surface of the defrost water tray, respectively.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail with respect to the present invention.

3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the evaporator region of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a view along the line VV of FIG. 4. As shown in these drawings, the refrigerator according to the present invention also has a main body 1 in which a freezer compartment 3a and a refrigerating compartment 3b are formed with partition walls 4 interposed therebetween in the up-and-down direction, like the conventional refrigerators, It has a freezing chamber door 5a and a refrigerating chamber door 5b which are coupled to the main body 1 so as to open and close them.

Air passages 7a and 7b are respectively formed in the rear regions of the freezing chamber 3a and the refrigerating chamber 3b, and the partitions 4 have air passages formed in the rear region of the freezing chamber 3a. A freezer compartment return passage 9a and a cold compartment return passage 9b are formed to allow air to flow into 7a), respectively. In the lower rear region of the main body 1, a machine room 2 is provided so that a compressor 6 and a condenser (not shown) can be installed.

On the other hand, the evaporator 10 is installed in the air passage 7a standing up in the rear region of the freezing chamber 3a to cool the air introduced through the return passages 9a and 9b. Defrost heaters 17 are installed on both sides along the thickness direction of the evaporator 10 so as to perform defrosting by heating the evaporator 10. The upper side of the evaporator 10 is cooled while passing through the evaporator 10. The blowing fan 19 is provided so that the compressed air can be blown to the freezer compartment 3a and the refrigerating compartment 3b. The defrost water tray 21 is provided below the evaporator 10 to collect and discharge the defrost water heated by the defrost heater 17.

A drain hole 22a is formed in the central region of the defrost water tray 21 along the thickness direction of the evaporator 10, and a drain pipe 23 extended downward into the machine room 2 is coupled to the drain hole 22a. The upper surface of the defrost water tray 21 is formed with a guide inclined surface 22b having a “V” cross-sectional shape around the drain hole 22a along the thickness direction of the evaporator 10.

The evaporator 10 includes a plurality of heat transfer tubes 11 communicating with each other to allow refrigerant to flow therebetween and spaced apart from each other in parallel to the flow direction of air, and standing up along the flow direction of air, respectively. It has a plurality of heat transfer fins 13 are formed with a plurality of coupling holes (14b) to be coupled at the same time, a pair to support each heat pipe 11 in both end regions along the longitudinal direction of the heat pipe 11 Holder members (15a, 15b) of the are coupled. The defrosting water guide portion 14a extending downwardly inclined to contact the guide inclined surface 22b of the defrost water tray 21 is formed in the lower region of each heating fin 13.

By this configuration, when the blowing fan 19 is rotated, the air in the freezing chamber 3a and the refrigerating chamber 3b flows into the lower side of the evaporator 10 through the corresponding return passages 9a and 9b. The introduced air is heat-exchanged while contacting the heat transfer pipe 11 and the heat transfer fins 13, and the heat-exchanged air is blown back to the freezing chamber 3a and the refrigerating chamber 3b by the blowing fan 19.

On the other hand, moisture in the air lands on the surfaces of the heat transfer pipe 11 and the heat transfer fins 13, and when the defrost cycle arrives, the control unit (not shown) causes power to be applied to the defrost heater 17. When power is applied to the defrost heater 17, the frost formed on the heat transfer pipe 11 and the heat transfer fins 13 of the evaporator 10 is melted by heat and dropped to the defrost water tray 21. It flows along the guide slope 22b and is discharged through the drain hole 22a.

At this time, the defrost water guide portion 14a extended downward so as to contact the guide inclined surface 22b of the defrost water tray 21 in the lower region of each heating fin 13 continuously without disconnection of the flow of defrost water. By being discharged, unlike the conventional case in which water droplets remain at the lower edge of the heat transfer fin 13, almost no water droplets exist at the end of the defrosting.

On the other hand, Figure 6 is a view showing the evaporator region of the refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention corresponding to Figure 4, Figure 7 is a view along the Ⅶ-Ⅶ line of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the same and equivalent parts as the above-described embodiment with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. As shown in these figures, an evaporator 30 is provided in the air passage 7a formed in the rear region of the freezing chamber 3a to cool the air introduced from the freezing chamber 3a and the refrigerating chamber 3b. .

Defrost heaters 17 are provided on both sides of the evaporator 30 along the thickness direction, and an air blower 19 is provided on the upper side of the evaporator 30 to blow cooled air to the freezing chamber 3a and the refrigerating chamber 3b. ) Is provided. The defrost water tray 41 is disposed below the evaporator 30 so that the defrost water heated by the defrost heater 17 can be collected and discharged.

A drainage hole 42a is formed in the central area along the longitudinal direction of the defrost water tray 41, and a drainage pipe 23 having one end extended downward into the machine room 2 is coupled to the drainage hole 42a. In the upper region of the defrost water tray 41, a guide inclined surface forming a “V” cross-sectional shape along the longitudinal direction of the drain hole 42a to guide the defrost water falling from the evaporator 30 to the drain hole 42a. 42b) is formed.

On the other hand, the evaporator 30, the plurality of heat transfer pipes 31 which are spaced apart in parallel to each other in the horizontal direction with respect to the flow direction of air, and through the plate surface to be coupled to each heat transfer pipe 31 at the same time a plurality of coupling holes are penetrated It has a plurality of heat transfer fins 33 formed. The defrost water guide part 34a extends downward to have a “V” shape so as to be in contact with the guide inclined surface 42b of the defrost water tray 41 in the lower region of the heat transfer fin 33. Is formed.

With this configuration, when the defrosting cycle arrives and power is applied to the defrost heater 17, the frost formed on each heat transfer pipe 31 and the heat transfer fin 33 of the evaporator 30 is melted by heating and the defrost water tray 41. ), And the defrosted water dropped is guided to the drain hole 42a along the guide slope 42b and discharged along the drain pipe 23. At this time, the defrost water guide portion 34a extending in the lower region of each heat transfer fin 33 allows the defrost water to be continuously discharged without interruption of the flow, so that water is almost at the lower edge of the heat transfer fin 33. You will not.

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a defrost water guide portion extended downward in contact with the defrost water tray in the lower region of the heat transfer fin is continuously discharged without disconnection of the flow of the defrost water to retain moisture in the heat transfer fin This prevents the loss of energy required to cool the water droplets that remain unnecessarily during the cooling operation after the completion of defrosting, and reduces the amount of frosting by eliminating condensation tube, thereby reducing the power consumption of the defrost heater during the next defrosting. Is provided.

Claims (3)

A main body including a cooling chamber, an air passage having a heat exchange section standing in communication with the cooling chamber, and a return passage through which air of the cooling chamber is returned at one side of the bottom of the heat exchange section; A defrost water tray having a drain hole and a guide inclined surface for guiding defrost water to the drain hole and disposed in a bottom region of the heat exchange section of the air passage; And a evaporator having a plurality of heat transfer fins disposed in the heat exchange section so as to be heat-exchangeable with air, and having a lower one region extending inclined toward the opposite side of the return flow path and contacting the guide slope. delete The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein each of the heating fins is in point contact with the guide inclined surface of the defrost water tray.

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