KR101993089B1 - Refrigerator with defrost function - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a defrosting function and, more specifically, to a technology generating cold air by itself through a separated cold insulation agent installed inside to prevent temporary rising of temperature in the process of actuating a defrosting heater installed in an evaporator for freshness of foods to be maintained for a long time. The refrigerator comprises: a main body; an evaporator installed in the main body to generate cold air; a defrosting heater removing frost formed in the evaporator; an evaporator fan installed at one side of the evaporator to supply cold air to the evaporator; a cold air path guiding the cold air, supplied by the evaporator fan, to be supplied to the inside where the foods are put through a plurality of cold air discharge holes; the cold insulation agent installed at one side of the cold air path; an assistant fan installed in the cold air path to supply wind toward the position of the cold insulation agent; an opening and closing door installed at an entrance of the cold air path to selectively induce or block the inflow of air; and a defrosting control unit controlling operations of the assistant fan and opening and closing the door according to whether the defrosting heater is actuated or not.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a defrost function,

The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a defrosting function, and more particularly, to a refrigerator having a defrosting function, and more particularly, to a refrigerator having a defrosting function, It is a technology that can maintain the freshness of food for a long time.

Generally, refrigerator and freezer (hereinafter referred to as refrigerator) is a device for continuously supplying cold air to an enclosed space to store foods for a long period of time. The basic operation principle is that refrigerant is compressed, condensed, expanded, Freezing) cycle to generate cold air.

In such a refrigerator, frost is generated on the surface of the evaporator serving to generate cold air, and the freezing area is gradually increased over time, which leads to a decrease in refrigeration efficiency. Therefore, in order to obtain a smooth cooling effect of the freezer, defrosting operation to remove the frost or frost on the surface of the evaporator is essential.

The defrosting method includes a method of mechanically scraping off or removing the frost generated in the evaporator, a method of flowing hot refrigerant into the evaporator, and a method of melting by an electric heater.

Among them, the most effective defrosting method is the method of melting by electric heater. However, when the defrosting is performed by the electric heater, the temperature in the hearth temporarily rises during the operation of the electric heater, thereby deteriorating the freshness of the food.

[0003] As a related art, Japanese Patent No. 10-0801356 (a method of defrosting a refrigerator and a refrigerator) includes a storage chamber, a refrigeration cycle for generating cool air to the storage chamber and including an evaporator, And a supercooling oil retainer positioned relative to the supercooling chamber to suppress a temperature rise of the supercooling chamber due to a rise in the temperature of the storage chamber.

However, since the supercooling device of the prior art has two evaporators, it is required to include a first evaporator, a second evaporator, and a configuration for selectively supplying the refrigerant. This increases the volume of the refrigerator, .

As another prior art, Patent No. 10-1458199 (a refrigerator having a cold storage unit) is provided in a freezer or a refrigerated room, and after being cooled in normal driving, cold air is supplied during power failure and defrosting to preserve the cold air in the refrigerator or freezer The cold storage unit has an inner space sealed in a shelf of the refrigerator, and a coolant is installed in the inner space. As another embodiment of the cold storage unit, there is disclosed a technique in which an axial cooling pipe is provided on an outer surface or an inner surface of the freezing chamber or the refrigerating chamber, and a cooling medium for accumulating the cooling air is injected into the axial cooling pipe during normal driving of the refrigerator .

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the cooling effect of the refrigerator can be maintained by the axial refrigerant, but the air of the elevated temperature in the evaporator is transferred to the position where the food is present There is a problem that it is not able to fundamentally block.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator which is capable of defrosting a frost generated in an evaporator of a refrigerator through a defrost heater, The present invention provides a refrigerator having a defrosting function that can keep freshness of foods constant by supplying cold air through the refrigerator.

The evaporator fan is installed at one side of the evaporator and supplies cool air to the evaporator. The evaporator fan is installed at one side of the evaporator, A cool air passage for guiding the supplied cool air to be supplied to the inside of the food through the plurality of cool air discharge holes; an air cooler provided on one side of the cool air passage; And a defrost control unit for controlling the operation of the auxiliary fan and the opening and closing door according to whether the defrost heater is operated or not, .

The defrost heater is characterized in that the defrost heater is of an induction heating type using a high frequency current.

Further, the coolant is installed on the opposite side of the cool air discharge hole, and is installed at a position higher than the position of the cool air discharge hole, and the auxiliary fan is installed downwardly inclined at the upper end of the cool air passage, So that it can be transmitted to the cold air discharge hole after being hit first.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an evaporator, comprising: a main body; an evaporator provided in the main body to generate cool air; a defrost heater for removing frost formed on the evaporator; an evaporator fan installed at one side of the evaporator to supply cool air of the evaporator; A cool air passage for guiding the cool air supplied from the fan to be supplied to the interior of the food through the plurality of cool air discharge openings, an air cooler provided at one side of the cool air passage, And a defrost control unit for selectively controlling the direction of the coolant in accordance with whether the defrost heater is operated or not.

The blower is installed at the upper end of the cool air passage, and the coolant is installed at a position opposite to the cool air discharge hole and higher than the position of the cool air discharge hole. The air supplied by the evaporator fan, So that it can be introduced into the cold air discharge hole.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator including a main body, an evaporator installed in the main body, an evaporator for generating cool air, a defrost heater for removing frost formed on the evaporator, an evaporator fan installed on one side of the evaporator, A first cool air passage formed at one side of the first cool air passage and adapted to supply cool air supplied from the evaporator fan to the first cool air passage through the plurality of cool air discharge openings; A second cooling air passage formed at one side of the second cooling air passage and having a communication hole formed therein so as to be able to be supplied with cooling air; a first opening / closing door provided at an inlet of the first cooling air passage to selectively open / A second opening / closing door provided at an inlet of the second cool air passage for selectively opening / closing the inflow of air; and a second opening / Characterized in that comprises a; and a defrosting control unit for controlling the second opening and closing door.

The first and second opening / closing doors are respectively installed at upper ends of the first and second cooling passages, and the coolant is installed at a position higher than the position of the communication hole, So that the air supplied by the evaporator fan in the operation of the defrost heater can be first hit against the coolant in the second cool air passage and then transferred to the cooler discharge hole through the communication hole .

In the present invention, the instant the defrost heater is temporarily activated, the temperature which has risen in the vicinity of the evaporator is not immediately sent to the cold air discharge hole, but the cold air is made and supplied through the air cooler provided in the cool air passage, thereby maintaining the freshness of the food constantly There is an effect that can be.

1 is a view showing a first embodiment of the present invention,
2 is a view showing a first embodiment of the present invention,
Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in which the defrosting operation state
Fig. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention,
6 is an enlarged view of a main configuration of the third embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main configuration in the third embodiment of the present invention,

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

The refrigerator provided with the defrosting function of the present invention is constructed such that the frost generated in the evaporator can be defrosted through the electric heater and the refrigerator itself is made to supply cold air through a separate coolant so that the temperature, So that the temperature of the refrigerator can be kept constant.

The present invention for supplying cool air by using an insulated coolant during defrost operation is accomplished through the following three preferred embodiments.

1 and 2 illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention. The first embodiment of the present invention includes a main body 100, an evaporator 110 installed in the main body 100 to generate cool air, An evaporator fan 300 installed at one side of the evaporator 110 to supply the cool air of the evaporator 110 and a cool air supplied from the evaporator fan 300 to the plurality of cool air discharge holes A coolant passage 400 for guiding the coolant to be supplied to the inside of the food through the coolant passage 401, an coolant 500 installed at one side of the coolant passage 400, An opening / closing door 700 installed at an inlet of the cool air passage 400 for selectively opening and closing the inflow of air, and an auxiliary door 600 for supplying air to the defrost heater 200 A defrost control unit 800 for controlling the operation of the auxiliary fan 600 and the opening / And it characterized in that formed.

The evaporator 110 and the evaporator fan 300 installed inside the main body 100 of the present invention are generally installed in a refrigerator, and description of the compressors, the condenser, and the expansion valves corresponding to the remaining configurations will be omitted.

The defrost heater 200 is configured to remove the frost formed on the evaporator 110 with a temporary high-temperature heat, and the operation principle is performed by an induction heating method using a high-frequency current. In the induction heating method using the high-frequency current, a high-frequency current supplied through the high-frequency generator is transferred to a heating coil installed around the evaporator 110, and electric energy is converted into thermal energy by an eddy current to heat the evaporator 110 do. Such an induction heating method has an excellent effect in terms of power consumption and defrosting efficiency over other defrosting methods.

In the cool air passage 400, cool air is blown into the plurality of cool air discharge holes 401 while the cool air is blown by the evaporator fan 300 from the upper part to the lower part. At this time, Are formed at regular intervals so as to be able to be transferred onto each shelf.

The coolant 500 is installed inside the refrigerator and is used for storing the cool air and then suppressing a temperature rise due to defrosting. The coolant 500 is preferably fixedly installed at a predetermined interval as shown in the figure, Since the constituent components can be variously formed, they are not limited to the present invention.

The auxiliary fan 600 and the opening and closing door 700 are features of the first embodiment of the present invention in which the auxiliary fan 600 is installed on the cool air passage 400 and is used only in the defrosting operation, So that the cool air stored in the coolant 500 can be taken out and supplied to the cool air discharge hole 401. [

The opening and closing door 700 is installed at the entrance of the cold air passage 400 so that it is normally opened so that the cold wind of the evaporator fan 300 can be supplied to the cold air passage 400. In the defrosting operation, 700 is closed to block the high temperature air generated from the defrost heater 200 from flowing into the cool air passage 400 and prevent the wind of the auxiliary fan 600 from rising to the area where the evaporator 110 is located do.

The defrost control unit 800 controls the operation of the auxiliary fan 600 and the opening and closing of the opening and closing door 700 according to whether the defrost heater 200 is operated or not.

1, the operation of the auxiliary fan 600 is maintained in the OFF state and the opening / closing door 700 is controlled to be opened, so that the cold wind of the evaporator fan 300 is cooled, So that it can flow into the passage 400.

2, the operation of the evaporator fan 300 is stopped, the opening and closing door 700 is closed, the operation of the auxiliary fan 600 is turned ON, and the operation of the auxiliary fan 600 So that the cold air is supplied to the respective cold air discharge holes 401.

It is preferable that the operation of the auxiliary fan 600 is operated only during the defrosting operation. However, in order to increase the supply amount of the chilled wind during the normal refrigerating operation, the operation of the evaporator fan 300 and the auxiliary fan 600 is controlled simultaneously .

The coolant 500 of the first embodiment is installed on the opposite side of the cool air discharge hole 401 and is located higher than the position of the cool air discharge hole 401, In this case, the wind generated at the time of operating the auxiliary fan 600 may be transmitted to the cold air discharge hole 401 after it first hits the coolant 500 Structure.

3 to 4, the structure of the second embodiment includes a main body 100, an evaporator 110 installed in the main body 100 to generate cool air, An evaporator fan 300 installed at one side of the evaporator 110 to supply the cool air of the evaporator 110 and a cool air supplied from the evaporator fan 300 to the plurality of cool air discharge holes A cool air passage 400 for guiding the cool air to be supplied to the inside of the food through the cool air passage 401, an air cooler 500 installed at one side of the cool air passage 400, And a defrost control unit 800 for selectively controlling the direction in which the coolant 500 is positioned according to whether the defrost heater 200 is operated or not, .

The evaporator 110, the evaporator fan 300, and the defrost heater 200 of the second embodiment have the same configurations as those of the first embodiment, and a repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

The second embodiment is characterized in that the temperature of the cool air discharged into the cool air discharge hole 401 can be steadily maintained by controlling the inflow direction of the air through the blade 900 controlled according to the refrigeration operation and the defrost operation .

The blade 900 is installed at an inlet of the cool air passage 400 and adjusts the direction of the air supplied from the evaporator fan 300. The blade 900 has only a direction adjusting function and is not structured to block air inflow like the opening and closing door 700 of the first embodiment described above.

That is, the defrosting control unit 800 according to the second embodiment determines whether to supply the blade 900 in the direction in which the coolant 500 is positioned or to supply the coolant 500 to a position where the coolant 500 is not positioned, depending on whether the defrost heater 200 is in operation Or the like.

3, when the refrigerator is operated, the blade 900 is adjusted in a direction in which the coolant 500 is not positioned, so that the cool air of the evaporator fan 300 So that it can be discharged directly into the cold air discharge hole 401 along the cold air passage 400.

In the defrost operation, air whose temperature is raised by the defrost heater 200 is supplied through the evaporator fan 300, and the blade 900 is adjusted to the direction in which the coolant 500 is positioned as shown in FIG. 4, The wind supplied through the fan 300 makes a cold wind through the coolant 500 and is discharged to the cool air discharge hole 401.

As shown in the drawing, the blade 900 of the second embodiment is installed at the upper end of the cool air passage 400. The coolant 500 is installed on the opposite side of the cool air discharge hole 401, When the defrost heater 200 is operated, the air supplied by the evaporator fan 300 first hits the coolant 500 and then flows into the cool air discharge hole 401 So that it can be introduced.

In the case of the first embodiment described above, the operation of the evaporator fan 300 is stopped during the defrost operation, but in the second embodiment, the operation of the evaporator fan 300 is continued in the defrost operation mode to make cold wind.

5 to 7, the third embodiment includes a main body 100, an evaporator 110 installed in the main body 100 to generate cool air, a defrosting unit 110 for removing frost formed on the evaporator 110, An evaporator fan 300 installed at one side of the evaporator 110 to supply the cool air of the evaporator 110 and a plurality of cold air discharge holes 401 for supplying cold air supplied from the evaporator fan 300, A first cool air passage 410 which is formed at one side of the first cool air passage 410 to guide the cool air supplied from the evaporator fan 300 to the first cool air passage 410 A second cool air passage 420 in which a communication hole 402 is formed so as to be able to be supplied to the first cool air passage 410 and a second cool air passage 420, A first opening / closing door 710 installed at the entrance of the second air passage 420 to selectively open / close the inflow of air; A defrost control unit 720 for controlling the first opening / closing door 710 and the second opening / closing door 720 according to whether the defrost heater 200 is operated or not 800). ≪ / RTI >

The third embodiment is characterized in that the passage through which the cold wind is supplied is divided into a first coolant passage 410 and a second coolant passage 420 so that the cold air can be introduced into the first coolant passage 410 And can be introduced into the second cool air passage 420 at the time of defrost operation.

The first cooling air passage 410 and the second cooling air passage 420 are provided with a first opening and closing door 710 and a second opening and closing door 720 respectively and the first cooling air passage 410 is provided with a cold air discharge hole And a communication hole 402 is formed between the first cool air passage 410 and the second cool air passage 420. [ The coolant 500 is installed only in the second cool air passage 420.

Accordingly, the defrost control unit 800 of the third embodiment controls the first opening / closing door 710 and the second opening / closing door 720 according to whether the defrost heater 200 is operated, 1 chilled air passage 410 or the second chilled air passage 420, as shown in Fig.

6, the first opening / closing door 710 is opened and the second opening / closing door 720 is closed so as to open / close the evaporator fan 300, So that the cold air can be introduced into the first cool air passage 410. The cold air flow thus introduced is discharged to the cold air discharge hole 401 along the first cool air passage 410.

7, the first opening / closing door 710 is closed and the second opening / closing door 720 is opened so that the air of the evaporator fan 300 is supplied to the second air passage 420, The supplied wind is made into a cold wind through the coolant 500 installed in the second cool air passage 420 and supplied to the first cool air passage 410 through the communication hole 402 and finally discharged to the cool air discharge hole 401 .

The first and second opening and closing doors 710 and 720 of the third embodiment are respectively installed at upper ends of the first and second cooling passages 410 and 420 and the coolant 500 is communicated with the communication hole 402, And the communication hole 402 is disposed at a position higher than the position of the communicating hole 402. The communicating hole 402 is preferably located at a position higher than the position of the air discharging hole 401. [ The air supplied by the evaporator fan 300 first hits the coolant 500 in the second cool air passage 420 and then flows through the communication hole 402 to the cool air discharge hole 420. [ (401).

The first coolant passage 410 and the second coolant passage 420 may have a first guide 411 and a second guide 422, respectively. The first guide 411 is formed inside the first cool air passage 410 and formed in a downward inclined shape at the upper portion of the portion where the communication hole 402 is located so that the cool air flowing into the first cool air passage 410 And serves to partially prevent the liquid from flowing into the communication hole 402 and guide it to the cold air discharge hole 401. The second guide 422 is formed inside the second cool air passage 420. The second guide 422 is formed at an upper portion of the opposite side of the coolant 500 so that the introduced air does not directly flow into the communication hole 402 So that it can be led in the direction of the insulator 500 first.

In the third embodiment, as in the second embodiment described above, the operation of the evaporator fan 300 is continued without stopping the operation of the evaporator fan 300 at the time of defrost operation so as to produce a cold wind.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.

100: main body 110: evaporator
200: Defrost heater 300: Evaporator fan
400: cool air passage 401: cold air discharge hole
402: communication hole 410: first cool air passage
411: first guide 420: second cool air passage
422: second guide 500:
600: auxiliary fan 700: opening / closing door
710: first opening and closing door 720: second opening and closing door
800: Defrost control section 900: Blade

Claims (7)

delete delete delete A main body 100;
An evaporator 110 installed in the main body 100 to generate cool air;
A defrost heater (200) for removing frost formed on the evaporator (110);
An evaporator fan 300 installed at one side of the evaporator 110 to supply cool air of the evaporator 110;
A cool air passage (400) for guiding the cool air supplied from the evaporator fan (300) to be supplied to the food inside through the plurality of cool air discharge holes (401);
A coolant (500) installed at one side of the cool air passage (400);
A blade 900 installed at an inlet of the cool air passage 400 to adjust an inflow direction of the air;
And a defrost control unit (800) for selectively controlling the blade (900) in a direction in which the coolant (500) is placed according to whether the defrost heater (200) is operated or not.
5. The method of claim 4,
The blade 900 is installed at the upper end of the cool air passage 400. The coolant 500 is installed on the opposite side of the cool air discharge hole 401 and is located higher than the position of the cool air discharge hole 401, Wherein the air supplied by the evaporator fan (300) first collides with the coolant (500) and then flows into the cool air discharge hole (401) during operation of the heater (200)
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