KR19980013851A - Humidifier of refrigerator and vegetable room - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a humidification device for a refrigerator and a vegetable compartment, which improves a duct portion communicating with a vegetable room among cool air circulation ducts of a refrigerator, thereby enabling efficient control of humidity and temperature at the same time.

The present invention relates to a vegetable compartment (13) having a predetermined length of a removable structure, a vegetable compartment (37); A partitioning duct (21) having a guide rail (21b) formed in front thereof and a humidification tank (21a) and a heater (23) on the inner and outer surfaces of the rear bottom plate; A valve tube 22 slidably mounted on the guide rail 21b and having a rack portion 22a and an opening 22b; A servo motor (24) having a pinion gear (25) meshing with the rack portion (22a) and providing a driving force for moving the valve plate (22); An open-side switch 27 and a closed-side switch 28 for detecting the movement position of the valve plate 22; And a humidity sensor 29 installed at the upper part of the inside of the vegetable compartment 13 and forming a predetermined output according to humidity.

Accordingly, by dividing the duct portion communicating with the vegetable room among the refrigerant circulation ducts of the refrigerator into the humidifying portion and the refrigerant portion, it is possible to simultaneously control the humidity and the temperature efficiently, thereby improving the freshness of the vegetables and increasing the preservation period.

Description

Humidifier of refrigerator and vegetable room

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a partial sectional view of a conventional refrigerator. FIG.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing a structure of a vegetable compartment according to the present invention; FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the valve plate drive unit of FIG. 2; FIG.

Figures 4A and 4B are block diagrams showing an operating state of Figure 3;

Description of the Related Art [0002]

2: cooler 4: cooling fan

6: Compressor 11: Freezer

12: refrigerator room 13: vegetable room

14: rear duct 15: return duct

16: Humidification furnace duct (conventional) 17: Vegetable box (conventional)

21: classification duct 21a: humidifier tank

21b: guide rail 22: valve plate

22a: a rack portion 22b: an opening

23: Heater 24: Servo motor

25: pinion gear 26: humidifying furnace duct (present invention)

27: Open side switch 28: Closed side switch

29: humidity sensor 37: vegetable pail (present invention)

A, B: cold air flow

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a humidity control apparatus for a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a humidification apparatus for a refrigerator and a vegetable compartment that enables efficient control of humidity and temperature by improving a duct portion communicating with a vegetable room among cool air circulation ducts of a refrigerator .

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a partial sectional view of a conventional refrigerator.

Generally, the refrigerator has a refrigerant circulation device and a cool air circulation duct disposed rearwardly of a door where the door is formed, and a freezing room 11, a refrigerating room 12, a vegetable room 13, (For example, a feeding freezing room, a feeding thawing chamber, etc.) are formed.

The refrigerant circulation system consists of a cooler (2), a compressor (6), and a cooling fan (4). In the compressor 4, the refrigerant in a gaseous state at a high temperature and a high pressure is cooled in a condenser (not shown) to be liquid (condensed), and then passes through the cooler 2,

The cool air circulation duct is composed of a backside duct 14, a recovery duct 15, a humidification chamber duct 16, and the like. The low temperature cold air passing through the cooler 2 descends along the back duct 14, which is arranged in the opposite direction by a cooling fan 4, partly by the freezing chamber 11 and partly by the backside of the refrigerator. A part of the cool air coming down to the back face duct 14 is sent to the refrigerator compartment and a part of the cool air is led to the vegetable compartment 13 through the humidifying air duct 16 and then collected again with the cool air of the freezing compartment 11, (2) The circulation of one cycle is completed.

At this time, if a damper (not shown) for varying the capacity of the cooling fan 4 installed in the freezing chamber 11 and the refrigerating chamber 12 is turned on and off at appropriate intervals, the freezing chamber 11, the refrigerating chamber 12, Vegetable room (13) · Other functions Because the temperature of the room is controlled differently, the user can use the appropriate space according to the optimum storage temperature of food or usage.

The vegetable compartment 13 is stored in a drawer-type vegetable compartment 17 inside a vegetable compartment 13 of a foodstuff such as vegetables which must maintain freshness. The compartment 13 is connected to a humidifying compartment duct 14 16).

Normally, water is supplied by installing a separate humidifying tank (not shown) on the humidifying bath duct 16 and filling a predetermined amount of water therein. In order to increase the amount of water generated, a heating device such as a heater It is also used in combination.

According to this configuration, in order to maintain the humidity of the vegetable compartment 13 at a predetermined value or more, the amount of the heating of the heater must also be increased so that the temperature of the vegetable compartment 13 increases, shortening the preservation period of the vegetables.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a humidification device for a refrigerator and a vegetable compartment, which improves the duct portion communicating with the vegetable compartment of the refrigerant circulation duct of the refrigerator, .

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a vegetable compartment (37) having a predetermined desorption structure inside a vegetable compartment (13); A partitioning duct (21) having a guide rail (21b) formed in front thereof and a humidification tank (21a) and a heater (23) on the inner and outer surfaces of the rear bottom plate; A valve plate (22) having the guide rail (21b); A servo motor (24) having a pinion gear (25) meshing with the rack portion (22a) and providing a driving force for moving the valve plate (22); An open-side switch 27 and a closed-side switch 28 for detecting the movement position of the valve plate 22; And a humidity sensor (29) installed at the upper part of the inside of the vegetable compartment (13) and forming a predetermined output according to humidity.

At this time, the vegetable barrel (37) is installed such that the axial surface and the lower surface of the vegetable barrel (37) maintain a constant gap with the vegetable compartment (13) to form an air flow path.

The air in the humidifying air duct 26 is divided into a cold air flow A flowing in the vegetable barrel 37 and a cold air flow B flowing in the outer surface of the lower portion of the vegetable barrel 37 Respectively.

The opening 22b of the valve plate 22 is formed at a position deviated to the left or right in the same cross-sectional area as the opening of the partitioning duct 21 and the rack 22a is formed at a position And is mounted so as to protrude outward.

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

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing the structure of a vegetable compartment according to the present invention.

The present invention is different from the conventional humidifying air duct 16 having only the humidifying tank and the humidifying air duct 26 in which the air introducing duct 21 is housed is formed and the vegetable container 37 having the predetermined long receiving structure is mounted .

The vegetable barrel (37) is installed such that the side and bottom surfaces thereof are spaced apart from the vegetable compartment (13) to form a flow path of air. In the state where the vegetable barrel 37 is mounted on the refrigerator, the rear upper end portion of the vegetable barrel 37 contacts the one end of the humidifying bath duct 26 to maintain airtightness.

The classification duct 21 is formed by molding a bottom plate (or bottom surface) into a concave shape, and a humidification tank 21a and a heater 23 are provided on the inner and outer surfaces of the bottom plate, respectively.

The humidifying tank 21a is a place where water for supplying moisture to the vegetable compartment 13 is stored, and a water replenishing mechanism (not shown) is provided to maintain a predetermined water level (for example, about 5 mm). The heater 23 has a capacity of about 6 W, though it depends on the size of the vegetables room 13, and the heat insulating material is attached to the lower surface thereof so as not to radiate heat.

This sorting duct 21 is installed to divide the cold air flow A flowing in the vegetable barrel 37 into a cold air flow B flowing through the outer surface of the lower portion of the vegetable barrel 37. That is, a part of the cool air flowing into the humidifying bath duct 26 is humidified in the vegetable barrel 37 in a state where the humidity is increased while passing through the humidifying bath 21a, Indirectly cooling the cylinder 37 to the outside.

At this time, the valve plate 22, the servo motor 24, and the like are used to control the amount of air flowing into the sorting duct 21 as described below.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the valve plate driving portion of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a structural view showing the operating state of FIG.

A guide rail 21b is formed on the front side of the sorting duct 21 in the form of an iron plate. The valve plate 22 is slidably mounted on the guide rail 21b. The valve plate 22 has a rack portion 22a and an opening portion 22b. The servo motor 24 having the pinion gear 25 meshing with the rack portion 22a provides a force for moving the valve plate 22.

At this time, the opening 22b of the valve plate 22 is formed at a position deviated to the left or right in the same cross-sectional area as the opening of the sorting duct 21, and the rack portion 22a is formed at a position And is mounted so as to protrude outward.

On the other hand, an open-side switch 27 and a closed-side switch 28 functioning as a microswitch are used to detect the movement position of the valve plate 22. When the valve plate 22 moves to the right and reaches the open-side switch 27, the opening 22b completely opens the branch duct 21 (see FIG. 4A) Side switch 28 to completely close the sorting duct 21. (See FIG. 4B)

A humidity sensor (29) is provided at the upper end of the inside of the vegetable compartment (13) to form a predetermined output according to humidity. In a refrigerator employing a microcomputer circuit for multifunctional control, the input of the humidity sensor 29 is connected to a microcomputer circuit.

The microcomputer receiving the input of the humidity sensor 29 always detects humidity change in the vegetable barrel 37 and constantly or reversely rotates the servomotor 24 in a direction in which appropriate humidity (for example, 80 +/- 5% The cross-sectional area of the duct 21 is changed.

The effect of applying the present invention is measured as compared with the conventional case as follows. Here, (1), (2), and (3) are conventional structures without the sorting duct 21, and (4) is the structure of the present invention having the sorting duct 21.

(1) When there is no humidification air duct (16) and air volume is Q

Temperature: 2 ℃ ± 0.5 ℃ Humidity: 45 ± 5%

(2) If there is a humidifying air duct (16) and air volume is Q

Temperature: 6 ℃ ± 0.5 ℃ Humidity: 65 ± 5%

(3) If there is a humidifying air duct (16) and air volume is smaller than Q

Temperature: 7 ℃ ± 0.5 ℃ Humidity: 85 ± 5%

(4) If there is a humidifying duct 26 and air volume is greater than Q

Temperature: 4.5 ° C ± 0.5 ° C Humidity: 80 ± 5%

In the case (4), the temperature of the vegetable compartment (13) is higher than that of the case (1), but the temperature is close to the appropriate temperature range of 2 to 4 캜 and the humidity is suitably adjusted without increasing the temperature as in the case of (2) .

As described above, the humidification device of the refrigerator vegetable room of the present invention can efficiently control the humidity and the temperature simultaneously by dividing the duct portion communicating with the vegetable room among the refrigerant circulation duct of the refrigerator into the humidifying portion and the refrigerant portion, And the preservation period is increased.

Although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims Those skilled in the art will readily know what is known in the art.

Claims (5)

1. A refrigerator having a cool air circulation duct composed of a rear duct, a recovery duct, a humidifying chamber duct, and the like, and supplying cool air from the humidifier chamber to the vegetable compartment (13) A vegetable barrel (37) installed inside the vegetable compartment (13) in a predetermined lengthwise detachment structure; A partitioning duct (21) having a guide rail (21b) formed in front thereof and a humidification tank (21a) and a heater (23) on the inner and outer surfaces of the rear bottom plate; A valve plate (22) slidably mounted on the guide rail (21b) and having a rack portion (22a) and an opening portion (22b); A servo motor (24) having a pinion gear (25) meshing with the rack portion (22a) and providing a driving force for moving the valve plate (22); An open-side switch 27 and a closed-side switch 28 for detecting the movement position of the valve plate 22; And And a humidity sensor (29) installed at an upper end of the inside of the vegetable compartment (13) and forming a predetermined output according to humidity. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the vegetable barrel (37) is installed such that the side and bottom surfaces of the vegetable barrel (37) are spaced apart from the vegetable compartment (13) to form an air flow path. The method according to claim 1, The classifying duct 21 is installed inside the humidifying bath duct 26 so as to divide the cold air flow A flowing in the vegetable barrel 37 into a cold air flow B flowing outside the lower portion of the vegetable barrel 37 And the humidifying device of the refrigerator greenhouse. The method according to claim 1, The opening 22b of the valve plate 22 is formed at a position deviated to the left or right in the same cross sectional area as the opening of the partitioning duct 21 and the rack portion 22a is formed on the outside of the humidifying bath duct 26 And a plurality of the humidifying units are installed so as to protrude. The method according to claim 1, The signal of the humidity sensor 29 is received by the microcomputer and always detects a change in humidity in the vegetable barrel 37. The microcomputer 24 rotates the servomotor 24 in a direction in which the humidity is properly maintained, Wherein the cross-sectional area of the humidifier is changed.