KR19990013072A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a cooling chamber for cooling and storing food, comprising: a cold air duct provided on one side wall of the cooling chamber to guide the flow of cold air and having a plurality of cold air discharge openings opened toward the cooling chamber; A plurality of shutters provided to open and close the respective cold air outlets; It includes a plurality of driving unit for opening and closing each shutter. As a result, it is possible to control the amount of cold air discharge by intermittently opening and closing the cold air discharge port in the cooling chamber, and to prevent excessive cold air discharge, so that the cooling state in the cooling chamber can be maintained uniformly and satisfactorily. And aesthetics in a cooling chamber are improved.

Description

Refrigerator

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator capable of distributing cold air, which is capable of maintaining a beautiful cooling state while maintaining a beautiful appearance in a cooling chamber.

The refrigerator generally has a main body having a pair of cooling chambers divided into a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment partitioned by an intermediate partition, and a freezer compartment door and a refrigerator compartment door for opening and closing each cooling compartment. In the main body, a refrigeration system consisting of a compressor, a condenser (not shown), a freezer compartment evaporator and a refrigerator compartment evaporator is installed. The cold air generated in each evaporator flows along the cold air duct formed on the rear surface of the cooling chamber, and is supplied to each cooling chamber through the cold air discharge port provided in the cold air duct by blowing the blower fan.

However, in the conventional refrigerator, there is a region in which cold air discharged through the cold air discharge port is provided intensively and a relatively small area is provided. Accordingly, the temperature deviation in the cooling chamber is intensified, thereby preventing uniform cooling. There is this. Therefore, a refrigerator that performs a so-called three-dimensional cooling method has been proposed that improves this problem. The three-dimensional cooling method of the refrigerator provides a plurality of cold air discharge outlets on the rear wall and both side walls of the cooling chamber, respectively, so as to achieve intensive cooling air supply in a specific direction as needed, so that the cooling chamber can be uniformly cooled. One is a fridge.

By the way, in such a three-dimensional cooling method refrigerator, too, since the cold air is discharged in a predetermined direction through the cold air discharge port, a four-segment section in which no cold air is supplied is formed in the corner region, and in particular, the side wall of each cooling chamber Since the cold air duct must be provided, there is a problem that the food accommodation space is reduced, and the manufacturing cost is increased due to the increase of parts and manufacturing process. Therefore, in recent years, a refrigerator having a cold air distribution device that solves these problems has been proposed.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the cold air distribution device is installed at a cold air discharging outlet provided on the rear surface of the refrigerator, and rotates the rotary shaft 121 and the plurality of cold air distribution blades 111 and the rotary shaft 121. It consists of a drive motor 131. The rotating shaft 121 is rotatably installed on the rear side of the refrigerating chamber 3, and the rotating shaft 121 of the driving motor 131 is coupled to the upper portion of the rotating shaft 121. The cold air distribution blades 111 are formed in a plate-shaped body curved in a wave shape with respect to the plane including the axis of the rotation shaft 121, and are spaced apart from each other to correspond to each of the cold air discharge ports 16 along the rotation shaft 121. It is. At the upper and lower ends of each cold air distributing wing 111, a pair of end plates 113 formed of an upper plate 113a and a lower plate 113b is formed, and an intermediate plate is formed between the upper plate 113a and the lower plate 113b. 115 is provided to divide the cold air distribution blade 111 into the first blade portion 117 and the second blade portion 119. Each wing portion 117, 119 is bent to form an S-shaped cross section, and each wing portion 117, 119 of each cold air distribution wing 111 is bent in the opposite direction to each other.

In the refrigerator 101 having the conventional cold air distribution device 110 having such a configuration, when the driving motor 131 rotates the rotary shaft 121 at a low speed, the cold air supplied along the cold air duct 15 is cold air distribution wing 111. The direction of the flow path is changed by the curved plate surface of the shells, and spreads in the refrigerating chamber from side to side and is discharged. On the other hand, when intensive cooling is necessary for a specific site, the rotating shaft 121 is stopped in accordance with the direction of the cold air distribution blade 111 so that cold air is concentrated discharged toward the site. By such a cold air distribution device 110, it becomes possible to realize uniform cooling and concentrated cooling in the refrigerating chamber 3.

By the way, in the refrigerator 101 having such a conventional cold air distribution device 110, although uniform cooling in the cooling chamber by the cold air distribution device 110 can be achieved to some extent, a plurality of cold air discharge ports opened in the cooling chamber are provided. There is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the device is increased due to the cold air distribution device 110 which lowers the aesthetics in the cooling chamber and is relatively difficult to manufacture. In addition, the vortex around the cold air discharge port generated by the gentle curve of the cold air distribution blade 111 degrades the good operation of the cold air distribution device 110, and in some cases, excessive cold air supply occurs in the cooling chamber, resulting in food There may be a problem with keeping them safe.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention, in consideration of such a conventional problem, the cold air outlet in the cooling chamber can be intermittently opened and closed to prevent overcooling in the cooling chamber due to excessive cold air discharge, and the aesthetics in the cooling chamber is improved It is to provide a distributable refrigerator.

1 is a front sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention;

2 is a side cross-sectional view of FIG.

3 is an exploded perspective view of a shutter device according to the present invention;

Figure 4 is a rear perspective view of the assembled state of Figure 3,

5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4;

6 and 7 are partially enlarged views of FIG. 2 and showing an operating state of the shutter device of the present invention;

8 is a partially enlarged side sectional view of a refrigerator in which a conventional cold air distribution device is installed;

9 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional cold air distribution device.

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

2, 3: Cooling chamber 5: Intermediate bulkhead

6, 7: door 12a, 12b: evaporator

15: cold air duct 16: cold air outlet

20: duct housing 30: shutter device

31: shutter 35: drive unit

37: axis of rotation 39: drive motor

40: cold air grill member 51: electric drive

55: support member 57: working projection

61: drive cam 65: cam groove

81: guide rail

According to the present invention, in the refrigerator having a cooling chamber for cooling and storing food, the object is provided on one side wall of the cooling chamber to guide the flow of cold air and has a plurality of cold air discharge openings opened toward the cooling chamber. Cold ducts; A plurality of shutters provided to open and close the respective cold air outlets; It is achieved by a refrigerator comprising a plurality of driving units for opening and closing each shutter.

The driving unit may include a rotation shaft rotatably installed at a rear side of the shutter in the cold air duct; A cam groove having a plurality of cam grooves provided along a axial direction of the rotation shaft, the camp profiles being elevating with a predetermined phase difference therebetween; It is disposed between the rotating shaft and the shutters to interact with each of the cam grooves, it can be configured to include a transmission unit for converting the rotational movement of the rotating shaft to the independent opening and closing drive of the respective shutters. At this time, the transmission unit can be simply configured with a working projection extending from the respective shutters to engage the cam grooves, respectively.

The cooling chamber is partitioned into a plurality of storage zones arranged in upper and lower layers. The plurality of cold air discharge ports may be configured to be formed in a pair left and right in each of the storage zones. At this time, it further has a plurality of cam main body diameter expanded in the radial direction along the axial direction of the rotation axis; The plurality of cam grooves are provided in the upper and lower pairs on the cylindrical surface of each cam body, and configured to correspond to the pair of left and right cold air outlets, or a plurality of cam bodies expanded in the radial direction in the cross section along the axis direction of the rotation shaft. Has more; The plurality of cam grooves are preferably provided on the cylindrical surface of each cam body so as to correspond to each of the cold air discharge ports.

In addition, the two sides of the shutter is fixed to face each other along the sliding direction, further comprising a guide rail for guiding the sliding opening and closing of the shutter, or installed on both sides of the working projection to support the lifting movement of the working projection Further comprising a support member, it is possible to facilitate the sliding movement of the shutter.

On the other hand, the cold air duct, the cold air discharge port is formed with a duct cover; It may be configured to have a duct member coupled to a predetermined interval to form a cold air flow path between the duct cover.

In addition, the pair of left and right cold air discharge ports may be configured to be opened and closed sequentially, whereby a uniform distribution of the discharged cold air can be achieved.

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

1 is a front sectional view of a cold air distributable refrigerator according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of FIG. As can be seen from these figures, the refrigerator 1 is provided with a pair of cooling chambers divided into a freezing chamber 2 and a refrigerating chamber 3 by an intermediate partition 5 in an almost rectangular main body. Opening / closing doors 6 and 7 are provided on the front surfaces of the openings of the cooling chambers 2 and 3, respectively.

The refrigerator compartment 3 is provided with a plurality of shelves 8 for placing food, and partitioned into a plurality of food storage zones parallel to each other. The special refrigeration chamber 18 used for storing the food suitable for a specific temperature range is formed in the upper side of the refrigerating chamber 3, and the vegetable chamber 19 for storing vegetables is formed in the lower side of the refrigerating chamber 3. As shown in FIG.

In the main body 4, a compressor 11, a condenser, a freezer compartment evaporator 12a, and a refrigerator compartment evaporator 12b, which are not shown, are installed to perform a refrigeration cycle, and cold air is generated in each of the evaporators 12a and 12b. A freezer compartment fan 13a and a refrigerating compartment fan 13b are installed above the evaporators 12a and 12b to forcibly blow cold air generated in each of the evaporators 12a and 12b to the freezer compartment 2 or the refrigerator compartment 3.

On the rear wall surface of the refrigerating chamber 3, a duct housing 20 is provided which forms a cold air duct 15 that provides a flow path of cold air from the evaporator 12b. The duct housing 20 includes a duct member 21 for forming cold air ducts 15 to insulate cold air insulated, a front plate 23 attached to the front surface of the duct member 21, and a duct member 21. It consists of a seal plate (25) adhered to the back of the) and a partial cylindrical cold air grill member (40) installed in front of the front plate (23).

The cold air discharge member 16 is provided in the cold air grill member 40 at predetermined intervals along its length direction so as to correspond to the storage space of the cooling chamber, and is parallel to each storage space in a horizontal direction. There is a pair. The front surface of the partial cylindrical cold air grill member 40 is slightly protruded from the rear wall surface of the refrigerating chamber 3 as a whole, so that the cold air flowing through the cold air duct is in a large discharge angle range through a pair of parallel cold air discharge ports. (3) to be distributed.

At the rear of the cold air duct 15, a circulation duct 17 connecting the refrigerating chamber 3 and the refrigerator compartment evaporator 12b is formed to be isolated from the cold air duct 15. The cold air blown into the cold air duct 15 by the refrigerating chamber fan 13b is supplied into the refrigerating chamber 3 through each cold air discharge outlet, and the cold air discharged as described above to cool the refrigerating chamber 3 is circulated through the circulation duct 17. Return to the refrigerator compartment evaporator 12b.

On the other hand, Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the shutter device according to the invention, Figure 4 is a rear perspective view of the assembled state of Figure 3, and Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. As can be seen from these figures, each storage zone is provided with a pair of cold air outlets 16 parallel to each other in the horizontal direction, and each of these cold air outlets 16 is provided with a shutter 31 so as to be openable and openable. . Shutter 31 is a substantially rectangular plate-like body, the plate surface is gently curved so as to correspond to the front surface of the cold air grill member 40 protruded inwardly. In the cold air duct 15, a drive unit 35 for opening and closing the shutter 31 is provided.

The drive unit 35 includes a rotating shaft 37 rotatably installed in the longitudinal direction of the cold air duct 15 behind the shutter 31, a drive cam 61 formed on the rotating shaft 37, and a rotating shaft 37. ), And a transmission unit 51 for converting the rotational movement of the drive cam 61 into the sliding opening and closing movement of the shutter 31. The lower end of the rotary shaft 37 is rotatably received in the rotary shaft hole 43 provided in the central region of the lower edge 41 of the cold air grill member 40, the other end is coupled to the drive shaft of the drive motor 39. . As the driving motor 39 of the present embodiment, it is preferable to use a stepping motor capable of controlling the stopping angle position.

The drive cam 61 is formed in the rotating shaft 37 so as to correspond to the number of each shutter 31 along the axial direction. The drive cam 61 is composed of a cam body 63 expanded in the radial direction of the cross section of the rotation shaft 37, and a cam groove 65 provided along the circumferential direction on the cylindrical surface of the cam body 63, It is provided coaxially with the rotation shaft 37 and rotates integrally with the rotation of the rotation shaft 37. The cam groove 65 has a wave shaped camp profile that moves up and down along the circumferential direction of the cam body 63.

On the other hand, the transmission part 51 has the actuating protrusion 57 extended so that it may engage with the cam groove 65 of the drive cam 61 from the back surface of the shutter 31, and this actuating protrusion 57 is each cold air | gas. It is provided at the distal end of the extension part 53 which extends downward so as to be engaged with the cam groove 65 of the corresponding drive cam 61 from the shutter 31 which opens and closes the discharge port 16. When the cam body 63 rotates, the actuating protrusion 57 engaged with the cam groove 65 of the driving cam 61 is moved up and down along the camp profile forming the cam groove 65.

As a result of the lifting and lowering of the working protrusions 57, the shutters 31 slide in the vertical direction on the opening surface of the cold air discharge port 16. At this time, since the pair of drive cams 61 corresponding to the pair of left and right cold air outlets 16 have camp profiles of the same phase with each other, when the rotating shaft 37 rotates, the pair of left and right shutters ( 31) are opened and closed in the same manner. If the camp profile provided in such a drive cam 61 is made to have a phase difference suitably, the opening-and-closing movement of both shutters 31 can also be aimed at.

On the other hand, the back of the cold air grill member 40 is provided with a guide rail 81 for guiding the sliding opening and closing of the shutter 31. The guide rails 81 are provided in pairs opposed to each other along the sliding direction of the shutter 31 on both side edges of the cold air discharge port 16, and accommodate the sliding edges of the shutters 31 on opposite surfaces. It has a sliding groove 83. In addition, the support member 55 for guiding the lifting and lowering of the transmission part 51 is also fixedly attached to the rear surface of the cold air grill member 40.

6 and 7 are side cross-sectional views showing an operating state of the shutter apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The driving motor 39 is intermittently driven by the control signal of the controller, and FIG. 6 illustrates a state in which the driving motor 69 is stopped and the shutter 31 closes the cold air discharge port 16. When a drive signal is applied to the drive motor 39, the drive motor 39 rotates at a predetermined speed to rotate the rotating shaft 37 by 360 °. Then, the drive cam 61 is rotated by the rotation of the rotary shaft 37, at this time, the action projection 57 engaged with the cam groove 65 of the drive cam 61 is moved up and down along the camp profile. . Accordingly, each of the shutters 31 also moves up and down, and FIG. 7 shows the cold air discharge port 16 opened to the maximum by the shutter device 30.

The cold air discharged by opening the cold air discharge port 16 is discharged toward both side walls in the refrigerating chamber by the front shape of the cold air grill member 40 which forms a smooth curved surface, and flows forward along the inner wall surface. On the other hand, since the shutter 31 according to the present invention is continuously lifted from the front surface of the cold air discharge port 16 by the driving of the drive motor 39, the discharge amount of the cold air is changed according to the lift position of the shutter 31. do. At this time, by stopping the drive motor 39 at a predetermined rotation angle position, the amount of cold air discharged in the refrigerating chamber can be adjusted.

On the other hand, in the above-described and illustrated embodiments, the same number of drive cams 61 as the shutters 31 are provided along the axial direction of the rotary shaft 37, and the cam grooves 65 are provided on the drive cams 61. Has been described, the same purpose can be achieved even if the drive cam 61 is integrally provided along the axial direction and the cam groove 65 is formed on the cylindrical surface at a predetermined interval. have. In addition, a number of drive cams 61 corresponding to each storage area may be provided along the longitudinal direction of the rotation shaft 37, and a pair of cam grooves 65 may be formed in the vertical direction of each drive cam 61. have.

As described above, in the refrigerator capable of distributing cold air according to the present invention, the amount of cold air discharge can be adjusted by intermittently opening and closing the cold air discharge port in the cooling chamber, and the excessive cold air discharge can be prevented, so that the cooling state in the cooling chamber is uniform. And good retention. And aesthetics in a cooling chamber are improved.

Claims (10)

In the refrigerator having a cooling chamber for cooling and storing food, A cold air duct provided on one side wall of the cooling chamber to guide the flow of cold air and having a plurality of cold air discharge ports opened toward the cooling chamber; A plurality of shutters provided to open and close the respective cold air outlets; And a plurality of driving units configured to open and close the shutters. The method of claim 1, The driving unit, A single rotating shaft rotatably installed on the rear side of the shutter in the cold air duct; A cam groove having a plurality of cam grooves provided along a axial direction of the rotation shaft, the camp profiles being elevating with a predetermined phase difference therebetween; And a transmission unit disposed between the rotation shaft and the shutters to interact with the cam grooves, thereby converting the rotational movement of the rotation shaft into independent opening and closing driving of the shutters. The method of claim 2, The transmission unit, And a working protrusion extending from the respective shutters to engage the cam groove, respectively. The method of claim 1, The cooling chamber, Partitioned into a plurality of storage zones arranged in layers above and below; The plurality of cold air discharge outlets, characterized in that formed in a pair of left and right in each storage area. The method according to claim 2 or 4, It further has a plurality of cam bodies which are expanded in the radial direction in the cross section along the axial direction of the rotation axis; The plurality of cam grooves are provided in the upper and lower pairs on the cylindrical surface of each of the cam body, the refrigerator characterized in that corresponding to the pair of cold air discharge port. The method according to claim 2 or 4, It further has a plurality of cam bodies which are expanded in the radial direction in the cross section along the axial direction of the rotation axis; The plurality of cam grooves are provided on the cylindrical surface of each cam body, respectively, the refrigerator characterized in that corresponding to each of the cold air discharge port. The method of claim 1, And a guide rail fixed to opposite sides of the shutter in a sliding direction to guide the sliding opening and closing of the shutter. The method of claim 3, Refrigerator, characterized in that provided on both sides of the action projections for further supporting members for supporting the lifting movement of the action projections. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The cold air duct, A duct cover having the cold air outlet; And a duct member coupled to the duct cover at a predetermined interval so as to form a cold air flow path therebetween. The method of claim 4, wherein The left and right pair of cold air outlet is a refrigerator, characterized in that the opening and closing sequentially.