KR20000005077U - Integrated tri-tube evaporator structure of the refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an evaporator of a refrigerator, and relates to an integrated tritube evaporator structure to improve heat exchange efficiency and defrosting efficiency, reduce power consumption and manufacturing cost, and prevent cracking of an evaporation chamber wall.

The integrated tritube evaporator structure according to the present invention includes a defrosting pipe 110 for removing frost, a refrigerant pipe 120 located at both sides of the defrosting pipe 110, and a refrigerant circulating therein, and the defrosting pipe 110. Comprising a plurality of fin tubes 130 located between the coolant pipe 120, the defrost pipe 110, the coolant pipe 120 and the fin tube 130 is formed in a technical point. . In addition, the evaporator 100 further comprises a separation means 140 to be spaced apart from the evaporation chamber wall surface by a predetermined interval, the separation means is composed of a protrusion 140 protruding on one side of the refrigerant pipe, The fin tube 130 is formed so as to correspond to each other on both sides of the defrost pipe 110, the arrangement is opposite to each other, and is formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle. Therefore, the reduction of evaporator manufacturing cost and void generation are prevented to improve heat exchange efficiency and defrosting efficiency, and the evaporator is prevented from coming into direct contact with the wall of the evaporator chamber, thereby preventing cracking of the wall of the evaporator chamber.

Description

Integrated tri-tube evaporator structure of the refrigerator

The present invention relates to an evaporator of a refrigerator. More specifically, the refrigerant pipe, the defrost pipe, and the fin tube are integrally formed, and the evaporator is installed to be spaced apart from the inner wall of the evaporator chamber at a predetermined interval so that the heat exchange efficiency and the defrost efficiency of the evaporator are increased. The present invention relates to an integrated tritube evaporator structure that improves, reduces power consumption, reduces manufacturing costs, and prevents cracking of the wall of the evaporation chamber.

Referring to Figure 1 showing a general principle for the cooling action by the heat exchange of the refrigerant in a typical refrigerator as follows.

In the refrigerator, the refrigerant is circulated through a compressor (not shown), a condenser (not shown), and a capillary tube (not shown) to the evaporator 10 located behind the freezing chamber 1, and the evaporator 10 is connected to the surrounding hot chiller. Evaporates by heat exchange. At this time, the heat in the refrigerator is absorbed by the absorption of the vaporization heat according to the evaporation action, and the cold air thus cooled is circulated to the freezer compartment 1 and the refrigerating compartment 4 by the operation of the blowing fan 1a to cool the inside of the refrigerator.

On the other hand, the hot air during the circulation between the freezer compartment 1 and the refrigerating compartment 3 flows into the lower part of the evaporator chamber 2 in which the evaporator 10 is located and flows upward, thereby exchanging heat with the refrigerant passing through the evaporator 10. The operation will be repeated. At this time, the cold air circulated through the freezing chamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber 3 returns to the lower part of the evaporation chamber 2 through the return duct 4 in a state containing moisture in the high temperature, and the moisture contained in the cold air is very high. As the evaporator 10 passes through a low temperature, the evaporator 10 sticks to the surface of the evaporator 10 in the form of frost.

When such a state accumulates, a large amount of frost is formed on the surface of the evaporator 10, thereby degrading the heat exchange performance of the evaporator 10. Therefore, the frost is removed by operating the defrost heater (not shown) located in the evaporator 10 at a predetermined time. This action is called defrosting.

With reference to Figures 2a to 2c showing the structure of the evaporator 10 in which the cold air generation and defrosting action as described above will be described in more detail.

First, a plurality of fin tubes 16 are expanded on the outer circumferential surface of the linear coolant tube 12 through which low-temperature coolant passes and the linear defrost tube 14 which transfers heat by the heat generated by the defrost heater (not shown). Insert in the way.

By inserting the fin tube 16, the heat transfer area with the surroundings is widened so as to efficiently perform heat exchange of cold air through the refrigerant pipe 12 or defrosting action through the recorrelation pipe 14.

Then, the straight refrigerant tube 12 and the defrosting tube 14 to which the fin tube 16 is coupled are bent in a zigzag shape, and both sides of the bent are inserted into the support plate 18 to form the refrigerant tube 12 and the defrosting tube. The evaporator 10 is completed by fixing 14. In addition, a fixing piece 18a for fixing the evaporator 10 to the wall surface of the evaporation chamber 2 is formed at the upper end of the support plate 18. Therefore, the evaporator 10 is fixed to the wall of the evaporation chamber 2 using a screw or the like.

In the conventional evaporator 10 configured as described above, the linear refrigerant tube 12 is inserted into the tube insertion hole 16a formed at the center of the fin tube 16, and then expanded through the refrigerant tube 12 inside. As the tube is expanded using a tube (not shown), the outer circumferential surface of the refrigerant tube 12 is brought into close contact with the surface of the tube insertion hole 16a of the fin tube 16 so that the fin tube 16 is connected to the refrigerant tube 12. It is installed on the outer circumferential surface, and at this time, a gap is usually formed between the contact surface of the fin tube 16 and the outer circumferential surface of the refrigerant tube 12.

In addition, moisture generated during the defrosting process penetrates the pores, and during the cold air generation process of the evaporator 10, the penetrated water is formed in the pores, thereby causing volume expansion. On the other hand, while the defrosting process is performed again, the castle is removed, but the voids made of the volume expansion prevents heat transfer between the fin tube 16 and the coolant tube 12. Therefore, the heat exchange efficiency of the evaporator 10 is caused to be very bad due to the voids, and in fact, a large portion of the defects of the current refrigerator are lowered in the heat exchange efficiency with the circulated air heated by circulating the inside of the refrigerator to generate cold air. The deterioration of defrosting efficiency for defrosting and defrosting is occupied.

In the conventional evaporator structure, the refrigerant pipe 12 and the defrost pipe 14 and the fin tube 16 which form the evaporator 10 are separately manufactured, and then the tube insertion hole 16a of the fin tube 16 is formed. Since the production of the refrigerant pipe 12 and the defrost pipe (14) by inserting the) is a cumbersome work, and the work efficiency is low, there was a problem that the production cost of the evaporator increases.

In addition, after circulating the inside of the refrigerator, the high temperature circulating air introduced into the evaporation chamber 2 through the return duct 4 is moved from the lower part of the evaporator 10 to the upper part to exchange heat with the evaporator 10. At this time, since the flow direction of the circulating air and the fin tube 16 direction of the evaporator 10 are parallel to each other, sufficient contact between the circulating air passing through the evaporator 10 and the fin tube 16 is not made. Problems with poor performance occur.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the above problems, the low temperature refrigerant passing through the inside of the refrigerant pipe and the inside of the refrigerator to improve the heat exchange efficiency of the high temperature circulating air introduced into the evaporation chamber and the defrosting efficiency for eliminating frost It is an object of the present invention to provide an integrated dry tube evaporator structure.

In addition, this paper aims to reduce the labor and manufacturing cost by manufacturing the refrigerant tube, the defrosting tube and the fin tube integrally, and to prevent the cooling heat of the refrigerant passing through the inside of the refrigerant tube directly from the wall of the evaporator chamber. An object of the present invention is to provide an integrated tritube evaporator structure which prevents low temperature cracking of the seal wall.

1 is a side sectional view of a conventional refrigerator showing a circulation structure of cold air;

Figure 2a is a front view showing a conventional evaporator structure.

Figure 2b is a front view of the fin tube used in the conventional evaporator structure.

2C is a side view of FIG. 2A;

Figure 3 is a front view showing the evaporator structure according to the present invention.

4 is a side view of FIG. 3;

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: evaporator 110: defrost pipe

120: refrigerant tube 130: fin tube

140: protrusion 150: accumulates

An integrated tritube evaporator structure according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a defrosting tube for removing frost, a refrigerant tube located on both sides of the defrosting tube and the refrigerant circulated between the defrosting tube and the refrigerant tube Comprising a plurality of fin tubes located, the defrosting tube, the refrigerant tube and the fin tube is formed integrally with the technical gist. Therefore, the reduction of evaporator manufacturing cost and the prevention of voids have the advantage of improving heat exchange efficiency and defrosting efficiency.

In addition, the evaporator is further provided with a separation means to be installed spaced apart from the evaporation chamber wall surface, the separation means is to be composed of a protrusion protruding on one side of the refrigerant pipe. Therefore, the evaporator is prevented from coming into direct contact with the wall surface of the evaporation chamber, thereby preventing the evaporation chamber wall from cracking.

In addition, the fin tube is formed so as to correspond to each other on both sides with respect to the defrosting tube, the arrangement is opposite to each other, so that the predetermined angle is formed to be inclined. Therefore, the contact area between the fin tube and the hot air that flows is widened, and the flow flow is improved.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the integrated tritube evaporator structure according to the present invention having the above characteristics will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings of FIGS. 3 to 5.

First, the greatest feature of the present invention is to integrally form the refrigerant pipe, the defrost pipe and the fin tube. The integrated evaporator is manufactured using a metal having a relatively high heat transfer rate and easy injection molding, such as aluminum. In addition, since various injection molds are manufactured by the injection molding, a description of the manufacturing process by the injection molding will be omitted.

In the evaporator structure according to the present invention is integrally formed, as shown in Figure 4, the defrost pipe 110 for removing the frost is located in the center, the refrigerant pipe passing through the low-temperature refrigerant on both sides of the defrost pipe (110) 120 is located. A plurality of fin tubes 130 are installed between the defrosting pipe 110 and the refrigerant pipe 120, and the fin tubes 130 have a heat exchange area that widens the heat transfer area of the refrigerant pipe 120 and the defrosting pipe 110. It is to improve the efficiency.

The fin tube 130 will be described in more detail. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the fin tubes 130 respectively formed on both sides of the defrost pipe 110 located at the center thereof are the refrigerant tubes 120. ) Is formed symmetrically between the defrosting pipe 110 and is installed to be arranged horizontally between the defrosting pipe 110 and the refrigerant pipe (120). As configured as described above, the circulating air that exchanges heat with the low temperature refrigerant inside the refrigerant pipe 120 while flowing from the lower side to the upper side of the evaporator 100 has a larger contact area with the fin tube 130, thereby improving heat exchange efficiency. Can be.

In addition, the contact surface 132 of the fin tube 130 in contact with the circulating air introduced into the evaporation chamber is not inclined to the defrost pipe 110 and the coolant pipe 120 but is inclined at a constant angle. That is, the contact surface 132 of the fin tube 130 is formed to have a predetermined inclination angle (about 30 ° to 50 °) with respect to the refrigerant pipe 120 and the defrost pipe (110), which is of the contact surface 132 This is to improve the flow flow of the circulating air flowing from the bottom of the evaporator 100 to the top by the inclination angle. That is, since the contact surface 132 of the fin tube 130 is inclined at a constant, the circulating air flowing can maintain a flow in a constant direction from the lower portion of the evaporator 100 to the upper portion according to the inclination angle, and the fin tube 130 Contact with the circulating air flowing in the contact surface 132 of can be made more smoothly.

In addition, the spacing between the fin tubes 130 is properly maintained in consideration of the heat resistance and the frost idea due to the contact with the flowing hot and cold. For example, the spacing between the fin tubes 130 is maintained to about 5-10mm.

In addition, the fin tubes 130, which are symmetrically positioned at both sides with respect to the defrosting tube 110 located at the center, are arranged to intersect with each other. That is, the fin tubes 130 positioned between the left refrigerant pipe 120 and the defrost pipe 110 of FIG. 4 are positioned in the forward direction, and are located between the center defrost pipe 110 and the right refrigerant pipe 120. The fin tubes 130 are arranged in the opposite direction. As the directions of the fin tubes 130, which are symmetrical as described above, are formed in opposite directions, the reverse of the front and rear surfaces of the evaporator 100 is prevented, and the circulating air flows between the fin tubes 130. Turbulence is formed so that heat exchange can be actively performed.

As described above, the defrost pipe 110, the coolant pipe 120, and the fin tube 130 described above are made of aluminum having good heat transfer and good workability, and are manufactured by extrusion molding as a unit. Then, after integrally extruding and fabricating, bending is performed for each appropriate length to complete the manufacture of the evaporator 100.

That is, in the conventional evaporator structure, after the refrigerant pipe 12, the defrost pipe 14 and the fin tube 16 are manufactured separately, the refrigerant tube 12 is inserted into the tube insertion hole 16a of the fin tube 16. ) And the defrosting tube 14 were inserted into the fin tube 16 by the expansion pipe and then bent by closely contacting the outer peripheral surfaces of the refrigerant tube 12 and the defrosting tube 14. The conventional method of manufacturing as described above has a problem in that the number of labor is increased, and the work efficiency is lowered. In addition, as a method of expansion, air gaps are generated in the contact portions between the outer circumferential surfaces of the refrigerant pipe 12 and the defrost pipe 14 and the fin tube 16, thereby degrading heat exchange and defrosting efficiency.

However, in the present invention, the defrosting tube 110, the refrigerant tube 120, and the fin tube 130 may be integrally manufactured, so that the operation may be more easily performed, and the fin tube 130 and the refrigerant tube 120 may also be manufactured. And the generation of voids in the contact surface with the defrost pipe 110 is prevented it is possible to improve heat exchange and defrosting efficiency.

In addition, the fin tube 130 according to the present invention, the arrangement is made in the horizontal direction is well in contact with the circulating air flowing from the bottom to the upper side of the evaporator 100, and also the defrost pipe 110 and the refrigerant pipe 120 ), And there is no generation of voids, the heat exchange with the circulating air flows actively, so that the overall heat exchange performance can be further improved.

Therefore, it is possible to form a smaller size of the entire evaporator (100). That is, the structure of the evaporator 100 itself is compacted to have an improved heat exchange effect with a smaller size, which can save manufacturing cost in the evaporator 100 manufacturing operation. As a result of actual trials, about 20% of manufacturing cost was saved.

On the other hand, the protruding protrusion 140 is formed on one side of the refrigerant pipe 120 of the evaporator 100 according to the present invention. This serves to prevent the evaporator 100 from contacting the wall surface of the evaporation chamber.

That is, when the completed evaporator 100 is installed, the evaporator 100 is installed in close contact with the wall surface of the evaporator chamber. In this case, low temperature heat by the refrigerant passing through the refrigerant pipe 120 of the evaporator 100 is applied to the wall surface of the evaporator chamber. It can be delivered immediately, causing cracks in the walls of the evaporation chamber. In addition, the low temperature heat by the refrigerant is transferred to the wall surface of the evaporation chamber, causing a decrease in thermal efficiency with the circulating air flowing. In order to solve these problems, the evaporator 100 is preferably installed spaced apart from the wall surface of the evaporation chamber. Therefore, by forming the projection 140 on one side of the refrigerant pipe 120, as in the present case, when the evaporator 100 is installed in the evaporation chamber, so as to be spaced apart from the wall surface of the evaporation chamber by the length of the projection 140. Thus, the above problem can be eliminated.

Of course, instead of forming a protrusion on the refrigerant pipe 120 of the evaporator 100 as described above, a certain size of protrusion is formed on the wall surface of the evaporator chamber in which the evaporator 100 is installed, so that the evaporator 100 is formed on the wall surface of the evaporator chamber. It can also prevent contact. Therefore, a configuration in which the evaporator 100 is positioned to be spaced apart from the wall surface of the evaporation chamber by a predetermined distance may be possible in various ways in addition to the above-described structure.

As shown in FIG. 4, the accumulate 150 is positioned at the upper portion of the left refrigerant pipe 120 into which the refrigerant compressed by the compressor flows. The accumulate 150 serves as a refrigerant storage tank and a kind of gas-liquid separator for load response according to environmental conditions of the refrigerator, but the accumulator 150 is installed in a conventional evaporator. And, since there is no direct relationship with the present invention, a detailed description will be omitted.

On the other hand, the above description mainly describes the heat exchange between the refrigerant passing through the refrigerant pipe 120 and the surrounding high temperature cold, but the same in the defrost action to remove the frost generated by the operation of the defrost heater (not shown). Will be applied. In other words, the evaporator structure according to the present invention is a structure that is applied in the same way in cold air generation and defrosting.

Next, the heat exchange process according to the cold air generation by the integrated tritube evaporator structure according to the present invention is configured as described above will be described.

The low temperature refrigerant generated by driving the compressor of the refrigerator maintains a temperature of about −30 ° C. or less, and flows through the left refrigerant pipe 120 to circulate inside the refrigerant pipe as shown in FIG. 4. The low temperature refrigerant is exchanged with the high temperature refrigerant introduced into the evaporation chamber while being circulated through the refrigerant pipe 120 and then returned to the pressure gauge side.

The heat exchange process with the high temperature coolant introduced into the lower portion of the evaporation chamber through the low temperature refrigerant passing through the refrigerant pipe 120 and the return duct will be described in more detail.

As described above, in the integrated tritube evaporator 100 according to the present invention, since the fin tubes 130 are positioned between the defrost pipe 110 and the coolant pipe 120, the refrigerant passing through the inside of the coolant pipe 120. Cold heat by low temperature is transmitted to the fin tubes (130). That is, since the refrigerant pipe 120 and the fin tubes 130 are integrally formed to form a direct contact structure, low-temperature heat by the refrigerant is transferred to the fin tubes 130 by heat conduction. Of course, the defrost pipe 110 located in the center is also connected to the refrigerant pipe 120 by the fin tube 130, the cold heat is also transmitted to the defrost pipe (110). Therefore, since the defrosting pipe 110 is not operated while the refrigerant is being transferred, low temperature heat by the refrigerant inside the coolant pipe 120 is transferred to the coolant pipe 120, the fin tube 130, and the defrost pipe 110. It is delivered evenly.

On the other hand, the circulating air, which is exchanged with the items stored in the refrigerator and changed to a high temperature, is introduced into the lower portion of the evaporation chamber through a return duct. The high temperature cold air flows from the lower part of the evaporation chamber to the upper part to exchange heat with the evaporator 100. While the compressor is driven, a fan located at the upper part of the evaporation chamber is operated to the lower part of the evaporation chamber although not shown. As the hot circulating air flows in the upper portion, it can be exchanged with the evaporator.

Therefore, when the circulating air flows to the upper side of the evaporator 100, it comes into contact with the fin tubes 130. In this case, the fin tubes 130 are in a state in which heat is exchanged with a low temperature refrigerant passing through the inside of the refrigerant pipe 120 to maintain a considerably low temperature. In addition, since the arrangement of the fin tubes 130 makes a larger contact area with the circulating air that flows, the circulating air is changed into a cold cooler as it contacts the fin tube 130 while flowing to the upper portion of the evaporator 100. .

In addition, since the arrangement directions of the fin tubes 130 are formed in opposite directions with respect to the defrosting tube 110, the circulating air flowing therein is formed by the arrangement of the fin tubes 130, so that heat exchange performance is improved. Further promoted. That is, the circulating air flowing in the upper part of the evaporator 100 is transferred between the circulating air passed between the fin tubes 130 on the left side and the fin tubes 130 on the right side because the arrangement direction of the fin tubes 130 is opposite. The circulating air that flows is shifted from each other. In addition, since the circulation air is raised upward by the operation of the fan located above the evaporator 100, the circulation air forms turbulence between the fin tubes 130, which makes contact with the fin tubes 130 better. Since the effect is achieved, the heat exchange performance is further improved.

As a result of the test fabrication of the integrated evaporator structure according to the present invention, the total heat transfer coefficient was confirmed to be improved by 211%.

In addition, since the evaporator 100 is positioned at a predetermined distance from the wall surface of the evaporation chamber by the protrusion 140 formed at one side of the refrigerant pipe 120, the heat exchange efficiency of the evaporator 100 is improved and the wall surface of the evaporator chamber is cracked. Can be prevented. That is, the refrigerant passing through the refrigerant pipe 120 maintains a very low temperature of about −30 ° C. or less. When the refrigerant pipe 120 is in direct contact with the wall surface of the evaporation chamber, the low temperature heat remains as it is. Is delivered to the wall. This lowers the heat exchange performance of the evaporator 100 in contact with the circulating air, and the wall surface of the evaporation chamber may be cracked by the low temperature. Therefore, since the evaporator 100 is positioned at a predetermined distance from the wall surface of the evaporation chamber by the protrusion 130, the degradation of heat exchange efficiency and the crack of the evaporation chamber wall surface can be prevented.

As described above, the circulating air, which is heat-exchanged and changed to low temperature cold as it flows to the upper part of the evaporator 100, is distributed to the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment by the operation of the fan to refrigerate the food stored in the refrigerator. The refrigerant passing through the refrigerant air and passing through the refrigerant pipe 120 is changed to a high temperature to be delivered to the compressor.

Next, the defrost process by the integrated evaporator structure of the present invention as described above will be described.

During the heat exchange process with the circulating air containing moisture, frost is formed on the outer surface of the refrigerant pipe 120, the defrost pipe 110 and the fin tube 130, and the wall surface of the evaporation chamber. The defrost heater (not shown) installed inside the refrigerator is often operated to remove the frost, and heat is transferred through the defrost pipe 110 to dissolve the frost around the evaporator 100 to change into defrost water. .

That is, as described above, since a plurality of fin tubes are located between the defrost pipe 110 located in the center and the refrigerant pipes 120 on both sides, the high temperature transmitted through the defrost pipe 110 according to the operation of the defrost heater. Heat is transferred to the refrigerant tube 120 and the evaporation chamber through the fin tube 130 to melt the frost. In this case, the defrosting tube 110 and the fin tube 130 are in direct contact with each other, and since the structure of the evaporator 100 is more compact, the heat through the defrosting tube 110 is reduced by the fin tube 130 and the refrigerant tube ( Through 120, it is possible to achieve better delivery to the entire evaporation chamber, and thus the defrosting efficiency can be improved. According to the actual test production results, it was confirmed that the defrosting efficiency is improved by about 50% or more.

In addition, in the evaporator structure according to the present invention, the heat exchange efficiency according to the cold air generation by the driving of the compressor and the defrosting efficiency due to the defrosting action are further improved, thereby reducing power consumption. As a result of the test fabrication of the integrated evaporator structure according to the present invention, it was confirmed that the power consumption is reduced by about 4% due to the improvement of the heat transfer coefficient of the evaporator according to the cold air generation and the improvement of the defrosting efficiency.

In the integrated evaporator structure according to the present invention described above has the following effects.

The defrosting tube, the refrigerant tube and the fin tube can be molded integrally, thus making the evaporator more convenient and improving the work efficiency.

In addition, the fin tubes are located between the defrosting pipe and the refrigerant pipe, the heat exchange efficiency and the defrosting efficiency is improved by the arrangement, thereby reducing the power consumption, and the structure can be more compact. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be saved.

In another effect, the evaporator is installed at a predetermined distance from the wall surface of the evaporation chamber so that low temperature cold heat of the refrigerant pipe is not directly transmitted to the evaporation chamber wall, thereby preventing cracking of the wall of the evaporation chamber.

Claims (5)

Defrosting to remove frost; Refrigerant pipes located on both sides of the defrost pipe, the refrigerant is circulated; And A plurality of fin tubes positioned between the defrost pipe and the coolant pipe; Integral evaporator structure, characterized in that the defrost pipe, the refrigerant pipe and the fin tube is formed integrally. The unitary evaporator structure according to claim 1, further comprising a separation means for allowing the evaporator to be spaced apart from the wall of the evaporation chamber by a predetermined distance. 3. The integrated evaporator structure according to claim 2, wherein the separation means is formed of a protrusion protruding from one side of the refrigerant pipe. The unitary evaporator structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the fin tube is formed to correspond to each other on both sides of the defrost pipe. 5. The unitary evaporator structure according to claim 4, wherein the fin tubes are arranged opposite each other and are inclined at a predetermined angle.