KR20090012690A - Refrigerator with evaporator installed in door - Google Patents

Abstract

A refrigerator is provided to carry out effective temperature control of refrigerating and freezing compartments and increase indoor space of the compartments by mounting evaporators in doors. An evaporator(600) is mounted in a door of a refrigerator for heat exchange between refrigerant passing through a condenser(400) and cool air in a main body(100) of the refrigerator. An expansion unit(500) is mounted between the condenser and the evaporator for expanding the refrigerant passing through the condenser. A pipe(700) connects a compressor(300), the condenser, the expansion unit and the evaporator for the circulation of the refrigerator.

Description

REFRIGERATOR WITH EVAPORATOR INSTALLED IN DOOR}

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator in which an evaporator is installed in a door capable of maximizing utilization of an internal space of the refrigerator.

Generally, a refrigerator is for freezing or refrigerating food or the like by circulating cold air by a refrigeration cycle composed of a compressor, a condenser, an expander, an evaporator, and lowering the temperature in the refrigerator.

That is, the refrigerator as described above is a compressor 10 for compressing the refrigerant into a high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant as shown in the block diagram showing the refrigeration cycle of the general refrigerator of Figure 1, and the refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 Condenser 20 for condensing a high temperature and high pressure liquid refrigerant, an expander 30 for reducing the refrigerant passing through the condenser 20 to a low temperature low pressure liquid refrigerant, and a refrigerant passing through the expander 30 at a low temperature. The evaporator 40 which absorbs heat in the refrigerating compartment or the freezing compartment and keeps the temperature inside the freezing compartment or the refrigerating compartment at a low temperature while evaporating with a low pressure gas refrigerant is an essential component.

Such a refrigerator has an integrated type using the inside of the body without division of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment, and a separate type using the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment separately. The detachable type includes a top mount type having a freezer compartment at the top and a freezer compartment at the bottom, a bottom freezer type having a freezer compartment at the bottom, and a freezer and a refrigerator compartment side-by-side. It can be divided into Side Type. The top mount, bottom freezer and side-by-side type of the separate refrigerator have advantages and disadvantages, but mainly depend on the user's preference or selection.

Hereinafter, since the integrated refrigerator is simple as compared to the separate refrigerator, a separate refrigerator will be described.

2 is a block diagram showing a conventional top mount type refrigerator having one evaporator, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a side by side type refrigerator having one conventional evaporator, and FIG. 4 is a conventional refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment. It is a block diagram of the top mount type refrigerator provided with the evaporator in each, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the side-by-side type refrigerator provided with the evaporator in each of the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment. On the other hand, when the positions of the refrigerating chamber and the freezing compartment in the top-mounted refrigerator becomes a bottom freeze type refrigerator, the description of the bottom freeze type refrigerator is omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a refrigerator equipped with a conventional evaporator includes a refrigerator main body 50 in which a refrigerating chamber 54 and a freezing chamber 58 are partitioned vertically or horizontally by a partition wall 55 and the refrigerator. Compressor 10, condenser 20, expander 30 and evaporator 40 provided on the inner wall of the main body 50 is composed. In addition, a cold air circulation path 60 through which the cold air of the refrigerating chamber 54 and the freezing chamber 58 is circulated through the partition wall 55 is formed so that the cold air heat exchanged by the evaporator 40 circulates.

However, the refrigerator having one evaporator conventionally installed on the inner wall of the refrigerator has to form a complicated circulation path of the cold air for temperature control of each of the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment, and a plurality of blower fans are provided. In addition, there is a problem that precise temperature control is virtually impossible in the region where cold air of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment are mixed even though a complicated cold air circulation path is formed and a plurality of blower fans are installed.

In order to solve the above problems, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a refrigerator equipped with an evaporator in each of the conventional refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment has a refrigerator compartment evaporator 44 and a freezer compartment evaporator 48 respectively in the refrigerator compartment 54 and the freezer compartment 58. ) Is installed, and the partition wall 55 partitioning the refrigerating compartment 54 and the freezing compartment 58 is closed to independently circulate the cold air in the refrigerating compartment 54 and the freezing compartment 58.

As described above, all conventional refrigerators including one evaporator or each of the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment have an evaporator installed on the inner wall of the refrigerator main body, thereby narrowing the internal space of the refrigerator, which makes it difficult to store more food.

An object of the present invention devised to solve the above problems is to provide a refrigerator provided with an evaporator in the door to maximize the utilization of the internal space of the refrigerator.

Other objects, specific advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In order to achieve the above object, a refrigerator provided with an evaporator in a door of the present invention includes a refrigerator main body for storing food in a low temperature state, a refrigerator door for opening and closing the refrigerator main body, and a compressor installed in the refrigerator main body to compress a refrigerant. A condenser for condensing the refrigerant passing through the compressor, an evaporator installed inside the refrigerator door, for exchanging the refrigerant passing through the condenser with cold inside the refrigerator body, and between the condenser and the evaporator. And an expander for expanding the refrigerant passing through the condenser and a pipe connecting the compressor, the condenser, the expander, and the evaporator to circulate the refrigerant.

The refrigerator body may be partitioned into a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment by partition walls, and the refrigerator door is divided into a refrigerator compartment door and a freezer compartment door that open and close the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment, respectively.

The evaporator may further include a cold air circulation path installed in one of the refrigerating compartment door and the freezing compartment door, and formed through the partition wall so that the cold air of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment meet and circulate with each other.

The evaporator may be separated into a refrigerator compartment evaporator and a freezer compartment evaporator respectively installed in the refrigerator compartment door and the freezer compartment door.

In addition, the refrigerator door may be rotatably supported with respect to the refrigerator main body, and further includes a hinge having a through hole through which the pipe passes.

In addition, the hinge is characterized in that the through hole is formed in the rotation shaft of the hinge.

In addition, the pipe is characterized in that it is flexible.

The refrigerator may further include an ice making chamber provided inside the refrigerator door and making and storing ice.

The evaporator may be installed inside the ice making chamber to exchange heat with cold inside the ice making chamber, and the cold air inside the ice making chamber may circulate with the cold air inside the refrigerator main body.

The refrigerator provided with the evaporator in the door according to the present invention may maximize the utilization of the internal space of the refrigerator by being installed in the refrigerator door instead of being installed in the refrigerator main body.

In addition, by installing a refrigerator compartment evaporator and a freezer compartment evaporator in each of the refrigerator compartment door and the freezer compartment door, temperature control of the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment can be effectively performed.

In addition, the ice making chamber is provided inside the refrigerator door to facilitate the extraction of ice, and the evaporator may be installed inside the ice making chamber to maximize ice making efficiency.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the refrigerator installed in the door according to the present invention.

6 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a refrigerator provided with an evaporator in a door according to the present invention, Figure 7 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of a refrigerator equipped with an evaporator in a door according to the present invention, 8 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of a refrigerator provided with an evaporator in a door according to the present invention, Figure 9 is a main part showing a state in which a pipe passes through the hinge of the refrigerator installed in the door according to the present invention. Perspective view.

The refrigerator equipped with an evaporator in the door according to the present invention includes a refrigerator main body 100, a refrigerator door 200, a compressor 300, a condenser 400, an expander 500, an evaporator 600, and a pipe 700. Is done. In addition, the hinge 800 and the ice making chamber 900 may be further included.

The refrigerator main body 100 stores food in a low temperature state, and may be partitioned into a refrigerator compartment 140 and a freezer compartment 180 by the partition wall 120. The refrigerator main body 100 includes an integrated type having an integrated interior and a separate type separated into a refrigerating chamber 140 and a freezing chamber 180. In FIG. 6, the removable refrigerator is illustrated, but the removal of the partition wall 120 is the same as the integrated type, and thus a detailed description of the integrated refrigerator is omitted. Therefore, the present invention may be applied regardless of whether the interior of the refrigerator body 100 is an integrated type or a separate type, and any type of detachable top mount, bottom freeze, and side by side type may be applied. Although not shown in the drawing, various types of baskets, shelves, and drawers may form an internal space of the refrigerator main body 100 to efficiently store various foods in the refrigerator main body 100.

The refrigerator door 200 opens and closes the refrigerator main body 100. The refrigerator door 200 is divided into a refrigerator compartment door 240 and a freezer compartment door 280 that open and close the refrigerator compartment 140 and the freezer compartment 180, respectively. The number of refrigerator doors 200 may be one or more, but when divided into the refrigerator compartment 140 and the freezer compartment 180, the refrigerator door 200 should be separated into a refrigerator compartment door 240 and a freezer compartment door 280, respectively. One or more of the refrigerating compartment door 240 and the freezing compartment door 280 may be provided.

The partition wall 120 is installed to partition the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180, and the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180 are stored at different temperatures at different temperatures depending on the type of food to store or refrigerate the food. It is installed to The partition wall 120 is not necessary in the case of an integrated refrigerator, but the partition wall 120 is required in the case of the separate refrigerator. In addition, in the case of installing the evaporator 600 to be described later to circulate the cold air of the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180, respectively, and installing one evaporator 600, the cold air of the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180 May be cycled together. When one evaporator 600 is installed, since the partition wall 120 is formed between the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180, the circulation of cold air is blocked. Therefore, the cold air circulation path 125 is necessary.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the cold air circulation path 125 penetrates through the partition wall 120 so that the cold air of the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180 meet and circulate with each other. In the case of the separate refrigerator in which the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180 are separated, an internal cold air flow path is formed so that the cold air heat-exchanged by the evaporator 600 to be described later moves to the refrigerating chamber 140 through the freezing chamber 180. . For example, a plurality of fans forcibly transferring the cold air may be installed or a cold air duct may be formed to move cold air. In any case, the cold air circulation path 125 should be formed through the partition wall 120 so that the cold air of the freezing compartment 180 and the refrigerating compartment 140 meet and circulate with each other. However, when the refrigerating chamber evaporator 640 and the freezing chamber evaporator 680 which will be described later are respectively installed in the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180, the cold air circulation path 125 is not required. That is, the refrigerator compartment evaporator 640 and the freezer compartment evaporator 680 are respectively provided in order to effectively control the temperatures of the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing compartment 180.

The compressor 300 is installed in the refrigerator main body 100 to compress the refrigerant, and the condenser 400 condenses the refrigerant passing through the compressor 300. The compressor 300 and the condenser 400 are generally installed together in a chamber called a machine room disposed under the refrigerator body 100. In addition, the expander 500 is interposed between the condenser 400 and the evaporator 600 to be described later to expand the refrigerant passing through the condenser 400. Since the compressor 300, the condenser 400, and the expander 500 are the same as those used in the conventional refrigeration cycle, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The evaporator 600 is installed inside the refrigerator door 200 and exchanges the refrigerant passing through the condenser 400 with cold inside the refrigerator main body 100. The evaporator 600 is generally installed on the wall of the refrigerator main body 100, but the biggest feature is that the evaporator 600 of the present invention is installed inside the refrigerator door 200. Accordingly, it is possible to maximize the utilization of the internal space of the refrigerator main body 100. That is, it is possible to further expand the food storage space inside the refrigerator main body 100.

The evaporator 600 is the refrigerator compartment door 240 or the freezer compartment door when the refrigerator main body 100 is divided into a refrigerator compartment 140 and a freezer compartment 180, and separated into a refrigerator compartment door 240 and a freezer compartment door 280. 280 may be installed on any one of them. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the cold air temperatures of the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180 are controlled by one evaporator 600, the cold air of the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180 meet and circulate with each other. The cold air circulation path 125 formed through the partition wall 120 should be provided. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the evaporator 600 may be separated into a refrigerator compartment evaporator 640 and a freezer compartment evaporator 680 installed in the refrigerator compartment door 240 and the freezer compartment door 280, respectively. That is, the refrigerating chamber evaporator 640 controls the temperature of the cold air circulating in the refrigerating chamber 140, and the freezing chamber evaporator 680 controls the temperature of the cold air circulating in the freezing chamber 180, thereby operating each. Accordingly, the temperature inside the refrigerating chamber 140 and the freezing chamber 180 can be accurately controlled. In addition, since the function in the refrigerating cycle of the evaporator 600 is the same as that of a prior art, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

The pipe 700 serves as a pipe to allow the refrigerant to flow as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, and the compressor 300, the condenser 400, the expander 500, and the evaporator 600 to circulate the refrigerant. Connect it. In addition, the pipe 700 may be flexible. In particular, since the evaporator 600 of the present invention is installed in the refrigerator door 200, the refrigerator door 200 and the refrigerator main body cut off to receive the refrigerant from the compressor 300 and the condenser 400 installed in the refrigerator main body 100 ( You need to connect 100). To this end, even if the refrigerator door 200 is rotated without intervening with other components, the flexible pipe 700 may be provided to smoothly supply the refrigerant to the evaporator 600.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the hinge 800 pivotally supports the refrigerator door 200 with respect to the refrigerator main body 100 and includes a through hole 850 through which the pipe 700 passes. . Accordingly, when the pipe 700 is connected to the evaporator 600, even if the refrigerator door 200 is rotated, the pipe 700 can be easily inserted into and fixed to the through hole 850 formed in the hinge 800. have. In addition, the through hole 850 may be formed on a rotation shaft of the hinge 800. That is, the through hole 850 may be formed on the rotation shaft of the hinge 800 to minimize a section between the refrigerator main body 100 and the refrigerator door 200. It is preferable to install a bushing or the like in the through hole 850 so that the pipe 700 is not damaged.

As shown in FIG. 8, the ice making chamber 900 is provided inside the refrigerator door 200 to make ice and store the ice making container 920, the ice maker 940, the dispenser 960, and the like. It can be configured to include. The evaporator 600 is installed inside the ice making chamber 900 to exchange heat with cold inside the ice making chamber 900, and the cold air inside the ice making chamber 900 moves into the refrigerator main body 100. More specifically, the evaporator 600 is installed adjacent to the ice making container 920 to maximize the ice making efficiency. Meanwhile, the ice maker 940 is disposed below the ice maker 920 to separate and store the ice. In addition, the dispenser 960 is formed to be exposed to the outside so that the ice can be easily taken out from the outside. The ice maker 920, the ice maker 940, and the dispenser 960 constituting the ice making chamber 900 may be implemented in the related art, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The embodiments of the present invention described above and illustrated in the drawings should not be construed as limiting the technical idea of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention is limited only by the matters described in the claims, and those skilled in the art can change and change the technical idea of the present invention in various forms. Therefore, such improvements and modifications will fall within the protection scope of the present invention, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

1 is a configuration diagram showing a refrigeration cycle of a typical refrigerator,

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional top-mounted refrigerator equipped with one evaporator,

3 is a configuration diagram showing a side by side type refrigerator in which one evaporator is conventionally installed;

4 is a configuration diagram of a top mount type refrigerator having an evaporator installed in each of a conventional refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment,

5 is a configuration diagram of a side-by-side type refrigerator having an evaporator installed in each of a conventional refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment,

6 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a refrigerator provided with an evaporator in a door according to the present invention,

7 is a configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of a refrigerator provided with an evaporator in a door according to the present invention;

8 is a configuration diagram showing a third embodiment of a refrigerator provided with an evaporator in a door according to the present invention;

9 is a main portion perspective view showing a state in which a pipe passes through the hinge of the refrigerator installed in the door according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: refrigerator body

120: bulkhead 125: cold air circulation

140: refrigerator compartment 180: freezer compartment

200: refrigerator door

240: refrigerator compartment door 280: freezer compartment door

300: Compressor

400: condenser

500: Inflator

600: Evaporator

640: refrigerator compartment evaporator 680: freezer compartment evaporator

700 pipe

800: hinge 850: through hole

900: ice making room

Claims (9)

The refrigerator body which keeps food in low temperature state, A refrigerator door for opening and closing the refrigerator body; A compressor installed in the refrigerator body to compress the refrigerant; A condenser for condensing the refrigerant passing through the compressor; An evaporator installed inside the refrigerator door to heat-exchange the refrigerant passing through the condenser with cold inside the refrigerator main body; An expander interposed between the condenser and the evaporator to expand the refrigerant passing through the condenser; And a refrigerator including a pipe connecting the compressor, the condenser, the expander, and the evaporator to circulate the refrigerant. The method of claim 1, The refrigerator body is partitioned into a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment by partition walls, The refrigerator door is a refrigerator having an evaporator installed in the door, characterized in that the refrigerator compartment door and the freezer compartment door for opening and closing the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment, respectively. The method of claim 2, The evaporator is installed in either the refrigerator compartment door or the freezer compartment door, And a cold air circulation path formed through the partition wall such that the cold air of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment meet and circulate with each other. The method of claim 2, The evaporator is a refrigerator, characterized in that the evaporator is installed on the door, characterized in that separated into the refrigerator compartment evaporator and the freezer compartment evaporator respectively installed in the refrigerator compartment door and the freezer compartment door. The method of claim 1, And a hinge having a through hole through which the pipe passes and supporting the refrigerator door in a rotatable manner with respect to the refrigerator main body. The method of claim 5, The through hole is a refrigerator provided with an evaporator, characterized in that formed on the pivot shaft of the hinge. The method of claim 1, The pipe is a refrigerator installed in the door, characterized in that the flexible. The method of claim 1, The refrigerator is provided on the inside of the refrigerator door, the refrigerator further comprises an ice making chamber for making and storing ice. The method of claim 8, And the evaporator is installed inside the ice making chamber to exchange heat with cold inside the ice making chamber, and the cold air inside the ice making chamber moves to the inside of the refrigerator main body.

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