KR20090099875A - Fan assembly and refrigerator having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A fan assembly reducing the space loss and a refrigerator with the same are provided to suppress the cool air loss by the reversing current of the cold air and the unnecessary air circulation by blocking a cool air flow path. CONSTITUTION: A refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body, a cool air duct, and a fan assembly. The refrigerator body includes a cold room and a freezer. The freezer is arranged on the bottom side of the cold room. The freezer includes a cool air outlet and a cool air inlet. The cool air outlet and the cool air inlet make the cold air flow in or out. The cool air duct is arranged within the side wall of the refrigerator body. The bottom of the cool air duct is connected to the cool air outlet and the cool air inlet. The fan assembly is installed inside the freezer while connecting to the cool air outlet. The fan assembly includes a fan-casing, a fan(171), and an opening and closing part. A flow path is formed inside the fan-casing. The fan is admitted inside the fan-casing. The opening and closing part open and close the cold air path.

Description

FAN ASSEMBLY AND REFRIGERATOR HAVING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a fan assembly and a refrigerator having the same, and more particularly, to a fan assembly and a refrigerator having the same, which can reduce space loss and suppress cold loss.

1 is a view for explaining a cold air flow path of a conventional refrigerator. As shown in this figure, the refrigerator includes a refrigerator body 10 having a refrigerator compartment 11 formed at an upper portion thereof and a freezer compartment 21 formed at a lower portion thereof, and a refrigerator compartment disposed at a front surface of the refrigerator body 10. 11) and each opening of the freezer compartment 21 is provided with a refrigerator compartment door 15 and a freezer compartment door 25. The refrigerating chamber door 15 is configured as a rotatable pair, and the freezing chamber door 25 is configured to be slidable along the front and rear directions of the refrigerator main body 10.

One of the refrigerating chamber doors 15, that is, the left refrigerating chamber door 15 in the drawing, is provided with an ice making chamber 17 to manufacture ice, and the ice making chamber 17 is provided inside the freezing chamber 21. The fan assembly 31 is provided to blow the cold air into the furnace. The fan assembly 31 includes a fan casing 32 forming an accommodating space therein, a fan 34 rotatably housed in the fan casing 32, and rotationally driving the fan 34. The fan motor 36 is provided.

A cold air duct 27 is provided inside one sidewall of the refrigerator body 10 to circulate cold air blown from the fan assembly 31 via the ice making chamber 17. A barrier 29 is formed between the freezing chamber 21 and the refrigerating chamber 11 as a heat insulating member and has a cold air flow passage 30 formed therein. The cold air duct 27 is formed at one side of the barrier 29. The bottom of each is connected in communication.

By such a configuration, when the fan assembly 31 is driven, cold air on the freezing chamber 21 side flows upward through the cold air duct 27 to pass through the ice making chamber 17 and then the cold air duct 27. After flowing downward through the return to the freezing compartment 21 side.

By the way, in the conventional refrigerator, no means for opening and closing the flow path of the cold air is provided so that the cold air of the freezer compartment 21 when the fan assembly 31 is OFF is cold air of the barrier 29. There is a problem in that the cold air duct 27 is introduced through the flow path 30 to cause a cold air loss.

In addition, in the conventional refrigerator, since the cold air duct 27 is installed inside the sidewall of the refrigerator body 10, the cold air duct 27 is formed to be very thin in consideration of the insulation thickness. Due to this, there is a problem that it is difficult to install the opening and closing means of the cold air duct 27 having a relatively large size.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a fan assembly capable of suppressing cold air flow and a refrigerator having the same.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fan assembly capable of opening and closing a cold air flow path and suppressing the occurrence of space loss due to component installation, and a refrigerator having the same.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a fan assembly and a refrigerator having the same, which can suppress freezing and prevent driving failure due to freezing.

The present invention provides a refrigerator body including a refrigerating chamber and a freezer compartment disposed below the refrigerating compartment and having a cold air outlet and a cold air inlet through which cold air flows in and out; A cold air duct disposed in a side wall of the refrigerator body and having a lower end communicating with the cold air outlet and the cold air inlet; A fan assembly having a flow path formed therein, a fan rotatably received in the fan casing, and an opening / closing portion which opens and closes the cold air flow path, the fan assembly being installed in communication with the cold air outlet; It provides a refrigerator containing.

Here, the opening and closing portion may be disposed on the downstream side of the fan along the flow direction of the cold air.

The opening and closing part may include an opening and closing plate disposed to open and close the flow path inside the fan casing, and an opening and closing plate driving part configured to rotate the opening and closing plate.

The opening and closing part may further comprise an electric heater.

The opening and closing portion may be configured as a damper.

The damper may include a housing in which an accommodation space is formed and a through hole is formed therein, an opening and closing plate disposed to open and close the through hole, and an opening and closing plate driving unit accommodated in the housing and driving the opening and closing plate. .

The opening and closing plate driving unit may be composed of an electric motor capable of forward and reverse rotation.

The damper may further comprise an electric heater.

The electric heater may be configured to be installed on the opening and closing plate.

The electric heater may be installed around the through hole.

The fan casing may be provided with a damper accommodating portion to accommodate the damper.

The pan casing may include a body and a cover coupled to face each other along the axial direction of the fan.

The controller may further include a control unit controlling the opening and closing unit so that the flow path is opened before driving the fan.

On the other hand, according to another field of the present invention, the fan casing and the flow path is formed to suck and discharge air therein; A fan rotatably received in the pan casing; A damper for opening and closing the flow path; A fan assembly is provided that includes.

Here, the damper includes a housing having a through hole formed therein, an opening and closing plate disposed to open and close the through hole, and an opening and closing plate driving part accommodated in the housing to drive the opening and closing plate. Can be configured.

On the other hand, according to another field of the present invention, the fan casing and the flow path formed therein; A fan rotatably received in the pan casing; An opening and closing unit for opening and closing the cold air flow path; A fan assembly is provided that includes.

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a fan assembly having an opening and closing portion for opening and closing the cold air flow path, by opening the cold air flow path when driving the fan assembly to allow the cold air flow and cold air when the drive of the fan assembly (OFF) off (OFF) By blocking the flow path, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of cold air loss due to reverse flow of cold air, circulation of unnecessary air, and the like.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the damper is provided in the fan assembly, it is not necessary to install a separate part for opening and closing the cold air flow path in a separate space, thereby reducing the occurrence of space loss and facilitating assembly and fabrication.

In addition, according to the present invention, by providing a damper having a housing, it is possible to suppress the damage of the components due to steam or freezing generated during the defrost of the evaporator installed on the freezer compartment side.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of the drive failure of the opening and closing part by the freezing by having the opening and closing portion further comprises an electric heater.

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

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of Figure 2, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 2, Figure 5 6 is an exploded perspective view of the fan assembly of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of FIG. 5, FIG. 8 is a view showing the opening and closing plate of FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is another embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of an electric heater according to an embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the refrigerator includes a refrigerating compartment 111, a cold air outlet 128a and a cold air inlet 128b disposed below the refrigerating compartment 111, through which cold air flows in and out. A refrigerator body 110 in which one freezing chamber 121 is formed; A cold air duct 130 disposed in a side wall of the refrigerator body 110 and having a lower end communicating with the cold air outlet 128a and the cold air inlet 128b; A fan casing 151 having a flow path 155 therein, a fan 171 rotatably received inside the fan casing 151, and a damper 191 for opening and closing the flow path 155. A fan assembly (150) installed in the freezing chamber (121) in communication with the cold air outlet (128a); It is configured to include.

The front surface of the refrigerating chamber 111 is provided with a pair of refrigerating chamber doors 115 to open and close the refrigerating chamber 111, the freezing chamber 121, the freezing chamber door 125 for opening and closing the freezing chamber 121. Is slidably installed along the front and rear directions.

One of the refrigerating chamber doors 115, that is, the left refrigerating chamber door 115 in the drawing, is formed with an ice making chamber 117 to store ice. One side of the ice making chamber 117 has an inlet 118a and an outlet 118b for allowing cold air provided from the freezing chamber 121 to flow into the inside of the ice making chamber 117 or allow the cold air to flow out to the outside. Formed.

The cold air duct 130 is provided on the sidewall of the refrigerating chamber 111 so that cold air of the freezing chamber 121 can be circulated through the ice making chamber 117. The cold air duct 130 includes a cold air supply duct 131 for allowing cold air of the freezing chamber 121 to be supplied to the ice making chamber 117, and cold air passing through the ice making chamber 117 to the freezing chamber 121. And a cold return duct 132 to be returned. The cold air supply duct 131 and the cold air return duct 132 are installed along the vertical direction in the side walls of the refrigerating chamber 111 and the freezing chamber 121 of the refrigerator main body 110. The side walls of the refrigerating chamber 111 are provided with a plurality of connecting portions 119 to which the cold air supply duct 131 and the cold air return duct 132 are connected to the ice making chamber 117, respectively.

On the other hand, a barrier 127 is formed between the refrigerating chamber 111 and the freezing chamber 121, and as shown in FIG. 4, a flow path (B) to allow the cold air to flow therein. 128 are formed respectively. A cold air outlet 128a and a cold air inlet 128b are respectively formed on the upper surface of the freezing chamber 121 so as to communicate with the lower end of the flow path 128 of the barrier 127 so that cold air can flow out and inflow. The fan assembly 150 is provided in the rear region of the freezing compartment 121 so as to communicate with the cold air outlet 128a to supply the cold air of the freezing compartment 121 to the ice making chamber 117.

5 to 7, the fan assembly 150 includes a fan casing 151 having a flow path 155 formed therein to suck and discharge air therein; A fan 171 rotatably received in the fan casing 151; A damper 191 for opening and closing the flow path 155 is provided.

A fan accommodating part 153 in which the fan 171 is accommodated and a damper accommodating part 157 in which the damper 191 is accommodated are formed in the fan casing 151. On one side of the fan casing 151, that is, on one side of the fan accommodating part 153 along the axial direction of the fan 171, an inlet 161 is formed to suck air into the inside of the fan casing 151. A discharge port 163 is formed at one side along the radial direction of 171 to allow the sucked air to be discharged.

The flow path 155 is formed in the fan casing 151 so that the air sucked through the suction port 161 flows to the discharge port 163. The pan casing 151 is composed of a body 152a and a cover 152b which are in contact with each other in the axial direction and cooperating with each other to form a flow path 155 therein. The suction port 161 is formed in the body 152a. A plurality of coupling parts 156 to which fastening members (not shown) such as screws or bolts are coupled are formed in the mutual contact areas of the body 152a and the cover 152b. In addition, a plurality of hooks 158 and hook coupling portions 159 are formed in the mutual contact areas of the cover 152b and the body 152a so as to be engaged with each other.

The fan 171 may include a hub 172 in the center, a plurality of blades 175 spaced apart from each other along the circumferential direction around the hub 172, and installed inside the hub 172. With a fan motor 181, it is implemented in the form of a centrifugal fan to suck air in the axial direction to discharge in a radial direction. The hub 172 and the blade 175 are formed of a synthetic resin member.

The hub 172 has a cylindrical shape, one side of which is open, and a fan motor 181 for rotationally driving the fan 171 is installed inside the hub 172. The fan motor 181 includes an outer rotor type motor in which a stator is disposed at a center and a rotor is disposed outside the stator to rotate integrally with the hub 172. A support plate 183 is disposed at the open side end of the hub 172 to support the fan motor 181, and the fan motor is coupled to the cover 152b to allow the support plate 183 to be coupled thereto. The part 165 is formed. The fan motor coupling part 165 has a plurality of passage holes 167 formed therein so that a fastening member 169 such as a screw coupled to the support plate 183 may pass therethrough.

On the other hand, the damper 191, the housing 193, the through-hole 194 is formed to form a receiving space therein, the opening and closing plate 197 for opening and closing the through-hole 194, and the housing 193 It is configured to include an opening and closing plate driving unit 201 accommodated in the interior of the opening and closing plate 197. The housing 193 is formed to have a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a through hole 194 is formed at a center corresponding to the size of the flow path 155 of the fan casing 151.

Opening and closing plate 197 is rotatably installed in the housing 193 so as to open and close the through hole 194, the rotating shaft 198 is extended in the longitudinal direction on one side of the opening and closing plate 197. Formed. One end of the rotating shaft 198 is provided with an opening and closing plate driving unit 201 for rotating the opening and closing plate 197. The opening and closing plate driving unit 201 is implemented with an electric motor. Here, the opening and closing plate driving unit 201 may be composed of a solenoid (solenoid) or a thermal actuator (thermal actuator).

As shown in FIG. 8, the opening and closing plate 197 is provided with an electric heater 199 to prevent the restraint of the opening and closing plate 197 from occurring due to freezing of moisture. The electric heater 199 may be configured to be attached to or embedded in the surface of the opening and closing plate 197. Here, as shown in FIG. 9, the electric heater 219 is installed along the circumferential direction of the through hole 194, and the electric heater 219 restrains the freezing of the opening and closing plate 197. It can also be configured to be prevented. In addition, the electric heaters 199 and 219 may be installed at the same time around the opening and closing plate 197 and the through hole 194.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 10, the opening and closing plate driving unit 201 and the fan motor 181 are connected to the control unit 211, which is implemented in the form of a microcomputer with a control program, respectively, and the control unit 211. The mode selection unit 213 is connected to the operation mode selection signal for selecting the operation of the ice making room 117. The controller 211 controls the opening and closing plate driver 201 such that the flow path 155 is opened before the fan 171 rotates.

By such a configuration, when the operation mode of the ice making chamber 117 is selected by the mode selection unit 213, the control unit 211 controls the opening and closing plate driving unit 201 before the rotation of the fan 171. The flow path 155 is opened. When the flow path 155 is opened, the control unit 211 controls the fan motor 181 to allow the fan 171 to rotate.

When the fan 171 is rotated, the cold air of the freezing chamber 121 is sucked into the fan casing 151, flows along the flow path 155, and is discharged to the cold air supply duct 131. The cold air flowing upward along the cold air supply duct 131 flows downward along the cold air return duct 132 via the ice making chamber 117 and returns to the freezing chamber 121 while repeating the process. A cooling function of 117 is performed. On the other hand, the control unit 211 controls the opening and closing plate driving unit 201 when the driving of the fan 171 is stopped so that the flow path 155 is blocked.

11 is an exploded perspective view of a fan assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals and the same components as the above-described and illustrated configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals for convenience of description of the drawings, and redundant descriptions thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 10, the fan assembly 220 includes a fan casing 221 having a flow path 228 therein, and a fan 171 rotatably housed in the fan casing 221. The opening and closing part 240 for opening and closing the flow path 228 is configured.

In the fan casing 221, a fan accommodating part 223 in which the fan 171 is rotatably received, and a flow path 228 through which air is sucked and discharged are formed. One side of the fan accommodating part 223 is formed at one side of the fan accommodating part 223 along the axial direction of the fan 171, and air is discharged at one side in the radial direction of the fan 171. The discharge port 227 is formed.

The fan casing 221 has a body 222a and a cover 222b which are in contact with each other along the axial direction of the fan 171. The suction port 225 is formed through one side of the body 222a. The body 222a and the cover 222b are formed with a plurality of coupling parts 231 coupled by fastening members such as screws, and one side of the coupling part 231 has hooks 233 to be engaged when engaged with each other. ) And hook coupling portion 235 is formed.

The fan 171 includes a hub 172 having a cylindrical shape, one side of which is open, and a plurality of blades 175 spaced apart from each other along the circumferential direction around the hub 172. A fan motor 181 for rotating and driving the fan 171 is accommodated in the hub 172, and a support plate 183 for supporting the fan motor 181 on the open side of the hub 172. Is provided. The support plate 183 is integrally fixed by the screw 238 passing through the through hole 237 of the fan motor coupling portion 236 formed in the cover 222b.

On the other hand, the opening and closing portion 240 is formed on the downstream side of the fan receiving portion 223 of the fan casing 221 so as to open and close the inner flow path 228 of the fan casing 221. The opening and closing unit 240 includes an opening and closing plate 241 for opening and closing the flow path 228, and an opening and closing plate driving unit 245 for rotating the opening and closing plate 241. Here, the opening and closing plate driving unit 245 is implemented with an electric motor.

The opening and closing plate is formed in a rectangular plate shape corresponding to the shape of the flow path 228, the rotation shaft 242 is formed at both ends along the longitudinal direction, that is, the top and bottom of the opening and closing plate 241 in the drawing. The upper shaft support part 251 and the lower shaft support part 253 are formed in the body 222a and the cover 222b so that the pivot shaft 242 can be rotatably accommodated when mutually coupled.

Receiving portions 250 are formed in the body 222a and the cover 222b so as to respectively accommodate a part of the opening and closing plate driving portion 245 when mutually coupled. The opening and closing plate 241 is provided with an electric heater 243 for heating the opening and closing plate 241 to prevent the occurrence of restraint caused by the freezing of moisture.

By this configuration, when the operation mode of the ice making chamber 117 is selected by the mode selection unit, the control unit 211 controls the opening and closing plate driving unit 245 before the rotation of the fan 171 to the flow path 228. ) To open. When the flow path 228 is opened, the controller 211 controls the fan motor 181 to allow the fan 171 to rotate. When the fan 171 is rotated, the cold air of the freezing chamber 121 is sucked into the fan casing 221, flows along the flow path 228, and is discharged to the cold air supply duct 131.

The cold air flowing upward along the cold air supply duct 131 is flowed downward along the cold air return duct 132 via the ice making chamber 117 to be returned to the freezing chamber 121. On the other hand, the control unit 211 controls the opening and closing plate driving unit 245 when the driving of the fan 171 is stopped so that the flow path 228 is blocked.

In the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9, the case where the fan assembly includes a damper has been described as an example. However, the fan assembly may include the fan assembly described above with reference to FIG. 10.

In the above, specific embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described. However, the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, and therefore, the above-described embodiments should not be limited by the contents of the detailed description, and further described above. Even if the embodiments are not listed one by one in the description should be construed broadly within the scope of the technical spirit defined in the appended claims. In addition, all changes and modifications included within the technical scope of the claims and their equivalents should be covered by the appended claims.

1 is a view for explaining a cold air flow path of a conventional refrigerator,

2 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

5 is a perspective view of the fan assembly of FIG.

Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of the fan assembly of Figure 5,

7 is a cross-sectional view of FIG.

8 is a view showing the opening and closing plate of FIG.

9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 6 showing an installation state of an electric heater according to another embodiment of the present invention;

10 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator of FIG. 2;

11 is an exploded perspective view of a fan assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

110: refrigerator body 111: refrigerator compartment

121: freezer 127: barrier

130: cold air duct 150: fan assembly

151: pan casing 153: fan housing

157: damper accommodating part 171: fan

181: fan motor 183: support plate

191: damper 193: housing

194 through hole 197 opening and closing plate

198: rotating shaft 199: electric heater

201: opening and closing plate driving unit

Claims (17)

A refrigerator body having a refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartment disposed under the refrigerating compartment and having a cold air outlet and a cold air inlet through which cold air flows in and out; A cold air duct disposed in a side wall of the refrigerator body and having a lower end communicating with the cold air outlet and the cold air inlet; A fan assembly having a flow path formed therein, a fan rotatably received in the fan casing, and an opening / closing portion which opens and closes the cold air flow path, the fan assembly being installed in communication with the cold air outlet; Including refrigerator. The method of claim 1, And the opening and closing part is disposed downstream of the fan along a flow direction of cold air. The method of claim 2, The opening and closing unit, the refrigerator comprising a opening and closing plate arranged to open and close the flow path inside the fan casing, and the opening and closing plate driving unit for rotating the opening and closing plate. The method of claim 3, The opening and closing part further comprises an electric heater. The method of claim 1, Refrigerator, characterized in that the opening and closing portion is a damper. The method of claim 5, The damper includes a housing forming a receiving space therein and a through hole formed therein, an opening and closing plate disposed to open and close the through hole, and an opening and closing plate driving part accommodated in the housing to drive the opening and closing plate. Refrigerator. The method of claim 6, The opening and closing plate drive is a refrigerator, characterized in that the electric motor capable of forward and reverse rotation. The method of claim 5, The damper further comprises an electric heater. The method of claim 8, The electric heater is characterized in that the refrigerator is installed on the opening and closing plate. The method of claim 8, The electric heater is characterized in that the refrigerator is installed around the through hole. The method of claim 6, And a damper accommodating portion is formed in the fan casing to accommodate the damper. The method of claim 11, The fan casing comprises a body and a cover coupled to face each other along the axial direction of the fan. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, And a control unit for controlling the opening and closing unit so that the flow path is opened before the fan is driven. A fan casing in which a flow path is formed to suck and discharge air therein; A fan rotatably received in the pan casing; A damper for opening and closing the flow path; Containing fan assembly. The method of claim 14, The damper includes a housing forming a receiving space therein and a through hole formed therein, an opening and closing plate disposed to open and close the through hole, and an opening and closing plate driving part accommodated in the housing to drive the opening and closing plate. Fan assembly. The method according to claim 14 or 15, The damper further comprises a fan heater. A fan casing having a flow path formed therein; A fan rotatably received in the pan casing; An opening and closing unit for opening and closing the cold air flow path; Containing fan assembly.

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