KR20110056943A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A refrigerator is provided to increase the inner space of a refrigerator by decreasing the thickness of a wall, on which an evaporator is arranged. CONSTITUTION: A refrigerator comprises a body(110), an evaporator, a first suction path(241) and a second suction path. The body comprises a barrier(115), a first cooling chamber(120) and a second cooling chamber(130). The barrier is horizontally arranged. The first and second cooling chambers are divided into upper and lower parts by the barrier. The evaporator is arranged in the barrier. The first suction path comprises a suction hole. The suction hole is formed on at least on of both sides of the top of the barrier. The second suction path comprises a suction hole, which is formed on at least one of both sides of the bottom of the barrier.

Description

Refrigerator {REFRIGERATOR}

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and, more particularly, to a refrigerator capable of suppressing conception.

As is well known, a refrigerator is a device that allows food to be stored freshly by refrigeration or freezing. The refrigerator includes a refrigerator main body in which a plurality of cooling chambers are formed, doors for opening and closing each cooling chamber, and a refrigeration cycle apparatus for providing cold air to the cooling chamber.

The refrigeration cycle apparatus includes a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser in which the refrigerant is radiated and condensed, an expansion device in which the refrigerant is decompressed and expanded, and an evaporator in which the refrigerant absorbs latent heat of the surroundings and evaporates. It can be configured as a device.

In general, a cold air circulation passage may be formed on the rear wall of the cooling chamber so that cold air of the cooling chamber may circulate. The cold air circulation passage may be provided with an evaporator to be cooled while passing air. In addition, a cold air supply passage may be formed in the cooling chamber so that cold air passing through the evaporator may be supplied to each cooling chamber.

In such a conventional refrigerator, since the evaporator having a very low temperature compared to the cold air of the cooling chamber is disposed on the rear wall of the cooling chamber, loss of cold air through the rear wall can be increased. In consideration of this, the thickness of the rear wall may be increased.

In addition, in a refrigerator in which a single cooling fan is disposed on one side of a single evaporator, the same evaporator and the cooling fan are operated even when the cooling chamber far away from the place where the evaporator and the cooling fan are installed operates the same evaporator and the cooling fan. Cold air loss may occur in the process of moving. In addition, the configuration of the cold air flow path for supplying the cold air in the cooling chamber located away from the evaporator may be complicated and lengthened. Due to this, the flow resistance of the cold air increases, so that it is difficult to solve the temperature deviation quickly and the operation time for solving the temperature deviation can be extended.

In addition, in such a conventional refrigerator, since a plurality of cooling chambers are cooled by a single evaporator, even if one of the cooling chambers already meets the temperature condition of the bath, the operation is performed to satisfy the temperature conditions of the other cooling chamber. Subcooling can occur in cooling chambers that have already met temperature conditions.

On the other hand, some of the refrigerators may be disposed in each of the cooling chambers in order to independently cool different cooling chambers. Even in this case, since each evaporator is disposed close to the rear wall of the corresponding cooling chamber, the thickness of the rear wall of each cooling chamber is increased to reduce the leakage of cold air through the rear wall of each evaporator, thereby reducing the actual storage space of the cooling chamber. have.

In addition, when the evaporator is disposed in each cooling chamber, the flow path of the refrigerant is increased accordingly, and not only the flow resistance of the refrigerant is increased, but also the pressure and heat loss of the refrigerant due to the long pipe are generated, thereby operating efficiency. This can be degraded.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator which can increase the use space in the refrigerator without increasing the appearance and suppresses the conception and can extend the defrosting cycle.

The present invention provides a refrigerator main body including a horizontally arranged partition wall, and a first cooling chamber and a second cooling chamber partitioned vertically by the partition wall in order to achieve the object as described above; An evaporator disposed inside the partition wall; A first suction passage having at least one suction port formed on both sides of an upper surface of the partition wall; And a second suction passage having at least one suction port formed on both sides of a bottom surface of the partition wall.

Here, the suction port of the first suction passage may have a long length along the front and rear directions of the partition wall.

The first suction passage may have a bottom surface having a height difference.

The first suction passage and the second suction passage may be formed at both sides of the partition wall, respectively.

The second suction passage may be formed outside the first suction passage.

The first suction passage and the second suction passage may be formed to guide air to the front region of the evaporator.

It may be configured to further include a first cooling fan disposed on one side of the evaporator to blow air into the first cooling chamber, and a second cooling fan to blow air into the second cooling chamber.

The first cooling chamber is a refrigerating chamber, and may further include an ice making chamber provided in a door that opens and closes the refrigerating chamber, and an ice making fan that blows air into the ice making chamber.

The ice making fan may be disposed on the partition wall.

As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, by arranging the evaporator inside the partition wall, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the rear wall on which the evaporator is disposed to increase the interior space without increasing the appearance.

Furthermore, by forming an inlet for inhaling cold air from the first cooling chamber and the second cooling chamber on at least one of both sides of the partition wall, indoor air having a relatively high humidity when the cooling chamber is opened is sucked into the intake port and formed. Can be suppressed and the amount of implantation of the evaporator can be reduced. As a result, the heat exchange efficiency of the evaporator can be increased and the cooling chamber can be cooled quickly. In addition, the operating time of the refrigeration cycle can be shortened. As a result, power consumption can be reduced overall.

In addition, since the amount of implantation of the evaporator is reduced, the defrosting operation period for removing the defrost of the evaporator may be extended.

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

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the refrigerator of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a line IV-IV of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of the first suction passage along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the partition wall of FIG. 4. It is a bottom view, FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the refrigerator of FIG. 1, and FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the refrigerator includes a partition wall 115 arranged horizontally, a first cooling chamber 120 and a second cooling chamber 130 partitioned vertically by the partition wall 115. ) Is provided with a refrigerator main body 110, an evaporator 201 disposed inside the partition wall 115, and a first inlet port 242a formed on at least one side of both sides of an upper surface of the partition wall 115. And a second suction passage 251 in which a suction port 252a is formed at at least one of both sides of the suction passage 241 and the bottom surface of the partition wall 115.

Here, the cooling chamber is a general term for a space for cooling and storing food such as the refrigerating chamber 120 and the freezing chamber 130. Hereinafter, the first cooling chamber 120 is implemented as a refrigerating chamber 120, and a second cooling chamber ( 130 will be described as an example of the case implemented by the freezer compartment (130).

The refrigerating chamber 120 may be formed in an upper region of the refrigerator main body 110. The front surface of the refrigerating chamber 120 may be provided with a refrigerating chamber door 125 to open and close the refrigerating chamber 120. The refrigerating chamber door 125 may be rotatably coupled to the refrigerator main body 110. The refrigerating chamber door 125 may be configured in plural. An ice making chamber 140 may be formed in the refrigerating chamber door 125. The ice making chamber 140 may be provided with an ice making device (not shown) for making ice and an ice bank (not shown) for storing ice made by the ice making device.

The refrigerator main body 110 may be provided with a side wall cold air duct 128 to provide cold air to the ice making chamber 140. The side wall cold air duct 128 supplies a pair of cold air from the freezing chamber 130 to the ice making chamber 140, and allows the cold air passing through the ice making chamber 140 to return to the freezing chamber 130. Can be formed.

The freezer compartment 130 may be formed in the lower region of the refrigerator body 110. The freezing chamber 130 may be provided with a freezing chamber door 135 to open and close the front opening of the freezing chamber 130. The freezer compartment door 135 may be configured to slide along the front and rear directions.

The refrigerator main body 110 may include a refrigerating cycle 170 to cool the refrigerating compartment 120 and the freezing compartment 130. As shown in FIG. 8, the refrigeration cycle 170 includes a compressor 171 for compressing the refrigerant, a condenser 175 for dissipating the refrigerant by heat dissipation, an expansion device 186 for expanding the refrigerant under reduced pressure, The refrigerant may be composed of a vapor compression refrigeration cycle having an evaporator 201 to absorb and evaporate latent heat of the surroundings.

The machine room 150 may be formed in the rear lower region of the refrigerator main body 110. The compressor 171, the condenser 175, and the expansion device 186 may be provided in the machine room 150.

A partition wall 115 may be provided inside the refrigerator main body 110 to partition the refrigerating chamber 120 and the freezing chamber 130.

Inside the partition 115, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, an evaporator 201 may be accommodated. An evaporator accommodating part 117 may be formed in the partition wall 115. The evaporator accommodating part 117 may be formed to be inclined downward toward the rear. The evaporator accommodating part 117 may have a bottom inclined downward toward the rear. The evaporator 201 may include a heat transfer tube 203 through which a refrigerant flows, and a plurality of heat transfer fins 205 (or heat transfer plates) coupled to the heat transfer tube 203.

The first cooling fan 210 may be provided at one rear side of the evaporator 201. The rear wall of the refrigerating chamber 120 may be provided with a refrigeration cooling air duct 215 to discharge the cold air blown by the first cooling fan 210 to the refrigerating chamber 120. The refrigeration cold air duct 215 may be provided with a plurality of cold air outlets spaced apart in the vertical direction.

A second cooling fan 220 may be provided below the first cooling fan 210. In the freezing chamber 130, a freezing cold air duct 225 may be provided to discharge the cold air blown by the second cooling fan 220 to the freezing chamber 130. The freezing cold air duct 225 may be provided with a cold air outlet so that cold air can be discharged.

The partition wall 115 may be provided with an ice making fan 230 to provide the cold air of the freezing chamber 130 to the ice making chamber 140 through the side wall cold air duct 128. Coupling portions 119 may be formed at one side of the partition wall 115 so that each lower end of the sidewall cold air duct 128 may be coupled thereto. Any one of the coupling parts 119 may be connected to the discharge side of the ice making fan 230. As a result, cold air blown by the ice making fan 230 may be provided to the ice making chamber 140 along the sidewall cold air duct 128. The other one of the coupling parts 119 may be in communication with the freezing compartment 130. As a result, the air cooled by the ice making chamber 140 may be returned to the freezing chamber 130 via the ice making chamber 140.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a first suction passage 241 may be formed at at least one side of both side regions of the partition wall 115 so as to suck air from the refrigerating chamber 120. The first suction passage 241 may be formed in plural. This embodiment illustrates a case in which the first suction passage 241 is formed at both sides of the partition wall 115.

 Each of the first suction passages 241 may include suction ports 242a formed on both sides of an upper surface of the partition wall 115. Each of the suction ports 242a of the first suction passages 241 may have a narrow width and a long length along the front and rear directions. Thereby, it can suppress that a foreign material flows into the suction port 242a. Here, the suction port of the first suction passage 241 may be formed of a plurality of fine holes.

The suction port 242a of the first suction passage 241 may be formed such that the distal end is spaced backwards from the distal end of the partition 115 by a predetermined distance. As a result, when the refrigerating chamber 120 is opened, the air introduced from the outside into the suction port 242a of the first suction passage 241 can be directly suppressed.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the first suction passage 241 may have a bottom surface having a height difference. More specifically, the first suction passage 241 may be formed such that the rear surface has a lower surface 243 than the front region. As a result, foreign matter introduced through the suction port 242a of the first suction passage 241 may be prevented from moving toward the evaporator 201 together with the air sucked in.

A second suction passage 251 may be formed in at least one side of both side regions of the partition wall 115 so as to suck air from the freezing compartment 130. The second suction passage 251 may be formed in plural, as shown in FIG. 7. This embodiment illustrates the case where the second suction passage 251 is formed on both sides of the partition wall 115. The second suction passage 251 may include suction ports 252a formed at both sides of the partition wall 115, respectively.

The suction port 252a of the second suction passage 251 may be formed to have a narrow width and a long length in the front and rear directions. As a result, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from flowing into the suction port 252a of the second suction passage 251. Here, the suction port 252a of the second suction channel 251 may be formed of a plurality of minute holes.

A tip portion of the suction port 252a of the second suction passage 251 may be formed to be spaced backwards by a predetermined distance from the tip portion of the partition wall 115. As a result, when the freezing chamber 130 is opened, external air may be directly prevented from being sucked through the suction port 252a of the second suction channel 251.

The second suction passage 251 may be configured to be disposed outside the first suction passage 241. As a result, the amount of air implanted from the outside by the opening of the refrigerating chamber 120 having a relatively high frequency of inhalation is sucked through the suction port 242a of the first suction channel 241 to reduce the amount of implantation. Here, the positions of the second suction passage 251 and the first suction passage 241 may be appropriately adjusted in consideration of the number of openings of the refrigerating chamber door 125 and / or the freezing chamber door 135. That is, the second suction passage 251 may be formed inside the first suction passage 241.

On the other hand, the refrigeration cycle 170, as shown in Figure 8, may be configured with a compressor 171, a condenser 175, expansion device 186 and the evaporator 201. One side of the condenser 175 may be provided with a blowing fan 177 to promote the flow of air. As a result, the flow of air passing through the condenser 175 may be promoted to promote heat dissipation of the condenser 175.

A first cooling fan 210, a second cooling fan 220, and an ice making fan 230 may be provided around the evaporator 201, respectively.

Branch flow paths may be formed at the refrigerant inlet side of the evaporator 201 to allow the refrigerant to flow in different paths. The branch flow path may include a first branch flow path 182 and a second branch flow path 192.

Each of the branch passages may be provided with a first open / close valve 185 and a second open / close valve 195 to open / close the corresponding branch flow paths 182 and 192, respectively. Each of the opening and closing valves 185 and 195 may be configured to be opened and closed (operated) by electric force. Here, instead of the first opening / closing valve 185 and the second opening / closing valve 195, a flow path switching valve (not shown) may be disposed before the branch of the first branch passage 182 and the second branch passage 192 to store the refrigerant. The flow path may be switched and the amount of refrigerant may be adjusted.

Each branch channel 182 and 192 may be provided with an expansion device 186 and a first capillary tube 187 and a second capillary tube 197, respectively. Each of the capillaries 187 and 197 may be configured to have different diameters and / or lengths. Each capillary tube 187 and 197 has a larger inner diameter, and a passage flow rate increases, and a longer length of the capillary tubes 187 and 197 may lower the refrigerant temperature. Thereby, the cooling capacity of the evaporator 201 can be adjusted appropriately. Hereinafter, an example in which the second capillary tube 197 has at least one of a diameter and a length larger than that of the first capillary tube 187 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 9, the refrigerator may include a controller 250 having a control program. The control unit 250 may be connected to the refrigerator compartment temperature sensor 251 and the freezer compartment temperature sensor 253 to detect the temperature of the refrigerating compartment 120 and the freezing compartment 130.

In addition, the first cooling fan 210 and the second cooling fan 220 may be controlably connected to the control unit 250 to supply cold air based on the temperature sensing results of the refrigerating chamber 120 and the freezing chamber 130. Can be.

The ice making fan 230 may be controlably connected to the controller 250 to supply cold air to the ice making chamber 140 when the ice making mode is selected.

In addition, the controller 250 may adjust the refrigerant conditions (refrigerant flow rate and / or refrigerant temperature) flowing into the evaporator 201 according to the operating conditions of the refrigerating chamber 120 and / or the freezing chamber 130. The first open / close valve 185 and the second open / close valve 195 may be controllably connected.

By this configuration, the controller 250 may adjust the refrigerant condition flowing into the evaporator 201 based on the result of the temperature sensing of the refrigerator compartment temperature sensor 251 and the freezer compartment temperature sensor 253.

More specifically, when the cold room temperature sensor 251 and the freezer compartment temperature sensor 253 detects that the cold air is to be supplied only to the refrigerating chamber 120, the control unit 250 is the first branch flow path (182) The first open / close valve 185 may be controlled to open. As a result, the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 171 and condensed by the condenser 175 pass through the first capillary tube 187 via the first opening / closing valve 185. The refrigerant expanded under reduced pressure in the first capillary tube 187 is evaporated by absorbing ambient latent heat in the evaporator 201.

In this case, the controller 250 may control the first cooling fan 210 to be rotated so that cold air may be supplied to the refrigerating chamber 120. When the first cooling fan 210 starts to rotate, the air upstream of the first cooling fan 210 is moved to the downstream side of the first cooling fan 210. The air moved by the first cooling fan 210 is moved along the refrigerating cold air duct 215, and the cold air moved along the refrigerating cold air duct 215 is stored in the refrigerating compartment through the respective cold air outlet 217. 120).

At the same time, the air of the refrigerating chamber 120 is sucked through the suction port 242a of the first suction channel 241. Inhaled air is introduced into the front region of the evaporator 201 along the first suction passage 241. The introduced air is exchanged and cooled while passing through the evaporator 201, and the cooled cold air is transferred to the refrigerating and cooling air duct 215 via the first cooling fan 210 and discharged to the refrigerating chamber 120. Repeatingly, the refrigerating compartment 120 may be cooled.

 On the other hand, as a result of temperature sensing of the refrigerating compartment temperature sensor 251 and the freezing compartment temperature sensor 253, when supplying cold air only to the freezing compartment 130, the control unit 250 is a refrigerant is the second branch flow path (192) The first opening and closing valve 185 and the second opening and closing valve 195 is controlled to flow along. That is, the first opening and closing valve 185 is controlled to block the first branch passage 182, and the second opening and closing valve 195 is controlled to open the second branch passage 192.

Accordingly, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 171 moves along the second branch passage 192 through the condenser 175. The refrigerant passing through the second capillary tube 197 passes through the evaporator 201, absorbs latent heat from the surroundings, evaporates, and is again sucked into the compressor 171.

In this case, the controller 250 may control the second cooling fan 220 to drive the second cooling fan 220 so that cold air may be supplied to the freezing compartment 130. When the second cooling fan 220 starts to rotate, the air upstream of the second cooling fan 220 is moved to the downstream side of the second cooling fan 220.

The air moved downstream by the second cooling fan 220 is discharged to the freezing chamber 130 through the cold air discharge port 227 of the freezing cold air duct 225. At the same time, the air of the freezing chamber 130 is sucked through the suction port 252a of the second suction passage 251.

The air sucked into the second suction passage 251 is moved to the front region of the evaporator 201 and is heat exchanged and cooled while passing through the evaporator 201. The air cooled while passing through the evaporator 201, that is, cold air is discharged to the freezing chamber 130 through the cold air outlet 227 of the freezing cold air duct 225 through the second cooling fan 220. The freezing chamber 130 may be cooled while repeating.

When the controller 250 is to cool the refrigerating chamber 120 and the freezing chamber 130 or the ice making chamber 140 at the same time, the first branch passage 182 and the second branch passage 192 are both The first open / close valve 185 and the second open / close valve 195 may be controlled to be open. In this case, the controller 250 may drive both the first cooling fan 210, the second cooling fan 220, and / or the ice making fan 230.

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 features thereof, so the embodiments described above should not be limited by the details of the detailed description.

Further, even when the embodiments not listed in the detailed description have been described, it should be interpreted broadly within the scope of the technical idea defined in the appended claims. It is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention,

2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerator of FIG. 1;

3 is an enlarged view illustrating main parts of FIG. 2;

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

5 is a plan sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of the first suction passage along line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

7 is a bottom view of the partition of FIG. 4,

8 is a configuration of a refrigeration cycle of the refrigerator of Figure 1,

9 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator of FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

110: refrigerator body 115: bulkhead

117: evaporator accommodating part 120: first cooling chamber, refrigerating chamber

125: refrigerating chamber door 130: second cooling chamber, freezing chamber

135: freezer door 140: ice making room

150: machine room 170: refrigeration cycle

171: compressor 175: condenser

182: first branch flow path 185: first opening and closing valve

187: first capillary 192: second quarter euro

195: 2nd opening and closing valve 197: 2nd capillary

210: first cooling fan 220: second cooling fan

230: ice making fan 241: first suction flow path

242a: first suction passage inlet 251: second suction passage

252a: second suction passage inlet 250: control unit

251: fridge temperature sensor 253: freezer temperature sensor

Claims (9)

A refrigerator body including a horizontally arranged partition wall and a first cooling chamber and a second cooling chamber partitioned vertically by the partition wall; An evaporator disposed inside the partition wall; A first suction passage having at least one suction port formed on both sides of an upper surface of the partition wall; And And a second suction passage having at least one side of a bottom surface of the partition wall, the suction port being formed on the side surface of the barrier rib. The method of claim 1, The suction port of the first suction passage is formed to have a long length along the front and rear direction of the partition wall. The method of claim 1, The first suction passage is a refrigerator, characterized in that the bottom surface has a height difference. The method of claim 1, And the first suction passage and the second suction passage are formed at both sides of the partition wall, respectively. The method of claim 1, And the second suction passage is formed outside the first suction passage. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The first suction passage and the second suction passage is characterized in that the refrigerator is formed to guide the air to the front region of the evaporator. The method of claim 6, And a first cooling fan disposed at one side of the evaporator to blow air into the first cooling chamber, and a second cooling fan to blow air into the second cooling chamber. The method of claim 6, The first cooling chamber is a refrigerating chamber, the refrigerator further comprising an ice making chamber provided in the door for opening and closing the refrigerating chamber, and an ice making fan for blowing air to the ice making chamber. The method of claim 8, The ice making fan, characterized in that arranged in the partition wall.

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