KR20120046621A

KR20120046621A - Refrigerator with vacuum insulation panel

Info

Publication number: KR20120046621A
Application number: KR1020100108373A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 김영배; 소재현; 윤일섭
Original assignee: 엘지전자 주식회사
Priority date: 2010-11-02
Filing date: 2010-11-02
Publication date: 2012-05-10
Also published as: KR101714570B1

Abstract

PURPOSE: A refrigerator having a vacuum insulator is provided to improve the air intake and dehumidification performance of a getter and to extend the service life of the vacuum insulator. CONSTITUTION: A refrigerator comprises a case(150) and a vacuum insulator(110). The case includes an outer case(151a) and an inner case(151b). The vacuum insulator is fixed to the interior surface of the outer case. The vacuum insulator comprises an exterior material, at least one side of which is attached to the interior surface of the outer case, a core which is sealed in the exterior material, and a getter(116) which is arranged to be deviated from the center line of the core toward the outer case.

Description

REFRIGERATOR WITH VACUUM INSULATION PANEL}

The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a vacuum insulator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator in which a vacuum insulator for improving a heat insulation performance of a refrigerator is installed.

A vacuum heat insulating material is a kind of heat insulating material which utilizes the low thermal conductivity characteristic of a vacuum by decompressing an internal space to make a vacuum. Such a vacuum insulation material is usually used in the form of a panel (PANEL) having a predetermined thickness, which is called a vacuum insulation panel (Vacuum Insulation Pannel).

Such a vacuum insulation panel has an envelope (material) forming a predetermined space therein, and a core material or core (core) accommodated in the envelope to support the outer shell to maintain a predetermined shape. Can be configured. In addition, a getter (manufacturer) is provided in the shell to absorb the leaking gas generated from the penetrating gas or the core material flowing into the shell.

The outer shell (film) is for maintaining the internal vacuum degree of the vacuum insulator at a constant level, and may be composed of a multilayered polymer and a film laminated with aluminum.

The core is a glass fiber (glass fiber), glass wool (glass wool) or silica core, such as a glass fiber (glass fiber) is used to have a predetermined degree of hardness and desired size through a pretreatment process.

The getter is a type of intake and absorbent for absorbing gas and / or moisture remaining or newly introduced into the shell. Specifically, the getter is a mixture of materials such as quicklime or zeolite.

1 schematically shows a cross section of the wall 10 of the refrigerator to which such a vacuum insulator is applied. As shown, the vacuum insulating material 20 has a form surrounding the core 22 by the outer shell 24, the getter 26 is installed in the getter installation portion is provided concave on one surface of the core. And one side of the getter is in contact with the outer shell.

On the other hand, the vacuum insulating material is disposed between the outer case 12 and the inner case 14 forming the wall of the refrigerator. At this time, the outer case is generally made of a metal panel and the inner case is made of a synthetic resin material, the vacuum insulation is attached and fixed to the outer case. Here, as described above, the getter material is eccentrically positioned to one side with respect to the center of the core. Referring to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the getter is installed to be spaced apart from the outer case.

The present invention has been made to further improve the prior art as described above, the technical problem is to provide a refrigerator having a vacuum insulating material that can further improve the intake and dehumidification of the getter.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, a refrigerator body having an outer case and an inner case; And a vacuum insulator fixed to the inner surface of the outer case, wherein the vacuum insulator comprises at least one side of the outer shell material attached to the inner surface of the outer case; A core material enclosed in the shell material; And a getter material disposed eccentrically from the center line of the core material toward the outer case side.

In the above aspect of the present invention, the getter material is disposed to be adjacent to the outer case so that the getter material is adjacent to the outside of the refrigerator main body which is relatively hot compared to the inside of the refrigerator. The results of the present inventors confirmed that the moisture absorption performance of the getter material is affected by the temperature of the surrounding environment in which the getter material is located. The moisture absorption performance of such a getter material changes depending on the component of the getter material used, but it was confirmed that in any case, the moisture absorption performance improved at a temperature higher than room temperature.

Therefore, when the getter material is disposed on the core material and adjacent to the outer case, the getter material can obtain higher hygroscopic performance even with the same component as compared to the case where the getter material is disposed adjacent to the inner case.

In this case, the getter material may be inserted into the getter material installation part which is formed concave on the surface of the core material. Here, the getter material may be disposed to contact the inner surface of the shell material.

In addition, an outer surface of at least a portion of the shell material may be in contact with the outer case and the inner surface may be in contact with the getter material.

On the other hand, when the getter material is disposed to contact the inner surface of the shell material, the smoothness of the surface of the shell material is lower than that of the core material, so that the bonding strength with the outer case may be lowered or the vacuum insulation may be released during the foaming process. At least a portion of the shell material in contact with the getter material may be formed thicker than the remaining portion so as to minimize a decrease in smoothness.

In addition, a heat transfer material may be applied to the outer surface of the shell material. The heat transfer material is also referred to as a so-called thermal compound to fill the gap between the outer material and the outer case to minimize the degradation of heat transfer performance due to non-uniform contact surface.

According to the aspects of the present invention having the configuration as described above, it is possible to maintain the performance of the vacuum insulator for a longer time without significantly changing the conventional configuration it is possible to improve the reliability and durability of the product.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a cross section of a conventional refrigerator refrigerator wall.
2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the internal structure of an embodiment of a refrigerator having a vacuum insulator according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the vacuum insulator portion of FIG. 2.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described in detail for the embodiment according to the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the internal structure of an embodiment of a refrigerator having a vacuum insulating material according to the present invention, Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the vacuum insulating material portion of FIG. 2 and 3, the embodiment 100 includes a refrigerator main body 150 forming a cooling chamber 160 therein, a door 170 opening and closing the cooling chamber 160, and the refrigerator. It may be configured to include a vacuum insulating material 110 provided in the main body 150 or the door 170. Here, the cooling chamber 160 is a general term for a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment, and the refrigerator main body 150 may include any one of a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment.

The refrigerator main body 150 is spaced apart from each other at a filling interval of an outer case 151a forming an appearance and a heat insulating material (foaming material) 151c inside the outer case 151a, and the cooling chamber 160 is disposed therein. ) Is provided with an inner case 151b. The refrigerator main body 150 is provided with a refrigeration cycle for providing cold air to the cooling chamber 160, a machine room that can accommodate the devices constituting such a refrigeration cycle in the lower rear region of the refrigerator main body 150 ( 180) is formed. Some components of a refrigeration cycle including a compressor 181, a condenser, and the like are installed in the machine room 180, and an evaporator 183 is provided at one side of the cooling chamber 160. In addition, one side of the evaporator 183 is provided with a cooling fan 185. Here, the form in which the respective components are arranged is not necessarily illustrated, and may be variously changed according to the use and form of the refrigerator.

On the other hand, at least one side wall of the refrigerator body 150 is provided with the vacuum insulating material (110). Specifically, the vacuum insulator 110 is located between the outer case 151a and the inner case 151b, and is made of a metal material as shown in the figure to use an adhesive for an outer case 151a having a high smoothness. Is attached. This is to prevent the vacuum insulation 110 from being released from its position during the foaming operation during the manufacturing of the refrigerator main body 150. After the fixing operation is completed, between the outer case 151a and the inner case 151b. Foaming liquid (polyurethane etc.) is injected into it.

The foamed liquid injected into the outer case 151a and the inner case 151b expands while flowing through the inner space between the outer case 151a and the inner case 151b to form a heat insulating layer.

On the other hand, similar to the refrigerator body 150, the door 170 also has a gap between the door outer plate (171a) and the insulating material (foaming material) (171c) inside the door outer plate (171a) to form an appearance. It is configured to include a spaced inner door plate 171b, the vacuum insulating material 110 may be provided between them. In this case, the vacuum insulating material 110 is attached to the door outer plate and is fixed.

Referring to FIG. 3, the vacuum insulator 110 is shown enlarged. The vacuum insulator 110 includes a shell 114 having a gas barrier property to form a predetermined decompression space therein, and a core 112 disposed inside the shell to support the shell; And a getter 116 provided inside the shell. Here, the decompression space means a space in which the pressure inside the pressure is lower than the atmospheric pressure, and the closer the vacuum is, the higher the insulation performance.

The envelope 114 is configured to have a gas resistance or a gas barrier resistance to form a predetermined pressure-reducing space therein. In addition, a junction portion 114a formed after receiving the core 112 may be formed at one side of the shell. In other words, the outer shell is provided in an open form, such as an envelope, during the manufacturing process, and the sealed core is sealed after pushing the completed core through the open side. This sealed side corresponds to the junction 114a.

On the other hand, the shell has a plurality of film layers stacked on each other. Specifically, the film layer is laminated on the heat shield layer which is the lowest layer in contact with the core, and the aluminum foil, the protective layer and the aluminum foil film in order on top of the heat shield layer.

The inside of the shell 114 is provided with a getter 116 to absorb the gas component remaining in the inside of the shell or the gas component introduced into the interior from the outside of the shell. In general, a getter including various components is used to absorb various kinds of gases such as a penetrating gas penetrating from the outside and a leaking gas generated from an internal core or the like. Moisture is a major factor affecting adiabatic performance because it is absent or very small. Thus, the getter is sufficient to contain CaO or zeolite to absorb mainly moisture. Here, the getter 116 has a predetermined block or cuboid shape as shown, but in some cases, the getter 116 may be provided by a method of coating the inner surface of the shell or the surface of the core.

Here, the getter 116 is disposed at a position eccentrically to one side with respect to the center line of the vacuum insulator 110, specifically, is arranged to contact the inner surface of the outer shell, the other side of the outer shell in contact with the getter Is in contact with the outer case 151a of the main body 150.

On the other hand, the inside of the shell 114 is provided with a core 112 for supporting the shell so that the shell 114 can form and maintain a predetermined decompression space. The core 112 is manufactured by using glass fiber to increase the thermal insulation performance, it is necessary to have a predetermined strength in order to facilitate the manufacturing and handling process. To this end, the core is to use the form of the fiber fibers.

Here, the getter 116 has a difference in hygroscopicity of the components included according to the internal temperature. In particular, when the zeolite or CaO, etc. as a main component as described above, the hygroscopicity is improved as the temperature is higher than or equal to room temperature, but due to the characteristics of the refrigerator, the space in the refrigerator is maintained at a temperature of 5 to 10 ° C. or less so as not to maximize the getter components. There is no problem.

Therefore, in the above embodiment, the getter 116 may be brought into contact with a relatively high temperature outer case so that the getter 116 may be placed in an environment for improving hygroscopicity. That is, the outer case 151a is made of a metal material having high thermal conductivity, and is in contact with an external environment maintained at a relatively high temperature, so that the outer case 151a is maintained at a high temperature rather than in a refrigerator. Therefore, since the getter is disposed between the high temperature outer case and the outer shell, the getter can be operated in a more favorable environment than in the prior art.

However, in the case of the getter, unlike the core described above, the surface smoothness may not be good, and thus a gap may occur between the getter and the outer case. If such a gap occurs, the foam liquid may penetrate in the manufacturing process, and since the foam liquid expands during the foaming process, there is a possibility that the vacuum insulation is separated from the outer case. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the heat transfer material 118 is applied to the outer case or the shell of the vacuum insulation material before attaching the vacuum insulation material to the outer case. The applied heat transfer material 118 fills the gap between the outer shell and the outer case due to surface defects that may occur on the outside of the getter, thereby preventing a problem as described above.

In addition, instead of making the thickness of the outer shell constant, an example of increasing the rigidity by increasing the thickness of the portion where the getter is located may be considered.

Claims

A refrigerator body having an outer case and an inner case; And
And a vacuum insulator fixed to an inner surface of the outer case.
The vacuum insulator includes an outer cover material having at least one side attached to an inner surface of the outer case;
A core material enclosed in the shell material; And
And a getter material disposed eccentrically from the center line of the core material to the outer case side.
The method of claim 1,
The getter material is a refrigerator, characterized in that inserted into the getter material installation portion is formed concave on the surface of the core material.
The method of claim 2,
The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein one side of the getter material is disposed in contact with an inner surface of the outer cover material.
The method of claim 3,
And an outer surface of at least a portion of the shell material is in contact with the outer case and an inner surface is in contact with the getter material.
The method of claim 4, wherein
The shell material is a refrigerator, characterized in that at least a portion in contact with the getter material is formed thicker than the rest.
The method of claim 4, wherein
Refrigerator, characterized in that the heat transfer material is applied to the outer surface of the shell material.