US20120125038A1

US20120125038A1 - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: US20120125038A1
Application number: US13/386,128
Authority: US
Inventors: Min Kyu OH; Kyeong Yun Kim; Jang Seok Lee; Youn Seok Lee; Su Nam Chae
Original assignee: LG Electronics Inc
Current assignee: LG Electronics Inc
Priority date: 2009-07-30
Filing date: 2010-07-23
Publication date: 2012-05-24
Also published as: KR101660718B1; KR20110012375A; WO2011013948A3; WO2011013948A2

Abstract

Disclosed is a refrigerator which maximally obtains an internal volume and efficiently performs heat radiation of the inner area of a machinery chamber (100) provided in the upper portion of a main body of the refrigerator.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator which efficiently performs heat radiation of a machinery chamber, while obtaining an internal volume.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a refrigerator is an apparatus which keeps food stored in storage chambers in a frozen or refrigerated state using a four-stage cycle of compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation of a refrigerant. The refrigerator basically includes a main body provided with storage chambers, doors provided on the main body to open and close the storage chambers, a cooling unit provided with an evaporator to generate cool air, and a machinery chamber provided with devices, such as a compressor and a condenser.
In the conventional refrigerator, the cooling unit is provided at the rear region of the storage chamber, i.e., a refrigerating chamber or a freezing chamber, and the refrigerating chamber or the freezing chamber and the cooling unit are divided from each other by a designated diaphragm.
Further, the machinery chamber is generally disposed in the rear region of the lower portion of the storage chamber.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

In the above conventional refrigerator, the storage chamber and the cooling unit are disposed in the forward and backward direction, and thus the thickness of the main body is inevitably increased. Further, since the machinery chamber is installed on the rear region of the lower portion of the main body, the lower space of the storage chamber is reduced in proportion to the space of the machinery chamber.
Moreover, various efforts to stably radiate heat of a high temperature generated from the condenser and the compressor provided in the machinery chamber have been made, and technical development to implement the efforts has been made now.

Solution to Problem

Accordingly, the present disclosure is directed to a refrigerator.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator which changes a position of a machinery chamber so as to maximally obtain the spaces of storage chambers and to perform efficient heat radiation of the machinery chamber, simultaneously.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator which effectively disposes components in an inner area of a machinery chamber, and provides various heat radiation channels.
A further object of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator which improves workability of a worker in a machinery chamber and ease in after-sales service.
To achieve this object and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the disclosure, as embodied and broadly described herein, a refrigerator includes a main body including a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber, a machinery chamber provided in the upper portion of the main body, a condenser disposed in a diagonal direction within the machinery chamber, a cooling fan disposed adjacent to the condenser, and a compressor disposed so as to be separated from the cooling fan.
The condenser, the cooling fan, and the compressor may be disposed collinearly.
A cover member provided with communication holes formed through the front surface thereof may be installed on the machinery chamber.
An inner area of the machinery chamber may be divided into an air flow region in which outdoor air flows through the communication holes, and an air non-flow region in which the outdoor air does not flow.
The condenser, the cooling fan, and the compressor may be disposed in the air flow region.
A machinery chamber controller may be disposed in the air non-flow region.
The inner area of the machinery chamber may be divided into the air flow region and the air non-flow region by air guides.
The air guides may include a first air guide to divide the air flow region and the air non-flow region from each other, and a second air guide to divide the air flow region.
The second air guide may serve to separate the outdoor air introduced through the cover member and air heat-exchanged with the compressor.
The air guides may further include a third air guide separately located at the outside of the compressor.
The third air guide may be rounded toward the compressor so as to convert a flow of the heat-exchanged air with the compressor into a direction toward the cover member.
The air flow region of the machinery chamber may include a first chamber to which the outdoor air is introduced, and a second chamber into which air heat-exchanged with the compressor flows through the cooling fan.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, a refrigerator includes a main body including a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber, a machinery chamber provided in the upper portion of the main body, a cover member installed in front of the machinery chamber, and provided with communication holes, a condenser disposed opposite to the communication holes, a cooling fan disposed adjacent to the condenser, a compressor disposed so as to be separated from the cooling fan, and air guides to guide a flow of outdoor air introduced into the machinery chamber through the communication holes.
The air guides may include a fourth air guide provided with one end connected to the front surface of the condenser and the other end extended toward the cover member, a fifth air guide disposed within the machinery chamber so as to convert a flow of air discharged through the cooling fan into a direction toward the compressor, and a sixth air guide to convert the direction of heat-exchanged air with the compressor so as to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside through the cover member.
The main body may further include cooling units disposed in the upper portion of the main body adjacent to the machinery chamber to supply cool air to the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber, and a machinery chamber controller may be disposed on the front surface of one of the cooling units.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present disclosure are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the disclosure as claimed.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

Further, the refrigerator in accordance with the present disclosure prevents mixing of fresh outdoor air introduced into the machinery chamber and heat-exchanged air, but allows the outdoor air and the heat-exchanged air to respectively flow within separate regions.
Moreover, the refrigerator in accordance with the present disclosure improves workability of a worker and accessibility of the worker to a machinery chamber controller when the machinery chamber controller malfunctions.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosures. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure covers the modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a refrigerator in accordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a machinery chamber and a cooling unit provided in the refrigerator in accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan views illustrating a refrigerator in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 5 to 7 are views illustrating operating states of the refrigerators in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 shows graphs comparing air volumes of cooling fans of the refrigerators in accordance with the respective embodiments of the present disclosure.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator in accordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure includes a main body 1 provided with a freezing chamber 10 and a refrigerating chamber 20, a machinery chamber 100 provided in the upper portion of the main body 1, and cooling units 1000 and 1000′ disposed at both sides of the machinery chamber 100 adjacent to the machinery chamber 100.
Within the machinery chamber 100, a condenser 200 is disposed in a diagonal direction, a cooling fan 300 is disposed adjacent to the condenser 200, and a compressor 400 separated from the cooling fan 300 is disposed.
The condenser, the cooling fan 300, and the compressor 400 are disposed collinearly in the diagonal direction, and the condenser 200 and the cooling fan 300 are disposed within the machinery chamber 100 under the condition that the condenser 200 and the cooling fan 300 are connected to form one set.
A cover member 500 provided with communication holes 510 formed through the front surface thereof is installed in front of the machinery chamber 100. The communication holes 510 include a first communication hole 512 through which outdoor air is introduced into the machinery chamber 100, and a second communication hole 514 through which the air is discharged from the machinery chamber 100 to the outside of the cover member 500.
An inner area A of the machinery chamber 100 is divided into an air flow region a1 where outdoor air flows and an air non-flow region a2 where the outdoor air does not flow.
The condenser 200, the cooling fan 300, and the compressor 400 are disposed in the air flow region a1, and a machinery chamber controller 600 to control the cooling fan 300 and the compressor 400 is disposed in the air non-flow region a2.
The air non-flow region a2 is a region into which the outdoor air is not introduced, and a PCB substrate and an electronic element sensitive to temperature changes are disposed in the air non-flow region a2.
The reason for the division of the inner area A of the machinery chamber 100 into the air flow region a1 and the air non-flow region a2 is to maximally use the limited inner area A of the machinery chamber 100, to efficiently radiate heat of a high temperature generated from the condenser 200 and the compressor 400, and to provide heat radiation channels having the shortest distance through disposition of the condenser 200, the cooling fan 300, and the compressor 400.
The inner area A of the machinery chamber 100 is divided into the air flow region a1 and the air non-flow region a2 by air guides 700.
The air guides 700 include a first air guide 710 to divide the air flow region a1 and the air non-flow region a2 from each other, and a second air guide 720 to divide the air flow region a1.
The first air guide 710 is installed so as to divide the air non-flow region a2 located at the upper portion of the left side, based on the plan surface of the machinery chamber 100, from the air flow region a1, and the second air guide 720 is installed so as to prevent mixing outdoor air introduced into the machinery chamber 100 through the cover member 500 and air of a high temperature, obtained through heat-exchange with the compressor 400.
Since the outdoor air has a relatively low temperature compared with the heat-exchanged air, prevention of mixing of the outdoor air introduced into the machinery chamber 100 to perform heat radiation of the inside of the machinery chamber 100 and the heat-exchanged air is more effective in heat radiation of the inside of the machinery chamber 100.
The first air guide 710 is a kind of separator provided to maximally prevent the machinery chamber controller 600 from being exposed to a high temperature environment in the machinery chamber 100, and the second air guide 720 is a kind of separator provided to separate the outdoor air prior to heat exchange with the condenser 200 and the heat-exchanged air of a high temperature state from each other without mixing.
The air guides 700 in accordance with the present disclosure further include a third air guide 730 disposed collinearly with the compressor 400.
The third air guide 730 guides a flow of air heat-exchanged with the compressor 400 so as to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the machinery chamber 100 through the second communication hole 514 provided on the cover member 500.
The air flow region a1 is divided into a first chamber a1′ and a second chamber a1″.
The first chamber a1′ into which fresh outdoor air is introduced, means a region from the first communication hole 512 to the front surface of the condenser 200.
The second chamber a1″ to which the air heat-exchanged with the condenser 200, the cooling fan 300, and the compressor 400 flows, is a separated region divided from the first chamber a1′.
With reference to FIG. 3, a refrigerator in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure includes a main body 1 provided with a freezing chamber 10 and a refrigerating chamber 20, a machinery chamber 100 provided in the upper portion of the main body 1, a cover member 500 installed in front of the machinery chamber 100 and provided with communication holes 510, a condenser 200 disposed opposite to the communication holes 510, a cooling fan 300 disposed adjacent to the condenser 200, a compressor 400 separated from the cooling fan 300, and air guides 800 to guide a flow of outdoor air so as to allow the outdoor air introduced into the machinery chamber 100 through the communication holes 510 to be transferred to the condenser 200.
In the refrigerator in accordance with this embodiment, the condenser 200, the cooling fan 300, and the compressor 400 are disposed opposite to the cover member 500, such that outdoor air introduced into the machinery chamber 100 through the cover member 500 does not flow in the diagonal direction, but flows by the shortest distance to be introduced into the condenser 200.
The air guides 800 include a fourth air guide 810 provided with one end connected to the front surface of the condenser 200 and the other end extended toward the cover member 500.
The fourth air guide 810 divides the inside of the machinery chamber 100 so as to enable the outdoor air introduced into the machinery chamber 100 through the communication holes 510 to flow to the condenser 200 as soon as possible without heat loss.
A fifth air guide 820 to convert a flow of air discharged from the cooling fan 300 into a direction toward the compressor 400 is installed within the machinery chamber 100. In more detail, the fifth air guide 820 is disposed at a position opposite to the cooling fan 300, i.e., at the upper corner of the left side of the machinery chamber 100.
The fifth air guide 820 has an arc shape rounded toward the cooling fan 300.
A sixth air guide 830 converts a flow direction of air heat-exchanged with the compressor 300 so as to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside through the cover member 500.
The fifth air guide 820 and the sixth air guide 830 are disposed opposite to each other.
Because the heat-exchanged air flowing toward the compressor 400 through the fifth air guide 820 stably flows toward the cover member 500 via the compressor 400.
With reference to FIG. 4, the refrigerator in accordance with this embodiment further includes cooling units 1000 and 1000′ disposed in the upper portion of the main body 1 adjacent to the machinery chamber 100 to supply cool air to the refrigerating chamber 20 and the freezing chamber 10, and a machinery chamber controller 900 is disposed on the front surface of the cooling unit 1000.
That is, if the refrigerator is out of order, when a worker located in front of the refrigerator simply opens the cover member 500, the machinery chamber controller 900 located on the front surface of the cooling unit 1000 is exposed to the outside, thus being easily repaired as well as improving workability of the worker.
Hereinafter, operating states of the refrigerators in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The first embodiment of the present disclosure illustrates the refrigerator operated under the condition that the condenser, the cooling fan, and the compressor are installed in the diagonal direction within the machinery chamber.
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, the refrigerator in accordance with the present disclosure is operated under the condition that the machinery chamber 100 and the cooling units 1000 and 1000′ are disposed in the upper portion of the main body 1.
The cooling units 1000 and 1000′ are provided to independently cool the freezing chamber 10 and the refrigerating chamber 20, and each of the cooling units 1000 and 1000′ is provided with an evaporator (not shown) and a cool air fan (not shown) installed therein.
In the machinery chamber 100, in order to transfer a refrigerant to the cooling units 1000 and 1000′, the compressor 400 is operated, and the refrigerant in a high-temperature and high-pressure state compressed by the compressor 400 is transferred to the condenser 200.
As the condenser 200 performs phase change of the refrigerant in the high-temperature and high-pressure state, the inner area A of the machinery chamber 100 is changed into a relatively high-temperature state.
The machinery chamber controller 600 operates the cooling fan 300 to perform heat radiation of the condenser 200. As the cooling fan 300 is operated, fresh outdoor air is introduced into the first chamber a1′ through the first communication hole 512 provided on the cover member 500. The first chamber a1′ is a part of the air flow region a1 into which the outdoor air is introduced, and as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the outdoor air is introduced into the first chamber a1′ through the first communication hole 512 by suction force of the cooling fan 300.
The outdoor air passes through the condenser 200 and the cooling fan 300, and then flows to the second chamber a1″ where the compressor 400 is located.
The compressor 400 radiating heat of a high temperature is disposed in the second chamber a1″. While the outdoor air having flowed to the second chamber a1″ through the first chamber a1′ passes through the compressor 400, the outdoor air exchanges heat with the compressor 400, and is converted into the heat-exchanged air having a higher temperature than that of the outdoor air introduced into the first chamber a1′.
The heat-exchanged air flows toward the front cover 500 via the third air guide 730, and is discharged to the outside through the second communication hole 514.
While the heat-exchanged air is discharged to the outside through the second communication hole 514, the heat-exchanged air does not flow toward the first chamber a1′ or is not mixed with the outdoor unit introduced into the first chamber a1′, but is stably discharged to the outside of the cover member 500.
Here, since the machinery chamber controller 600 is installed in the air non-flow region a2, the machinery chamber controller 600 is not influenced by the outdoor air or the heat-exchanged air flowing within the air flow region a1, thereby preventing malfunction of the machinery chamber controller 600 due to temperature changes and burn-out of the electronic element.
The second embodiment of the present disclosure illustrates the refrigerator operated under the condition that the condenser and the cooling fan are installed on a straight line within the machinery chamber.
With reference to FIG. 6, the condenser 200 and the cooling fan 300 are disposed opposite to the cover member 500, and the first communication hole 512 of the cover member 500 and the condenser 200 are disposed opposite to each other. The machinery chamber controller 600′ is installed separately from the machinery chamber 100.
When the refrigerator is operated, the compressor 400 transfers a refrigerant in a high-temperature and high-pressure state to the condenser 200, and the condenser 200 discharges heat of a high temperature to the inside of the machinery chamber 100.
Simultaneously, the machinery chamber controller 600′ operates the cooling fan 300, and thus transfers outdoor air introduced through the first communication hole 510 to the condenser 200 so as to perform heat radiation of the condenser 200, and then discharges the air toward the compressor 400 provided in the machinery chamber 100.
The fourth air guide 810 installed in the machinery chamber 100 divides the inner area of the machinery chamber 100 so as to perform heat-exchange of all amount of the outdoor air introduced through the first communication hole 512 with the condenser 200, and prevents mixing of the outdoor air in a relatively low-temperature state and the heat-exchanged air changed into a relatively high-temperature state via the compressor 400.
As shown in FIG. 6, while the outdoor air having passed through the cooling fan 300 is discharged to the inside of the machinery chamber 100, the direction of the outdoor air is converted into a direction toward the compressor 400 by the fifth air guide 820.
The outdoor air radiates heat of the compressor 400, and is discharged to the outside of the machinery chamber 100 through the sixth air guide 830 and the second communication hole 514 of the front cover 500.
Hereinafter, a disposition state of a machinery chamber controller in accordance with the present disclosure will be described.
With reference to FIG. 7, the machinery chamber controller 900 in accordance with the present disclosure is disposed in the horizontal direction on the front surface of the cooling unit 1000 so as to improve workability of a worker and perform self heat radiation.
In this case, if repair of the refrigerator is required, a worker easily approaches the machinery chamber controller 900 under the condition that the front cover 500 is opened, thereby being capable of rapidly and easily repairing the refrigerator.
Now, air volumes of the cooling fans of the refrigerators in accordance with the respective embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 8.
In FIG. 8, the X-axis represents voltage applied to the cooling fans, the Y-axis represents air volumes of the cooling fans, a graph expressed by a solid line represents air volumes of the cooling fan in accordance with the first embodiment (in which the condenser, the cooling fan, and the compressor are installed collinearly in a diagonal direction within the machinery chamber), and a graph expressed by a dotted line represents air volumes of the cooling fan in accordance with the second embodiment.
With reference to FIG. 8, when the same voltage is applied to the cooling fans in accordance with the respective embodiments, there is no great difference between the air volume of the cooling fan 300 in accordance with the second embodiment in which the cooling fan 300 and the condenser 200 are installed on a straight line and the air volume of the cooling fan in accordance with the first embodiment in which the cooling fan 300 and the condenser 200 are installed collinearly in the diagonal direction.
Therefore, although the condenser 200 and the cooling fan 300 are disposed in the diagonal direction or on the straight line, heat radiation may be effectively performed while obtaining a stable air volume of the cooling fan 300.
As is apparent from the above description, a refrigerator in accordance with the present disclosure changes a lay-out of components disposed within a machinery chamber so as to be favorable to heat radiation, thereby efficiently achieving heat radiation.

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising:

a main body including a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber;

a machinery chamber provided in the upper portion of the main body;

a condenser disposed in a diagonal direction within the machinery chamber;

a cooling fan disposed adjacent to the condenser; and

a compressor disposed so as to be separated from the cooling fan.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the condenser, the cooling fan, and the compressor are disposed collinearly.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a cover member provided with communication holes formed through the front surface thereof is installed on the machinery chamber.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein an inner area of the machinery chamber is divided into an air flow region in which outdoor air flows through the communication holes, and an air non-flow region in which the outdoor air does not flow.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the condenser, the cooling fan, and the compressor are disposed in the air flow region.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein a machinery chamber controller is disposed in the air non-flow region.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the inner area of the machinery chamber is divided into the air flow region and the air non-flow region by air guides.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the air guides include:

a first air guide to divide the air flow region and the air non-flow region from each other; and

a second air guide to divide the air flow region.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein the second air guide serves to separate the outdoor air introduced through the cover member and air heat-exchanged with the compressor.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the air guides further include a third air guide separately located at the outside of the compressor.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 10, wherein the third air guide is rounded toward the compressor so as to convert a flow of the heat-exchanged air with the compressor into a direction toward the cover member.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the air flow region of the machinery chamber includes a first chamber to which the outdoor air is introduced, and a second chamber into which air heat-exchanged with the compressor flows through the cooling fan.

13. A refrigerator comprising:

a main body including a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber;

a machinery chamber provided in the upper portion of the main body;

a cover member installed in front of the machinery chamber, and provided with communication holes;

a condenser disposed opposite to the communication holes;

a cooling fan disposed adjacent to the condenser;

a compressor disposed so as to be separated from the cooling fan; and

air guides to guide a flow of outdoor air introduced into the machinery chamber through the communication holes.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 13, wherein the air guides include:

a fourth air guide provided with one end connected to the front surface of the condenser and the other end extended toward the cover member;

a fifth air guide disposed within the machinery chamber so as to convert a flow of air discharged through the cooling fan into a direction toward the compressor; and

a sixth air guide to convert the direction of heat-exchanged air with the compressor so as to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside through the cover member.

15. The refrigerator according to claim 13, wherein:

the main body further includes cooling units disposed in the upper portion of the main body adjacent to the machinery chamber to supply cool air to the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber; and

a machinery chamber controller is disposed on the front surface of one of the cooling units.