WO2000037869A1 - Refrigerator provided with cooled air bypass passages - Google Patents

Refrigerator provided with cooled air bypass passages Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2000037869A1
WO2000037869A1 PCT/KR1998/000444 KR9800444W WO0037869A1 WO 2000037869 A1 WO2000037869 A1 WO 2000037869A1 KR 9800444 W KR9800444 W KR 9800444W WO 0037869 A1 WO0037869 A1 WO 0037869A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
cooled air
evaporator
fan
refrigerator
refrigerating compartment
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/KR1998/000444
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Jung Owan Lee
Original Assignee
Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd. filed Critical Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd.
Priority to DE69826333T priority Critical patent/DE69826333T2/en
Priority to PCT/KR1998/000444 priority patent/WO2000037869A1/en
Priority to EP98959289A priority patent/EP1151231B1/en
Publication of WO2000037869A1 publication Critical patent/WO2000037869A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D17/00—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces
    • F25D17/04—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection
    • F25D17/06—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection by forced circulation
    • F25D17/062—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection by forced circulation in household refrigerators
    • F25D17/065—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection by forced circulation in household refrigerators with compartments at different temperatures
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D2317/00—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass
    • F25D2317/06—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation
    • F25D2317/065—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation characterised by the air return
    • F25D2317/0653—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation characterised by the air return through the mullion
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D2317/00—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass
    • F25D2317/06—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation
    • F25D2317/067—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation characterised by air ducts
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D2317/00—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass
    • F25D2317/06—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation
    • F25D2317/068—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation characterised by the fans
    • F25D2317/0682—Two or more fans
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D2400/00—General features of, or devices for refrigerators, cold rooms, ice-boxes, or for cooling or freezing apparatus not covered by any other subclass
    • F25D2400/04—Refrigerators with a horizontal mullion

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a refrigerator; and, more particularly, to a refrigerator with air bypass passages which allow cooled air to circulate therein, even when some portions of an evaporator are covered with frost.
  • a refrigerator is equipped with an evaporator for cooling air to be circulated therein.
  • frost is bound to be formed on the evaporator. If too much frost gets formed on the evaporator, the cooling performance thereof gets deteriorated and the circulation of the cooled air also gets hindered within the refrigerator by the frost blocking the air passages.
  • the refrigerator is conventionally provided with a defrosting mode. Whether to operate or not in the defrosting mode is determined by a power dissipated for driving a compressor and a variation of the temperature during the driving of the compressor .
  • a power dissipated for driving a compressor and a variation of the temperature during the driving of the compressor .
  • too much frost is usually formed on the evaporator before the refrigerator begins automatically to operate in the defrosting mode, first resulting in blocking of the cooled air passages, resulting in the performance of the refrigerator being deteriorated.
  • a refrigerator having a freezer compartment with a fan, a refrigerating compartment with a fan, and an evaporator
  • said refrigerator comprising; a first bypass passage for flowing cooled air from the refrigerating compartment directly to the fan of the refrigerating compartment, thereby allowing the cooled air to bypass the evaporator; and a second bypass passage for flowing the cooled air from the freezer compartment directly to the fan of the freezer compartment, thereby allowing the cooled air to bypass the evaporator.
  • Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic top view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 2 and 3 are sectional views of Fig. 1 along lines II-II and III-III, respectively.
  • Fig. 4 depicts a sectional plan view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 5 describes a rear view showing a first bypass passage according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 A refrigerator provided with a cooled air bypass passages according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed in Figs. 1 to 5.
  • the refrigerator 10 has a freezer compartment 18 on an upper portion thereof and a refrigerating compartment 34 on a lower portion thereof.
  • the refrigerator 10 further has a door 12 having a grip 14 and a separating wall 41 at back of the freezer compartment 18 to thereby form a freezing space.
  • the refrigerator 10 further has a rear wall 13 filled with urethane foams .
  • an evaporator 20 is mounted in the rear portion of the freezer compartment 18.
  • the evaporator 20 has a plurality of fins 22 thereon.
  • On top of the evaporator 20 is formed a retaining space 28 for retaining a fan 32 for the refrigerating compartment 34.
  • the fan 32 is mounted in the retaining space 28 and driven by a driving motor 30.
  • the fan 32 blows cooled air in the retaining space 28 into the refrigerating compartment 34 through a duct 46.
  • the cooled air sucked into the refrigerating compartment 34 is circulated therein.
  • the cooled air circulated in the refrigerating compartment 34 returns to the retaining space 28 after passing through an outlet 25, a first returning area 26 and a horizontal area of a second returning area 44, then ascends to the rear portion of the evaporator 20.
  • the cooled air passes through two passages, as it ascends to the rear portion of the evaporator 20.
  • One of the passages is an evaporator contacting passage 35 formed between a perpendicular panel 42 and the evaporator 20 to allow the cooled air to ascend to the fins 22 of the evaporator 20.
  • the other passage is a first bypass passage 36 formed by the perpendicular panel 42 and a rear wall 13 to allow the cooled air to be sucked directly into the retaining space 28.
  • the cooled air sucked into the retaining space 28 enters the duct 46 by the action of the fan 32 through an inlet 52 of a cooled air inducing pipe 50.
  • An inner wall 54 of the cooled air inducing pipe 50 formed on backside of the separating wall 41 serves to change the direction of the flow of the cooled air.
  • the presence of the first bypass passage 36 allows the cooled air to circulate even if the evaporator contacting passage 35 gets blocked with the frost formed therein.
  • a retaining space 29 for retaining the fan 33 for the freezer compartment 18 is formed on top of the evaporator 20.
  • the fan 33 is mounted in the retaining space 29 and driven by a driving motor 31.
  • the cooled air sucked into the freezer compartment 18 is circulated therein.
  • the cooled air circulated in the freezer compartment 18 returns to the retaining space 29 after passing through the outlet 23, a horizontal returning area 24 and a second bypass passage 40, then ascends to the front portion of the evaporator 20.
  • the second bypass passage 40 formed by the evaporator 20 and the separating wall 41 makes a large spare space to allow some of the cooled air to ascend therethrough to the retaining space 29 and contact the fins 22, with the rest bypassing the fins 22.
  • the presence of the second bypass passage 40 allows the cooled air to circulate even if a large amount of frost is formed between the evaporator 20 and the separating wall
  • the first bypass passage 36 for bypassing the cooled air to a fan 32 for the refrigerating compartment 34 has a first side wall being tilted when viewed from the rear of the refrigerator 10 and a nearly perpendicular second side wall forming a passage for connecting a second returning area 44, the retaining space 28 and the inlet 52 of the cooled air inducing pipe 50. Further, it is preferable that the length of the inlet portion of the first bypass passage 36 connected to the second returning area
  • the bypass passages allow the cooled air to circulate inside the refrigerator until the defrosting mode is initiated to remove the frost filling the cooled air circulation passage and around the evaporator.

Abstract

A refrigerator (10) has a freezer compartment (18), a refrigerating compartment (34), and an evaporator (20). The refrigerator further has a first bypass passage (36), a second bypass passage (40) and a cooled air inducing pipe (50). The first bypass passage (36) allows the cooled air from the refrigerating compartment (34) to flow directly to a fan (32) of the refrigerating compartment, thereby allowing the cooled air to bypass the evaporator (20). The second bypass passage (40) allows the cooled air from the freezer compartment (18) to flow directly to a fan (33) of the freezer compartment, thereby allowing the cooled air to bypass the evaporator (20). The cooled air inducing pipe (50) mounted in front of the fan (32) changes the direction of the cooled air and force the cooled air to the refrigerating compartment (34).

Description

REFRIGERATOR PROVIDED WITH COOLED AIR BYPASS PASSAGES
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a refrigerator; and, more particularly, to a refrigerator with air bypass passages which allow cooled air to circulate therein, even when some portions of an evaporator are covered with frost.
BACKGROUND ART
Generally a refrigerator is equipped with an evaporator for cooling air to be circulated therein. After a prolonged use, frost is bound to be formed on the evaporator. If too much frost gets formed on the evaporator, the cooling performance thereof gets deteriorated and the circulation of the cooled air also gets hindered within the refrigerator by the frost blocking the air passages.
To defrost the frost from the evaporator, the refrigerator is conventionally provided with a defrosting mode. Whether to operate or not in the defrosting mode is determined by a power dissipated for driving a compressor and a variation of the temperature during the driving of the compressor . However, in the conventional refrigerator, too much frost is usually formed on the evaporator before the refrigerator begins automatically to operate in the defrosting mode, first resulting in blocking of the cooled air passages, resulting in the performance of the refrigerator being deteriorated.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator with air bypass passages which allow cooled air to circulate therein, even when some portions of an evaporator are covered with frost.
The above and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by providing a refrigerator having a freezer compartment with a fan, a refrigerating compartment with a fan, and an evaporator, said refrigerator comprising; a first bypass passage for flowing cooled air from the refrigerating compartment directly to the fan of the refrigerating compartment, thereby allowing the cooled air to bypass the evaporator; and a second bypass passage for flowing the cooled air from the freezer compartment directly to the fan of the freezer compartment, thereby allowing the cooled air to bypass the evaporator.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects and features of the instant invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic top view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 and 3 are sectional views of Fig. 1 along lines II-II and III-III, respectively.
Fig. 4 depicts a sectional plan view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
Fig. 5 describes a rear view showing a first bypass passage according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
MODES OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
A refrigerator provided with a cooled air bypass passages according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed in Figs. 1 to 5. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the refrigerator 10 has a freezer compartment 18 on an upper portion thereof and a refrigerating compartment 34 on a lower portion thereof. The refrigerator 10 further has a door 12 having a grip 14 and a separating wall 41 at back of the freezer compartment 18 to thereby form a freezing space. The refrigerator 10 further has a rear wall 13 filled with urethane foams .
As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, an evaporator 20 is mounted in the rear portion of the freezer compartment 18. The evaporator 20 has a plurality of fins 22 thereon. On top of the evaporator 20 is formed a retaining space 28 for retaining a fan 32 for the refrigerating compartment 34. The fan 32 is mounted in the retaining space 28 and driven by a driving motor 30. The fan 32 blows cooled air in the retaining space 28 into the refrigerating compartment 34 through a duct 46. The cooled air sucked into the refrigerating compartment 34 is circulated therein. The cooled air circulated in the refrigerating compartment 34 returns to the retaining space 28 after passing through an outlet 25, a first returning area 26 and a horizontal area of a second returning area 44, then ascends to the rear portion of the evaporator 20.
The cooled air passes through two passages, as it ascends to the rear portion of the evaporator 20. One of the passages is an evaporator contacting passage 35 formed between a perpendicular panel 42 and the evaporator 20 to allow the cooled air to ascend to the fins 22 of the evaporator 20. The other passage is a first bypass passage 36 formed by the perpendicular panel 42 and a rear wall 13 to allow the cooled air to be sucked directly into the retaining space 28. The cooled air sucked into the retaining space 28 enters the duct 46 by the action of the fan 32 through an inlet 52 of a cooled air inducing pipe 50. An inner wall 54 of the cooled air inducing pipe 50 formed on backside of the separating wall 41 serves to change the direction of the flow of the cooled air. The presence of the first bypass passage 36 allows the cooled air to circulate even if the evaporator contacting passage 35 gets blocked with the frost formed therein.
As shown in Fig. 3 and 4, a retaining space 29 for retaining the fan 33 for the freezer compartment 18 is formed on top of the evaporator 20. The fan 33 is mounted in the retaining space 29 and driven by a driving motor 31. The fan
33 blows the cooled air in the retaining space 29 into the freezer compartment 18 through an inlet 39 for the cooled air.
The cooled air sucked into the freezer compartment 18 is circulated therein. The cooled air circulated in the freezer compartment 18 returns to the retaining space 29 after passing through the outlet 23, a horizontal returning area 24 and a second bypass passage 40, then ascends to the front portion of the evaporator 20.
The second bypass passage 40 formed by the evaporator 20 and the separating wall 41 makes a large spare space to allow some of the cooled air to ascend therethrough to the retaining space 29 and contact the fins 22, with the rest bypassing the fins 22. The presence of the second bypass passage 40 allows the cooled air to circulate even if a large amount of frost is formed between the evaporator 20 and the separating wall
41.
As shown in Fig. 5, the first bypass passage 36 for bypassing the cooled air to a fan 32 for the refrigerating compartment 34 has a first side wall being tilted when viewed from the rear of the refrigerator 10 and a nearly perpendicular second side wall forming a passage for connecting a second returning area 44, the retaining space 28 and the inlet 52 of the cooled air inducing pipe 50. Further, it is preferable that the length of the inlet portion of the first bypass passage 36 connected to the second returning area
44 is about 2/3 of the lateral length of the evaporator 20.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bypass passages allow the cooled air to circulate inside the refrigerator until the defrosting mode is initiated to remove the frost filling the cooled air circulation passage and around the evaporator.
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to the preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:
1. A refrigerator having a freezer compartment with a fan, a refrigerating compartment with a fan, and an evaporator, said refrigerator comprising; a first bypass passage for flowing cooled air from the refrigerating compartment directly to the fan of the refrigerating compartment, thereby allowing the cooled air to bypass the evaporator; and a second bypass passage for flowing the cooled air from the freezer compartment directly to the fan of the freezer compartment, thereby allowing the cooled air to bypass the evaporator.
2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the length of an inlet portion of the first bypass passage is about 2/3 of the length of the evaporator.
3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the cooled air from the fan of the refrigerating compartment flows through a cooled air inducing pipe mounted in front of the fan, changing its direction of flow to the refrigerating compartment .
PCT/KR1998/000444 1998-12-18 1998-12-18 Refrigerator provided with cooled air bypass passages WO2000037869A1 (en)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE69826333T DE69826333T2 (en) 1998-12-18 1998-12-18 REFRIGERATOR WITH SHORT CIRCUITS FOR COOLED AIR
PCT/KR1998/000444 WO2000037869A1 (en) 1998-12-18 1998-12-18 Refrigerator provided with cooled air bypass passages
EP98959289A EP1151231B1 (en) 1998-12-18 1998-12-18 Refrigerator provided with cooled air bypass passages

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/KR1998/000444 WO2000037869A1 (en) 1998-12-18 1998-12-18 Refrigerator provided with cooled air bypass passages

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2000037869A1 true WO2000037869A1 (en) 2000-06-29

Family

ID=19531215

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/KR1998/000444 WO2000037869A1 (en) 1998-12-18 1998-12-18 Refrigerator provided with cooled air bypass passages

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1151231B1 (en)
DE (1) DE69826333T2 (en)
WO (1) WO2000037869A1 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN111609606A (en) * 2019-02-26 2020-09-01 青岛海尔电冰箱有限公司 Refrigerator with double air supply fans and air supply control method thereof

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN101231547B (en) * 2008-02-21 2010-06-09 四川大学 Diffluence orientation air supply type computer cabinet

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0592004A1 (en) * 1992-10-09 1994-04-13 Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd Refrigerator
WO1995033963A1 (en) * 1994-06-02 1995-12-14 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Cool-air duct for refrigerators
US5826441A (en) * 1997-06-06 1998-10-27 Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd. Refrigerator having a device for generating air curtains

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0592004A1 (en) * 1992-10-09 1994-04-13 Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd Refrigerator
WO1995033963A1 (en) * 1994-06-02 1995-12-14 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Cool-air duct for refrigerators
US5826441A (en) * 1997-06-06 1998-10-27 Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd. Refrigerator having a device for generating air curtains

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN111609606A (en) * 2019-02-26 2020-09-01 青岛海尔电冰箱有限公司 Refrigerator with double air supply fans and air supply control method thereof

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1151231A1 (en) 2001-11-07
EP1151231B1 (en) 2004-09-15
DE69826333D1 (en) 2004-10-21
DE69826333T2 (en) 2005-10-06

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