WO2016082532A1

WO2016082532A1 - Air-cooled refrigerator

Info

Publication number: WO2016082532A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/081862
Authority: WO
Inventors: 赵发; 杨发林; 张奎; 徐志国
Original assignee: 青岛海尔股份有限公司
Priority date: 2014-11-26
Filing date: 2015-06-18
Publication date: 2016-06-02
Also published as: CN104567190A; CN104567190B

Abstract

An air-cooled refrigerator (100) comprises a freezer compartment (10) and a refrigeration compartment (20) laterally adjacent to the freezer compartment (10), and also comprises a drying compartment (30) provided with an independent closed space. The drying compartment (30) is disposed in the lower space in the refrigeration compartment (20). According to the air-cooled refrigerator (100), the independent sealed drying compartment (30) is disposed in the refrigeration compartment (20); by properly arranging the position of the drying compartment (30), a low relative humidity and a low temperature can be realized in the drying compartment (30); the low-temperature low-humidity environment is particularly suitable for storing dry foods, so that dry goods can be prevented from being affected by damp, and nutritional components of the dry goods can also be ensured.

Description

Air-cooled refrigerator

Technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of refrigerators, and in particular to an air-cooled refrigerator.

Background technique

Along with consumers' expectations for a healthier lifestyle, the proportion of dry goods such as alfalfa, tea, shiitake mushrooms, longan and cordyceps is gradually increasing in the diet structure. However, these dry food ingredients are very difficult to store. If stored at room temperature, in the case of poor ventilation, the storage time is long and it is easy to change color and deteriorate, resulting in loss of nutrients. If placed in the freezer of the refrigerator, it is easy to be in the refrigerator. The effects of food cause moisture, causing mildew and deterioration. How to store dry ingredients for a long time is a problem to be solved.

Summary of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide an air-cooled refrigerator having a drying chamber for the above-mentioned drawbacks existing in the prior art, which provides an environment suitable for long-term storage of dry food ingredients.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an air-cooled refrigerator including a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment disposed laterally adjacent to the freezing compartment, and the air-cooling refrigerator further includes a drying compartment having a separate enclosed space. It is disposed in a lower space of the refrigerating compartment.

Optionally, the drying chamber is composed of a drawer-type sealed container, and the drawer-type sealed container comprises:

a drawer body for accommodating items to be stored; and

A female housing having a backing plate and a top plate, a bottom plate and two opposing lateral side plates joined to the backing plate at respective rear ends to form a recess for retractably receiving the drawer body.

Optionally, a bottom plate of the female housing of the drying chamber is disposed adjacent to or rests on a bottom surface of the interior of the refrigerating compartment.

Optionally, the drying chamber has an air inlet passage for a cooling airflow to flow into the drying chamber, the drying chamber being in controllable communication with the freezing chamber through the air inlet passage.

Optionally, the drying chamber and the freezing chamber are separated by a lateral side plate of the female housing adjacent to the freezing chamber,

The air inlet passage is disposed in a lateral side panel of the female housing adjacent to the freezing chamber.

Optionally, an electric damper is disposed in the air inlet passage, configured to be controlled to be turned on or off Air inlet channel.

Optionally, the drying chamber further has a return air outlet for the gas in the drying chamber to flow out of the drying chamber, and the air return opening is disposed on a back plate of the female housing.

Optionally, a unidirectional damper is disposed at the air return opening, configured to allow the drying chamber gas to flow out of the drying chamber through the return air outlet, and prevent airflow outside the drying chamber from flowing into the air through the air return opening Drying room.

Optionally, the drawer body is provided with a drawer door for pulling the drawer body, and a sealing strip is disposed at an edge of the drawer door to completely accommodate the drawer body in the socket housing A seal is formed between the drawer door and the female housing.

Optionally, the air-cooled refrigerator further includes:

a temperature sensor disposed in the drying chamber to sense a temperature in the drying chamber; and

a humidity sensor disposed in the drying chamber to sense humidity in the drying chamber,

The electric damper is configured to controllably turn on or off the air inlet passage according to a temperature sensed by the temperature sensor and/or a humidity sensed by the humidity sensor.

The air-cooled refrigerator of the present invention is provided with a separately sealed drying chamber inside the refrigerating compartment, and the drying chamber has a relatively low relative humidity and a low temperature by appropriately arranging the position of the drying chamber, and the low temperature and low humidity environment is particularly suitable for dry food ingredients. Preservation can not only avoid the moisture of dry goods but also the nutrients of dry goods.

Further, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cooling airflow in the freezer compartment is introduced into the drying chamber without the need to separately provide a duct for the drying chamber.

Further, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cooling airflow is from the lower portion of the freezer compartment of the air-cooled refrigerator, and the airflow entering the freezer compartment is condensed during the flow from the top to the bottom, so that the cooling airflow flowing into the drying chamber The absolute humidity is low to avoid adverse effects on the drying chamber.

The above as well as other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the <

DRAWINGS

Some specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below by way of example, and not limitation. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar parts. Those skilled in the art should understand that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the figure:

1 is a schematic front view of an air-cooled refrigerator in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic partial enlarged view of the portion C shown in Figure 2;

4 is a schematic air duct system diagram of a drying chamber air intake damper of an air-cooled refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a schematic air duct system diagram of an air intake damper of a drying chamber of an air-cooled refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 6 is a schematic air duct system diagram taken along line B-B of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a schematic illustration of the drying principle of a drying chamber in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

1 is a schematic front view of an air-cooled refrigerator 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The air-cooled refrigerator 100 includes a refrigerating compartment 20 and a freezing compartment 10. A refrigerating compartment door 24 and a freezing compartment door 14 are provided at the front opening of the refrigerating compartment 20 and the freezing compartment 10, respectively, for opening or closing the refrigerating compartment 20 and the freezing compartment 10, respectively. The refrigerating compartment 20 may be disposed laterally adjacent to the freezing compartment 10. Alternatively, the refrigerating compartment 20 is disposed laterally of the freezing compartment 10, and a partition 12 is provided between the refrigerating compartment 20 and the freezing compartment 10.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the air-cooled refrigerator 100 of the embodiment of the present invention may further include a refrigeration cycle system and a duct 60 (shown in FIG. 6). The refrigeration cycle system may include, for example, a compressor (not shown), a condenser (not shown), a throttling element (not shown), and an evaporator 50 (shown in Figure 6). The air-cooled refrigerator 100 may also be provided with a blower 40 (shown in FIG. 4) located in the air duct 60 for blowing the airflow cooled and dehumidified by the evaporator 50 to the refrigerating compartment 20 and/or the freezing compartment 10.

In particular, the air-cooled refrigerator 100 may further include a drying chamber 30 having a separate enclosed space that is disposed in the internal space of the refrigerating chamber 20. The drying principle of the drying chamber 30 in the embodiment of the present invention is that after the gas cooled by the cold source is sent into a relatively high temperature closed environment, the relative humidity is lowered as the low temperature gas gradually heats up in the closed space, and the drying effect is effectively formed.

Figure 7 is a schematic illustration of the drying principle of the drying chamber 30 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 shows the relationship between the various parameters of the wet air by the graph, with the temperature as the ordinate and the moisture content as the abscissa, showing the cluster of relative humidity lines, which increases with temperature at a certain value. The moisture content in the humid air increases accordingly. In a closed environment, the moisture content of the air does not change with temperature, that is, in a closed environment, the moisture content of the air does not change with the temperature rise. For the two points a and b on a vertical line in the figure, point a (-18 ° C, 85% RH) is closed after the end of ventilation. The low temperature air state point, point b (5 ° C, 15% RH) is the air state point after the gas temperature rises. It can be seen that as the temperature rises from -18 ° C to 5 ° C, the relative humidity of the closed environment is from 85%. RH is reduced to 15% RH. It can be seen that the temperature of the air in the closed environment rises, and the relative humidity can be effectively reduced. That is to say, if the closed environment is filled with a gas having a temperature of -18 ° C and a relative humidity of 85% RH, the theoretical relative humidity will decrease to 15% RH as the temperature rises and the temperature rises to 5 ° C. While -18 ° C can generally be the temperature of the freezer compartment 10 or the evaporator 50 in the refrigerator, and 5 ° C can generally be the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 20 . With this physical property, the storage environment of the drying chamber in this embodiment can be achieved.

Generally, the fruit and vegetable food is stored in the refrigerating compartment 20, so that the relative humidity in the refrigerating compartment 20 is high. The upper space of the refrigerating compartment 20 has a higher relative humidity than its lower space. The drying chamber 30 is disposed in the upper space of the refrigerating chamber 20 (i.e., in the upper half of the space in the refrigerating chamber 20), which is disadvantageous for the maintenance of the dry state in the drying chamber 30. Therefore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the drying chamber 30 is preferably disposed in the lower space of the refrigerating chamber 20, that is, the drying chamber 30 is disposed in the lower half of the space in the refrigerating chamber 20. That is, the top plate of the drying chamber 30 (see the top plate 322 in FIG. 3) is located at a height position within the refrigerating chamber 20 not exceeding the lower half of the entire height of the internal space of the refrigerating chamber 20.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, in some embodiments, the drying chamber 30 can be constructed from a drawer-type sealed container. The drying chamber 30 may include a drawer body 31 and a female housing 32. The drawer body 31 is for accommodating items to be stored, which may have a cavity for receiving a top opening of the item to be stored. The female housing 32 can have a backing plate 321 and a top plate 322, a bottom plate 323, and two opposing lateral side plates joined to the backing plate 321 at respective rear ends to form a cavity that can pullably receive the drawer body 31. The front end of the female housing 32 is opened, and the drawer body 31 can be pulled out of the female housing 32 and received in the female housing 32 in the front-rear direction of the refrigerating chamber 20. When the drawer body 31 is completely accommodated in the female housing 32, a sealed container can be formed. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the lateral side panels of the female housing 32 adjacent the freezing compartment 10 may be formed by the lower portion of the partition 12; in other words, between the drying chamber 30 and the freezing compartment 10 by the female housing 32. The lateral side plates adjacent to the freezer compartment 10 are spaced apart.

In some embodiments, the drawer body 31 may be provided with a drawer door 311 for pulling the drawer body 31, and a sealing strip 37 is disposed at the edge of the drawer door 311. Thus, when the drawer body 31 and the female housing 32 are closed, that is, when the drawer body 31 is completely received in the female housing 32, the sealing strip 37 on the drawer door 311 can be coupled to the top plate 322 of the female housing 32, The bottom plate 323, the front ends of the two opposite lateral side plates are sealingly fitted or the front end opening of the female housing 32 is sealed to make the drying chamber 30 base This seal.

In some embodiments, slides may be provided on the two lateral walls of the drawer body 31, and correspondingly the slide rails are mounted on the inner surfaces of the two opposite lateral side panels of the female housing 32 such that the drawer body 31 It is slidably mounted to the socket housing 32.

In a further embodiment, the bottom plate 323 of the female housing 32 of the drying chamber 30 is disposed adjacent the bottom surface of the interior space of the refrigerating chamber 20. That is, the bottom plate 323 of the female housing 32 of the drying chamber 30 is disposed near the bottom surface of the internal space of the refrigerating chamber 20 with a gap therebetween. In some embodiments, the bottom plate 323 of the female housing 32 of the drying chamber 30 rests on the bottom surface of the internal space of the refrigerating chamber 20, or the drying chamber 30 is disposed at the bottom of the internal space of the refrigerating chamber 20. Thus, the drying chamber 30 can be placed at a position where the relative humidity of the refrigerating chamber 20 is lower.

In some embodiments, the drying chamber 30 has an air inlet passage 13 or an air inlet 33 through which the cooling airflow flows into the drying chamber 30, and the drying chamber 30 is controllably communicated with the freezing chamber 10 through the air inlet passage 13 to pass through the air inlet passage 13 The cooling airflow inside the freezing compartment 10 is controlled to be supplied to the drying chamber 30. The low-temperature cooling airflow flows into the drying chamber 30 through the air inlet passage 13 to lower the temperature of the drying chamber 30 and thereby reduce the humidity of the drying chamber 30. The air inlet passage 13 may be disposed in a lateral side panel of the female housing 32 adjacent to the freezing compartment 10.

Accordingly, an opening 16 (see FIG. 6) is provided on the side wall of the freezing compartment 10 adjacent to the side wall of the refrigerating compartment 20 (ie, the outer side wall of the female housing 32 adjacent to the lateral side panel of the freezing compartment 10), in the drying chamber 30 The side wall adjacent to the freezing compartment 10 (i.e., the inner side wall of the lateral side panel of the female housing 32 adjacent to the freezing compartment 10) is provided with an air inlet 33 through which the air inlet 33 communicates with the opening 16. Alternatively, one end of the air inlet passage 13 adjacent to the drying chamber 30 forms an air inlet 33 of the drying chamber 30, and an end of the air inlet passage 13 adjacent to the freezing chamber 10 forms an opening 16. Since the drying chamber 30 is located in the lower space of the refrigerating compartment 20, and the freezing compartment 10 and the refrigerating compartment 20 are disposed laterally adjacent thereto, the opening 16 is provided at a lower portion of the side wall of the freezing compartment 10. The cooling airflow at the lower portion of the freezing compartment 10 can be controlledly supplied to the drying chamber 30 via the opening 16, the air inlet passage 13, and the air inlet 33. In the embodiment of the present invention, since the cooling airflow into the drying chamber 30 comes from the lower portion of the freezing compartment 10, the airflow entering the freezing compartment 10 may condense during the flow from the top to the bottom, so that it flows into the drying chamber 30. The absolute humidity of the cooling airflow is low to avoid adverse effects on the drying chamber.

An intake damper 34 may be provided at the air inlet 33 to controllably open or close the air inlet 33 to controllably introduce a cooling airflow into the drying chamber 30. Of course, the intake damper 34 may also be disposed in the intake passage 13 to controlly turn on or off the intake passage 13. The intake damper 34 can be, for example, an electric wind door. Specifically, when the drying chamber 30 does not need to supply air, the air inlet damper 34 is closed (ie, the air inlet passage 13 is disconnected), the cooling airflow inside the freezing chamber 10 does not flow to the drying chamber 30, and the air flow direction in the refrigerator is shown in FIG. 4 ( In the figure, the solid arrow indicates the direction of the air supply, and the dotted arrow indicates the return air direction; when the drying chamber 30 needs to supply air, the intake damper 34 is opened (ie, the air inlet passage 13 is turned on), and a part of the cooling airflow inside the freezing chamber 10 is provided. Flow to the drying chamber 30, and the wind flow in the refrigerator is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The intake damper 34 can also adjust the opening degree of the air inlet 33 (or adjust the air outlet area of the air inlet duct 13). Specifically, when the drying chamber 30 requires a large amount of air, the intake damper 34 adjusts the opening of the air inlet. When the drying chamber 30 requires a small amount of air, the intake damper 34 adjusts the opening of the air inlet.

In an alternative embodiment, the air inlet 33 or the air inlet passage 13 of the drying chamber 30 may also directly communicate with the air duct 60, so that the airflow cooled and dehumidified by the evaporator 50 flows directly into the drying chamber 30 through the air inlet 33 ( It is not necessary to pass through the freezing compartment 10 or the refrigerating compartment 20). In an alternative embodiment, when the air-cooled refrigerator 100 has two refrigerating compartment evaporators and a freezing compartment evaporator that respectively cool down the refrigerating compartment 20 and the freezing compartment 10, the airflow after cooling and dehumidifying the refrigerating compartment evaporator can be passed through The air inlet 33 directly flows into the drying chamber 30 (it does not need to pass through the refrigerating chamber 20).

With continued reference to FIG. 3, the drying chamber 30 also has a return air port 35 for the gas in the drying chamber 30 to flow out of the drying chamber 30. When air is blown to the drying chamber 30 via the air inlet 33, the gas having a large humidity in the drying chamber 30 is displaced to the drying chamber 30 through the return air port 35. In some embodiments, the return air vent 35 is disposed on the backing plate 321 of the drying chamber 30. The airflow flowing out through the return air port 35 of the drying chamber 30 can flow into the refrigerating chamber 20, and is circulated back to the air duct 60 as the refrigerating chamber 20 returns.

In some embodiments, a return damper 36 for closing or opening the return air vent 35 may be provided at the return air vent 35. The return damper 36 can be, for example, a one-way damper. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, a one-way damper is used to limit the direction of airflow at the return air vent 35, which allows air to exit the drying chamber 30 via the return air vent 35 without allowing wind outside the drying chamber 30 to flow through the return air vent 35. The inside of the drying chamber 30 is introduced; that is, it allows the gas in the drying chamber 30 to flow out of the drying chamber 30 via the return air opening 35, and the airflow outside the drying chamber 30 is prevented from flowing into the drying chamber 30 via the return air opening 35.

In some embodiments, the return damper 36 can be a one-way piece. When the air inlet damper 34 of the air inlet 33 is opened, the pressure inside the drying chamber 30 rises due to the flow of air into the drying chamber 30. Next, the one-way piece of the return air port 35 of the drying chamber 30 is opened outward, and the airflow flows out through the return air port 35, and the moisture in the drying chamber 30 is taken away. In order to ensure that the moisture in the drying chamber 30 is sufficiently carried away, the inlet damper 34 may be continuously opened for a predetermined time, such as 3 minutes (the length of time may be set according to the volume of the drying chamber 30 and the area of the air inlet 33). Then the intake damper 34 is closed, as there is no continuous The air enters the drying chamber 30, and the pressure in the drying chamber 30 is lowered. The one-way piece of the return air port 35 of the drying chamber 30 is automatically closed by its own weight. At this time, a low-temperature sealed space is formed inside the drying chamber 30. That is, the cooling gas in the drying chamber 30 cannot flow out of the drying chamber 30 from the return air port 35; the gas having a relatively high relative humidity outside the drying chamber 30 cannot enter the drying chamber 30. The air in the drying chamber 30 is thermally exchanged with the external environment for heat exchange, so that its temperature rises, thereby reducing the relative humidity of the air in the drying chamber 30.

In some embodiments, the opening and closing of the intake damper 34 can be controlled using the temperature and/or humidity within the drying chamber 30. Accordingly, the air-cooled refrigerator 100 may further include a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor (not shown). A temperature sensor and a humidity sensor are respectively disposed in the drying chamber 30 to sense the temperature and humidity in the drying chamber 30, respectively. The intake damper 34 may be configured to controllably turn on or off the intake passage 13 in accordance with the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor and/or the humidity sensed by the humidity sensor is controlled to be turned on or off. In some embodiments, the intake damper 34 (ie, the air inlet passage 13 is opened) when the relative humidity within the drying chamber 30 is above a preset humidity value to supply a cooling airflow into the drying chamber 30. In some embodiments, the intake damper 34 is opened when the temperature within the drying chamber 30 is above a predetermined temperature value to supply a cooling airflow into the drying chamber 30. In some embodiments, the intake damper 34 is closed (ie, the intake air passage 13 is closed) when the relative humidity in the drying chamber 30 is lower than the preset humidity value; or the intake damper 34 is closed after the predetermined time is turned on; or when the drying chamber is closed The intake damper 34 is closed when the temperature within 30 is lower than the preset temperature value.

In some embodiments, the return damper 36 can also be an electronically controlled damper that automatically opens and closes synchronously with the intake damper 34.

Table 1 shows temperature and humidity comparison data of the refrigerating compartment 20 and the drying compartment 30 of the air-cooled refrigerator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It can be seen from Table 1 that the relative humidity of the drying chamber 30 is about 16% lower than that of the refrigerating chamber 20. If the refrigerating chamber 20 is placed with a large amount of vegetables, the relative humidity in the refrigerating chamber 20 can reach 65%. If the dry goods are put into the refrigerating room 20, the dry goods are very easy to regain moisture, and the long time is prone to mold, which causes the dry goods to deteriorate. In the present invention, since the drying chamber 30 is a relatively closed space, the dry goods placed in the drying chamber 30 are less affected by the humidity of the refrigerating chamber 20, and the relative humidity of the drying chamber 30 can be kept below 40%. Therefore, the dry goods will not be regained for a long time and will not deteriorate.

Table 1 Comparison of refrigerator and dry room temperature humidity

	干燥室(℃)Drying room (°C)	干燥室(％RH)Drying room (%RH)	冷藏室(℃)Cold storage room (°C)	冷藏室(％RH)Cold storage room (%RH)
	干燥室(℃)Drying room (°C)	干燥室(％RH)Drying room (%RH)	冷藏室(℃)Cold storage room (°C)	冷藏室(％RH)Cold storage room (%RH)	平均值average value	7.07.0	26.026.0	5.75.7	43.343.3

To this end, those skilled in the art will recognize that although the invention has been shown and described in detail herein Many other variations and modifications of the principles of the present invention can be directly determined or derived from the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be understood and construed as covering all such other modifications or modifications.

Claims

An air-cooled refrigerator includes a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment disposed laterally adjacent to the freezing compartment, and the air-cooling refrigerator further includes a drying compartment having a separate enclosed space disposed in a lower space of the refrigerating compartment in.
The air-cooled refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein

The drying chamber is composed of a drawer type sealed container, and the drawer type sealed container comprises:

a drawer body for accommodating items to be stored; and

A female housing having a backing plate and a top plate, a bottom plate and two opposing lateral side plates joined to the backing plate at respective rear ends to form a recess for retractably receiving the drawer body.
The air-cooled refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein

A bottom plate of the female housing of the drying chamber is disposed adjacent to or rests on a bottom surface of the interior of the refrigerating compartment.
The air-cooled refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein

The drying chamber has an air inlet passage for a cooling airflow to flow into the drying chamber, the drying chamber being in controllable communication with the freezing chamber through the air inlet passage.
The air-cooled refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein

The drying chamber and the freezing chamber are separated by a lateral side plate of the female housing adjacent to the freezing chamber,

The air inlet passage is disposed in a lateral side panel of the female housing adjacent to the freezing chamber.
The air-cooled refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein

An electric damper is disposed in the air inlet passage and configured to controlly turn on or off the air inlet passage.
The air-cooled refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein

The drying chamber further has a return air port for the gas in the drying chamber to flow out of the drying chamber, and the return air opening is disposed on a back plate of the female housing.
The air-cooled refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein

A unidirectional damper is disposed at the air return opening, configured to allow the drying chamber gas to flow out of the drying chamber through the return air outlet, and prevent airflow outside the drying chamber from flowing into the drying chamber via the air return opening.
The air-cooled refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein

The drawer body is provided with a drawer door for pulling the drawer body, and a sealing strip is disposed at an edge of the drawer door, so that when the drawer body is completely accommodated in the female housing, A seal is formed between the drawer door and the female housing.
The air-cooled refrigerator of claim 6, further comprising:

a temperature sensor disposed in the drying chamber to sense a temperature in the drying chamber; and

a humidity sensor disposed in the drying chamber to sense humidity in the drying chamber,

The electric damper is configured to controllably turn on or off the air inlet passage according to a temperature sensed by the temperature sensor and/or a humidity sensed by the humidity sensor.