CN102003859A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

A kimchi refrigerator includes an evaporator surrounding a storage chamber in contact with an outer surface of the storage chamber; a basket received in the storage chamber to receive at least one container storing kimchi, and taken in and out of the storage chamber according to the opening and closing operation of the door; and an auxiliary cooling member surface-contacting a front outer surface of the basket, which is adjacent to the evaporator. The auxiliary cooling member is made of a high thermal-conductivity material so that high inner temperature of the storage chamber is efficiently transferred, accordingly reducing the temperature deviation.

Description

refrigerator

Cross References to Related Applications

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2009-0080107 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Aug. 27, 2009, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

technical field

Embodiments relate to a refrigerator having a draw-type opening and closing system capable of reducing deviation of its internal temperature.

Background technique

In general, a refrigerator refers to an apparatus having a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator, and thereby keeps various foods fresh through heat transfer by a state change of a refrigerant.

In recent years, refrigerators have been developed to keep stored food fresh by using the above-mentioned principle of refrigerators.

This refrigerator employs a direct cooling system using natural convection through an evaporator. However, according to the direct cooling system using natural convection, temperature deviation may be caused between the upper and lower parts of the storage chamber of the refrigerator.

Although a general refrigerator has a door that opens and closes in a lateral direction, a refrigerator having a relatively small size in the past has a door that is hinged on an upper portion of a main body and that is opened and closed in an up and down direction. However, refrigerators having drawer storage compartments are becoming more and more popular.

A refrigerator with a drawer storage compartment is opened at the front of the storage compartment near the door. Therefore, the loss of cold air occurs mainly at the front. Therefore, when using the natural convection of the evaporator and a conventional refrigerator with a drawer storage compartment, a considerable temperature deviation is introduced between the upper and lower front parts of the storage compartment.

Contents of the invention

Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator capable of reducing temperature deviation between upper and lower front portions of a storage chamber thereof.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a refrigerator including: a storage compartment having an opening at its front; a door that opens and closes the storage compartment; an evaporator; a basket accommodated in the storage chamber for accommodating at least one container for storing food, the basket being taken in and taken out of the storage chamber according to the opening and closing operation of the door; and the basket Auxiliary cooling components in contact with the surface of the front outer surface of the shape near the evaporator.

The evaporator may be provided to contact the outer surfaces of both sides and the bottom side of the storage chamber. Auxiliary cooling components may surface contact both sides and the bottom side of the basket. The auxiliary cooling component is formed of a high thermal conductivity material.

The refrigerator may further include a mounting part mounted to a rear surface of the door, and the basket may be removably mounted to the mounting part.

The refrigerator may further include moving rails installed on both sides of the installation part; and fixed rails formed on both sides of the storage compartment for sliding combination with the moving rails.

The basket may be formed of plastic and an anti-bending member may be attached to the bottom side of the basket to prevent bending of the basket.

The above aspects and/or other aspects may be achieved by providing a refrigerator comprising: an outer casing; an inner casing provided in the outer casing to form at least one storage chamber having an opening at a front thereof; A basket in order to accommodate at least one container; an evaporator installed in contact with the outer surface of the inner shell to cool the storage chamber; and an auxiliary cooling member in contact with the outer surface of the basket near the evaporator.

The evaporator may be provided on both sides and the bottom side of the inner case.

Auxiliary cooling components may be provided on both sides and the bottom side of the basket. Auxiliary cooling components can be made of high thermal conductivity materials.

The refrigerator may further include a door opening and closing a front of the storage chamber; and a mounting part mounted to a rear surface of the door, wherein the basket is removably mounted to the mounting part.

The refrigerator may further include moving rails installed on both sides of the installation part; and fixed rails formed on both sides of the storage compartment to be slidably engaged with the moving rails.

Auxiliary cooling components may be provided at the front of the basket.

The basket may be made of plastic, and an anti-bending member may be attached to the bottom side of the basket to prevent bending of the basket.

The above aspects and/or other aspects can also be achieved by providing a refrigerator comprising: an outer casing; an inner casing disposed in the outer casing to form at least one storage chamber having an opening at its front end; opening and closing the storage chamber. a door of the chamber; a basket accommodated in the storage chamber for containing at least one container, and the basket is received into and out of the storage chamber according to the opening and closing of the door; taking out; an evaporator installed to be in contact with the outer surface of the inner shell to cool the storage chamber; an auxiliary cooling member in contact with the outer surface of the basket near the evaporator; and a bending prevention member connected to the bottom of the basket, to prevent bending of the basket.

Auxiliary cooling components may be made of high thermal conductivity material and arranged at the front of the basket.

Description of drawings

These and/or other aspects will be apparent and more easily recognized from the following description of the embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a refrigerator according to an embodiment;

Figure 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the door of the storage compartment according to the embodiment of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the basket connected to the auxiliary cooling component of the refrigerator shown in Figure 1; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the refrigerator of Fig. 1 .

Detailed ways

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals referring to like elements throughout.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a refrigerator according to an embodiment. Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the door of the storage compartment. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a basket connected to an auxiliary cooling part of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 . Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the refrigerator of Fig. 1 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , the refrigerator includes a main body 10 having at least one storage chamber 20 and a door 25 for opening and closing the storage chamber 20 .

The main body 10 includes an outer case 11 forming its outer appearance, an inner case 13 installed in the outer case 11 to form at least one storage chamber 20 and a machine room (not shown) accommodating various machine parts.

As mentioned above, the shell forms the exterior. An operation panel (not shown) may be formed on one side of the housing 11 to select conditions such as ripening time, temperature, and type of food to be stored in the storage chamber 20 .

At least one storage chamber 20 is formed in the inner casing 13 . The basket 30 is provided in the storage chamber 20 to accommodate a container 40 in which foods such as pickles are stored.

The storage chamber 20 may include a first storage chamber 20a installed with a door 25a that is opened and closed in a lateral direction, and second and third storage chambers 20b and 20c. 20b and 20c are disposed below the first storage chamber 20a and are respectively installed with doors 25b and 25c that open and close like drawers. The refrigerator according to the embodiment may include one storage compartment 20 having a drawer-type door 25, or a plurality of storage compartments.

The machine room accommodates components including a compressor (not shown) that compresses refrigerant and a condenser (not shown) that condenses refrigerant supplied from the compressor. The machine room is separated from the storage room 20 .

In addition, a foam material 15 such as foamed urethane is filled in the space between the outer shell 11 and the inner shell 13 for heat insulation.

An evaporator 50 in which a refrigerant flows to maintain a low internal temperature of the storage chamber 20 is installed in the space filled with the foam material 15 . As shown, evaporator 50 takes the form of a conventional refrigerant tube. In the case of the storage compartment 20 having the drawer-type doors 25b and 25c, the evaporator 50 is installed so as to surround the bottom side and both lateral sides of the drawer-type storage compartments 20b and 20c. That is, the evaporator 50 in the form of a refrigerant tube is installed in contact with the inner wall of the inner casing 13 so as to surround both sides and bottom sides of the storage chambers 20b and 20c.

Cool air delivered from the evaporator 50 to the bottom and both sides of the storage chambers 20b and 20c is supplied by natural convection of the internal air of the storage chambers 20b and 20c. In other words, when the hot air moves upward, the air cooled by heat exchange at the evaporator 50 moves downward. The temperature of the storage chambers 20b and 20c is lowered by such air convection.

A heater (not shown) using an electric heating wire may be installed between the outer case 11 and the inner case 13 to heat the inside of the storage chamber 20 to ripen the stored kimchi by maintaining a predetermined temperature suitable for ripening the kimchi.

In addition, a mounting part 60 is mounted on the rear surfaces of the drawer doors 25b and 25c. The basket 30 is removably connected to the mounting part 60 .

The basket 30 can be made of plastic in the form of a cabinet with an open upper side. As described above, the basket 30 has a storage space for accommodating a container 40 for storing foods such as kimchi.

Flanges 31 are integrally extended outward from both upper ends of the basket 30 so as to be removably mounted to the mounting part 60 .

In addition, a bending preventing member 80 is installed on the bottom side of the basket 30 so that the basket 30 made of plastic is not bent due to repeated thermal expansion and contraction. The bending preventing member 80 may be installed on the bottom side of the basket 30 in the lateral direction.

Moving guide rails 61 are installed on both sides of the mounting part 60 in the longitudinal direction so that the doors 25b and 25c move in the drawer system, thus opening and closing the storage compartments 20b and 20c.

In addition, fixed rails 63 are formed on both sides of the inner case 13 for slidably engaging with the moving rails 61 of the mounting part 60 . Specifically, the fixed rail 63 is installed on the inner wall of the inner case 13 in the longitudinal direction.

Accordingly, the basket 30 mounted to the mounting part 60 can be moved forward and backward according to the sliding movement of the moving rail 61 engaged with the fixed rail 63 . Therefore, the user can put in and take out food stored in the container 40 with respect to the basket 20 .

In the basket 30 provided in the drawer storage chambers 20b and 20c, a temperature deviation is generated between the upper and lower portions of the storage chamber 20 by natural convection of the evaporator 50 during operation of the refrigerator. In particular, the temperature deviation is large between upper and lower front parts of the storage chambers 20b and 20c, which are close to the doors 25b and 25c.

For this purpose, an auxiliary cooling member 70 is provided to reduce the deviation of the internal temperature of the basket 30 .

The auxiliary cooling member 70 may be formed of high thermal conductivity materials including metals such as iron and aluminum, alloys, resins, and the like. According to an exemplary embodiment, an aluminum plate may be used as the auxiliary cooling member 70 .

An auxiliary cooling member 70 made of a high thermal conductivity material is disposed close to the evaporator 50 contacting both sides and the bottom side of each storage chamber 20b and 20c. Here, in the front region of the basket 30 , the auxiliary cooling element 70 is in surface contact with both outer sides and the bottom side of the basket 30 .

That is, the high temperature at the upper front portion of the basket 30 is transferred to the lower front portion of the basket 30 . Specifically, the high temperature at the upper front inside the basket 30 is transferred to the auxiliary cooling member 70 having a low temperature and being disposed close to the evaporator 50 through the upper end of the auxiliary cooling member 70 . Thus, the temperature deviation between the upper front portion and the lower front portion of the basket 30 can be reduced.

At the same time, both sides and the bottom side of the basket 30 may be condensed by cold air from the evaporator 50 because these elements are close to the evaporator 50 . However, such freezing can be prevented by the high temperature of the upper front portion of the basket 30 transferred via the auxiliary cooling member 70 .

As described above, the refrigerator according to the embodiment may reduce the temperature deviation between the upper front and the lower front of the storage chamber by using the auxiliary cooling part.

Although several embodiments have been shown and described, it should be understood that those skilled in the art can make changes to these embodiments without departing from the principle and essence of the described embodiments, and the protection scope of the present invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims (9)

1. refrigerator, described refrigerator comprises:

Apotheca, described apotheca has opening in its front portion;

Door, described door opens and closes described apotheca;

Evaporimeter, described evaporimeter contacts around described apotheca and with the outer surface of described apotheca;

Basket is contained in the described apotheca holding the container that at least one stores food, and is taken in described apotheca and take out from described apotheca with the opening and closing operation of described door; With

Auxiliary cooling-part, described auxiliary cooling-part contact the surface of close evaporimeter of the forward outer surface of described basket.

2. refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said evaporimeter contact the outer surface of the side and the bottom of described apotheca.

3. refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said auxiliary cooling-part contacts the side of described basket and the surface of bottom.

4. refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said auxiliary cooling-part is formed by high conductivity material.

5. refrigerator according to claim 1 also comprises installing component, and described installing component is mounted to the rear surface of described door, and wherein said basket is mounted to described installing component removedly.

6. refrigerator according to claim 5 also comprises:

A plurality of moving guide rails, described moving guide rail are installed on the side of described installing component; With

A plurality of fixed guides, described fixed guide are formed on the side of described apotheca, to be slidably engaged with described moving guide rail.

7. refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said basket is formed by plastics, and described basket comprises also and prevent bending part that the described bending part that prevents is connected to the bottom of described basket, to prevent the bending of described basket.

8. refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said auxiliary cooling-part is arranged on the front portion of described basket.

9. refrigerator according to claim 1 also comprises shell and the inner casing that is arranged in the described shell,

Wherein said apotheca is arranged in the described inner casing, to open towards described front portion.

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