Refrigeration – Gas controller or director – Cooled gas directed relative to cooled enclosure
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-07
2003-04-08
Bennett, Henry (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Gas controller or director
Cooled gas directed relative to cooled enclosure
Reexamination Certificate
active
06543249
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling air supplying device in a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a cooling air supplying device in a refrigerator, which is capable of impartially and rapidly supplying cooling air to a chilling chamber.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, a refrigerator is divided into a freezing chamber for keeping an ice making container and frozen food and a chilling chamber for keeping cold food. The refrigerator includes a freezing cycle for supplying cooling air to the freezing chamber and the chilling chamber.
A common type refrigerator, where the freezing chamber and the chilling chamber are arranged in a vertical direction, and a side-by-side type refrigerator having a large capacity, where the freezing chamber and the chilling chamber are arranged in a horizontal direction, are mainly used.
FIG. 1
is a perspective view showing a partially sectioned side-by-side type refrigerator according to a conventional technology.
FIG. 2
is a sectional view taken along the line A—A.
A conventional refrigerator includes a main frame
204
, in which a pair of doors
202
bi-directionally opened and closed are installed in the front portion and a receipt space is included, a freezing chamber
206
arranged on either the left side or the right side of the main frame
204
, the freezing chamber
106
for keeping frozen food, a chilling chamber
208
separated from the chilling chamber
206
by a mullion wall
210
and arranged on the other side of the main frame
204
, the chilling chamber
208
for keeping cold food, a freezing chamber cooling air supplying device installed in the upper portion of the freezing chamber
206
, the freezing chamber cooling air supplying device for supplying the air cooled while passing through the freezing cycle (not shown) to the freezing chamber
106
, and a chilling chamber cooling air supplying device connected to the freezing chamber cooling air supplying device, the chilling chamber cooling air supplying device for supplying the cooling air to the chilling chamber
208
.
A plurality of shelves
212
and
214
are installed in the freezing chamber
206
and the chilling chamber
208
to be separated from each other by a predetermined distance so that food can be kept by layers. Vegetable boxes
216
and
218
for keeping vegetables are bedded in the lower portion of the shelves
212
and
214
.
The freezing cooling air supplying device includes a blast fan
220
installed on the hind surface in the upper portion of the freezing chamber
206
, the freezing chamber cooling air supplying device for forcibly bowing the air cooled whiled passing through the freezing cycle, a first panel
226
arranged in front of the blast fan
220
and having a plurality of discharge openings
224
so that the cooling air blown by the blast fan
220
is discharged into an ice maker
222
, and a second panel
228
arranged below the blast fan
220
and having a plurality of discharge openings
230
so that the cooling air is discharged into the freezing chamber
206
.
The chilling chamber cooling air supplying device includes a cooling air supply path
232
formed in the upper portion of the mullion wall
210
so as to discharge the cooling air blown from the blast fan
220
installed in the freezing chamber
206
into the chilling chamber
208
, a cooling air discharge duct
234
installed in the upper portion of the chilling chamber
208
and connected to the cooling air supply path
232
, the cooling air discharge duct
234
for discharging the cooling air supplied to the cooling air supply path
232
into the chilling chamber
208
, and a cooling air suction path
238
formed in the lower portion of the mullion wall
210
, the cooling air suction path
238
for sucking up the cooling air that completed a cooling operation while circulating in the chilling chamber
208
into the freezing cycle.
The cooling air discharge duct
234
is horizontally arranged in the upper portion of the chilling chamber
208
. One side of the cooling air discharge duct
234
is opened to be connected to the cooling air supply path
232
. A plurality of cooling air discharge openings
236
for discharging the cooling air into the chilling chamber
208
are formed in the front portion of the cooling air discharge duct
234
.
According to the conventional side-by-side type refrigerator having the above structure, when the freezing cycle is driven and the blast fan
220
is rotated, the air cooled while passing through the freezing cycle is discharged into the discharge openings
224
of the first panel, the discharge openings
230
of the second panel, and the cooling air supply path
232
by the blast pressure of the blast fan
220
.
The cooling air discharged into the discharge openings
224
of the first panel is supplied to the ice maker
222
, to thus make ice. The air discharged into the discharge openings
230
of the second panel freezes the frozen food stored in the freezing chamber
206
while circulating the freezing chamber
206
.
The cooling air supplied to the cooling air supply path
232
is sucked up into the cooling air discharge duct
234
and is discharged into the chilling chamber
208
through the cooling air discharge openings
236
formed in the cooling air discharge duct
234
. The cooling air discharged into the chilling chamber
208
cools the cold food kept in the chilling chamber
208
while circulating in the chilling chamber
208
. The cooling air that completed the cooling operation is sucked up into a cooling cycle through the cooling air suction path
238
formed in the lower portion of the mullion wall
210
and is cooled again while passing through the cooling cycle.
However, according to the chilling chamber cooling air supplying device of the above conventional refrigerator, the cooling air is discharged only through the discharge openings
236
formed in the cooling air discharge duct since the cooling air discharge duct
234
is horizontally arranged in the upper portion of the chilling chamber
208
. Therefore, the food stored in the upper portion of the chilling chamber
208
is excessively cooled since the food is significantly affected by the cooling air. The food stored in the lower portion of the chilling chamber
208
is weakly cooled since the food is less affected by the cooling air.
That is, the deviation of temperature of the cooling air supplied from the upper portion of the chilling chamber to the lower portion of the chilling chamber becomes more significant and the temperatures of the respective cells divided by the shelves are different from each other according to the distances from the cooling air discharge openings. Accordingly, the spread of temperature of the chilling chamber is not uniform.
Also, since the cooling air is supplied from the upper portion of the chilling chamber to the lower portion of the chilling chamber, the cooling air cannot smoothly circulate in the chilling chamber due to the shelves for separating the respective cells from each other.
Also, since the cooling air is discharged from only the upper portion of the chilling chamber, it takes longer to cool the entire chilling chamber. Accordingly, the freshness of the food stored in the chilling chamber deteriorates.
Also, it is difficult to rapidly cope with a rise in temperature of the chilling chamber, which is caused by frequently opening and closing the door of the chilling chamber in summer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling air supplying device of a refrigerator, which is capable of impartially supplying cooling air to the respective cells divided by the shelves of a chilling chamber, to thus make the spread of temperature of the chilling chamber uniform.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling air supplying device of a refrigerator, which is capable of letting the cooling air discharged from around the door of the chilling chamber, to thus prevent a rise in temperature of the
Choi Young Seok
Kang Byung Gyu
Kim Sang Bae
Bennett Henry
Drake Malik N.
Fleshner & Kim LLP
LG Electronics Inc.
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