Refrigeration – Gas controller or director – Cooled gas directed relative to cooled enclosure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-03
2002-02-19
Doerrler, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Gas controller or director
Cooled gas directed relative to cooled enclosure
C062S412000, C062S440000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06347530
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to refrigerators and, more particularly, to a cooling air supplying structure for a refrigerator having cantilever shelves, which is capable of supplying cooling air to all the divisions of its refrigerator compartment at the same time without the loss of the usability of the shelves, thereby reducing the temperature difference in its refrigerator compartment without side effects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIGS. 1
a
and
1
b
are sectional views showing the general construction of a conventional refrigerator having cantilever shelves and, particularly, the cooling air circulating structure of the refrigerator.
As illustrated in the drawings, the interior of the refrigerator is divided into a freezer compartment
10
and a refrigerator compartment
30
by means of a barrier
20
that is filled with adiabatic material. An evaporator
12
, through which a coolant of low temperature and low pressure passes, is mounted to the interior of a heat exchange chamber
11
that is situated in the rear portion of the freezer compartment
10
. A fan
14
is provided over the evaporator
12
so as to forcibly send cooling air, which is generated in the evaporator
12
, to the freezer compartment
10
and the refrigerator compartment
30
.
A cooling air supplying passage
22
, through which cooling air generated in the evaporator
12
of the heat exchange chamber
11
is supplied to the refrigerator compartment
30
, and an air returning passage
24
, through which air warmed while being circulated in the refrigerator compartment
30
is returned toward the evaporator
12
, are formed in the barrier
20
.
Referring to the drawings, the interior structure of the refrigerator compartment
30
is described in the following.
As shown in the drawings, the lower end of the cooling air supplying passage
22
formed in the barrier
20
is connected to a cooling air discharging unit
32
. The cooling air discharging unit
32
is widely formed in the ceiling of the refrigerating compartment
30
and serves to discharge the cooling air supplied to the refrigerating compartment
30
to the lower portion of the interior of the refrigerating compartment
30
. Additionally, a vegetable compartment
36
is provided in the lower portion of the refrigerator compartment
30
, and a machine room M, in which a compressor, etc. are mounted, is formed in the lower, rear portion of the refrigerator.
The above-described construction is different from the construction of a general refrigerator without having cantilever shelves. In the construction of the general refrigerator without cantilever shelves, a cooling air supplying duct is vertically formed behind the refrigerator compartment
30
and on the cooling air supplying duct, a plurality of cooling air discharging holes are respectively formed on the divisions of the refrigerator compartment, thereby supplying cooling air to each of the divisions.
It is due to the mounting structure of cantilever shelves that the construction of the refrigerator having cantilever shelves is different from the construction of a general refrigerator.
Referring to
FIG. 1
b
, the mounting structure of cantilever shelves is described in detail.
Generally, each of cantilever shelves
34
comprises a shelf body (not shown) on which food, drink, etc. are positioned and a support bracket (not shown) that is used to mount the shelf body to the interior of the refrigerator compartment
30
. As illustrated in
FIG. 1
b
, a plurality of shelf channels
38
a
each having a plurality of engagement holes
38
a
′ are vertically mounted on the inner case
38
of the refrigerator compartment
30
. The shelf channels
38
a
serve to retain the cantilever shelves
34
with the hooks of the support brackets respectively inserted into and engaged with the engagement holes
38
a
′ of the shelf channels
38
a.
In order to retain cantilever shelves
34
securely, two side shelves and one central shelf channel
38
a
are respectively and vertically mounted to both side portions and the central portion of the inner case
38
of the refrigerator chamber
30
. In such a case, the mounting position of the central shelf channel
38
a
conflicts with the mounting position of the cooling air supplying duct of the general refrigerator without the cantilever shelves. Therefore, it is difficult that the refrigerator compartment
30
of the refrigerator having cantilever shelves is provided with the cooling air supplying duct.
Hereinafter, the circulation of the cooling air in the refrigerator having cantilever shelves is described with reference to
FIGS. 1
a
and
1
b.
Of the cooling air that is generated in the evaporator
12
mounted in the heat exchange chamber
11
of the refrigerator, a portion and the remaining portion of the cooling air are respectively supplied to the freezer compartment
10
and the refrigerator compartment
30
by means of the fan
14
.
The cooling air that is supplied to the refrigerator compartment
30
descends down to the cooling air discharge unit
32
formed in the ceiling of the refrigerator compartment
30
through the cooling air supplying passage
22
formed in the barrier
20
. The cooling air discharged from the cooling air discharge unit
32
enters the interior of the refrigerator compartment
30
, and, subsequently, is supplied to divisions partitioned by the cantilever shelves
34
and the vegetable compartment
36
over a certain period of time.
The cooling air supplied to the refrigerator compartment
30
through the process is warmed in the process of the heat exchange with items stored in the refrigerator compartment
30
, and the warmed air is returned toward the evaporator
12
through the air returning passage
24
formed in the barrier
20
.
The coolant exchanges heat with the air in the evaporator
12
of the freezer compartment
10
. The evaporated gaseous coolant enters the compressor
40
mounted in the machine room M. The coolant that has entered the compressor
40
is compressed and, thereafter, sent to a condenser (not shown). The condensed liquid coolant of low temperature and high pressure is depressurized in a capillary tube (not shown) and, thereafter, supplied to the evaporator
12
of the freezer compartment
10
. This cycle is repeated continuously.
However, the conventional refrigerator having cantilever shelves has the following defects.
As illustrated in
FIG. 1
b
, the cooling air supplied to the refrigerator compartment
30
is discharged via the cooling air discharging unit
32
formed in the ceiling of the refrigerator compartment
30
, and, subsequently, is supplied from an uppermost cantilever shelf to a lowermost cantilever shelf over a certain period of time. As a result, the air of relatively high temperature reaches the lower shelves, which decreases its cooling speed. This hinders the interior of the refrigerator compartment
30
from being cooled uniformly. Additionally, since it is difficult for a consumer to confirm whether the cooling air reaches the lowermost shelf only by eyesight, the consumer cannot be convinced of the cooling performance of the refrigerator.
The reason for this is that the cooling air supplying duct cannot be mounted to the center portion of the inner case
38
of the refrigerator chamber
30
because the central shelf channel
38
a
is vertically mounted to the central portion of the inner case
38
of the refrigerator chamber
30
.
On the other hand, when the cooling air supplying duct is mounted to the inner case
38
of the refrigerator compartment
30
while the cantilever shelves
34
are supported by means of the two side shelf channels
38
a
without the central cantilever channel
38
a
, the weight of the items that can be put on the cantilever shelves
34
is limited because the support force for the retaining of the cantilever shelves
34
is decreased.
Incidentally, when the cooling air supplying duct and the central shelf channel
38
a
are mounted to the inner case
38
of the refr
Doerrler William
Fleshner & Kim LLP
Jones Melvin
LG Electronics Inc.
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