Refrigeration – Cooled enclosure
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-29
2003-03-25
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Cooled enclosure
C062S516000, C165S171000, C029S890038
Reexamination Certificate
active
06536227
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a refrigerator; and, more particularly, to a direct cooling type refrigerator.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Generally, a refrigerator is an apparatus for storing various foodstuffs in either a frozen or a refrigerated condition to extend the freshness of the foodstuffs for a long time. Such a refrigerator essentially includes a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator. The compressor circulates a refrigerant by compressing the refrigerant. The condenser serves to condense the refrigerant into a liquid phase, and the evaporator serves to generate a chilled air by evaporating the liquid phase refrigerant.
The refrigerator further includes a freezing chamber and/or a refrigerating chamber. The freezing chamber is alternatively referred to as a freezing compartment and serves to store frozen foods such as meats or an ice cream. The refrigerating chamber is alternatively referred to as a refrigerating compartment and serves to store foods at a lower temperature than a room temperature.
There have been developed various types of refrigerators to satisfy various needs, and a direct cooling type refrigerator is one of them. The direct cooling type refrigerator is alternatively referred to as a natural circulation type in which the chilled air naturally circulates in the freezing or the refrigerating chamber because of a temperature difference therebetween. The evaporator of the direct cooling type refrigerator usually directly contacts an inner case forming the freezing chamber and/or the refrigerating chamber.
With reference to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a conventional direct cooling type refrigerator
1
and problems thereof will be explained.
FIG. 1
shows a top plan view of the conventional direct cooling type refrigerator
1
while
FIG. 2
shows a cross-sectional view taken along a line II—II of FIG.
1
.
In
FIG. 1
, the direct cooling type refrigerator
1
includes a cabinet
2
, a door
50
assembled with the cabinet
2
, an inner liner
4
inside the cabinet
2
, and a freezing chamber and/or a refrigerating chamber
60
defined by the inner liner
4
. The inner liner
4
is alternatively referred to as an inner case. An evaporator (not shown), a condenser (not shown), and a compressor (not shown) are also contained in the direct cooling type refrigerator
1
. The door
50
and the cabinet
2
are assembled usually with, e.g., hinges (not. shown), such that the door
50
can open or close the freezing chamber and/or the refrigerating chamber
60
. If both the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber
60
are contained in the direct cooling type refrigerator
1
, the refrigerating chamber is usually disposed under the freezing chamber
60
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the conventional direct cooling type refrigerator
1
further includes a refrigerant pipe
10
and an insulator
20
. The refrigerant pipe
10
is disposed on the inner liner
4
and serves as the evaporator. The insulator
20
is interposed between the inner liner
4
and the cabinet
2
to insulate the freezing or the refrigerating chamber
60
. The insulator
20
is usually polyurethane, and the inner liner
4
is usually polystyrene. The inner liner
4
conventionally has a multiplicity of recesses
4
a
where the refrigerant pipe
10
is embedded to contact the inner liner
4
. The refrigerant pipe
10
is interposed between the inner liner
4
and the insulator
20
. The refrigerant is evaporated inside the refrigerant pipe
10
, thereby reducing the temperature of the freezing chamber
60
.
The conventional direct cooling type refrigerator
1
presents quite a few problems, e.g. a large temperature variation along the inner liner
4
. Because the refrigerant pipe
10
directly contacts the inner liner
4
only at the plurality of recesses
4
a
and the inner liner
4
is conventionally made of a heat-resistive material, temperature rapidly differs between a pipe-contacting portion and a non-pipe-contacting portion of the inner liner
4
. The above-mentioned temperature variation causes a low cooling efficiency of the conventional direct cooling type refrigerator
1
.
Another problem arises in that the inner liner
4
is produced by applying a technology of thermoforming a thermoplastic sheet. Such a technology presents quite a few drawbacks, e.g. difficulties in the dimensional control of the sheets. That is to say, the size, shape, depth, or position of the recesses
4
a
is difficult to be uniform throughout the overall inner liner
4
. If portions of the recesses
4
a
are irregularly formed, an assembly of the refrigerant pipe
10
and the inner liner
4
is difficult and therefore a point contact may exist therebetween. The above-mentioned point contact causes an irregular temperature variation along a longitudinal direction of the recesses
4
a.
Further, when the point contact exists between the refrigerant pipe
10
and inner liner
4
, a portion of the insulator
20
may penetrate into gaps formed therebetween because of the point contact. The penetrated portion of the insulator
20
prevents heat transfer between the refrigerant pipe
10
and the inner liner
4
, thereby deteriorating the cooling efficiency of the conventional direct cooling type refrigerator
1
.
On the other hand, because the refrigerant pipe
10
is very lengthy and the inner liner
4
is heat-resistive, a latent temperature variation exists along the refrigerant pipe
10
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator having a relatively lower temperature variation so as to present a high cooling efficiency. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a direct cooling type refrigerator including: an outer case; an inner case inside the outer case; a metal plate disposed on the inner case; an evaporator disposed on the metal plate; an insulator filling gaps between the inner case and the outer case; a first bonding means for attaching the metal plate on the inner case; and a second bonding means for joining the evaporator with the metal plate.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2014703 (1935-09-01), Smith
patent: 2625378 (1953-01-01), Nason
patent: 2992545 (1961-07-01), Walker
patent: 3251198 (1966-05-01), Cornelius
patent: 3827485 (1974-08-01), Hickman et al.
patent: 4172444 (1979-10-01), Atkinson
patent: 4739634 (1988-04-01), Watanabe
Anderson Kill & Olick PC
Daewoo Electronics Corporation
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