Refrigeration – Gas controller or director – Cooled gas directed relative to cooled enclosure
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-20
2002-06-11
Tanner, Harry B. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Gas controller or director
Cooled gas directed relative to cooled enclosure
C062S438000, C062S382000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06401481
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display portion of a refrigerator and a rapid refrigerating function.
2. Discussion of Background
FIG. 10
is a front view of a conventional refrigerator.
FIG. 11
is a cross-sectional view of
FIG. 10
for illustrating an inside of the conventional refrigerator. In
FIGS. 10 and 11
, the refrigerator is constructed by a freezing chamber
5
, a refrigerating chamber
1
, a chilling chamber
10
, and a vegetable chamber
4
. Numerical reference
6
designates a handle as a secure hand, formed on a door of the refrigerator. Numerical reference
11
designates a temperature controller, formed on a back surface of the refrigerating chamber
1
. Therefore, in order to access the temperature controller for controlling a temperature inside the refrigerator
1
, it is necessary to widely open the door, wherein an increment of the temperature inside the refrigerator is caused and a hand cannot be easily reached to the back surface of the refrigerating chamber
1
. Further, a current setting can be checked by opening and closing the door, whereby the temperature controller is not easily used.
FIG. 12
illustrates a conventional refrigerator having a structure similar to that described in
FIGS. 10 and 11
. This conventional refrigerator is constructed by a freezing chamber
5
, a refrigerating chamber
1
, a chilling chamber
10
, and a vegetable chamber
4
, wherein a temperature controller
11
is located on a front surface of a door for the freezing chamber
5
.
Even though the temperature controller
11
is located outside the refrigerator, not inside this, the position of the temperature controller is not in alignment with an eye line and is not observed without unconsciousness. Therefore, in cases that a setting is not appropriate and a temperature increment inside the refrigerator is displayed, adjustments are not sufficiently quick to avoid an influence to freshness of foods. Further, because the temperature controller
11
is located in the freezing chamber
5
, not like the temperature controller
11
in the refrigerating chamber
1
illustrated in
FIGS. 10 and 11
, there is a temperature difference from an outer air of about −18° C. Therefore, frost is generated when a sufficient thermal insulation in not realized at where the temperature controller
11
is located. Adversely, in case that a sufficient thermal insulation is realized, there are problems that the temperature controller
11
protrudes from the door surface to affect a design, an adjustment of the temperature is changed at time of opening and closing the door by striking against walls, furnitures and so on, and similar situations to those described above occurs.
FIG. 13
illustrates a conventional refrigerator, constructed by a refrigerating chamber
1
, a vegetable chamber
4
, and a pair of vertically arranged freezing chambers
5
, wherein a temperature controller
11
is located in the refrigerating chamber
1
. Although the temperature controller
11
is located at a lower position of the refrigerator than that in
FIG. 12
, children easily operate the temperature controller
11
to erroneously change a temperature setting, whereby there is a possibility that foods are frozen or rotted.
FIG. 14
illustrates a conventional refrigerator constructed by a refrigerating chamber
1
, a vegetable chamber
4
, and a freezing chamber
5
from up to down, wherein a temperature controller
11
is located in the refrigerating chamber
1
. Although the temperature controller
11
is located on an upper portion of the door in an uppermost stage of the refrigerator having a low height. Although this position of the temperature controller
11
is easily accessible at time of using the refrigerator, because electronical components such as a board is included in the temperature controller, there are many cases that the refrigerator is damaged under a packed state by a pressure, and various objects are put on a top of the refrigerator because of its low height, whereby problems such that the refrigerator is destroyed by a collision with an object, and moisture intrudes into the refrigerator.
Further, in a case that the refrigerator is installed along a wall and cases similar thereto, because the temperature controller
11
is located in upper and lower portions and so on of a center of the door, as illustrated in
FIGS. 10
,
11
,
12
, a display portion is occasionally destroyed by striking against a wall, a pillar and so on at time of opening the door. Therefore, it is necessary to cover using a lid and so on, and provide a locking mechanism for the door and other means similar thereto.
FIG. 15
is a detailed view of the temperature controller
11
, illustrated in, for example,
FIGS. 10 through 14
. In the figures, numerical reference
11
a
designates an LED display portion for showing a state of temperature control. Numerical reference
11
b
designates a switch for controlling the temperature control. The temperature controller
11
is horizontally extending for separately serve by each chamber of the refrigerator. The temperature controller
11
is constructed by LED display portions
11
a
and switch portions
11
b
, both respectively corresponding to the chambers. However, such an arrangement of the LED display portions
11
a
and the switch portions
11
b
can not be easily distinguished because only labels of a freezing chamber temperature control, a refrigerating chamber temperature control, and a chilling chamber temperature control are displayed, whereby there is a possibility that a wrong chamber is erroneously controlled because it is not instinctively know which label corresponds to which chamber. Further, because the switch portion
11
b
is arranged adjacent to the LED display portion
11
a
, and the switch portions
11
b
are arranged on left and right sides of the LED display portion
11
a
, a hand of an operator covers the LED display portion
11
a
at time of controlling the temperature, and the operator can not observe the LED display portion
11
a
, whereby the operation is difficult.
FIG. 16
illustrates a relationship between a display of a set condition in a function of setting the temperature by the temperature controller
11
and a range of temperature changes with respect to a medium mode indicator in the temperature controller. In
FIG. 16
, an abscissa represents a content of the display by the LED display portion
11
a
of the temperature controller
11
, and an ordinate represents the range of the temperature change [deg] with respect to the medium mode in setting the temperature. For example, when the LED display portion
11
a
indicates a low mode, a temperature higher than the medium mode by 3° C. is set. In this case, there is one step between the medium mode and the low mode. Therefore, it is possible to set temperatures higher and lower than the medium mode by 1.5° C. When it is required to minutely set the temperature less than 1.5° C., the LED display should be expanded. However, there is no sufficient space for expanding the LED display, a cost therefor is increased; and a more minute control can not be attained for food to be easily frozen. In order to avoid the freezing of the foods, it is always necessary to increase the temperature by 1.5° C. or more, whereby a keeping quality is deteriorated. Adversely, when it is required to cool the foods, these are excessively cooled, whereby an energy can not be saved.
In a conventional refrigerators, when a large amount of foods are stored into the refrigerator at time of purchasing the large amount of foods and under a situation similar thereto, for example, a high mode is selected in the temperature controller
11
so as to quickly cool the foods for rapidly decreasing the temperature. However, in such a case, foods like tofu especially containing much moisture are apt to freeze because the temperature setting is still low after quickly cooling the foods. Thus there is a problem that an electric power consumption is useless.
The con
Hiraoka Toshie
Ohya Keiji
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