Patent Application
20230050656
The present disclosure relates to balancing pressure within a freezer compartment of a refrigerator.
Refrigeration appliances (generally referred to as refrigerators) typically include a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment. The refrigerator compartment is configured to contain fresh food and produce at a cool temperature. The freezer compartment is configured to contain frozen food and keep it frozen. One or more doors provide access to the refrigerator compartment, and a separate door provides access to the freezer compartment.
The refrigerator may include a single evaporator cooling system in which a single evaporator cools air to be directed to both the freezer compartment and refrigerator compartment. Alternatively, the refrigerator may include a dual evaporator cooling system in which two separate evaporators are provided, one for each of the freezer compartment and refrigerator compartment.
Refrigerators may also include ice maker compartment for making ice. In refrigerators with dual evaporator cooling systems, the ice maker compartment may be located in the refrigerator compartment, e.g., accessed by opening the door to the refrigerator compartment. In order to cool the water and turn it into ice, freezer compartment evaporator air is required. By sending air from the freezer compartment to the ice maker compartment via a supply duct, a return duct is integrated to balance the pressure difference created by sending freezer compartment air to a different location within the refrigerator.
According to one embodiment, a refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator may include a refrigerator compartment, a freezer compartment, an ice maker compartment, a machine compartment, a first evaporator, a second evaporator, and a pressure balancing conduit. The ice maker compartment may be configured to store ice and receive air from the freezer compartment. The machine compartment may be located outside the freezer and ice maker compartments and may house one or more of a compressor, a condenser, a fan, or a coolant tank. The first evaporator may be configured to cool air within the refrigerator compartment. The second evaporator may be configured to cool air within the freezer compartment. The pressure balancing conduit may be configured to balance air pressure within the freezer compartment. As an example, the pressure balancing conduit may fluidly connect the freezer to the machine compartment where ambient air is disposed.
According to another embodiment, a refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator may include a refrigerator compartment, a freezer compartment, a back panel, an ice maker compartment, a first evaporator, a second evaporator, and a pressure balancing conduit. The ice maker compartment may be configured to store ice and receive air from the freezer compartment. The first evaporator may be configured to cool air within the refrigerator compartment. The second evaporator may be configured to cool air within the freezer compartment. The pressure balancing conduit may be disposed between one or more of the refrigerator or freezer compartments and the back panel to fluidly connect the freezer compartment to the refrigerator compartment. The pressure balancing conduit may be configured to balance air pressure within the freezer compartment.
According to yet another embodiment, a refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator may include a refrigerator compartment, a freezer compartment, an ice maker compartment, a first evaporator, a second evaporator, and a pressure balancing conduit. The ice maker compartment may be configured to store ice and receive air from the freezer compartment. The first evaporator may be configured to cool air within the refrigerator compartment. The second evaporator may be configured to cool air within the freezer compartment. The pressure balancing conduit may fluidly connect the ice maker compartment to the freezer compartment to balance air pressure within the freezer.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments may take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the embodiments. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures may be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations.
This invention is not limited to the specific embodiments and methods described below, as specific components and/or conditions may, of course, vary. Furthermore, the terminology used herein is used only for the purpose of describing particular embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to be limiting in any way.
As used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular form “a,” “an,” and “the” comprise plural referents unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. For example, reference to a component in the singular is intended to comprise a plurality of components.
The term “substantially” or “about” may be used herein to describe disclosed or claimed embodiments. The term “substantially” or “about” may modify a value or relative characteristic disclosed or claimed in the present disclosure. In such instances, “substantially” or “about” may signify that the value or relative characteristic it modifies is within ±0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% or 10% of the value or relative characteristic.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). The term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
The refrigerator 100 may be a French-Door Bottom Mount type, but it is understood that this disclosure could apply to any type of refrigerator, such as a side-by-side, two-door bottom mount, or a top-mount type. The refrigerator 100 may include a refrigerator compartment 106 and a freezer compartment 108. The refrigerator compartment 106 may be configured to refrigerate and not freeze consumables within the refrigerator compartment 106 and the freezer compartment 108 may be configured to freeze consumables within the freezer compartment 108. The refrigerator 100 includes walls 110 that may form portions of the refrigerator compartment 106 and the freezer compartment 108. The refrigerator 100 may include one or more doors 112, 114 that provide selective access to the interior volume of the refrigerator 100 where consumables may be stored. As shown, the refrigerator compartment doors are designated 112, and the freezer door is designated 114. It may also be shown that the refrigerator compartment 106 may only have one door 112.
The refrigerant may travel through first and second passages 134, 136. The first passage 134 may route fluid to a first evaporator 138 and the second passage 136 may route fluid to the second evaporator 140. The separated refrigerant may be passed through coils of the first evaporator 138 and coils of the second evaporator 140. Air may be passed over the coils so that the coils of the first and second evaporators 138, 140 are cooled. Air that is cooled by the first evaporator 138 can be directed or delivered to the refrigerator compartment 106, while air that is cooled by the second evaporator can be directed or delivered to the freezer compartment 108. This is only exemplary and may be in reverse order. Having separate evaporators dedicated to separate compartments of the refrigerator 100 may allow the refrigerator 100 to operate the cooling system 122 less frequently, which may provide greater efficiency in operating the refrigerator 100. Dual-evaporator cooling systems such as the one depicted in
The dual-evaporator cooling system 122 depicted is merely one example for illustration purposes and is not intended to be limited to only the illustrated layout. Placements, locations, orientations, and numbers of devices such as expansion valves 132 along the dual-evaporator cooling system 122 is merely exemplary.
Generally, dual evaporator systems configured to cool separate compartments, such as the refrigerator compartment 106 and the freezer compartment 108, the compartments 106, 108 are fluidly isolated. In other words, the refrigerator compartment 106 and the freezer compartment 108 are arranged with respect to one another so that air disposed in the refrigerator compartment 106 is not exchanged with air disposed in the freezer compartment 108 and vice-versa. A number of gaskets or seals may be used to prevent refrigerated air from leaking from or ambient air from escaping the freezer and refrigerator compartments 106, 108. However, despite the use of seals and gaskets invariably some external air enters or escapes the refrigerator and freezer compartments 106, 108. On the other hand, the ice maker compartment 104 may be fluidly connected to the freezer compartment 108 so that air that cools the ice maker compartment 104 and air that cools the freezer compartment 108 may be exchanged.
Transferring or transmitting cold air from the freezer compartment 108 to the ice maker compartment 104 may cause a pressure differential between the refrigerator compartment 106 and the freezer compartment 108. In other words, because air is being pushed out from the freezer compartment 108 to the ice maker compartment 104, a vacuum may occur and air pressure within the freezer compartment 108 may be less than air pressure of the refrigerator compartment 106 or pressure of ambient air surrounding portions of the ice maker compartment 108 including a machine compartment 142. As stated above, the freezer compartment 108 may include a number of seals or gaskets that may be configured to prevent air from moving between the refrigerator compartment 106 and the freezer compartment 108. However, the gaskets and seals may leak and allow some air move between the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment 108. This leakage may lead to frost in the freezer compartment 108, specifically near the gaskets and seals.
If pressure within the freezer compartment 108 is lower than the pressure in the refrigerator compartment 106 or other portions of the refrigerator 100, warmer air such as ambient air may travel through one or more of the ducts 144, 146 and enter the freezer compartment 108. The warmer air may mix with the colder air in the freezer compartment 108, condensate, and create frost or ice within the freezer compartment. Ice or frost in the freezer may be an inconvenience and an annoyance for consumers. Some consumers may associate frost in the freezer as indicative of poor quality and craftsmanship and may lead to additional service calls, returns, warranty claims, and less brand loyalty.
In one or more embodiments, a pressure recouping or pressure balancing device may be provided to address one or more of the conditions described above. The pressure balancing device may be configured to balance air pressure of air contained in the freezer compartment 108 and air disposed in the refrigerator compartment 106 and air surrounding the freezer compartment 108. Balancing the air pressure within the freezer compartment may mitigate the pressure differential and prevent the warmer air in the refrigerator compartment 106 and surrounding areas from entering the freezer compartment 108 having a lower pressure. The warmer air may be routed to a one or more controlled or contained areas where the air may be condensed into a condensate, such as a fluid or vapor mixture and drained from the refrigerator 100. The contained areas may include an evaporator and the warmer air may be passed over the evaporator to condense the warmer air to the condensate.
As described above, under certain circumstances the pressure within the freezer compartment 108 may be less than pressure in the refrigerator compartment 106. The pressure balancing conduit 156 may route air from the refrigerator compartment 106 to the freezer compartment 108 so that air pressure in the freezer compartment is increased. As an example, the air returned to the freezer compartment 108 may be passed over the second evaporator 140 to condense the returned air. The condensed return air may be drained through a drain in the freezer compartment 108.
Ambient air, such as the air disposed in the machine compartment 142 may be drawn through the drain 166, the vertical portion 172, the first transverse portion 170, and the first connection portion 164 to the freezer compartment 108. The air may be passed over the second evaporator 140 to condense the air so that it condensates and drains through the drain 166 to a drip pan disposed beneath the bottom portion 168. A second vertical portion 176 may be disposed between the first connection portion 164 and the transverse portion 170. As an example, the pressure balancing conduit 156, 174 may have an inner diameter that ranges between 0.5 inches and 1.5 inches.
In one or more embodiments, the first conduit 182 may be configured to route air from the ice maker compartment 104 to the freezer compartment 108, through the third end 190 to an outlet 198. The open end 186 may include an outlet 200 and the second conduit 184 may extend from the outlet 200 to the second end 188. The second end 188 may receive air from the freezer compartment 108 and route the air to the ice maker compartment 104. The first conduit may define an aperture 192 that may be configured to receive air from the refrigerator compartment 106. The aperture 192 may have a diameter that may range between 2 mm and 11 mm.
As an example, the first conduit 182 and the second conduit 184 may be connected to one another by an intermediate bracket 201. The pressure balancing conduit 180 including the first conduit 182, the second conduit 184, and the intermediate bracket 201 may be integrally formed to one another. For example, the pressure balancing conduit 180 may be formed by one or more plastic materials by injection molding.
The first portion 206 may be configured to receive a machine compartment coupling portion 214. The coupling portion 214 may include a threaded portion 216 that may engage the first portion 206. The coupling portion 214 may define an aperture 218 that may be open to the machine compartment 142. An arm 219 may extend from the coupling portion 214 and the arm 219 may be coupled to the machine compartment 142 through a vacuum valve (not illustrated). The coupling portion may define an aperture 228 that may be configured to receive air from the machine compartment 142.
A second arm 220 may extend from the vertical portion 206. The second arm may be fluidly coupled to the refrigerator compartment 106. As an example, a flange 222 may extend from the second arm 220 and define a drain 224 configured to receive condensed fluid from the refrigerator compartment 106. As pressure in the freezer compartment 106 decreases, air from the refrigerator compartment 106 may be routed through the drain 224 to the vertical portion 206 and the drain 212.
The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics may be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and may be desirable for particular applications.
