Concentrated cooling apparatus and refrigerator having the same

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6637225
  • Patent Number
    6,637,225
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, November 7, 2002
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 28, 2003
    20 years ago
Abstract
In a concentrated cooling apparatus and a refrigerator having the same capable of performing cooling operation instantly by discharging intensively cold air to a high-temperature load occurred region inside a chilling chamber, a concentrated cooling apparatus of a refrigerator includes housings respectively installed to at least one cold air guide path formed at the side wall of a chilling chamber in order to guide cold air to the side wall of the chilling chamber; a nozzle rotatively supported by the housings and jetting cold air intensively to a high-temperature load occurred region inside the chilling chamber when the high temperature load occurs at the certain region; a temperature sensor installed on the front of the nozzle, rotating with the nozzle and sensing the high-temperature load occurred region; and a nozzle driving unit installed at a certain side of the housings to rotate the nozzle.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and in particular to a concentrated cooling apparatus and a refrigerator having the same capable of performing instant cooling operation and maintaining a temperature inside a cooling chamber uniformly by jetting cold air intensively at a high-temperature load occurred region inside the chilling chamber.




2. Description of the Prior Art




In general, a refrigerator is partitioned into a freezing chamber for storing is frozen food and a chilling chamber for storing cold food, and it has a refrigerating cycle for supplying cold air into the freezing chamber and the chilling chamber.





FIG. 1

is a perspective-sectional view illustrating the conventional refrigerator, and

FIG. 2

is a sectional view illustrating a chilling chamber of the conventional refrigerator.




The conventional refrigerator consists of a main body


104


having a pair of doors


102


; a freezing chamber


106


placed on the left of the main body


104


and storing frozen food; a chilling chamber


108


partitioned from the freezing chamber


106


by a separation wall


110


, placed on the right side of the main body


104


and having plural shelves


114


for putting cold food; and a cold air supply unit supplied air cooled while passing the refrigerating cycle (not shown) to the freezing chamber


106


and the cooling chamber


108


.




The cold air supply unit includes a blower


120


installed at the upper rear surface of the freezing chamber


106


and forcibly ventilating air cooled while passing the refrigerating cycle; a panel


128


installed at the lower portion of the blower


120


and having plural cold air discharge holes


130


for discharging cold air inside the freezing chamber


106


; a cold air supply path


132


formed at the upper portion of the separation wall


110


in order to make the cold air ventilated from the blower


120


flow into the chilling chamber


108


; a cold air discharge duct


134


installed at the upper portion of the chilling chamber


108


, communicating with the cold air supply path


132


and discharging the air supplied from the cold air supply path


132


into the chilling chamber


108


; and a cold air inflow path


138


formed at the lower portion of the separation wall


110


and making the cold air finishing the cooling operation while circulating the chilling chamber


108


flow into the refrigerating cycle.




Herein, plural cold air discharge holes


136


for discharging cold air into the chilling chamber


108


are formed at the front and lower surfaces of the cold air discharge duct


134


.




And, a temperature sensor


140


is installed at a certain side of the chilling chamber


108


, when a temperature inside the chilling chamber


108


is not greater than a set value, cold air supply into the chilling chamber


108


is stopped, when a temperature inside the chilling chamber


108


is not less than a set value, cold air is supplied into the chilling chamber


108


.




In the conventional refrigerator, when the refrigerating cycle is operated and the blower


120


is circulated, cold air cooled while passing the refrigerating cycle is respectively discharged into cold air discharge holes


230


of a panel


128


and the cold air supply path


132


by the ventilation pressure of the blower


120


.




The cold air discharged into the cold air discharge holes


130


performs the cooling operation of frozen food stored in the freezing chamber


106


while circulating inside the freezing chamber


106


.




And, the cold air supplied to the cold air supply path


132


flows into the cold air discharge duct


134


and is discharged into the chilling chamber


108


through cold air discharge holes


136


formed on the cold air discharge duct


134


. The cold air discharged into the chilling chamber


108


performs the cooling operation of cold food stored in the chilling chamber


108


while circulating inside the chilling chamber


108


, and the cold air finishing the cooling operation flows into the cold air inflow path


138


formed at the lower portion of the separation wall


110


and is cooled again while passing the refrigerating cycle.




However, in the conventional refrigerator, a cold air discharge duct is installed at the upper portion of a chilling chamber, cold air is supplied from the upper portion to the lower portion of the chilling chamber through cold air discharge holes formed on the cold air discharge duct, a temperature variation inside the chilling chamber is big according to a distance from the cold air discharge holes. And, because cold air is discharged only from the cold air discharge duct, when a high temperature load occurs due to foodstuff stored inside the chilling chamber, etc., lots of time is required for equalizing a temperature inside the chilling chamber, and freshness of the foodstuff stored in the chilling chamber may be lowered due to delay in cooling.




In addition, because a temperature sensor and cold air discharge holes are fixed at a certain region, there are some difficulties to detect a temperature of a certain portions of the chilling chamber through the temperature sensor and cold air are discharged onto only limited region, herein, when a load occurs on the certain regions, lots of time is required for solving the temperature variation, and accordingly a temperature inside the chilling chamber may not be uniformly maintained.




In particular, because the cold air discharge holes are formed at the rear of the chilling chamber, cold air supply is concentrated on the rear and center portions of the chilling chamber around the cold air discharge holes, foodstuff stored on that portions may be excessively cooled, in addition, foodstuff stored on portions separated from the cold air discharge holes may be weakly cooled.




In more detail, the temperature variation inside the chilling chamber is big according to a distance from the cold air discharge holes, and accordingly a temperature distribution inside the chilling chamber may not be uniform.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a concentrated cooling apparatus and a refrigerator having the same capable of equalizing a temperature variation inside a chilling chamber instantly by installing a concentrated cooling apparatus inside the chilling chamber and discharging cold air intensively on a high-temperature load occurred region inside the chilling chamber and maintaining freshness of foodstuff stored in the chilling chamber by improving a cooling speed on the high-temperature load occurred region.




In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a concentrated cooling apparatus of a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention includes housings respectively installed to at least one cold air guide path formed at the side wall of a chilling chamber in order to guide cold air to the side wall of the chilling chamber; a nozzle rotatively supported by the housings and jetting cold air intensively to a high-temperature load occurred region inside the chilling chamber; a temperature sensor installed on the front of the nozzle rotating with the nozzle and sensing the high-temperature load occurred region; and a nozzle driving unit installed at a certain side of the housings to rotate the nozzle.




The housing installed a cold air guide hole formed on the cold air guide path so as to communicate with each other, and the other housing is an cover installed to the open upper surface of the housing so as to expose the nozzle to the front thereof.




The housing having a contact protrusion is inwardly formed from the bottom central portion of the housing so as to contact with the nozzle, and plural first support rollers are installed at the circumference of the contact protrusion to support the nozzle rotatively.




A first hot wire is installed on the inner circumference of the contact protrusion to prevent frozen over on the contact portion with the nozzle.




The cover is formed a insert hole for receiving the nozzle rotatively, and plural second support rollers are installed at the lower surface of the cover to support the nozzle rotatively.




A second hot wire is installed on the lower surface of the cover to prevent frozen over on the portion contacted to the nozzle.




The nozzle is inserted into the nozzle insertion hole of the lower housing, the upper portion thereof is exposed to the inside of the chilling chamber, and the lower surface is rotatively contacted to the outer circumference of the contact protrusion of the lower housing, a cold air jet hole for jetting cold air into the chilling chamber is formed on the nozzle so as to be eccentric as a certain degree from the upper surface of the nozzle, and a insert groove for receiving the temperature sensor is formed on the upper surface of the nozzle.




The upper surface of the nozzle exposed to the chilling chamber is a semi-globular shape.




The upper surface of the nozzle exposed to the chilling chamber is a flat shape.




The cold air jet hole is slant at a certain angle to the lower central surface of the nozzle, and an inlet thereof for discharging cold air is formed so as to be eccentric to the center of the nozzle to a certain side.




The insert groove has a certain slant angle to make the temperature sensor slant to the upper surface of the nozzle at a certain angle.




The temperature sensor is an infrared sensor sensing a temperature by receiving infrared light radiated from a heat source at the front of the cold air jet hole.




The nozzle driving unit includes a gear box installed at the side of the housing and combining plural gears; a driving motor disposed in the hear box and generating a driving force; and a nozzle supporting member connected to the nozzle by a connection rod and transmitting the driving force of the driving motor by being engaged with a driving shaft of the driving motor and plural gears.




The driving motor is a stepping motor.




The nozzle supporting member consists of a disc portion at which the gear and a gear teethare formed at the outer circumference; and a cylinder portion vertically extended from the disc portion, having the connection rod and rotatively supported by contacting to the second support roller.




A refrigerator having a concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention includes a cold air supply path formed at the rear of a chilling chamber and supplying air ventilated by a blower; a cold air discharge duct installed at the upper portion of the chilling chamber and having plural cold air discharge holes communicating with the cold air supply path to discharge cold air into the chilling chamber; plural cold air guide paths formed at the side wall of the chilling chamber so as to communicate with the cold air supply path in order to guide cold air to the side wall of the chilling chamber; a nozzle rotatively installed at each cold air guide hole formed at the cold air guide paths respectively and jetting cold air intensively to a high-temperature load occurred region; a temperature sensor installed at the front of the nozzle and sensing a hightemperature load occurred region while rotating with the nozzle; and a nozzle driving unit for rotating the nozzle.




A damper is installed on the cold air supply path in order to open/close cold air flowing into the chilling chamber and open/close cold air supply to the cold air discharge duct.




The damper is rotatively installed on the upper surface of the cold air supply path by a hinge shaft, and the hinge shaft is connected to a driving unit.




Each nozzle is vertically installed at the left wall of the chilling chamber at regular intervals.




Each nozzle is vertically installed at the right wall of the chilling chamber at regular intervals.




Each nozzle is vertically installed at the left and right walls of the chilling chamber at regular intervals.




Each nozzle is installed at a portion on the side wall of the chilling chamber near to a door.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.




In the drawings:





FIG. 1

is a perspective-sectional view illustrating the conventional refrigerator;





FIG. 2

is a sectional view illustrating a chilling chamber of the conventional refrigerator;





FIG. 3

is a perspective-sectional view illustrating a refrigerator having a concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a sectional view illustrating the refrigerator having the concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 5

is a perspective-sectional view illustrating the concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 6

is a sectional view illustrating the concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention;




FIGS.


7


˜


9


are sectional views illustrating a structure of each part of the concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 10

is a sectional view illustrating another embodiment of a nozzle of the concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention; and





FIG. 11

is a sectional view illustrating a nozzle supporting member of the concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Hereinafter, the preferred embodiment of a refrigerator having a concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention will be described with reference to accompanying drawings.




There can be plural embodiments of a refrigerator having a concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention, hereinafter, the preferred embodiment will be described.





FIG. 3

is a perspective-sectional view illustrating a refrigerator having a concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention.




The refrigerator in accordance with the present invention includes a main body


2


on which a door (not shown) open/closed in two ways installed on the front; a freezing chamber


4


placed on the left or right of the main body


2


and storing frozen food; a chilling chamber


6


partitioned from the freezing chamber


4


by a separation wall


8


and storing cold food; a refrigerating cycle (not shown) installed at a certain side of the main body


2


and generating cold air; a cold air supply unit for supplying air cooled while passing the refrigerating cycle to the freezing chamber


4


and the cooling chamber


6


; and a concentrated cooling apparatus, etc. for jetting cold air intensively to a high-temperature load occurred region.




The cold air supply unit includes a blower


12


installed at the upper rear surface of the freezing chamber


4


and forcibly ventilating air cooled while passing the refrigerating cycle; a panel


14


installed at the lower portion of the blower


12


and having plural discharge holes


13


for discharging cold air from the blower


12


into the freezing chamber


4


; a cold air supply path


15


formed at the upper portion of the separation wall


8


; and a cold air discharge duct


17


installed at the upper portion of the chilling chamber


6


, communicating with the cold air supply path


15


and having cold air discharge holes


16


for discharging cold air into the chilling chamber


6


.




And, a cold air inflow path


18


is formed at the lower portion of the separation wall


8


to make the cold air finishing the cooling operation while circulating the chilling chamber


6


flow into the refrigerating cycle.




The concentrated cooling apparatus consists of at least one cold air guide path


19


extended from the cold air supply path


15


and formed at a side wall of the chilling chamber


6


in order to guide cold air to the side wall of the chilling chamber


6


; and each cold air jet unit


10


connected to the cold air guide path, respectively installed at the side walls of the chilling chamber


6


and jetting cold air to the high-temperature load occurred region.




A damper


20


is installed on the cold air supply path


15


in order to open/cut cold air flowing into the chilling chamber


6


or open/close the cold air supply duct


17


and the cold air guide path


19


selectively.




The damper


20


has a disc shape and is rotatively installed at the upper side surface of the cold air supply path


15


by a hinge shaft


22


. And, the hinge shaft


22


is connected to a driving unit (not shown), when the driving unit


22


is operated, the damper


20


is rotated.




In more detail, as depicted in

FIG. 4

, by the operation of the driving unit, when the damper


20


is placed on a first position (L), cold air supply to the chilling chamber


6


is cut off, when the damper


20


is placed on a second position (M), cold air supply to the cold air discharge duct


17


is cut off, when the damper


20


is placed on a third position (N), cold air is supplied to the cold air guide path


19


and the cold air discharge duct


17


.





FIG. 5

is a perspective-sectional view illustrating the cold air jetting unit in accordance with the present invention, and

FIG. 6

is a sectional view illustrating the cold air jetting unit in accordance with the present invention.




The cold air jet unit


10


includes housings


34


,


36


respectively installed on the cold air guide path


19


at regular intervals; a nozzle


40


rotatively supported by the housings


34


,


36


and jetting cold air to the high-temperature load occurred region; a temperature sensor


60


installed on the front of the nozzle


40


, rotating with the nozzle


40


and sensing the high-temperature load occurred region inside the chilling chamber


6


; and a nozzle driving unit


42


for rotating the nozzle


40


.




The housing


36


installed each cold air guide hole


24


formed on the cold air guide path


19


, and a cover


34


installed on the open upper surface of the housing


36


.




Herein, as depicted in

FIG. 7

, in the housing


36


having the cylindrical shape, the upper portion is open, a contact protrusion


44


is formed from the bottom central portion inwardlly so as to contact with the nozzle


40


, and plural first support rollers


46


for rotatively supporting the nozzle


40


are installed at the circumference of the contact protrusion


44


at regular intervals. And, the nozzle driving unit


42


is installed at the side of the housing


36


, and a gear insertion hole


48


for inserting a gear of the nozzle driving unit


42


is formed at the side of the housing


36


.




Herein, the contact protrusion


44


communicates with the cold air guide hole


24


of the cold air guide path


19


, the upper surface of the contact protrusion


44


is a curved shape so as to facilitate the rotation in the contact state with the nozzle


40


, a first hot wire


50


is installed on the circumference of the contact protrusion


44


, and accordingly it is possible to prevent frozen over on the contact portion between the nozzle


40


and the contact protrusion


44


.




It is preferable to form the first hot wire


50


as a film type heater installed on the inner circumference of the contact protrusion


44


, when power is applied, by heating the contact protrusion


44


, frozen over on the contact portion between the nozzle


40


and the contact protrusion


44


due to the cold air discharged into the chilling chamber


6


can be prevented.




As depicted in

FIG. 8

, in the cover


34


having a nozzle insertion hole


52


for inserting the nozzle


40


is formed at the central portion, and plural second support rollers


54


are installed at the lower surface of the cover


34


in the circumferential direction of the nozzle insertion hole


42


at regular intervals. And, a second hot wire


56


is installed on the internal surface of the cover


34


in the circumferential direction, and accordingly it is possible to prevent frozen over on the portion contacted to the nozzle


40


.




Herein, it is preferable to form the second hot wire


56


as a film type heater, when power is applied, it heats the cover


34


. And, the housing


36


and the cover


34


are combined with each other by bolts


58


.




As depicted in

FIG. 9

, the nozzle


40


has a semi-globular shape, is inserted into the nozzle insertion hole


52


of the cover


34


, the upper portion the nozzle


40


is exposed to the front of the cover


34


, and the lower inner circumference of the nozzle


40


is contacted to the contact protrusion


44


of the housing


36


.




And, a cold air jet hole


38


for jetting cold air into the chilling chamber


6


is formed at a portion eccentric to the center of the nozzle


40


, and a temperature sensor


60


for detecting a temperature inside the chilling chamber


6


is installed on the upper surface of the nozzle


40


. And, a connection rod


62


is formed at the lower portion of the nozzle


40


as one body so as to be connected with the nozzle driving unit


42


, and a cylindrical guide portion


64


rotatively supported by the first support roller


46


of the housing


36


is formed at the lower portion of the nozzle


40


.




Herein, the cold air jet hole


38


is slant at a certain angle to the bottom center surface of the nozzle


40


, and an inlet thereof for discharging cold air is formed at a portion eccentric to the center of the nozzle


40


.




And, the temperature sensor


60


is installed at a insert groove


66


formed at the eccentric portion of the nozzle


40


, it is preferable to construct the temperature sensor as an infrared sensor sensing a temperature by receiving infrared light radiated from the heat source of the front of the cold air jet hole


38


.





FIG. 10

is a sectional view illustrating another embodiment of a nozzle of the concentrated cooling apparatus in accordance with the present invention.




A nozzle


92


in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention has the same structure as that of the nozzle of the first embodiment. Only, the upper surface


94


exposed to the front of the cover


34


is flat.




In more detail, the nozzle


92


is inserted into the nozzle insertion hole


52


of the cover


34


, the upper portion exposed to the front of the cover


34


is flat, the cold air jet hole


38


is formed eccentrically, and the temperature sensor


60


is installed at the insert groove


66


formed at the side of the upper surface so as to be slant at a certain angle.




The nozzle driving unit


42


includes a gear box


70


installed at the side of the housing


36


; a driving motor


72


disposed in the gear box


70


and generating a driving force; and a nozzle supporting member


82


fixed by the connection rod


62


of the nozzle


40


and connected to the driving motor


72


by plural gears so as to transmit the driving force of the driving motor


72


to the nozzle


40


.




It is preferable to use a stepping motor rotated at a certain step angle as the driving motor


72


.




As depicted in

FIG. 11

, the nozzle supporting member


82


consists of an disc portion


84


so as to receive the outer circumference of the guide portion


64


of the nozzle


40


; and a cylinder portion


86


vertically extended from the disc portion


84


and having an installation hole


88


for receiving the connection rod


62


.




Herein, a gear teeth


90


engaged with the gear is formed at the outer circumference of the disc portion


84


, and the inner circumference of the cylinder unit


86


is contacted with the second guide roller


54


installed on the cover


34


and is rotatively supported.




The gear consists of a first gear


76


fixed at the driving shaft


74


of the driving motor


72


; a second gear


78


engaged with the first gear


76


; and a third gear


80


engaged with the second gear


78


, passing the gear insertion hole


48


formed at the housing


36


and engaged with the gear teeth


90


of the nozzle supporting member


82


.




The operation of the refrigerator having the cold air jet unit in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention will be described.




When the refrigerating cycle and the blower


20


are operated, air cooled while passing the refrigerating cycle is discharged into the freezing chamber


4


through the cold air discharge hole


13


formed at the panel


14


and performs the cooling operation by circulating the freezing chamber


4


and is supplied to the chilling chamber


6


through the cold air supply path


15


formed at the separation wall


8


.




The cold air supplied to the cold air supply path


15


flows into the cold air guide path


19


, is discharged into the chilling chamber


6


through the cold air discharge holes


16


formed on the cold air discharge duct


17


and performs the cooling operation. Herein, the damper


20


installed on the cold air supply path


15


is operated at the third position (N), and accordingly the cold air is discharged into the chilling chamber


6


.




In the operation, when a high-temperature load occurs inside the chilling chamber


6


, the damper


20


is operated at the second position (M), cold air supply to the cold air discharge duct


17


is cut off, cold air is supplied only to the cold air guide duct


19


, the cold air jet unit is operated, and cold air is intensively jetted onto the high-temperature load occurred region.




In more detail, when the driving motor


72


is operated, the driving force of the driving motor


72


is decelerated as a certain degree by the combination of first, second and third gears


76


,


78


,


80


and rotates the nozzle supporting member


82


engaged with the third gear


80


, and the nozzle


40


connected with the nozzle supporting member


82


by the connection rod


62


is rotated. Herein, the temperature sensor


60


installed on the front of the nozzle


40


scans a temperature inside the chilling chamber


6


, senses the high-temperature load occurred region and applies it to a control unit (not shown). The control unit controls the driving motor


72


to make the cold air jet hole


38


of the nozzle


40


rotate toward the pertinent region, the concentrated cooling is performed on the high-temperature load occurred region, and accordingly a temperature inside the chilling chamber


6


can be instantly equalized.




Herein, by the first support rollers


46


installed at the housing


36


, the nozzle support member


82


is rotatively supported, by the second support rollers


54


installed at the cover


34


, the nozzle is rotatively supported.




And, by the operation of the first hot wire


50


installed on the contact protrusion


44


of the housing


36


, frozen over on the contact portion between the nozzle support member


82


and the housing


36


can be prevented, and by the operation of the second hot wire


56


installed on the cover


34


, frozen over on the contact portion between the nozzle


40


and the cover


34


due to cold air can be prevented.




Advantageous of the present invention will be described.




By rotatively installing a nozzle having plural cold air jet holes at the side wall of a chilling chamber and installing a temperature sensor on the nozzle and scanning a temperature inside every portion of the chilling chamber by rotating the nozzle, when a high-temperature load is detected at a certain region, by adjusting a jet position of the nozzle jet holes by rotating the nozzle, cold air can be intensively discharged onto the high-temperature load occurred region, cooling operation can be instantly performed, and accordingly a temperature inside the chilling chamber can be uniformly maintained.



Claims
  • 1. A concentrated cooling apparatus of a refrigerator, comprising:a housing respectively installed to at least one cold air guide path formed at the side wall of a chilling chamber in order to guide cold air to the side wall of the chilling chamber; a nozzle rotatively supported by the housings and jetting cold air intensively to a high-temperature load occurred region inside the chilling chamber; a temperature sensor installed on the front of the nozzle, rotating with the nozzle and sensing the high-temperature load occurred region; and a nozzle driving unit installed at a certain side of the housings to rotate the nozzle.
  • 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housings installed to a cold air guide hole formed on the cold air guide path so as to communicate with each other, and a cover installed to the open upper surface of the housing so as to expose the nozzle to the front thereof.
  • 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the housing having a contact protrusion is inwardly formed from the bottom central portion of the housing so as to contact with the nozzle, and plural first support rollers are installed at the circumference of the contact protrusion to support the nozzle rotatively.
  • 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein a first hot wire is installed on the inner circumference of the contact protrusion to prevent frozen over on the contact portion with the nozzle.
  • 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the cover is formed as a disc shape having a insert hole for receiving the nozzle rotatively, and plural second support rollers are installed at the lower surface of the cover to support the nozzle rotatively.
  • 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a second hot wire is installed on the lower surface of the coverto prevent frozen over on the portion contacted to the nozzle.
  • 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the nozzle is inserted into the nozzle insertion hole of the lower housing, the upper portion thereof is exposed to the inside of the chilling chamber, and the lower surface of the nozzle is rotatively contacted to the outer circumference of the contact protrusion of the lower housing, a cold air jet hole for jetting cold air into the chilling chamber is formed on the nozzle, and a insert groove for receiving the temperature sensor is formed on the upper surface of the nozzle.
  • 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the upper surface of the nozzle exposed to the chilling chamber is a semi-globular shape.
  • 9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the upper surface of the nozzle, exposed to the chilling chamber is a flat shape.
  • 10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the cold air jet hole is slant at a certain angle to the lower central surface of the nozzle, and an inlet thereof for discharging cold air is formed so as to be eccentric to the center of the nozzle to a certain side.
  • 11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the insert groove has a certain slant angle to make the temperature sensor slant to the upper surface of the nozzle at a certain angle.
  • 12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the temperature sensor is an infrared sensor sensing a temperature by receiving infrared light radiated from a heat source at the front of the cold air jet hole.
  • 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the nozzle driving unit includes:a gear box installed at the side of the housing and combining plural gears; a driving motor disposed in the hear box and generating a driving force; and a nozzle supporting member connected to the nozzle by a connection rod and transmitting the driving force of the driving motor by being engaged with a driving shaft of the driving motor and plural gears.
  • 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the driving motor is a stepping motor.
  • 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the nozzle supporting member consists of a disc portion at which the gear and a gear teeth are formed at the outer circumference; and a cylinder portion vertically extended from the disc portion, having the connection rod and rotatively supported by contacting to the second support roller.
  • 16. A refrigerator having a concentrated cooling apparatus, comprising:a cold air supply path formed at the rear of a chilling chamber and supplying air ventilated by a blower; a cold air discharge duct installed at the upper portion of the chilling chamber and having plural cold air discharge holes communicating with the cold air supply path to discharge cold air into the chilling chamber; plural cold air guide paths formed at the side wall of the chilling chamber so as to communicate with the cold air supply path in order to guide cold air to the side wall of the chilling chamber; a nozzle rotatively installed at each cold air guide hole formed at the cold air guide paths respectively and jetting cold air intensively to a high-temperature load occurred region; a temperature sensor installed at the front of the nozzle and sensing a high-temperature load occurred region while rotating with the nozzle; and a nozzle driving unit for rotating the nozzle.
  • 17. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein a damper is installed on the cold air supply path in order to open/close cold air flowing into the chilling chamber and open/close cold air supply to the cold air discharge duct.
  • 18. The refrigerator of claim 17, wherein the damper is rotatively installed on the upper surface of the cold air supply path by a hinge shaft, and the hinge shaft is connected to a driving unit.
  • 19. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein each nozzle is vertically installed at the left wall of the chilling chamber at regular intervals.
  • 20. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein each nozzle is vertically installed at the right wall of the chilling chamber at regular intervals.
  • 21. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein each nozzle is vertically installed at the left and right walls of the chilling chamber at regular intervals.
  • 22. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein each nozzle is installed at a portion on the side wall of the chilling chamber near to a door.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2002-0044337 Jul 2002 KR
Parent Case Info

This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 2002-0044337 filed in KOREA on Jul. 26, 2002, which is herein incorporated by reference.

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