Patent Grant
9797647
This application is the U.S. national phase of International Application No. PCT/IB2012/054714, filed 11 Sep. 2012, which designated the U.S. and claims priority to CN Application No. 201110288442.7, filed 19 Sep. 2011, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The invention relates to a domestic refrigerator.
Conventional domestic refrigerators usually comprise a thermally insulated housing. They may also comprise a cold storage compartment and a fresh food compartment contained within the housing and located on top of each other. The cold storage compartment is intended to provide non-freezing temperatures around 0° C., particularly in the range between 0° C. and 3° C. The fresh food compartment is intended to provide non-freezing temperatures at a greater temperature than that of the cold storage compartment, particularly about +3° C. to +8° C.
The object of the invention is to provide a further domestic refrigerator which comprises a thermally insulated housing, and a cold storage compartment and a fresh food compartment contained within the housing and located on top of each other.
The object of the invention is achieved by means of a domestic refrigerator, comprising a thermally insulated housing, a cold storage compartment and a fresh food compartment contained within the housing and located on top of each other, a refrigerant circuit which comprises an evaporator configured to directly cool the cold storage compartment, a first door leaf for closing and opening the fresh food compartment, a second door leaf for closing and opening the cold storage compartment, a divisional wall separating the cold storage compartment from the fresh food compartment, and an air channel system which is configured to allow an air exchange between the cold storage compartment and the fresh food compartment.
The inventive refrigerator comprises the thermally insulated housing, which particularly comprises a rear wall and two side walls, and the two compartments, namely the cold storage and the fresh food compartment. The cold storage compartment is intended to provide non-freezing temperatures around 0° C., particularly in the range between 0° C. and 3° C. The fresh food compartment is intended to provide non-freezing temperatures at a greater temperature than that of the cold storage compartment, particularly about +3° C. to +8° C. Additionally, the inventive refrigerator comprises two door leafs, one for the cold storage and one for the fresh food compartment. Thus, each compartment can be accessed individually. The door leafs are preferably thermally insulating.
The two compartments are separated by the divisional wall, which preferably is a thermally insulated divisional wall.
The inventive refrigerator comprises a single refrigerant circuit for both compartments. Particularly, only the cold storage compartment is directly cooled by the evaporator of the refrigerant circuit. This may be achieved by placing the evaporator into the cold storage compartment, for instance, by attaching the evaporator to the rear wall of the housing. It is also possible to dispose the evaporator within a dedicated housing which is coupled, for instance, to the cold storage compartment by an air channel. There may also be at least one fan provided configured to convey air cooled by the evaporator to the cold storage compartment. A single refrigerant circuit for both compartments results in decreased costs of the inventive refrigerator.
Since only the cold storage compartment is directly cooled by the evaporator, the inventive refrigerator comprises the air channel system allowing an air exchange between the cold storage compartment and the fresh food compartment. Thus, the fresh food compartment can be indirectly cooled through the cold storage compartment.
In order to achieve improved thermal insulation of at least one of the compartments from the surrounding space of the inventive refrigerator, at least one of the door leafs may comprise a magnetic gasket attached on the surface facing towards the cold storage or fresh food compartment. Then, an edge of the divisional wall facing away from the cold storage and fresh food compartments comprises or is made at least partly from a metal.
The door leafs may be hinged relative to the housing by hinges. At least one of the hinges may then be at least partly attached to the edge of the divisional wall facing away from the cold storage and fresh food compartments.
In one embodiment of the inventive refrigerator, the divisional wall or at least a main part of the divisional wall is inserted into and attached to the housing. Thus, the divisional wall of this embodiment is not a structural or integral part of the housing. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture the housing without the divisional wall, for instance, by utilizing a well known foaming process. This allows the housing to be produced more easily than a housing with a divisional wall, which is an integral part of this housing.
In order to attach the divisional wall or at least the main part of the divisional wall to the housing, latching devices may be utilized.
In one embodiment of the inventive refrigerator, the divisional wall or at least the main part of the divisional wall can only be detached from the housing by an appropriate tool. This ensures that a user of the inventive refrigerator cannot remove the divisional wall or at least the main part of the divisional from the housing. This embodiment is, for instance, beneficial, if hinges for the door leafs are at least partly be attached to the divisional wall.
In another embodiment of the inventive refrigerator, the divisional wall or at least the main part of the divisional wall can be detached from the housing without any appropriate tools. Then, a user of the inventive refrigerator can remove the divisional wall or at least the main part of the divisional wall, for instance, to better clean it.
In one embodiment of the inventive refrigerator, the divisional wall comprises the main part, which is inserted into and attached to the housing, and a traverse which is rigidly fixed to and at the front side of the housing, and runs between the side walls of the housing. The traverse is an integral part of the housing and is, for instance, assembled before foaming the housing. This embodiment may improve stability of the refrigerator, particularly if the hinges for the door leafs are at least partly attached to the traverse. For this embodiment, it may be beneficial for the main part of the divisional wall to be able to be detached from the housing without any appropriate tools. Then, a user of the inventive refrigerator can remove the main part of the divisional wall, for instance, to better clean it.
At least one of the hinges may be at least partly attached to the edge of the traverse facing away from the cold storage and fresh food compartments.
In one embodiment of the inventive refrigerator, the divisional wall or at least the main part of the divisional wall comprises at least one aperture or air channel which forms at least a part of the air channel system. Such an aperture or air channel can be made relatively easily. If the divisional wall comprises the main part, which is inserted into and attached to the housing, and a traverse which is rigidly fixed to and at the front side of the housing, and runs between the side walls of the housing, then this air channel may be formed by a gap between the main part and the traverses of the divisional wall.
The at least one aperture or air channel may be located preferably near the front of the refrigerator, may essentially extend about the entire width of the divisional wall, and/or may run parallel to the rear wall of the housing.
The air channel system of the inventive refrigerator may also comprise a further channel which connects the cold storage compartment with the fresh food compartment. Then, In one embodiment of the inventive refrigerator, the divisional wall comprises the main part, which is inserted into and attached to the housing, and a traverse which is rigidly fixed to and at the front side of the housing, and runs between the side walls of the cold air from the cold storage compartment can flow to the fresh food compartment preferably through the air channel or aperture, and air from the fresh food compartment back to the cold storage compartment through the further air channel.
The further air channel may be located inside the rear wall of the housing. The further air channel may be attached to the surface of the rear wall of the housing facing towards the cold storage and fresh food compartments. This may help reduce costs when manufacturing the inventive refrigerator. The further air channel may also be formed by a gap between the divisional wall and the surface of the rear wall of the housing facing towards the cold storage and fresh food compartments. This variant can relatively easily be realized.
The fresh food compartment may be located on top of the cold storage compartment. Then, the further air channel may extend to at least half of the height of the fresh food compartment. Preferably, the further air channel may extend almost to the ceiling of the fresh food compartment.
In order to improve stability of the divisional wall, it may comprise at least one reinforcement component. For improved insulation, the divisional wall may comprise a thermally insulating part or may be made from a thermally insulating material.
The divisional wall, particularly the traverse may also include a heating system, for instance, comprised of a heating tube. The heating system is preferably intended to at least reduce the risk of generated dew. The heating tube particularly may be a hot gas tube connected to the refrigerant circuit.
Depending on the embodiment of the inventive refrigerator, the refrigerator provides a divisional wall, which can be assembled or attached to the cabinet or housing after a foaming process used to manufacture the housing or cabinet. The divisional wall can even be attached to the housing after the cooling system, i.e. the refrigerant circuit, is attached to the housing.
Preferably, the divisional wall comprises at least a part of the air channel system provided for air exchange between the cold storage and the fresh food compartment.
Depending on the embodiment, the divisional wall may comprise one or more of the following:
A sheet metal front traverse which may provide sufficient stability for applying the door leaf hinge, if applicable, and a metallic contact for a door leaf magnetic gasket.
At least one reinforcement component, such as a metal stamping part, to act as stabilizing reinforcements for connecting the door hinges.
An upper plastic injection molded part which forms the visible and touchable top surface of the divisional wall and may be the bottom area of one of the compartments. At this plastic component, means to form at least a part of the air channel system toward the lower surface of the divisional wall may be provided.
A lower plastic injection molded part which forms the visible and touchable bottom surface of the divisional wall and may be the ceiling area of the other compartment. At this plastic component, means to form at least a part of the air channel system towards the upper surface of the divisional wall are provided.
An insulation part, for instance, made from extended polystyrene or foam material, resulting in an enhanced thermal insulation between the upper and lower surface of the divisional wall. This may also result in a structural support to strengthen the mechanical properties of the divisional wall.
If applicable, the upper and lower plastic injection molded parts may be designed in such a way that there is at least a part of the air channel system relatively close behind the metallic front surface, for instance, the traverse. The actual position of this “door side air channel” can be designed in such a way that the (central) traverse is not directly affected by a cold air stream, in order to avoid or at least mitigate condensation effects at the metallic surface.
Alternatively, the divisional wall may comprise two parts: a “front deck” part, the traverse, which is assembled before foaming the housing or cabinet, and a main part which is assembled afterwards, i.e. inserted and attached to the housing. In such a design, most of the advantages are achieved, however, it is possible to integrate a frontside frame-heater-tubing (hot gas heater) to the front deck, in order to prevent or at least mitigate condensation effects to the central traverse.
Depending on the embodiment of the inventive refrigerator, it provides one or more of the following advantages:
If the divisional wall or at least a main part of the divisional wall is inserted into and attached to the housing, then assembling of the inventive refrigerator is easier. For instance, the foaming process of the housing or cabinet may not be affected by the divisional wall. In addition, the divisional wall can be made thinner than the walls of the housing. The divisional wall can be assembled at a relatively late stage of the assembling process, for instance, even after the cooling system was attached to the refrigerator, potentially reducing costs for assembling the refrigerator and/or potentially improving production quality. The inner liner of the housing or cabinet can be made to have a less complicated structure compared with an embodiment for which the divisional wall is an integrated part of the housing. This results in a less complicated thermoforming process of the inner liner and makes it possible to reduce the thickness of walls, potentially reducing the amount of material needed. This may reduce costs.
If the divisional wall is removable, i.e. detachably attached to the housing, then it is possible for an appliance customer service personnel to remove the divisional wall, for instance, to perform maintenance or repair a faulty refrigerator. In particular, this may help the appliance customer service personnel to better reach the cooling system.
The foaming process of the housing or cabinet may not be affected by the air channel system.
The invention will be described in greater detail hereafter, by way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, wherein
The refrigerator 1 of
The refrigerator 1 further comprises at least one refrigerant circuit for cooling the freezer, fresh food and cold storage compartments 3, 4, 5. There may be a dedicated refrigerant circuit for the freezer compartment 3 and another refrigerant circuit for both, the cold and the fresh food compartments 4, 5. Each refrigerant circuit comprises, as it is generally known in the art, a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator. The compressors are, for instance, disposed within a mechanical compartment 11 located behind the freezer compartment 3. It is also possible that the refrigerant circuits share a common compressor.
The refrigerator 1 further comprises a control which is designed to control the refrigerant circuits such that the actual temperatures of the freezer, cold storage and fresh food compartments 3, 4, 5 are at least about a target temperature. In order to achieve this, the control may include an appropriate control feedback and temperature sensors designed to estimate the actual temperatures of the freezer, cold storage and fresh food compartments 3, 4, 5 as it is generally known in the art. The temperature sensors are connected to the control and are nor shown in the figures.
The refrigerator 1 further comprises a thermally insulated door leaf 12 for opening and closing the freezer compartment 3 and several drawers 13 disposed on top of each other within the freezer compartment 3. The drawers 13 are intended to store frozen food and can be at least partly pulled out from the freezer compartment 3 when the door leaf 12 of the freezer compartment 3 is open. The freezer compartment 3 can be cooled down to sub-zero degrees centigrade, in particular to temperatures around −18° C. The door leaf 12 of the freezer compartment 3 is hinged by appropriate hinges 14, 15 to the housing 2. Particularly, one of the hinges 14 for the freezer compartment door leaf 12 is fixed to the bottom wall 8 and the other hinge 15 is fixed at least partly to the divisional wall 10 as it can be seen in
The refrigerator 1 shown as an example in
In particular, the divisional wall 17 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 was inserted into the housing 2 after of its foaming. Therefore, the divisional wall 17 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 was assembled after foaming the housing 2 of the refrigerator 1.
The refrigerator 1 further comprises a door leaf 18 for opening and closing the fresh food compartment 4 and a separate door leaf 19 for opening and closing the cold storage compartment 5. These two door leafs 18, 19 are thermally insulated and are hinged to the housing 2 and to the divisional wall 17 on top of each other.
In addition, the refrigerator 1 shown as an example in
In addition, the refrigerator 1 shown as an example in
As discussed above, the fresh food and the cold storage door leafs 18, 19 are hinged by appropriate hinges to the housing 2 and to the divisional wall 17 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4. In particular, there is one hinge 23 fixed to the ceiling wall 9 and another hinge 24 fixed at least partly to the divisional wall 17 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4, and one hinge 25 fixed at least partly to the divisional wall 10 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 and another hinge 26 fixed at least partly to the divisional wall 10 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the freezer compartment 5, as it is illustrated by
In addition, the fresh food and the cold storage compartment door leafs 18, 19 are equipped with sealing gaskets 27, 28 attached to the surfaces of the door leafs 18, 19 facing toward the cold storage and fresh food compartments 4, 5. In order to improve the sealing capabilities, the gaskets 27, 28 may be provided with magnets, as it is generally known in the art. The housing 2 and particularly the divisional wall 17 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 may comprise appropriate metallic contacts for the door leaf gasket magnets. In particular, the edge of the divisional wall 17 which separates the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 and which faces towards the appropriate door leafs 18, 19 may be covered by a metallic sheet. This may also improve stability for the door leaf hinges 27, 28.
As discussed above, the cold storage and the fresh food compartments 4, 5 of the refrigerator 1 shown in
In order to allow exchange of air between the cold storage and the fresh food compartments 5, 4, the refrigerator 1 comprises an air channel system connecting the cold storage compartment 5 with the fresh food compartment 4. Particularly for the example refrigerator 1, there is an air channel 31 attached to the surface of the rear wall 6 of the housing 2 facing towards the fresh food compartment 4. The air channel 29, for instance, extends almost to the ceiling wall 9 and is connected to the housing 30 which holds the evaporator 29. The divisional wall 17 may, as it is shown in
In order to allow circulation of the air between the cold storage compartment 5 and the fresh food compartment 4, the divisional wall 17 comprises at least one opening or an air channel 32 which is or are located close to the end of the divisional wall 17 facing turned away from the rear wall 6. In particular, the at least one opening or air channel 32 of the divisional wall 17 is or are located behind the area of the gaskets 27, 28 attached to the fresh food and cold storage compartment door leafs 18, 19. Particularly, the air channel 32 extends essentially about the entire width of the divisional wall 17, i.e. essentially from one side wall 7 of the housing 2 to the other. Particularly, the air channel 32 runs parallel to the rear wall 6 of the housing 2. The direction of the air flow between the cold storage and the fresh food compartments is illustrated by arrows 33. If the refrigerator 1 comprises the fan associated with the evaporator 29, then the air flow may be supported by this fan.
Additionally, the divisional wall 17 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 may comprise at least one reinforcement component, such as at least one metal stamping part in order, for instance, to improve rigidity of the divisional wall 17.
The divisional wall 17 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 may comprise an upper plastic injection molded part which forms its visible and touchable top surface. This surface is also the bottom of the fresh food compartment 4. This surface may comprise means to form the at least one opening or the at least one channel 32 within the divisional wall 17.
The divisional wall 17 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 may comprise a lower plastic injection molded part which forms its visible and touchable bottom surface. This surface is also the ceiling of the cold storage compartment 5. This surface may comprise means to form the at least one opening or the at least one channel 32 within the divisional wall 17.
The divisional wall 17 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 may comprise a thermally insulating part, for instance, made from expanded polystyrene or a foam material, for improving thermal insulation between the cold storage compartment 5 and the fresh food compartment 4. The insulating part may also enhance the stability of the divisional wall 17.
The refrigerators 1 and 41 differ essentially in their divisional walls separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4. The divisional wall separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 of the refrigerator 41 is denoted by the reference sign 42.
While the divisional wall 17 separating the cold storage compartment 5 from the fresh food compartment 4 of the refrigerator 1 depicted in
The traverse 44 is fastened to the housing 2 and connects both its side walls 4 at the side of the housing 2 averted from the rear wall 6. The traverse 44 includes at least partly the hinges 24, 25 for the fresh food and cold storage compartment door leafs 18, 19. The traverse 44 of the divisional wall 41 may comprise appropriate metallic contacts for the door leaf gasket magnets. In particular, the edge of the traverse 44 which faces towards the appropriate door leafs 18, 19 may be covered by a metallic sheet.
The main part 43 of the divisional wall 42 of the refrigerator 41 extends from the rear wall 6 of the housing 2, particularly from the air channel 31 to the traverse 44 and comprises the air channel 32 similar to the divisional wall 17 of the refrigerator 1. This air channel 32 may alternatively be formed by a gap between the main part 43 and the traverse 44.
The main part 43 of the divisional wall 42 forms basically the bottom of the fresh food compartment 4 and the ceiling of the cold storage compartment 5.
The main part 43 of the divisional wall 42 may comprise at least one reinforcement component, such as at least one metal stamping part in order, for instance, to improve the rigidity of the divisional wall 42.
The main part 43 of the divisional wall 42 may comprise an upper plastic injection molded part which forms its visible and touchable top surface. This surface is also the bottom of the fresh food compartment 4. This surface may comprise means to form the at least one opening or the at least one channel 32 within the main part 43 of the divisional wall 42.
The main part 43 of the divisional wall 42 may comprise a lower plastic injection molded part which forms its visible and touchable bottom surface. This surface is also the ceiling of the cold storage compartment 5. This surface may comprise means to form the at least one opening or the at least one channel 32 within the main part 43 of the divisional wall 42.
The main part 43 of the divisional wall 42 may comprise a thermally insulating part, for instance, made from expanded polystyrene or a foam material, for improving thermal insulation between the cold storage compartment 5 and the fresh food compartment 4. The insulating part may also enhance the stability of the divisional wall 42.
The traverse 44 may also include a heating system, for instance, comprised of a heating tube 45, which heating system is intended to at least reduce the risk of generated dew. The heating tube 45 particularly is a hot gas tube connected to the refrigerant circuit.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 1 0288442 | Sep 2011 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2012/054714 | 9/11/2012 | WO | 00 | 10/9/2014 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2013/042010 | 3/28/2013 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20150040605 A1 | Feb 2015 | US |
