This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2003-3375, filed Jan. 17, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a refrigerator and a cooling system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a refrigerant pipe which connects an evaporator to a compressor of the cooling system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known to those skilled in the art, a cooling system circulates a refrigerant in an air conditioner or a refrigerator, and air is cooled by the refrigerant circulation cycle. The cooling system includes a refrigerant circulation unit and peripheral units.
The refrigerant circulation unit includes a compressor, a condenser, a pressure reducing unit, an evaporator, and a refrigerant pipe. In this case, the compressor functions to compress a refrigerant. The condenser condenses the compressed refrigerant, which is fed from the compressor. The pressure reducing unit reduces pressure of the condensed refrigerant after it leaves the condenser. The evaporator then evaporates the pressure-reduced refrigerant fed from the pressure reducing unit, thus absorbing heat from air in a space around the evaporator, which cools the air in that space. The refrigerant pipe connects the above-mentioned components to each other, thus providing a refrigerant path. In this case, the condenser and the evaporator serve as a heat exchanger. The refrigerant pipe comprises a copper pipe which has excellent corrosion-resistance and workability.
The cooling system also has peripheral units, including a condenser-side motored fan, an evaporator-side motored fan, and others. The condenser-side fan circulates air around the condenser to perform a heat exchange process. The evaporator-side fan circulates air around the evaporator to perform a heat exchange process. The condenser-side fan motor and the evaporator-side fan motor drive the condenser-side fan and the evaporator-side fan, respectively. The evaporator and the evaporator-side motored fan function to cool air around the evaporator, and they are hereinafter collectively referred to as a cooling set.
However, when a peripheral unit, such as a fan and/or a fan motor, breaks down, one or more of the components constituting the refrigerant circulation unit must be moved so as to replace or repair the malfunctioning peripheral unit. For example, when the motor for rotating the fan to circulate air in the evaporator malfunctions, it is necessary to move the evaporator by a predetermined distance so as to replace or repair the motor. In this case, after removing the evaporator from the refrigerant circulation unit in order to service the motor, the refrigerant is wholly removed from the refrigerant circulation unit. Then, the refrigerant is refilled into the refrigerant circulation unit after the assembly is completed, thus making the repair work complicated to perform, and causing a waste of the refrigerant. Therefore, it is desirable that, instead of removing the evaporator from the circulation unit, the evaporator is only moved by a predetermined distance without moving other components of the refrigerant circulation unit. However, such a method is problematic in that the greatest care of an operator is required, and the refrigerant pipe comprising a copper pipe may be bent or broken due to carelessness, in which case more involved maintenance may be required. Particularly, when the evaporator and the evaporator-side motored fan are assembled into a cooling set of a single structure and it is necessary to move the evaporator to replace or repair the peripheral unit, the above-mentioned problems occur more frequently.
Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a refrigerant pipe which connects an evaporator to a compressor and is designed to be flexible and have a force of restoration, thus preventing the refrigerant pipe from being damaged even when the refrigerant pipe is bent.
Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing a refrigerator, including a cabinet, a machine room, a cooling compartment, a compressor, a cooling set, and a flexible refrigerant pipe. The cabinet has an inner casing to define an inner surface of the refrigerator and an outer casing to define an outer surface of the refrigerator. The machine room is defined by the outer casing in such a way as to be provided outside the outer casing. The cooling compartment is defined by the inner casing. The compressor is installed at a predetermined position of the machine room. The cooling set is installed at a predetermined position of the cooling compartment, and has an evaporator. The flexible refrigerant pipe connects the compressor to the evaporator.
Also, the refrigerant pipe may be able to resume a former shape.
Also, the cooling set may include a fan and a fan motor, and elements of the cooling set may be assembled into a single structure.
Also, upper surfaces of the inner and outer casings may have a same stepped structure, and the machine room is provided in a space which is defined above a lower portion of the stepped structure of the outer casing, and the cooling set is provided in a space which is defined under an upper portion of the stepped structure of the inner casing. The cooling set also includes an evaporator fan and an evaporator fan motor. In this case, the evaporator fan and fan motor are provided above the evaporator, and the elements of the cooling set are assembled into a single structure. The cooling set also includes a cover to cover a bottom of the evaporator, and the elements of the cooling set are assembled into a single structure. The cover also has circulation holes to circulate cool air. The stepped structure is designed such that its lower portion is defined at a front portion of the refrigerator, and its upper portion is defined at a rear portion of the refrigerator.
Also, the cooling compartment may include a pipe cover to cover the refrigerant pipe. The pipe cover may have circulation holes to circulate cool air.
Also, the refrigerant pipe may have a bellows pipe structure.
The foregoing and other/or aspects of the present invention are also achieved by providing a refrigerator, including a cabinet, a machine room defined outside the cabinet, a cooling compartment defined in the cabinet, a compressor installed at a predetermined position of the machine room, an evaporator installed at a predetermined position of the cooling compartment, an evaporator's peripheral unit including an evaporator fan and an evaporator fan motor, and a flexible refrigerant pipe connecting the compressor to the evaporator.
Further, the foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are also achieved by providing a cooling system, including a compressor, a condenser, a pressure reducing unit, an evaporator's peripheral unit, an evaporator, and a flexible refrigerant pipe. The compressor compresses a refrigerant to increase pressure of the refrigerant. The condenser condenses the compressed refrigerant fed from the compressor. The pressure reducing unit reduces pressure of the condensed refrigerant fed from the condenser. The evaporator's peripheral unit includes an evaporator fan and an evaporator fan motor. The evaporator absorbs heat from surroundings by evaporation of the pressure-reduced refrigerant fed from the pressure reducing unit. The flexible refrigerant pipe connects the compressor to the evaporator.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a bellows pipe, which is flexible and has a force of restoration, is used as a refrigerant pipe 15.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a cooling system 100 includes a condenser-side motored fan 102 and an evaporator-side motored fan 103, in addition to a refrigerant circulation unit 101. The condenser-side motored fan 102 circulates air around a condenser 12 to perform a heat exchange process. The evaporator-side motored fan 103 circulates air around an evaporator 14 to perform a heat exchange process. Although not shown in
Referring to
Further, as illustrated in
When the evaporator-side motored fan 103, the sensors, or other devices which constitute the cooling set 205 must be replaced or repaired due to their malfunction, a user disassembles the pipe cover 21 and moves the cooling set 205 by a predetermined distance in a direction as shown by the bold arrow of
In
As is apparent from the above description, the present invention allows a cooling set, including an evaporator, to be easily mounted to, and removed from, a cooling compartment, and prevents a refrigerant pipe from being damaged, thus enhancing work efficiency.
The present invention may be applied to a case where a cooling set does not have a single structure, such as where an evaporator is installed to be moved to allow a malfunctioning peripheral unit, including an evaporator-side motored fan, to be replaced or repaired without being limited to the embodiments illustrated in
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2003-0003375 | Jan 2003 | KR | national |
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Number | Date | Country |
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2000205595 | Jan 1999 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20040139759 A1 | Jul 2004 | US |