Patent Application
20110289957
The present invention relates to a refrigerator and a degassing container for the refrigerator.
Generally, a refrigerator is a home appliance for storing foods in the inside of the refrigerator shielded by a handle thereof at a low temperature, and can store the stored foods in an optimal state by cooling the inside of the storage space using cold air generated by the heat exchange with refrigerant that circulates a freezing cycle.
The demand for large and multi-functional refrigerators according to the change and improvement in dietary life has been grown. Taking users' convenience into consideration, products having diverse forms and convenient devices have thereby been released.
The inside of the refrigerator may be partitioned by shelves, drawers, baskets, or the like, and the foods may be received in each storage space partitioned thereby. In particular, in the space receiving foods in an airtight state or a state equivalent thereto such as drawers, foods, which are separated and received from other foods, may be stored. Also, foods, which are sensitive to temperature and moisture such as vegetables, are generally stored.
In order to store the foods such as vegetables in the storage space such as drawers for a long time, the inside of the storage space may be filled with as little air as possible. To this end, there is provided a configuration to degass air inside the storage space.
Korean Patent Registration Nos. 0547426 and 0606728 disclose a refrigerator to degass air inside a storage space, wherein a portion of air inside the storage space is thereby exhausted to the outside to reduce the amount of air inside the storage space, so the storage performance of foods can be improved.
However, in Korean Patent Registration No. 0547426, the airtight between a tray and a cover is hardly guaranteed, and the cover must be able to move up and down so as to operate the airtight of the storage space, so an upper portion of the cover must have a space for the operation, thereby causing a problem that the receiving space is lost. Furthermore, efficient close-adhering and degassing can be performed only when the entirety of the cover moves simultaneously, thereby causing a problem that the operation therefor is not easy.
In Korean Patent Registration No. 0606728, air is exhausted backward, that is, in a direction that a storage container is drawn in, to have a difficulty in exhausting air smoothly, and the storage container must be compulsorily opened in order that external air enters the inside of the storage container for opening the storage container, thereby causing a problem that use convenience is not good.
Embodiments provide a refrigerator and a degassing container of the refrigerator which compulsorily degass a portion of air inside a space where foods are stored to the outside by a degassing means together with deformation of a gasket when a door is closely adhered.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a degassing container of a refrigerator comprising a case whose one side is opened; a door which shields the opened one side of the case selectively; a gasket interposed between the door and case and elastically deformed to be closely adhered when the door is shielded; a degassing means provided on the door and exhausting air inside the case to the outside when the gasket is compressively deformed; and a release means provided on the door and flowing external air into an inner side of the case when the door is opened.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a degassing container of a refrigerator comprising a drawer provided in an inner side of a storage space, the drawer capable of being slidingly drawn in and out; a door drawn in and out together with the drawer and shielding the storage space selectively; a gasket made of elastically deformable material, the gasket provided on the door and closely adhered to a front end of the storage space; and a degassing means provided on the door or one side of the storage space, the degassing means controlling the entrance of air inside the storage space according to the elastic deformation of the gasket.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator comprising a body which forms a storage space; one or more refrigerator doors which shield the storage space selectively; a case provided in the inner side of the storage space and forming a separately pardoned space; a door which shields an opened front surface of the case selectively; a gasket provided around a rear surface of the door and closely adhered to the case selectively to be elastically deformed; a degassing means provided on the door and opened only when the gasket is compressively deformed to allow air inside the case to be exhausted to the outside; an opening handle mounted to the door and rotatably operated; a release means provided on the door and selectively opened according to the operation of the opening handle to allow external air to be flowed into the inner side of the case.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator comprising a body which forms a storage space; a degassing container provided in the storage space and having a door which shields the case selectively; a gasket provided between the case and door and compressively deformed when the door is shielded to close an inside of the degassing container; a degassing means provided on one side of the degassing container and exhausting air inside the case to the outside only when the gasket is compressively deformed; and a release means provided on the other side of the degassing container and allowing air to be selectively flown into the inside of the case according to a user's operation.
According to the provided embodiment, storage performance improve because a portion of air inside a space where foods are stored to the outside compulsorily degass by a degassing means together with deformation of a gasket when a door is closely adhered.
Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the present embodiments but may be easily implemented as other embodiments included within the scope of the present invention by adding, modifying or deleting other constituents.
A degassing container for a refrigerator according to the present invention may be applied to diverse types of refrigerators, such as a top mount type refrigerator, a bottom freeze type refrigerator, a side by side type refrigerator, or the like.
Hereinafter, a case to which a side by side type refrigerator is applied will be described as an example, for convenience of explanation.
The inner side of the body 1 is entirely partitioned right and left by a barrier 3 to form a freezing chamber 4 and a refrigerating chamber 5. The respective freezing chamber 4 and refrigerating chamber 5 are selectively shielded by the refrigerator door 2 rotatably mounted to the body 1.
Inside the freezing chamber 4 and refrigerating chamber 5, receiving members, such as a lot of shelves, drawers, and baskets, are provided to partition the inside thereof, wherein the drawers are constituted to be able to be slidingly drawn in and out forward and backward inside the body 1 so the drawers can be selectively opened and closed.
The drawer forms an independent space inside the freezing chamber 4 or the refrigerating chamber 5 to enable foods stored therein to be stored at different temperatures and/or humidities from other foods. The drawer may generally be used as a vegetable room where foods or vegetables are stored, a quick-freezing room for quick freezing, or a temperature switching room where meats and fishes are stored by controlling the temperature.
Among others, a vegetable room provided in the refrigerating chamber 5 may be formed by a degassing container 10 according to the present invention. The vegetable room formed by the degassing container 10 has a relatively short storage period of foods stored therein, so the vegetable room may become a vacuum-like state by reducing the amount of air therein, making it possible to extend the storage period of foods and to store the foods more freshly.
Referring to
The case 100, which is mounted to an inner side of a refrigeration chamber 5, is formed in an approximate rectangular parallel piped shape to form a space inside thereof and to be opened forward. The case 100 may be formed of adiabatic materials not to be affected by a temperature, as a space independent from the refrigerating chamber 5, or may be formed to be detachable from the inner side of the refrigerating chamber 5.
Meanwhile, the case 100 may be molded integrally with an inner side surface of the refrigerator body 1. In this case, the case 100 is formed by an inner case which forms the inner side surface of the refrigerating chamber 5 and is formed to be opened forward.
As needed, a shelf which partitions a space may be provided at the bottom of the refrigerating chamber 5, and a space between the shelf and a bottom surface of the inner side of the refrigerating chamber may be provided in the same shape of the case 100 to form a storage space of the degassing container 10.
Guide means 120 are provided in both right and left sides of the inside of the case 100. The guide means 120, which is for guiding the drawing in and out of the drawer received inside the case 100, is formed to protrude from the inner side of the case 100 and may comprise one or more rollers 122 for more smoothly sliding a drawer 30 to be described later.
The door 200, which shields the opened front surface of to case 100, is formed to have an approximate rectangular cross-section corresponding to the front surface of the case 100. A drawer 300 is provided on a rear surface of the door 200, wherein the drawer 300 is formed in size that can be received by the inner side of the case 100.
Guide ribs 320 are formed on both sides of the drawer 300. The guide rib 320, which is seated on a guide means 120 of the case, is constituted to contact the roller 122 of the guide means 120 in order that the drawer can be slidingly drawn out and in smoothly.
The door 200 includes a door base 240 and a door cover 220. The door base 240, which forms a rear surface of the door 200, is mounted with a plurality of constituents such as a restricting device 500, a degassing means 400, a release means 700 and the like to be described later.
The door cover 220, which forms a front surface of the door 200, shields the plurality of constituents mounted on the door base 240 and forms an exterior of the door 200.
A dial 520 which controls the operation of the restricting device 500 to be described in detail later is exposed on the front surface of the door 200, and restricting members 540 selectively protrude to both sides of the door 200 according to the operation of the dial 520 to be restricted to receiving member 560 of the case 100, thereby allowing the door 200 to be coupled to the case 100. Hereinafter, more detailed description thereof will be described.
A opening handle 600 which operates a release means 700 to form a pressure balance by allowing external air to be flowed into the inside of the storage space of the inner side of the case 100 is further provided on the lower side of the dial 520. The opening handle 600 is provided to be exposed to the front surface of the door 200 to enable the release means 700 to be opened by pulling the door 200 forward in front of the door 200. Of course, the opening handle 600 may also function as a handle which draws in the drawer 300 by opening the door 200.
A portion of the lower side of the door 200 downward from the opening handle 600 is configured to be able to check the foods which are currently stored inside of the drawer 300. To this end, a portion of the door cover 200 is formed to be opened, and at a least portion of the door base 240 corresponding to the door cover 220 may be made of transparent material.
Referring to
The gasket 260 is formed of material having a predetermined elasticity such as a silicon plastic material or the like, and is formed to enable the entire volume inside the case 100 to be reduced by being compressed by a predetermined interval in the case 100 direction when the door 200 is closed.
More specifically, the gasket 260 is formed along an outline of the rear surface of the door 200 and is extended backward by a predetermined length, making it possible to be compressed when contacting the front end of the case 100.
To this end, the gasket 260 may be formed in a plate shape having a relatively thin thickness, preferably, in a bent plate shape in order to have a predetermined curvature in an upward direction. This is the reason that when an extended end of the gasket 260 contacts the case 100, the gasket 260 is more easily elastically deformed so that the volume of a closed space formed by the case 100 and door 200 can be efficiently reduced.
At this time, as the extended length of the gasket 260 is longer, the compressed deformation is larger, making it possible to considerably reduce the volume of the closed space and to exhaust air inside the case 100 much more.
The gasket 260 may be applied with a general gasket whose inside is hollow or a gasket in other shape rather than the plate shape. If the gasket 260 can be sufficiently compressively deformed by contacting the case 100, any diverse forms of gasket may also be used.
Meanwhile, a release means 700 is provided on one side of the door 200 corresponding to the opening handle 600, and a degassing means 400 allowing air inside the case 100 to be exhausted to the outside when the door 200 is closed is provided on the other side of the door 200.
Referring to
Diverse configurations of the valve allowing a fluid to be flowed in only one direction described above have been well-known, so a valve having an appropriate configuration may be used as needed.
The degassing means 400 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an exhaust port 244 farmed on the door 200, a valve plate 420 selectively shielding the exhaust port 244, and a restricting part 440 restricting the valve plate 420.
More specifically, the exhaust port 244 is formed on a controlling part 242. The supporting part 242 protrudes on one side of to door base 240, and the exhaust port 244 exhausts the air simultaneously with supporting the valve plate 420.
The exhaust port 244 penetrates through a rear surface of the door base 240 (a bottom side in
Meanwhile, the opened front surface of the exhaust port 244 is shielded by the valve plate 420. the valve plate 420 is made of elastically deformable material and is formed to be deformable by the pressure of air exhausted through the exhaust port 244. As the valve plate 420 is deformed, the exhaust port 244 is selectively opened, so the air inside the case 100 can be exhausted to the outside.
More specifically describing a configuration of the valve plate 420, the valve plate 420 is formed in a disc shape having a space somewhat larger than an upper surface of the supporting part 242 and includes a controlling part 424 and an elastic part 422.
The elastic part 422, which forms an approximate center part of the valve plate 420, has the size corresponding to that of the exhaust port 244 and protrudes backward from the exhaust port 244 (the right direction in
The controlling part 424 is extended from the outer end of the elastic part 422 in an outer direction to contact the upper surface of the supporting part 242, and the controlling part 424 may protrude somewhat more than the outer side of the supporting part 242.
The restricting part 140, which restricts the valve plate 420 not to be degassed, has an approximate ‘’ letter shape of cross-section and a predetermined width, seeing from a lateral side view. Both ends of the opened side of the restricting part 440 is fixed to the door base 240, and one side opposed to the opened side (right side in
When the air inside the case 100 is not exhausted to the outside through the exhaust port 244, the controlling part 424 of the valve plate 420 closely adhered to a rear surface of the supporting part 242 completely shields the exhaust port 244.
In such a state, when the air inside the case 100 is exhausted through the exhaust port 244, the pressure of air passing through the exhaust port 244 is applied to the elastic part 422, and a bottom side of the elastic part 422 in a state that is supported by the controlling part 424 is deformed outward by the pressure, so the controlling part 424 is separated from the rear surface of the supporting part 242. Therefor, the air exhausted through the exhaust port 244 is exhausted to the outside through between the controlling part 424 and the supporting part 242.
When the exhaust of air through the exhaust port 244 stops, the elastic part 424 is restored to the original shape by its elasticity, and the controlling part 424 is closely adhered to the rear surface of the supporting part 242 again by the restoration of the elastic part 422, making it possible to block the entrance of air.
In view of the property of shape of the valve plate 420, when outside air is to be flowed into the exhaust port 244, the valve plate 420 more tightly shields the exhaust port 244, making it possible to block the inflow of outside air.
Meanwhile, the degassing means 400 may also be formed on any position other than the door 200. For example, the degassing means 400 may be provided on the case 100, and at this time, the degassing means 400 is the same in the configuration but different only in the mounting position. In other words, when the degassing means 400 is mounted on the case 100, the air inside the case 100 may be exhausted to the outside through the degassing means 400 when the volume according to the close adhesion of the door 200 is changed.
More specifically, the dial 520 in a disc shape is rotatably mounted on the door base 240 and is mounted to expose a handle 522 for operating the dial 520, thereby being rotatably operated by a user. A boss 241 (shown in
Each restricting member 540 is mounted on the rear surface of the dial 520. The restricting members 540, whish are selectively interfered with receiving members 560 to be described later to restrict the door 200, are formed in a rod shape having a predetermined length and each are provided on right and left sides.
One ends of the restricting member 540 each are rotatably coupled to upper portion and lower portion of the rear surface of the dial 520, and the other ends of the restricting member 540 each are extended to the restricting members 540 to be described later. In order to guide left and right movements of the restricting member 540, restricting member guides 245 are provided on both sides of the door base 240. Accordingly when the dial 520 operates, the restricting members 540 move right and left along the restricting member guides 245 to be able to be coupled to the receiving members 560 selectively.
The Receiving members 560 are provided on both sides of the case 100 corresponding to the outer ends of the restricting members 540. The receiving member 560 includes a restricting plate 562 formed in a plate shape and a fixture for fixing the restricting plate 562 to the case 100.
The restricting plate 562 is formed in a rectangular plate shape, and a restricting hole 564 capable of receiving an end of the restricting member 540 is formed on a front half of the restricting plate 562. The restricting hole 564 is formed corresponding to the shape of a cross-section of the restricting member 540 and is formed to be somewhat larger than the restricting member 540, thereby allowing the ends of restricting member 540 to be entered the restricting hole 564 according to the right and left movements of the restricting member 540 and to be restricted selectively.
An adjusting hole 566 is formed on the backward of the restricting hole 564. The adjusting hole 566 is formed to be long forward and backward and to be penetratingly engaged by the fixture 568. Therefore, the restricting plate 562 can move forward and backward according to the mounting position of the fixture 568 and the fixing position between the restricting plate and the restricting member 540 can be adjusted, making it possible to adjust the closing position where the door 200 is closed.
Referring to
More specifically, the opening handle 600 includes a handle body 620, a rotating shaft 640 and an acting part 660.
The handle body 620, which is held by a user's operation, is formed in a plate shape having a long length from right to left and is formed to be bent so that a user can easily hold the handle body 620. The handle body 620 may be exposed to the front surface of the door cover 220 for the user's operation.
The rotating shafts 640 laterally protruded are formed on both sides of the handle body 620. The rotating shaft 640 is inserted into to fixture formed on the position corresponding to the door base 240 to be rotatably mounted forward according to the user's operation.
The acting part 660 is further formed on the upper portion of the handle body 620. the acting part 660, which operates the opening of the release means 700, protrudes from the upper portion of the handle body 620 to be rotated with respect to the door base 240, if the handle body 620 is pulled forward to be rotated. When the user pulls the handle body 620, the acting part 660 presses one side of the release means 700 by the rotation of the opening handle 600 to open the release means 700.
Meanwhile, the release means 700 is mounted to the door base 240 corresponding to the acting part 660. The release means 700, which allows outside air to be flowed into the inside of the case 100, is in a closed state at normal times to be opened when the opening handle 600 is operated.
The release means 700 includes a valve body 720, a shielding member 740, and an elastic member 760.
More specifically describing a configuration of the release means 700, the valve body 720, which forms a frame of the release means 700, penetrates through the door base 240 to be mounted and includes a mounting part 722 and a supporting part 724.
The mounting part 722, which mounts the release means 700 to the door base 240, is formed in an approximate dose shape and its circumference has a step to be able to be seated to a mounting port 247 formed on the door base 240. An inlet port 726, which becomes an inlet path of outside air, is punched in the approximate center of the mounting part 722.
The supporting part 724 is farmed on a rear surface of the mounting part 722. The supporting part 724, which receives a shielding member 740 and an elastic member 760 to be described later, is formed in an approximate ‘’ letter shape and its opened side contacts the rear surface of the mounting part 722.
In other words, ends of both sides of the supporting part 724 are connected to both sides of the rear surface of the mounting part 722, and the rear surface connecting the both sides of the rear end of the supporting part 724 is formed on the position opposed to the rear surface of the mounting part 722.
The shielding member 740 and elastic member 760 are received in the inner side of the supporting member 724. The shielding member 740, which shields the inlet port 726 of the valve body selectively, includes a shielding plate 724 in an approximate disc shape and a shielding load 744 extended from a center of the shielding plate 742. At this time, the shielding load 744 penetrates through the inlet port 726 of the valve body 720 to be protruded and is selectively pressed by the acting part 660 of the opening handle 600. Therefore, when the opening handle 600 rotates, the shielding plate 742 which shields the inlet port 726 by pressing the shielding load 744 is separated, making it possible to open the inlet port 726.
Meanwhile, the elastic member 760 is interposed between the shielding member 740 and supporting part 724. The elastic member 760, which provides elasticity in order to maintain a state that the shielding member 740 shields the inlet port 726 of the valve body 720, is preferably made of a compression spring.
When the inlet port 726 is opened by the operation of the opening handle 600, the elastic member 760 moves backward to be compressed, and when an external force is removed from the opening handle 600, the shielding member 740 shields the inlet port 726 again by the elasticity of the elastic member 760 and the opening handle 600 is restored to its original position.
The release means 700 may also mounted to the case 100 instead of to door 200, and at this time, an operating member which selectively opens and closes the release means is further provided for operating the release means 700.
First,
At this time, a gasket 260 provided on the door 200 contacts a front end of the case 100, wherein the gasket has a width of D1 and the distance between the door and case has also the same width as D1. In this state, when the user more pushes the door 200 into the case 100, the gasket 260 is deformed by its own elasticity and the door 200 is completely adhered to the case 100 to tightly close an inner space of the case 100.
In other words, the air inside the case 100 applies pressure to a valve plate 420 through an exhaust port 244 of the degassing means 400 by the pressure generated when the volume is reduced in a closed space to deform the valve plate 420, and the air inside the case 100 is exhausted through the space spaced from the supporting part 242 by the deformation of the valve plate 420.
After air is exhausted by the reduced volume, the pressures is no longer applied to the valve plate 420 and the valve plate 420 is thereby restored to its original shape to shield the exhaust port again, allowing no more air to be entered.
In this state, the inside of the case 100 has a somewhat lower pressure compared to the outside, allowing the door 200 to have more excellent airtight performance and preventing the door 200 from being easily opened.
As considerable portions of air inside the case 100 are exhausted to the outside, the amount of oxygen which causes the oxidation and decay of foods is considerably reduced compared with the volume to improve the storability of foods, and humidity inside the case 100 is also exhausted together with the air exhausted when the gasket 260 is deformed lower the inner humidity, enhancing the storage performance much higher.
When the door 200 is completely adhered to the case 100, restricting members 540 on both right and left sides moves outward by a user's rotational operation on a dial 520 of a restricting device 500 to be coupled to restricting holes 564 of the receiving members 560, preventing an unexpected opening of the door. Through the processes described above, the case 100 can be completed closed, maintaining the door 200 in the closed position.
In order to open the tightly closed case 100 as shown in
In this state, a user rotatingly pulls the opening handle 600 forward and an acting part of the opening handle 600 thus presses a shielding load 744 of the release means 700 according to the rotation of the opening handle 600, opening the release means 700.
External air is thereby flowed into the inside of the case 100 in a low pressure state through an inlet port 726 of the release means 700, so the inside and outside of the case have the same pressure, making it possible to open the door 200 with ease.
After the door 200 is opened, the user draws out the drawer 300 to receive or takes out foods in and from the drawer, making it possible to perform his or her desired works.
In a refrigerator and a degassing container of the refrigerator according to present embodiment, degassing means exhausting air inside a case to the outside when a door is closed. therefore, the storage performance improves in a case. thus, industrial applicability is high.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2007-0096989 | Sep 2007 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR08/05583 | 9/19/2008 | WO | 00 | 2/11/2010 |
