Patent Application
20240159447
The disclosure relates to a refrigerator including a prefabricated inner case with an improved hot pipe seating structure.
In general, refrigerators are appliances that keep food fresh by having a main body with a storage compartment and a cold air supply system that supplies cold air to the storage compartment. The storage compartment includes a refrigerating compartment in which food is kept refrigerated at a temperature of approximately 0° C. to 5° C., and a freezing compartment in which food is kept frozen at a temperature of approximately 0° C. to −30° C.
The main body of a refrigerator is provided by combining an inner case and an outer case. The inner case forms the storage compartment, and the outer case forms the exterior of the refrigerator. An insulating material for thermal insulation is disposed between the inner and outer cases. The storage compartment of the refrigerator is arranged have an open front, and the open front is closed by a door so as to maintain the temperature of the storage compartment.
The inner case of a refrigerator is typically formed by a vacuum forming method in which a sheet of resin material is heated, the heated sheet is placed on a mold, and air is drawn in from the opposite side of the mold so that the heated sheet is stretched across the mold or drawn into the interior of the mold by the drawing force.
When the refrigerator is in operation, cold air in the storage compartment flows into the outer case, which forms the exterior of the main body, and causes dew to form on an outer surface of the outer case due to a temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the outer case. To prevent such a situation, a hot pipe is installed on a front edge of the inner case to prevent dew from forming on the outer case. The front edge of the inner case is provided with a seating groove formed to seat the hot pipe.
The closer the hot pipe seated in the seating groove is to the outer case, the better the high-temperature heat from a high-temperature refrigerant flowing in the hot pipe is transferred to the outer case. As a result, although cold air in the storage compartment flows into the outer case, the temperature difference between the outside and the inside of the outer case is reduced, thereby preventing dew from forming on the outer surface of the outer case.
Furthermore, the further away from the storage compartment the hot pipe seated in the seating groove moves, the less the high-temperature heat flowing in the hot pipe is transferred to the inside of the storage compartment. As a result, the increase in temperature inside the storage compartment is reduced, thereby reducing an amount of energy consumption to lower the temperature inside the storage compartment.
Because the inner case is formed by vacuum forming method, a separate part is needed for the seating groove to keep the hot pipe in close contact with the outer case and away from the storage compartment.
The present disclosure is directed to providing a refrigerator in which a rib is formed integrally with an inner case to allow a hot pipe, which is seated in a seating groove formed on a front flange of a prefabricated inner case, to be in close contact with an outer case.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a refrigerator includes an inner case forming a storage compartment and including a plurality of plates each formed by injection molding, an outer case coupled to the outside of the inner case to form the exterior thereof, and a hot pipe seated on a front flange of the inner case to prevents dew from forming on the outer case, wherein the inner case includes a seating groove provided on the front flange to seat the hot pipe, and a plurality of ribs provided within the seating groove and formed integrally with the inner case so that the hot pipe is in close contact with the outer case.
The plurality of ribs may be provided in the seating grooves disposed on the front flanges of upper plate, lower plate, left plate, and right plate of the inner case among the seating grooves.
The plurality of ribs provided in the seating grooves disposed on the front flanges of the upper plate, the left plate, and the right plate among the seating grooves may include a plurality of first ribs formed on a bottom surface inside the seating groove, and a plurality of second ribs formed on a side inside the seating groove.
The seating groove may include a plurality of protrusions integrally formed with the inner case and protruding from the bottom surface inside the seating groove.
Each of the plurality of first ribs may be formed integrally with each of the plurality of protrusions.
Each of the plurality of first ribs may be formed in a straight shape elongated in a left-right direction at a central portion of each of the plurality of protrusions.
The plurality of first ribs may allow the hot pipe to come into close contact with the outer case positioned in front of the inner case.
The hot pipe may be in close contact with the outer case by the plurality of first ribs, so that a temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the outer case is reduced by high-temperature heat generated by a high-temperature refrigerant flowing in the hot pipe, thereby preventing dew from forming on an outer surface of the outer case.
The plurality of second ribs may be formed on a side closer to the storage compartment among both sides inside the seating groove.
The plurality of second ribs may allow the hot pipe to come into close contact with the outer case positioned on the side of the inner case.
The hot pipe may be in close contact with the outer case by the plurality of second ribs, so that a temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the outer case is reduced by high-temperature heat generated by a high-temperature refrigerant flowing in the hot pipe, thereby preventing dew from forming on an outer surface of the outer case.
The plurality of second ribs may allow the hot pipe to be located away from the inside of the storage compartment.
The hot pipe may be disposed at a position away from the inside of the storage compartment by the plurality of second ribs, so that transfer of high-temperature heat from a high-temperature refrigerant flowing in the hot pipe to the inside of the storage compartment is reduced.
The plurality of ribs provided in the seating groove disposed on the front flange of the lower plate among the seating grooves may be formed on a bottom surface inside the seating groove.
The plurality of ribs may allow the hot pipe to come into close contact with the outer case positioned in front of the inner case.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the hot pipe is brought into close contact with the outer case by the ribs formed integrally with the inner case, thereby preventing dew from forming in the refrigerator.
Further, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the hot pipe is located away from the storage compartment due to the ribs formed integrally with the inner case, thereby reducing the energy consumed to lower the temperature within the storage compartment.
Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.
Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or more computer programs, software components, sets of instructions, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or a portion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computer readable program code. The phrase “computer readable program code” includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The phrase “computer readable medium” includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type of memory. A “non-transitory” computer readable medium excludes wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transport transitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computer readable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored and media where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as a rewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.
Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.
For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts:
Embodiments described in the disclosure and configurations shown in the drawings are merely examples of the embodiments of the disclosure and may be used in various different ways at the time of filing of the present application to replace the embodiments and drawings of the disclosure.
In addition, the same reference numerals or signs shown in the drawings of the disclosure indicate elements or components performing substantially the same function. The shapes and sizes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity.
Also, the terms used herein are used to describe the embodiments and are not intended to limit and/or restrict the disclosure. The singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this disclosure, the terms “including”, “having”, and the like are used to specify features, figures, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more of the features, figures, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.
It will be understood that, although the terms “first”, “second”, “primary”, “secondary”, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, but elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, without departing from the scope of the disclosure, a first element may be termed as a second element, and a second element may be termed as a first element. The term of “and/or” includes a plurality of combinations of relevant items or any one item among a plurality of relevant items.
As used herein, the terms “front”, “rear”, “upper”, “lower”, and the like are defined with reference to the drawings and are not intended to limit the shape and location of each component.
Hereinafter, various embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
The main body 10 may include an inner case 100 that forms the storage compartment 20, an outer case 140 that is coupled to the outside of the inner case 100 to form the exterior, and an insulator 150 that is foamed between the inner case 100 and the outer case 140 to insulate the storage compartment 20.
A machine room 27 may be provided at a rear lower side of the main body 10 in which a compressor C which compresses a refrigerant and a condenser (not shown) which condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor C are installed.
The cold air supply device may include a compressor C that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser (not shown) that condenses the refrigerant, an expansion valve (not shown) that expands the refrigerant, and an evaporator E that evaporates the refrigerant.
The storage compartment 20 may be divided into a plurality of partitions 15, and a plurality of shelves 25 and storage containers 26 may be provided within the storage compartment 20 to store food or the like.
The storage compartment 20 may be divided into a plurality of storage compartments 22, 23, and 24 by the partitions 15, and the partitions 15 may include a first partition 17 coupled horizontally within the storage compartment 20 to divide the storage compartment into the upper storage compartments 22 and the lower storage compartments 23 and 24, and a second partition 19 coupled vertically to the lower storage compartments 23 and 24 to divide the lower storage compartments 23 and 24 to divide the lower storage compartments 23 and 24 into the first storage compartment 23 and the second storage compartment 24.
The partition 15, which has a T-shape by combining the first partition 17 and the second partition 19, may divide the storage compartment 20 into three spaces. Among the upper storage compartment 22 and the lower storage compartments 23 and 24 divided by the first partition 17, the upper storage compartment 22 may be used as a refrigerating compartment, and the lower storage compartments 23 and 24 may be used as a freezing compartment.
The lower storage compartments 23 and 24 may be used entirely as the freezing compartment, but the first storage compartment 23 may be used as the freezing compartment and the second storage compartment 24 may be used as the refrigerating compartment. Alternatively, the first storage compartment 23 may be used as the freezing compartment and the second storage compartment 24 may be used as both the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment.
The above partitioning of the storage compartment 20 is only an example, and each storage compartment 22, 23, and 24 may be used differently from the above configuration.
The refrigerating compartment 22 and the freezing compartments 23 and 24 may be opened and closed respectively by the door 30 which is rotatably coupled to the main body 10.
The door 30 may include a pair of refrigerating compartment doors 31 rotatably coupled to the main body 10 to open or close the refrigerating compartment 22, and a pair of the freezing compartments door 32 rotatably coupled to the main body 10 to open or close the freezing compartments 23 and 24.
The pair of refrigerating compartment doors 31 may be opened or closed by a pair of refrigerating compartment door handles 32 including a first door handle 32a or a second door handle 32b, respectively. The refrigerating compartment 22 may be provided with a rotating bar 35 provided on at least one of the pair of refrigerating compartment doors 31 so that when the refrigerating compartment 22 is closed by the pair of refrigerating compartment doors 31, the refrigerating compartment doors 31 may be sealed without creating a gap between the pair of refrigerating compartment doors. The rotating bar 35 may be rotatably coupled to at least one of the pair of refrigerating compartment doors 31. The rotating bar 35 may be guided to rotate according to the opening and closing of the refrigerating compartment doors 31 by a rotation guide 108 formed on the inner case 100.
The pair of freezing compartment doors 33 may be opened or closed by a freezing compartment door handle 34, respectively. The doors provided to open or close the freezing compartments 23 and 24 may be a sliding door.
Door shelves 31a and 33a to place food thereon may be provided on a rear side of the pair of refrigerating compartment doors 31 and the pair of freezing compartment doors 33, respectively.
Each of the door shelves 31a and 33a may include shelf supports 31b and 33b extending vertically from the respective doors 31 and 33 to support each of the door shelves 31a and 33a on the left and right sides of each of the door shelves 31a and 33a. The shelf supports 31b and 33b may be provided to extend from each of the doors 31 and 33. The shelf supports 31b and 33b may be separately configured and detachably provided on each of the doors 31 and 33.
In addition, first gaskets 31c and 33c may be provided on a rear edge of each of the doors 31 and 33 to seal a gap with the main body 10 when each of the doors 31 and 33 is closed, respectively. The first gaskets 31c and 33c may be installed in a loop shape along an edge of a rear surface of each of the doors 31 and 33, and a magnet (not shown) may be included therein.
The pair of refrigerating compartment doors 31, which open or close the refrigerating compartment 22, may be arranged a left-right direction. In the following, only the refrigerating compartment door 31 located on a left side of the drawings will be described for ease of description, and the refrigerating compartment door 31 located on the left side of the drawing will be referred to as the refrigerating compartment door 31. However, the refrigerating compartment door 31 described below is not limited to the refrigerating compartment door 31 located on the left side of the drawing, but may also be applied to the refrigerating compartment door 31 located on a right side of the drawing, and may be applied to at least one of the pair of freezing compartment doors 33.
The refrigerating compartment door 31 may be provided as a double door including a first door 40 and a second door 50.
The first door 40 may be rotatably connected to the main body 10 by a first hinge 60, and thus open and close the refrigerating compartment 22. The door shelf 31a, the shelf support 31b, and the first gasket 31c described above may be provided in the first door 40.
The first door 40 may include an opening 41 that allows a user to access the door shelf 31a to place or remove food while the first door 40 is in a closed state. The opening 41 may be formed to pass through the first door 40 and may be opened and closed by the second door 50.
The second door 50 may be provided on a front side of the first door 40 to open and close the opening 41 of the first door 40, and may be rotatable in the same direction as the first door 40. In the drawings, it is shown that the second door 50 may be rotatably supported on a second hinge 70 installed on the first door 40 to be rotatable relative to the first door 40, but the second door 50 is not limited thereto. The second door 50 may be provided to be rotatable with respect to the main body 10 by the second hinge 70 installed on the main body 10.
The second door 50 may include a second gasket (not shown) to maintain airtightness with the first door 40. The second gasket may be installed in a loop shape along an edge of a rear side of the second door 50, and a magnet (not shown) may be included therein.
As shown in
The inner case 100 may include an upper plate 101, a lower plate 102, a left plate 103, a right plate 104, and a back plate 105. The upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 may be provided separately. The upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 may all be injection molded. The upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105, which are segmented, may be assembled to form the inner case 100. Since the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 are all injection molded, the plates may be molded to have various patterns (not shown) without separate post-processing. Furthermore, the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 may be molded to have various colors. In other words, the storage compartment 20 may have different patterns or colors depending on its purpose. Furthermore, the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 may all have different patterns or different colors. This may allow the user to have more options when choosing a refrigerator.
The shape of the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 may be not limited to a flat shape without curves, and the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 may include curves. It is sufficient that the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 are shaped to form in such a way that the plates may form an upper, lower, left, right, and rear surfaces of the refrigerating compartment 22, respectively.
In addition, in the drawings, the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 are shown as being segmented, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In other words, at least two adjacent plates among the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 may be formed as one piece.
For example, the upper plate 101 and the right plate 104 may be integrally injection molded. In addition, the lower plate 102 and the left plate 103 may be integrally injection molded. In addition, the upper plate 101 and the left plate 103 may be integrally injection molded. In addition, the lower plate 102 and the right plate 104 may be integrally injection molded.
As described above, although the inner case 100 comprises fewer plates rather than the five plates: the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105, the contents described below may be equally applicable.
A front flange 110 may be formed integrally with the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, and the right plate 104, respectively. Since the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, and the right plate 104 are all injection molded, the front flange 110 covering the front side of the inner case 100 may be formed integrally on the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, and the right plate 104.
On a lower surface of the upper plate 101, the rotation guide 108 may be integrally injection molded to guide the rotating bar 35, which is rotatably coupled to the pair of refrigerating compartment doors 31, to rotate according to the rotation of the refrigerating compartment door 31 (see
A rail 106, which is supported for sliding movement of the storage container 26 may be integrally injection molded on the left plate 103 and the right plate 104, respectively. A case lamp 107 on which a light emitting diode (LED) L is mounted may be integrally injection molded on the left plate 103 and the right plate 104, respectively (see
The back plate 105 may be injection molded as a thin film to have a competitive in terms of material cost, which may require a large number of gates (not shown). The back plate 105 may include a drainage member 105a for draining condensed water falling from the evaporator E. The drainage member 105a may be detachably coupled to the back plate 105. This may be because the gate may not be located in the drainage member 105a due to the shape of the drainage member 105a, and thus the drainage member 105a may not be injection molded integrally with the back plate 105.
The upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left side plate 103, the right plate 104, and the back plate 105 may have a plurality of assembly hooks 109a or a plurality of assembly holes 109b formed for assembly. Since the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left side plate 103, and the right plate 104 are assembled to each other through the remaining three edge faces of the four edge faces except a front face, the plurality of assembly hooks 109a or the plurality of assembly holes 109b may be formed on the remaining three edge faces except the front flange 110. The back plate 105 may form the plurality of assembly hooks 109a or the plurality of assembly holes 109b on all four edge faces. In other words, for example, in the case of assembling the upper plate 101 and the right plate 104, for example, the plurality of assembly hooks 109a may be formed on an right surface of the upper plate 101, and the plurality of assembly holes 109b may be formed on an upper surface of the right plate 104 which is assembled on the right surface of the upper plate 101. In the drawings, the plurality of assembly hooks 109a is formed on the right surface of the upper plate 101 and the plurality of assembly holes 109b is formed on the upper surface of the right plate 104, but the plurality of assembly holes 109b may be formed on the right surface of the upper plate 101 and the plurality of assembly hooks 109a may be formed on the upper surface of the right plate 104. In the case of the lower plate 102, the plurality of assembly hooks 109a may not be shown in the drawings because the plurality of assembly hooks 109a are formed on a lower side of the three edge faces.
As shown in
The seating groove 120 may be formed in the upper plate 101, the lower plate 102, the left plate 103, and the right plate 104 of the inner case 100 in which the front flange 110 is formed. The seating groove 120 may include a first seating groove 121 formed on the front flanges 110 of the upper plate 101, the left plate 103, and the right plate 104 among the front flanges 110 of the inner case 100. The first seating groove 121 may include a plurality of protrusions 123 formed to protrude to a bottom surface of the first seating groove 121. The plurality of protrusions 123 may be integrally injection molded with the injection molded inner case 100. The seating groove 120 may include a second seating groove 125 formed in the front flange 110 of the lower plate 102 among the front flanges 110 of the inner case 100.
A plurality of ribs 130 may be provided inside the seating groove 120. The closer the hot pipe H seated in the seating groove 120 is to the outer case 140, the better high-temperature heat caused by a hot refrigerant flowing in the hot pipe H is transferred to the outer case 140. As a result, although cold air in the storage compartment 20 flows into the outer case 140, the temperature difference between the outside and the inside of the outer case 140 is reduced, thereby preventing dew from forming on the outer surface of the outer case 140. The plurality of ribs 130 may allow the hot pipe H seated in the seating groove 120 to come into close contact with the outer case 140 (see
The plurality of ribs 130 may be injection molded integrally with the injection molded inner case 100. The plurality of ribs 130 may include a plurality of first ribs 131 and a plurality of second ribs 133 formed within the first seating groove 121. The plurality of ribs 130 may include a plurality of third ribs 135 formed within the second seating groove 125. The plurality of third ribs 135 may also be formed within the second partition 19 that divides the lower storage compartments 23 and 24 into the first storage compartment 23 and the second storage compartment 24.
As shown in
Each of the plurality of first ribs 131 may be formed integrally with each of the plurality of protrusions 123. Each of the plurality of first ribs 131 may be formed in a straight shape elongated in the left-right direction at a central portion of each of the plurality of protrusions 123. The plurality of first ribs 131 may allow the hot pipe H to come into close contact with the outer case 140 disposed in front of the inner case 100.
Because the hot pipe H is in close contact with the outer case 140 by the plurality of first ribs 131, the temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the outer case 140 may be reduced by high-temperature heat generated by the high-temperature refrigerant flowing inside the hot pipe H, thereby preventing dew from forming on the outer surface of the outer case 140.
The plurality of second ribs 133 may be formed on a side closer to the storage compartment 20 (see
Because the hot pipe H is in close contact with the outer case 140 by the plurality of second ribs 133, the temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the outer case 140 may be reduced by the high-temperature heat generated by the high-temperature refrigerant flowing inside the hot pipe H, thereby preventing dew from forming on the outer surface of the outer case 140.
In addition, the plurality of second ribs 133 may be formed on the side closer to the storage compartment 20 of both sides of the first seating groove 121, so that the hot pipe H may be further away from the inside of the storage compartment 20. The hot pipe H may be located at a position away from the inside of the storage compartment 20 by the plurality of second ribs 133, so that transfer of high-temperature heat from the high-temperature refrigerant flowing into the hot pipe H to the inside of the storage compartment 20 may be reduced. As a result, the increase in temperature inside the storage compartment 20 may be reduced, thereby reducing the energy consumed to lower the temperature inside the storage compartment 20 (see
As shown in
The plurality of third ribs 135 may be formed integrally with the inner case 100 on the bottom surface inside the second seating groove 125. The plurality of third ribs 135 may be formed to protrude further from the bottom surface inside the second seating groove 125. The plurality of third ribs 135 may allow the hot pipe H to come into close contact with the outer case 140 positioned in front of the inner case 100.
Because the hot pipe H is in close contact with the outer case 140 by the plurality of third ribs 135, the temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the outer case 140 may be reduced by the high-temperature heat caused by the high-temperature refrigerant flowing inside the hot pipe H, thereby preventing dew from forming on the outer surface of the outer case 140.
While the present disclosure has been particularly described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood by those of skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
Although the present disclosure has been described with various embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2021-0121293 | Sep 2021 | KR | national |
This application is a bypass continuation of International Application No. PCT/KR2022/012163, filed Aug. 16, 2022, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0121293, filed Sep. 10, 2021, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/KR2022/012163 | Aug 2022 | US |
| Child | 18418150 | US |
