Refrigerator

Abstract

A refrigerator is disclosed wherein an ion generator is arranged in a cold air duct which supplies cold air to a storage compartment, and a desired portion of the cold air duct is treated for anti-static. The ions from the ion generator are used for the purpose of sterilization and deodorization and are effectively discharged into the storage compartment. The anti-static-treatment of the cold air duct prevents the ions generated from the ion generator from being lost due to static in the cold air duct. The anti-static treatment is carried out by coating polyethylene on a portion of the cold air duct. The cold air duct includes a plurality of uniformly spaced cold air outlets, whereby the ions generated from the ion generator are uniformly distributed into the overall portion of the storage compartment through the cold air outlets.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. P2006-2917, filed on Jan. 10, 2006 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The invention relates to a refrigerator, and, more particularly to a refrigerator wherein an ion generator is arranged in a cold air duct which supplies cold air to a storage compartment of the refrigerator, and a desired portion of the cold air duct is treated for anti-static so that ions for sterilization and deodorization can be effectively discharged into the storage compartment. [0004] Ions are atoms that have either gained or lost an electron and bear a charge of energy. Negative ions (“ions”) have an extra electron and their negative ion energy attracts airborne dust and particles. A high concentration of ions attracts and can remove unwanted airborne dust a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012] It is another aspect of the invention is to provide a refrigerator wherein a desired portion of a cold air duct, in which an ion generator is arranged, is treated for anti-static such that ions generated from the ion generator can be effectively transferred to a storage compartment for the refrigerator through the cold air duct.

[0015] The cold air duct may include an anti-static-treated portion to prevent the ions generated from the ion generator from being lost due to static electricity in the cold air duct.

Problems solved by technology

Furthermore, mold, bacteria, viruses, etc. may grow in the storage compartment and not only cause a sanitation problem, but are also being unpleasant to the user.

However, the sterilizing and deodorizing device used in the conventional refrigerator is arranged between shelves in the storage compartment, so that air sterilized and deodorized by the device is discharged into the storage compartment only near the region between the shelves.

For this reason, there is a problem with the sterilized and deodorized air that is locally distributed in the storage compartment and not spread throughout the entire area of the storage compartment, thus the entire are is not sterilized or deodorized.

Furthermore, the sterilizing and deodorizing device used in the conventional refrigerator cannot sterilize and deodorize air present in the storage compartment because the device is only capable of cleaning the air that passes directly through the device by the use of ozone.

For this reason, it is impossible to sterilize and deodorize all of the air present in the storage compartment unless the air passes through the sterilizing and deodorizing device.

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