Direct cooling refrigerator and control method thereof

Abstract

A direct cooling refrigerator having a circulation duct. The direct cooling refrigerator includes a cabinet, an inner case arranged in the cabinet and having an inlet and an outlet, a circulation duct coupled to the inner case at the outside of the inner case and having a suction port communicating with the outlet and a discharge port communicating with the inlet, and a fan to move air from the suction port to the discharge port within the circulation duct. The inlet is located at an upper wall of the inner case so as to be located closer to a front surface of the inner case than a rear wall of the inner case, and the outlet is located at the rear wall of the inner case so as to be located close to a lower wall of the inner case.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2010-0085552, filed on Sep. 1, 2010 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field[0003]Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a direct cooling refrigerator which includes a circulation duct to reduce temperature deviation in a storage compartment and performs natural defrosting without a heater attached to an evaporator.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]In general, a refrigerator includes a compressor, condenser, expansion valve and evaporator and is designed to keep various kinds of food fresh for a long time using heat transfer depending on phase change of a refrigerant.[0006]Cooling types of refrigerators may be classified into a direct cooling type and an indirect cooling type. Direct cooling type refrigerators cool the interior of a storage compartment via natural ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014]It is another aspect of the present disclosure to provide a direct cooling type refrigerator to reduce temperature deviation within a storage compartment without operating a heater.

[0031]In accordance with a further aspect of the present disclosure, a control method of a direct cooling type refrigerator includes sensing temperature of an evaporator using an evaporator sensor installed to the evaporator, sensing interior temperature of the refrigerator using a temperature sensor, and controlling On / Off operations of a cooling system and a fan based on the sensed temperature of the evaporator and the sensed interior temperature of the refrigerator, enabling natural defrosting of the evaporator.

Problems solved by technology

The direct cooling type kimchi refrigerator, however, exhibits temperature deviation between an upper region and a lower region of the storage compartment.

Moreover, in the case of a kimchi refrigerator provided with a drawer type door, a front region of the storage compartment adjacent to the door is exposed when the door is opened, causing significant loss of cold air therefrom.

Thus, natural convection of the evaporator and the drawer type door cause temperature deviation between a front upper region and a front lower region of the storage compartment.

Most conventional refrigerators provide an evaporator with an extra heater or operate a fan in order to remove frost generated on a surface of the evaporator, but operating the heater or fan increases power consumption.

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