Refrigerator

Abstract

The invention provides a refrigerator which comprises a lowermost storage liner, a housing, an evaporator, an air supply duct and at least one air feeder, the housing is arranged in a space defined by the storage liner and is configured to divide the space into a cooling chamber located on the lower portion and a storage chamber located above the cooling chamber, the air supply duct is arranged in the space of the storage liner, and the air feeder is arranged in the storage chamber. The cooling chamber is arranged in the storage chamber and is configured to convey the cooling air cooled by the evaporator to the storage chamber, and the air feeder is arranged in the air supply duct and is configured to promote the air to circularly flow between the cooling chamber and the storage chamber. According to the refrigerator, the air feeder is arranged in the air feeding channel, the situation that the cooling chamber is occupied by the air feeder is avoided, the height of the cooling chamber can be reduced, the storage volume of the storage chamber above the cooling chamber is increased, the distance between the air feeder and the evaporator is relatively increased, and the frosting degree of blades of the air feeder can be reduced.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of a Chinese patent application with the application number 201910865912.8, the application date of September 12, 2019, and the application title of "Refrigerator". Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to the technical field of refrigeration and freezing, and particularly to a refrigerator. Background Art

[0003] In existing refrigerators, the evaporator is generally located at the rear of the storage space at the bottom, reducing the front-to-back volume of this storage space, limiting the depth of the storage space, and making it inconvenient to place large and non-separable items. Summary of the Invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator with a large-capacity storage compartment.

[0005] A further object of the present invention is to reduce the space occupied by the cooling chamber and further increase the volume of the storage compartment.

[0006] Specifically, the present invention provides a refrigerator, which includes:

[0007] A storage inner liner at the bottom, which defines a space therein;

[0008] A housing, arranged in the space defined by the storage inner liner, configured to divide the space into a cooling chamber at the lower part and a storage compartment above the cooling chamber;

[0009] An evaporator, arranged in the cooling chamber, configured to cool the air flowing through it to form cooling air supplied to the storage compartment;

[0010] A air supply duct, arranged in the space, configured to convey the cooling air to the storage compartment;

[0011] At least one air supply fan, arranged in the air supply duct, configured to promote the circulation of air between the cooling chamber and the storage compartment.

[0012] Optionally, the air supply duct is arranged on the front side of the rear wall of the storage inner liner, and at least one first air outlet for blowing the cooling air to the storage compartment is formed on its front wall;

[0013] At least one of the air supply fans is arranged at the lower end of the air supply duct.

[0014] Optionally, a receiving groove protruding backward is formed at the lower end of the rear wall of the storage inner liner;

[0015] The lower rear wall surface of the air supply duct is adapted to the rear wall of the receiving groove, and the lower front wall surface of the air supply duct protrudes forward;

[0016] The air blower is arranged in the space defined by the lower rear wall surface and the lower front wall surface of the air supply duct.

[0017] Optionally, the air supply duct includes a first duct section and a second duct section that are sequentially connected in the air flow direction;

[0018] At least one of the air blowers is arranged in the second duct section and is configured to cause the cooled air cooled by the evaporator to flow from the first duct section to the second duct section;

[0019] At least one second air outlet for blowing the cooled air into the storage compartment is formed on the second duct section.

[0020] Optionally, the first duct section is located in front of the rear wall of the storage inner liner, the second duct section is located in front of the first duct section, and at least one second air outlet is formed on the front wall of the second duct section.

[0021] Optionally, the first duct section includes a first rear section located in front of the rear wall of the storage inner liner and extending upward to near the top wall of the storage inner liner, and a first upper section extending forward from the upper end of the first rear section;

[0022] The second duct section includes a second upper section located below the first upper section and a second rear section extending downward from the rear end of the second upper section and located in front of the first rear section;

[0023] At least one of the air blowers is arranged at a position near the front end of the second upper section, at least one of the second air outlets is formed at a position near the front end of the lower wall of the second upper section, and at least one of the second air outlets is formed on the front wall of the second rear section.

[0024] Optionally, the at least one air blower is a plurality of air blowers, and the plurality of air blowers are spaced apart transversely.

[0025] Optionally, the evaporator is horizontally placed in the cooling chamber in a flat cube shape.

[0026] Optionally, a front return air inlet is formed on the front wall of the housing so that the return air in the storage compartment can enter the cooling chamber through the front return air inlet and be cooled by the evaporator.

[0027] Optionally, the storage inner liner is a freezing inner liner, and the storage compartment is a freezing chamber.

[0028] In the refrigerator of the present invention, the blower is arranged in the air supply duct, so that the blower no longer occupies the space of the cooling chamber, the size in the front-back direction of the evaporator can be increased, the size in its height direction can be reduced, the influence of the height of the evaporator on the height of the cooling chamber can be avoided, and there is no need to increase the size of the cooling chamber in the vertical direction to accommodate the blower. Thus, the space occupied by the cooling chamber is reduced from two aspects, and the storage volume of the storage compartment above the cooling chamber is increased. In addition, the distance between the blower and the evaporator is relatively increased, the frosting degree of the blades can be reduced, and the distance between the blower and the drain port is also relatively increased, so that the amount of hot air inhaled by the blower from the drain port can be reduced, thereby reducing the influence degree of the hot air on the temperature rise of the storage compartment. Moreover, since the size in the front-back direction of the evaporator is increased, the coverage of the drain port is increased, and the hot air entering from the drain port can be cooled by the evaporator, avoiding the temperature rise of the storage compartment.

[0029] Further, by improving the structure of the air supply duct and the position of the blower in the refrigerator of the present invention, the frosting problem of the blades of the blower can be completely avoided, thereby improving the refrigeration performance of the refrigerator.

[0030] Through the following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will become more clear about the above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] Some specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in an exemplary but non-limiting manner. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar components or parts. Those skilled in the art should understand that these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

[0032] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein there is one blower;

[0033] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein there are two blowers;

[0034] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein there are three blowers;

[0035] Figure 4 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein the blower is located at the lower end of the air supply duct;

[0036] Figure 5 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein the blower is located at the upper end of the air supply duct;

[0037] Figure 6Schematic side sectional view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the blower is located at a substantially middle position in the vertical direction of the air supply duct;

[0038] Figure 7 Schematic side sectional view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the blower is an axial flow fan and is located at the upper end of the air supply duct;

[0039] Figure 8 Schematic side sectional view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the blower is a cross-flow fan and is located at the upper end of the air supply duct;

[0040] Figure 9 Schematic side sectional view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the blower is located at the front end of the air supply duct;

[0041] Figure 10 Partial exploded view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0042] Figure 11 Partial view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed implementation

[0043] This embodiment provides a refrigerator 100, which will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 11 to describe the refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. For the convenience of description, the orientations such as "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "top", "bottom", "lateral" mentioned in the specification are defined according to the spatial position relationship in the normal working state of the refrigerator 100. For example, as Figure 1 shown, the lateral direction refers to the direction parallel to the width direction of the refrigerator 100.

[0044] The refrigerator 100 includes a storage inner liner 130, a housing 135, an evaporator 101 and at least one blower 103 located at the bottom. The housing 135 is disposed in the space defined by the storage inner liner 130 and is configured to divide this space into a cooling chamber 136 located below and a storage compartment 131 located above the cooling chamber. The evaporator 101 is disposed in the cooling chamber 136 and is configured to cool the air flowing through it to form cooling air supplied to the storage compartment 131. The blower 103 is configured to promote the circulation of air between the cooling chamber 136 and the storage compartment 131, so as to continuously supply cooling air to the storage compartment 131 to ensure that the temperature of the storage compartment 131 can reach the corresponding target temperature.

[0045] In a traditional refrigerator, the space at the bottom of the refrigerator is generally a storage space. This storage space is located at a relatively low position, and users need to bend down or squat significantly to access the items in the bottom storage space, which is not convenient for users, especially for the elderly. Moreover, the evaporator of a traditional refrigerator is generally located behind the bottom storage space, occupying the rear area of the bottom storage space and reducing the depth of the bottom storage space. Furthermore, the compressor compartment of a traditional refrigerator is generally located at the lower rear of the bottom storage space. Inevitably, the bottom storage space has to make way for the compressor compartment, resulting in an irregular shape of the bottom storage space, further reducing the volume of the bottom storage space and making it inconvenient to store large and indivisible items.

[0046] To solve various problems existing in traditional refrigerators, before this application, the inventor of this application designed a new type of refrigerator with the evaporator placed at the bottom. The common point between this new type of refrigerator and the refrigerator 100 of this embodiment is that the cooling chamber 136 is defined by the storage inner liner 130 located at the bottom, and the storage compartment 131 defined by the storage inner liner 130 is located above the cooling chamber 136. For a refrigerator 100 with such a design, since the space at the bottom of the refrigerator 100 is the cooling chamber 136, the height of the storage compartment 131 above the cooling chamber 136 is raised, reducing the degree of bending when users access the items in the storage compartment 131 and enhancing the user experience. In addition, the evaporator 101 no longer occupies the rear space of the storage compartment 131, ensuring the depth dimension of the storage compartment 131. Moreover, the compressor compartment can be located at the lower rear of the cooling chamber 136. The cooling chamber 136 makes way for the compressor compartment, and the storage compartment 131 no longer needs to make way for the compressor compartment, and can be formed into a rectangular space with a large volume and regular shape, which is convenient for placing large and indivisible items and solves the pain point of being unable to place large items in the storage compartment 131.

[0047] However, in this new type of refrigerator, the blower 103 is located in the cooling chamber, behind the evaporator 101. Since the blower 103 itself has a certain height, the height of the upper wall of the cooling chamber 136 is relatively high, increasing the height space occupied by the cooling chamber 136. Moreover, because the blower 103 is located behind the evaporator 101, it occupies a part of the space in the front-rear direction, restricting the size of the evaporator 101 in the front-rear direction. To ensure a reasonable heat exchange area of the evaporator 101, the height of the evaporator 101 can only be increased in the height direction, further increasing the height of the upper wall of the cooling chamber 136, occupying a large space, and reducing the volume of the storage chamber 131 above the cooling chamber 136. In addition, if there is a gap between the housing 135 and the evaporator 101, the return air of the storage chamber 131 will pass through the gap and enter the blower 103, causing frosting on the blades of the blower 103, resulting in a decrease in the rotation speed of the blower 103, a reduction in the air volume, and having an adverse impact on the refrigeration performance. Furthermore, since the blower 103 is relatively close to the drain port 130b (the bottom wall of the storage inner liner 130 forms a drain port 130b for discharging the defrost water of the evaporator 101), the hot air outside the refrigerator enters the cooling chamber 136 through the drain port 130b, and is easily directly sucked by the blower 103 without being cooled by the evaporator 101 and sent to the storage chamber 131, causing the temperature of the storage chamber 131 to rise and affecting the freshness preservation quality of the food materials.

[0048] To solve the above problems, the inventor of the present application has improved the installation position of the blower 103, and installed the blower 103 in the air supply duct 134, so that the blower 103 no longer occupies the space of the cooling chamber 136, can increase the size of the evaporator 101 in the front-rear direction, reduce its size in the height direction, avoid the influence of the height of the evaporator 101 on the height of the cooling chamber 136, and there is no need to increase the size of the cooling chamber in the vertical direction to accommodate the blower 103. In this way, the space occupied by the cooling chamber 136 is reduced from two aspects, and the storage volume of the storage chamber 131 above the cooling chamber is increased. In addition, the distance between the blower 103 and the evaporator 101 is relatively increased, which can reduce the frosting degree of the blades. The distance between the blower 103 and the drain port 130b is also relatively increased, which can reduce the amount of hot air sucked by the blower 103 from the drain port 130b, thereby reducing the influence degree of the hot air on the temperature rise of the storage chamber. Moreover, since the size of the evaporator 101 in the front-rear direction is increased, the coverage degree of the drain port 130b is increased, and the hot air entering from the drain port 130b can be cooled by the evaporator 101, avoiding the temperature rise of the storage chamber 131.

[0049] In some embodiments, as Figure 1 shown, there may be one blower 103 to reduce costs. In some embodiments, as Figure 2 、 Figure 3As shown, there may be multiple air blowers 103. Multiple means two or more. The multiple air blowers 103 are distributed at intervals in the horizontal direction to increase the air supply volume and improve the refrigeration speed of the refrigerator 100. Among them, Figures 1 to 3 The housing 135 is hidden to show the evaporator 101.

[0050] In some embodiments, a vertical partition 137 may be provided in the space defined by the storage inner liner 130, which divides the space defined by the storage inner liner 130 into two laterally distributed storage compartments 131. At least one air blower 103 is disposed in the section of the air supply duct 134 corresponding to one of the storage compartments 131, and at least one other air blower 103 is disposed in the section of the air supply duct 134 corresponding to the other storage compartment 131, so as to ensure that both storage compartments 131 have a large air supply volume. For example, as Figure 3 shown, two air blowers 103 are disposed in the section of the air supply duct 134 corresponding to the storage compartment 131 on the left side in the horizontal direction, and one air blower 103 is disposed in the section of the air supply duct 134 corresponding to the storage compartment 131 on the right side in the horizontal direction. The storage compartment 131 on the left side may have a larger air supply volume relative to the storage compartment 131 on the right side and can be used as a freezer, while the storage compartment 131 on the right side can be used as a variable temperature compartment.

[0051] In some embodiments, the air supply duct 134 may be disposed in front of the rear wall of the storage inner liner 130. At least one first air outlet 134a for blowing cooling air into the storage compartment 131 is formed on its front wall, and at least one air blower 103 is disposed at the lower end of the air supply duct 134. In this embodiment, since the air blower 103 is located at the lower end of the air supply duct 134, the thickness of the air supply duct 134 only increases at the position where the air blower 103 is arranged, so as to ensure the depth dimension of the storage compartment 131. Among them, there may be multiple first air outlets 134a, such as Figure 4 shown, the multiple first air outlets 134a are distributed at intervals from top to bottom to supply air to different regions in the height direction of the storage compartment 131, which is beneficial to maintaining the temperature uniformity of the storage compartment 131.

[0052] Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment, as Figure 4 shown, a receiving groove 130a protruding backward may be formed at the lower end of the rear wall of the storage inner liner 130. The rear wall surface at the lower end of the air supply duct 134 may be adapted to the rear wall of the receiving groove 130a, and the front wall surface at the lower end of the air supply duct 134 protrudes forward. The air blower 103 is disposed in the space defined by the rear wall surface and the front wall surface at the lower end of the air supply duct 134. Due to the existence of the receiving groove 130a, the size of the front wall surface at the lower end of the air supply duct 134 protruding forward is reduced, and thus the influence of the air blower 103 on the increase in the thickness of the air supply duct 134 can be further reduced.

[0053] In some embodiments, as Figures 5 to 9 shown, the air supply duct 134 may include a first duct section 1341 and a second duct section 1342 that are sequentially connected in the air flow direction. At least one air blower 103 is disposed in the second duct section 1342 and configured to urge the cooled air cooled by the evaporator 101 to flow from the first duct section 1341 to the second duct section 1342. The second duct section 1342 is formed with at least one second air outlet 1342a for blowing the cooled air into the storage compartment 131. In this embodiment, the air supply duct 134 is improved. The air supply duct 134 is designed to include a first duct section 1341 located upstream and a second duct section 1342 located downstream, and the air blower 103 is disposed in the second duct section 1342 to further increase the distance between the air blower 103 and the evaporator 101. If there is a gap between the housing 135 and the evaporator 101, the return air of the storage compartment 131 will first flow through the first duct section 1341 and be cooled by the cooled air cooled by the evaporator 101, thereby completely avoiding the problem of frosting on the blades of the air blower 103. Moreover, the distance between the air blower 103 and the drain port 130b is further increased. The hot air that enters through the drain port 130b and is not cooled by the evaporator 101 first flows through the first duct section 1341 and is cooled by the cooled air cooled by the evaporator 101, thereby completely avoiding the adverse effect on the temperature of the storage compartment 131 and being beneficial to improving the freshness preservation quality of the food materials.

[0054] Referring to Figures 5 to 8 , the first duct section 1341 may be located in front of the rear wall of the storage inner container 130, the second duct section 1342 may be located in front of the first duct section, and at least one of the aforementioned second air outlets 1342a is formed on the front wall of the second duct section 1342. Among them, there may be multiple second air outlets 1342a, and the multiple second air outlets 1342a are sequentially spaced apart from top to bottom to supply air to different regions in the height direction of the storage compartment 131, which is beneficial to maintaining the temperature uniformity of the storage compartment 131.

[0055] Referring to Figure 5 , Figure 7 and Figure 8As shown, the first air duct section 1341 can extend upward to a position adjacent to the top wall of the storage inner container 130. The upper end of the second air duct section 1342 can extend to a position adjacent to the top wall of the storage inner container 130, and the lower end can extend to be connected to the housing 135. Moreover, the top end of the second air duct section 1342 is higher than the top end of the first air duct section 1341. The air blower 103 is located at the position where the second air duct section 1342 is above the first air duct section 1341. That is to say, the air blower 103 is generally at a position near the top end of the air supply duct 134. The thickness of the air supply duct 134 only increases at the position where the air blower 103 is arranged, while the thickness of the entire section of the air supply duct 134 below the air blower 103 is relatively small, having a relatively small impact on the volume of the storage compartment 131.

[0056] Among them, at least one second air outlet 1342a can be formed on the front wall of the second air duct section 1342 above the air blower 103, and a plurality of second air outlets 1342a spaced apart from top to bottom can be formed on the front wall of the second air duct section 1342 below the air blower 103. The air blower 103 can suck air from its rear side and exhaust air to the section of the second air duct section 1342 above the air blower 103 and the section below the air blower 103 respectively, so as to ensure that the cooling air can flow through the entire area in the height direction of the storage compartment 131 and improve the temperature uniformity of the storage compartment 131.

[0057] See Figure 6 , the first air duct section 1341 can extend upward to a position corresponding to the approximately middle vertical position of the rear wall of the storage inner container 130, while the upper end of the second air duct section 1342 can extend to be adjacent to the top wall of the storage inner container 130, and the lower end can extend to be connected to the housing 135. The air blower 103 is located at the position where the second air duct section 1342 is above the first air duct section 1341. That is to say, the air blower 103 is generally at the approximately middle position of the air supply duct 134. It sucks air from its rear side and exhausts air to the section of the second air duct section 1342 above the air blower 103 and the section below the air blower 103 respectively. At least one second air outlet 1342a is formed on the front wall of the second air duct section 1342 above the air blower 103, and a plurality of second air outlets 1342a spaced apart from top to bottom are formed on the front wall of the second air duct section 1342 below the air blower 103, so as to supply air to each area in the height direction of the storage compartment 131 respectively.

[0058] In any of the foregoing embodiments, the air blower 103 can be a centrifugal fan, an axial flow fan or a cross-flow fan. As Figures 4 to 6 shown, the air blower 103 is a centrifugal fan, and the rotation axis of the centrifugal fan extends in the front-rear direction. In Figure 4 the embodiment shown, based on the position of the air blower 103, the air blower 103 needs to suck air from its front side and exhaust air upward. In Figure 5and Figure 6 In the embodiment shown, based on the position of the blower 103, the blower 103 sucks air from its rear side and discharges air upward and downward respectively. In Figure 7 the embodiment shown, the blower 103 is an axial flow fan, and the rotation axis of the axial flow fan can be inclined upward from the rear to the front, which is beneficial to promoting the cooling air to flow to the section above the blower 103 and the section below the blower 103 in the second air duct section respectively. In Figure 8 the embodiment shown, the blower 103 is a cross-flow fan, and the rotation axis of the cross-flow fan can extend horizontally and discharge air from its front end, so that the cooling air flows to the section above the blower 103 and the section below the blower 103 in the second air duct section respectively.

[0059] In some embodiments, such as Figure 9 shown, the first air duct section 1341 includes a first rear section 13411 located in front of the rear wall of the storage inner liner 130 and extending upward to near the top wall of the storage inner liner 130, and a first upper section 13412 extending forward from the upper end of the first rear section 13411. The second air duct section 1342 may include a second upper section 13421 located below the first upper section 13412 and a second rear section 13422 extending downward from the rear end of the second upper section 13421 and located in front of the first rear section 13411. And at least one blower 103 is disposed at a position near the front end of the second upper section 13421. At least one second air outlet 1342a is formed at a position near the front end of the lower wall of the second upper section 13421, and at least one second air outlet 1342a is formed on the front wall of the second rear section 13422. Thus, air ducts are provided on the front side of the rear wall of the storage inner liner 130 and under the lower side of the top wall, increasing the air supply uniformity of the storage compartment 131. And since the second air outlet 1342a on the second upper section 13421 is near the front end of the second upper section 13421 (i.e., near the position of the door body 132) and discharges air downward, an air curtain can be formed in front of the storage compartment 131, which is beneficial to maintaining the temperature stability of the storage compartment 131 and reducing the influence of opening and closing the door on the temperature of the storage compartment 131.

[0060] In this embodiment, the blower 103 can be a centrifugal fan, an axial flow fan or a cross-flow fan. In Figure 9 the embodiment shown, the blower 103 is a centrifugal fan, and the rotation axis of the centrifugal fan extends vertically to suck air from its upper end and discharge air to its lateral sides, promoting the cooling air to blow downward to the storage compartment 131 through the second air outlet 1342a on the second upper section 13421 and blow forward to the storage compartment 131 through the second air outlet 1342a on the second rear section 13422.

[0061] In any of the foregoing embodiments, the air supply air duct 134 can be defined by at least two air duct covers. For example, inFigure 4 In the illustrated embodiment, the air supply duct 134 is defined by two duct covers located in front of the rear wall of the storage inner container 130. In Figures 5 to 9 the illustrated embodiment, the first duct section 1341 of the air supply duct 134 is defined by the duct cover and the inner wall of the storage inner container 130, and the second duct section 1342 of the air supply duct 134 is defined by the aforementioned duct cover and another duct cover.

[0062] Referring to Figure 4 , the evaporator 101 can be horizontally placed in the cooling chamber as a whole in a flat cube shape, that is, the length and width surfaces of the evaporator 101 are parallel to the horizontal plane, and the thickness surface is perpendicular to the horizontal plane, and the thickness dimension is significantly smaller than the length dimension of the evaporator 101. By horizontally placing the evaporator 101 in the cooling chamber, it is avoided that the evaporator 101 occupies more space, and further the storage volume of the storage compartment 131 in the upper part of the cooling chamber 136 is ensured.

[0063] Referring to Figure 4 , the front wall of the housing 135 can be formed with a front return air inlet 135a. The return air of the storage compartment 131 can enter the cooling chamber 136 through the front return air inlet 135a and be re-cooled by the evaporator 101, so as to continuously supply cooled air to the storage compartment 131. Since the front return air inlet 135a is formed on the front side of the housing 135, and the housing 135 is located in the space defined by the storage inner container 130, the storage compartment 131 can be directly communicated with the cooling chamber 136 through the front return air inlet 135a without setting a return air duct, which saves complex design and installation and reduces costs.

[0064] The aforementioned storage inner container 130 can be a freezing inner container. Correspondingly, the storage compartment 131 can be a freezer compartment, and the freezer compartment has the lowest temperature compared with the variable temperature compartment and the refrigerating compartment. The cooling chamber 136 is distributed below the freezer compartment, which is beneficial to maintaining the lowest temperature of the freezer compartment. A freezer door body 132 is provided on the front side of the freezing inner container to open and close the freezer compartment.

[0065] The refrigerator 100 can further include a refrigerating inner container 120 and a variable temperature inner container 140. The variable temperature inner container 140 can be located above the storage inner container 130, and the refrigerating inner container 120 can be located above the variable temperature inner container 140. A variable temperature compartment 141 is defined in the variable temperature inner container 140, and a variable temperature door body 142 is provided on the front side of the variable temperature inner container 140 to open and close the corresponding variable temperature compartment 141. A refrigerating compartment 121 is defined in the refrigerating inner container 120, and a refrigerating door body 122 is provided on the front side of the refrigerating inner container 120 to open and close the refrigerating compartment 121.

[0066] The refrigerator 100 may further include a variable-temperature compartment supply air duct (not shown) and a variable-temperature compartment return air duct (not shown). The variable-temperature compartment supply air duct can be controllably communicated with the supply air duct 134 through a variable-temperature compartment air damper. The variable-temperature compartment return air duct has an inlet communicating with the variable-temperature inner container 140 and an outlet communicating with the cooling chamber 136 to convey the return air flow of the variable-temperature compartment 141 into the cooling chamber 136.

[0067] The refrigerating compartment 121 may have an independent refrigerating evaporator 124 and a refrigerating supply fan 125. The refrigerating evaporator 124 and the refrigerating supply fan 125 are arranged in the refrigerating compartment supply air duct 123 inside the rear wall of the refrigerating inner container 120. The refrigerating compartment supply air duct 123 has a refrigerating compartment air supply opening 123a for supplying air to the refrigerating compartment 121.

[0068] As can be realized by those skilled in the art, the refrigerator 100 further includes a housing 110. The housing 110 is insulated from each inner container by a foaming layer. Correspondingly, the compressor compartment is also insulated from the cooling chamber 136 by a foaming layer.

[0069] See Figure 10 and Figure 11 , in the compressor compartment, a compressor 104, a heat dissipation fan 106 and a condenser 105 are arranged at intervals in sequence along the transverse direction. Before this application, the general design idea of those skilled in the art for the compressor compartment was to open a rear air inlet hole facing the condenser 105 and a rear air outlet hole 1162a facing the compressor 104 on the rear wall of the compressor compartment to complete the circulation of the heat dissipation air flow at the rear of the compressor compartment; or to form ventilation holes on the front wall and the rear wall of the compressor compartment respectively to form a heat dissipation circulation air path in the front-rear direction. However, to reduce the space where the refrigerator 100 is located, the ventilation space at the rear of the refrigerator is generally small, which affects the heat dissipation effect. Especially for an embedded refrigerator, to improve the heat dissipation effect, it is necessary to increase the ventilation space at the rear of the refrigerator, resulting in an increase in the occupied space of the refrigerator.

[0070] In this embodiment, the heat dissipation structure of the refrigerator 100 is improved, which can greatly improve the heat dissipation effect of the compressor compartment and at the same time reduce the occupied space of the refrigerator 100. Specifically, the bottom wall of the refrigerator 100 defines a bottom air inlet 110a adjacent to the condenser and a bottom air outlet 110b adjacent to the compressor 104 arranged horizontally. The refrigerator 100 completes the circulation of the heat dissipation air flow at its bottom, making full use of the space between the refrigerator 100 and the supporting surface. Without increasing the ventilation space at the rear of the refrigerator 100, while reducing the space occupied by the refrigerator 100, it ensures good heat dissipation of the compressor compartment, fundamentally solving the pain point that the heat dissipation of the compressor compartment of the embedded refrigerator 100 and the space occupation cannot be balanced, which has particularly important significance.

[0071] The cooling fan 106 is configured to suck ambient air from the surrounding environment of the bottom air inlet 110a and cause the air to first pass through the condenser 105, then through the compressor 104, and then flow from the bottom air outlet 110b to the surrounding environment, thereby dissipating heat from the condenser 105 and the compressor 104.

[0072] In the vapor compression refrigeration cycle, the surface temperature of the condenser 105 is generally lower than the surface temperature of the compressor 104. Therefore, in the above process, the external air is first cooled by the condenser 105 and then by the compressor 104.

[0073] In addition, when facing the problem of improving the heat dissipation effect of the compressor compartment, those skilled in the art usually increase the number of rear air inlet holes and rear air outlet holes 1162a on the rear wall of the compressor compartment to expand the ventilation area, or increase the heat exchange area of the condenser 105, such as using a U-shaped condenser with a larger heat exchange area.

[0074] However, the applicant of the present invention creatively realizes that the heat exchange area of the condenser 105 and the ventilation area of the compressor compartment are not the larger the better. In the conventional design scheme of increasing the heat exchange area of the condenser 105 and the ventilation area of the compressor compartment, there will be a problem of uneven heat dissipation of the condenser 105, which has an adverse impact on the refrigeration system of the refrigerator 100.

[0075] Therefore, the applicant of the present invention breaks away from the conventional design idea and further improves the heat dissipation structure of the compressor compartment. At least one rear air outlet hole 1162a is formed in the plate section 1162 corresponding to the compressor 104 on the rear wall of the compressor compartment. The plate section 1161 of the back plate 116 (the rear wall of the compressor compartment) facing the condenser 105 is a continuous plate surface, that is to say, there are no heat dissipation holes on the plate section 1161 of the back plate 116 facing the condenser 105. In this way, the heat dissipation air flow entering the compressor compartment can be enclosed at the condenser 105, so that the ambient air entering from the bottom air inlet 110a is more concentrated at the condenser 105, ensuring the heat exchange uniformity of each condensation section of the condenser 105, and is conducive to forming a better heat dissipation air flow path, and can also achieve a better heat dissipation effect.

[0076] Moreover, since the plate section 1161 of the back plate 116 facing the condenser 105 is a continuous plate surface and does not have air inlet holes, it avoids the situation in the conventional design where both the air outlet and the air inlet are concentrated at the rear of the compressor compartment, resulting in the hot air blown out from the compressor compartment not being cooled by the ambient air in time and then entering the compressor compartment again, which has an adverse impact on the heat exchange of the condenser 105, thereby ensuring the heat exchange efficiency of the condenser 105.

[0077] More particularly, the condenser 105 may include a first straight section 1051 extending laterally, a second straight section 1052 extending front to back, and a transition curved section (not labeled) connecting the first straight section 1051 and the second straight section 1052, thereby forming an L-shaped condenser 105 with an appropriate heat exchange area. The corresponding plate section 1161 of the rear wall (back plate 116) of the aforementioned compressor compartment, that is, the plate section 1161 of the back plate 116 facing the first straight section 1051.

[0078] One side ventilation hole 119a may be formed on each of the two lateral side walls of the compressor compartment. The side ventilation hole 119a may be covered with a ventilation cover plate 108, and the ventilation cover plate 108 is formed with grid-like ventilation small holes; the outer shell of the refrigerator 100 includes two box body side plates 111 in the lateral direction. The two box body side plates 111 extend vertically and constitute the two side walls of the refrigerator 100. Each of the two box body side plates 111 forms a side opening 111a communicating with the corresponding side ventilation hole 119a, so that the heat dissipation air flow can flow to the outside of the refrigerator 100. The ambient air flow entering from the side ventilation hole 119a directly exchanges heat with the second straight section 1052, and the ambient air entering from the bottom air inlet 110a directly exchanges heat with the first straight section 1051. Thereby, the ambient air entering the compressor compartment is further concentrated more at the condenser 105, ensuring the uniformity of the overall heat dissipation of the condenser 105.

[0079] Refer again to Figure 10 and Figure 11 , the refrigerator 100 may include a bottom plate, a support plate 112, two side plates 119, and a vertically extending back plate 116. The support plate 112 constitutes the bottom wall of the compressor compartment and is used to carry the compressor 104, the heat dissipation fan 106, and the condenser 105. The two side plates 119 respectively constitute the two lateral side walls of the compressor compartment, and the vertically extending back plate 116 constitutes the rear wall of the compressor compartment.

[0080] The bottom plate may include a bottom horizontal section 113 located at the front side of the bottom and a bent section that bends and extends backward and upward from the rear end of the bottom horizontal section 113. The bent section extends above the support plate 112. The compressor 104, the heat dissipation fan 106, and the condenser 105 are arranged at intervals in sequence in the lateral direction on the support plate 112 and are located in the space defined by the support plate 112, the two side plates, the back plate 116, and the bent section.

[0081] The pallet 112 and the bottom horizontal section 113 together form the bottom wall of the refrigerator 100, and the pallet 112 and the bottom horizontal section 113 are spaced apart to define a bottom opening by the rear end of the bottom horizontal section 113 and the front end of the pallet 112. Among them, the bent section has an inclined section 114 located above the bottom air inlet 110a and the bottom air outlet 110b. The two side plates extend upward from the two sides in the transverse direction of the pallet 112 to the two sides in the transverse direction of the bent section to enclose the two transverse sides of the compressor compartment; the back plate 116 extends upward from the rear end of the pallet 112 to the rear end of the bent section.

[0082] Specifically, the bent section may include a vertical section 1131, the aforementioned inclined section 114, and a top horizontal section 115. The vertical section 1131 extends upward from the rear end of the bottom horizontal section 113, the inclined section 114 extends backward and upward from the upper end of the vertical section 1131 to above the pallet 112, and the top horizontal section 115 extends backward from the rear end of the inclined section 114 to the back plate to shield the upper parts of the compressor 104, the heat dissipation fan 106, and the condenser 105.

[0083] The refrigerator 100 further includes a partition 117. The partition 117 is disposed behind the bent section, its front part is connected to the rear end of the bottom horizontal section 113, and its rear part is connected to the front end of the pallet 112, and is configured to divide the bottom opening into a laterally arranged bottom air inlet 110a and a bottom air outlet 110b.

[0084] As can be seen from the above, the bottom air inlet 110a and the bottom air outlet 110b of this embodiment are defined by the partition 117, the pallet 112, and the bottom horizontal section 113, thereby forming a trough-shaped bottom air inlet 110a and a bottom air outlet 110b with a larger opening size, increasing the air inlet and outlet areas, reducing the air inlet resistance, making the air flow more smooth, and the manufacturing process is simpler, making the overall stability of the compressor compartment stronger.

[0085] Particularly, the applicant of the present invention creatively recognizes that the slope structure of the inclined section 114 can guide and rectify the incoming air flow, so that the air flow entering from the bottom air inlet 110a flows more concentratedly toward the condenser 105, avoiding the air flow being too dispersed and unable to pass through the condenser 105 more, thereby further ensuring the heat dissipation effect of the condenser 105; at the same time, the slope of the inclined section 114 guides the outgoing air flow of the bottom air outlet 110b to the front side of the ground air outlet, making the outgoing air flow flow out of the compressor compartment more smoothly, thereby further improving the smoothness of the air flow.

[0086] Further particularly, in a preferred embodiment, the angle between the inclined section 114 and the horizontal plane is less than 45°. In this embodiment, the inclined section 114 has a better guiding and rectifying effect on the air flow.

[0087] Moreover, unexpectedly, the inventors of the present application creatively recognized that the slope of the inclined section 114 has a good effect on suppressing airflow noise. In the prototype test, the noise of the compressor compartment with the specially designed inclined section 114 can be reduced by more than 0.65 decibels.

[0088] In addition, in the conventional refrigerator 100, the bottom of the refrigerator 100 generally has a bearing plate with a substantially flat plate structure, and the compressor 104 is arranged inside the bearing plate. The vibration generated during the operation of the compressor 104 has a greater impact on the bottom of the cabinet 100. In this embodiment, as described above, the bottom of the refrigerator 100 is constructed as a three-dimensional structure by the bottom plate and the support plate 112 with a special structure, providing an independent three-dimensional space for the arrangement of the compressor 104. The support plate 112 is used to carry the compressor 104, reducing the impact of the vibration of the compressor 104 on other components at the bottom of the cabinet 100. In addition, by designing the refrigerator 100 into the above-mentioned ingenious special structure, the structure of the bottom of the refrigerator 100 is compact and reasonably arranged, reducing the overall volume of the refrigerator 100, while making full use of the space at the bottom of the refrigerator 100, ensuring the heat dissipation efficiency of the compressor 104 and the condenser 105.

[0089] A wind shield 1056 can be disposed at the upper end of the condenser 105. The wind shield 1056 can be a wind shield sponge to fill the space between the upper end of the condenser 105 and the bent section. That is to say, the wind shield 1056 covers the upper ends of the first straight section 1051, the second straight section 1052 and the transition curved section, and the upper end of the wind shield 1056 should be in contact with the bent section to seal the upper end of the condenser 105, so as to prevent some of the air entering the compressor compartment from passing through the space between the upper end of the condenser 105 and the bent section without passing through the condenser 105, so that as much air as possible entering the compressor compartment passes through the condenser 105 for heat exchange, further improving the heat dissipation effect of the condenser 105.

[0090] In some embodiments, the refrigerator 100 may further include a wind deflector 107 extending longitudinally, which is located between the bottom air inlet 110a and the bottom air outlet 110b, extends from the lower surface of the bottom horizontal section 113 to the lower surface of the support plate 112, and is connected to the lower end of the partition member 117, so as to completely isolate the bottom air inlet 110a and the bottom air outlet 110b by using the wind deflector 107 and the partition member 117. Thus, when the refrigerator 100 is placed on a support surface, the space between the bottom wall of the refrigerator 100 and the support surface is laterally partitioned, allowing external air to enter the compressor compartment through the bottom air inlet 110a on the lateral side of the wind deflector 107 under the action of the heat dissipation fan 106, flow through the condenser 105 and the compressor 104 in sequence, and finally flow out from the bottom air outlet 110b on the other lateral side of the wind deflector 107, thereby completely isolating the bottom air inlet 110a and the bottom air outlet 110b, ensuring that the external air entering the condenser 105 does not mix with the heat dissipation air discharged from the compressor 104, and further ensuring the heat dissipation efficiency.

[0091] At this point, those skilled in the art should recognize that although multiple exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications that conform to the principles of the present invention can still be directly determined or derived from the disclosed content of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be understood and determined to cover all these other variations or modifications.

Claims

1. A refrigerator, comprising: a storage inner container located at the bottommost part, with a space defined therein; the space inside the storage inner container is divided into a cooling chamber located below and a storage compartment located above the cooling chamber; an evaporator disposed in the cooling chamber and configured to cool the air flowing through it to form cooling air supplied to the storage compartment; a blowing air duct disposed in front of the rear wall of the storage inner container and configured to convey the cooling air to the storage compartment; at least one first air outlet for blowing the cooling air to the storage compartment is formed on the front wall of the blowing air duct; at least one air blower disposed in the blowing air duct and configured to promote the circulation of air between the cooling chamber and the storage compartment.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of the first air outlets, and the plurality of the first air outlets are spaced apart from each other in sequence from top to bottom on the front wall of the blowing air duct.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a receiving groove protruding backward is formed at the lower end of the rear wall of the storage inner container; the rear wall surface at the lower end of the blowing air duct is adapted to the rear wall of the receiving groove, and the front wall surface at the lower end of the blowing air duct protrudes forward; the air blower is disposed in the space defined by the rear wall surface and the front wall surface at the lower end of the blowing air duct.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the air blower sucks air from its front side and discharges air upward; the position of each of the first air outlets is higher than that of the air blower.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the blowing air duct includes a first duct section and a second duct section that are sequentially connected in the air flow direction; the first duct section is located upstream and the second duct section is located downstream; at least one of the air blowers is disposed in the second duct section and configured to promote the cooling air cooled by the evaporator to flow from the first duct section to the second duct section; at least one second air outlet for blowing the cooling air to the storage compartment is formed on the second duct section.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the air blower is a centrifugal blower, and the rotation axis of the centrifugal blower extends in the front-rear direction; or the air blower is an axial flow blower, and the rotation axis of the axial flow blower is inclined upward from the rear to the front; or the air blower is a cross-flow blower, and the rotation axis of the cross-flow blower extends horizontally.

7. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the at least one air blower is a plurality of air blowers, and the plurality of air blowers are spaced apart from each other horizontally.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising: a housing disposed in the space defined by the storage inner container to divide the space inside the storage inner container into the cooling chamber and the storage compartment.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a front return air inlet is formed on the front wall of the housing to facilitate the return air of the storage compartment to enter the cooling chamber through the front return air inlet and be cooled by the evaporator.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the storage inner container is a freezing inner container, and the storage compartment is a freezer.

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