Evaporator assembly and direct current refrigerator

Abstract

The utility model provides an evaporator assembly and a direct current refrigerator. The evaporator assembly comprises an evaporator main body and at least two heaters; each heater is provided with a first connecting end and a second connecting end, the at least two heaters are connected with the evaporator body, the at least two heaters are arranged in the length direction of the evaporator body in an extending mode, and the at least two heaters are connected in parallel. According to the evaporator assembly, the at least two heaters are arranged in parallel, the problem that power of the direct-current refrigerator is insufficient due to the fact that a single defrosting heater is too long can be effectively solved, the defrosting heaters of the direct-current refrigerator can be better matched with the evaporator assembly, and the requirement for automatic defrosting of the direct-current refrigerator is met.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of refrigerators, in particular to an evaporator component and a DC refrigerator. Background Art

[0002] In existing household air-cooled refrigerators, the defrost heater is fixed under the evaporator. The heater has a power of approximately 200-300W and is powered by AC. The heater heats the evaporator to remove ice and defrost, eliminating the need for manual defrosting. However, when the AC power is converted to DC power, the power of a defrost heater of the same specifications is far less than 200W, as the DC voltage is much lower than the 220V AC voltage. This makes it impossible to meet the automatic defrost requirements of air-cooled, frost-free DC refrigerators. Utility Model Content

[0003] The present invention aims to solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the present invention provides an evaporator assembly which, when applied to a DC refrigerator, can meet the requirements of automatic defrosting.

[0004] The utility model also provides a DC refrigerator using the evaporator assembly.

[0005] According to the evaporator assembly of the embodiment of the first aspect of the present utility model, it includes an evaporator body and at least two heaters; the heater has a first connection end and a second connection end, at least two heaters are connected to the evaporator body, at least two of the heaters are extended along the length direction of the evaporator body, and at least two of the heaters are connected in parallel.

[0006] The evaporator assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention has at least the following beneficial effects: the evaporator assembly of the present invention adopts at least two heaters arranged in parallel, which can effectively solve the problem of insufficient power of DC refrigerators due to the excessive length of a single defrost heater, so that the defrost heater of the DC refrigerator is better matched with the evaporator, meeting the requirements of automatic defrosting of the DC refrigerator.

[0007] According to some embodiments of the present invention, along the length direction of the evaporator body, the first connection ends of at least two of the heaters are arranged on the same side of the evaporator body, and the second connection ends of at least two of the heaters are arranged on the other side of the evaporator body away from the first connection end.

[0008] According to some embodiments of the present invention, along the length direction of the evaporator body, the first connection end and the second connection end of at least two of the heaters are both arranged on the same side of the evaporator body.

[0009] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the evaporator body includes two connecting side plates, which are arranged on both sides of the evaporator body along the length direction, at least two of the heaters are connected to the two connecting side plates, and the connecting side plates close to the first connecting end and the second connecting end are provided with reinforcing ribs.

[0010] According to some embodiments of the present invention, two heaters are provided, and the two heaters are arranged in a mirror image along the length direction of the evaporator body, and the first connection end and the second connection end are both arranged on the same side of the evaporator body.

[0011] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the evaporator body includes a refrigerant tube, a plurality of fin plates and two connecting side plates, the plurality of fin plates are arranged at intervals and are located between the two connecting side plates, the refrigerant tube includes at least two parallel and spaced refrigerant straight tubes and a refrigerant bent tube connecting two adjacent refrigerant straight tubes, and the refrigerant straight tube is connected to the plurality of fin plates and the connecting side plates.

[0012] According to some embodiments of the present invention, at least two of the heaters are arranged below the evaporator body, a support member is provided in the middle position below the evaporator body, the heater includes a heating tube and a heating element arranged in the heating tube, and the heating tube is connected to the two connecting side plates and the support member.

[0013] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the connecting side plate is provided with a connecting terminal, and the heater is connected to the connecting terminal.

[0014] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the connecting side plate is provided with a connecting hole and an avoidance notch, the avoidance notch extends to the edge of the connecting side plate and is connected to the connecting hole, and the heating tube can be inserted into the connecting hole along the avoidance notch.

[0015] A DC refrigerator according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention includes the evaporator assembly described in any one of the above items.

[0016] The DC refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention has at least the following beneficial effects: the evaporator assembly used in the DC refrigerator of the present invention arranges at least two heaters in parallel, which can effectively solve the problem of insufficient power of the DC refrigerator due to the excessive length of a single defrost heater, so that the defrost heater of the DC refrigerator is better matched with the evaporator, meeting the requirements of automatic defrosting of the DC refrigerator.

[0017] Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be given in part in the following description and will become apparent from the following description or learned through practice of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments, wherein:

[0019] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of an evaporator assembly according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0020] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A perspective schematic diagram of the evaporator assembly of the illustrated embodiment from another direction;

[0021] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A magnified schematic diagram of point A in the middle;

[0022] Figure 4 This is a perspective schematic diagram of an evaporator assembly according to a second embodiment of the present utility model;

[0023] Figure 5 for Figure 4 A perspective schematic diagram of the evaporator assembly of the illustrated embodiment from another direction;

[0024] Figure 6 for Figure 4 a right side view of the evaporator assembly of the illustrated embodiment;

[0025] Figure 7 This is a perspective schematic diagram of an evaporator assembly according to a third embodiment of the present utility model;

[0026] Figure 8 for Figure 7 Right side view of the evaporator assembly of the illustrated embodiment.

[0027] Figure Number:

[0028] Evaporator body 100, refrigerant tube 110, refrigerant straight tube 111, refrigerant bent tube 112, fin plate 120, connecting side plate 130, connecting hole 131, avoidance notch 132, connecting terminal 140, support member 150;

[0029] Heater 200 , heating tube 210 , curved tube 211 , straight tube 212 , first connecting end 213 , second connecting end 214 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following describes embodiments of the present invention in detail. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended only to explain the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0031] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that descriptions involving orientation, such as the orientation or positional relationship indicated by left, right, etc., are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0032] In the description of this utility model, if there is a description of first and second, it is only for the purpose of distinguishing the technical features, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features or implicitly indicating the order of the indicated technical features.

[0033] In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly defined, terms such as setting, installing, and connecting should be understood in a broad sense, and technicians in the relevant technical field can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific content of the technical solution.

[0034] The evaporator is a crucial component in a refrigerator, primarily responsible for converting liquid refrigerant into a gaseous state and absorbing heat to achieve cooling. Its working principle is as follows: the compressor draws in low-pressure refrigerant and compresses it into high-pressure refrigerant. The high-pressure refrigerant then passes through the condenser, where it releases heat through the radiator, condensing it into a liquid. This condensed refrigerant then passes through a heat exchanger into the evaporator. Inside the evaporator, the refrigerant's pressure is suddenly reduced by a throttle valve, causing the refrigerant to convert from liquid to gaseous. During this process, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the refrigerator interior, converting it into evaporation, achieving cooling. The refrigerant continuously circulates within the evaporator, absorbing and releasing heat, thereby maintaining a low internal temperature. During the cooling process, due to the large temperature difference between the inside and outside of the evaporator, a layer of frost forms on the surface of the evaporator. The longer the cooling cycle, the thicker the frost. Failure to regularly defrost the evaporator can significantly affect its efficiency, causing the air temperature inside the refrigerator to drop slowly, extending the refrigerator's operating time and increasing its energy consumption.

[0035] In the related art, a defrost heater is installed on the evaporator to melt the frost on the evaporator through convection. Heater power P = U 2 / R, where U is the voltage applied to the heater, R is the resistance of the heater, and R is positively correlated with the length of the heater. Low-voltage DC power is much smaller than the existing 220V AC power. Under the same size, the power of a single defrost heater in a DC refrigerator is much smaller than the power of the defrost heater in an AC 220V refrigerator, and cannot meet the automatic defrosting requirements of an air-cooled frost-free DC refrigerator.

[0036] To this end, the present invention adopts at least two heaters 200 arranged in parallel, so that the DC refrigerator defrost heater 200 is better matched with the evaporator to meet the automatic defrosting requirements of the air-cooled frost-free DC refrigerator.

[0037] The following describes the evaporator assembly of the present invention in detail by taking two heaters 200 connected in parallel as an example.

[0038] Reference Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 7 The evaporator assembly provided in an embodiment of the present invention includes an evaporator body 100 and a heater 200. Two heaters 200 are provided, connected to the evaporator body 100, extending along the length of the evaporator body 100, and connected in parallel. The heaters 200 have a first connection end 213 and a second connection end 214, which are used to connect to the connection terminal 140, so that the heaters 200 form a heating circuit.

[0039] Reference Figure 1 In this embodiment, the evaporator body 100 includes a refrigerant tube 110, a plurality of fin plates 120 and two connecting side plates 130. The plurality of fin plates 120 are arranged at intervals, and the plurality of fin plates 120 are arranged between the two connecting side plates 130. The refrigerant tube 110 includes at least two parallel and spaced refrigerant straight tubes 111 and a refrigerant bent tube 112 connecting two adjacent refrigerant straight tubes 111. The refrigerant straight tube 111 is connected to the plurality of fin plates 120 and the connecting side plates 130.

[0040] When using the above-mentioned evaporator assembly, the heat generated by the heater 200 is transferred to the evaporator by convection, thereby performing convection defrosting on the evaporator. In addition, the utility model adopts two heaters 200 arranged in parallel, so that under the same size, the power of the DC defrost heater 200 is close to the power of the AC defrost heater, which can effectively solve the problem of insufficient power of the DC refrigerator due to the excessive length of a single defrost heater 200, so that the DC refrigerator defrost heater 200 is better matched with the evaporator, meeting the requirements of automatic defrosting of the DC refrigerator.

[0041] In some embodiments, heater 200 includes a heating tube 210 and a heating element disposed within heating tube 210. The heating element may be a heating wire. Heating tube 210 is connected to two connecting side plates 130. Heating tube 210 itself does not provide heating function; it merely forms a cavity for the heating element to be placed, facilitating maintenance and replacement of the heating element.

[0042] Reference Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 7 In some embodiments, heater 200 is positioned below evaporator body 100. Heat generated by heater 200 heats the air surrounding heater 200, which then flows upward through natural or forced convection, thereby defrosting the evaporator. This bottom-up flow of hot air reduces air flow resistance and saves energy.

[0043] Reference Figure 1 、 Figure 2 The figure presents a specific embodiment of the evaporator assembly of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in the figure, the two heaters 200 are arranged in parallel along the length direction of the evaporator body 100, the two heaters 200 are connected in parallel, and the first connection ends 213 of the two heaters 200 are both arranged on the same side of the evaporator body 100, and the second connection ends 214 of the two heaters 200 are both arranged on the other side of the evaporator body 100 away from the first connection end 213. In other words, the two connection ends of the heater 200 are respectively located on both sides of the evaporator body 100 along the length direction.

[0044] The use of the defrost heater 200 of this embodiment is equivalent to converting a heating element of the same length into two heating elements of half the length of the original one. Therefore, the resistance of each heating element is about half of the original heating element. According to the heater power P = U 2 / R, where U is the voltage applied to the heater and R is the heater's resistance. With the DC voltage unchanged, the power of each heater is doubled compared to a conventional heater of the same length. Arranging the two heaters in parallel further increases the power of the evaporator assembly's defrost heater, thereby meeting defrost power requirements. While the above structure requires additional fixed circuitry for heater 200, the resistance of a single heating element in this heater is low, resulting in a higher defrost power. While still meeting defrost power requirements, this structure can reduce the material usage of the heater tube 210 and heating elements in heater 200, lowering the manufacturing cost of heater 200.

[0045] Reference Figure 4 、 Figure 5 , the figure shows a second specific embodiment of the evaporator assembly of the present invention. In this embodiment, two heaters 200 are arranged in parallel along the length direction of the evaporator body 100. The two heaters 200 are connected in parallel, and the first connection ends 213 and the second connection ends 214 of the two heaters 200 are both arranged on the same side of the evaporator body 100. Specifically, referring to Figure 4The heating tube 210 of each heater 200 includes a curved tube 211 and two straight tube sections 212. The curved tube 211 is located at one end of the two straight tube sections 212 and is connected to the two straight tube sections 212. The two straight tube sections 212 are arranged vertically below the evaporator body 100. The first connecting end 213 and the second connecting end 214 are respectively disposed on the corresponding straight tube 212 away from the curved tube 211. The straight tubes 212 are respectively connected to the two connecting side plates 130. The evaporator assembly of this embodiment arranges the first connecting end 213 and the second connecting end 214 of the heater 200 on the same side of the evaporator body 100. This facilitates the installation of the connecting terminal 140 on the evaporator body 100 while meeting the defrosting power requirements, thereby simplifying the connection structure between the heater 200 and the evaporator body 100.

[0046] In the above embodiment, the parallel arrangement of the two heaters 200 may result in uneven arrangement of the first connection end 213 and the second connection end 214 on the side of the evaporator body 100. If the strength of the connecting side plate 130 is relatively weak, this may affect the stability of the connection between the heater 200 and the connection terminal 140. Therefore, in some embodiments, the connecting side plate 130 near the first connection end 213 and the second connection end 214 is provided with reinforcing ribs to increase the strength of the connecting side plate 130 and improve the stability of the connection between the heater 200 and the connection terminal 140.

[0047] Reference Figure 7 、 Figure 8 The figure shows a third specific embodiment of the evaporator assembly of the present invention. In this embodiment, two heaters 200 are provided. The two heaters 200 are arranged in a mirror image. The heaters 200 have a first connection end 213 and a second connection end 214 along the length direction of the evaporator body 100, and the first connection end 213 and the second connection end 214 are both arranged on the same side of the evaporator body 100. Specifically, referring to Figure 4The heating tube 210 of each heater 200 comprises a curved tube 211 and two straight tube sections 212. The curved tube 211 is located at one end of the two straight tube sections 212 and is connected to the two straight tube sections 212. The two straight tube sections 212 are arranged vertically below the evaporator body 100. A first connecting end 213 and a second connecting end 214 are respectively disposed on the corresponding straight tube 212 away from the curved tube 211. The straight tubes 212 are respectively connected to two connecting side plates 130. In this embodiment, the evaporator assembly arranges the first connecting end 213 and the second connecting end 214 of the heater 200 on the same side of the evaporator body 100. This facilitates the installation of the connecting terminal 140 on the evaporator body 100 while meeting the defrost power requirements, simplifying the connection structure between the heater 200 and the evaporator body 100. Furthermore, the first connecting end 213 and the second connecting end 214 are evenly distributed, ensuring stability when connecting the heater 200 to the connecting terminal 140 even if the connecting side plate 130 is weak.

[0048] Reference Figure 4 、 Figure 7 In some embodiments, two heaters 200 are arranged below the evaporator body 100, and the heaters 200 are arranged along the length direction of the evaporator body 100. Since the span of the heating tube 210 is large, in order to prevent the heating tube 210 from deforming during use, a support member 150 is provided in the middle position below the evaporator body 100, and the middle part of the straight tube 212 is connected to the support member 150. Thus, the heating tube 210 is connected to the connecting side plates 130 and the support member 150 on both sides of the evaporator assembly. The support member 150 plays an auxiliary supporting role for the heating tube 210 to improve the stability of the connection between the heater 200 and the evaporator body 100.

[0049] Reference Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 7 In some embodiments, the connecting side plate 130 is provided with a connecting terminal 140, and the heater 200 is connected to the connecting terminal 140. Specifically, when the first connecting end 213 and the second connecting end 214 are both located on the same side of the evaporator body 100, the connecting terminal 140 is located on the connecting side plate 130 near the first connecting end 213 and the second connecting end 214. When the first connecting end 213 and the second connecting end 214 are located on opposite sides of the evaporator body 100, the connecting terminal 140 is located on the connecting side plates 130 on both sides of the evaporator body 100.

[0050] Reference Figure 3In some embodiments, the connecting side plate 130 is provided with a connecting hole 131 and an avoidance notch 132. The avoidance notch 132 extends to the edge of the connecting side plate 130 and is connected to the connecting hole 131. The connecting side plate 130 has a certain elasticity. When assembling the heater 200, the connecting side plate 130 at the avoidance notch 132 is pulled open, so that the connecting side plate 130 at the avoidance notch 132 is elastically deformed, and the heating tube 210 is inserted into the connecting hole 131 along the avoidance notch 132. Then, the connecting side plate 130 is loosened, the connecting side plate 130 is restored, and then the heater 200 is connected to the connecting terminal 140. The assembly of the heater 200 on the evaporator body 100 is completed.

[0051] It can be understood that in some embodiments, even if the connecting side plate 130 does not have a certain degree of elasticity, through the avoidance notch 132 and the connecting hole 131, the connecting side plate 130 at the avoidance notch 132 can be first pried apart by external force, and after the heating tube 210 is inserted into the connecting hole 131 along the avoidance notch 132, the connecting side plate 130 at the avoidance notch 132 can be straightened and restored.

[0052] Therefore, the structure of the avoidance notch 132 and the connecting hole 131 simplifies the assembly structure of the heater 200 and the evaporator body 100 , reduces the assembly strength, and facilitates the installation and disassembly of the heater 200 and the evaporator body 100 , thereby facilitating the maintenance of the heater 200 .

[0053] It is understandable that the heaters 200 used in the present invention are not limited to two, and can also be set to three or more according to the structure and shape of the evaporator body 100, which is not limited here.

[0054] It is understandable that, in addition to the above-mentioned specific embodiments, the parallel arrangement of two or more heaters may also adopt staggered arrangement, vertical arrangement, etc. of two or more heaters 200, which will not be described in detail here.

[0055] It should be noted that the structure of the evaporator body may also adopt a commonly used structure in this technical field, which is not limited here.

[0056] It should be noted that the parallel arrangement of the two heaters 200 is only an ideal state. In actual circumstances, as long as the length directions of the two heaters are consistent and the angle between the two heaters is not large, or the two heaters appear to be in a basically parallel state, it can be considered that the two heaters 200 are arranged in parallel.

[0057] A second embodiment of the present invention further provides a DC refrigerator, comprising the evaporator assembly described in any of the aforementioned embodiments. The evaporator assembly employed in the DC refrigerator of the present invention utilizes at least two heaters 200 arranged in parallel, effectively resolving the power shortage issue associated with a single, overly long defrost heater 200 in DC refrigerators. This allows for a better match between the defrost heater 200 and the evaporator, meeting the automatic defrosting requirements of DC refrigerators.

[0058] The technical features of the above-mentioned embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-mentioned embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0059] Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. Those skilled in the art may make equivalent modifications or substitutions without violating the spirit of the present invention. These equivalent modifications or substitutions are all included in the scope defined by the claims of this application.

Claims

1. An evaporator assembly, characterized in that: include: Evaporator body; At least two heaters are connected to the evaporator body, each heater having a first connection end and a second connection end. The at least two heaters are extended along the length direction of the evaporator body, and the at least two heaters are connected in parallel.

2. The evaporator assembly according to claim 1, wherein Along the length direction of the evaporator body, the first connection ends of at least two of the heaters are arranged on the same side of the evaporator body, and the second connection ends of at least two of the heaters are arranged on the other side of the evaporator body away from the first connection end.

3. The evaporator assembly according to claim 1, wherein Along the length direction of the evaporator body, the first connection ends and the second connection ends of at least two of the heaters are both arranged on the same side of the evaporator body.

4. The evaporator assembly according to claim 3, wherein: The evaporator body includes two connecting side plates, which are arranged on both sides of the evaporator body along the length direction. At least two heaters are connected to the two connecting side plates, and the connecting side plates near the first connecting end and the second connecting end are provided with reinforcing ribs.

5. The evaporator assembly according to claim 1, wherein Two heaters are provided, and the two heaters are arranged in a mirror image. Along the length direction of the evaporator body, the first connecting end and the second connecting end are both arranged on the same side of the evaporator body.

6. The evaporator assembly according to claim 1, wherein The evaporator body includes a refrigerant tube, multiple fin plates and two connecting side plates. The multiple fin plates are arranged at intervals and located between the two connecting side plates. The refrigerant tube includes at least two parallel and spaced refrigerant straight tubes and a refrigerant bend tube connecting two adjacent refrigerant straight tubes. The refrigerant straight tube is connected to the multiple fin plates and the connecting side plates.

7. The evaporator assembly according to claim 6, wherein: At least two of the heaters are arranged below the evaporator body, and a support is provided in the middle position below the evaporator body. The heater includes a heating tube and a heating element arranged in the heating tube. The heating tube is connected to the two connecting side plates and the support.

8. The evaporator assembly according to claim 7, wherein: The connecting side plate is provided with a connecting hole and an avoidance notch. The avoidance notch extends to the edge of the connecting side plate and is communicated with the connecting hole. The heating pipe can be inserted into the connecting hole along the avoidance notch.

9. The evaporator assembly according to claim 4 or 6, characterized in that The connecting side plate is provided with a connecting terminal, and the heater is connected to the connecting terminal.

10. A DC refrigerator, characterized in that: Comprising the evaporator assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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