Refrigerator, and refrigerator inner liner module for refrigerator

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of electric appliances. Provided are a refrigerator, and a refrigerator inner liner module for a refrigerator. The refrigerator comprises: a refrigerator body, in which a first refrigerator inner liner and a second refrigerator inner liner are arranged side by side; and an air-duct device, which comprises an air-duct housing, an evaporator and a fan assembly. An air-duct inner cavity is formed inside the air-duct housing, and the evaporator and the fan assembly are both mounted in the air-duct inner cavity. The air-duct housing is fixedly mounted on a side wall of the side of the first refrigerator inner liner facing the second refrigerator inner liner; a main air outlet, a first air return opening and a second air return opening are further formed in the air duct housing; and the air duct inner cavity cooling the first refrigerator inner liner and the second refrigerator inner liner by means of the main air outlet, the first air return opening being in communication with the first refrigerator inner liner, and the second air return opening being in communication with the second refrigerator inner liner. By means of the refrigerator provided in the present application, the assembly difficulty is reduced, thereby reducing the labor cost and improving the assembly efficiency; and by means of the refrigerator, the refrigerating efficiency and the refrigerating effect of the first refrigerator inner liner are improved. In addition, an idle space in the refrigerator is further fully utilized, and large-space storage of the refrigerator is achieved.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present invention claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202210995424.0, filed on August 18, 2022, entitled "Refrigerator, and Refrigerator Inner Liner Module for Refrigerator", which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates to the field of electric appliance, and in particular to a refrigerator and a cabinet liner module for refrigerator.BACKGROUND

[0003] In the related art, an evaporator and a fan are usually provided in a hollow cavity at a back side of a refrigerator. The structure above will reduce a usable volume of a refrigerator compartment, resulting in a lower volume ratio of the refrigerator compartment. In addition, air ducts and refrigeration elements in traditional products are usually mounted in a refrigerator cabinet in relatively independent structures, and thus more assembly processes for refrigerators are needed, and corresponding air ducts and various refrigeration elements need to be mounted in batches in sequence, and as a result, the assembly process is complicated and high in cost.BRIEF SUMMARY

[0004] The present invention is intended to solve at least one of the problems in the related art. The present invention provides a refrigerator, which, on the one hand, reduces the difficulty in assembly, decreases labor costs and improves assembly efficiency, and on the other hand, improves efficiency and effect of the refrigeration provided by the refrigerator to a first cabinet liner. In addition, the refrigerator also makes full use of idle space inside the refrigerator to increase internal volumes of the first cabinet liner and the second cabinet liner, to realize large-space storage of the refrigerator.

[0005] The present invention further includes a cabinet liner module for refrigerator.

[0006] A refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, includes: a refrigerator body, where a first cabinet liner and a second cabinet liner are provided inside the refrigerator body side by side; an air duct device, including an air duct outer housing, an evaporator and a fan assembly, where the air duct outer housing is provided with an air duct inner cavity, both the evaporator and the fan assembly mounted inside the air duct inner cavity; where the air duct outer housing is fixedly mounted at a side wall of the first cabinet liner facing the second cabinet liner, the air duct outer housing being further provided with a main air outlet, a first air return port and a second air return port, the air duct inner cavity cooling the first cabinet liner and the second cabinet liner through the main air outlet, the first air return port communicating with an interior of the first cabinet liner, the second air return port communicating with an interior of the second cabinet liner.

[0007] A cabinet liner module for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a first cabinet liner; an air duct device, including an air duct outer housing, an evaporator and a fan assembly, where the air duct outer housing is provided with an air duct inner cavity, the evaporator and the fan assembly being mounted inside the air duct inner cavity; where the air duct outer housing is fixedly mounted at a side wall of the first cabinet liner, the air duct outer housing being further provided with a main air outlet and a first air return port, both of which communicate with an interior of the first cabinet liner and the air duct inner cavity.

[0008] Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present invention.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] To more clearly illustrate solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the related art, the drawings that need to be used in the descriptions of the embodiments or the related art will be briefly described below. The drawings in the following description are only certain embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the related art, other drawings may be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work. FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a first three-dimensional schematic diagram of a cabinet liner module for refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 4 is a second three-dimensional schematic diagram of a cabinet liner module for refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0010] Reference numerals: 1: refrigerator body; 11: air circulation cavity; 2: first cabinet liner; 21: first air outlet; 22: air guide cover plate for a freezer; 3: second cabinet liner; 31: second air outlet; 32: air guide cover plate for temperature-variable compartment; 4: refrigerator compartment; 41: refrigerator air outlet; 5: air duct outer housing; 51: air duct inner cavity; 52: main air outlet; 53: first air return port; 54: second air return port; 6: evaporator; 71: fan; 72: volute; 721: fan air inlet; 8: air return duct; 81: inlet of air return duct; 82: outlet of air return duct; 9: heat-insulation member. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] Implementations of the present invention are further described in detail below in conjunction with accompanying drawings and embodiments. The following embodiments are intended to illustrate the present invention, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0012] Serial numbers of the members in the embodiments of the present invention, such as "first", "second"; (1), (2), (3); step 1, and step 2, are only used to distinguish the objects described and do not have any order or technical meaning. Unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "multiple" refers to two or more. Terms "include", "comprise", "provided with", "contain" etc. used in the embodiments of the present invention are all open terms, which means including but not limited to. The term "and / or" in the embodiments of the present invention only describes a related relationship of associated objects, and indicates that there may be three kinds of relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent that A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone.

[0013] In the embodiments of the present invention, words "as an example" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design schemes described as "as an example" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present invention should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. In some embodiments, the use of words such as "as an example" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the embodiments of the present invention have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art of the present invention. In the event of any inconsistency, the meaning described in this specification or the meaning derived from the content recorded in the specification shall prevail.

[0014] In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, it is to be noted that the orientation or positional relationships indicated by the terms such as "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inside," "outside," etc. are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are merely for the convenience of describing the embodiments of the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or component stated must have a particular orientation or be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus is not to be construed as limitation to the embodiments of the present invention. Moreover, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0015] In the description of embodiments of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and defined, the terms "connected to" and "connected" shall be understood broadly. For example, it may be either fixedly connected or detachably connected, or may be integrally connected; it may be either mechanically connected, or electrically connected; it may be either directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium. The specific meanings of the terms above in embodiments of the present invention may be understood by those skilled in the art in accordance with specific conditions.

[0016] In the embodiments of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly stated and defined, the first feature being located "on" or "under" the second feature means that the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature or the first feature is in indirect contact with the second feature by an intermediate medium. In addition, the first feature is "on," "above" and "over" the second feature can refer to that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply refer to that the level of the first feature is higher than that of the second feature. The first feature is "under", "below" and "beneath" the second feature can refer to that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or simply refer to that the level of the first feature is lower than that of the second feature.

[0017] In the description of the present specification, description with reference to the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an example," "specific example," "some examples" and the like, refers to that specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in combination with an embodiment or an example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the embodiments of the present invention. In the present specification, the schematic expressions of the above terms are not necessarily directed to the same embodiment or example.. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials or characteristics described can be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine the different embodiments or examples described in this specification, as well as the features of the different embodiments or examples, without conflicting each other.

[0018] A refrigerator and a cabinet liner module for refrigerator provided in accordance with the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a refrigerator body 1, a first cabinet liner 2, a second cabinet liner 3 and an air duct device.

[0020] The first cabinet liner 2 and a second cabinet liner 3 are provided inside the refrigerator body 1 side by side. The air duct device includes an air duct outer housing 5, an evaporator 6 and a fan assembly, the air duct outer housing 5 is provided with an air duct inner cavity 51, and both the evaporator 6 and the fan assembly are mounted inside the air duct inner cavity 51.

[0021] The air duct outer housing 5 is fixedly mounted at a side wall of the first cabinet liner 2 facing the second cabinet liner 3, the air duct outer housing 5 is further provided with a main air outlet 52, a first air return port 53 and a second air return port 54, the air duct inner cavity 51 cools the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3 through the main air outlet 52, the first air return port 53 communicates with an interior of the first cabinet liner 52, and the second air return port 54 communicates with an interior of the second cabinet liner 3.

[0022] In the refrigerator provided in the present invention, the fan assembly and the evaporator 6 are integrated with and mounted inside the air duct outer housing 5, and the air duct device is further fixed to the first cabinet liner 2. On one hand, it is convenient to rapidly mount and dismount the air duct device relative to the first cabinet liner 2. On the other hand, cooling capacity generated in the air duct device may be supplied to the first cabinet liner 2 by contact heat exchange since the air duct outer housing 5 is provided close to the inner wall of the first cabinet liner 2. At the same time, the air duct device may also convey cold air to the first cabinet liner 2 through the main air outlet 52, and the air duct device may simultaneously refrigerate the first cabinet liner 2 by contact heat exchange and cold air supply to improve efficiency and effect of the refrigeration provided by the refrigerator to the first cabinet liner 2, thereby to obtain better freezing effect on the food in the first cabinet liner 2.

[0023] In addition, since the air duct device is provided in an area between the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3, an idle space in the refrigerator is fully utilized to increase the internal volume of the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3, larger storage volume may be provided in the case of the same shape and dimension, and large space storage of the refrigerator may be realized.

[0024] The refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention, on the one hand, solves a problem of too many online assembly processes of refrigeration components and air ducts in traditional products, reduces the difficulty in assembly, decreases labor cost and improves assembly efficiency, and on the other hand, it improves efficiency and effect of the refrigeration provided by the refrigerator to the first cabinet liner 2 to obtain better freezing effect on food in the first cabinet liner 2. And it also makes full use of an idle space inside the refrigerator to increase internal volumes of the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3 to realize large-space storage of the refrigerator.

[0025] In an embodiment of the present invention, the air duct outer housing 5 may be integrally formed with the first cabinet liner 2. In some embodiments, the air duct outer housing 5 is provided on the side wall of the first cabinet liner 2 adjacent to the second cabinet liner 3, and a hollow cavity (i.e., the air duct inner cavity 51) is formed inside the air duct outer housing 5. At this time, all the parts of the air duct device such as the evaporator 6 and the fan assembly are mounted inside the hollow cavity inside the side wall of the first cabinet liner 2. In this way, the assembly process between the air duct outer housing 5 and the first cabinet liner 2 is further omitted, and the assembly process is simpler.

[0026] In another embodiment of the present invention, the air duct outer housing 5 is arranged independently from the first cabinet liner 2. In some embodiments, the air duct outer housing 5 is fixedly connected to an outer surface of the side wall of the first cabinet liner 2 by welding, bonding, bolt connection or magnetic connection, and the air duct outer housing 5 is located at the side of the first cabinet liner 2 facing the second cabinet liner 3.

[0027] In the related art, an evaporator and a fan are usually provided in a hollow cavity at a back side of a refrigerator. The structure above will reduce a usable volume of a refrigerator compartment, resulting in a lower volume ratio of the refrigerator compartment. In addition, since an air duct and refrigeration elements in traditional products are usually mounted in a refrigerator cabinet as relatively independent structures, more assembly processes for the refrigerator are needed, the corresponding air duct and various refrigeration elements need to be mounted in batches in sequence, and thus the assembly process is complicated and is higher in cost.

[0028] In order to solve the above problems, the air duct device used in the refrigerator provided in the present invention has a stronger structural integrity. In some embodiments, the air duct outer housing 5 encapsulates the fan assembly and the evaporator 6 inside the air duct outer housing 5, and is provided with an air outlet and air return ports communicating with each refrigeration compartment. A manufacturer may mount the air duct, the fan and refrigerator elements by simply mounting the entire air duct outer housing 5 in the refrigerator body 1, the assembly process being simple and convenient.

[0029] It should also be noted that when the air duct device is mounted inside the refrigerator body 1, the air duct device is located between the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3 and exists as an interlayer between the two cabinet liners. It may be understood that, since the gap itself between the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3 is an inevitable structure of the refrigerator, by mounting the air duct device inside the gap between the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3, without occupying the usable volume of the compartment of refrigerator, the present invention may improve the utilization rate of the space in the refrigerator and increase the usable volume of the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, according to some embodiments of the present invention, the air duct outer housing 5 is provided with an air return duct 8, both the main air outlet 52 and an inlet 81 of the air return duct 8 communicate with a refrigerator compartment 4, and an outlet 82 of the air return duct 8 communicates with the air duct inner cavity 51 and is located at an upstream location of the evaporator 6.

[0031] In the present embodiment, by providing the air return duct 8, a return airflow inside the refrigerator compartment 4 may be conveyed to the position of the evaporator 6 through the air return duct 8, and then the airflow cooled by the evaporator 6 is conveyed to the refrigerator compartment 4 through the main air outlet 52 to form a cold air circulation process of the refrigerator compartment 4.

[0032] In some embodiments, the air return duct 8 may be integrally formed with the air duct outer housing 5, or the air return duct 8 is provided independently from the air duct outer housing 5 and connected inside the air duct inner cavity 51. It should be noted that, there are no any special limitation to the structure, size and specific shape of the air return duct 8 in the present invention, as long as the air return duct 8 may guide the airflow in the refrigerator compartment 4 to the upstream position of the evaporator 6.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 2, when the air duct device is provided with the air return duct 8, the specific working process of the air duct device according to the embodiment of the present invention is as follows: an airflow inside the first cabinet liner 2, an airflow inside the second cabinet liner 3 and an airflow inside the refrigerator compartment 4 converge to a downstream position of the evaporator 6 respectively through an air return port for a freezer, an air return port for a variable-temperature compartment and the air return duct 8, and the return airflow is cooled by the evaporator 6. The cooled airflow is blown to the main air outlet 52 under the air supply action of the fan assembly, and then blown to the refrigerator compartment 4, the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3 respectively through the main air outlet 52.

[0034] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the main air outlet 52 may communicate with each refrigeration compartment (that is, the refrigerator compartment 4, a freezer compartment formed inside the first cabinet liner 2 and a variable temperature compartment formed inside the second cabinet liner 3) through connecting structures such as a pipeline structure or a cavity structure. There is no any special limitation to the above-mentioned connecting structures in the present invention, as long as the main air outlet 52 may provide cooling to each refrigeration compartment.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments of the present invention, an air circulation cavity 11 is provided at the back side of the refrigerator body 1, and the main air outlet 52 supplies air to the refrigerator compartment 4, the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3 through the air circulation cavity 11. In this way, by forming the air circulation cavity 11 at the back side of the refrigerator body 1, the air circulation cavity 11 may also perform contact heat exchange with each refrigeration compartment while conveying cold air, to further improve the refrigeration effect of the refrigerator.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 2, according to some embodiments of the present invention, the first cabinet liner 2 is provided with a plurality of first air outlets 21 communicating with the air circulation cavity 11, and the plurality of first air outlets 21 are provided at an interval along a height direction of the first cabinet liner 2. For example, an end of the first cabinet liner 2 is open and suitable for being blocked by a refrigerator door body, and another end of the refrigerator is provided with an air guide cover plate for freezer 22, and the air guide cover plate for freezer 22 is provided with a plurality of first air outlets 21 arranged in the up-down direction, and a bottom wall of the first cabinet liner 2 is also provided with a plurality of first air outlets 21, and all the first air outlets 21 have a shape of long hole, and extend in the left-right direction. In this way, the first air outlets 21 distributed at multiple positions in the first cabinet liner 2 may ensure the uniformity of the air outflow, and the cold air is more evenly distributed in the first cabinet liner 2 to ensure the freezing effect of the first cabinet liner 2 on foods.

[0037] In some embodiments, a flow area of a single first air outlet 21 increases from top to bottom, and the cold air at the downstream position may flow out from the first air outlet 21 with a larger area into the first cabinet liner 2 to further ensure the uniformity of the cold air distribution inside the first cabinet liner 2 at different heights.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 2, according to some embodiments of the present invention, the second cabinet liner 3 is provided with a plurality of second air outlets 31 communicating with the air circulation cavity 11, and the plurality of second air outlets 31 are provided at an interval along a height direction of the second cabinet liner 3. For example, an end of the second cabinet liner 3 is open and suitable for being blocked by the refrigerator door body, and another end of the refrigerator is provided with an air guide cover plate for temperature-variable compartment 32, and the air guide cover plate for temperature-variable compartment 32 is provided with a plurality of second air outlets 31 arranged in the up-down direction, and a bottom wall of the first cabinet liner 3 is also provided with a plurality of second air outlets 31, and all the second air outlets 31 have a shape of long hole, and extend in the left-right direction. In this way, the second air outlets 31 distributed at multiple positions in the second cabinet liner 3 may ensure the uniformity of the air outflow, and the cold air is more evenly distributed in the second cabinet liner 3 to ensure the temperature-variable effect of the second cabinet liner 3 on foods.

[0039] In some embodiments, a flow area of a second air outlet 31 increases from top to bottom, and the cold air at the downstream position may flow out from the second air outlet 31 with a larger area into the second cabinet liner 3 to further ensure the distribution uniformity of the cold air inside the second cabinet liner 3 at different heights.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 2, according to some embodiments of the present invention, the refrigerator compartment 4 is provided with a plurality of refrigerator air outlets 41 communicating with the air circulation cavity 11, and the plurality of refrigerator air outlets 41 are provided at an interval along a height direction of the refrigerator compartment 4. For example, an end of the refrigerator compartment 4 is open and suitable for being blocked by the refrigerator door body, and another end of the refrigerator is provided with a plurality of refrigerator air outlets 41 provided in the up-down direction, and all the refrigerator air outlets 41 have a shape of long hole, and extend in the left-right direction. In this way, the refrigerator air outlets 41 distributed at multiple positions in the refrigerator compartment 4 may ensure the uniformity of the air outflow, and the cold air is more evenly distributed in the refrigerator compartment 4 to ensure the refrigerating effect of the refrigerator compartment 4 on foods.

[0041] In some embodiments, a flow area of a refrigerator air outlet 41 increases from top to bottom, and the cold air at the downstream position may flow out from the refrigerator air outlet 41 with a larger area into the refrigerator compartment 4 to further ensure the distribution uniformity of the cold air inside the refrigerator compartment 4 at different heights.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 2, according to some embodiments of the present invention, a main air outlet 52 is formed at an upper end of the air duct outer housing 5, the evaporator 6 is located below the main air outlet 52, and the air return duct 8 is provided along a height direction of the air duct outer housing 5 and extends from the upper end of the air duct outer housing 5 to a lower end of the evaporator 6.

[0043] When the air duct device is fixed on the side wall of the first cabinet liner 2, a bottom of the refrigerator compartment 4 is connected to the air duct device. At this time, the inlet 81 of the air return duct 8 is adjacent to the bottom of the refrigerator compartment 4 and communicates with an internal space of the refrigerator compartment 4. Therefore, the main air outlet 52 discharges the cold air to the upper half of the internal space of the refrigerator compartment 4 through a cavity at the back side of the refrigerator compartment 4. The cold air deposited at the bottom of the refrigerator compartment 4 enters the air return duct 8 and is guided from top to bottom along the air return duct 8 to the lower end of the evaporator 6. The return air flow rises and passes through the evaporator 6 to be cooled, under the pumping action of the internal fan assembly. Finally, the return air flow reaches a required temperature for refrigeration and flows out from the main air outlet 52 again and enters the next cold air circulation process.

[0044] In this way, the air return duct 8 may avoid mixing between the return air flow and the cold air obtained by cooling, thereby avoiding influence on the temperature of the cold air flowing out of the main air outlet 52, and ensuring that the cold air may reach the normal temperature for refrigeration.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the air duct outer housing 5 is a box-shaped structure with a certain thickness. After the air duct device is fixedly mounted at the first cabinet liner 2, the air duct device is in the gap between the first cabinet liner 2 and the second cabinet liner 3. At this time, the height direction of the air duct outer housing 5 is oriented in the up-down direction, and a depth direction of the first cabinet liner 2 or the second cabinet liner 3 inside the refrigerator is parallel to a length direction of the air duct outer housing 5. A thickness direction of the air duct outer housing 5 is a width direction of the air duct outer housing 5.

[0046] On the premise of the above structure, the evaporator 6 spans the air duct inner cavity 51 along the length direction and width direction of the air duct outer housing 5.

[0047] In this way, the return airflows from each compartment inside the refrigerator (refrigerator compartment 4, first cabinet liner 2 and second cabinet liner 3) converge at the upstream position of evaporator 6. In some embodiments, the return airflows converge below evaporator 6. When the return airflow rises and passes through evaporator 6, due to evaporator 6 spanning the air duct inner cavity 51 along the length and width direction of the air duct outer housing 5, it may be may be ensured that almost all return airflows may pass through evaporator 6 and be cooled during the rising process, so as to ensure the cooling effect of the return airflow and the normal progress of the subsequent refrigeration.

[0048] It should be noted that a certain mount gap needs to be reserved between the evaporator 6 and the inner wall of the air duct outer housing 5 to conveniently mount and assemble the evaporator 6.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, according to some embodiments of the present invention, the fan assembly includes a fan 71 and a volute 72. The fan 71 is mounted inside the volute 72, and the volute 72 is provided with a fan air inlet 721 and a fan air outlet (not shown in the drawings), the fan air inlet 721 communicates with the air duct inner cavity 51, and the fan air outlet communicates with the main air outlet 52.

[0050] In this way, the fan assembly may ensure the air suction and air supply capabilities of the fan assembly through a guide structure consisting of the fan 71 and the volute 72. The fan assembly may accelerate the circulation of the air flow in the air duct inner cavity 51 under the guide effect of the volute 72, which indirectly enhances the refrigeration effect of the refrigerator.

[0051] As shown in FIG. 3, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the volute 72 is integrally formed with the air duct outer housing 5, and the fan air outlet of the volute 72 forms the main air outlet 52. In this way, the assembly process of the volute 72 is omitted, the assembly process is simplified, and the overall stability of the structure is stronger.

[0052] As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the fan assembly is located above the evaporator 6, and a wall portion of the volute 72 adjacent to the fan 71 is opened to form a fan air inlet 721, the fan air inlet 721 is located above the evaporator 6, and the fan air inlet 721 is arranged not beyond an edge of the evaporator 6.

[0053] The above-mentioned "the fan air inlet 721 is arranged not beyond an edge of the evaporator 6" means that, when an entity part forming the fan air inlet 721 is projected onto the plane where the top of the evaporator 6 is located, the projection is located within the range of the edge on the top of the evaporator 6. In this way, the cold air cooled by the evaporator 6 may smoothly enter the fan air inlet 721, preventing the cold air from flowing in an unsmooth manner between the evaporator 6 and the fan assembly.

[0054] As shown in FIG. 4, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a heat-insulation member 9 is attached to a side wall of the air duct outer housing 5 facing the second cabinet liner 3, and the heat-insulation member 9 is located between the air duct outer housing 5 and the second cabinet liner 3. In this way, the heat-insulation member 9 may avoid contact heat exchange between the air duct device and the second cabinet liner 3. The heat-insulation member 9 may adopt structures such as a vacuum insulation panel (i.e., VIP). There is no any special limitation to the specific shape and material of the heat-insulation member 9 in the present invention, as long as the heat-insulation member 9 may insulate the air duct device and the second cabinet liner 3 from contact heat exchange.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 4, a cabinet liner module for refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first cabinet liner 2 and an air duct device.

[0056] The air duct device includes an air duct outer housing 5, an evaporator 6 and a fan assembly, the air duct outer housing 5 is provided with an air duct inner cavity 51, and both the evaporator 6 and the fan assembly are mounted inside the air duct inner cavity 51. The air duct outer housing 5 is fixedly mounted at a side wall of the first cabinet liner 2 and the air duct outer housing 5 is further provided with a main air outlet 52 and a first air return port 53 which communicate with an interior of the first cabinet liner 5 and the air duct inner cavity 51.

[0057] The cabinet liner module for refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention may have the following effects: by re-arrangement of the refrigeration core module (that is, the air duct device presented in the present invention), the wide-range variable temperature function may be achieved at low cost with high efficiency; by placing the core refrigeration module in the gap between the two compartments that cannot be used by a user, the product volume ratio is improved. The core refrigeration element and an air duct system are modularized to improve product production efficiency and after-sales maintenance efficiency.

[0058] The implementations above are only used to illustrate the application, but not to limit the application. Although the application has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that various combinations, modifications, or equivalent replacements of the solutions of the application do not depart from the spirit and scope of the solutions of the application, and should all cover the scope of the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A refrigerator, comprising: a refrigerator body, wherein a first cabinet liner and a second cabinet liner are provided inside the refrigerator body side by side; an air duct device, comprising an air duct outer housing, an evaporator and a fan assembly, wherein the air duct outer housing is provided with an air duct inner cavity, both the evaporator and the fan assembly being mounted inside the air duct inner cavity; wherein the air duct outer housing is fixedly mounted at a side wall of the first cabinet liner facing the second cabinet liner, the air duct outer housing being further provided with a main air outlet, a first air return port and a second air return port, wherein the air duct inner cavity cools the first cabinet liner and the second cabinet liner through the main air outlet, the first air return port communicating with an interior of the first cabinet liner, the second air return port communicating with an interior of the second cabinet liner.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the air duct outer housing is provided with an air return duct, both the main air outlet and an inlet of the air return duct being capable to communicate with a refrigerator compartment, an outlet of the air return duct communicating with the air duct inner cavity and being located at an upstream location of the evaporator.

3. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the main air outlet is formed at an upper end of the air duct outer housing, the evaporator being located below the main air outlet, and the air return duct being arranged along a height direction of the air duct outer housing and extending from the upper end of the air duct outer housing to a lower end of the evaporator.

4. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein an air circulation cavity is provided at a back side of the refrigerator body, the main air outlet supplying air to the refrigerator compartment, the first cabinet liner and the second cabinet liner through the air circulation cavity.

5. The refrigerator of claim 1 or 4, wherein the first cabinet liner is provided with a plurality of first air outlets communicating with the air circulation cavity, the plurality of first air outlets being arranged at an interval along a height direction of the first cabinet liner.

6. The refrigerator of claim 2 or 4, wherein the second cabinet liner is provided with a plurality of second air outlets communicating with the air circulation cavity, the plurality of second air outlets being arranged at an interval along a height direction of the second cabinet liner; and / or the refrigerator compartment is provided with a plurality of refrigerator air outlets communicating with the air circulation cavity, the plurality of refrigerator air outlets being arranged at an interval along a height direction of the refrigerator compartment.

7. The refrigerator of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the fan assembly comprises: a fan and a volute, wherein the fan is mounted inside the volute, the volute being provided with a fan air inlet and a fan air outlet, the fan air inlet communicating with the air duct inner cavity, the fan air outlet communicating with the main air outlet.

8. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein the fan air inlet is located above the evaporator, the fan air inlet being arranged not beyond an edge of the evaporator.

9. The refrigerator of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a heat-insulation member is attached to a side wall of the air duct outer housing facing the second cabinet liner, the heat-insulation member being located between the air duct outer housing and the second cabinet liner.

10. A cabinet liner module for a refrigerator, comprising: a first cabinet liner; an air duct device, comprising an air duct outer housing, an evaporator and a fan assembly, wherein the air duct outer housing is provided with an air duct inner cavity, both the evaporator and the fan assembly being mounted inside the air duct inner cavity; wherein the air duct outer housing is fixedly mounted at a side wall of the first cabinet liner, and wherein the air duct outer housing is further provided with a main air outlet and a first air return port, both of which communicate with an interior of the first cabinet liner and the air duct inner cavity.

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