Cooling storage

Abstract

To suppress dew condensation on a lower surface of a division wall in a refrigeration duct which accommodates a chiller for a refrigerating room in a cooling storage which includes an upper freezing room and a lower refrigerating room partitioned by a division wall.SOLUTION: A refrigeration duct 22 comprises a vertical part 23 along a rear surface of a refrigerating room 4, and a horizontal part 24 along the lower surface of a division wall 2. A blowout port 26 to blow out indoor air cooled by a chiller 9 along the lower surface of the division wall 2 is formed at a front portion of the horizontal part 24, and a fan support wall 34 for supporting a circulation fan 11 is formed behind the blowout port 26 of the horizontal part 24. When an area of the horizontal part 24 on the front side of the fan support wall 34 is defined as a positive pressure area PA, and an area of the refrigeration duct 22 on the rear side of the fan support wall 34 is defined as a negative pressure area NA, a return air clearance 57 communicating between the positive pressure area PA and the negative pressure area NA is formed between an upper end of the fan support wall 34 and the lower surface of the division wall 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator having an upper freezer compartment and a lower refrigerator compartment partitioned by a partition wall.

Background Art

[0002] Regarding this type of refrigerator, the applicant has previously filed Patent Document 1. In the refrigerator of Patent Document 1, a vertically long heat exchange region for accommodating an evaporator is formed at the rear of the refrigerator compartment provided below the partition wall. An inlet for the air in the refrigerator compartment is provided at the lower part of the heat exchange region, and an outlet for the air cooled by passing through the evaporator is provided at the upper part of the heat exchange region. The air outlet opens forward and is covered from the front by a square dish-shaped feed duct having a number of feed holes. A part of the feed holes is provided in the upper wall of the feed duct. Therefore, a part of the air blown out from the air outlet flows from the upper wall of the feed duct toward the partition wall. That is, a part of the air blown out from the air outlet is blown toward the lower surface of the partition wall located outside (front side) of the heat exchange region.

[0003] Since the partition wall is cooled by the air in the upper freezer compartment, the lower surface of the partition wall is likely to be at a lower temperature than the air in the refrigerator compartment. At this time, when the air in the refrigerator compartment is blown toward the lower surface of the partition wall located outside (front side) of the heat exchange region as described above, heat exchange with the air is promoted in the region of the partition wall (wind-receiving region) that receives the air, reducing the temperature difference between the two and eliminating the stagnation of the air near the lower surface of the partition wall. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of dew condensation on the lower surface of the partition wall.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] As described above, in the refrigerator of Patent Document 1, by blowing air toward the lower surface of the partition wall located outside the heat exchange region, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of dew condensation in the region of the partition wall (wind-receiving region) that receives the air. However, in the portion where the air blown out from the supply duct does not hit, particularly inside the heat exchange region, it is not possible to actively suppress the dew condensation on the lower surface of the partition wall, and there is room for improvement in this regard.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to suppress the occurrence of dew condensation on the lower surface of a partition wall that constitutes a refrigerating duct in which a cooler for a refrigerating chamber is housed, more specifically, inside a heat exchange region, in a refrigerator including an upper freezing chamber and a lower refrigerating chamber partitioned by the partition wall.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0007] The present invention is directed to a refrigerator including a freezing chamber 3 and a refrigerating chamber 4 disposed below the freezing chamber 3, and the space between the freezing chamber 3 and the refrigerating chamber 4 is partitioned by a partition wall 2. This refrigerator includes a cooler 9 that cools the indoor air in the refrigerating chamber 4, a circulation fan 11 that circulates the indoor air in the refrigerating chamber 4, and a refrigerating duct 22 that houses the cooler 9 and the circulation fan 11. The refrigerating duct 22 includes a vertical portion 23 along the rear surface of the refrigerating chamber 4 and a horizontal portion 24 along the lower surface of the partition wall 2. At the front of the horizontal portion 24, an air outlet 26 for blowing out the indoor air cooled by the cooler 9 along the lower surface of the partition wall 2 is formed, and behind the air outlet 26 of the horizontal portion 24, a fan support wall 34 that supports the circulation fan 11 is formed. When a region in front of the fan support wall 34 of the horizontal portion 24 is defined as a positive pressure region PA and a region behind the fan support wall 34 of the refrigerating duct 22 is defined as a negative pressure region NA, a return air gap 57 that communicates the positive pressure region PA and the negative pressure region NA is formed between the upper end of the fan support wall 34 and the lower surface of the partition wall 2.

[0008] When defining the wall that partitions the negative pressure region NA together with the fan support wall 34 as the surrounding wall 58, an intake gap 59 that communicates the internal space of the refrigerating chamber 4 and the negative pressure region NA in the refrigerating duct 22 is formed between the upper end of the surrounding wall 58 and the lower surface of the partition wall 2.

[0009] At the front of the horizontal portion 24, a ventilation frame 30 that partitions the positive pressure region PA together with the fan support wall 34 is provided. At the upper end of the ventilation frame 30, a contact piece 52 that protrudes above the upper end of the fan support wall 34 and contacts the lower surface of the partition wall 2 is formed.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] When a return air gap 57 that communicates the positive pressure region PA and the negative pressure region NA is formed between the upper end of the fan support wall 34 and the lower surface of the partition wall 2 as in the cooling storage according to the present invention, a part of the air flowing from the negative pressure region NA into the positive pressure region PA will return to the negative pressure region NA again through the return air gap 57, and a small-scale short circuit can be formed between these positive pressure region PA and negative pressure region NA. As a result, an air flow along the lower surface of the partition wall 2 can be formed in the refrigerating duct 22, so that the heat exchange between the partition wall 2 cooled by the air in the freezing chamber 3 and the air in the refrigerating chamber 4 is promoted, the temperature difference between the two is reduced, and the stagnation of air near the lower surface of the partition wall 2 can be eliminated. Thereby, the dew condensation on the lower surface of the partition wall 2 in the refrigerating duct 22 can be suppressed.

[0011] When defining the wall that partitions the negative pressure region NA together with the fan support wall 34 as the surrounding wall 58, an intake gap 59 that communicates the internal space of the refrigerating chamber 4 and the negative pressure region NA in the refrigerating duct 22 is formed between the upper end of the surrounding wall 58 and the lower surface of the partition wall 2, an air flow flowing into the negative pressure region NA along the lower surface of the partition wall 2 can be formed. Thereby, also in the negative pressure region NA and its surroundings, the heat exchange between the partition wall 2 and the air in the refrigerating chamber 4 is promoted, the temperature difference between the two is reduced, and the stagnation of air near the lower surface of the partition wall 2 can be eliminated. That is, the dew condensation on the lower surface of the partition wall 2 in the negative pressure region NA and its surroundings can be suppressed.

[0012] If the vertical width of the return air gap 57 is too large, the amount of air in the short circuit returning from the positive pressure region PA to the negative pressure region NA becomes too large, and the amount of air blown out from the air outlet 26 decreases. Conversely, if the vertical width of the return air gap 57 is too small, the above short circuit hardly occurs, and the effect of suppressing the dew condensation on the lower surface of the partition wall 2 becomes insufficient. Therefore, in the present invention, a contact piece 52 that protrudes above the upper end of the fan support wall 34 and contacts the lower surface of the partition wall 2 is formed at the upper end of the ventilation frame 30 that partitions the positive pressure region PA together with the fan support wall 34. According to this, when an operator manufacturing the refrigerator attaches the refrigeration duct 22 to the refrigerating chamber 4, by bringing the contact piece 52 of the ventilation frame 30 into contact with the lower surface of the partition wall 2, the vertical positioning of the refrigeration duct 22 in the refrigerating chamber 4 is achieved, and the interval between the fan support wall 34 and the partition wall 2, that is, the vertical width of the return air gap 57, does not vary, so that the return air gap 57 having an appropriate vertical width can be reliably formed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] (Embodiment) Figures 1 to 6 show an embodiment in which the refrigerator of the present invention is applied to a commercial refrigerated freezer. In this embodiment, the front-rear, left-right, and up-down directions follow the cross arrows shown in Figures 2 and 4 and the front-rear, left-right, and up-down designations indicated in the vicinity of each arrow.

[0015] As shown in Figure 2, the refrigerator includes a vertically long rectangular box-shaped heat-insulating box body 1 having an opening on the front surface, and a partition wall 2 that divides the inside of the heat-insulating box body 1 vertically. The upper side of the partition wall 2 is a freezer compartment 3 where the indoor temperature is maintained in the freezing temperature range, and the lower side of the partition wall 2 is a refrigerating compartment 4 where the indoor temperature is maintained in the refrigerating temperature range. The front openings of the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerating compartment 4 are each swing-opened and closed by a heat-insulating door 5.

[0016] The freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerating compartment 4 are each provided with an evaporator 8, 9 for cooling the indoor air and a circulation fan 10, 11 for circulating the indoor air. In a machine room 12 provided above the heat-insulating box body 1, a compressor 13 and a condenser 14 that constitute a refrigeration cycle together with the evaporators 8, 9, and a cooling fan 15 for cooling these devices 13, 14 are installed. The refrigerant compressed by the compressor 13 is cooled and condensed by the condenser 14, then decompressed and reaches the evaporators 8, 9, cooling the air around the evaporators 8, 9.

[0017] A refrigerant at a lower temperature than the refrigerating evaporator (cooler) 9 in the refrigerating compartment 4 is supplied to the freezing evaporator 8 in the freezer compartment 3. The freezing evaporator 8 is housed in a freezing duct 18 that extends back and forth along the upper surface of the freezer compartment 3, and the circulation fan 10 faces a suction port 19 provided at the front end of the freezing duct 18. The air sucked into the freezing duct 18 from the suction port 19 by the circulation fan 10 is cooled while passing through the freezing evaporator 8 and is blown downward along the rear surface of the freezer compartment 3 from a blowout port 20 provided at the rear end of the freezing duct 18.

[0018] The refrigerator evaporator 9 is housed in a vertically long refrigerator duct 22 provided at the rear of the refrigerator compartment 4. The refrigerator duct 22 consists of a vertical portion 23 along the rear surface of the refrigerator compartment 4 and a horizontal portion 24 along the lower surface of the partition wall 2. A suction port 25 is provided at the lower part of the vertical portion 23, and a blowout port 26 is provided at the front part of the horizontal portion 24. The circulation fan 11 faces the blowout port 26 from the rear. The air sucked into the refrigerator duct 22 from the suction port 25 by the circulation fan 11 is cooled while passing through the refrigerator evaporator 9 and is blown forward from the blowout port 26 along the upper surface of the refrigerator compartment 4, that is, along the lower surface of the partition wall 2.

[0019] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the refrigerator duct 22 is integrally composed of four parts: a duct frame 27 made of a stainless steel plate, a duct lid 28, a fan support frame 29, and a ventilation frame 30. The duct frame 27 is formed in a C-channel shape that extends vertically and opens forward, and only the lower opening of the upper and lower openings is blocked. The vertical length dimension of the duct frame 27 is slightly smaller than the vertical dimension of the refrigerator compartment 4, and the left and right width dimension of the duct frame 27 is sufficiently smaller than the left and right dimension of the refrigerator compartment 4. The duct lid 28 is formed in a vertically long rectangular plate shape having the same left and right dimensions as the duct frame 27 and about three-fourths of the vertical dimension, and is fixed so as to block the lower over-half of the front opening of the duct frame 27. A group of horizontally long small holes 32 are provided at the lower end of the duct lid 28, and these small holes 32 constitute the suction port 25 of the refrigerator duct 22.

[0020] The fan support frame 29 is fixed adjacent to the upper side of the duct cover 28 so as to close the upper end of the front opening of the duct frame 27. The sum of the vertical dimensions of the fan support frame 29 and the duct cover 28 is equal to the vertical dimension of the duct frame 27. Specifically, the fan support frame 29 includes a rectangular plate-shaped fan support wall 34 facing the front and rear walls of the duct frame 27, a pair of left and right side walls 35 continuously extending rearward from the left and right edges of the fan support wall 34, a lower wall 36 continuously extending rearward from the lower edge of the fan support wall 34 to connect the lower ends of the side walls 35, and a pair of left and right end walls 37 projecting outward from the rear edges of the respective side walls 35. The tip of each end wall 37 in the projecting direction is connected to the edge of the front opening of the duct frame 27, and the lower edge of each end wall 37 and the rear edge of the lower wall 36 are joined to the upper edge of the duct cover 28 without a gap. The front surface of the end wall 37 and the duct cover 28 are flush, and the fan support wall 34 projects forward from the duct cover 28.

[0021] A fan opening 40 formed of a round hole is provided at the center of the fan support wall 34, and an axial flow type circulation fan 11 is supported by the fan support wall 34 so as to face this fan opening 40. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the circulation fan 11 includes a fan body 41 having a plurality of blades, a fan motor 42 for rotationally driving the fan body 41, and a fan frame 43 for supporting the fan motor 42. The fan frame 43 is composed of a round frame-shaped frame portion 44 surrounding the fan body 41, a round dish-shaped boss portion 45 holding the fan motor 42, and a plurality of stays 46 connecting the boss portion 45 to the frame portion 44, and a plurality of locations of the frame portion 44 are fastened and fixed to the front side of the fan support wall 34.

[0022] The circulation fan 11 forms an air flow that passes through the fan opening 40 from the rear to the front. That is, a positive pressure region PA is formed on the front side of the fan support wall 34, and a negative pressure region NA is formed on the rear side of the fan support wall 34. The negative pressure region NA is partitioned by the duct frame 27 and the fan support frame 29 that constitute the refrigeration duct 22. The positive pressure region PA is partitioned by the fan support wall 34 of the fan support frame 29 and a ventilation frame 30 described below.

[0023] The ventilation frame 30 is formed in a rectangular box shape with an open top and rear surface, and is fixed to the front surface of the fan support frame 29 so as to surround the circulation fan 11. Specifically, the ventilation frame 30 includes a front plate 49 facing the circulation fan 11, a pair of left and right side plates 50 continuous rearward from the left and right edges of the front plate 49, a lower plate 51 continuous rearward from the lower edge of the front plate 49 and connecting the lower ends of the side plates 50, a contact piece 52 projecting forward from the upper edge of the front plate 49, and fixing pieces 53 (see FIG. 6) projecting inward from the rear edges of the respective side plates 50. Each fixing piece 53 is fixed to the front surface of the fan support wall 34 by any means. A group of vertically long small holes 54 are provided on the entire surface of the front plate 49 and the front end portions of the respective side plates 50, and these small holes 54 constitute the air outlet 26 of the refrigerating duct 22. The cold air cooled by the refrigerating evaporator 9 is carried from the negative pressure region NA to the positive pressure region PA by the circulation fan 11, and is blown out so as to spread from the front to both the left and right sides through the air outlet 26.

[0024] As shown enlarged in FIG. 1, a return air gap 57 communicating the positive pressure region PA and the negative pressure region NA is formed between the fan support wall 34 and the lower surface of the partition wall 2. According to this return air gap 57, a part of the air flowing from the negative pressure region NA to the positive pressure region PA by the action of the circulation fan 11 returns to the negative pressure region NA again, and a small-scale short circuit can be formed between the positive pressure region PA and the negative pressure region NA. Thereby, an air flow along the lower surface of the partition wall 2 can be formed in the refrigerating duct 22, so that the heat exchange between the partition wall 2 cooled by the air in the freezer compartment 3 and the air in the refrigerating compartment 4 is promoted, the temperature difference between the two is reduced, and the stagnation of the air near the lower surface of the partition wall 2 can be eliminated. Thereby, the dew condensation on the lower surface of the partition wall 2 in the refrigerating duct 22 can be suppressed. Note that the vertical width of the return air gap 57 is as small as about 2 mm, and the air returning from the positive pressure region PA to the negative pressure region NA through the return air gap 57 is only a very small part of the air flowing from the negative pressure region NA to the positive pressure region PA by the action of the circulation fan 11, and most of the air flowing into the positive pressure region PA is blown out from the air outlet 26 to the outside of the positive pressure region PA.

[0025] As shown in Fig. 6, the duct frame 27, the side wall 35 and the end wall 37 of the fan support frame 29, together with the fan support wall 34, form an enclosure wall 58 that partitions the negative pressure region NA from all four directions (front, back, left, and right). An intake gap 59 of approximately 2 mm that connects the inside and outside of the refrigerating duct 22 is also formed between the enclosure wall 58 and the lower surface of the partition wall 2 (see Fig. 1). According to this intake gap 59, an air flow that flows into the negative pressure region NA along the lower surface of the partition wall 2 can be formed. As a result, heat exchange between the partition wall 2 and the air in the refrigerating chamber 4 is promoted in the negative pressure region NA and its surroundings, reducing the temperature difference between the two and eliminating the stagnation of air near the lower surface of the partition wall 2. That is, condensation on the lower surface of the partition wall 2 in the negative pressure region NA and its surroundings can be suppressed.

[0026] While the return air gap 57 and the intake gap 59 are formed as described above, the upper end of the front plate 49 of the ventilation frame 30 protrudes above the upper ends of the fan support wall 34 and the enclosure wall 58, and a contact piece 52 continuous with the upper end of the front plate 49 is in contact with the lower surface of the partition wall 2. According to this, when an operator manufacturing the refrigerator-freezer attaches the refrigerating duct 22 to the refrigerating chamber 4, by bringing the contact piece 52 into contact with the lower surface of the partition wall 2, the vertical positioning of the refrigerating duct 22 in the refrigerating chamber 4 is achieved, preventing variations in the vertical widths of the return air gap 57 and the intake gap 59 and ensuring the formation of the return air gap 57 and the intake gap 59 with appropriate vertical widths.

[0027] The cooler 9 in the refrigerating chamber 4 according to the present invention is not limited to an evaporator that constitutes a refrigeration cycle together with the compressor 13 and the condenser 14, and may utilize a thermoelectric element such as a Peltier element, for example. Instead of the square box-shaped ventilation frame 30, a net-like fan guard that covers the circulation fan 11 from the front may be employed.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0028] 2 Partition wall 3 Freezing chamber 4 Refrigerating chamber 9 Cooler (refrigerating evaporator) 11 Circulation fan 22 Refrigerating duct 24 air outlet 30 ventilation frame 34 fan support wall 40 fan opening 57 return air gap 58 surrounding wall 59 intake air gap PA positive pressure area NA negative pressure area

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising a freezer compartment (3) and a refrigerating compartment (4) disposed below the freezer compartment (3), wherein a partition wall (2) separates the freezer compartment (3) and the refrigerating compartment (4). The refrigerator further comprises a cooler (9) for cooling the indoor air in the refrigerating compartment (4), a circulation fan (11) for circulating the indoor air in the refrigerating compartment (4), and a refrigerating duct (22) for housing the cooler (9) and the circulation fan (11). The refrigerating duct (22) consists of a vertical portion (23) along the rear surface of the refrigerating compartment (4) and a horizontal portion (24) along the lower surface of the partition wall (2). At the front of the horizontal portion (24), an air outlet (26) is formed for blowing out the indoor air cooled by the cooler (9) along the lower surface of the partition wall (2). Behind the air outlet (26) of the horizontal portion (24), a fan support wall (34) for supporting the circulation fan (11) is formed. When a region in front of the fan support wall (34) of the horizontal portion (24) is defined as a positive pressure region (PA) and a region behind the fan support wall (34) of the refrigerating duct (22) is defined as a negative pressure region (NA), a return air gap (57) for communicating the positive pressure region (PA) and the negative pressure region (NA) is formed between the upper end of the fan support wall (34) and the lower surface of the partition wall (2). The refrigerator is characterized by this.

2. When a wall that partitions the negative pressure region (NA) together with the fan support wall (34) is defined as an enclosure wall (58), an intake air gap (59) for communicating the interior space of the refrigerating compartment (4) and the negative pressure region (NA) in the refrigerating duct (22) is formed between the upper end of the enclosure wall (58) and the lower surface of the partition wall (2). The refrigerator according to Claim 1.

3. At the front of the horizontal portion (24), a ventilation frame (30) that partitions the positive pressure region (PA) together with the fan support wall (34) is provided. The refrigerator according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein a contact piece (52) that protrudes above the upper end of the fan support wall (34) and contacts the lower surface of the partition wall (2) is formed at the upper end of the ventilation frame (30).

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