Cooling device

Abstract

To smoothly return air from a cooling chamber of a refrigerator into an evaporator.SOLUTION: A cooling device includes: an evaporator; a heater provided below the evaporator; an attachment member which extends downward from the evaporator and to which the heater is attached; and a cover which covers a front side of the evaporator, the heater, and the attachment member, and is provided such that air from a return air passage of cold air flows into the region where the heater is provided. A dimension b of the cover in a depth direction in a region positioned on a back side relative to the cover in the region where the attachment member is provided is larger than a dimension a in the depth direction in a region positioned on the back side relative to the cover in the region where the evaporator is provided.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a cooling device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a refrigerator equipped with a defrost heater. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-340402 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present disclosure is to smoothly return air from a cooling compartment, such as a refrigerator compartment, to an evaporator. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a cooling device including an evaporator, a heater provided below the evaporator, a mounting member extending downward from the evaporator and to which the heater is attached, and a cover covering the front side of the evaporator, the heater, and the mounting member and provided so that air from a return air duct for cool air flows into an area where the heater is provided. The depth dimension b of the cover, which is located behind the cover in the area where the mounting member is provided, is larger than the depth dimension a of the area where the evaporator is located and which is located behind the cover. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the present disclosure, air from a cooling compartment such as a refrigerator compartment can be smoothly returned to an evaporator. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a front view of a cooling area in which an evaporator according to the first embodiment is arranged. [Figure 4] 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the left-right central portion of the cooling area where the evaporator according to the first embodiment is arranged. FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of a cooling area where an evaporator according to the first embodiment is arranged, at a position where a refrigeration return duct is located. [Figure 6] FIG. 3 is a plan cross-sectional view of the lower part of the cooling area where the evaporator according to the first embodiment is arranged. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the eva cover according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the fan cover according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] 3 is a side cross-sectional view of a position where a recess is located in a cooling area where an evaporator according to the first embodiment is arranged. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] [First embodiment] <Overall configuration of the refrigerator> First, the overall configuration of a refrigerator 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0009] The exterior of refrigerator 100 is mainly composed of insulated box 110. This insulated box 110 forms the storage space of refrigerator 100. The storage space formed by insulated box 110 is divided into, for example, from the top down, a refrigeration compartment 111, a vegetable compartment 117, and a freezer compartment 112 by a plurality of horizontally extending partitions. In this embodiment, freezer compartment 112 includes a first freezer area 113, an ice making and storage area 114, and a second freezer area 115.

[0010] Refrigerator compartment 111 is provided with refrigerator compartment door 111X. Vegetable compartment 117 is provided with a drawer-type vegetable compartment door 117X. First freezer area 113 is provided with a drawer-type freezer compartment door 113X. Ice making and storage area 114 is provided with a drawer-type ice making compartment door 114X. Second freezer area 115 is provided with a drawer-type freezer compartment door 115X. Freezer compartment door 115X moves in the front-to-rear direction to open and close freezer compartment 112 (more specifically, at least a part of freezer compartment 112, specifically second freezer area 115). Freezer compartment door 115X slides in the front-to-rear direction.

[0011] In refrigerator 100 according to this embodiment, upper partition shelf 121 for separating refrigerator compartment 111 and vegetable compartment 117 is provided in the heat-insulating box 110 at approximately the center in the vertical direction inside.

[0012] A lower partition shelf 122 is provided at the bottom inside the insulated box body 110 to separate the vegetable compartment 117 from the freezer compartment 112. Urethane is injected inside the lower partition shelf 122 to improve the insulation performance between the vegetable compartment 117 and the freezer compartment 112.

[0013] A cooling area 161 is provided at the rear of the refrigerator 100. More specifically, an evaporative cover 160 is attached to the rear of the freezer compartment 112, and the area behind the evaporative cover 160 forms the cooling area 161. An evaporator 151 and a fan 153 are arranged in the cooling area 161. The rear surface of the cooling area 161 is the rear surface of the insulated box body 110, and is provided with urethane or vacuum insulation material. A machine room 162 is provided below the cooling area 161, with the urethane or vacuum insulation material in between. A compressor, a condenser, a condensation fan, and the like (not shown) are arranged in the machine room 162.

[0014] The cool air cooled by the evaporator 151 in the cooling area 161 is supplied to the refrigerator compartment 111, the vegetable compartment 117, and the freezer compartment 112 through the duct 154 and the air outlet by the drive of the fan 153. Then, as shown in Fig. 3, the cool air in the refrigerator compartment 111 and the vegetable compartment 117 passes through the refrigerator return duct 155, flows from above to below the side of the evaporator 151, and then returns to the bottom of the evaporator 151. Then, as shown in Fig. 4, the cool air in the freezer compartment 112 passes through the freezer return duct 156 from the front and returns to the bottom of the evaporator 151. <Cold air return structure>

[0015] A configuration for smoothly returning cool air from refrigerator compartment 111 and freezer compartment 112 to the lower end of evaporator 151 will be described below with reference to Figs. 3 to 9. In the following, the side on which the door is provided will be referred to as the front or front face of the refrigerator, and the opposite side will be referred to as the back or rear face. When viewing refrigerator 100 from the front, the left side will be referred to as the left side of refrigerator 100, the right side will be referred to as the right side of refrigerator 100, the up side will be referred to as the up side of refrigerator 100, and the down side will be referred to as the down side of the refrigerator.

[0016] Refrigeration return duct 155 is provided on the rear right side of refrigerator 100. It is formed from the lower right part of refrigerator compartment 111 or the lower right part of vegetable compartment 117 to the lower part of evaporator 151. The returning cold air is output from the lower part of refrigerator return duct 155 by the negative pressure of fan 153, flows into the lower part of evaporator 151, and flows from bottom to top along evaporator 151. The cold air cooled in contact with evaporator 151 is supplied by fan 153 to cooling compartments such as freezer compartment 112 and refrigerator compartment 111.

[0017] In this embodiment, a defrost heater 157 is provided below the evaporator 151. The left and right ends of the defrost heater 157 are held by mounting members 158L, 158R. The left mounting member 158L is a plate-shaped member, the upper half of which fixes left portions of the multiple refrigerant pipes 151X, 151X... at the bottom of the evaporator 151, and the lower half of which holds the left end of the defrost heater 157. The right mounting member 158R is a plate-shaped member, the upper half of which fixes right portions of the multiple refrigerant pipes 151X, 151X... at the bottom of the evaporator 151, and the lower half of which holds the right end of the defrost heater 157.

[0018] In particular, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4, 6, 7 and 9, a portion of the eva cover 160 that corresponds to the front of the lower part of the left mounting member 158L protrudes forward to form a recess 160X.

[0019] In other words, the distance b from the recess 160X to the rear surface of the cooling area 161 is longer than the distance a from other parts of the evaporator cover 160, such as the part located in front of the center left and right of the lower part of the evaporator 151, to the rear surface of the cooling area 161.

[0020] In addition, the distance b from the recess 160X to the back surface of the cooling area 161 is longer than the distance a from other parts of the evaporator cover 160, such as the central part of the top and bottom of the right part of the evaporator 151 or the part located at the front of the upper part, to the back surface of the cooling area 161.

[0021] This allows the distance between the mounting member 158R and the eva cover 160 to be increased, so that the air passage for the returning cold air from the refrigerator compartment 111 is less likely to be blocked by frost or ice adhering to the mounting member 158R.

[0022] 9, the recess 160X is preferably formed in a position between the lowest refrigerant pipe 151X of the evaporator 151 and the heater 157. In other words, the uppermost end of the recess 160X is preferably located at the same position as or lower than the lowest refrigerant pipe 151X of the evaporator 151. The lowermost end of the recess 160X is preferably located at the same height as the upper end of the heater 157.

[0023] Because of this configuration, even if the right mounting member 158R is extended to the lower end of the evaporator 151 or to the right of the heater 157, the cold air coming out of the refrigeration return duct 155 can flow smoothly to the lower end of the evaporator 151.

[0024] In this embodiment, the distance in the height direction from the heater 157 to the evaporator 151 is longer than the distance in the height direction from the heater 157 to the water receiving tray 158 below the heater 157.

[0025] For example, when the heater 157 is supported from below, a relatively large space can be secured between the heater 157 and the evaporator 151, and the space is less likely to become blocked by frost, etc. However, when the heater 157 is suspended from the evaporator 151 side, the area between the heater 157 and the evaporator 151 is likely to become blocked, so it is important to secure an air path using the recess 160X.

[0026] In this embodiment, the freezer return duct 156 is provided at the lower part in the left-right center of the freezer compartment 112. In other words, the freezer return duct 156 is provided in front of and below the evaporator 151. More specifically, the freezer return duct 156 is formed by the front surface of the lower part of the evaporator cover 160 and the rear surface of the lower part of the fan cover 165. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the vertical position of the opening of the cooling area 161 of the freezer return duct 156 is located between the first refrigerant pipe 151X and the second refrigerant pipe 151X from the bottom of the evaporator 151.

[0027] That is, the lowest end of the rear end of the freezer return duct 156 is located at the same height as or higher than the first refrigerant pipe 151X from the bottom of the evaporator 151. The highest end of the rear end of the freezer return duct 156 is located at the same height as or higher than the second refrigerant pipe 151X from the bottom of the evaporator 151.

[0028] With this configuration, the cold air flowing from refrigeration return duct 155 to evaporator 151 enters below the cold air flowing from freezing return duct 156 to evaporator 151, making it less likely that one cold air will obstruct the flow of the other cold air. This configuration is particularly important when the amount of cold air flowing from refrigeration return duct 155 to evaporator 151 is greater than the amount of cold air flowing from freezing return duct 156 to evaporator 151.

[0029] In other words, the cold air flowing from the freezing return duct 156 to the evaporator 151 flows downstream of the air flowing from the refrigeration return duct 155 to the evaporator 151, so the temperature of the cold air drops from the bottom of the evaporator 151 onwards, improving the efficiency of heat exchange.

[0030] In the present embodiment, bottom surface 160Y of recess 160X of evaporative cover 160 is formed at an angle, and is configured to slope downward toward the rear of refrigerator 100. This allows heat from heater 157 to be easily transferred to frost formed inside recess 160X, and the melted water quickly flows down into water receiving tray 158 arranged below heater 157. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 100: Refrigerator 111: Refrigerator 112: Freezer 151: Evaporator 151X: Refrigerant pipe 153: Fan 155: Refrigeration return duct 156: Refrigeration return duct 157: Defrost heater 158L: Mounting material 158R: Mounting material 160: Eva Cover 160X: Recess 161: Cooling area

Claims

1. an evaporator; a heater provided below the evaporator; a mounting member extending downward from the evaporator and to which the heater is attached; a cover that covers the evaporator, the heater, and a front side of the mounting member and allows air from a return air duct for cool air to flow into an area where the heater is provided; A cooling device in which the depth dimension b of the cover in the area where the mounting member is provided is larger than the depth dimension a of the area where the cover is located behind the evaporator.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the cover located in front of the area where the mounting member is provided is located further forward than the portion located in front of the area where the central portion of the heater is provided.

3. a tray disposed below the evaporator and the heater for receiving water from the evaporator; The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein a distance L2 from the heater to the evaporator in the height direction is greater than a distance L1 from the tray to the heater in the height direction.

4. a tray disposed below the evaporator and the heater for receiving water from the evaporator; The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the cover extends rearward and downward from a lower end of at least a portion of a portion located in front of the region where the mounting member is provided.

5. The refrigerator described in claim 1, wherein the portion of the cover located in front of the portion located in the vertical center of the evaporator is located rearward of the portion located in front of the portion located at the lower end of the evaporator.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein the upper half of the at least part of the container is formed above the heater.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein at least a lower half of the at least part is formed below a lower end of the evaporator.

8. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising an air guide member provided on the front side of the cover for guiding the returning cold air from the freezer compartment to a portion located above the lower end of the evaporator.

9. The refrigerator further includes a housing in which at least one of a refrigerator compartment and a vegetable compartment and a freezer compartment whose set temperature is lower than the set temperature of the at least one of the refrigerator compartment and vegetable compartment are formed, The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the return air passage is a duct through which return cold air from at least one of the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment flows.

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