Refrigerating and freezing apparatus

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerating and freezing device. The device comprises an air duct assembly, wherein a lower air outlet of the air duct assembly closest to a cooling compartment has a downward air sub-opening facing downwards, and the downward air sub-opening is configured to cause a cooling airflow blown out therethrough to flow into a gap channel, so that water vapor formed by cold and heat exchange in the gap channel is quickly taken away by means of the flowing cooling airflow, thereby effectively solving the problem of an outer side of a storage drawer being prone to frosting or icing.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application is a National Stage of International Application No PCT / CN 2023 / 136493 filed on Dec. 5, 2023, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202211566475.8, filed on Dec. 7, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to refrigerating and freezing technology, particularly to a refrigerating and freezing apparatus.BACKGROUND

[0003] In daily life, people mainly use refrigerators to store and preserve items. Common refrigerators in the prior art mainly include traditional two-door refrigerators, T-type refrigerators, French-door refrigerators, side-by-side refrigerators, etc., where the evaporator is typically positioned at the rear side of the refrigerator cabinet. Some refrigerators, in order to increase storage space and improve user convenience in accessing items, position the cooling chamber containing the evaporator at the bottom of the refrigerator, and separate the cooling chamber from the storage compartment above it using an evaporator cover plate. Storage drawers are usually provided at the bottom of the storage compartment, where frost or ice formation easily occurs at the rear portion of the bottom-most storage drawer, potentially affecting normal drawer operation. Additionally, condensation easily forms on the front side of the evaporator cover plate, and the resulting condensation water affects user experience.

[0004] Reference to any prior art in the specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in US or any other jurisdiction or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be understood and regarded as relevant by a person skilled in the art.SUMMARY

[0005] Currently, technical personnel in the field have not identified the root cause of the technical problems mentioned in the background section. The applicant of this application creatively recognizes that newly placed items in the storage drawer have relatively high temperatures, while the cooling chamber below the evaporator cover plate is an extremely low-temperature environment, especially for freezer cooling chambers providing cooling air flow to freezer compartments. Furthermore, since thermal insulation foam is typically not installed at the rear side of the evaporator cover plate, cold from the cooling chamber easily transfers upward through the evaporator cover plate to the space between it and the storage drawer, resulting in low temperatures in this space. When heat from relatively warm items stored in the storage drawer transfers to the drawer, frost or ice forms where the drawer's outer surface contacts cold air, potentially preventing normal drawer operation when ice formation is severe. Regarding the front side of the evaporator cover plate, return air flow that has absorbed heat from the storage compartment flows past the front side of the evaporator cover plate before returning to the cooling chamber. The return air flow has a relatively high temperature, while both the cooling chamber below the evaporator cover plate and the items in the storage drawer after being frozen have relatively low temperatures, thus creating a high and low temperature boundary area at the front side of the evaporator cover plate, easily leading to condensation issues.

[0006] To solve these technical problems, one could increase the distance between the storage drawer and the evaporator cover plate to allow hot and cold air transition, however, this would waste a large portion of usable space and produce unstable results.

[0007] Therefore, one object of the present application is to overcome at least one deficiency in the prior art by providing a refrigerating and freezing apparatus where frost or ice formation is less likely to occur on the exterior of storage drawers in the storage space.

[0008] Another object of the present application is to prevent condensation on the front side of the evaporator cover plate.

[0009] A further object of the present application is to improve the cooling effect of storage drawers.

[0010] To achieve the above objects, the present application provides a refrigerating and freezing apparatus, including an inner liner, wherein the inner liner provides:

[0011] an evaporator cover plate configured to divide an internal space of the inner liner into a storage space and a cooling chamber located below the storage space, wherein the cooling chamber accommodates an evaporator configured to cool air flowing therethrough; and

[0012] an air duct assembly disposed at a rear side of the storage space and having multiple air outlets arranged at intervals in an up-down direction, configured to deliver cooled air flow through the air outlets to the storage space after being cooled by the evaporator; wherein

[0013] at least one storage drawer is provided in a lower portion of the storage space, a gap channel is formed between a bottom-most storage drawer adjacent to and above the evaporator cover plate and the evaporator cover plate; and

[0014] a lowermost air outlet of the air duct assembly closest to the cooling chamber has a downward sub-outlet oriented downward, the downward sub-outlet is configured to direct the cooled air flow blown therethrough into the gap channel.

[0015] Optionally, the evaporator cover plate includes a rear section extending obliquely downward from rear to front, and a middle section extending forward from a front end of the rear section; wherein

[0016] the gap channel is formed between a rear end of the bottom-most storage drawer and the rear section, and between a bottom of the bottom-most storage drawer and the middle section.

[0017] Optionally, the downward sub-outlet is located above the gap channel between the rear end of the bottom-most storage drawer and the rear section.

[0018] Optionally, the lowermost air outlet includes an outlet tube protruding forward from a front surface of the air duct assembly, the downward sub-outlet is formed in a bottom wall of the outlet tube and adjacent to the front surface of the air duct assembly.

[0019] Optionally, the air duct assembly is further provided with a guide plate below the lowermost air outlet, the guide plate extends obliquely downward from the front surface of the air duct assembly to a top of the gap channel.

[0020] Optionally, the air duct assembly is further provided with a limiting structure below the guide plate, a rear end of the evaporator cover plate cooperates with the limiting structure to restrict relative displacement between the evaporator cover plate and the air duct assembly at least in the up-down direction.

[0021] Optionally, an angle formed between the guide plate and the front surface of the air duct assembly above the guide plate is any angle value ranging from 130° to 150°.

[0022] Optionally, the lowermost air outlet further includes a forward sub-outlet oriented forward, the forward sub-outlet is configured to blow cooled air flow above a top of the bottom-most storage drawer.

[0023] Optionally, multiple storage drawers are provided in the lower portion of the storage space; wherein

[0024] a flow gap is formed between an upper storage drawer adjacent to and above the bottom-most storage drawer and the bottom-most storage drawer, the forward sub-outlet is configured to face the flow gap to blow cooled air flow into the flow gap.

[0025] Optionally, the inner liner further provides a return air cover plate connected to a front side of the evaporator cover plate, the return air cover plate covers a front side of the cooling chamber, and a front return air inlet is formed in the return air cover plate for returning return air flow from the storage space to the cooling chamber.

[0026] Optionally, the evaporator cover plate includes a rear section extending obliquely downward from rear to front, a middle section extending forward from a front end of the rear section, and a front section extending downward from a front end of the middle section; wherein

[0027] the front section is located at the front side of the cooling chamber and behind the return air cover plate, a rear return air inlet is formed in the front section for returning return air flow from the front return air inlet to the cooling chamber.

[0028] Optionally, a freezer compartment having a freezing storage environment, or a variable temperature compartment selectively having a freezing storage environment or a refrigerating storage environment is formed in the storage space.

[0029] Optionally, the evaporator cover plate includes a rear section extending obliquely downward from rear to front, and a middle section extending forward from a front end of the rear section; wherein

[0030] a thermal insulation structure is formed between the middle section and the evaporator, a top of the thermal insulation structure abuts against a lower surface of the middle section, and a bottom of the thermal insulation structure abuts against a top of the evaporator.

[0031] The refrigerating and freezing apparatus of the present application includes an inner liner, which provides an evaporator cover plate and an air duct assembly. The evaporator cover plate divides the internal space of the inner liner into a storage space and a cooling chamber below the storage space. At least one storage drawer is provided in the lower portion of the storage space, with a gap channel formed between the bottom-most storage drawer and the evaporator cover plate. The lower air outlet of the freezer air duct has a downward sub-outlet oriented downward, allowing cooled air flow blown from the downward sub-outlet to enter the gap channel, thereby quickly removing water vapor formed by heat exchange in the gap channel through the flowing cooled air flow. The water vapor flows forward with the cooled air flow and ultimately returns to the cooling chamber, where it forms condensation water that is discharged through the drainage outlet at the bottom of the cooling chamber, effectively solving the problem of frost or ice formation on the exterior of storage drawers.

[0032] Moreover, when the cooling chamber receives return air from its front side, the cooled air flow circulating in the gap channel can also flow above the front side of the evaporator cover plate, thus carrying away water vapor formed by heat exchange at the front side of the evaporator cover plate. The water vapor returns to the cooling chamber with the cooled air flow, forming condensation water that is discharged through the drainage outlet at the bottom of the cooling chamber, effectively solving the problem of condensation water formation at the front side of the evaporator cover plate.

[0033] Furthermore, in addition to the downward sub-outlet for delivering air to the gap channel, the lower air outlet also includes a forward sub-outlet for delivering air above the top of the bottom-most storage drawer. Thus, the cooled air flow from both the downward sub-outlet and forward sub-outlet envelops the entire bottom-most storage drawer, providing simultaneous cooling from above and below, which increases the cooling efficiency of items in the bottom-most storage drawer. The present application achieves this through clever design of the lower air outlet structure, replacing the complex air ducts used in existing wrap-around air delivery systems with a simpler structure that does not occupy drawer storage space.

[0034] According to the detailed description of specific embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the drawings below, those skilled in the art will better understand the above and other objectives, advantages, and features of the present application.

[0035] As used herein, except where the context clearly requires otherwise, the term “comprise” and variations of the term, such as “comprising”, “comprises” and “comprised”, are not intended to exclude further features, components, integers or steps.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0036] The specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings in an exemplary rather than limiting manner. The same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or similar components or parts. Those skilled in the art should understand that these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

[0037] FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along section line A-A in FIG. 1;

[0039] FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of an inner liner and its internal structure according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG. 4 is a schematic enlarged view of portion B in FIG. 3;

[0041] FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of an air duct assembly and an evaporator cover plate according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG. 6 is a schematic enlarged view of portion C in FIG. 5;

[0043] FIG. 7 is a schematic exploded view of an evaporator cover plate, a return air cover plate, and a thermal insulation structure according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG. 8 is a schematic bottom view and partial enlarged view of an evaporator cover plate and a thermal insulation structure according to an embodiment of the present application.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0045] The present application provides a refrigerating and freezing apparatus. FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along section line A-A in FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the refrigerating and freezing apparatus 1 includes an inner liner 110, which provides an evaporator cover plate 40 and an air duct assembly 50.

[0046] The evaporator cover plate 40 is configured to divide the internal space of the inner liner 110 into a storage space 111 and a cooling chamber 112 located below the storage space 111, wherein the cooling chamber 112 accommodates an evaporator 30 for cooling air flowing therethrough. The air duct assembly 50 is disposed at the rear side of the storage space 111 and has multiple air outlets arranged at intervals in the up-down direction to deliver cooled air flow through the air outlets to the storage space 111 after being cooled by the evaporator 30.

[0047] FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of an inner liner and its internal structure according to an embodiment of the present application, and FIG. 4 is a schematic enlarged view of portion B in FIG. 3. At least one storage drawer is provided in the lower portion of the storage space 111, and a gap channel 71 is formed between a bottom-most storage drawer 61 adjacent to and above the evaporator cover plate 40 and the evaporator cover plate 40. A lowermost air outlet 51 of the air duct assembly 50 closest to the cooling chamber 112 has a downward sub-outlet 511, which is configured to direct the cooled air flow blown therethrough into the gap channel 71.

[0048] The refrigerating and freezing apparatus 1 of the present application includes an inner liner 110 containing an evaporator cover plate 40 and an air duct assembly 50. The evaporator cover plate 40 divides the internal space of the inner liner into a storage space 111 and a cooling chamber 112 below the storage space 111. At least one storage drawer is provided in the lower portion of the storage space, with a gap channel 71 formed between the bottom-most storage drawer 61 and the evaporator cover plate 40. The freezer air duct 50's lower air outlet 51 has a downward sub-outlet 511, allowing cooled air flow blown from the downward sub-outlet 511 to enter the gap channel 71, thereby quickly removing water vapor formed by heat exchange in the gap channel 71 through the flowing cooled air flow. The water vapor flows forward with the cooled air flow and ultimately returns to the cooling chamber 112, where it forms condensation water that is discharged through the drainage outlet at the bottom of the cooling chamber 112, effectively solving the problem of frost or ice formation on the exterior of storage drawers.

[0049] Moreover, when the cooling chamber 112 receives return air from its front side, the cooled air flow circulating in the gap channel 71 can also flow above the front side of the evaporator cover plate 40, thus carrying away water vapor formed by heat exchange at the front side of the evaporator cover plate 40. The water vapor returns to the cooling chamber 112 with the cooled air flow, forming condensation water that is discharged through the drainage outlet at the bottom of the cooling chamber 112, effectively solving the problem of condensation water formation at the front side of the evaporator cover plate 40.

[0050] In some embodiments, the evaporator cover plate 40 includes a rear section 41 extending obliquely downward from rear to front, and a middle section 42 extending forward from a front end of the rear section 41. The gap channel 71 is formed between the rear end of the bottom-most storage drawer 61 and the rear section 41, and between the bottom of the bottom-most storage drawer 61 and the middle section 42. That is, cooled air flow passes both the rear side and bottom of the bottom-most storage drawer 61, and flows over the entire upper side of the evaporator cover plate 40, thereby carrying away water vapor formed at any position on the rear side and bottom of the bottom-most storage drawer 61, as well as water vapor formed at any position on the upper side of the evaporator cover plate 40, thus more comprehensively and thoroughly preventing condensation water or frost formation on the exterior of the bottom-most storage drawer 61 and the upper surface of the evaporator cover plate 40.

[0051] Specifically, the gap channel 71 may include an upstream section extending obliquely downward from rear to front between the rear end of the bottom-most storage drawer 61 and the rear section 41, and a downstream section extending forward between the bottom of the bottom-most storage drawer 61 and the middle section 42.

[0052] In some embodiments, the downward sub-outlet 511 is located above the gap channel 71 between the rear end of the bottom-most storage drawer 61 and the rear section 41. That is, the downward sub-outlet 511 is positioned above the upstream section of the gap channel 71. Thus, the downwardly oriented downward sub-outlet 511 directly corresponds to the upstream section of the gap channel 71, facilitating direct delivery of cooled air flow to the upstream section of the gap channel 71. The cooled air flow smoothly transitions from the upstream section to the downstream section of the gap channel 71, completing a smooth directional change of the cooled air flow, reducing flow resistance, and ensuring the cooled air flow maintains sufficient velocity to carry away water vapor.

[0053] FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of the air duct assembly and evaporator cover plate according to an embodiment of the present application, and FIG. 6 is a schematic enlarged view of portion C in FIG. 5. In some embodiments, the lower air outlet 51 includes an outlet tube 513 protruding forward from the front surface 50a of the air duct assembly 50, and the downward sub-outlet 511 is formed in the bottom wall of the outlet tube 513 and adjacent to the front surface 50a of the air duct assembly 50. That is, the downward sub-outlet 511 is formed at the position closest to the air supply duct inside the air duct assembly 50, allowing at least part of the cooled air flow entering the outlet tube 513 to quickly exit through the downward sub-outlet 511, thereby minimizing velocity loss of the cooled air flow entering the gap channel 71.

[0054] Since the downward sub-outlet 511 is adjacent to the front surface 50a of the air duct assembly 50 and positioned relatively rearward, the cooled air flow blown downward through the downward sub-outlet 511 stays close to the front surface 50a of the air duct assembly 50, reducing dispersion and making it difficult to flow into the gap channel 71. To address this, in some embodiments, the air duct assembly 50 is further provided with a guide plate 52 below the lower air outlet 51, which extends obliquely downward and forward from the front surface 50a of the air duct assembly 50 to the top of the gap channel 71. Thus, when the cooled air flow blown downward from the downward sub-outlet 511 encounters the guide plate 52 below, it is guided to flow forward and downward into the gap channel 71, enabling the relatively rearward cooled air flow to smoothly change direction and flow forward and downward, reducing air flow resistance.

[0055] Specifically, the guide plate 52 is a strip-shaped plate extending along the transverse direction of the air duct assembly 50, providing guidance for the cooled air flow across the entire transverse width of the air duct assembly 50, offering a broad guidance range.

[0056] In some embodiments, the air duct assembly 50 is further provided with a limiting structure 53 below the guide plate 52, and the rear end of the evaporator cover plate 40 cooperates with the limiting structure 53 to restrict relative displacement between the evaporator cover plate 40 and the air duct assembly 50 at least in the up-down direction. That is, the rear end of the evaporator cover plate 40 is installed on the limiting structure 53 of the air duct assembly 50, forming the gap channel 71 below the guide plate 52, which can receive the cooled air flow guided by the guide plate 52, representing a very reasonable position design. Moreover, the limiting structure 53 can limit the upward movement of the rear end of the evaporator cover plate 40.

[0057] Furthermore, the limiting structure 53 is configured to include a positioning rib that extends forward from the front surface 50a of the air duct assembly 50 and then bends downward, forming a limiting space below the positioning rib. Specifically, the limiting space may be enclosed by the positioning rib and the front surface 50a of the air duct assembly 50, with the limiting space open downward. The rear end of the evaporator cover plate 40 is inserted into the limiting space to restrict upward or forward-backward movement of the rear end of the evaporator cover plate 40. The positioning rib that extends forward and then bends downward increases the interface area between the rear end of the evaporator cover plate 40 and the air duct assembly 50, improving the sealing effect between them and preventing air leakage between the cooling chamber 112 and the gap channel 71.

[0058] Specifically, the top of the rear end of the evaporator cover plate 40 may abut against the bottom wall of the positioning rib to restrict upward movement of the evaporator cover plate 40; the front side of the rear end of the evaporator cover plate 40 may abut against the front wall of the positioning rib, and the rear side of the rear end of the evaporator cover plate 40 may abut against the front surface 50a of the air duct assembly 50 to restrict forward-backward movement of the evaporator cover plate 40.

[0059] Furthermore, both the guide plate 52 and the limiting structure 53 are elongated structures extending from one transverse side of the air duct assembly 50 to the other, with limited structural strength. Therefore, the present application further connects the extending end of the guide plate 52 with the limiting structure 53, forming an integral structure that enhances the structural strength of both components, preventing deformation or breakage of the elongated guide plate 52 and limiting structure 53.

[0060] Specifically, the extending end of the guide plate 52 may be integrally formed with the upper portion of the positioning rib of the limiting structure 53.

[0061] In some embodiments, the angle formed between the guide plate 52 and the front surface 50a of the air duct assembly 50 above the guide plate 52 is any angle value ranging from 130° to 150°. For example, this angle may specifically be 130°, 132°, 134°, 136°, 138°, 140°, 142°, 144°, 146°, 148°, or 150°. Within this range, the guide plate 52 achieves optimal air flow guidance. If the angle is too small, meaning the guide plate 52 is too steeply inclined, the directional change of the cooled air flow upon encountering the guide plate 52 becomes too abrupt, resulting in greater flow resistance and velocity loss, reducing the flow velocity in the gap channel 71. If the angle is too large, meaning the guide plate 52 is not inclined enough, its guiding effect becomes less pronounced, requiring a longer guidance path to direct the cooled air flow into the gap channel 71, occupying more space, which is very unreasonable.

[0062] In some embodiments, the lower air outlet 51 further includes a forward sub-outlet 512 oriented forward, configured to blow cooled air flow above the top of the bottom-most storage drawer 61. That is, in addition to the downward sub-outlet 511 for delivering air into the gap channel 71, the lower air outlet 51 also includes a forward sub-outlet 512 for delivering air above the top of the bottom-most storage drawer 61. Thus, the cooled air flow from both the downward sub-outlet 511 and forward sub-outlet 512 envelops the entire bottom-most storage drawer 61, providing simultaneous cooling from above and below, which increases the cooling efficiency of food items in the bottom-most storage drawer 61.

[0063] The present application achieves this through clever design of the lower air outlet 51 structure, replacing the complex air ducts used in existing wrap-around air delivery systems with a simpler structure that does not occupy drawer storage space.

[0064] In some embodiments, multiple storage drawers are provided in the lower portion of the storage space 111. A flow gap 72 is formed between an upper storage drawer 62 adjacent to and above the bottom-most storage drawer 61 and the bottom-most storage drawer 61, and the forward sub-outlet 512 is configured to face the flow gap 72 to blow cooled air flow into it. Thus, the cooled air flow in the flow gap 72 can simultaneously cool both the upper storage drawer 62 and the bottom-most storage drawer 61, fully utilizing the cooling capacity of the air flow in the flow gap 72 and improving the cooling efficiency of the storage drawers.

[0065] FIG. 7 is a schematic exploded view of the evaporator cover plate, return air cover plate, and thermal insulation structure according to an embodiment of the present application. In some embodiments, the inner liner 110 further includes a return air cover plate 80 connected to the front side of the evaporator cover plate 40. The return air cover plate 80 covers the front side of the cooling chamber 112 and has a front return air inlet 81 formed therein for returning return air flow from the storage space 111 to the cooling chamber 112. The return air cover plate 80 provides a decorative effect for the front portion of the evaporator cover plate 40 and the cooling chamber 112, improving the appearance of the refrigerating and freezing apparatus 1.

[0066] In some embodiments, the evaporator cover plate 40 includes a rear section 41 extending obliquely downward from rear to front, a middle section 42 extending forward from the front end of the rear section 41, and a front section 43 extending downward from the front end of the middle section 42. That is, the evaporator cover plate 40 has a stepped shape that better adapts to the shape of the bottom of the inner liner 110, making full use of space.

[0067] Furthermore, the front section 43 is located at the front side of the cooling chamber 112 and behind the return air cover plate 80, and has a rear return air inlet 431 formed therein for returning return air flow from the front return air inlet 81 to the cooling chamber 112.

[0068] In some embodiments, the storage space 111 forms either a freezer compartment having a freezing storage environment, or a variable temperature compartment that can selectively provide either a freezing or refrigerating storage environment. That is, the storage space 111 can be either a conventional freezer space or a variable temperature space. Since the temperature in the freezer space is relatively low, typically between −25° C. and 8° C., and the variable temperature space can be set between −25° C. and 8° C., when set to freezer mode, its internal temperature is also relatively low. Therefore, for freezer or variable temperature spaces, the bottom-most storage drawer 61 and evaporator cover plate 40 are more prone to condensation or frost formation, making the technical solutions of this application particularly suitable for preventing these issues.

[0069] In some embodiments, the evaporator cover plate 40 includes a rear section 41 extending obliquely downward from rear to front, and a middle section 42 extending forward from the front end of the rear section 41. A thermal insulation structure 20 is formed between the middle section 42 and the evaporator 30, with the top of the thermal insulation structure 20 abutting against the lower surface of the middle section 42, and the bottom abutting against the top of the evaporator 30, thereby stably constraining the thermal insulation structure 20 between the evaporator cover plate 40 and evaporator 30, effectively isolating heat transfer between the storage space 111 above the evaporator cover plate 40 and the evaporator 30, thus avoiding impact on the cooling effect of the storage space 111.

[0070] Furthermore, referring to the schematic bottom view and partial enlarged view of the evaporator cover plate and thermal insulation structure shown in FIG. 8, side flanges 421 extending downward are provided on both transverse sides of the middle section 42, with the thermal insulation structure 20 constrained between the two side flanges 421. The applicant recognizes that due to assembly gaps between the thermal insulation structure 20 and side flanges 421, some return air from the storage space 111 may flow from front to back through the front-to-back extending gaps formed between the thermal insulation structure 20 and the side flanges 421 of the evaporator cover plate 40. This portion of return air might flow directly to the storage space 111 without being cooled by the cooling chamber 112, affecting the cooling efficiency of the storage space 111.

[0071] To address this, in some embodiments, multiple relief grooves 21 are arranged at intervals from front to back on both transverse sides of the thermal insulation structure 20. Multiple disturbing ribs 422 are arranged at intervals from front to back on the side flanges 421, with each disturbing rib 422 correspondingly inserted into a relief groove 21, forming multiple flow-disturbing paths in the front-to-back gaps between the side flanges 421 and thermal insulation structure 20.

[0072] When return air from the storage space 111 flows from front to back through the gaps formed between the thermal insulation structure 20 and the side flanges 421 of the evaporator cover plate 40, the return air sequentially flows through multiple relief grooves 21 and around the disturbing ribs 422 in the grooves before continuing backward, effectively passing through multiple flow-disturbing paths. This extends the flow path and increases the number of directional changes for this portion of return air, thereby increasing its flow resistance and effectively reducing the amount of return air flowing from front to back through these gaps without heat exchange with the evaporator, improving cooling effectiveness. Additionally, the cooperation between the disturbing ribs 422 and relief grooves 21 can also restrict relative movement between the thermal insulation structure 20 and evaporator cover plate 40 in the front-to-back direction.

[0073] Specifically, the relief grooves 21 are recessed inward from the transverse side surface of the thermal insulation structure 20, and the disturbing ribs 422 protrude inward from the inner surface of the side flanges 421.

[0074] In some embodiments, the refrigerating and freezing apparatus 1 can be a single-compartment refrigerator with only one inner liner 110.

[0075] In other embodiments, the refrigerating and freezing apparatus 1 can be a multi-compartment refrigerator. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus 1 also includes a second inner liner 120 and a third inner liner 130. The inner liner 110 is located on the first side in the transverse direction of the cabinet 10, with its internal storage space 111 forming a freezer space having a freezing storage environment. The second inner liner 120 and third inner liner 130 are both located on the second side in the transverse direction of the cabinet 10, with the second inner liner 120 positioned above the third inner liner 130. The second inner liner 120 forms a refrigerating space having a refrigerating storage environment, while the third inner liner 130 forms a variable temperature space that can selectively provide either a refrigerating or freezing storage environment, and a variable temperature cooling chamber that provides cooling capacity for both the refrigerating space in the second inner liner 120 and the variable temperature space in the third inner liner 130, with another evaporator installed in the variable temperature cooling chamber.

[0076] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments described above are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all embodiments. These partial embodiments are intended to explain the technical principles of the present application, not to limit its scope of protection. Based on the embodiments provided by the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work should still fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0077] It should be noted that in the description of the present application, terms indicating direction or position relationships such as “center”, “up”, “down”, “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “rear”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “inner”, “outer” are based on the actual use state of the refrigerating and freezing apparatus 1. These are merely for convenience of description and do not indicate or imply that the device or element must have a specific orientation or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, therefore should not be understood as limitations to the present application.

[0078] Furthermore, it should be noted that in the description of the present application, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, terms such as “installed”, “connected”, “coupled” should be broadly understood. For example, they can be fixed connection, detachable connection, or integral connection; can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through intermediate media, or internal communication between two elements. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meanings of these terms in the present application according to specific situations.

[0079] At this point, those skilled in the art should recognize that although multiple exemplary embodiments of the present application have been shown and described in detail, many other variations or modifications that conform to the principles of the present application can be directly determined or derived from the content disclosed by the present application without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, the scope of the present application should be understood and recognized as covering all such other variations or modifications.

Claims

1. A refrigerating and freezing apparatus, comprising an inner liner, wherein the inner liner provides:an evaporator cover plate configured to divide an internal space of the inner liner into a storage space and a cooling chamber located below the storage space, wherein the cooling chamber accommodates an evaporator configured to cool air flowing therethrough; andan air duct assembly disposed at a rear side of the storage space and having multiple air outlets arranged at intervals in an up-down direction, configured to deliver cooled air flow through the air outlets to the storage space after being cooled by the evaporator; whereinat least one storage drawer is provided in a lower portion of the storage space, a gap channel is formed between a bottom-most storage drawer adjacent to and above the evaporator cover plate and the evaporator cover plate; anda lowermost air outlet of the air duct assembly closest to the cooling chamber has a downward sub-outlet oriented downward, the downward sub-outlet is configured to direct the cooled air flow blown therethrough into the gap channel.

2. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the evaporator cover plate includes a rear section extending obliquely downward from rear to front, and a middle section extending forward from a front end of the rear section; whereinthe gap channel is formed between a rear end of the bottom-most storage drawer and the rear section, and between a bottom of the bottom-most storage drawer and the middle section.

3. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 2, whereinthe downward sub-outlet is located above the gap channel between the rear end of the bottom-most storage drawer and the rear section.

4. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 2, whereinthe lowermost air outlet includes an outlet tube protruding forward from a front surface of the air duct assembly, the downward sub-outlet is formed in a bottom wall of the outlet tube and adjacent to the front surface of the air duct assembly.

5. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe air duct assembly is further provided with a guide plate below the lowermost air outlet, the guide plate extends obliquely downward from the front surface of the air duct assembly to a top of the gap channel.

6. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 5, whereinthe air duct assembly is further provided with a limiting structure below the guide plate, a rear end of the evaporator cover plate cooperates with the limiting structure to restrict relative displacement between the evaporator cover plate and the air duct assembly at least in the up-down direction.

7. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 5, whereinan angle formed between the guide plate and the front surface of the air duct assembly above the guide plate is any angle value ranging from 130° to 150°.

8. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe lowermost air outlet further includes a forward sub-outlet oriented forward, the forward sub-outlet is configured to blow cooled air flow above a top of the bottom-most storage drawer.

9. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 8, whereinmultiple storage drawers are provided in the lower portion of the storage space;whereina flow gap is formed between an upper storage drawer adjacent to and above the bottom-most storage drawer and the bottom-most storage drawer, the forward sub-outlet is configured to face the flow gap to blow cooled air flow into the flow gap.

10. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe inner liner further provides a return air cover plate connected to a front side of the evaporator cover plate, the return air cover plate covers a front side of the cooling chamber, and a front return air inlet is formed in the return air cover plate for returning return air flow from the storage space to the cooling chamber.

11. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 10, whereinthe evaporator cover plate includes a rear section extending obliquely downward from rear to front, a middle section extending forward from a front end of the rear section, and a front section extending downward from a front end of the middle section; whereinthe front section is located at the front side of the cooling chamber and behind the return air cover plate, a rear return air inlet is formed in the front section for returning return air flow from the front return air inlet to the cooling chamber.

12. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 1, whereina freezer compartment having a freezing storage environment, or a variable temperature compartment selectively having a freezing storage environment or a refrigerating storage environment is formed in the storage space.

13. The refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe evaporator cover plate includes a rear section extending obliquely downward from rear to front, and a middle section extending forward from a front end of the rear section; whereina thermal insulation structure is formed between the middle section and the evaporator, a top of the thermal insulation structure abuts against a lower surface of the middle section, and a bottom of the thermal insulation structure abuts against a top of the evaporator.

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