Refrigerator Door Cooling Duct for Indirect No-Frost Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
In no-frost refrigerators, direct cooling of door storage compartments using forced cold air leads to premature drying of stored goods and potential blockage of air outlet openings by goods, resulting in reduced cooling effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
The cooling-air duct in the door is made free of heat insulation and integrated into the inner cladding, allowing the door to act as a 'cold wall' for indirect cooling, preventing direct application of cold air to goods and maintaining airflow through the duct.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If cooling air is directed into door storage compartments to cool refrigerated goods, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but goods stored there dry out prematurely
Solution Approach 1:
The door cladding acts as an intermediary heat exchange surface between the cooling air duct and the refrigerated goods. Instead of directing cooling air directly onto the goods, the cold air flows through the duct behind the cladding, and heat exchange occurs through the cladding material itself, which serves as a thermal mediator. This indirect cooling method prevents direct air contact that causes drying while maintaining effective cooling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical convection-based direct air cooling system with a radiation-based indirect cooling system. The cooling effect is transferred through thermal radiation and conduction through the door cladding rather than through direct air flow onto the goods, eliminating the harmful drying effect while preserving the cooling function.
2Temperature
If cooling air is directed into door storage compartments, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but air outlet openings are blocked by refrigerated goods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the air outlet openings from the door storage compartment interior and relocates them to the evaporator area. The cooling air duct system is reconfigured so that air outlets are positioned in the evaporator region rather than in the door compartments, eliminating the risk of blockage by stored goods while maintaining the cooling air distribution function.
3Temperature
If cooling air is applied directly to refrigerated goods in door compartments, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but temperature distribution becomes uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating different thermal characteristics in different parts of the door structure. The door cladding serving as a heat exchange surface has specific thermal properties optimized for heat transfer, while the interior door compartments maintain their storage function. This localized functional differentiation enables even temperature distribution through the cladding while preserving appropriate conditions in the storage compartments.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution achieves even temperature distribution along the door height and within the cooling compartment, preventing premature drying and ensuring consistent cooling without reducing the cooling effect, even when air outlets are covered.
Implementation Method 1
the cooling-air duct in the door is cut away in its heat insulation and is embodied free of heat insulation through to the inner cladding of the door... the wall shielding the cooling-air duct from the cooling compartment serves as a heat exchanging surface
Implementation Method 2
The cold emitted by radiation makes an even flow-free cooling of the door storage compartments and of the refrigerated goods in the door storage compartments possible
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a refrigerating device having a cooling compartment that can be closed by a door. The door has a heat insulated inner lining and a cooling air duct. The cooling air duct in the door conducts air cooled by an evaporator to the cooling compartment and the cooling air duct is recessed in the heat insulation of the door and is not covered by the heat insulation on the side facing the inner lining of the door.