Refrigerator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11428454-B2
Application number	US-201916660079-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 22, 2019
Priority date	Oct 22, 2018
Publication date	Aug 30, 2022
Grant date	Aug 30, 2022

Abstract

A refrigerator includes a cold air supply device configured to generate an air curtain and disposed on an upper surface of the refrigerator. The cold air supply device includes a shielding module configured to selectively cover or open an air curtain hole supplying air to form the air curtain based on a door of the refrigerator being closed or opened.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator comprising:
a main body that defines a storage compartment configured to store one or more objects;
a door connected to the main body and configured to open and close at least a portion of the storage compartment; and
a cold air supply device mounted on an outer upper surface of the main body and configured to supply cold air for generating an air curtain at a position forward relative to a front surface of the storage compartment,
wherein the cold air supply device comprises:
a housing that is mounted on the outer upper surface of the main body and defines a suction grille at a rear surface thereof,
an evaporator disposed inside the housing and configured to cool indoor air that is introduced from an area outside the storage compartment into the housing through the suction grille to thereby generate the cold air,
a blowing fan assembly disposed in an inner front side of the housing and configured to draw the indoor air in the area outside the storage compartment into the housing, the blowing fan assembly comprising:
a fan housing that defines (i) cold air discharge port configured to discharge the cold air forward to a space where the refrigerator is installed based on the door being in a closed position, and (ii) an air curtain hole configured to discharge the cold air downward based on the door being in an opened position,
a blowing fan accommodated in the fan housing, and
a fan motor configured to drive the blowing fan, the evaporator being disposed between the blowing fan and the rear surface of the housing,

a shielding module disposed inside the fan housing at a position below the blowing fan, the shielding module being configured to selectively cover the cold air discharge port or the air curtain hole, and
an air curtain switch that is connected to one side of the shielding module, that protrudes from a bottom surface of the housing toward an uppermost surface of the door, and that is configured to move relative to the housing,

wherein the air curtain switch is configured to:
based on the door being closed, be pressed by the uppermost surface of the door and move upward toward the bottom surface of the housing, and
based on the door being opened, be separated from the uppermost surface of the door and move downward from the bottom surface of the housing, and

wherein the shielding module is configured to:
based on the door being closed, cover the air curtain hole and open the cold air discharge port such that the cold air is forwardly discharged to the space where the refrigerator is installed, and
based on the door being opened, cover the air curtain hole and cover the cold air discharge port such that the cold air is vertically discharged, and

wherein the air curtain hole is defined at a position above the uppermost surface of the door in the closed position and forward relative to the front surface of the storage compartment.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the fan housing defines a suction port at a rear side of the fan housing,
wherein the air curtain hole is defined at a lower side of the fan housing, and
wherein the cold air discharge port is defined at the lower side of the fan housing at a position forward of the air curtain hole.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein the shielding module comprises:
a shielding plate configured to selectively cover the air curtain hole or the cold air discharge port;
a pair of rotation guides disposed at both side ends of the shielding plate, respectively;
a shaft that connects centers of the pair of rotation guides to each other, the shielding plate being configured to rotate about the shaft;
a pinion coupled to a center of an outer surface of one of the pair of rotation guides; and
a rack comprising a gear portion engaged with the pinion and a lower end coupled to the air curtain switch, and
wherein the rack is configured to move upward and downward relative to the housing based on rotating directions of the air curtain switch.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , further comprising a spring disposed on an upper end of the rack.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the air curtain switch comprises:
a door contact portion that extends downward toward the upper surface of the door, that has a round shape convex toward the upper surface of the door, and that is configured to contact the upper surface of the door;
a rotational shaft that extends in a width direction of the door contact portion toward the rack and that is disposed at one of a front end of the door contact portion or a rear end of the door contact portion;
a side plate that extends vertically from a side end of the door contact portion; and
a guide shaft that extends horizontally from the side plate toward the rack, and
wherein the guide shaft extends parallel to the rotational shaft and is vertically spaced apart from the rotational shaft.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 5 , wherein the door contact portion extends from the side plate in the width direction to thereby define a space that accommodates the lower end of the rack, and
wherein the rack defines an elongated guide hole disposed at the lower end of the rack and configured to receive the guide shaft.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 5 , wherein the fan housing comprises:
a first stepped portion disposed at a first surface of the fan housing defining a rear end of the air curtain hole, the first stepped portion being configured to receive a first end of the shielding plate based on rotation of the shielding plate in a first direction, and
a second stepped portion disposed at a second surface of the fan housing defining an upper end of the cold air discharge port, the second stepped portion being configured to receive a second end of the shielding plate based on rotation of the shielding plate in a second direction opposite the first direction.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 5 , wherein the cold air supply device further comprises a plurality of air vanes that face the air curtain hole and that are spaced apart from each other in a front-rear direction of the housing.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 8 , wherein a pair of adjacent air vanes of the plurality of air vanes define a cold air discharge passage configured to receive cold air from the air curtain hole and discharge cold air to generate the air curtain, and
wherein a cross-sectional area of an upper end of the cold air discharge passage is greater than a cross-sectional area of a lower end of the cold air discharge passage.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 8 , wherein the plurality of air vanes comprise a first air vane and a second air vane that are disposed adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction of the housing, the second air vane being disposed rearward of the first air vane, and
wherein a rear surface of the first air vane is inclined rearward and defines a first angle with respect to a vertical plane.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 10 , wherein a front surface of the second air vane extends in parallel to the vertical plane.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 10 , wherein a front surface of the second air vane is inclined rearward and defines a second angle with respect to the vertical plane, and
wherein the first angle is greater than the second angle.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the shaft passes through one of the pair of rotation guides and is inserted into a center of the pinion.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the cold air supply device further comprise

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Choi Hyun
• Yu Seonil
• Kwon Hongsik
• Kim Sanghun
• Park Kyungsoo
• Lee Wonjun

Classifications

• F25D17/06

  by forced circulation · CPC title

• F25D2317/0665

  from the top · CPC title

• F25D23/023 Primary

  Air curtain closures · CPC title

• F25D17/045

  Air flow control arrangements · CPC title

• F25D2317/062

  along the inside of doors · CPC title