Refrigerator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016334159-A1
Application number	US-201515110213-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 7, 2015
Priority date	Jan 7, 2014
Publication date	Nov 17, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator configured to improve main body stiffness, which is decreased as thickness of an insulation material is reduced to increase inner capacity of the main body, using a reinforcement structure, resulting in reduction of deformation of the main body.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator in which an electronic box including various electronic constituent elements needed to control the operation of the refrigerator is disposed in a hinge cover provided in a forward direction of an upper part of the main body, resulting in improved space utilization (or space occupancy).
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator in which a reinforcement plate formed of steel is contained in the electronic box, such that, although a fire breaks out in constituent elements contained in the electronic box, the refrigerator can prevent the fire from spreading to the outside of the electronic box using the steel reinforcement plate.

First claim

1 . A refrigerator comprising:
a main body; a storage chamber provided in the main body in a manner that a front surface of the storage chamber is opened; an evaporator to supply cool air to the storage chamber; and a cool air duct to form a flow passage in a manner that cool air generated by the evaporator is supplied to the storage chamber, wherein the cool air duct includes:
a front panel formed of a metal material, which is provided at a back surface of the storage chamber, such that an indoor space of the storage chamber is evenly cooled by cool air of the indoor space of the storage chamber and a uniform temperature is thus maintained in the indoor space of the storage chamber,
wherein an upper part of the front panel is formed in a flat panel shape, and a lower part of the front panel is formed in a streamlined shape that is gradually curved in a direction toward a front surface of an upper part of the storage chamber as the lower part of the front panel approaches a lower end of the front panel.

2 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the cool air duct includes:
the front panel, a cool air flow passage unit disposed at a back surface of the front panel so as to form a first flow passage; a blowing fan mounting unit provided at a lower part of the cool air flow passage unit so as to supply cool air generated by the evaporator to the storage chamber.

3 . The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the front panel is configured to have a width corresponding to a width of the storage chamber.

4 . The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the front panel is formed of aluminum (Al), and includes a plurality of cool air outlets through which the cool air guided through the flow passage is discharged to the inside of the storage chamber.

5 . The refrigerator according to claim 4 , wherein the blowing fan is arranged at an upper part of the evaporator, the lower part of the front panel is formed in a streamlined shape so as to accommodate an installation space of the blowing fan.

6 . The refrigerator according to claim 5 , wherein the lower part of the front panel includes:
a barrier to form a space in which the evaporator and the blowing fan are installed, wherein the barrier closely adheres to the lower part of the front panel such that the storage chamber and the space in which the evaporator and the blowing fan are installed are sealed up.

7 . The refrigerator according to claim 6 , wherein the cool air flow passage unit includes:
a first cool air flow passage unit disposed at a back surface of the front panel; and a second cool air flow passage unit connected to a back surface of the first cool air flow passage unit such that the flow passage is formed between the first cool air flow passage unit and the second cool air flow passage unit.

8 . The refrigerator according to claim 7 , wherein the first cool air flow passage unit includes:
a plurality of discharge holes located at positions corresponding to positions of the plurality of cool air outlets.

9 . The refrigerator according to claim 8 , wherein:
the blowing fan mounting unit is located at a lower part of the cool air flow passage unit, and includes a housing to which the blowing fan is rotatably mounted and a cover member to cover an opened front surface of the housing.

10 . The refrigerator according to claim 9 , wherein:
a drain unit configured to drain condensed water generated from the evaporator to the outside is disposed at a lower part of the evaporator.

11 . The refrigerator according to claim 10 , wherein:
the drain unit has a tilted surface that is gradually tilted downward with decreasing distance from a right end of the drain unit on the basis of a center part of the drain unit, and a drain hole through which the condensed water is drained is provided at an end of the tilted surface.

12 . The refrigerator according to claim 11 , wherein:
the drain hole includes a drain pipe through which the condensed water is drained to the outside of the main body, wherein the drain pipe is disposed between an inner casing and an outer casing of a side surface of the main body.

13 . A refrigerator comprising:
a main body; a storage chamber provided in the main body in a manner that a front surface of the storage chamber is opened; an evaporator to supply cool air to the storage chamber; a blowing fan to guide the cool air generated by the evaporator such that the cool air is supplied to the storage chamber; and a cool air duct to form a flow passage in a manner that the cool air generated by the evaporator is supplied to the storage chamber, wherein the cool air duct includes
a front panel formed of a metal material, which is provided at a back surface of the storage chamber, such that an indoor space of the storage chamber is evenly cooled by cool air of the indoor space of the storage chamber and a uniform temperature is thus maintained in the indoor space of the storage chamber;
a cool air flow passage unit disposed at a back surface of the front panel so as to form the flow passage; and
a blowing fan mounting unit that is provided at a lower part of the cool air flow passage unit, is connected to the blowing fan, and is formed to protrude farther forward than the cool air flow passage unit.

14 . The refrigerator according to claim 13 , wherein the front panel is formed of aluminum (Al), and has a width corresponding to a width of the storage chamber.

15 . The refrigerator according to claim 14 , wherein the cool air flow passage unit includes:
a first cool air flow passage unit disposed at a back surface of the front panel; and a second cool air flow passage unit connected to a back surface of the first cool air flow passage unit such that the flow passage is formed between the first cool air flow passage unit and the second cool air flow passage unit.

16 . The refrigerator according to claim 13 , wherein:
a drain unit configured to drain condensed water generated from the evaporator to the outside is disposed at a lower part of the evaporator.

17 . The refrigerator according to claim 16 , wherein:
the drain unit has a tilted surface that is gradually tilted downward with decreasing distance from a right end of the drain unit on the basis of a center part of the drain unit, and a drain hole through which the condensed water is drained is provided at an end of the tilted surface.

18 . The refrigerator according to claim 17 , wherein:
the drain hole includes a drain pipe through which the condensed water is drained to the outside of the main body,
wherein the drain pipe is disposed between an inner casing and an outer casing of a side surface of the main body.

19 . A refrigerator comprising:
a main body; a storage chamber provided in the main body in a manner that a front surface of the storage chamber is opened; an evaporator to supply cool air to the storage chamber; a blowing fan to guide the cool air generated by the evaporator such that the cool air is supplied to the storage chamber; and a cool air duct to form a flow passage in a manner that the cool air generated by the evaporator is supplied to the storage chamber, wherein the cool air duct includes
a front panel formed of a metal material having a width corresponding to a width of the storage chamber, which is provided at a back surface of the storage chamber such that an indoor space of the storage chamber is evenly cooled by cool air of the indoor space of the storage chamber and a uniform temperature is

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hong Dae Jin
• Kim Yong Woo

Classifications

• F25D17/065

  with compartments at different temperatures · CPC title

• F25D2323/021

  French doors · CPC title

• F25D23/062

  defining a cabinet · CPC title

• F25D23/028

  Details · CPC title

• F25D25/025

  Drawers · CPC title