Abstrict A refrigerator has a device for generating an air curtain for shutting
off an opening of a cooling compartment, and plates are disposed
at a cool air discharge port of the air curtain generating device.
The plates control the discharging direction of the cool air according
to the opening and closing of a door. When the door is opened, the
air curtain for preventing the leakage of cool air is generated
by the plates. When the door is closed, the cool air is supplied
at the area adjacent to the door and the inner spaces of the pockets
formed at the door. Thus the foodstuffs in the cooling compartment
are rapidly and uniformly cooled.
Claims What is claimed is:
1. A refrigerator having a cabinet forming a cooling compartment,
a door mounted on said cabinet for opening/closing an opening of
said cooling compartment, said door being formed with pockets for
accommodating foodstuffs at an inner side surface thereof, and an
evaporator for generating cool air, said refrigerator comprising:
a cool air duct having a cool air suction port opened at an area
adjacent to said evaporator and a cool air discharge port opened
at an area adjacent to the opening of said cooling compartment;
a fan for blowing air in said cool air duct, by which the cool
air from said evaporator is discharged through the cool air discharge
port;
plates disposed at an area adjacent to the cool air discharge port,
said plates for controlling a discharging direction of the cool
air discharged through the cool air discharge port;
a means for sensing opening/closing of said door; and
a means for controlling said plates according to sensing results
of said sensing means, whereby an air curtain for shutting off the
opening of said cabinet is generated when said door is opened, and
the cool air is supplied into the pockets by said plates when said
door is closed.
2. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controlling
means comprises,
a push button switch installed on said cabinet for being pushed
and released by said door when the door is closed and opened respectively,
by which an angular position varies; and
a spring member for elastically supporting said push button switch. Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a device
for generating an air curtain, and more particularly to a refrigerator
in which cool air is supplied into pockets formed at an inner side
surface of a door by the air curtain generating device when the
door is closed.
2. Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional refrigerator, which shows a refrigerator
having a device for generating an air curtain for shutting off the
opening of a cooling compartment when the door is opened. The refrigerator
has, as shown in FIG. 1, a cabinet 10 forming a freezing compartment
21 and a fresh food compartment 22 which are partitioned from each
other by a wall 27, and a freezing compartment door 24 and a fresh
food compartment door 25 which open/close the freezing compartment
21 and fresh food compartment 22 respectively.
A compressor 23 is installed in a lower rear part of the cabinet
10, and an evaporator 29 for generating cool air by evaporating
refrigerant supplied from the compressor 23 is installed in the
rear of the freezing compartment 21. A cooling fan 19 for blowing
the cool air generated by the evaporator 29 is installed at the
upper side of the evaporator 29.
A device 20 for generating an air curtain is provided in the upper
side of the fresh food compartment 22. The air curtain generating
device 20 comprises a cool air duct 13 provided in the upper side
of the fresh food compartment 22, and a blowing fan 11 for blowing
the cool air from the evaporator 29 into the cool air duct 13. The
cool air duct 13 is formed with a cool air discharge port 15 at
one end thereof which is opened downward at the area adjacent to
an opening of the fresh food compartment 22. The cool air blown
into the cool air duct 13 is discharged downward, by which the air
curtain for shutting off the opening of the fresh food compartment
22 is generated.
In the fresh food compartment 22, a sensor (not shown) for sensing
the opening/closing of the fresh food compartment door 25 is provided,
and the blowing fan 11 is controlled to operate only when the open
state of the door 25 is sensed by the sensor. Thus, the air curtain
is generated only when the door 25 is open so as to prevent leakage
of the cool air through the opening of the fresh food compartment
22 at the open state of the door 25.
A plurality of cool air ports 16, 18 are formed at the rear walls
of the freezing compartment 21 and the fresh food compartment 22.
When the door 25 is closed, the cool air from the evaporator 29
is blown by the cooling fan 19 to be supplied into the freezing
compartment 21 and the fresh food compartment 22, and accordingly
the foodstuffs stored in the freezing compartment 21 and the fresh
food compartment 22 are frozen and refrigerated respectively.
However, in such a conventional refrigerator, there is a problem
that the area adjacent to the door 25 cannot be cooled efficiently.
The area adjacent to the door 25 lies in direct contact with the
outside air when the door 25 is opened, and thus the temperature
thereof rises to the temperature of the outside air in a short time.
But, in such a conventional refrigerator, since the area adjacent
to the door 25, especially the inner space of the pocket formed
at the inner side surface of the door 25, cannot be cooled directly,
rapid and uniform cooling cannot be achieved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been proposed to overcome the above described
problems in the prior art, and accordingly it is an object of the
present invention to provide a refrigerator in which the area adjacent
to the door and the inner space of the pockets formed at the door
can be cooled rapidly, and thus the cool air can be uniformly distributed
in the cooling compartment.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a refrigerator
having a cabinet forming a cooling compartment, a door mounted on
said cabinet for opening/closing an opening of said cooling compartment,
said door being formed with pockets for accommodating foodstuffs
at an inner side surface thereof, and an evaporator for generating
cool air, said refrigerator comprising: a cool air duct having a
cool air suction port opened at an area adjacent to said evaporator
and a cool air discharge port opened at an area adjacent to the
opening of said cooling compartment; a fan for blowing air in said
cool air duct, by which the cool air from said evaporator is discharged
through the cool air discharge port; plates disposed at an area
adjacent to the cool air discharge port, said plates for controlling
a discharging direction of the cool air discharged through the cool
air discharge port; a means for sensing opening/closing of said
door; and a means for controlling said plates according to sensing
results of said sensing means, whereby an air curtain for shutting
off the opening of said cabinet is generated when said door is opened,
and the cool air is supplied into the pockets by said plates when
said door is closed.
Here, it is preferable that said controlling means comprises, a
push button switch installed on said cabinet for being pushed and
released by said door when the door is closed and opened respectively,
by which an angular position varies; and a spring member for elastically
supporting said push button switch.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be better understood and its various
objects and advantages will be more fully appreciated from the following
description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
in which:
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a conventional refrigerator
having air curtain generating device;
FIGS. 2 and 3 are side sectional views of a refrigerator according
to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail
with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are side sectional views of a refrigerator according
to the present invention, in which FIG. 2 shows the opened state
of the door, and FIG. 3 shows the closed state of the door. The
refrigerator according to the present invention has, like the conventional
refrigerator shown in FIG. 1, a cabinet 30 forming a freezing compartment
41 and a fresh food compartment 42 which are partitioned from each
other by a wall 47, and a freezing compartment door 44 and a fresh
food compartment door 45 which open/close the freezing compartment
41 and fresh food compartment 42 respectively. At the inner side
surface of the fresh food compartment door 45, a plurality of pockets
46 for accommodating the foodstuffs air formed.
A compressor 43 is installed in a lower rear part of the cabinet
30, and an evaporator 49 for generating cool air by evaporating
refrigerant supplied from the compressor 43 is installed in the
rear of the freezing compartment 41. At the upper side of the evaporator
49, a cooling fan 39 for blowing the cool air generated by the evaporator
49 is installed to supply the freezing compartment 41 and the fresh
food compartment 42 with the cool air.
A device 40 for generating an air curtain which shuts off the opening
of the fresh food compartment 42 according to the opening of the
fresh food compartment door 45 is provided in the upper side of
the fresh food compartment 42. The air curtain generating device
40 comprises a cool air duct 33 provided in the upper side of the
fresh food compartment 42 and a blowing fan 31 for blowing the cool
air from the evaporator 49 into the cool air duct 33. The cool air
duct 33 is formed with a cool air discharge port 35 at one end thereof
which is opened downward at the area adjacent to the opening of
the fresh food compartment 42. The cool air blown into the cool
air duct 33 is discharged downward, by which the air curtain for
shutting off the opening of the fresh food compartment 42 is generated.
For the blowing fan 31, a cross flow fan which is capable of blowing
uniformly is adopted.
At an area adjacent to the cool air discharge port 35 in the wall
47, a plurality of plates 70 are disposed. The plates 70 are pivotably
installed on the shaft 71 which is in the central part thereof,
and control the discharging direction of the cool air discharged
through the cool air discharge port 35.
A push button switch 60 is installed on the front surface of the
fresh food compartment 42. The push button switch 60 is elastically
supported by a spring member 66 to protrude at the front surface
of the cabinet 30, and the spring member 66 is supported by a bracket
67. The push button switch 60 is pushed by the door 45 when the
door 45 is closed and released when the door 45 is opened. The push
button switch 60 is extended into the wall 47 to be connected with
the upper end parts of the plates 70. When the push button switch
60 is released, the plates 70 are maintained in an upright state
as shown in FIG. 2, so the discharged cool air moves straight down
to generate the air curtain shutting off the frontal opening of
the fresh food compartment 42. When the push button switch 60 is
pushed, the plates 70 pivot so that the upper end part thereof is
moved right a little to be tilted at a predetermined angle, so the
discharged air is directed toward the inner surface of the fresh
food compartment door 45 by the plates 70. Accordingly, the area
adjacent to the fresh food compartment door 45 and the inner spaces
of the pockets 46 are supplied with the cool air, and the cooling
intensity of the fresh food compartment is uniformly maintained.
As described above, according to the present invention, the leakage
of cool air when the door is opened is prevented by the air curtain,
and the area adjacent to the door and the inner spaces of the pockets
formed at the door are supplied with the cool air when the door
is closed, by which the foodstuffs in the fresh food compartment
are rapidly and uniformly cooled.
Although the present invention has been described and illustrated
in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration
and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, wherein
the spirit and scope of the present invention is limited only by
the terms of the appended claims. |