Refrigerator

Abstract

A refrigerator having a main body cabinet comprising an outside cabinet forming outer appearance and an inside cabinet provided with a filling distance of foaming material inside the outside cabinet and formed with a freezer and a cooler, a freezer evaporator and a cooler evaporator, a freezer fan and a cooler fan ventilating cold air formed from the freezer evaporator and the cooler evaporator toward the freezer and the cooler, includes: a cooler duct forming a cold air pathway between the cooler evaporator and the cooler, and having at least one inlet and an outlet formed at an upper side of the cooler evaporator; an airing duct provided to communicate with the cooler duct and a lower area of the cooler to make the cold air go in and out; wherein the cold air of the cooler is introduced into the cooler evaporator through the inlet and the air duct when the cooler fan turns on, the cold air formed from the cooler evaporator flows out to the cooler via the airing duct when the cooler fan turns off. Thus, cooling capacity is improved as cold air inside a cooler flows smoothly, a peripheral area of the cooler evaporator is prevented from overcooling or freezing, the cool air is periodically inhaled from and discharged to a lower area of a cooler in a cooling cycle, thereby controlling the temperature of the lower area of the refrigerator, and a relatively high temperature part in a lower area of a cooler is efficiently cooled.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Applications No. 2005-38112, filed on May 6, 2005 and No. 2006-25708, filed on Mar. 21, 2006, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator in which flow of cold air inside a cooler flows smoothly and a peripheral area of a cooler evaporator is prevented from overcooling or freezing.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a conventional refrigerator, food is maintained in a fresh state for a long time as cold air, which is supplied through a cooling cycle, is supplied to a storage room to lower inside temperature. Recently, an independent cooling type refrigerator having evaporators in a freezer and a cooler respectively, for effectively cooling the freezer and the cooler has been introduced.

In the independent cooling type refrigerator, the rear of the freezer and the cooler are each provided with a cold air supplying device. Such a cold air supplying device includes the evaporator and a ventilating fan, so that the cold air in which a temperature is higher by circulating inside the freezer and the cooler is introduced into the evaporator and heat of the cold air is exchanged. The cold air in which the temperature is lower by the heat exchange is forcibly ventilated into the freezer and the cooler by the ventilating fan.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a cooler of a conventional independent cooling type refrigerator. The conventional refrigerator 101 includes a main body cabinet 110 having a freezer (not shown) and a cooler 117 which are formed with front openings respectively, a freezer door (not shown) and a cooler door 140 which are disposed at the main body cabinet 110 and open and close the front openings, a freezer cold air supplier (not shown) which is disposed at a rear area of the freezer and supplies cold air into the freezer, and a cooler cold air supplier 141, 142 which is disposed at a rear area of the cooler 117 and supplies the cold air into the cooler 117.

The main body cabinet 110 includes an outer cabinet 111 forming appearance, and an inner cabinet 113 which is provided with a filling distance of a foaming material 112 inside the outside cabinet 111 and is divided with the freezer and cooler 117 stored with food, from side to side. In a rear lower area of the main body cabinet 110 is provided a machine room 114 in which a compressor (not shown) and a condenser (not shown) are disposed. The compressor compresses a gas phase refrigerant of a low temperature and a low pressure into gas phase refrigerant of a high temperature and a high pressure. The condenser (not shown) condenses the refrigerant supplied from the compressor into liquid phase refrigerant. Therefore, the refrigerant condensed from the condenser is supplied to a cooler evaporator 141 and a freezer evaporator, which get cooled peripheral air as absorbing peripheral latent heat.

In an upper area of the cooler 117 is disposed a plurality of shelves 117a, 117b, 117c, 117d for supporting the food or a storage container. In lower parts of the shelves 117a, 117b, 117c, 117d are provided vegetable boxes 151, 152 for storing fruits or vegetables and the like. Between the shelves 117a, 117b, 117c, 117d and the vegetable boxes 151, 152 is provided an isolated cooler 150 which is cooled and separated from the cooler 117.

The cooler cold air supplier includes the cooler evaporator 141 provided in the rear area of the cooler 117 to form the cold air, and a cooler fan 142 forcibly ventilating the cold air formed from the cooler evaporator 141 into the cooler 117. Herein, the cooler evaporator 141 is connected with the freezer evaporator in series. Therefore, the refrigerant supplied from the compressor and the condenser flows into the freezer evaporator passing the cooler evaporator 141 and then returns to the compressor, that is, the path of the refrigerant forms a closed circuit.

In front of the cooler cold air supplier 141, 142 is disposed a cooler duct 145 which is formed with a cold air pathway between the cooler evaporator 141 and the cooler 117. The cooler duct 145 is formed with cold air outlets 147a, 147b, 147c, 147d to discharge cold air to the cooler 117 from the cooler evaporator 141, and a cold air inlet 146 to introduce the cold air circulating in the cooler 117 to the cooler evaporator 141. Herein, the cold air outlets 147a, 147b, 147c, 147d and the cold air inlet 146 are positioned at an upper part of the vegetable boxes 151, 152.

With this configuration, the cold air formed at the cooler evaporator 141 circulates in the cooler 117 after being discharged from the cold air outlets 147a, 147b, 147c, 147d. Then the cold air is introduced to the cold inlet 146, to be cooled again.

However, in the conventional refrigerator 101, cold air circulation is mainly performed at the upper part of the vegetable boxes 151, 152 because the cold air outlets 147a, 147b, 147c, 147d and the cold inlet 146 are positioned at the upper part of the vegetable boxes 151, 152. Therefore, the cold air, which is discharged to the cooler 117 by the cooler fan 142, is not transferred to the vegetable boxes 151, 152, particularly, a lower part vegetable box 152, so that the temperature of the lower part vegetable box 152 is higher than that of the shelves 117a, 117b, 117c, 117d sides. Therefore, the freshness of food accommodated in the lower part vegetable box 152 is deteriorated.

Particularly, as the cooler evaporator 141 and the freezer evaporator are connected to each other in series, when the cooler fan 142 is stopped and the freezer fan is operated according as the temperature of the cooler 117 is satisfied, the refrigerant is continuously supplied to the freezer evaporator through the cooler evaporator 141 for the freezer operation. Therefore, the cold air is continuously formed and stays at the cooler evaporator 141 side, so that a peripheral area of the cooler evaporator 141 is overcooled and then the food of the lower area of the cooler 117 is overcooled or the components thereof are frozen over.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a refrigerator having improved cooling capacity as cold air inside a cooler flows smoothly.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that can prevent a peripheral area of the cooler evaporator from overcooling or freezing.

Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator, in which cool air is periodically inhaled from and discharged to a lower area of a cooler in a cooling cycle, thereby controlling the temperature of the lower area.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator, in which a relatively high temperature part in a lower area of a cooler is efficiently cooled.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing a refrigerator having a main body cabinet including an outside cabinet forming outer appearance and an inside cabinet provided with a filling distance of foaming material inside the outside cabinet and formed with a freezer and a cooler, a freezer evaporator and a cooler evaporator, a freezer fan and a cooler fan ventilating cold air formed from the freezer evaporator and the cooler evaporator toward the freezer and the cooler, including: a cooler duct forming a cold air pathway between the cooler evaporator and the cooler, and having at least one inlet and an outlet formed at an upper side of the cooler evaporator; an airing duct provided to communicate with the cooler duct and a lower area of the cooler to make the cold air go in and out; wherein the cold air of the cooler is introduced into the cooler evaporator through the inlet and the air duct when the cooler fan turns on, the cold air formed from the cooler evaporator flows out to the cooler via the airing duct when the cooler fan turns off.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the airing duct is formed in the forming material.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the airing duct includes a duct main body and a plurality of cold air separating plates extended in a lengthwise direction of the duct main body for separating the cold air.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the inside cabinet is formed with a first pass through hole and a second pass through hole respectively connected with the cooler duct and the lower area of the cooler, and the duct main body includes an upper end side correspondingly coupled with the first pass through hole, a slant part to slope toward the lower area of the cooler to be extended from the upper end side, and a lower end side connected with the slant part and correspondingly coupled with the second pass through hole.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the refrigerator further includes a drain tray disposed at a lower side of the cooler evaporator, wherein the upper end side of the airing duct slopes in a predetermined angle toward the drain tray.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the main body cabinet is divided into the freezer and the cooler from side to side by a partition, and the airing duct is provided in a lower side opposite to the partition.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the freezer evaporator and the cooler evaporator are connected in series.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the refrigerator further includes an evaporator partition is provided between the cooler duct and the cooler evaporator to connect the inlet with the lower part of the cooler evaporator, and the cold air introduced through the inlet exchanges heat with the cold air introduced through the airing duct in the cooler evaporator when the cooler operates.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the first pass through hole is placed in a lower part of the cooler evaporator provided in a cooler lateral side opposite to the partition, and the duct main body is extended from the first pass through hole and curved toward the partition.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the refrigerator further includes a water tank placed in front of the cooler evaporator.

According to an embodiment of the invention, in the upper end side of the duct main body, a gap between a lateral side of the slant part facing the partition and the cold air separating plate adjacent thereto is narrower than a gap between the lateral side of the slant part opposite to the partition and the cold air separating plate adjacent thereto.

A refrigerator having a main body cabinet including an outside cabinet forming appearance and an inside cabinet provided with a filling distance of foaming material inside the outside cabinet and formed with a freezer and a cooler, a freezer evaporator and a cooler evaporator, a freezer fan and a cooler fan ventilating cold air formed from the freezer evaporator and the cooler evaporator toward the freezer and the cooler, includes: a cooler duct forming a cold air pathway between the cooler evaporator and the cooler and having an inlet introducing the cold air to the cooler evaporator and an outlet formed at an upper side of the cooler evaporator; an airing duct provided in the foaming material and connected with the cooler duct in a lower area of the cooler to make the cold air go in and out, and having a duct main body and at least one cold air separating plates extended in a lengthwise direction of the duct main body for separating the cold air, wherein the cold air flows into the cooler evaporator via the airing duct when the cooler operates, and the cold air flows out of the cooler evaporator via the airing duct when the cooler stops operating.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the inside cabinet is formed with a first pass through hole and a second pass through hole respectively connected with the cooler duct and the lower area of the cooler.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the duct main body includes an upper end part correspondingly coupled to the first pass through hole, a slant part extended from the upper end part and sloping toward a lower area of the cooler, and a lower end part connected with the slant part and correspondingly coupled to the second pass through hole, wherein the first pass through hole connected with the upper end part is placed on a side opposite to the partition of the cooler, and a slant part is curvedly extended from the first pass through hole to the partition.

According to an embodiment of the invention, in the upper end side of the duct main body, a gap between a lateral side of the slant part facing the partition and the cold air separating plate adjacent thereto is narrower than a gap between the lateral side of the slant part opposite to the partition and the cold air separating plate adjacent thereto.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the refrigerator further comprises a drain tray positioned below the cooler evaporator, wherein an upper end side of the airing duct slopes toward the drain tray.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a distance between each of the plurality of cold air separating varies along a length of the airing duct.

A refrigerator having a main body cabinet including an outside cabinet forming appearance and an inside cabinet provided with a filling distance of foaming material inside the outside cabinet and formed with a freezer and a cooler, a freezer evaporator and a cooler evaporator, a freezer fan and a cooler fan ventilating cold air formed from the freezer evaporator and the cooler evaporator toward the freezer and the cooler, includes: a partition interposed between the cooler and the freezer; a cooler duct forming a cold air pathway between the cooler evaporator and the cooler and having at least one inlet introducing therethrough cold air from the cooler and an outlet formed at an upper side of the cooler evaporator; an airing duct provided in the foaming material and connected with the cooler duct in a lower area of the cooler to make the cold air go in and out, and biasedly provided in a side opposite to the partition, wherein the cold air formed from the cooler evaporator flows out to the cooler via the airing duct when the cooler fan turns off and the freezer fan turns on.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the refrigerator further includes an evaporator partition interposed between the cooler duct and the cooler evaporator to allow the cold air introduced through the inlet to flow toward the lower part of the cooler evaporator and exchange heat with the cold air introduced through the airing duct in the cooler evaporator.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the airing duct includes a duct main body having a first end coupled with the inside cabinet of the lower side of the cooler evaporator and a second end coupled with the inside cabinet of the lower area of the cooler; and at least one cold air separating plate formed in the duct main body at a lengthwise direction for separating the cold air.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating the cold air flow of a cooler, in cooler operation, of a conventional independent cooling type refrigerator;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a freezer of a refrigerator according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating a cold air flow of a cooler, in cooler operation, of the refrigerator according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view illustrating the cold air flow of a cooler evaporator side of the FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view illustrating the cold air flow of the cooler evaporator side, in the freezer operation and the cooler operation stop, of the refrigerator according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a front view illustrating an airing duct according to the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the airing duct according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below so as to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a freezer of a refrigerator according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating a cold air flow of a cooler in cooler operation of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

As shown therein, the refrigerator 1 according to the present invention includes a main body cabinet 10 having a freezer 16 and a cooler 17 which are formed with front openings (not shown) respectively, a freezer door 30 and a cooler door 40 which are disposed at the main body cabinet 10 and open and close the front openings, a freezer cold air supplier 31, 32 which is disposed at a rear area of the freezer 16 and supplies cold air into the freezer 16, and a cooler cold air supplier 41, 42 which is disposed at a rear area of the cooler 17 and supplies the cold air into the cooler 17.

The main body cabinet 10 includes an outer cabinet 11 forming appearance, and an inner cabinet 13 which is provided with a filling distance of a foaming material 12 inside the outside cabinet 11 and is divided with the freezer 16 and cooler 17 stored with food, from side to side. A rear lower area of the main body cabinet 10 is provided with a machine room 14 in which a compressor 15 and a condenser (not shown) are disposed. The compressor 15 compresses a gas phase refrigerant of a low temperature and a low pressure into the gas phase refrigerant of a high temperature and a high pressure. The condenser (not shown) condenses the refrigerant supplied from the compressor 15 into the liquid phase refrigerant. Therefore, the refrigerant condensed from the condenser is supplied to a cooler evaporator 41 and a freezer evaporator 31, and each evaporator 41, 31 cools peripheral air by absorbing peripheral latent heat.

Inside of the freezer 16 is provided an ice making device 20, and ice formed by the ice making device 20 is taken out by a dispenser 35 which is provided at a front surface of the freezer door 30. Therefore, a user can easily receive the ice without opening the freezer door 30.

The freezer cold air supplier includes a freezer evaporator 31, which is provided in the rear area of the freezer 16 and forms the cold air, and a freezer fan 32, which forcibly ventilates the cold air formed by the freezer evaporator 31 to the freezer 16.

In front of the freezer cold air supplier is disposed a freezer duct 34 which is formed with outlets (not shown) to make the cold air be discharged from the freezer evaporator 31 to the freezer 16, and an inlet (not shown) to make the cold air circulating the freezer 16 be introduced to the freezer evaporator 31.

An upper area of the cooler 17 is disposed with a plurality of shelves 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d for supporting the food or a storage container, and below the shelves 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d are provided vegetable boxes 51, 52 for storing fruits or vegetables and the like. Between the shelves 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d and the vegetable boxes 51, 52 is provided an isolated cooler 50 cooled independently. Herein, a cooler duct 45 may be further provided with an outlet (not shown) to make the cold air be discharged to the isolated cooler 50.

The vegetable boxes include an upper part vegetable box 51 and a lower part vegetable box 52, and a rear area of the upper part vegetable box 51 is disposed with a cooler evaporator 41. Between the cooler evaporator 41 and the upper part vegetable box 51 is provided a water tank 35a for a dispenser 35.

The cooler cold air supplier includes the cooler evaporator 41 which is provided in the rear area of the cooler 17 and forms the cold air, and a cooler fan 42 forcibly ventilating the cold air formed from the cooler evaporator 41 into the cooler 17. Herein, the cooler evaporator 41 is connected with the freezer evaporator 31 in series. Therefore, the refrigerant supplied from the compressor 15 and the condenser flows into the freezer evaporator 31 passing through the cooler evaporator 41 and then returns to the compressor 15, that is, the path of the refrigerant forms a closed circuit. Herein, the refrigerant supplied from the compressor 15 and the condenser may flow into the cooler evaporator 41 passing through the freezer evaporator 31 and then may return to the compressor 15.

An upper side of the cooler evaporator 41 is disposed with the cooler fan 42, and a lower side thereof is disposed with a drain tray 71 receiving defrost water.

The drain tray 71 is connected to the machine room 14. Accordingly, the defrost water received at the drain tray 71 is discharged through the machine room 14.

In front of the cooler cold air supplier 41, 42 is disposed the cooler duct 45 which is formed with a cold air pathway between the cooler evaporator 41 and the cooler 17. The cooler duct 45 is formed with outlets 47a, 47b, 47c, 47d to make the cold air be discharged to the cooler 17 from the cooler evaporator 41, and an inlet 46 to introduce the cold air circulating in the cooler 17 to the cooler evaporator 41. Herein, the inlet 46 is disposed between the upper side of the cooler evaporator 41 and a lower side of the lowermost outlet 47d.

Between the cooler duct 45 and the cooler evaporator 41 is provided an evaporator partition 48 to guide the cold air inhaled by the inlet 46 toward the lower side of the cooler evaporator 41, thereby securing the area for exchanging heat between the cold air and the cooler evaporator 41.

The plurality of outlets 47a, 47b, 47c, 47d are provided at the front of the cooler duct 45 so as to opposite with each shelf 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, thereby efficiently maintaining the freshness of the food put thereon.

The inlet 46 is provided in a lower side of the outlets 47a, 47b, 47c, 47d so as to opposite with the isolated cooler 50. Therefore, the cold air formed at the cooler evaporator 41 circulates the cooler 17 after being discharged through the outlets 47a, 47b, 47c, 47d, and then is introduced to the inlet 46 to be cooled. Herein, an airing duct 60 is positioned into the foaming material 12 so as to be connected with a lower area of the cooler 17 and the cooler duct 45. Accordingly, in a cooler 17 operation, that is, when the cooler fan 42 turns on, the air inside the cooler 17 is introduced to the cooler evaporator 41 side via the inlet 46 and the airing duct 60, to be cooled by the cooler evaporator 41, and then it is discharged to the cooler 17 via the outlets 47a, 47b, 47c, 47d. Therefore, the cold air discharged to the outlets 47a, 47b, 47c, 47d may flow smoothly up to a middle/lower area of the cooler 17 (refer to FIG. 4). If there was not the airing duct 60, the cold air discharged to the cooler 17 by the cooler fan 42 would not be transferred up to the lower area of the cooler 17 (i.e., the vegetable boxes 51, 52). Therefore, the temperature of the vegetable boxes 51, 52 would be higher than that of the shelves 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d. Further, because the lower part vegetable box 52 is adjacent with the machine room 14 and is provided in the lower side of the cooler evaporator 41, the temperature thereof is higher than that of the upper part vegetable box 51, and it is difficult to maintain the freshness of the fruits and vegetables. Therefore, the present invention needs the airing duct 60 so that the cold air flows up to the vegetable boxes, particularly the lower part vegetable box 52, thereby maintaining the freshness of the lower part vegetable box 52.

Referring to FIG. 6, the airing duct 60 is provided in the lower side of the cooler evaporator 41, and an upper end side 61b thereof is coupled to the inside cabinet 13 of the lower side of the cooler evaporator 41, and a lower end side 61c thereof is coupled to the inside cabinet 13 of a rear of the lower part vegetable box 52. At this time, the inside cabinet 13 of the lower side of the cooler evaporator 41 and the inside cabinet 13 of the rear of the lower part vegetable box 52 are formed with a first pass through hole 13a and a second pass through hole 13b, respectively. Therefore, when the cooler fan 42 turns on (i.e., in the cooler 17 operation), the air inside the cooler 17 is moved along the airing duct 60 via the second pass through hole 13b and then it may flow into the cooler evaporator 41 side via the first pass through hole 13a (refer to FIG. 4).

Further, when the cooler fan 42 turns off and the freezer fan 32 turns on, according to when the cooler 17 temperature is satisfied, the refrigerant flows to the freezer evaporator 31 via the cooler evaporator 41 for the freezer 16 operation. Herein, if there was not an airing duct 60, the cold air formed at the cooler evaporator 41 would not be discharged to the cooler 17 via the outlets 47a, 47b, 47c, 47d formed at the upper side of the cooler evaporator 41 and the cold air would stay at the lower part of the cooler evaporator 41 to be cooled at the cooler evaporator 41 side. Therefore, The upper part vegetable box 51, which is provided at the front of the freezer evaporator 41, would be overcooled or the water tank 35a would freeze. Accordingly, the airing duct 60 is needed for guiding the cold air of the cooler evaporator 41 side into the lower area of the cooler 17 to prevent the cold air from staying in the lower part of the cooler evaporator 41 (refer to FIG. 5). During a predetermined operation, the cold air of the cooler evaporator 41 side is supplied into the lower side of the cooler 17, thereby preventing from overcooling of the upper part vegetable box 51 and freezing of the water tank 35a.

Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the airing duct 60 may be provided in a lower right side of the cooler 17. Because a lower left side of the cooler 17 can maintain the low temperature for the cold air of the freezer 16, the temperature of the right side thereof is higher than that of the left side thereof for outside air. In other words, an area of the cooler opposite to a partition 18 interposed between the cooler and the freezer has a relatively high temperature.

As shown in FIG. 7, the airing duct 60 is disposed inside the foaming material provided in the rear the lower part vegetable box 52. The airing duct 60 includes a duct main body 61 and a plurality of cold air separating plates 62, 63, 64, which are formed in the duct main body 61 in a lengthwise direction and separate the cold air.

The duct main body 61 includes the upper end side 61b thereof correspondingly coupled with the first pass through hole 13a so as to be connected with the cooler evaporator 41, a slant part 61a thereof downwardly sloped from the upper end side 61b thereof, and the lower end side 61c thereof connected with the slant part 61a and correspondingly coupled with the second pass through hole 13b so as to be connected with the lower part vegetable box 52 placed generally adjacent to the bottom of the cooler 17. The cold air formed from the cooler evaporator 41 flows into the upper end side 61b and is discharged to the lower part vegetable box 52 through the slant part 61a and the lower end side 61c. At this time, the cold air can easily flow into the lower part vegetable box 52 by the slant part 61a of the duct main body 61.

The first pass through hole 13a is placed in a lower right side of the cooler evaporator 41, and the slant part 61a is formed as being curved from the first pass through hole 13a toward the partition 18 so as to prevent the cold air, which is introduced from the cooler evaporator 41 to the duct main body 61, from being discharged straight to the lower area of the cooler 17 at a time. Further, the cold air separating plates 62, 63, 64 are provided to prevent the cold air from mostly flowing into a predetermined place along a lateral side of the slant part 61a facing the partition 18 due to the cold air flow. To properly adjust the cold air flowing on the lateral side of the slant part 61a facing the partition 18, in the upper end side 61b of the duct main body 61, a gap between the side of the slant part 61a facing the partition 18 and the cold air separating plate 62 adjacent thereto is narrower than a gap between the side of the slant part 61a opposite to the partition 18 and the cold air separating plate 64 adjacent thereto.

The cold air separating plates 62, 63, 64 can uniformly discharge the cold air introduced from the upper end side 61b of the duct main body 61. Therefore, the freshness of the vegetables and the fruits is more efficiently maintained as preventing the cold air from being concentrated on only a side of the lower part vegetable box 52.

The upper end side 61b of the duct main body 61 may slope in a predetermined angle toward the drain tray 71. Therefore, the defrost water formed by the cooler evaporator 41 is prevented from entering into the airing duct 60.

The cold air flow of the cooler 17 will be described with reference to the FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

First, in the cooler 17 operation, that is, the compressor 15 and the cooler fan 42 turn on, as shown in FIG. 4, the air inside the cooler 17 is introduced through the inlet 46 and the second pass through hole 13b, and flows into the first pass through hole 13a along the airing duct 60, and is cooled by the cooler evaporator 41. The cold air formed by the cooler evaporator 41 is discharged to the cooler 17 via each outlet 47a, 47b, 47c, 47d formed at the cooler duct 45. Therefore, the air flow inside the cooler 17 smoothly flows up to the middle/lower area of the cooler 17, thereby improving cooling capacity.

Further, when the cooler fan 42 turns off and the freezer fan turns on, as the set temperature of inside the cooler 17 is satisfied, the refrigerant flows into the freezer evaporator 31 via the cooler evaporator 41 for the freezer 16 operation. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the cold air, which is continuously cooled at the cooler evaporator 41, flows out via the first pass through hole 13a by its own weight to be discharged to the second pass through hole 13b along the airing duct 60. Accordingly, the cold air flows out in the lower part area of the cooler 17 via the airing duct 60, thereby preventing overcooling of the upper part vegetable box 51 or the freezing of the water tank 35a. Further, the cold air is properly supplied to the lower area of the cooler 17, so that the lower area of the cooler 17 is maintained in a proper temperature.

The size of the second pass through hole of the foregoing embodiment may vary so that the air inside the cooler is smoothly introduced into the airing duct, in cooler operation. Further, the size of the second pass through hole may vary so that the food accommodated in the lower part of the cooler is not overcooled when the cold air of the cooler evaporator side is discharged to the lower part of the cooler, in the freezer operation and the cooler operation stop.

Further, with regard to temperature distribution of the lower area of the cooler, the temperature of an area distant apart from the freezer is relatively high than that of an area adjacent to the freezer. To solve this problem, the cold air separating plate provided in the airing duct slopes downward to the partition, so that the cold air flows in a side opposite to the partition.

Thus, in the cooling cycle of the refrigerator, the cold air is periodically introduced in and discharged from the airing duct placed in the lower area of the cooler, thereby preventing the lower area of the cooler from being overcooled and adjusting the temperature properly.

In the foregoing embodiments, the cooler evaporator and the freezer evaporator are connected each other in series, but not limited thereto. Alternatively, the cooler evaporator and the freezer evaporator may be connected each other in parallel.

As described above, the present invention provides a refrigerator having improved cooling capacity as cold air inside a cooler flows smoothly.

Further, the present invention provides a refrigerator, in which when a cooler fan turns off and the freezer fan turns on, that is, when cooler operation stops, the cold air cooled by the cooler evaporator is discharged to a lower area of the cooler, so that a peripheral area of the cooler evaporator is prevented from overcooling or freezing.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a refrigerator, in which cool air is periodically inhaled from and discharged to a lower area of a cooler in a cooling cycle, thereby controlling the temperature of the lower area.

Also, the present invention provides a refrigerator, in which a relatively high temperature part in a lower area of a cooler is efficiently cooled.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A refrigerator having a main body cabinet comprising an outside cabinet forming outer appearance and an inside cabinet provided with a filling distance of foaming material inside the outside cabinet and formed with a freezer and a cooler, a freezer evaporator and a cooler evaporator, a freezer fan and a cooler fan ventilating cold air formed from the freezer evaporator and the cooler evaporator toward the freezer and the cooler, comprising:

a cooler duct forming a cold air pathway between the cooler evaporator and the cooler, and having at least one inlet and an outlet formed at an upper side of the cooler evaporator;

an airing duct provided to communicate with the cooler duct and a lower area of the cooler to make the cold air go in and out;

wherein the cold air of the cooler is introduced into the cooler evaporator through the inlet and the air duct when the cooler fan turns on, the cold air formed from the cooler evaporator flows out to the cooler via the airing duct when the cooler fan turns off.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the airing duct is formed in the forming material of the cooler.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the airing duct comprises a duct main body and a plurality of cold air separating plates extended in a lengthwise direction of the duct main body for separating the cold air.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the inside cabinet is formed with a first pass through hole and a second pass through hole respectively connected with the cooler duct and the lower area of the cooler, and the duct main body comprises an upper end side correspondingly coupled with the first pass through hole, a slant part to slope toward the lower area of the cooler to be extended from the upper end side, and a lower end side connected with the slant part and correspondingly coupled with the second pass through hole.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, further comprising a drain tray disposed at a lower side of the cooler evaporator, wherein the upper end side of the airing duct slopes in a predetermined angle toward the drain tray.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein the main body cabinet is divided into the freezer and the cooler from side to side by a partition, and the airing duct is provided in a lower side opposite to the partition.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the freezer evaporator and the cooler evaporator are connected in series.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising an evaporator partition is provided between the cooler duct and the cooler evaporator to connect the inlet with the lower part of the cooler evaporator, and the cold air introduced through the inlet exchanges heat with the cold air introduced through the airing duct in the cooler evaporator when the cooler operates.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein the first pass through hole is placed in a lower part of the cooler evaporator provided in a cooler lateral side opposite to the partition, and the duct main body is extended from the first pass through hole and curved toward the partition.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising a water tank placed in front of the cooler evaporator.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein, in the upper end side of the duct main body, a gap between a lateral side of the slant part facing the partition and the cold air separating plate adjacent thereto is narrower than a gap between the lateral side of the slant part opposite to the partition and the cold air separating plate adjacent thereto.

12. A refrigerator having a main body cabinet comprising an outside cabinet forming appearance and an inside cabinet provided with a filling distance of foaming material inside the outside cabinet and formed with a freezer and a cooler, a freezer evaporator and a cooler evaporator, a freezer fan and a cooler fan ventilating cold air formed from the freezer evaporator and the cooler evaporator toward the freezer and the cooler, comprising:

a cooler duct forming a cold air pathway between the cooler evaporator and the cooler and having an inlet introducing the cold air to the cooler evaporator and an outlet formed at an upper side of the cooler evaporator;

an airing duct provided in the foaming material and connected with the cooler duct in a lower area of the cooler to make the cold air go in and out, and having a duct main body and at least one cold air separating plates extended in a lengthwise direction of the duct main body for separating the cold air,

wherein the cold air flows into the cooler evaporator via the airing duct when the cooler operates, and the cold air flows out of the cooler evaporator via the airing duct when the cooler stops operating.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 12, wherein the inside cabinet is formed with a first pass through hole and a second pass through hole respectively connected with the cooler duct and the lower area of the cooler.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 13, wherein the duct main body comprises an upper end part correspondingly coupled to the first pass through hole, a slant part extended from the upper end part and sloping toward a lower area of the cooler, and a lower end part connected with the slant part and correspondingly coupled to the second pass through hole, wherein the first pass through hole connected with the upper end part is placed on a side opposite to the partition of the cooler, and a slant part is curvedly extended from the first pass through hole to the partition.

15. The refrigerator according to claim 14, wherein, in the upper end side of the duct main body, a gap between a lateral side of the slant part facing the partition and the cold air separating plate adjacent thereto is narrower than a gap between the lateral side of the slant part opposite to the partition and the cold air separating plate adjacent thereto.

16. The refrigerator according to claim 12, further comprising a drain tray positioned below the cooler evaporator,

wherein an upper end side of the airing duct slopes toward the drain tray.

17. The refrigerator according to claim 12, wherein a distance between each of the plurality of cold air separating varies along a length of the airing duct.

18. A refrigerator having a main body cabinet comprising an outside cabinet forming appearance and an inside cabinet provided with a filling distance of foaming material inside the outside cabinet and formed with a freezer and a cooler, a freezer evaporator and a cooler evaporator, a freezer fan and a cooler fan ventilating cold air formed from the freezer evaporator and the cooler evaporator toward the freezer and the cooler, comprising:

a partition interposed between the cooler and the freezer;

a cooler duct forming a cold air pathway between the cooler evaporator and the cooler and having at least one inlet introducing therethrough cold air from the cooler and an outlet formed at an upper side of the cooler evaporator;

an airing duct provided in the foaming material and connected with the cooler duct in a lower area of the cooler to make the cold air go in and out, and biasedly provided in a side opposite to the partition,

wherein the cold air formed from the cooler evaporator flows out to the cooler via the airing duct when the cooler fan turns off and the freezer fan turns on.

19. The refrigerator according to claim 18, further comprising an evaporator partition interposed between the cooler duct and the cooler evaporator to allow the cold air introduced through the inlet to flow toward the lower area of the cooler evaporator and exchange heat with the cold air introduced through the airing duct in the cooler evaporator.

20. The refrigerator according to claim 18, wherein the airing duct comprises a duct main body having a first end coupled with the inside cabinet of the lower side of the cooler evaporator and a second end coupled with the inside cabinet of the lower area of the cooler; and at least one cold air separating plate formed in the duct main body at a lengthwise direction for separating the cold air.