REFRIGERATOR

Abstract

A refrigerator is provided, including a refrigerator body having first and second cooling chambers formed therein, partitioned by a barrier wall, an evaporator provided within the barrier wall, a first cooling fan disposed at one side of the evaporator to blow cooling air into the first cooling chamber, and a second cooling fan provided at the other side of the evaporator to blow cooling air to the second cooling chamber. First and second suction openings are formed at upper and lower surfaces of the barrier wall, respectively, such that air drawn into the barrier wall through the first and second suction openings are brought into contact with different regions of the evaporator and is not mixed, so that the first and second cooling chambers may be separately or simultaneously cooled to appropriate temperatures.

Description

This claims priority Korean Application No. 10-2009-0064668, filed in Korea on Jul. 15, 2009, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This relates to a refrigerator and, more particularly, to a refrigerator capable of independently or simultaneously cooling a plurality of cooling chambers with a single evaporator.

2. Background

A refrigerator is a device for refrigerating or freezing storage items. A refrigerator may include a main body having a plurality of cooling chambers formed therein, doors for opening and closing each cooling chamber, and a refrigerating cycle that provides cooling to the cooling chambers. The refrigerating cycle may be, for example, a vapor compression type refrigerating cycle including a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser for condensing the refrigerant, an expansion device for depressurizing and expanding the refrigerant, and an evaporator that allows the refrigerant to absorb ambient latent heat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary refrigerator according to an embodiment as broadly described herein;

FIG. 2 is a side-sectional view of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side-sectional view of a barrier area of the refrigerator shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the barrier area shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the barrier area shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an evaporator area of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a refrigerating cycle of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of an evaporator of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the evaporator shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line XI-XI of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a barrier wall and evaporator region of a refrigerator according to another embodiment as broadly described herein;

FIG. 13 is a side-sectional view of an evaporator of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 12; and

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A refrigerator may include a cooling air circulation flow path that extends along an appropriate wall of each of a plurality of cooling chambers to allow cooling air generated by a refrigerating cycle to be circulated through the cooling chamber and back into the refrigerating cycle. An evaporator may be provided in the cooling air circulation flow path to allow air to be cooled while passing through the evaporator. A cooling air supply flow path may be formed within the cooling chamber to allow cooling air, which has passed through the evaporator, to be supplied to each cooling chamber.

If the evaporator, which has an even lower temperature than that of the cooling air, is positioned at one of the walls of the cooling chamber, a loss of cooling through the wall may increase. To compensate for this, the thickness of the wall may be increased. However, this may detract from the useable storage space in the cooling chamber.

A cooling fan may be provided at one side of the evaporator to more forcibly circulate the cooling air so that a plurality of cooling chambers may be cooled by a single evaporator. When a cooling chamber positioned further away from the evaporator and the cooling fan is to be cooled, a loss of cooling air may be generated in the transfer of cooling air to the corresponding cooling chamber due to the length and complexity of the cooling air flow path. This may increase flow resistance, making it difficult to quickly resolve a temperature deviation in the cooling chamber, and may increase operation time.

When cooling the plurality of cooling chambers with a single evaporator, the refrigerating cycle may be continuously operated to satisfy a temperature condition of one or more cooling chamber, even though other cooling chamber(s) may have already reached a desired temperature, resulting in possible overcooling.

To resolve this, a separate evaporator may be provided for each cooling chamber in order to independently cool the individual cooling chambers. However, to accommodate this plurality of evaporators, each evaporator is positioned close to a wall of its respective cooling chamber, and thus the thickness of the wall of individual cooling chambers increases to compensate for loss of cooling through the wall of each evaporator, reducing useable storage space in the cooling chamber. This arrangement also elongates the flow path of refrigerant, not only increasing flow resistance but also generating pressure and heat loss, thus degrading operation efficiency.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator according to an embodiment as broadly described herein may include a refrigerator body 110 including first and second cooling chambers 150 and 160 partitioned by a horizontally disposed barrier wall 120 and respectively opened closed by doors 155 and 165, an evaporator 250 provided within the barrier wall 120, a first cooling fan 210 provided at one side of the evaporator 250 to blow cooling air into the first cooling chamber 150, and a second cooling fan 220 positioned at the other side of the evaporator 250 to blow cooling air into the second cooling chamber 160. One of the first or second cooling chambers 150 and 160 may be configured as a refrigerating chamber and the other may be configured as a freezing chamber. Alternatively, the first and second cooling chambers 150 and 160 may both be configured as freezing chambers, or both as refrigerating chambers. In the following description, simply for ease of discussion, the first cooling chamber 150 is configured as a refrigerating chamber and the second cooling chamber 160 is configured as a freezing chamber.

The barrier wall 120 may be provided in the interior of the refrigerator body 110 in order to partition the internal space, namely, the cooling chamber, so that the refrigerating chamber 150 may be formed at an upper side of the barrier wall 120 and the freezing chamber 160 may be formed at a lower side of the barrier wall 120 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In alternative embodiments, a barrier wall may be positioned vertically so that the refrigerating and freezing chambers are positioned side by side. Other arrangements may also be appropriate.

The refrigerator body 110 may include an outer case 111a forming an external appearance of the refrigerator, an inner case 111b positioned within the outer case 111a, and an insulation material 111c provided between the outer case 111a and the inner case 111b.

A mechanical chamber 170 may be formed at a lower rear portion of the refrigerator body 110. A refrigerating cycle may be provided in the refrigerator body 110 in order to supply cooling air to the interior of the freezing chamber 160 and the refrigerating chamber 150. The refrigerating cycle may be configured as, for example, a vapor compression type refrigerating cycle in which a refrigerant is compressed, condensed, expanded and evaporated while being circulated.

The refrigerating chamber doors 155 may be rotatably coupled to opposite sides of the refrigerating chamber 150. The freezing chamber door 165 may be configured as a drawer-type door that slides in an inward/outward direction. Other arrangements may also be appropriate. An ice making chamber 180 may be provided on one of the refrigerating chamber doors 155. The ice making chamber 180 may have an ice maker for making ice from water received from an external source, and an ice bank for storing ice made by the ice maker.

A side wall cooling air duct 190 may be provided at one side of the refrigerating chamber 150 to provide cooling air to the ice making chamber 180. In certain embodiments, a pair of side wall cooling air ducts 190 may be formed. One of the side wall cooling air ducts 190 may form a cooling air supply flow path while the other may form a cooling air return flow path along which cooling air which has passed through the ice making chamber 180 may return to the refrigerating cycle.

In certain embodiments, the evaporator 250 may be provided within the barrier wall 120. Accordingly, because the evaporator 250, which may be at a low temperature compared to cooling air in the freezing chamber 160, is not installed at the rear wall, useable internal space of the freezing chamber 160 and/or refrigerating chamber 150 may be increased without increasing the external size of the refrigerator main body 110. In addition, leakage of cooling air from the evaporator 250 to outside through the rear wall may be avoided. In addition, the thickness of the rear wall may be somewhat reduced. Thus, the size of the internal useable space of the freezing chamber 160 and/or the refrigerating chamber 150 may be increased accordingly.

An evaporator accommodating recess 122 may be formed within the barrier wall 120 in order to accommodate the evaporator 250. The evaporator accommodating recess 122 may have an opening at an upper portion thereof. An evaporator cover 125 (see FIG. 5) may be provided at an upper side of the evaporator 250 in order to close the upper opening of the evaporator accommodating recess 122. A discharge hole 127 may be formed at a central rear portion of an upper surface of the barrier wall 120. A defrosting heater may be provided proximate, for example, at a lower portion, of the evaporator 250 to defrost the evaporator 250.

A lower surface of the evaporator accommodating recess 122 may slope downward from a front end toward a rear end thereof. Accordingly, the evaporator 250 may be accommodated in the evaporator accommodating recess 122 such that it slopes downwardly from the front toward the rear end of the barrier wall 120. For example, the lower surface of the evaporator accommodating recess 122 and the evaporator 250 may be sloped by about 4 to 6 degrees with respect to a horizontal planar surface. Accordingly, when the evaporator 250 is defrosted, defrost fluid may flow smoothly toward the rear end of the barrier wall 120.

First and second suction openings 131 and 132 may be formed at front portions of the barrier wall 120 in order to draw cooling air from the refrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160 into the evaporator 250 positioned in the evaporator accommodating recess 122. The first suction opening 131 may be formed in an upper surface of the barrier wall 120. In more detail, the first suction opening 131 may be formed, for example, in the evaporator cover 125 so as to penetrate therethrough. In certain embodiments, a plurality of first suction openings 131 may be formed. The first suction openings 131 may be separated by predetermined intervals and arranged along a horizontal direction of the top surface of the barrier wall 120. Accordingly, air from the refrigerating chamber 150 may be drawn into different regions of the evaporator 250 so as to be heat-exchanged. Other arrangements may also be appropriate. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the first suction openings 131 may be formed in a rectangular shape. Other shapes may also be appropriate.

The first suction opening 131 may be formed such that its width is larger than its length. Accordingly, air from the refrigerating chamber 150 and a contact area (i.e., a heat exchange area) of the evaporator 250 may be reduced, and an amount of air provided from the refrigerating chamber 150 may be increased. Accordingly, because a large quantity of cooling air at a relatively high temperature may be supplied to the refrigerating chamber 150, isolated portions may be prevented from being overcooled and a temperature deviation in the refrigerating chamber 150 may be quickly resolved.

The second suction opening 132 may be formed in a lower surface of the barrier wall 120, at a central region of the barrier wall 120. Accordingly, air from the freezing chamber 160 may be drawn into the central region of the evaporator 250 so as to be heat-exchanged in a relatively wide area.

The second suction opening 132 may have, for example, a stripe or slotted shape such that its length is longer than its width. Accordingly, air from the freezing chamber 160 and a contact area (i.e., a heat exchange area) of the evaporator 250 may be increased and an amount of air provided from the freezing chamber 160 may be properly maintained. Because air from the freezing chamber 160 is heat-exchanged with the evaporator 250 in a larger area, the freezing chamber 160 may be cooled more quickly at a lower temperature.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, a refrigerating cooling air duct 152 may be provided at a rear side of the refrigerating chamber 150 in order to supply cooling air to the refrigerating chamber 150. The refrigerating cooling air duct 152 may be long and thin, and have a length corresponding to the height of the refrigerating chamber 150 and a width that is greater than half of the width of the refrigerating chamber 150. Other arrangements/proportions may also be appropriate. Accordingly, the thickness of the refrigerating cooling air duct 152 may be reduced to increase the useable space of the refrigerating chamber 150. A plurality of cooling air discharge holes 153 may be formed at upper, central and lower regions of the refrigerating cooling air duct 152 in order to discharge cooling air into the refrigerating chamber 150.

A first cooling fan accommodating part 157 may be formed at a lower region of the refrigerating cooling air duct 152 in order to accommodate the first cooling fan 210 in the refrigerating cooling air duct 152. The first cooling fan 210 may be, for example, a centrifugal fan that draws in cooling air in an axial direction and discharges it in a radial direction. The first cooling fan 210 may be positioned such that its suction opening is oriented toward the front side and its discharge opening is oriented toward the upper side. A duct suction opening 158 may be formed at one side of the first cooling fan accommodating part 157 such that it is open at its lower side in order to communicate with the discharge hole 127 of the barrier wall 120. The first cooling fan accommodating part 157 may protrude further forward compared to an adjacent upper part in order to encompass the suction opening 158 to draw cooling air into the first cooling fan 210.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, an ice making fan 230 may be provided in communication with the ice making chamber 180. The ice making fan 230 may be, for example, a centrifugal fan that draws in air in an axial direction and discharges it in a radial direction. Accordingly, because the axial directional length of the ice making fan 230 may be reduced, the ice making fan 230 may be easily accommodated within the barrier wall 120 without increasing the thickness of the barrier wall 120. Thus, the ice making fan 230 does not protrude toward the freezing chamber 160 or the refrigerating chamber 150, and thus, the useable space of the freezing chamber 160 or the refrigerating chamber 150 may be increased.

The ice making fan 230 may be disposed such that its suction opening is oriented toward a lower side and its discharge opening is oriented in a horizontal direction. An ice making fan accommodating cavity 141 may be provided in the barrier wall 120 in order to accommodate the ice making fan 230. The barrier wall 120 may include a cooling air flow path 142 that communicates with the ice making fan accommodating cavity 141 in order to allow cooling air discharged from the ice making fan 230 to flow therethrough and into the side wall cooling air ducts 190. A discharge hole 143 may be formed at one side of the cooling air flow path 142 to receive cooling air which has passed through the ice making chamber 180 so as to be discharged to the freezing chamber 160. Lower ends of the side wall cooling air ducts 190 may be connected to the corresponding side of the barrier wall 120. With this configuration, the ice making fan 230 draws in cooling air which has passed through the evaporator 250 and discharges it to the cooling air flow path 142, and the cooling air is supplied to the ice making chamber 180 via the cooling air flow path 142 and the side wall cooling air duct 190. The cooling air supplied to the ice making chamber 180 performs ice making operation, flows downward along the side wall cooling air duct 190, passes through the barrier wall 120, and is then discharged to the freezing chamber 160 through the discharge hole 143.

The second cooling fan 220 may be provided near the rear end of the freezing chamber 160 in order to blow cooling air which has passed through the evaporator 250 into the freezing chamber 160. The second cooling fan 220 may be, for example, a centrifugal fan that draws in air in the axial direction and discharges it in the radial direction. The second cooling fan 220 may be configured such that one side thereof draws air in and the other side discharges it in the same direction as the air suction direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the second cooling fan 220 may be positioned slightly forward of the first cooling fan 210. Thus, air at a lower temperature does not leak to the outside through the rear wall.

A grill 270 may be provided near the second cooling fan 220 in order to guide the flow of the cooling air which has passed through the evaporator 250 into the freezing chamber 160. The grill 270 may be positioned at an upper portion of a rear end of the freezing chamber 160. More specifically, the grill 270 may further separate the internal space into an evaporator 250 side space in which cooling air is generated and a storage space (substantially, the freezing chamber) in which storage items are accommodated.

The grill 270 may include an upper plate 271 connected with the lower portion of the barrier wall 120 and a fan accommodating plate 281 that extends downward from the upper plate 271 to define an area in which the second cooling fan 220 is accommodated. The upper plate 271 has a length corresponding to a horizontal width of the barrier wall 120.

The fan accommodating plate 281 may have a horizontal width that is less than that of the upper plate 271 and may extend from the central region of the upper plate 271 downward. The second cooling fan 220 is accommodated within the space defined by the fan accommodating plate 281. A cooling air discharge hole 283 penetrates a front side of the fan accommodating plate 281 in order to allow cooling air discharged from the second cooling fan 220 to be discharged into the freezing chamber 160.

The upper plate 271 may be sloped in the rear and horizontal directions in order to collect defrost fluid generated at the evaporator 250 and allow it to flow downward along one side wall of the fan accommodating plate 281 so as to be discharged through a drainpipe 289 that extends downward toward the mechanical chamber 170 so that defrost fluid may be discharged from the cooling chambers 150 and 160 and evaporated.

FIG. 8 illustrates the configuration of a refrigerating cycle of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 8, the refrigerator may include a refrigerating cycle 240 for supplying cooling air to the freezing chamber 160 and the refrigerating chamber 150. The refrigerating cycle 240 may include a compressor 241 for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser 243 for condensing the refrigerant, an expansion device 247 for depressurizing and expanding the refrigerant, and an evaporator 250 for allowing the refrigerant to absorb ambient latent heat so as to be evaporated. The compressor 241, the condenser 243, and the expansion device 247 may be disposed in the mechanical chamber 170, and the evaporator 250 may be disposed in the barrier wall 120.

A fan 245 may be provided at one side of the condenser 243 in order to accelerate release of heat from the condenser 243. The first and second cooling fans 210 and 220 may be provided at sides of the evaporator 250 in order to provide cooling air which has passed through the evaporator 250 to the refrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160. An ice making fan 230 may be provided at a side of the evaporator 250 in order to blow cooling air to the ice making chamber 180.

First and second branch flow paths 261 and 262 may be formed at a refrigerant inlet side of the evaporator 250. A switching valve 265 may be provided at an end portion of the first and second branch flow paths 261 and 262 in order to selectively open and close them. The switching valve 265 may be configured as a flow path switching valve 265 to allow refrigerant from the condenser 243 to move to the evaporator 250 through the first branch flow path 261 or through the second branch flow path 262. Alternatively, the switching valve 265 may be configured to allow the refrigerant to move through both of the first and second branch flow paths 261 and 262.

The first branch flow path 261 may have a first capillary tube 248, and the second branch flow path 262 may have a second capillary tube 249. The first and second capillary tubes 248 and 249 may have different diameters (inner diameter) and/or length. For example, the inner diameter of the first capillary tube 248 may be larger than that of the second capillary tube 249. In addition, the first capillary tube 248 may be longer than the second capillary tube 249. As the inner diameter of each of the capillary tubes 248 and 249 may be relatively large, a flow amount may increase, and as the length of each of the capillary tubes 248 and 249 is increased, the temperature of the refrigerant may go down. The inner diameter and length of the first and second capillary tubes 248 and 249 may thus be adjusted as appropriate. In this exemplary embodiment, it is assumed that the first capillary tube 248 has a larger refrigerant flow amount compared with the second capillary tube 249, and is formed to make the temperature of the refrigerant lower.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the evaporator 250 may include a heat transfer pipe 251 through which the refrigerant flows, and a plurality of heat transfer plates 255 coupled with the heat transfer pipe 251. The heat transfer pipe 251 may include straight pipes 253 positioned in parallel to each other and a plurality of connection pipes 254 connecting ends of adjacent straight pipes 253.

In this exemplary embodiment, the straight pipes 253 are disposed along the horizontal direction of the barrier wall 120. Each of the heat transfer plates 255 may have a substantially rectangular plate shape. Each heat transfer plate 255 may include an insertion hole 256 allows the straight pipes 253 to penetrate therethrough. Each heat transfer plate 255 may be separately disposed at a certain pitch along a lengthwise direction of the straight pipes 253. For example, a pitch P1 of the heat transfer plates 255 at an incoming or upstream end of the evaporator 250 may be greater than a pitch P2 of the heat transfer plates 255 at an outgoing or downstream end. Accordingly, an increase in air flow resistance due to an air passage that may otherwise become more narrow by a relatively larger amount due to frost formed at the upstream end may be prevented. The straight pipes 253 may be disposed in a row on the same planar surface.

The evaporator 250 may be configured such that a refrigerant entrance 252a is positioned at the first and second suction openings 131 and 132, and a refrigerant exit 252b is positioned at the rear end of the barrier wall 120. Accordingly, degradation of compression efficiency due to an increase in the temperature at the refrigerant exit 252b of the evaporator 250 may be prevented. Namely, if the refrigerant exit 252b of the evaporator 250 were positioned at the first and second suction openings 131 and 132, the internal air of the refrigerator, at a relatively high temperature, would be heat-exchanged with the refrigerant at the exit side of the evaporator 250, thus increasing the temperature of the refrigerant at the exit side of the evaporator 250 that is provided to the compressor 241, resulting in degradation of compression efficiency.

As shown in FIG. 10, the evaporator may be positioned at a downward incline from front to rear having a slope angle (θ) with respect to a horizontal plane. The slope angle (θ) may be, for example, 4 degrees to 6 degrees.

A trap 257 may be formed at the refrigerant exit 252b of the evaporator 250 in order to control an outflow of liquid refrigerant. The trap 257 may have a height difference in a vertical direction with an end portion of the refrigerant exit 252b of the evaporator 250. The trap 257 may be upwardly bent and then downwardly bent so as to have a U-shape. Accordingly, a gaseous refrigerant may be sucked into the compressor 241, while keeping a liquid state (liquid-phase) refrigerant from being sucked into to the compressor 241, thus preventing damage to the compressor 241.

Separation guides 259 may be formed within the barrier wall 120 in order to separately guide air drawn in through the first suction opening 131 and air drawn in through the second suction opening 132 such that the two air flows remain separated. The separation guides 259 may be provided in the evaporator 250. As shown in FIG. 11, the separation guides 259 may be formed by bending the heat transfer plates 255. Accordingly, air drawn in through the first suction opening 131 is introduced to the upper side of the heat transfer plate 255, while air drawn in through the second suction opening 132 is introduced to the lower side of the heat transfer plate 255, whereby air of the refrigerating chamber 150 does not contact and is not mixed with air of the freezing chamber 160. In alternative embodiments, a plate member may be inserted between the heat transfer plates 255 to horizontally partition the evaporator accommodating recess 122 and serve as the separation guides 259.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a barrier wall and evaporator region of a refrigerator according to another embodiment as broadly described herein, and FIG. 13 is a modification of the evaporator shown in FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 12, an evaporator 250 may be positioned in an evaporator accommodating recess 122 formed within a barrier wall 120 that partitions an interior space of a refrigerator main body into a refrigerating chamber 150 and a freezing chamber 160. A plurality of first suction openings 131 may be separately disposed at both sides of the barrier wall 120 along a horizontal direction, and a second suction opening 132 may be formed as a groove with a length encompassing a central region of the barrier wall 120. The evaporator 250 may be positioned at an incline so as to slope downward from a front end to a rear end of the barrier wall 120. A portion of the barrier wall 120 above the evaporator 250 may have a thickness that gradually increases from the front end toward the rear end so that cooling air of the evaporator 250 is not directly transferred to the refrigerating chamber 150 through the barrier wall 120. In addition, because cooling air of the evaporator 250 is transferred to the freezing chamber 160 through the lower wall part of the evaporator 250, which has a smaller thickness, increases in the internal temperature of the freezing chamber 160 may be controlled. Accordingly, a cooling air supply period of the freezing chamber 160 may be lengthened to reduce power consumption due to otherwise frequent driving of the second cooling fan 220.

The evaporator 250 may include first and second heat exchange parts 250a and 250b that are positioned at different vertical heights. Accordingly, the amount of heat exchange air drawn in from the refrigerating chamber 150 and heat exchange air drawn in from the freezing chamber 160 may be more effectively adjusted. In this exemplary embodiment, the first heat exchange part 250a may include a plurality (e.g., seven) of straight pipes 253 provided at a lower region of the evaporator accommodating recess 122 along which air drawn in from the freezing chamber 160 moves, and the second heat exchange part 250b may include a plurality (e.g., two) of straight pipes 253 disposed at an upper region of the evaporator accommodating recess 122 along which air drawn in from the refrigerating chamber 150 moves. The number of and height difference between the straight pipes 253 of the first and second heat exchange parts 250a and 250b may be adjusted as appropriate.

The first and second heat exchange parts 250a and 250b may be configured such that the refrigerant alternately flows therein. In this exemplary embodiment, a first straight pipe 253 of the first heat exchange part 250a may be connected with a first straight pipe 253 of the second heat exchange part 250b, and a fifth straight pipe 253 of the first heat exchange part 250a may be connected with a second straight pipe 253 of the second heat exchange part 250b. Accordingly, refrigerant is introduced into the first heat exchange part 250a, passes through the second heat exchange part 250b, the first heat exchange part 250a, and the second heat exchange part 250b, and is then discharged from the first heat exchange part 250a. The position of the straight pipe of the second heat exchange part 250b may be adjusted as appropriate.

Separation guides 259 may be formed at areas near the first and second suction openings 131 and 132 in order to separately guide air drawn in from the refrigerating chamber 150 and air drawn in from the freezing chamber 160 such that the separate air flows do not intersect or mix. The separation guides 259 may be horizontally disposed and formed by bending the heat transfer plates 255 of the evaporator 250. Alternatively, a plate member may be disposed between the heat transfer plates 255 to partition the heat transfer plates 255 up and down. Accordingly, air of the refrigerating chamber 150 and air of the freezing chamber 160, having a temperature difference therebetween, avoid contact with each other and being mixed. In this exemplary embodiment, the separation guides 259 are formed at the heat transfer plates 255 coupled with each of the first straight pipes 253 of the first and second heat exchange parts 250a and 250b.

As shown in FIG. 13, the evaporator 250 may include the first heat exchange parts 250a disposed in a row, and second heat exchange parts 250c connected with an end of each of the first heat exchange parts 250a at an upper side of the first heat exchange parts 250a with a vertical height difference therebetween. Accordingly, a refrigerant which has passed through the first heat exchange parts 250a is provided to the compressor 241 by way of the second heat exchange parts 250c.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 14, the refrigerator may include a controller 290 implemented as, for example, a microprocessor or the like, including a control program. A freezing chamber temperature sensor 291 and a refrigerating chamber temperature sensor 292 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160, respectively, may be connected to the controller 290. In addition, the controller 290 may be connected with the first and second cooling fans 210 and 220 to control them so that cooling air may be provided to the refrigerating chamber 150 and/or the freezing chamber 160 according to temperature conditions of the refrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160 detected by the respective sensors 291 and 292. Also, the ice making fan 230 may be connected to the controller 290 so as to be controlled by the controller 290. Also, the flow path switching valve 265 may be connected with the controller 290 so as to be controlled in order to adjust conditions of the refrigerant (the flow amount of the refrigerant and/or the temperature of the refrigerant) introduced to the evaporator 250 according to the operation of the refrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160.

With such a configuration, when cooling air is to be supplied to the refrigerating chamber 150, the controller 290 can control the first cooling fan 210 to be rotated. When the first cooling fan 210 is rotated, air of the refrigerating chamber 150 is drawn into the interior of the barrier wall 120 through the first suction opening 131, is heat-exchanged and cooled while passing through the evaporator 250, and is introduced into the refrigerating cooling air duct 152 by way of the first cooling fan 210.

The cooling air which has been introduced into the refrigerating cooling air duct 152 is discharged into the interior of the refrigerating chamber 150 through the cooling air discharge holes 153. In this case, the controller 290 may control the flow path switching valve 265 to allow the refrigerant to flow along the second branch flow path 262. Namely, passing through the condenser 243, the refrigerant is introduced into the second branch flow path 262 through the flow path switching valve 265, and then depressurized and expanded through the second capillary tube 249. The refrigerant which has been depressurized and expanded through the second capillary tube 249 is introduced into the evaporator 250 and then absorbs heat from air that has been drawn into the barrier wall 120 through the first suction opening 131 so as to be evaporated. The evaporated refrigerant is directed into the compressor 241, compressed and discharged repeatedly to perform a cooling operation.

When cooling air is to be supplied to the freezing chamber 160, the controller 290 may control the second cooling fan 220 to be rotated. When the second cooling fan 220 is rotated, air from the freezing chamber 160 is drawn into the interior of the barrier wall 120 through the second suction opening 132, is cooled while passing through the evaporator 250, and discharged to the interior of the freezing chamber 160 by the second cooling fan 220. At this time, the controller 290 may control the flow path switching valve 265 to allow the refrigerant to flow along the first branch flow path 261.

The refrigerant which has been condensed while passing through the condenser 243 flows to the first branch flow path 261 through the flow path switching valve 265, and is then depressurized and expanded while passing through the first capillary tube 248. In this case, because the first capillary tube 248 has a larger inner diameter and is longer than the second capillary tube 249, a larger flow amount of refrigerant at a lower temperature may be introduced into the evaporator 250. The refrigerant absorbs heat from air drawn in through the second suction opening 132 so as to be evaporated, and the evaporated refrigerant is directed into the compressor 241, in which it is repeatedly compressed and discharged to perform a cooling operation.

When cooling air is intended to be supplied to both the refrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160, the controller 290 may control the first and second cooling fans 210 and 220 to be rotated simultaneously. When the first and second cooling fans 210 and 220 are rotated, air from the refrigerating chamber 150 is drawn into the barrier wall 120 through the first suction opening 131, and air from the freezing chamber 160 is drawn into the barrier wall 120 through the second suction opening 132.

Once within the barrier wall 120, the refrigerating and freezing chamber air may be prevented from being brought into contact by virtue of the separation guides 259. Accordingly, air drawn in from the refrigerating chamber 150 and air drawn in from the freezing chamber 160 may be prevented from being brought into contact with each other and/or mixed. The air of the refrigerating chamber 150 moves along both end portions of the evaporator 250 to be largely brought into contact with both end portions of the evaporator 250 so as to be cooled, while the air from the freezing chamber 160 is brought into contact with the evaporator 250 at a relatively large area including the central region of the evaporator 250 so as to be cooled. In addition, the air from the refrigerating chamber 150 largely moves along the upper region of the evaporator accommodating recess 122, while the air from the freezing chamber 160 moves along the lower region of the evaporator accommodating recess 122. Accordingly, cooling air supplied to the refrigerating chamber 150 has a relatively high temperature and cooling air supplied to the freezing chamber 160 has a relatively low temperature, so the refrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160 may be more effectively cooled to appropriate temperatures.

A portion of the air heat-exchanged while passing through the evaporator 250 is discharged to the refrigerating cooling duct 152 through the first cooling fan 210 and then discharged to the refrigerating chamber 150 through the cooling air discharge holes 153. Also, another portion of the air cooled while passing through the evaporator 250 is drawn through the second cooling fan 220 and then discharged into the freezing chamber 160.

When cooling air is to be simultaneously supplied to the freezing chamber 160 and the refrigerating camber 150, the controller 290 may control the flow path switching valve 265 to allow the refrigerant which has passed through the condenser 243 to simultaneously flow to the first and second branch flow paths 261 and 262. Accordingly, the refrigerant which has passed through the condenser 243 is depressurized and expanded while passing through the first and second capillary tubes 248 and 249, and is then introduced into the evaporator 250. Accordingly, a larger amount of refrigerant is introduced into and evaporated by the evaporator 250, and a larger amount of cooling air may be produced. Thus, a temperature deviation of the refrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160 may be quickly resolved, simultaneously.

Meanwhile, after a certain amount of time lapses, a defrosting operation may be performed to remove frost formed on the surface of the evaporator 250. During the defrosting operation, the first and second cooling fans 210 and 220 are stopped, and power is applied to a defrosting heater to heat the frost formed on the surface of the evaporator 250. Defrost fluid generated as the frost melts flows to the rear end of the evaporator 250 along the lower surface of the evaporator accommodating part 122, is collected by the upper plate part 271 of the grill fan 270 and moved to the fan accommodating part 281, and discharged to the mechanical chamber 170 through the drain unit 287 and the drainpipe 289.

According to the exemplary embodiments as broadly described herein, because the evaporator is positioned within the barrier wall that partitions the internal space of the refrigerator into a plurality of cooling chambers, and the first and second cooling fans are positioned at corresponding sides of the evaporator, the usable interim space of the refrigerator body may be increased without increasing the size of the external appearance of the refrigerator body, and in addition, each cooling chamber may be independently cooled with a single evaporator.

Also, because the first and second suction openings are formed such that air from mutually different cooling chambers which has been drawn into the interior of the barrier wall is heat-exchanged at mutually different regions of the evaporator, when the cooling chambers are simultaneously cooled, the air of the mutually different cooling chambers may be prevented from being brought into contact and mixed. Therefore, each cooling chamber may be effectively cooled.

In addition, when cooling chambers are simultaneously cooled, air from each of the mutually different cooling chambers is heat-exchanged at mutually different regions of the evaporator during mutually different contact time durations, cooling air suitable for cooling each cooling chamber may be supplied to each cooling chamber.

Moreover, because the refrigerant entrance side of the evaporator is disposed at the air suction opening side of the barrier wall, an increase in the temperature of the refrigerant exit of the evaporator may be prevented, thus enhancing compression efficiency of the refrigerant.

A refrigerator is provided in which air of mutually different cooling chambers is heat-exchanged at mutually different regions of a single evaporator.

A refrigerator is provided that is capable of restraining cooling air of mutually different cooling chambers from being in contact with each other when the cooling chambers are simultaneously cooled.

A refrigerator is provided that is capable of restraining an increase in the temperature of an exit of a refrigerant of an evaporator to thus enhance a compression efficiency.

A refrigerator as embodied and broadly described herein may include a refrigerator body including first and second cooling chambers partitioned up and down by a barrier wall; an evaporator disposed at an inner side of the barrier wall; a first cooling fan disposed at one side of the evaporator and blowing cooling air to the first cooling chamber; a second cooling fan disposed at the other side of the evaporator and blowing cooling air to the second cooling chamber; a first suction opening formed at an upper surface of the barrier wall; and a second suction opening formed at a lower surface of the barrier wall, wherein the first and second suction openings are configured such that air sucked through the first suction opening and air sucked through the second suction openings are brought into contact with mutually different regions of the evaporator.

The evaporator may be disposed to be downwardly sloped toward the rear side.

The first suction openings may be separately disposed at both sides of the barrier wall.

The second suction opening may include a central region of the barrier wall.

The evaporator may include a plurality of heat transfer pipes disposed along a horizontal direction of the barrier wall and a plurality of heat transfer plates formed at the heat transfer pipes.

The evaporator may include first and second heat exchange units disposed with a height difference.

The evaporator may be configured to allow a refrigerant to alternately flow through the first and second heat exchange units.

The evaporator may be configured such that a refrigerant passes through the first heat exchange unit and then the second heat exchange unit.

The heat transfer plates may be configured such that the pitch of the heat transfer plates disposed at a lower stream side of an air flow direction is smaller than the pitch of the heat transfer plates disposed at an upper stream side of the air flow direction.

The refrigerator may also include a separation guide unit for guiding air, which has been sucked through the first and second suction openings, to flow separately.

The evaporator may include a heat transfer pipe in which the refrigerant flows and a heat transfer plate coupled with the heat transfer pipe, and the separation guide unit may be configured to be coupled with the heat transfer pipe.

The separation guide unit may be formed by bending a portion of the heat transfer plate.

The evaporator may be configured such that its refrigerant entrance side is disposed at a front side of the barrier wall and its refrigerant exit side is disposed at a rear side of the barrier wall.

A trap part bent with a height difference may be provided at the refrigerant exit side of the evaporator.

The trap part may be configured to be upwardly bent and then downwardly bent.

A refrigerator in accordance with another embodiment as broadly described herein may include a refrigerator body including first and second cooling chambers partitioned up and down by a barrier wall; an evaporator disposed at an inner side of the barrier wall; a first cooling fan disposed at one side of the evaporator and blowing cooling air to the first cooling chamber; a second cooling fan disposed at the other side of the evaporator and blowing cooling air to the second cooling chamber; a first suction opening formed at an upper surface of the barrier wall; a second suction opening formed at a lower surface of the barrier wall; and a trap part configured to be upwardly bent and then downwardly bent to have a height difference at a refrigerant exit side of the evaporator.

A refrigerator in accordance with another embodiment as broadly described herein may include a refrigerator body including a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber partitioned up and down by a barrier wall; an evaporator disposed at an inner side of the barrier wall; a first cooling fan disposed at one side of the evaporator and blowing cooling air to the refrigerating chamber; a second cooling fan disposed at the other side of the evaporator and blowing cooling air to the freezing chamber; a first suction opening having one side penetratingly formed at an upper surface of the barrier wall and the other side connected with an upper region of the evaporator; and a second suction opening having one side penetratingly formed at a lower surface of the barrier wall and the other side connected with a lower region of the evaporator.

The first suction openings may be formed at both sides of the barrier wall, and the second suction opening may be formed at a central region of the barrier wall.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A refrigerator, comprising:

a main body having a storage space formed therein;

a barrier wall provided in the storage space that partitions the storage space into first and second cooling chambers;

an evaporator provided within the barrier wall;

a first cooling fan provided at a first side of the evaporator so as to blow cooling air into the first cooling chamber;

a second cooling fan provided at a second side of the evaporator so as to blow cooling air into the second cooling chamber;

at least one first suction opening formed in an upper surface of the barrier wall; and

at least one second suction opening formed in a lower surface of the barrier wall,

wherein the first and second suction openings are configured such that air drawn into the barrier wall through the at least one first suction opening contacts a first region of the evaporator and air drawn into the barrier wall through the at least one second suction opening contacts a second region of the evaporator that is different from the first region.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the evaporator is positioned at an incline within the barrier wall such that the evaporator slopes downward from a front end of the barrier wall corresponding to an opening in the storage space to a rear end of the barrier wall.

3. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the at least one first suction opening comprises a pair of first suction openings formed at opposite side end portions of the barrier wall.

4. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the at least one second suction opening comprises an opening that extends along a central region of the lower surface of the barrier wall.

5. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the evaporator comprises:

a plurality of heat transfer pipes positioned in parallel along a horizontal direction of the barrier wall; and

a plurality of heat transfer plates coupled to the plurality of heat transfer pipes.

6. The refrigerator of claim 5, wherein the evaporator further comprises a first heat exchanger positioned at a first height and a second heat exchanger positioned at a second height such that there is a height difference therebetween.

7. The refrigerator of claim 6, wherein the evaporator is configured to alternately provide refrigerant the first and second heat exchangers.

8. The refrigerator of claim 6, wherein the evaporator is configured to provide refrigerant to the first heat exchanger and then to the second heat exchanger sequentially.

9. The refrigerator of claim 5, wherein a pitch between adjacent heat transfer plates at a refrigerant inlet end of the evaporator is less than a pitch between adjacent heat transfer plates at a refrigerant outlet end of the evaporator.

10. The refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising:

a separation guide that guides air drawn into the barrier wall through the first and second suction openings into separate flow paths.

11. The refrigerator of claim 10, wherein the evaporator comprises:

a heat transfer pipe through which refrigerant flows; and

a heat transfer plate coupled to the heat transfer pipe, wherein the separation guide is coupled to the heat transfer pipe.

12. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the separation guide comprises a bent portion of the heat transfer plate.

13. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the evaporator includes a refrigerant inlet positioned at a front portion of the barrier wall corresponding to an opening in the storage space and a refrigerant outlet at a rear portion of the barrier wall.

14. The refrigerator of claim 13, further comprising a trap provided at the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator, wherein the trap comprises a bent pipe that extends upward from the refrigerant outlet and then downward in a U-shape.

15. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the barrier wall comprises:

a main wall body;

a recess formed in the main wall body such that an upper face of the recess is open, wherein the evaporator is received in the recess; and

a cover that is selectively positioned on the open upper face of the recess so as to selectively cover the evaporator received in the recess.

16. The refrigerator of claim 15, wherein a bottom surface of the recess is inclined downward from a front end thereof corresponding to an opening in the storage space to a rear end thereof so as to guide fluid generated by the evaporator to a rear portion of the recess and out of the barrier wall.

17. The refrigerator of claim 16, further comprising a grill positioned adjacent to a bottom rear portion of the barrier wall so as to enclose the second cooling fan, wherein the grill comprises:

an upper plate having an upper end thereof that extends downward from the bottom rear portion of the barrier wall;

a lower plate that extends downward from the lower plate, wherein the upper and lower plates are positioned corresponding to and spaced apart from the second cooling fan;

a plurality of discharge openings formed in the lower plate so as to guide cooling air into the freezing chamber; and

a drain pipe that extends downward from a bottom portion of the lower plate.

18. The refrigerator of claim 17, wherein fluid generated by the evaporator flows out of the rear portion of the recess, through a space defined by the upper and lower plates of the grill, and is discharged through the discharge pipe.

19. A refrigerator, comprising:

a main body including a first cooling chamber positioned above a second cooling chamber and partitioned by a barrier wall;

an evaporator provided in the barrier wall;

first and second cooling fans provided at first and second sides of the evaporator so as to blow cooling air into the first and second cooling chambers, respectively;

a first suction opening formed in an upper surface of the barrier wall;

a second suction opening formed in a lower surface of the barrier wall; and

a trap that extends upward from a refrigerant outlet of the evaporator and then downward.

20. A refrigerator, comprising:

a main body including a first chamber and a second chamber partitioned by a barrier wall;

an evaporator provided in the barrier wall;

first and second cooling fans provided at first and second sides of the evaporator so as to blow cooling air into the first and second chambers, respectively;

a first suction opening that extends through the barrier wall such that a first end is formed at a lower surface of the barrier wall and a second end is connected with a lower region of the evaporator; and

a second suction opening that extends through the barrier wall such that a first end is formed at a lower surface of the barrier wall and a second end is connected with a lower region of the evaporator.

21. The refrigerator of claim 19, wherein the first suction opening comprises a pair of first suction openings formed at two opposite end portions of the upper surface of the barrier wall, and the second suction opening extends along a central region of the lower surface of the barrier wall.