APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PREVENTING DEW FORMATION IN REFRIGERATOR

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an apparatus and method for preventing dew formation in a refrigerator, capable of a simple structure and of more effectively preventing dew formation in the front of a main body by installing a hot pipe in the edge areas of the front of the refrigerator, where the main body comes in contact with a door. A refrigerant in the hot pipe for removing dew on a surface of the refrigerator discharges heat from inside the hot pipe, and first moves to the boundary area between a cold storage space and a freezer in the edge areas.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0161063, filed on Dec. 23, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the prevention of dew formation in or on a refrigerator, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for preventing dew formation in or on a refrigerator that have a relatively simple structure and are capable of effectively preventing dew formation in the front of a refrigerator main body using a pipe or tube (e.g., a “hot pipe”) in or around the front edge or peripheral areas of the refrigerator and freezer compartments of the refrigerator, that is, a part where the main body comes in contact with a door, where the hot pipe removes dew on a surface of the refrigerator by discharging heat (e.g., from the inside of the hot pipe) by first circulating relatively high-temperature refrigerant to the boundary area of a cold storage space (e.g., refrigerator compartment) and a freezer and/or the edge areas.

BACKGROUND

In general, a refrigerator includes a main body configured to have one or more cold storage rooms or spaces open toward a front thereof and a door hinged to the front of the main body in such a way as to open or close the cold storage spaces. The main body and the door make up an external appearance of the refrigerator, and the cold storage spaces is refrigerated through a refrigeration and/or freezing cycle.

In general, the temperature in an indoor space where such a refrigerator is installed is a normal temperature or higher (e.g., ≧23° C.), and the inside of the cold storage spaces refrigerated by cool air is generally just above 0° C. or below 0° C. Accordingly, there is a temperature difference of tens of degrees between the cold storage spaces of the main body and the outside of the main body. For this reason, there is a problem in that when the door is opened and closed, dew may form on or in the front of the main body, corresponding to the boundary between the inside and outside of the main body, due to a dew condensation phenomenon attributable to a temperature difference between air outside the main body and cool air inside the cold storage spaces, and the humidity in the air outside the main body.

In order to solve the problem, in the conventional refrigerator, a dew condensation phenomenon occurring in the front of the main body may be prevented using heat from a refrigerant pipe that carries a high-pressure refrigerant in a refrigeration cycle.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a hot pipe 104 through which a refrigerant moves is configured to flow from a condenser 102 and be installed in a part where a main body 100 comes in contact with a door in the front of the refrigerator so that dew formed in the part where the main body 100 comes in contact with the door is removed by the radiation of heat from the refrigerant in the hot pipe 104.

An operation is described in more detail below. A refrigerant of high-temperature and high-pressure that has been pressurized in a compressor 106 is changed into a refrigerant of normal-temperature and high-pressure (e.g., a liquid state) after being subject to a heat exchange in the condenser 102. Next, the refrigerant moves through the hot pipe 104 configured to branch from the condenser 102, thus transferring the heat of the refrigerant to the front of the refrigerator through the hot pipe 104. As a result, dew formed in the part where the main body 100 comes in contact with the door is evaporated.

That is, in the conventional refrigerator, a refrigerant pipe configured to connect the compressor 106 and the condenser 102 in order to carry a high-temperature refrigerant, compressed by the compressor 106 of a refrigeration cycle, toward the condenser 102 is disposed to pass through the inside of the door of the refrigerator or the inside of the front of the main body 100. Accordingly, dew formed in the front of the main body 100 is evaporated by the heat of the refrigerant pipe.

As shown in FIG. 1, however, a refrigerant that moves in the front of the main body 100 through the hot pipe 104 first moves toward the outside of the door of a freezer in the front of the refrigerator. Accordingly, there is a problem in that an effect of removing dew formed in the boundary area 108 is relatively low because the temperature of the refrigerant is lower than the temperature first generated due to the radiation of heat from the refrigerant prior to it entering the boundary area 108 of the cold storage space and the freezer in which the most severe dew condensation phenomenon is generated, the part where the main body 100 comes in contact with the door that is away from a hinge.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides an apparatus and method for preventing dew formation in a refrigerator, which are capable of a simple structure and of more effectively preventing dew formation in or on the front of a main body by installing a hot pipe in the edge areas of the front of the refrigerator, that is, a part where the main body comes in contact with a door, and disposing the hot pipe so that a refrigerant capable of removing dew on a surface of the refrigerator by discharging heat from the inside of the hot pipe first moves to the boundary area of a cold storage space and a freezer in the edge areas.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for preventing dew formation in a refrigerator, including a compressor configured to change a refrigerant into a high-temperature and high-pressure state, a condenser configured to change the high-temperature and high-pressure state of the refrigerant into a middle-temperature and high-pressure state, a hot pipe connected to a first end of the condenser, inside a main body of the refrigerator in edge areas of a freezer and a cold storage space in a front of the main body, and configured to have the refrigerant first move to a boundary between the freezer and the cold storage space in the edge areas, a capillary tube configured to adiabatically expand the refrigerant and change the state of the refrigerant into a low-temperature and low-pressure state, and a cooler configured to evaporate the adiabatically expanded refrigerant through a heat exchange with air that circulates within the refrigerator and provide the evaporated refrigerant to the compressor. The apparatus may further comprise a drier connected to a second end of the hot pipe and configured to filter impurities in the refrigerant discharged through the hot pipe.

Further, the hot pipe may comprise a plurality of paths, configured to move the refrigerant to the edge area of the cold storage space and the edge area of the freezer in the boundary. The plurality of paths may comprise two parallel paths.

Further, the hot pipe may comprise a joint combining the plurality of paths into one path at or near a location where the hot pipe is connected to the drier, capillary tube, or cooler.

Further, the hot pipe may comprise a second joint (e.g., a Y-shaped connection pipe) at or near a location where the hot pipe is connected to the condenser, configured to separate the refrigerant from the condenser into two paths.

Further, the first joint may comprise a Y-shaped connection pipe at or near the location where the hot pipe is connected to the drier (or the capillary tube or cooler), configured to unite the two paths into one path.

Further, the hot pipe may have a predetermined diameter, and the hot pipe may have a first end connected to the condenser and a second end connected to the drier, capillary tube, or cooler.

Further, the condenser may change (properties of) the refrigerant to a predetermined middle temperature range and high-pressure, thus discharging heat through the hot pipe while moving within the hot pipe.

Other exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for preventing dew formation in a refrigerator, including installing a hot pipe in edge areas of a freezer and a cold storage space in a front of a main body of the refrigerator (e.g., in a boundary between a cold storage space and a freezer), introducing a refrigerant of a middle-temperature and high-pressure state having a predetermined temperature range (e.g., from a condenser of the refrigerator) to the hot pipe, moving the refrigerant to a boundary between the freezer and the cold storage space in the edge areas through the hot pipe, and moving the refrigerant the boundary to remaining edge areas.

The method may further include filtering impurities from the refrigerant in the hot pipe after moving the refrigerant through the boundary and remaining edge areas, adiabatically expanding the refrigerant (e.g., from which the impurities have been filtered) into a low-temperature and low-pressure state, evaporating the adiabatically expanded refrigerant through a heat exchange with air that circulates within the refrigerator, and changing the low-temperature and low-pressure state of the refrigerant into a high-temperature and high-pressure state using a compressor of the refrigerator after the heat exchange.

Moving the refrigerant to the boundary may further include separating the refrigerant into a plurality of paths at or near a location where the hot pipe is connected to a condenser, then moving the refrigerant to the boundary.

Further, the refrigerant may be separated into two paths through a Y-shaped connection pipe at or near the location where the hot pipe is connected to a condenser.

Further, the refrigerants separated into the two paths may be united into one path through a Y-shaped connection pipe installed at or near a location where the hot pipe is connected to a drier, capillary tube or cooler of the refrigerator (e.g., for filtering impurities from the refrigerant).

Further, the hot pipe may have a predetermined diameter, and the hot pipe may have a first end connected to the condenser and a second end connected to a drier, capillary tube or cooler of the refrigerator (e.g., for filtering impurities from the refrigerant).

Further, the state of the refrigerant may change into a predetermined middle temperature range and high-pressure by the condenser, thus discharging heat through the hot pipe while moving within the hot pipe.

In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the hot pipe is in the edge areas of the front of the refrigerator, that is, a part where the main body comes in contact with the door, and the hot pipe removes dew on a surface of the refrigerator by discharging heat from the hot pipe in the boundary area between the cold storage space and the freezer (e.g., in the edge areas between the cold storage space and the freezer). Accordingly, a structure for installing the hot pipe can be simplified. Furthermore, dew formation in the front of the main body can be prevented more effectively because dew removal efficiency in the boundary area of the cold storage space and the freezer, where the most severe dew condensation occurs, is improved by such an arrangement of the hot pipe.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram showing a structure for preventing dew formation in a conventional refrigerator.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram showing a structure for preventing dew formation in a refrigerator in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of a Y-shaped connection pipe in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here.

One or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which one or more exemplary embodiments of the disclosure can be easily determined by those skilled in the art. As those skilled in the art will realize, the described exemplary embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure, which is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described herein.

It is noted that the drawings are schematic and are not necessarily dimensionally illustrated. Relative sizes and proportions of parts in the drawings may be exaggerated or reduced in their sizes, and a predetermined size is just exemplary and not limiting. The same reference numerals designate the same structures, elements, or parts illustrated in two or more drawings in order to exhibit the same or similar characteristics.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure illustrate ideal embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail. As a result, various modifications of the drawings are expected. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments are not limited to a specific form of the illustrated region, and for example, include modifications of form (e.g., by manufacturing).

FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram showing the structure of a refrigerator including an apparatus for preventing dew formation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus for preventing dew formation in a refrigerator according to the present disclosure may include a hot pipe 202 installed in the front of the refrigerator, a compressor 204, a condenser 206, and so on.

First, the operations of the elements of the apparatus for preventing dew formation according to the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to FIG. 2.

The hot pipe 202 may be installed in a closed loop form in association with one or more elements that form a refrigeration cycle, and be routed in the edge areas of the front of the main body 200.

That is, for example, one end of the hot pipe 202 may be connected to the condenser 206, that is, one of the elements that form the refrigeration cycle. In the hot pipe 202 connected to the condenser 206, a refrigerant having a phase changed into a middle-temperature and high-pressure state can be introduced from the condenser 206.

The middle-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant introduced as described above moves in the edge areas of the front of the main body 200 through the hot pipe 202 and discharges heat, thus evaporating dew from a location where the main body 200 comes in contact with the opening edge of a door.

For example, the other end of the hot pipe 202 may be connected to a drier 214, that is, one of the elements that may form the refrigeration cycle. A refrigerant discharged from the hot pipe 202 is filtered by the drier 214 and then subject to adiabatic expansion into a low-temperature and low-pressure state through a capillary tube 216. However, the drier is not an essential component of the refrigeration cycle, and can be omitted. Next, the refrigerant is evaporated through a heat exchange with air that circulates the inside of the refrigerator while passing through a cooler 218, and then the refrigerant enters into the compressor 204.

The compressor 204 changes the state of the refrigerant into the low-temperature and low-pressure state in the drier 214, the capillary tube 216, and the cooler 218 after being discharged from the hot pipe 202, then into a high-temperature and high-pressure state by applying pressure to the refrigerant.

The condenser 206 is connected to one end of the hot pipe 202 and configured to change the refrigerant, having the high-temperature and high-pressure state from the compressor 204, into a middle-temperature and high-pressure state. The refrigerant having the middle-temperature and high-pressure state from the condenser 206 as described above enters one side of the hot pipe 202 connected to the condenser 206 again and moves through the hot pipe 202 installed in the edge areas of the front of the main body 200, thus removing dew by the radiation of heat.

The structure and operation of the apparatus for preventing dew formation in a refrigerator according to the present disclosure are described in more detail below.

First, in the apparatus for preventing dew formation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a refrigerant moves through the hot pipe 202 installed in the front of the main body 200 and thus evaporates and removes dew that forms due to a temperature difference between the inside and outside of the refrigerator in the part where the main body 200 comes in contact with the door through the radiation of heat of the refrigerant. That is, evaporation and condensation are performed on the refrigerant that is introduced into or discharged from the hot pipe 202 using the elements forming the refrigeration cycle of the refrigerator, such as the compressor 204 and the condenser 206. In such a process, dew in or on the part where the main body 200 comes in contact with the door (e.g., the opening edge of the door) is removed by the refrigerant that emits heat while moving through the hot pipe 202.

Here, the hot pipe 202 may be configured to branch from the condenser 206 to a boundary area 208 such that the refrigerant first moves the boundary between a cold storage space and a freezer in the edge areas of the front of the refrigerator where the main body 200 comes in contact with the opening edges of the doors. Accordingly, refrigerant introduced from the condenser 206 first moves to the boundary 208, thereby being capable of evaporating dew in or on the boundary 208. As a result, dew occurring in or on the boundary 208 having the most severe dew condensation phenomenon can be effectively removed.

As shown in FIG. 3, for example, a Y-shaped connection pipe 220 is installed at or near a location A of the hot pipe 202 where the hot pipe 202 is connected to a pipe extending from the condenser 206 so that the refrigerant introduced from the condenser 206 is separated into two paths. Accordingly, the refrigerant first moves to the boundary 208 and then to a second area 210, that is, the edge area of the cold storage space, and a third area 212, that is, the edge area of the freezer, in parallel. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the hot pipe 202 has been illustrated as being separated into the two paths through the Y-shaped connection pipe 220, but this is only illustrative. For example, the hot pipe 202 may be separated into a plurality of paths.

Furthermore, the two paths bisected from the hot pipe 202 through the Y-shaped connection pipe 220 as described above are united into one path through a Y-shaped connection pipe 222 at or near a location where the hot pipe is connected to the drier 214 (or cooler 218).

As described above, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the hot pipe is installed in the edge areas of the front of the refrigerator, that is, the part where the main body comes in contact with the opening edges of the doors, and the hot pipe is disposed so that a refrigerant for removing dew on a surface of the refrigerator by discharging heat from the inside of the hot pipe first moves to the boundary area between the cold storage space and the freezer in the edge areas. Accordingly, a structure for installing the hot pipe can be simplified. Furthermore, a dew formation phenomenon in the front of the main body can be prevented more effectively because dew removal efficiency in the boundary area between the cold storage space and the freezer in which the most severe dew condensation occurs is improved by such an arrangement of the hot pipe.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand that the present disclosure may be implemented in various ways without changing the necessary features or the spirit of the present disclosure.

Therefore, it should be understood that the exemplary embodiments described above are not limiting, but only an example in all respects. The scope of the present disclosure is expressed by claims below, not the detailed description, and it should be construed that all changes and modifications achieved from the meanings and scope of claims and equivalent concepts are included in the scope of the present disclosure.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The exemplary embodiments disclosed in the specification of the present disclosure do not limit the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure will be interpreted by the claims below, and it will be construed that all techniques within the scope equivalent thereto belong to the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An apparatus for preventing dew formation in a refrigerator, comprising:

a compressor configured to change a state of a refrigerant to a high-temperature and high-pressure state;

a condenser configured to change the state of the refrigerant to a middle-temperature and high-pressure state;

a pipe connected to a first end of the condenser, in a front area of a main body of the refrigerator and in edge or peripheral areas of or around a freezer and a cold storage space, and configured to move or circulate the refrigerant first to a boundary between the freezer and the cold storage space in the edge areas;

a capillary tube configured to adiabatically expand the refrigerant and change the state of the refrigerant to a low-temperature and low-pressure state; and

a cooler configured to evaporate the adiabatically expanded refrigerant through a heat exchange with air that circulates within the refrigerator and provide the evaporated refrigerant to the compressor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the hot pipe comprises a plurality of paths that move the refrigerant to the edge area of the cold storage space and the edge area of the freezer in the boundary.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the plurality of paths are combined into one path at or near a location where the hot pipe is connected to the drier, capillary tube or cooler.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a Y-shaped connection pipe at or near a location where the hot pipe is connected to the condenser, configured to separate the refrigerant from the condenser into two paths.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a second Y-shaped connection pipe at or near the location where the hot pipe is connected to the drier, capillary tube or cooler, configured to unite the two paths into one path.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the hot pipe has a predetermined diameter, and

the hot pipe has a first end connected to the condenser and a second end connected to the drier, capillary tube or cooler.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the refrigerant has a predetermined middle temperature range and high-pressure from the condenser, and the hot pipe discharges heat while the refrigerant moves within the hot pipe.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a drier connected to a second end of the hot pipe and configured to filter impurities in the refrigerant from the hot pipe.

9. A method for preventing dew formation in a refrigerator, comprising:

installing a hot pipe in edge areas of a freezer and a cold storage space in a front of a main body of the refrigerator;

introducing a refrigerant having a middle-temperature and high-pressure state from a condenser of the refrigerator to the hot pipe;

moving the refrigerant to a boundary between the freezer and the cold storage space in the edge areas through the hot pipe; and

moving the refrigerant from the boundary to remaining edge areas.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

filtering impurities from the refrigerant from the hot pipe after moving the refrigerant through the boundary and the remaining edge areas;

adiabatically expanding the refrigerant from which the impurities have been filtered into a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant;

evaporating the adiabatically expanded refrigerant through a heat exchange with air that circulates within the refrigerator; and

changing the evaporated refrigerant into a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant using a compressor of the refrigerator after the heat exchange.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein moving the refrigerant to the boundary comprises separating the refrigerant into a plurality of paths at or near a location where the hot pipe is connected to the condenser.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the refrigerant is separated into two paths through a Y-shaped connection pipe at or near a location where the hot pipe is connected to the condenser.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising combining the refrigerant separated into the two paths using a second Y-shaped connection pipe at or near a location where the hot pipe is connected to a drier, capillary tube or cooler of the refrigerator.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein:

the hot pipe has a predetermined diameter, and

the hot pipe has a first end connected to the condenser and a second end connected to the drier, capillary tube or cooler of the refrigerator.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising changing the state of the refrigerant into a predetermined middle temperature range and high-pressure using the condenser

16. The method of claim 15, comprising discharging heat through the hot pipe while the refrigerant having the predetermined middle temperature range and high-pressure moves within the hot pipe.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the middle-temperature is in a predetermined temperature range.