REFRIGERATOR HAVING COOLING AIR CIRCULATING STRUCTURE FOR PREVENTING FROST

Abstract

A refrigerator including a cooling air circulating structure to prevent frost is provided. The refrigerator includes a storage chamber, a refrigerator main body to which a door that opens or closes the storage chamber is connected via a hinge, a heat exchanging chamber arranged on one side of the storage chamber along the storage chamber, a heat exchanger arranged in the heat exchanging chamber, and an air circulating unit configured to circulate cooling air in the storage chamber and the heat exchanging chamber. The heat exchanger is configured to partition a cooling air discharge flow path and a cooling air suction flow path in the heat exchanging chamber.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application is related to and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0016144, filed on Feb. 2, 2015, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a refrigerator having a cooling air circulating structure, which prevents frost from being formed in a storage chamber inside a refrigerator main body.

BACKGROUND

In general, a refrigerator includes a refrigerator main body including a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber, doors installed in front of the refrigerator main body to open or close front openings of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, and a cooling system composed of a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator.

Referring to FIG. 1, a refrigerator in the related art includes a cabinet portion 1 that is composed of an inner case and an outer case, and a thermal insulation material fills between the inner case and the outer case. In this case, a heat exchanger 3 is positioned in a space of a storage chamber on a front surface of the inner case of the cabinet, and cooling air is supplied to the storage chamber through an air duct 2 that is connected to the heat exchanger 3. The heat exchanger 3 is provided with a pipe that is bent in zigzag and a plurality of heat dissipation fins formed on an outside of the pipe. In this case, an air blowing fan 4 is installed adjacent to an upper side of the heat exchanger 3.

A cooling air flow of the refrigerator in the related art as described above is as follows. If the air blowing fan 4 is driven, air in the storage chamber 5 on the inside of the cabinet portion 1 is sucked into an inlet port 6 of the air duct 2. The air that flows into the air duct 2 comes in contact with the heat exchanger 3 to be cooled, and then flows to the side of the air blowing fan 4. The air that has passed through the air blowing fan 4 moves to an upper side of the cabinet portion 1 along the air duct 2, and then is discharged to the storage chamber 5 through a plurality of discharge ports 7 that communicate with the storage chamber.

However, in the refrigerator in the related art as described above, since a flow path for air cooling is formed in the air duct 2 with a short distance that corresponds to the height of the heat exchanger 3 arranged on a lower portion of the air duct 2, it is difficult to effectively cool the storage chamber 5, and thus it is not easy to prevent frost that is formed on an inner wall of the storage chamber 5. Accordingly, in the refrigerator in the related art having low cooling efficiency as described above, a defrost heater that is positioned at a lower end of the heat exchanger 3 is operated to prevent the frost from being formed in the storage chamber 5, and in this case, a large amount of used power (such as about 100 to 200 W) is consumed.

Further, in the case of the refrigerator in the related art having a plate type heat exchanger, the heat exchanger is fixedly installed in close contact with one surface of the air duct. In this case, the air that flows from the storage chamber to the air duct is primarily cooled through the heat exchanger and then is discharged again to the storage chamber. Accordingly, in the same manner as the above-described refrigerator in the related art using the fin type heat exchanger, the refrigerator in the related art having the plate type heat exchanger has low heat exchanging efficiency, and thus is unable to meet consumer expectations.

SUMMARY

To address the above-discussed deficiencies, it is a primary object to provide a refrigerator, which prevents frost from being formed on an inner wall of a storage chamber and minimize power that is used to prevent the frost.

A refrigerator is provided that improves cooling efficiency through providing of an air flow path so as to perform cooling at least twice in a heat exchanger.

In a first example, a refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator includes a refrigerator main body including a storage chamber and hinge-connected with a door that opens or closes the storage chamber. The refrigerator also includes a heat exchanging chamber arranged on one side of the storage chamber along the storage chamber. The refrigerator includes a heat exchanger having a predetermined thickness that is arranged in the heat exchanging chamber. The refrigerator also includes an air circulating unit configured to circulate cooling air in the storage chamber and the heat exchanging chamber The heat exchanging chamber includes a cooling air discharge flow path formed on a front surface of the heat exchanger, and a cooling air suction flow path formed on a rear surface of the heat exchanger.

The cooling air discharge flow path communicates with the storage chamber through at least one cooling air discharge port, and the cooling air suction flow path communicates with the storage chamber through at least one cooling air suction port. The cooling air suction port is set in a position that is lower than the cooling air discharge port. The refrigerator further includes a defrost water draining portion arranged on a lower side of the heat exchanging chamber to collect and discharge defrost water that is generated in the heat exchanging chamber. The cooling air suction flow path communicates with the defrost water draining portion. The heat exchanger can be of a plate type. In this case, the heat exchanger can be partially bent. The storage chamber and the heat exchanging chamber are formed in a cabinet portion that is arranged inside the refrigerator main body.

The refrigerator further includes a duct assembly arranged in a rear of the cabinet portion. The duct assembly includes a front panel positioned on the cabinet portion side and a rear panel configured to open the heat exchanging chamber. The heat exchanger is spaced apart from an inner surface of the rear panel by a plurality of spacers. The cooling air discharge flow path is positioned between the front panel and a front surface of the heat exchanger, and the cooling air suction flow path is positioned between a rear surface of the heat exchanger and the rear panel.

The refrigerator further includes at least one plate type additional heat exchanger arranged in the heat exchanging chamber. The heat exchanger and the additional heat exchanger are arranged in parallel to be spaced apart from each other. The additional heat exchanger is arranged between the heat exchanger and the rear panel. The air circulation unit is arranged on a boundary between the cooling air discharge flow path and the cooling air suction flow path. The air circulation unit includes an inlet port configured to communicate with the cooling air suction flow path and an injection port configured to communicate with the cooling air discharge flow path. The injection port is smaller than the inlet port. A defrost heater is arranged in front of the heat exchanger in the heat exchanging chamber.

In a second example, a refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator includes a storage chamber. The refrigerator also includes a heat exchanging chamber configured to communicate with the storage chamber in a rear of the storage chamber. The refrigerator further includes a plate type heat exchanger arranged in the heat exchanging chamber. The refrigerator includes and an air circulating unit configured to compulsorily circulate cooling air between the storage chamber and the heat exchanging chamber. The heat exchanging chamber includes a cooling air discharge flow path formed on a front side of the heat exchanger and a cooling air suction flow path formed on a rear surface of the heat exchanger, and by means of the air circulating unit, the air that flows into the heat exchanging chamber passes through the cooling air suction flow path to be primarily heat-exchanged, and then passes through the cooling air discharge flow path to be secondarily heat-exchanged.

In a third example, a refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator includes a refrigerator main body. The refrigerator also includes a cabinet portion arranged inside the refrigerator main body and provided with a storage chamber and a heat exchanging chamber. The refrigerator further includes a door hinge-connected to the refrigerator main body to open or close the storage chamber. The refrigerator includes a plate type heat exchanger arranged in the heat exchanging chamber and partitioning a cooling air discharge flow path and a cooling air suction flow path configured to communicate with the storage chamber. The refrigerator also includes an air circulating unit configured to receive cooling air from the cooling air suction flow path and to discharge the cooling air to the cooling air discharge flow path. The cooling air suction flow path is formed on a rear side of the heat exchanger to primarily cool the air that is received from the storage chamber. The cooling air discharge flow path is formed on a front side of the heat exchanger to secondarily cool the air that is supplied from the air circulating unit.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an example cooling air flow path formed in a refrigerator according to this disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an example interior of a refrigerator according to this disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an example front part of a first cabinet portion installed in a main body of a refrigerator according to this disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an example first cabinet portion according to this disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an example rear part of the first cabinet portion according to this disclosure;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view illustrating example configurations of a heat exchanging chamber of the first cabinet portion and a plate type heat exchanger arranged in the heat exchanging chamber according to this disclosure;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an example air circulating unit arranged in a first cabinet portion according to this disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a plurality of heat exchangers arranged in a heat exchanging chamber of a first cabinet portion according to this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 through 8, discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged electronic device and refrigeration device.

Further, although the present disclosure includes configurations that are normally provided in a refrigerator to form a refrigeration cycle, such as a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and various kinds of control-related configurations for controlling freezing and refrigerating functions. In addition, although it is exemplified that a refrigerator has two storage chambers and two doors for opening/closing the respective storage chambers, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, but is also applied to a refrigerator having one storage chamber and one door. A refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a refrigerator main body 20, first and second doors 41 and 42, first and second cabinet portions 61 and 62, a duct assembly 70, a heat exchanger 80, an air circulating unit 90, and a defrost heater H.

Referring to FIG. 2, the refrigerator main body 20 includes first and second storage chambers S1 and S2 provided therein to keep food that is wrapped or contained in receptacles frozen or refrigerated. The first storage chamber S1 is to keep vegetables or food refrigerated with freshness, and the second storage chamber S2 is set to a temperature that is lower than the temperature of the first storage chamber to keep food frozen.

The first and second storage chambers S1 and S2 is partitioned by a plurality of shelves 23a and 23b, and a plurality of drawers for accommodating vegetables or fruits therein is provided on lower sides thereof. The drawers 25a and 25b are made of transparent or semitransparent material, such as plastic or glass, so that stored items inside the drawers are seen. The first and second doors 41 and 42 are hinge-connected to both sides of the refrigerator main body 20 to open/close the first and second storage chambers S1 and S2. A plurality of accommodation portions 44a and 44b are provided on inner surfaces thereof.

The first and second cabinet portions 61 and 62 are arranged inside the refrigerator main body 20, and the first and second storage chambers S1 and S2 as described above are formed therein. Further, each of the first and second cabinet portions 61 and 62 is provided with a heat exchanging chamber and a heat exchanger arranged in the heat exchanging chamber. Since the first and second cabinet portions 61 and 62 have substantially the same structure, only the structure of the first cabinet portion 61 will be hereinafter described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the first cabinet portion 61 includes the first storage chamber S1 of which the front is open, and a heat exchanging chamber 77 arranged on the rear side of the first storage chamber S1. Further, the first cabinet portion 61 includes a duct assembly 70 that forms the heat exchanging chamber 77. In this case, the duct assembly 70 includes a front panel 71 and a rear panel 73. On both sides of the first storage chamber S1, a pair of support projections 23c for supporting the shelf 23a and a pair of support grooves 23d for supporting the drawer 25a is formed to project.

The front panel 71 partitions the first storage chamber S1 and the heat exchanging chamber 77, and includes a plurality of air discharge ports 71a formed thereon to supply cooling air that is discharged from the heat exchanging chamber 77 to the first storage chamber S1 and a plurality of air suction ports 71b formed thereon to guide the cooling air that is supplied to the first storage chamber S1 again to the heat exchanging chamber 77. The plurality of air discharge ports 71a communicate with the first storage chamber S1 and the heat exchanging chamber 77 (specifically, cooling air discharge flow path P1 formed in the heat exchanging chamber 77 described here). The plurality of air discharge ports 71a are arranged along the front panel 71 at predetermined intervals in upper and lower directions.

The plurality of air suction ports 71b communicate with the first storage chamber S1 and the heat exchanging chamber 77 (specifically, cooling air suction flow path P2 formed in the heat exchanging chamber 77 to be described later). The air suction port 71b is positioned on the lower side than the air discharge port arranged on the lowermost side among the plurality of air discharge ports 71a. The air suction port 71b is positioned in consideration of the property of the cooling air that goes down, and naturally guides the cooling air that is gathered after cooling the first storage chamber S1 into the heat exchanging chamber 77. In this embodiment, it is described that only one air suction port 71b is formed. However, this is merely exemplary, and a plurality of air suction ports is formed. Further, the front panel 71 includes a projection portion 72a formed thereon to come in close contact with an upper end of a front surface of the heat exchanger 80, and a partition 72a formed thereon to come in close contact with a lower end of the front surface of the heat exchanger 80.

Referring to FIG. 7, the projection portion 72a includes an injection port 72b formed thereon to inject the cooling air from the air circulating unit 90 to the cooling air discharge flow path P1. The partition 72c separates the cooling air discharge flow path P1 and the cooling air suction flow path P2 from each other.

Referring to FIG. 5, one end portion of the rear panel 73 of the duct assembly 70 is hinge-engaged with the first cabinet portion 61, and the other end portion thereof is locked by a plurality of locking portions R. Further, the rear panel 73 is coupled to the first cabinet portion 61 by a plurality of fastening screws.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the plate type heat exchanger 80 is arranged in the heat exchanging chamber 77 with a length that substantially corresponds to the first storage chamber S1. Further, the cooling air discharge flow path P1 and the cooling air suction flow path P2 that are partitioned by the heat exchanger 80 are provided in the heat exchanging chamber 77. The cooling air discharge flow path P1 and the cooling air suction flow path P2 communicate with each other in series through the air circulating unit 90.

The cooling air discharge flow path P1 is formed between the front panel 71 and the front surface of the heat exchanger 80, and supplies the cooling air to the first storage chamber S1 through the plurality of air discharge ports 71a formed on the front panel 71. The cooling air suction flow path P2 is formed between the rear surface of the heat exchanger 80 and the inner surface of the rear panel 73, and intakes the air of the first storage chamber S1 through the plurality of air suction ports 71b formed on the front panel 71 to guide the air to the air circulating unit 90.

The cooling air suction flow path P2 has a lower portion 77a that is opened to discharge defrost water that is generated by the heat exchanger 80. In this case, a defrost water draining portion 78 for collecting and discharging the defrost water is formed on the lower portion of the cooling air suction flow path P2. The defrost water draining portion 78 forms the lower part of the first cabinet portion 61, and the inside thereof is in the form of an inverted triangle. A defrost water discharge port 78a is formed at the lowermost end of the defrost water draining portion 78.

According to the present disclosure, the heat exchanging flow path for cooling the air in the heat exchanging chamber 77 is formed longer than that of the refrigerator in the related art, and the air that flows from the first storage chamber S1 to the cooling air suction flow path P2 flows to the air circulating unit 90. In this case, the air is primarily cooled by the heat exchanger 80, and the air then secondarily cooled the heat exchanging chamber passes through the cooling air suction flow path to be primarily heat-exchanged, and the air that flows through the cooling air discharge flow path P1 is secondarily cooled. Accordingly, the flow path that cool the air using a single heat exchanger is maximized, and thus the cooling efficiency is maximized while minimizing power consumption for the heat exchange.

Referring to FIG. 6, the heat exchanger 80 is a plate type evaporator. Since the length of the first cabinet portion 61 in front/rear direction is reduced, and thus the front/rear width of the refrigerator 10 is maintained slim as a whole. The heat exchanger 80 as described above is formed of two thin metal plates, and a coolant flow path through which a coolant flows is formed on one side of the heat exchanger 80. The coolant flow path includes a discharge port formed on one side thereof to intake the coolant and a discharge port formed on the other side thereof to discharge the coolant. Further, the heat exchanger 80 is formed to be partially bent in accordance with the shape of the heat exchanging chamber 77 or the shape of the cabinet portion.

In addition, although not illustrated in the drawing, a plurality of heat dissipation fins is formed on the front surface and the rear surface of the heat exchanger 80, and the coolant flow path is formed through attaching of a pipe to a metal plate. The heat exchanger 80 is fixed to a plurality of first and second spacers 69a and 69b that are fixed to the inner surface of the rear panel 73. In this case, the heat exchanger 80 is spaced apart for a predetermined distance from the rear panel 73 by the first and second spacers 69a and 69b.

The pair of first spacers 69a is coupled to both sides of the rear panel 73 along the length direction of the rear panel 73. In this case, the pair of first spacers 69a forms the cooling air suction flow path P2 together with the rear panel 73 and the heat exchanger 80. The pair of second spacers 69b is to fix the rear panel 73 more firmly, and is coupled to an upper end and a lower end of the rear panel 73. The plurality of first and second spacers 69a and 69b have the same thickness, and through adjustment of this thickness, the volume of the cooling air suction flow path P2 is set as desired by a user.

In this embodiment, it is exemplified that one plate type heat exchanger 80 is provided. However, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a plate type additional heat exchanger 180 is further provided in the heat exchanging chamber 77 of the first cabinet portion 161. In this case, the additional heat exchanger 180 is arranged between the heat exchanger 80 and the rear panel 73 in parallel to the heat exchanger 80. Since the additional heat exchanger 180 is arranged in the cooling air suction flow path P2, primary cooling efficiency of the air that flows in from the first storage chamber S1 is greatly improved. In the case where the additional heat exchanger 180 is arranged in the heat exchanging chamber 77, predetermined intervals are maintained between the heat exchanger and the additional heat exchanger 180 and between the additional heat exchanger 180 and the rear panel 73 by the plurality of spacers.

Referring to FIG. 8, the air circulating unit 90 is arranged in a portion that is a boundary between the cooling air discharge flow path P1 and the cooling air suction flow path P2. Accordingly, the air circulating unit 90 intakes the primarily cooled air through the cooling air suction flow path P2 and supplies the air to the cooling air discharge flow path P1. The air circulating unit 90 as described above includes a fan 91, a support housing 93, and a motor 95.

The fan 91 is rotatably arranged on the upper side of the front panel 71, and is arranged on the side that communicates with the cooling air discharge flow path P1. In this case, the fan 91 is replaced by an impeller. The support housing 93 is separably coupled to the upper side of the front panel 71 by a plurality of fastening screws to cover the fan 91. Further, the support housing 93 includes an inlet port 93a through which the air from the cooling air suction flow path P2 flows. In this case, the inlet port 93a has a size that is larger than the size of the injection port 72b as described above. Since the injection port 72b is formed to be smaller than the inlet port 93a, the discharge speed becomes high.

The motor 95 is connected to the fan 91 through a driving shaft to rotate the fan 91, and is fixed to the support panel 97 that is coupled to the support housing 93. In this case, the motor 95 is arranged on an opposite side of the fan 91 on the basis of the support housing 93. The support panel 97 has a hole 97a formed thereon to correspond to the support housing 93, and includes a support 97b arranged in the periphery of the hole 97a to fix the motor 95 thereto. The cooling air flow in the refrigerator 10 as configured above according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

First, as the motor 95 is driven, the fan 91 is rotated to form negative pressure in the cooling air suction flow path P2. Accordingly, the air of the first storage chamber S1 flows into the cooling air suction flow path P2 through the air suction port 71b. The air that flows into the cooling air suction flow path P2 comes in contact with the rear surface of the heat exchanger 80 to be primarily cooled in the process in which the air flows to the side of the air circulating unit 90 along the cooling air suction flow path P2. The primarily cooled air flows into the air circulating unit 90 through the inlet port 93a, and then is discharged again to the cooling air discharge flow path P1 through the injection port 72b by the rotation of the fan 91.

The air that flows into the cooling air discharge flow path P1 comes in contact with the front surface of the heat exchanger 80 to be secondarily cooled as flowing in a lower direction along the cooling air discharge flow path P1. As described herein, the air that is twice cooled is discharged to the first storage chamber S1 through the plurality of air discharge ports 71a to cool food accommodated in the first storage chamber S1. According to the present disclosure as described herein, by maximizing flow paths (cooling air discharge flow path P1 and cooling air suction flow path), which cools the air using the single heat exchanger 80, the cooling efficiency is maximized while minimizing the power consumption for the heat exchange.

Further, the refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure removes frost through cooling air circulation, and in addition, includes a defrost heater H to remove the frost that occurs on the surface of the heat exchanger 80. The defrost heater H is installed on the rear surface of the front panel 71 of the duct assembly as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In this case, the defrost heater H is installed even on the partition 72c that corresponds to the lower end portion of the front panel 71. Further, the installation position of the defrost heater H is not limited to the rear surface of the bottom panel 71 as described herein, but is positioned in front of the heat exchange 80 to come in contact with the heat exchange 80 or is arranged in a position that is spaced apart for a predetermine distance from the heat exchanger 80.

As described above, the defrost heater H is a thin pipe type heater so that it is arranged in a narrow space that forms the cooling air discharge flow path P2 between the front panel 71 and the front surface of the heat exchanger 80. The refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure removes the frost that occurs on the heat exchanger 80 together with the defrost heater H and the fan 91 of the air circulating unit 80. In this case, defrosting is performed in first to third defrost mode using the defrost heater H and the fan 91. The fan 91 is used for defrosting while cooling air circulation is not performed in the refrigerator 10. On conditions of the first to third defrost modes, the defrosting is performed by simultaneously or selectively driving at least one of the defrost heater H and the fan 91 as shown in Table 1.

	TABLE 1
	Mode	Defrost Heater	Fan
	First Defrost Mode	ON	ON
	Second Defrost Mode	OFF	ON
	Third Defrost Mode	ON	OFF

In the first defrost mode, in the case where the defrost temperature of the heat exchanger 80 and the inside of the duct assembly 70 is lower than a required fresh room temperature, the defrosting is performed by simultaneously turning on the defrost heater H and the fan 91 to meet all the defrosting states and peripheral conditions. In this case, it is preferable that the operating time of the first defrost mode is about 20 to 30 minutes.

In the second defrost mode, in the case where the defrost temperature of the heat exchanger 80 and the inside of the duct assembly 70 is lower than the required fresh room temperature and the defrosting state is not serious (such as a low peripheral temperature and high peripheral temperature are equal to or lower than 5° C. and equal to or higher than 20° C.), the defrosting is performed by turning on only the fan 91 while turning off the defrost heater H. In this case, it is preferable that the operating time of the second defrost mode is about 15 to 30 minutes.

In the third defrost mode, in the case where the defrost temperature of the heat exchanger 80 and the inside of the duct assembly 70 is higher than the required fresh room temperature (such as in a case where the defrost heater H comes in direct contact with the heat exchanger 80 or the power of the defrost heater H is high), the defrosting is performed by turning on only the defrost heater H while turning off the fan 91. In this case, it is preferable that the operating time of the third defrost mode is about 20 to 60 minutes. The operating time of the defrost heater H and the fan 91 in the first to third defrost modes as described herein is variously set in accordance with the capacity of the refrigerator 10 or the size of the heat exchanger 80.

Although the present disclosure has been described with an exemplary embodiment, various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising:

a refrigerator main body including a storage chamber and hinge connected with a door that opens or closes the storage chamber;

a heat exchanging chamber arranged on one side of the storage chamber along the storage chamber;

a heat exchanger having a predetermined thickness and that is arranged in the heat exchanging chamber; and

an air circulating unit configured to circulate cooling air in the storage chamber and the heat exchanging chamber, wherein the heat exchanging chamber includes a cooling air discharge flow path formed on a front surface of the heat exchanger, and a cooling air suction flow path formed on a rear surface of the heat exchanger.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the cooling air discharge flow path is configured to communicate with the storage chamber through at least one cooling air discharge port, and the cooling air suction flow path is configured to communicate with the storage chamber through at least one cooling air suction port.

3. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the cooling air suction port is set in a position that is lower than the cooling air discharge port.

4. The refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising a defrost water draining portion arranged on a lower side of the heat exchanging chamber and configured to collect and discharge defrost water that is generated in the heat exchanging chamber.

5. The refrigerator of claim 4, wherein the cooling air suction flow path is configured to communicate with the defrost water draining portion.

6. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger comprises a plate type.

7. The refrigerator of claim 6, wherein the heat exchanger is partially bent.

8. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the storage chamber and the heat exchanging chamber are formed in a cabinet portion that is arranged inside the refrigerator main body.

9. The refrigerator of claim 8, further comprising a duct assembly arranged in a rear of the cabinet portion, wherein the duct assembly includes a front panel positioned on the cabinet portion side, and a rear panel configured to open the heat exchanging chamber, and wherein the heat exchanger is spaced apart from an inner surface of the rear panel by a plurality of spacers.

10. The refrigerator of claim 9, wherein the cooling air discharge flow path is positioned between the front panel and a front surface of the heat exchanger, and the cooling air suction flow path is positioned between a rear surface of the heat exchanger and the rear panel.

11. The refrigerator of claim 10, further comprising at least one plate type additional heat exchanger arranged in the heat exchanging chamber, wherein the heat exchanger and the additional heat exchanger are arranged in parallel and are spaced apart from each other.

12. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the additional heat exchanger is arranged between the heat exchanger and the rear panel.

13. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the air circulation unit is arranged on a boundary between the cooling air discharge flow path and the cooling air suction flow path.

14. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the air circulation unit comprises an inlet port configured to communicate with the cooling air suction flow path, and an injection port configured to communicate with the cooling air discharge flow path, wherein the injection port is smaller than the inlet port.

15. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein a defrost heater is arranged in front of the heat exchanger in the heat exchanging chamber.

16. A refrigerator comprising:

a storage chamber;

a heat exchanging chamber configured to communicate with the storage chamber in a rear of the storage chamber;

a plate type heat exchanger arranged in the heat exchanging chamber; and

an air circulating unit configured to compulsorily circulate cooling air between the storage chamber and the heat exchanging chamber, wherein the heat exchanging chamber includes a cooling air discharge flow path formed on a front side of the heat exchanger, and a cooling air suction flow path formed on a rear surface of the heat exchanger, and wherein the air circulating unit is configured to pass the air that flows into the heat exchanging chamber through the cooling air suction flow path to be primarily heat-exchanged, and then pass the air through the cooling air discharge flow path to be secondarily heat-exchanged.

17. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein the cooling air discharge flow path is configured to communicate with the storage chamber through at least one cooling air discharge port, wherein the cooling air suction flow path is configured to communicate with the storage chamber through at least one cooling air suction port, and wherein the cooling air suction port is set in a position that is lower than the cooling air discharge port.

18. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein the air circulation unit comprises an inlet port configured to communicate with the cooling air suction flow path, and an injection port configured to communicate with the cooling air discharge flow path, wherein the injection port is smaller than the inlet port.

19. A refrigerator comprising:

a refrigerator main body;

a cabinet portion arranged inside the refrigerator main body and provided with a storage chamber and a heat exchanging chamber;

a door hinge connected to the refrigerator main body to open or close the storage chamber;

a plate type heat exchanger arranged in the heat exchanging chamber and partitioning a cooling air discharge flow path and a cooling air suction flow path that communicates with the storage chamber; and

an air circulating unit configured to receive cooling air from the cooling air suction flow path and to discharge the cooling air to the cooling air discharge flow path, wherein the cooling air suction flow path is formed on a rear side of the heat exchanger to cool the air that is received from the storage chamber, and wherein the cooling air discharge flow path is formed on a front side of the heat exchanger to cool the air that is supplied from the air circulating unit.

20. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 19, wherein the cooling air suction flow path is configured to communicate with a defrost water draining portion arranged on a lower side of the heat exchanging chamber to discharge defrost water that is generated in the heat exchanging chamber.