SMALL SIZE REFRIGERATOR PROVIDED WITH FRONT DOOR AND UPPER DOOR
Disclosed is a personal small refrigerator using a Peltier. The small refrigerator includes a body having storage space formed therein, a front door a door. And the small refrigerator includes a division shelf having a plurality of air ventilation holes for dividing the storage space into upper storage space and lower storage space for passing cold air therethrough. Further, the small refrigerator includes a duct cover disposed inside the Peltier and having a return portion and top and bottom outlet portions formed on top and bottom thereof to exhaust the cold air generated through the heat exchange with the heat absorber of the Peltier from the return portion to the upper and lower portions of the storage space.
The present invention relates to a small refrigerator used for a variety of purposes, and more specifically, to a personal small refrigerator that is capable of making use of a Peltier and being provided with front and top doors so that it is convenient that objects can come in and out through the front and top doors.
BACKGROUND ARTA refrigerator for keeping a variety of objects including foods at a low temperature is developed to various forms a long time ago. As the number of people living alone is increased, recently, personal home appliances are actively developed and sold at a market in consideration of the living environments of such people living alone.
At present, a small refrigerator has relatively small storage space and is used as an auxiliary refrigerator. Further, small refrigerators for various purposes such as cosmetic refrigerators, wine refrigerators having small storage space, and the like are developed and sold at a market.
However, current small refrigerators, which are distributed and sold at a market, have only a given shape, that is, a parallelepiped shape, and as they have small storage capacities, further, they are generally used in such a manner that objects come in and out through a single door disposed on a front surface thereof, thereby disadvantageously providing only boring designs to consumers. If mechanical components constituting a refrigeration cycle, such as a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, and the like are applied to the small refrigerators, further, the total sizes of the small refrigerators become inevitably increased.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Technical ProblemIn consideration of the above-mentioned problems, accordingly, the small refrigerator has to make use of a relatively compact element as a component for generating cold air therefrom and has to be good at circulation and effectiveness of the flow of air to storage space formed at the interior thereof from a small-sized heat exchanger.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a small refrigerator that is capable of making use of a small-sized Peltier to allow cold air with heat exchange to be efficiently supplied to storage space and to be then returned to the Peltier.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a small refrigerator that is capable of having various opening and closing directions so that the small refrigerator can practically handle surrounding environments and it is convenient that objects can come in and out.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a small refrigerator that is capable of easily applying a given character to top thereof.
Advantageous Effects of the InventionAccording to the present invention, the small refrigerator is provided as a personal small refrigerator that is capable of being miniaturized entirely by using the Peltier as a heat exchange source. Such personal small refrigerator can conveniently keep personal objects such as beverage cans, cosmetic products, and the like therein, thereby having no limitations in place.
According to the present invention, further, it is very convenient that the objects can come in and out through the front door and the top door. In this case, of course, the division shelf of the present invention divides the internal storage space of the refrigerator into two parts to thus maximize the effectiveness in using the storage space of the refrigerator. Through the plurality of air ventilation holes formed on the division shelf, also, the flow of air can be gently introduced into the storage space.
According to the present invention, moreover, the cold air with the heat exchange in the heat exchange chamber formed on the outside of the duct cover is supplied dividedly to the upper storage space and the lower storage space through the cold air outlet portions formed on top and bottom of the duct cover and is simultaneously returned to the interior of the heat exchange chamber through the return portion formed on the center of the duct cover. Accordingly, the cold air is circulated efficiently to the storage space divided up and down into two parts, thereby advantageously keeping the objects freshly.
According to the present invention, in addition, the division shelf for dividing the storage space into the upper and lower storage space is made of the light-diffusing synthetic resin (for example, polycarbonate), thereby providing indirect light to the spaces above and under the division shelf. Even though lamps are not disposed additionally at given positions, accordingly, a sufficient amount of light can be supplied and glare can be perfectly prevented through the indirect light.
Hereinafter, an explanation of the present invention will be given in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
As shown in
If both of the front door 20 and the top door 30 are disposed with respect to one storage space 12, it is convenient that objects are put into or taken off from the storage space 12 through even any one of the front door 20 and the top door 30. That is, advantageously, the front door 20 and the top door 30 can be selectively opened and closed in accordance with the environments around the small refrigerator. According to the present invention, further, the small refrigerator has a division shelf 14 disposed inside the storage space 12 to efficiently divide the storage space 12.
According to the present invention, the division shelf 14 serves to divide the storage space 12 into two parts in an up and down direction, that is, into upper storage space where the top door 30 is opened to allow the objects to come in and out and lower storage space where the front door 20 is opened to allow the objects to come in and out. As shown, the division shelf 14 includes a flange 14a extending outwardly in a radial direction. The flange 14a of the division shelf 14 is supportedly locked onto an open top end periphery of the body 10 or a locking projection 16 protruding inwardly from the open top end periphery of the body 10.
According to the present invention, further, the division shelf 14 has a plurality of air ventilation holes 14c adapted to circulate cold air to the space thereabove, and through the gentle circulation of the cold air, accordingly, an internal temperature of the single storage space 12 can be substantially lowered. As shown in
The division shelf 14 has a pair of handles 14b extending upwardly from a side peripheral surface 14d, so that it can be detachably mounted on the body 10 in a convenient way. As shown, the flange 14a formed on top end periphery of the side peripheral surface 14d of the division shelf 14 is detachably mounted on the body 10 in the state of being supportedly locked onto the open top end periphery of the body 10 or the locking projection 16 protruding inwardly from the open top end periphery of the body 10. However, of course, the division shelf 14 may be freely mounted in shape only if it divides the storage space 12 into two parts, and for example, it is possible that the division shelf 14 may be detachably mounted on the center of the storage space 12.
According to the present invention, the division shelf is desirably made of a light-diffusing synthetic resin capable of diffusing the light generated from a lamp disposed inside the small refrigerator. For example, a synthetic resin such as polycarbonate (PC) and the like having a light diffusion function has been distributed and sold at a market. If the division shelf 14 is molded using the synthetic resin having the light diffusion function, indirect lighting is provided to the interior of the storage space 12 through the division shelf 14.
Further, the small refrigerator according to the present invention includes a plurality of inner lamps (not shown) disposed on the inner peripheral surface of the storage space 12 of the body 10. The inner lamps are disposed on a place where the side peripheral surface 14d of the division shelf 14 (See
Next, a structure in which cold air is supplied to the upper storage space and the lower storage space divided by the division shelf 14 will be explained.
As mentioned above, the small refrigerator according to the present invention is designed as a personal small refrigerator used for multiple purposes, and accordingly, it is not desirable that the small refrigerator constitutes a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, a heat exchanger, and the like. So as to perform heat exchange, therefore, the small refrigerator according to the present invention is basically configured to have a Peltier.
As shown in
Further, the duct cover 62, which extends up and down, includes a return portion 66 formed at the center thereof to suck air to the Peltier 50, and the air sucked through the return portion 66 becomes cold by means of the heat exchange with the heat absorber 52 of the Peltier 50. The produced cold air is exhausted to the upper and lower portions of the storage space 12 through a pair of outlet portions 64 and 62 formed on top and bottom of the duct cover 60. In this case, such a flow of air is formed by means of a circulating fan (not shown) disposed on the outside of the duct cover 60. The pair of outlet portions 64 and 62 has a plurality of air ventilation holes formed thereon.
In specific, the top outlet portion 64 is formed to correspond to the cold air inlet holes 14m of the division shelf 14, and the cold air supplied to the top outlet portion is supplied to the space above the division shelf 14 through the cold air inlet holes 14m. Further, the bottom outlet portion 62 supplies the cold air to the lower portion of the storage space 12. Accordingly, the cold air circulating the storage space 12 is sucked to the heat absorber 52 of the Peltier 50 through the return portion 66 formed at the center of the duct cover 60.
The cold air, which is generated through the suction to the return portion 66 and the heat exchange with the Peltier 50, is supplied to the upper portion (above the division shelf 14) and the lower portion of the storage space 12, respectively, thereby being entirely circulated in the interior of the storage space 12. That is, the return portion 66, which is located in the middle portion of the body 10 corresponding to the Peltier 50, sucks the air with a high temperature, and after heat exchange with the introduced air through the return portion 66 is performed, the cold air generated through the heat exchange is exhausted to the interior of the storage space 12 through the outlet portions 64 and 62 formed on top and bottom of the duct cover 60.
The duct cover 60 having the return portion 66 and the pair of outlet portions 64 and 62 is configured to extend up and down so as to form a flow of air in an upward and downward direction. Further, the duct cover 60 is desirably configured to allow even the air sucked to the heat absorber 52 of the Peltier 50 from the interior of the storage space 12 through the return portion 66 to efficiently flow in the upward and downward direction.
As shown in
According to the present invention, as shown in
Further, a Peltier casing 58 is disposed on the outer surface of the body 10 where the Peltier 50 is located. Also, a cooling fan 56 is disposed inside the Peltier casing 58 to cool the heat radiator of the Peltier 50. The cooling fan 56 operates to cool the heat radiator of the Peltier 50, and so as to form a flow of air for such cooling, the Peltier casing 58 has a plurality of air ventilation holes.
As the cooling fan 56 operates, in specific, the air introduced through inlet holes 58a formed on the rear side of the Peltier casing 58 cools the heat radiator of the Peltier 50 and is then exhausted through outlet holes 58b formed on both side surfaces of the Peltier casing 58. So as to filter the external air introduced, according to the present invention, a filtering member 59 is disposed on the inlet holes 58a of the Peltier casing 58. Accordingly, the air introduced into the Peltier casing 58 is filtered through the filtering member 59, thereby keeping a region surrounding the cooling fan 56 to a clean state.
As mentioned above, the outlet portion 64 on the top of the duct cover 60 is disposed above the division shelf 14, and the lower portion of the duct cover 60 is located on the lower portion of the storage space 12. Referring to the entire circulation of air, accordingly, the circulating fan operates, and the air of the storage space 12, which has a relatively high temperature through the heat exchange with the objects, is sucked to the Peltier 50 through the return portion 66 formed at the center of the duct cover 60.
The air sucked to the Peltier 50 through the return portion 66 becomes cold through the heat exchange with the heat absorber 52 and is then exhausted to the interior of the storage space 12 through the outlet portions 64 and 62 formed on top and bottom of the duct cover 60. Next, the exhausted cold air is transferred to the objects in the storage space 12, and accordingly, the objects are kept at a low temperature. In this case, the air has a high temperature if the heat exchange with other objects occurs and is thus cold to enter the return portion 66 again. Such processes are repeatedly performed.
Next, a structure where the front and top doors 20 and 30 are opened and closed to open and close the storage space 12 of the body 10 of the small refrigerator according to the present invention will be explained briefly. As shown in
As shown in
According to the present invention, the hinge shaft 32 is disposed between a top door extension portion 34 extending downwardly from a portion of the top door 30 and a concave portion of the body 10 in which the top door extension portion 34 is accommodated. According to the present invention, so as to improve the conveniences in coupling the top door 30 to the body 10, the hinge shaft 32 disposed on the top door 30 is supported against a pair of hinge shaft support blocks 16a and 16b coupled to the body 10.
The top door 30 can be opened and closed in the upward and downward direction around the hinge shaft 32 horizontally located with respect to the body 10. Further, a pair of torsion springs 38 is fitted to the left and right of the hinge shaft 32. One end of each torsion spring 38 is supported against the body 10, and the other end against the top door 30, so that the torsion springs 38 elastically support the top door 30 in an open direction of the top door 30.
In this case, the elastic restoring force of the pair of torsion springs 38 is desirably set to a degree in which the top door 30 is opened to take out the objects in the storage space 12. In specific, if a latch disposed on the front surface of the top door 30 is released, the top door 30 is opened to a degree of openness capable of taking out the objects in the storage space 12 by means of the set elastic restoring force of the pair of torsion springs 38, so that there is no need to additionally move up the top door 30, thereby obtaining high usability.
Further, a structure where the top door 30 is locked onto the body 10 is provided on the front surface of the top door 30. Referring to
So as to open the top door 30 in such a locked state, the upper portion of the hinge shaft of the locking lever 36 has to push backwardly. That is, the corresponding portion to the front surface of the top door 30 is pushed to allow a shaft or protrusion on the underside of the front surface of the top door 30 to push the locking lever 36 backwardly so that the spring S becomes contracted to cause the locking hook 36a on the bottom end of the locking lever 36 to be released from the locking projection 17, thereby opening the top door 30. Such a locking and unlocking structure has been widely used.
Next, design elements of the body 10 and the top door 30 of the small refrigerator according to the present invention will be explained. The top door 30 has a hemispherical shape. In the description, the hemispherical shape represents a shape obtained by cutting a precisely spherical shape (truly spherical shape) in half and a similar spherical shape thereto, such as a similar hemispherical shape including an oval shape obtained by cutting a plane passing a center surface or half of the oval.
Like this, if the top door 30 is molded to the hemispherical shape, it has many advantages in view of design. In specific, traditional home appliances like refrigerators have limitations in developing the mechanical elements related to the refrigeration cycle having an influence on the performance of the home appliances. In designing such home appliances, accordingly, a design element capable of creating aesthetic sensibility from consumers is one of the most important design elements.
Recently, application of various characters to all kinds of products is trended, and accordingly, if the top door 30 is designed to the hemispherical shape, the small refrigerator according to the present invention may be very convenient to have a shape of a given character. In specific, various characters are applied to products purchased by final consumers in wide industrial fields, and they have a close relation to the consumer's desire to purchase the products.
Such characters are generally made with portions of the body of an animal or human, and if a character is provided three-dimensionally, it becomes very close to the hemispherical shape as mentioned above. For example, if there is a character using the head of an animal, the hemispherical shape is most desirable to provide the character. Contrarily, a geometrical shape such as a rectangular parallelepiped, a triangular pyramid, and the like is very disadvantageous in providing such a character.
According to the present invention, like this, the top door 30 is designed to the hemispherical shape, and when a given character is applied, accordingly, the given character can be most desirably and easily provided to the small refrigerator according to the present invention. According to the present invention, further, the body 10 has a cylindrical shape. The cylindrical body 10 corresponds to the top door 30 in outer shape. In specific, when the top door 30 is designed to the hemispherical shape, the body 10 is designed to the cylindrical shape so as to exhibit a sense of unity with the top door 30 in outer shape.
However, it is obvious that the body 10 of the small refrigerator according to the present invention is not limited to the cylindrical shape. For example, the body 10 may be changed into a box type body obtained by changing four edges of a parallelepiped into partially arch-shaped sections (cross-sections) to thus have circular or curved edges. Even in this case, the body 10 may have a generally curved shape so as to exhibit a sense of unity in design with the top door 30 having the hemispherical shape.
According to the present invention, as shown in
As shown in
Further, the machine room casing 40 has a control panel 44 disposed on the front surface thereof. The control panel 44 receives input signals for controlling the refrigerator and notifies a user of current states of the refrigerator through display. Also, the control panel 44 is designed to receive even a control signal for controlling a Bluetooth speaker (not shown) built in the machine room casing 40.
In this case, the machine room casing 40 has the Bluetooth speaker (not shown) disposed therein so as to have a Bluetooth function, and to transfer the sound generated from the Bluetooth speaker to the outside, the machine room casing 40 has a plurality of sound-transmitting holes 46 formed on the front surface thereof. Further, the machine room casing 40 has a partition wall 48 disposed therein to prevent electrical parts (the PCB substrate, and the like) from being damaged due to water.
As mentioned above, the small refrigerator according to the present invention makes use of the Peltier 50 for heat exchange. The Peltier 50 includes the heat radiator and the heat absorber, and in this case, water droplets may be produced on the Peltier 50 due to a temperature difference from the external air. If the water droplets fall down from the Peltier 50, they may give damage on the electrical parts inside the machine room casing 40. Accordingly, the partition wall 48 is disposed to isolate a portion of the machine room casing 40 corresponding to the space under the Peltier 50 from the other portion of the machine room casing 40.
Next, the above-mentioned additional parts of the small refrigerator according to the present invention will be explained in detail. The machine room casing 40 is disposed on the underside of the body 10, and it has the same shape as the body 10. The machine room casing 40 includes the controller disposed therein to drive and control the refrigerator. Further, a shelf 19 (See
As mentioned above, the small refrigerator according to the present invention is configured to provide the gentle and natural flow of cold air through the Peltier, to have the easiest shape capable of applying a given character thereto, and to come in and out the objects in a convenient way. Those skilled in the art will envision many other possible variations within the idea and technical scope of the present invention.
Next, variations that are possible in light of the above mentioned specific embodiments will be explained.
In addition to the body 10 having the cylindrical shape, as mentioned above, the body 10 may have the box-shaped body whose edges are rounded. In the embodiment of the present invention, further, the entire top door 30 having the hemispherical shape is opened and closed, but of course, it is possible that at least a portion of the top door 30 having the hemispherical shape may be opened and closed.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the top door 30 is totally open and closed, while entirely having the hemispherical shape. While the top door 30 entirely has the hemispherical shape, however, only a portion of the top door 30 may be opened and closed. Even in this case, of course, a given character may be applied to the entire top door 30 having the hemispherical shape.
In the embodiment of the present invention, further, the division shelf 14 is detachably separated upwardly from the body 10, but only if the division shelf 14 divides the storage space 12 of the body 10 into two parts, of course, it may be detachably mounted at any position. Also, the Peltier, which cools the storage space 12 of the refrigerator, may be freely varied only if it has the heat absorber exposed to the storage space of the refrigerator.
Claims
1. A small refrigerator comprising:
- a body having storage space formed therein;
- a front door for opening and closing an open front surface of the body;
- a generally hemispherical top door openable and closable supportedly in an up and down direction by means of a hinge shaft disposed in a horizontal direction to open and close an open top surface of the body;
- a division shelf for dividing the storage space of the body into upper storage space corresponding to the top door and lower storage space corresponding to the front door and having a plurality of air ventilation holes for passing cold air therethrough;
- a Peltier disposed in the middle portion of the body and having a heat absorber exposed to the storage space; and
- a duct cover disposed inside the Peltier and having a return portion molded at the center thereof to introduce the internal air of the storage space into the Peltier and top and bottom outlet portions formed on top and bottom thereof to exhaust the cold air generated through the heat exchange with the heat absorber of the Peltier from the return portion to the storage space,
- wherein the cold air exhausted from the top outlet portion of the duct cover is supplied to the upper storage space and the lower storage space formed above and under the division shelf through the plurality of air ventilation holes of the division shelf, respectively, and the cold air circulated in the upper storage space and the lower storage space is returned to the Peltier through the return portion of the duct cover.
2. The small refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the division shelf comprises a flange supportedly locked onto an open top end periphery of the body or a locking projection protruding inwardly from the open top end periphery of the body, so that the division shelf is detachably mounted on the body.
3. The small refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising a Peltier casing disposed on an outer surface of the body where the Peltier is located, a cooling fan disposed inside the Peltier casing to cool the Peltier, and a filtering member detachably mounted on a portion into which external air is introduced through the cooling fan.
4. The small refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising a machine room casing disposed on the underside of the body and having the same shape as the body, the machine room casing comprising a partition wall disposed therein to separate an interior corresponding to the space under the Peltier.
5. The small refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the heat absorber of the Peltier comprises a plurality of heat exchange fins extending in an upward and downward direction.
6. The small refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of inside lamps disposed on the inner surface of the body corresponding to the side of the division shelf, the division shelf being molded using a light-diffusing synthetic resin capable of diffusing the light generated from the inside lamps.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 30, 2020
Publication Date: Dec 1, 2022
Inventors: Youn Ho JUNG (Daegu), Il Jin YOUN (Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do)
Application Number: 17/773,207