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EP-4443087-B1 - REFRIGERATOR

EP4443087B1EP 4443087 B1EP4443087 B1EP 4443087B1EP-4443087-B1

Inventors

  • Han, Seongin

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240129

Claims (15)

  1. A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet (10) including an inner case (13) forming a storage space, an outer case (11) disposed outside the inner case (13) to form an outer surface, an insulating material filled between the inner case (13) and the outer case (11), and a back cover (70) forming a rear surface; a door (21) configured to open and close the storage space; a module case (40) forming a recessed accommodation space on an upper surface of the outer case (11); a signal receiver (90) disposed in front of the module case (40) and configured to receive a signal provided by the user; a speaker module (50) disposed in the accommodation space of the module case (40) and driven by the signal; and characterized in that the refrigerator further comprises: a case cover (48) that partially shields the module case (40) and partially exposes the module case (40), wherein the case cover (48) is placed on the speaker module (50) to cover an upper surface of the speaker module (50), and wherein an upper surface of the case cover (48) is positioned on the same plane as an upper surface of an upper portion wall (111) of the outer case (11).
  2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the outer case (11) has an upper opening (11a) being opened upward, and wherein the module case (40) is mounted to shield the upper opening (11a).
  3. The refrigerator of claim 1 or 2, further comprising a drain pipe (60) coupled to the module case (40) and the back cover (70) and configured to discharge water inside the module case (40) to the outside of the cabinet (10), wherein the module case (40) includes a drain hole (41a) connected to the drain pipe (40) and opened.
  4. The refrigerator of claim 3, further comprising: a grille pan (14) disposed in the storage space and forming a cold air discharge port (14b) discharging cold air toward the front, wherein the grille pan (14) is disposed to overlap the module case (40) in a vertical direction, and wherein the drain hole (41a) is disposed behind the cold air discharge port (14b).
  5. The refrigerator of claim 3 or 4, wherein the module case (40) includes a lower surface portion (41) where the drain hole (41a) is formed, wherein the lower surface portion (41) includes an inclined surface inclined toward the drain hole (41a).
  6. The refrigerator of claim 5, wherein the lower surface portion (41) is disposed to be spaced apart from the speaker module (50) in the vertical direction.
  7. The refrigerator of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the module case (40) further includes: a lower surface portion (41) forming a lower surface; a first side wall portion (42) extending upward from the outer edge of the lower surface portion (41); and a first seating part (43) extending outward from the upper end of the first side wall portion (42) and configured to support the speaker module (50).
  8. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein the module case (40) further includes: a second side wall portion (44) extending upward from the outer edge of the first seating part (43); and an output guide (49) connected to the second side wall portion (44) and including an inclined surface inclined outward from the second side wall portion (44); and/or the speaker module (50) includes a first output part (51) disposed toward the front and a second output part (52) disposed toward the rear, and/or the output guide (49) includes a first output guide (491) aligned with the first output part (51) and a second output guide (492) aligned with the second output part (52).
  9. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the first output part (51) outputs a higher-pitched sound than the second output part (52), and/or the width of the first output guide (491) in a left and right direction are larger than the width of the second output guide (492) in the left and right direction.
  10. The refrigerator of claim 8 or 9, wherein the module case (40) includes at least one of a second seating part (45) extending outward from the upper end of the second side wall portion (44), and the case cover (48) is seated on the second seating part (45).
  11. The refrigerator of claim 10, wherein the output guide (49) does not overlap with the case cover (48) and thus is exposed to the upper portion wall (111); and/or the speaker module (50) does not protrude upward compared to the upper surface of the outer case (11).
  12. The refrigerator of any one of the preceding claims 8-11, wherein the height of the second side wall portion (44) is greater than the thickness of the speaker module (50) in the vertical direction.
  13. The refrigerator of any one of the preceding claims 7-12, wherein the module case (40) includes a fixing protrusion (47) disposed on the lower surface portion (41), wherein the speaker module (50) includes a fixing part configured to insert the fixing protrusion (47) therein.
  14. The refrigerator of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: a door panel (30) provided on a front surface of the door (21) and configured to color change; a control assembly (80) provided at the rear surface of the cabinet (10), wherein the control assembly (80) includes a first controller (82) configured to control the speaker module (50) through the signal and a second controller (83) configured to control a door light of the door panel (30), preferably the control assembly (80) is provided with a core part (84) disposed between the first controller (82) and the second controller (83) and includes ferrite.
  15. The refrigerator of claim 14, further comprising a drain pipe (60) connected to the module case (40) and the back cover (70) and configured to discharge water inside the module case (40) to the outside of the cabinet (10), wherein the drain pipe (60) includes a first coupling part (61) coupled to the module case (40) and a second coupling part (62) coupled to the back cover (70), and wherein the second coupling part (62) is disposed below the control assembly (80).

Description

BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator. Generally, a refrigerator is a device used to keep food fresh for a long period of time. This refrigerator basically has a certain size, so when the refrigerator is installed on one wall of a kitchen, a living room, or the like, outwardly, the refrigerator appears to protrude from the wall by the size. Due to this installation structure, there is a problem of poor aesthetics and poor usability in terms of space. As an example to solve this problem, a refrigerator can be installed and used as a built-in furniture in a furniture cabinet. Meanwhile, recently released home appliances placed indoors have various additional functions added in addition to the functions originally performed by the home appliances, thereby increasing user convenience. In a case of the conventional refrigerator, the refrigerator could simply perform the function of storing food at low temperature. However, in recent years, the need for additional functions in addition to food storage functions has increased. For example, the refrigerator is released which is equipped with various multimedia devices on one side of the door and can automatically perform desired functions by recognizing the user's voice or play music desired by the user through a speaker module. In Korean Patent Publication No. 1245886, as a disclosure related to "Speaker Mounting Structure for Refrigerator", a refrigerator is disclosed which is configured to have a speaker provided on one side of the door cap decoration which forms the outer shape of the upper portion of the refrigerating chamber door and outputs sound to the outside and a speaker hole which opens corresponding to the position of the speaker. However, in the case of a refrigerator according to the prior art, the speaker module installed therein may protrude outside the refrigerator. Therefore, if the refrigerator is embedded in a furniture cabinet, a separate customized furniture cabinet may be needed, or even if the refrigerator is embedded, the efficiency of the internal space of the furniture cabinet may be low. In addition, in the case of a refrigerator according to the prior art, if the refrigerator is placed outdoors and it is rainy, or if a ceiling leak occurs indoors where the refrigerator is placed, the refrigerator may be flooded and a problem may occur in the speaker module. JP 2021 038856 A presents a refrigerator that includes: a heat insulation box body; and a speaker disposed at a top surface of the heat insulation box body. The refrigerator is configured to emit sound toward a lateral side from the speaker. US 2018/031312 A1 presents a refrigerator that includes a speaker assembly disposed on an upper side of the cabinet so as to be inclined forward, and the speaker assembly is disposed to be exposed to the outside to transmit sound to the outside of the refrigerator. Further, there is a cover member disposed on the upper side of the speaker assembly. The refrigerator also includes a rotatable USB port located above the door so that the user may connect the USB device to the USB port. CN 107 003 061 A provides a refrigerator. In the refrigerator, a microphone is disposed inside of a hinge cover of a hinge section that connects a door and a main body section to each other. CN 217 269 545 U provides a hinge assembly and refrigeration equipment, the hinge assembly comprises a hinge box, the hinge assembly further comprises a loudspeaker arranged in the hinge box, the hinge box is provided with a sound guide structure which enables sound of the loudspeaker to be transmitted forwards, and the loudspeaker is arranged in the hinge box. The sound guide structure is a recessed part which is arranged on the front side of the loudspeaker and is recessed downwards from the hinge box, and the recessed part is provided with two side walls which are perpendicular to the top wall of the hinge box and are arranged along the transverse direction, a rear side wall which is connected with the two side walls, and a bottom wall which is connected with the two side walls and the rear side wall. The height of the bottom face of the bottom wall gradually extends upwards from back to front, at least one of the two side walls, in the transverse direction, of the sunken part extends outwards in an offset mode, and the offset angle ranges from 1 degree to 5 degrees. CN 115 727 608 A provides a refrigerator that includes: a refrigerator body; a wireless communication unit; a power supply unit for supplying power to the refrigerator body; and a power supply unit that supplies power to the wireless communication unit. The pause and restart of the power supply of the wireless communication unit can be independently controlled from a power supply unit for supplying power to the refrigerator main body. SUMMARY An object of an embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator having a structure in which the speaker module is not exposed when view