Search

EP-4737825-A1 - REFRIGERATOR

EP4737825A1EP 4737825 A1EP4737825 A1EP 4737825A1EP-4737825-A1

Abstract

Provided is a refrigerator. A refrigerator includes a cabinet having a storage chamber and a refrigerator door opening and closing the storage chamber. The refrigerator door includes a first door rotatably mounted to open and close the storage chamber, and a second door rotatably mounted to the first door to open and close a storage part of the first door. The refrigerator includes a cool air supply device configured to supply cool air to the storage part. The cool air supply device includes a cooling fan and a suction duct. The cooling fan is mounted on an upper end of an upstream side of the suction duct based on a flow direction of the cool air. This can result in supplying cool air to an upper side of the storage part.

Inventors

  • BAIK, Wookyung
  • LEE, HEEJUN
  • SHIN, Jaehoon
  • Seo, Changho
  • CHANG, Jinho

Assignees

  • LG Electronics Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20251031

Claims (15)

  1. A refrigerator characterized by comprising: a cabinet (100) having a storage chamber (101); a refrigerator door having a storage part (109, 121), and configured to open and close the storage chamber; and a cool air supply device (130) configured to supply cool air to the storage part such that the cool air of the storage chamber circulates via the storage part, wherein the cool air supply device (130) comprises: a cooling fan (150) arranged on the refrigerator door to suck in the cool air from the storage chamber; and a suction duct (132) connected to the cooling fan and an upper portion of the storage part to transmit the cool air sucked by the cooling fan to the upper portion of the storage part, the storage part (109, 121) comprises an inlet (156) formed at a top thereof, the storage part (109, 121) comprises a discharge port (122) formed at a bottom thereof to discharge the cool air introduced through the inlet into the storage part, and the suction duct (132) comprises a bent part (160) formed at a preset angle with respect to a horizontal line through the inlet, the bent part (160) hiding the cooling fan (150).
  2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the storage chamber (101) comprises a refrigerating chamber (102), the refrigerator door comprises: a first door (105) having the storage part and rotatably mounted on the cabinet to open and close the refrigerating chamber; and a second door (124) rotatably mounted to the first door to open and close the storage part, and the second door (124) is made of a transparent material so that a user can see the storage part.
  3. The refrigerator of claim 1 or 2, wherein the refrigerator door further comprises: an ice-making unit (116) arranged on a rear wall of the storage part; and an insulating wall (115) arranged between the storage part and the ice-making unit and having a preset thickness.
  4. The refrigerator of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cool air supply device (130) is arranged in an upper portion of the refrigerator door, and the suction duct (132) comprises: a first bent portion (161) arranged on a downstream side of the cooling fan based on a flow direction of the cool air and inclined upward in one direction with respect to the horizontal line; a second bent portion (167) formed on a downstream side of the first bent portion to be inclined downward in the one direction; and a connecting portion (164) arranged between the first bent portion and the second bent portion, to connect the first bent portion and the second bent portion.
  5. The refrigerator of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cooling fan (150) is arranged on one side of the suction duct to be inclined downward toward the storage chamber.
  6. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the suction duct (132) comprises: a duct body (133) accommodating the cooling fan and forming a flow path for the cool air; and the bent part formed to be bent at a downstream side of the duct body based on a flow direction of the cool air, the bent part (160) is arranged on a front end of the duct body, and the bent part (160) comprises: a first bent portion (161) formed to be inclined upward with respect to the horizontal line passing through a lowermost end of the duct body in one direction; and a second bent portion (167) connected to a front end of the first bent portion and formed to be inclined downward in the one direction.
  7. The refrigerator of claim 6, wherein the cooling fan (150) is arranged inside the duct body (133) to be inclined downward toward the storage chamber (101), and a height of the upper end of the second bent portion (167) based on the horizontal line is equal to or greater than a lowest point of the cooling fan (150).
  8. The refrigerator of claim 6 or 7, wherein the duct body (133) comprises: an upper duct (134) having the cooling fan (150) mounted thereto, and accommodating an upper portion of the cooling fan; and a lower duct (135) coupled to a lower portion of the upper duct and accommodating a lower portion of the cooling fan, the first bent portion (161) comprises: a first upper bent portion (162) arranged on a downstream side of the upper duct (134) based on a flow direction of the cool air, and inclined upward from the upper duct; and a first lower bent portion (163) arranged on a downstream side of the lower duct (135), and bent upward from the lower duct, and the second bent portion (167) comprises: a second upper bent portion (168) connected to a downstream end of the first upper bent portion (162), and bent downward from the first upper bent portion; and a second lower bent portion (169) connected to a downstream end of the first lower bent portion (163), and bent downward from the first lower bent portion.
  9. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the suction duct (132) comprises: a fan mounting portion (136) protruding upward from the upper duct (134), and having a fan accommodating portion (137) therein; and a fan cover (140) mounted to cover an upper portion of the fan mounting portion, and having a grill portion (141).
  10. The refrigerator of claim 9, wherein the first door (105) comprises: a door outer case (114) arranged toward the storage chamber (101); and a suction port (131) formed on an upper surface of the door outer case, and the suction duct (132) comprises: a flange (143) formed to protrude from an upper portion of the fan mounting portion (136) to overlap the upper surface of the door outer case; and a coupling guide (144) protruding from an inner end of the flange to be in surface contact with an inner surface of the suction port (131).
  11. The refrigerator of any of claims 6 to 10, wherein the first door (105) comprises: a door outer case (114) arranged toward the storage chamber (101) and comprising a suction port (131); a door inner case (108) accommodated in the door outer case, and comprising an inlet (156) fluidly connected to the suction port, the suction duct (132) comprises: a first connecting portion (171) protruding from a front end of the bent part (160), and connected to an upper surface of the door inner case; and a second connecting portion (172) protruding downward from the front end of the bent part and connected to a rear surface of the door inner case, and the inlet (156) is positioned between the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion.
  12. The refrigerator of any of claims 2 to 11, wherein the first door (105) comprises: a door frame arranged toward the second door (124); a door outer case (114) arranged toward the storage chamber from the door frame; a suction port (131) communicating with the storage chamber, and formed on an upper side of the door outer case; a door inner case (108) accommodated inside the door outer case, and forming the storage part; and an inlet (156) formed on an upper rear surface of the door inner case toward the storage chamber, and fluidly connected to the suction port, the suction duct (132) extends from the suction port (131) to the inlet (156), and the suction port (131) is positioned higher than the inlet (156).
  13. The refrigerator of any of claims 6 to 12, wherein the suction duct (132) comprises: a plurality of first boss portions (173) formed inside the duct body (133) to protrude from one side surface to an opposite side surface in an up-down direction, to support an inner surface of the duct body; and a second boss portion (175) formed inside the bent part (160) to protrude from one side surface to an opposite side surface in a direction inclined at a preset angle with respect to the up-down direction, to support an inner surface of the bent part.
  14. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the cool air supply device (130) is arranged on a side surface of the first door (105).
  15. The refrigerator of claim 14, wherein the first door (105) comprises: a door outer case (114) arranged toward the storage chamber; a suction port (231) formed on a lower portion of a side surface of the door outer case; a door inner case (108) accommodated inside the door outer case; and an inlet (256) formed on a lower portion of a side surface of the door inner case to communicate with the suction port, and the cool air supply device (230) comprises: a first grill portion (253) mounted on the suction port (131); a second grill portion (254) mounted on the inlet (156); and a fan accommodating portion (252) coupled to one side of the suction duct connecting the suction port and the inlet port, and accommodating the cooling fan.

Description

BACKGROUND 1. Field The disclosure relates to a refrigerator. 2. Description of the Related Art In general, a refrigerator is a machine which keeps objects fresh or frozen. As Prior Art patent document related to storage in a refrigerated state in a refrigerator, Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0084003 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Document"; published on June 21, 2022) discloses a refrigerator. According to the patent document, a refrigerator may include a cabinet forming a storage chamber, a heat exchange chamber formed inside the cabinet, an evaporator arranged in the heat exchange chamber, a door opening and closing at least a portion of the storage chamber, a housing arranged in the door and forming a storage space, and a duct guiding cool air generated in the evaporator into the housing and defining a cool air flow path which extends from the heat exchange chamber and is connected to the door at a position where the door is closed. The duct may include a first duct extending forward along at least one wall of an inner case of the cabinet away from the heat exchange chamber, and the housing may include a cool air inlet and a cool air outlet. The refrigerator can cool the storage space of the housing by delivering the cool air generated in the evaporator to the housing of the door through the duct. However, there is a problem in that the cool air generated in the evaporator is not only supplied to the storage chamber of the cabinet, but also supplied to the housing through the duct, causing fluctuations in cycle operation. Due to a structure in which the duct is connected to the heat exchange chamber, which is located in the lower portion of the rear surface of the cabinet, and to the lower portion of the side surface of the door, it is difficult to supply cool air from bottom to top of the door or circulate cool air inside the storage space. The first duct is embedded to extend to the side surface of the door along the at least one wall of the inner case of the cabinet, which causes deterioration of insulation performance of the refrigerator. SUMMARY The disclosure is directed to providing a refrigerator with a structure which is capable of solving those problems and other drawbacks. A first aspect is to provide a refrigerator with a structure which is capable of supplying cool air from a refrigerating chamber to a storage space inside a door. A second aspect is to provide a refrigerator with a structure which is capable of achieving a temperature similar to a temperature of a refrigerating chamber. A third aspect is to provide a refrigerator with a structure which is capable of suppressing the deterioration of insulation performance of the refrigerator due to the use of a separate duct embedded in a cabinet. A fourth aspect is to provide a refrigerator with a structure which is capable of improving the circulation of cool air to pass through an accommodating portion inside a door without fluctuations in cycle operation. A fifth aspect is to provide a refrigerator with a structure which is capable of suppressing a cooling fan mounted in a door from being exposed to outside. As a result of an intensive research, the inventors of the disclosure can achieve the first to fifth aspects by the following embodiments of the disclosure. In order to achieve those aspects the above-described object, according to an embodiment, a refrigerator includes a cabinet having a storage chamber, a refrigerator door having a storage part and opening and closing the storage chamber, and a cool air supply device configured to supply cool air of the storage chamber to the storage part so that the cool air is circulated through the storage part. The cool air supply device may include a cooling fan arranged on the refrigerator door to suck in the cool air from the storage chamber, and a suction duct connected to the cooling fan and an upper portion of the storage part to transmit the cool air sucked by the cooling fan to the upper portion of the storage part. With the configuration, the cool air supply device can supply cool air to the storage part of the refrigerator door in a cool air circulation manner. According to an embodiment, the cool air supply device may be positioned in an upper portion of the refrigerator door. Accordingly, the cool air supply device can supply cool air from the storage chamber to the upper side of the storage part. According to an embodiment, the storage chamber may include a refrigerating chamber. The refrigerator door may include a first door having the storage part and rotatably mounted on the cabinet to open and close the refrigerating chamber, and a second door rotatably mounted to the first door to open and close the storage part. Accordingly, the cool air supply device can supply cool air to the storage part of the first door. According to an embodiment, the second door may be made of a transparent material so that a user can see the storage part. According to an embodiment, the r