KR-20260063968-A - Defrosting and ice making of refrigerators and freezers using carbon fibers, and a heating element to prevent condensation, and a method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to manufacturing a heating element of a simple structure by using carbon fiber as a heating element to produce a heater for defrosting, freezing, and preventing condensation in refrigerators and freezers, by directly arranging carbon fibers or a coating for surface damage prevention and insulation on a sheet and fixing and bonding them with heat bonding and adhesive, by bonding the upper and lower sheets with adhesive, or by sewing with thread and metal thread. In addition, the present invention is characterized by using various types of high-resistance carbon fibers to overcome the limitations of existing products, which are characterized by high heat generation due to low resistance, and to directly transfer heat to insulation and heat dissipation sheets, and by using a material that is stable at temperatures of 100°C or lower for insulation and bonding to achieve high heat transfer and thermal efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs.

Inventors

• 오진현

Assignees

• 주식회사 국제커머스그룹

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241031

Claims (1)

1. In a heating element using carbon fiber for defrosting, ice making, and preventing condensation in refrigerators and freezers, and a method for manufacturing the same, Using carbon fiber with higher resistance than ordinary heating wires as the heating element's heating wire; The above carbon fibers, which are not coated with an insulating coating or have a surface treatment, are directly arranged on a sheet that simultaneously provides insulation and heat dissipation to increase thermal efficiency; The above insulating and heat dissipating sheets shall have a thickness of 10㎛ to 2000㎛, and shall be two sheets or Bonding two or more sheets together; A method of bonding two upper and lower insulating sheets as described above, comprising heat bonding, adhesive bonding, bonding of sheets coated with an adhesive, or sewing with heat-resistant fibers, threads, metal threads, etc.; Physical joining using metal materials such as rivets and tackers; Since the above carbon fiber is not compatible with other materials, when forming an electrode, the metal wire connecting the carbon fiber and the power source is twisted; Fixing the upper and lower parts with a strong metal piece, a metal tape with an electrically conductive adhesive, a heat-resistant tape equipped with an adhesive, a conductive paste, a general heat-resistant adhesive, etc.; Fixing by crimping with a sleeve, clip, crimp terminal, metal plate, etc.; A heating element for defrosting, ice making, and condensation prevention using carbon fibers for a refrigerator or freezer, and a method for manufacturing the same, characterized by including: coating the carbon fibers so that they are not severed or damaged by physical external forces during handling.

Description

Defrosting and ice making of refrigerators and freezers using carbon fibers, and a heating element to prevent condensation, and a method of manufacturing the same The present invention relates to a device for defrosting, making ice, and preventing condensation in refrigerators, freezers, etc., and more specifically, to a heater attached to an evaporator of a refrigerator or freezer, etc., and to a door of a refrigerator or freezer, etc., used for defrosting and making ice, and to a heater attached to one or more corners of a door that contacts the main body of a refrigerator or freezer, or to one or more parts that contact the door of a refrigerator or freezer, so as to heat the space between the main body and the door of a refrigerator or freezer so as to prevent cold air escaping between the main body and the door contact surface of the refrigerator or freezer from condensing moisture in the atmosphere and forming water on the outer surface of the refrigerator or freezer. In food storage devices currently in use, such as refrigerators and freezers, the increase in ambient moisture inside the refrigerator and freezer due to low temperatures, as well as moisture emitted from the stored items, is cooled by the cold air and adheres to the inner walls of the refrigerator and freezer in the form of frost and ice. In addition, ice and frost are generated and adhered to the pipes of the evaporator that generates the cold air used in the freezer and refrigerator, and to the components constituting the evaporator, just as frost and ice adhere to the inside of the refrigerator and freezer. The frost and ice generated and attached in this way are removed by heating them with heaters attached to the front, back, top, or bottom of the evaporator. In addition, some cold air leaks out and comes into contact with the atmosphere where the refrigerator and freezer doors come into contact with the main body. When moisture saturated in the atmosphere meets the cold air leaked from the refrigerator and freezer, the dew point temperature is lowered, causing the supersaturated moisture to condense into water, and dew forms around the parts of the refrigerator and freezer that come into contact with the doors, that is, the parts where cold air leaks. The dew generated by the series of processes described above not only makes the exterior of the refrigerator and freezer dirty but also causes discomfort when it gets on the user's body, and furthermore, poses a risk of electric shock if there is a short circuit. To prevent this, one or more heaters are installed at the point where the door meets the main body of the refrigerator to heat the cold air leaking from the refrigerator and freezer, thereby preventing dew from forming on the surface of the refrigerator and freezer. To solve the problems described above, current technology uses metal heating wires such as nickel-chromium alloy wire (also known as nichrome wire) and iron-chromium alloy wire (also known as iron-chromium wire) as heating wires, as shown in [Fig. 1]. Since their resistance is at the level of 0.001Ω to 10Ω/m, heating wires ranging from a few meters to several hundred meters are required to output the power of 5W to 100W, which is the power output of a heating element in a refrigerator or freezer. For example, when making a 50W defrosting and de-icing heater with a heating wire made of nichrome with a resistance of 1Ω per meter using a 220V household power supply, the required resistance of the heating wire is 968Ω (R= V²/W = 48400/50 = 968) and the length is 968m. Since it is very difficult to arrange a long heating wire of 968m in a small area of a heating element used in refrigerators and freezers, the method currently generally used is as shown in the structure of the heating wire used in the conventional heater for refrigerators and freezers in [Fig. 1], in which a long metal heating wire is tightly wound around a heat-resistant glass fiber and an insulating material is coated on top to shorten the length of the heating element, and after arranging it as a heating wire, an aluminum thin film, a film, etc. are attached as a heat sink to use it as a heating element that promotes heat dissipation. Conventional heating elements produced in this way require the internal glass fibers and the outer insulating material to be heated before heat can be emitted to the outside, resulting in a slow heating time. Additionally, the insulating material acts as a heat dissipator, hindering heat transfer and reducing thermal efficiency. Furthermore, the thickness of the heating element increases due to the inclusion of glass fibers and an insulating coating. Moreover, unlike conventional heating wires, the heating wires are not arranged at a dense distance from each other, causing heat to concentrate on the wires and become higher than the surroundings, leading to poor heat distribution. Additionally, the manufacturing process for the heating wires is complex, which increases