US-12618607-B2 - Refrigerator having inclined drain pipe disposed at lower portion of refrigerator

US12618607B2US 12618607 B2US12618607 B2US 12618607B2US-12618607-B2

Abstract

A refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator comprises: a cabinet; a storage chamber, a refrigeration cavity, a heat dissipation machine compartment, and a front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment extends obliquely upwards from front to back from the middle of a cabinet bottom plate; an evaporation dish; a drain pipe extends obliquely downwards from front to back from the bottom of the refrigeration cavity, passes through the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment and then further extends to the evaporation dish; a water pipe securing member is arranged at the position where the drain pipe passes through the front wall; the water pipe securing member has a first securing face, and the first securing face is abutting the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment.

Inventors

Lingyun DONG
BIN FEI
Changzhi Wang
Jianquan Chen

Assignees

QINGDAO HAIER REFRIGERATOR CO., LTD.
Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20220728
Priority Date: 20211018

Claims (11)

1 . A refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator, comprising: a cabinet, defining a storage chamber therein, a refrigeration cavity for arranging an evaporator formed in a bottom portion of the storage chamber, and the cabinet having a heat dissipation machine compartment at a rear bottom portion of the refrigeration cavity, a front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment extending from a middle of a bottom plate of the cabinet obliquely upwards along a front-to-back direction; an evaporation dish, arranged in the heat dissipation machine compartment; the inclined drain pipe, extending obliquely downwards from a bottom portion of the refrigeration cavity along the front-to-back direction, passing through the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment and further extending to the evaporation dish, thereby draining defrost water from the refrigeration cavity to the evaporation dish; a water pipe securing member, arranged at a position where the inclined drain pipe passes through the front wall, and used for securing the inclined drain pipe, the water pipe securing member having a first securing face, which is used to abut the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment; wherein the water pipe securing member is of an integrative construction and disposed in the heat dissipation machine compartment, and the first securing face is a front surface of the water pipe securing member, the water pipe securing member has a perforating hole for the inclined drain pipe to pass through, a shape of an opening of the perforating hole formed on the first securing face is consistent with that of the front wall through-hole.
2 . The refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment has a front wall through-hole where the inclined drain pipe passes through, a shape of the front wall through-hole is consistent with a cross-sectional shape of the inclined drain pipe on a plane where the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment is located.
3 . The refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein the water pipe securing member has a second fixing surface on a side opposite to the first securing face, the second fixing surface is perpendicular to an axial direction of the inclined drain pipe, thereby making a shape of an opening of the perforating hole formed on the second fixing surface consistent with a cross-section of the inclined drain pipe.
4 . The refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the inclined drain pipe comprises: a first section, one end of the first section is connected to the bottom portion of the refrigeration cavity, the other end of the first section passes through the perforating hole and defines a connecting structure on an outer perimeter thereof; a second section, connected to the other end of the first section and extending to the evaporation dish.
5 . The refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator according to claim 4 , wherein the connecting structure comprises a threaded structure, and the refrigerator further comprises a fixing nut, the fixing nut is detachably connected to the threaded structure, an end of the fixing nut is abutting against the second fixing surface, to secure the inclined drain pipe and the water pipe securing member.
6 . The refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator according to claim 4 , wherein the first section is a rigid tube; at least a part of the second section is a corrugated tube; and/or an inclination angle of the inclined drain pipe is greater than or equal to 5 degrees.
7 . The refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator according to claim 4 , wherein the first section defines at least one positioning rib along the axial direction on a radial outer circumference of a segment through the perforating hole; the perforating hole forms a positioning slot on the radial outer circumference that matches the positioning rib, to limit the position of the first section through the combination of the positioning rib and the positioning slot.
8 . The refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein an opening of the perforating hole formed on the first securing face is located in the middle of the first securing face; the first securing face has spaces around the opening that abut the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment.
9 . The refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator according to claim 8 , wherein the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment defines a protrusion in an area corresponding to the water pipe securing member; and the water pipe securing member is embedded in a recess behind the protrusion.
10 . The refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising: an air duct component, arranged at a middle area of the heat dissipation machine compartment along a transverse direction, dividing the heat dissipation machine compartment along the transverse direction of the cabinet into a first heat dissipation chamber and a second heat dissipation chamber, the air duct component has a heat dissipation fan mounted on a side facing towards the first heat dissipation chamber, and a condenser mounted on a side facing towards the second heat dissipation chamber; a compressor, installed in the first heat dissipation chamber; the evaporation dish installed in the second heat dissipation chamber.
11 . A refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator, comprising: a cabinet, defining a storage chamber therein, a refrigeration cavity for arranging an evaporator formed in a bottom portion of the storage chamber, and the cabinet having a heat dissipation machine compartment at a rear bottom portion of the refrigeration cavity, a front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment extending from a middle of a bottom plate of the cabinet obliquely upwards along a front-to-back direction; an evaporation dish, arranged in the heat dissipation machine compartment; the inclined drain pipe, extending obliquely downwards from a bottom portion of the refrigeration cavity along the front-to-back direction, passing through the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment and further extending to the evaporation dish, thereby draining defrost water from the refrigeration cavity to the evaporation dish; a water pipe securing member, arranged at a position where the inclined drain pipe passes through the front wall, and used for securing the inclined drain pipe, the water pipe securing member having a first securing face, which is used to abut the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment; wherein the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment has a front wall through-hole where the inclined drain pipe passes through, a shape of the front wall through-hole is consistent with a cross-sectional shape of the inclined drain pipe on a plane where the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment is located; and the water pipe securing member has a perforating hole for the inclined drain pipe to pass through, a shape of an opening of the perforating hole formed on the first securing face is consistent with that of the front wall through-hole.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a national phase entry of International Application No. PCT/CN2022/108725, filed Jul. 28, 2022, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202111211445.0, filed Oct. 18, 2021, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present application belongs to the technical field of refrigeration equipment technology, and more particularly relates to a refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator. BACKGROUND In a refrigerator with a bottom-placed evaporator, the evaporator is located in a cooling chamber at a bottom side of a storage chamber, thereby elevating the storage chamber to facilitate user access to stored items at the bottom side. A heat dissipation compartment of the refrigerator is situated at a rear bottom part of the refrigerator, i.e., below and behind the cooling chamber, to expand a heat dissipation space as much as possible. A front wall of the heat dissipation compartment (also known as the refrigerator's bottom steel plate) is generally inclined. A drain pipe drains from a bottom portion of the cooling chamber to an evaporation dish in the heat dissipation compartment. A relative positioning of the cooling chamber and the heat dissipation compartment reduces the drainage angle of the drain pipe. Compared to traditional refrigerators where the drain pipe vertically penetrates the bottom steel plate, the drain pipe of the refrigerator with the bottom-placed evaporator forms an acute angle with the bottom steel plate, thereby making it difficult to secure and prone to gaps. When foaming between the cooling chamber and the heat dissipation compartment, foaming material may easily overflow into the heat dissipation compartment through a penetration point. Additionally, due to the small drainage angle, the penetration point is prone to drainage blockages. Reference to any prior art in the specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Europe or any other jurisdiction or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be understood and regarded as relevant by a person skilled in the art. SUMMARY An object of the present application is to provide a refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator that overcomes or at least partially solves aforementioned problems. A further object of the present application is to reduce the difficulty of securing the drain pipe as it enters the heat dissipation machine compartment. A further aim is to prevent overflow at the penetration point of the drain pipe. In particular, the present application is directed to a refrigerator having an inclined drain pipe disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator, comprising: a cabinet, defining a storage chamber therein, a refrigeration cavity for arranging an evaporator formed in a bottom portion of the storage chamber, and the cabinet having a heat dissipation machine compartment at a rear bottom portion of the refrigeration cavity, a front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment extending from a middle of a bottom plate of the cabinet obliquely upwards along a front-to-back direction;an evaporation dish, arranged in the heat dissipation machine compartment;a drain pipe, extending obliquely downwards from a bottom portion of the refrigeration cavity along the front-to-back direction, passing through the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment and further extending to the evaporation dish, thereby draining defrost water from the refrigeration cavity to the evaporation dish;a water pipe securing member, arranged at a position where the drain pipe passes through the front wall, and used for securing the drain pipe, the water pipe securing member having a first securing face, which is used to abut the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment. Further, the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment has a front wall through-hole where the drain pipe passes through, a shape of the front wall through-hole is consistent with a cross-sectional shape of the drain pipe on a plane where the front wall of the heat dissipation machine compartment is located; and the water pipe securing member has a perforating hole for the drain pipe to pass through, a shape of an opening of the perforating hole formed on the first securing face is consistent with that of the front wall through-hole. Further, the water pipe securing member has a second fixing surface on a side opposite to the first securing face, the second fixing surface is perpendicular to an axial direction of the drain pipe, thereby making a shape of an opening of the perforating hole formed on the second fixing surface consistent with a cross-section of the drain pipe. Further, the drain pipe comprises: a first section,