Duct and Refrigerator Including Same

This application is a continuation application is a continuation application, under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a), of international application No. PCT/KR2023/021430, filed Dec. 22, 2023, which claims priority under 35 U. S. C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0032862, filed Mar. 13, 2023, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The present disclosure relates to a duct and a refrigerator including the same.

A refrigerator is a device that is composed of a main body including a storage compartment, and a cold air supply system configured to supply cold air to the storage compartment so as to keep food fresh. The storage compartment includes a refrigerating compartment in which food is kept refrigerated by maintaining the temperature at approximately 0 to 5 degrees Celsius, and a freezing compartment in which food is kept frozen by maintaining the temperature at approximately-30 to 0 degrees Celsius.

The refrigerator may cool the storage compartment by using a refrigeration cycle in which a refrigerant is compressed, condensed, expanded, and evaporated.

The refrigerators may be classified according to the shape of the storage compartment and the door. For example, the refrigerators may be classified into Top Mounted Freezer (TMF) type refrigerators in which a freezing compartment is formed on the top and a refrigerating compartment is formed on the bottom, Bottom Mounted Freezer (BMF) type refrigerators in which the refrigerating compartment is formed on the top and the freezing compartment is formed on the bottom, and Side By Side (SBS) type refrigerators in which the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment are arranged side by side in the left and right directions.

The present disclosure is directed to providing an improved duct and a refrigerator including the same.

Further, the present disclosure is directed to providing a duct including a structure for preventing components from being disassembled, and a refrigerator including the same.

Further, the present disclosure is directed to providing a duct having improved sealing properties and a refrigerator including the same.

Further, the present disclosure is directed to providing a duct capable of being assembled without a screw and a refrigerator including the same.

Further, the present disclosure is directed to providing a duct with improved assembling ability and productivity and a refrigerator including the same.

Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a refrigerator including: a main body including a storage compartment; an evaporator configured to generate cold air; and a duct provided to guide the cold air generated in the evaporator to the storage compartment. The duct includes a cover. The cover includes: a cover body; and a cover protrusion. The cover body is arranged to face the storage compartment. The cover protrusion includes: a first protrusion protruding from the cover body; and a second protrusion protruding from the cover body and spaced apart from the first protrusion. The duct includes an insulating member. The insulating member includes a receiving hole provided to receive the cover protrusion of the cover. The duct includes a fixer to fix the cover and the insulating member. The fixer includes a locking portion couplable to the cover protrusion received in the receiving hole. The fixer includes a deformation preventing rib to be disposed a gap between the first protrusion and the second protrusion so as to maintain the gap between the first protrusion and the second protrusion while the cover protrusion and the locking portion are coupled to each other.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a duct including: a first frame; a second frame to be disposed on one side of the first frame; and a fixer configured to fix the first frame and the second frame. The first frame includes: a first frame body; and a coupling protrusion extending along a first direction from the first frame body. The second frame includes: a second frame body; and a receiving hole formed along the second frame body to receive the coupling protrusion. The receiving hole includes: a first hole portion; a second hole portion formed on one side of the first hole portion; and a stepped portion formed between the first hole portion and the second hole portion. The fixer is provided to press the stepped portion by being inserted into the second hole portion along a second direction opposite to the first direction, so as to allow the first frame body and the second frame body to be in close contact with each other.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure and the terms used therein are not intended to limit the technical features described in the present disclosure to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include various modifications, equivalents, or substitutes of the embodiments.

In connection with the explanation of the drawings, like reference numbers may be used for like or related components.

The singular form of a noun corresponding to an item may include one item or a plurality of items, unless the relevant context clearly dictates otherwise.

In the present disclosure, each of phrases such as “A or B,” “at least one of A and B,” “at least one of A or B,” “A, B or C,” “at least one of A, B and C,” and “at least one of A, B, or C” may include any one of the items listed together in the corresponding one of the phrases, or all possible combinations thereof.

The term “and/or” includes any combination of a plurality of related components or any one of a plurality of related components.

Terms such as “first,” “second,” “primary,” and “secondary” may simply be used to distinguish a given component from other corresponding components, and do not limit the corresponding components in any other aspect (e.g., importance or order).

When a certain (e.g., first) component is referred to as being “coupled” or “connected” to another (e.g., second) component, with or without the terms “functionally” or “communicatively,” it means that the component can be connected to the other component directly (e.g., by wire), wirelessly, or via a third component.

The terms “comprises” and “has” are intended to indicate that there are features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the present disclosure, and do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

When any component is referred to as being “connected”, “coupled”, “supported” or “in contact” with another component, this includes a case in which the components are indirectly connected, coupled, supported, or in contact with each other through a third component as well as directly connected, coupled, supported, or in contact with each other.

When any component is referred to as being located “on” or “above” another component, this includes not only a case in which any component is in contact with another component but also a case in which another component is present between the two components.

Meanwhile, in the following description, terms such as “front and rear direction,” “front,” “rear,” “left and right direction,” “left,” “right,” “up and down direction,” “upper,” and “lower” are defined based on the drawings, and the shapes and positions of the respective components are not limited by these terms.

A refrigerator according to an embodiment may include a main body.

The “main body” may include an inner case, an outer case disposed on the outside of the inner case, and an insulator provided between the inner case and the outer case.

The “inner case” may include at least one of a case, a plate, a panel and a liner forming a storage compartment. The inner case may be formed as a single body or may be formed by assembling a plurality of plates. The “outer case” may form an outer appearance of the main body and may be coupled to the outside of the inner case so that the insulator is disposed between the inner case and the outer case.

The “insulator” may insulate the inside and outside of the storage compartment so that a temperature inside the storage compartment may be maintained at a set appropriate temperature without being affected by an external environment of the storage compartment. According to an embodiment, the insulator may include a foam insulator such as polyurethane foam. A foam insulator may be formed by injecting and foaming urethane foam mixed with polyurethane and foaming agent between the inner case and the outer case.

According to an embodiment, the insulator may further include a vacuum insulator in addition to the foam insulator, or may be configured as only the vacuum insulator instead of the foam insulator. The vacuum insulator may include a core material and an outer shell material that accommodates the core material and seals the inside thereof with a vacuum or a pressure close to vacuum. However, the insulator is not limited to the foam insulator or vacuum insulator described above and may include various materials that may be used for insulation.

The “storage compartment” may include a space defined by the inner case. The storage compartment may further include an inner case defining a space corresponding to the storage compartment. The storage compartment may store various items such as food, medicine, and cosmetics, and may be formed such that at least one side thereof is open to allow items to be put in and to be taken out.

The refrigerator may include one or more storage compartments. When two or more storage compartments are formed in the refrigerator, the respective storage compartments may have different uses and may be maintained at different temperatures. To this end, the respective storage compartments may be partitioned from each other by partitions including the insulators.

The storage compartment may be provided to be maintained at an appropriate temperature range depending on the use, and may include a “refrigerating chamber,” a “freezing chamber,” or a “variable temperature chamber” depending on the use and/or temperature range. The refrigerating chamber may be maintained at an appropriate temperature for storing items in a refrigerated state, and the freezing chamber may be maintained at an appropriate temperature for storing items in a frozen state. “Refrigerating” may refer to cooling items to the point where the items are not frozen, and as an example, the refrigerating chamber may be maintained in a temperature ranging from zero degree Celsius to seven degrees Celsius. “Freezing” may refer to cooling items such that the items are freezing or maintained in a frozen state, as an example, the freezing chamber may be maintained at a temperature ranging from minus twenty degrees Celsius to minus one degree Celsius. The variable temperature chamber may be used as any one of the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber, depending on a selection of a user or regardless of the selection of the user.

In addition to names such as “refrigerating chamber,” “freezing chamber,” and “variable temperature chamber,” the storage compartment may be referred to as various names such as “vegetable chamber,” “fresh chamber,” “cooling chamber,” and “ice making chamber,” terms such as “refrigerating chamber,” “freezing chamber,” and “variable temperature chamber” used below should be understood to encompass storage compartments with corresponding uses and temperature ranges, respectively.

According to an embodiment, the refrigerator may include at least one door configured to open and close the one open side of the storage compartment. The doors may each be provided to open and close the one or more storage compartments, or the one door may be provided to open and close a plurality of the storage compartments. The door may be rotatably or slidingly installed on a front side of the main body.

The “door” may be configured to seal the storage compartment when closed. Like the main body, the door may include the insulator to insulate the storage compartment when closed.

According to an embodiment, the door may include a door outer plate forming a front surface of the door, a door inner plate forming a rear surface of the door and facing the storage compartment, an upper cap, a lower cap, and a door insulator provided inside the upper and lower caps.

Edges of the door inner plate may be provided with a gasket sealing the storage compartment by coming into close contact with the front side of the main body when the door is closed. The door inner plate may include a dyke protruding rearward so that a door basket for storing items is mounted.

According to an embodiment, the door may include a door body, and a front panel detachably coupled to a front side of the door body and forming the front surface of the door. The door body may include the door outer plate forming a front surface of the door body, the door inner plate forming a rear surface of the door body and facing the storage compartment, the upper cap, the lower cap, and the door insulator provided inside the upper and lower caps.

Refrigerators may be classified into a French door type, a side-by-side type, a bottom mounted freezer (BMF) type, a top mounted freezer (TMF) type, and a one-door refrigerator type depending on the arrangement of doors and storage compartments.

According to an embodiment, the refrigerator may include a cold air supply system configured to supply cold air to the storage compartment.

The “cold air supply device” may include a machine, mechanism, electronic device, and/or a system combining them capable of generating cold air and guiding the cold air to cool the storage compartment.

According to an embodiment, the cold air supply system may generate cold air through a refrigeration cycle including compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation processes of a refrigerant. To this end, the cold air supply system may include a refrigeration cycle device having a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator capable of driving the refrigeration cycle. According to an embodiment, the cold air supply system may include a semiconductor such as a thermoelectric element. The thermoelectric element may cool the storage compartment by generating heat and cooling through the Peltier effect.

According to an embodiment, the refrigerator may include a machine room in which at least some components belonging to the cold air supply system are disposed.

The “machine room” may be provided to be partitioned and insulated from the storage compartment in order to prevent heat generated from the components disposed in the machine room from being transferred to the storage compartment. The inside of the machine room may be configured to communicate with the outside of the main body to dissipate heat from the components disposed inside the machine room.

According to an embodiment, the refrigerator may include a dispenser provided on the door to provide water and/or ice. The dispenser may be provided on the door such that the user may access the door without opening the door.

According to an embodiment, the refrigerator may include an ice making device provided to produce ice. The ice making device may include an ice making tray provided to store water, an ice moving device provided to separate the ice from the ice making tray, and an ice bucket provided to store the ice produced in the ice making tray.

According to an embodiment, the refrigerator may include a controller configured to control the refrigerator.

The “controller” may include memory provided to store or remember programs and/or data for controlling the refrigerator, and a processor provided to output a control signal for controlling the cold air supply system and the like according to the programs and/or data stored in the memory.

The memory stores or records a variety of information, data, commands, programs, and the like required for operations of the refrigerator. The memory may remember temporary data generated while generating control signals for controlling components included in the refrigerator. The memory may include at least one of volatile memory and non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof.

The processor controls the overall operation of the refrigerator. The processor may control the components of the refrigerator by executing the programs stored in the memory. The processor may include a separate NPU to perform operations of an artificial intelligence model. The processor may also include a central processor, a graphics processor (GPU), and the like. The processor may generate a control signal for controlling an operation of the cold air supply system. For example, the processor may receive temperature information of the storage compartment from a temperature sensor, and generate a cooling control signal for controlling the operation of the cold air supply system based on the temperature information of the storage compartment.