Title of Invention

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CIRCULATING COOL AIR IN REFRIGERATOR

Abstract

A method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator according to the present invention includes the steps of maintaining the inside of the refrigerator at a predetermined temperature or less by operating a blowing fan of a refrigerator compartment depending on temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that a door of the refrigerator compartment is close. operating the blowing fan of the refrigerator compartment regardless of temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that the door of the refrigerator compartment is open, and forming an air curtain by dispersing the cool air at an upper portion of the refrigerator compartment to prevent the cool air from leaking out outside. For such a method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator, the cool air exhaling duct is mounted at an upper portion of the refrigerator compartment and its left and right sides are formed of Coanda side so as to uniformly exhale the cool air Thus, since the air curtain is formed at the front in the refrigerator compartment the cool air in the refrigerator is prevented from leaking out outside, even if the door of the refrigerator compartment is open In-addition, since the air curtain is formed by operating only one blowing fan in the refrigerator, it is possible to reduce the costs in manufacturing the refrigerator and also reduce noise caused by operating the blowing fan.

Full Text

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flow of a cool air in a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator in which an air curtain is formed at the front in a refrigerator compartment by continuously operating a blowing fan of the refrigerator compartment even if a door of the refrigerator compartment is open, so that the cool air is maintained in the refrigerator compartment without leaking out outside. Description of the Related Art As illustrated in Fig 1, a conventional refrigerator includes a main body 100 having a freezer compartment 110 and a refrigerator compartment 120 up and down. The freezer compartment 110 and the refrigerator compartment 120 respectively have doors 111 and 121 capable of opening and closing at their front sides An evaporator 112 is mounted at the rear in the freezer compartment 110 to be linked to a compressor 130 which is mounted in a machine box at a lower 1A portion of the main body 100 A blowing fan 113 is mounted at an upper side in the freezer compartment 110 to exhale a cool air which is heat exchanged in the evaporator 112. into the inside of the freezer compartment 110. A rear cover 116 is mounted at the front of the evaporator 112 and a front cover-117 is mounted at the front of the blowing fan 113 so that an exhaling passage of the cool air and its inhaling passage can be formed. Furthermore, another evaporator 122 and blowing fan 123 are mounted at the rear of an upper side in the refrigerator compartment 120. There is provided a special fresh box 127 at the front of the upper side in the refrigerator compartment 120. The special fresh box 127 maintains freshness of foods specially in the refrigerator compartment 120. Another rear cover 128 and front cover 129 are mounted at the front of the evaporator 122 and the blowing fan 123, respectively. Meanwhile, in the ceiling of the freezer compartment 110, a temperature sensor 115 is mounted, which senses temperature of the freezer compartment 110. In the center of the refrigerator compartment 120. a temperature sensor 125 is mounted, which senses temperature of the refrigerator compartment 120. In a front panel of the refrigerator compartment 120, a door sensor 126 is mounted, which senses whether the door 121 of the refrigerator compartment 121 is open or close. Reference numerals 114 and 124 which are not described represent shelves of the freezer compartment and refrigerator compartment, respectively. In addition, a reference numeral 140 represents a cool air 2 exhaling duct. and reference numerals 129a-and 129b represent a cool air exhaling hollow and a cool air inhaling hollow, respectively. In the conventional refrigerator as aforementioned, a flow of the cool air in the refrigerator compartment will now be described with reference to Fig. 2. Referring to Fig. 2. the compressor 130 is driven so that the cool air is heat exchanged in the evaporator 112 Some of the cool air which is heat exchanged flows into the special fresh box 127 through the cool air exhaling hollow 129a by operating the blowing fan 123 The other cool air is exhaled into the respective shelves 124 of the refrigerator compartment 120 through the cool air exhaling duct 140 which is mounted in a sidewall at the rear 28 of the refrigerator compartment 120. The cool air which circulates through the inside of the refrigerator compartment 120 cools refrigerating foods arranged on the respective shelves 124 and flows into the evaporator 122 through the cool air inhaling hollow 129b. The cool air is then cooled by the evaporator 122 and is exhaled into the special fresh box 127 and the refrigerator compartment 120 by the blowing fan 123 Such a flow of the cool air repeats. The flow of the cool air in the refrigerator compartment of the conventional refrigerator as aforementioned has several problems Since the cool air which is heat exchanged in the evaporator 122 of the refrigerator compartment is exhaled into the special fresh box 127 and the respective shelves 124 dispersedly by means of the blowing fan 123. It is 3 likely that the cool air in the refrigerator leaks out outside under the circumstances that the door 121 of the refrigerator is open In addition. to form an air curtain at the front of the refrigerator compartment, which prevents the cool air in the refrigerator compartment from leaking out outside, additional fan besides the blowing fan has to be mounted This increases noise in operating the fan as well as the costs in manufacturing the refrigerator SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator in which a cool air in a refrigerator does not leak out outside even if a door of the refrigerator compartment is open Other object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator in which a cool air in a refrigerator does not leak out outside even if an expensive close-flow fan is not added, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the refrigerator Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator in which noise caused 4 by operating a fan is reduced because additional close-flow fan is not mounted. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator according to the present invention includes the steps of maintaining the inside of the refrigerator at a predetermined temperature or less by operating a blowing fan of a refrigerator compartment depending on temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that a door of the refrigerator compartment is close. operating the blowing fan of the refrigerator compartment regardless of temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that the door of the refrigerator compartment is open, and forming an air curtain by dispersing the cool air at an upper portion of the refrigerator compartment to prevent the cool air from leaking out outside ln another aspect, a method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator includes the steps of maintaining the inside of the refrigerator at a predetermined temperature or less by operating a blowing fan of a 5 refrigerator compartment depending on temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that a door of the refrigerator compartment is close, selectively operating the blowing fan of the refrigerator compartment under the circumstances that the door of the refrigerator compartment is open, and forming an air curtain by dispersing the cool air at an upper portion of the refrigerator compartment to prevent the cool air from leaking out outside. The inventions provides for an apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator comprising an evaporator mounted at the rear of a refrigerator compartment, a blowing fan for exhaling a cool air which is heat exchanged in the evaporator, into the inside of the refrigerator compartment, rear and front covers for forming an exhaling passage which guide the cool air heat exchanged to be exhaled into the inside of the refrigerator compartment, a cool air exhaling duct mounted at the top of shelves in the refrigerator compartmet for guiding the cool air from the exhaling passage to be dispersed at an upper portion of the front in the refrigerator compartment, a temperature sensor mounted in the center of the refrigerator compartment, for sensing temperature of the refrigerator compartment, a door sensor mounted in a panel at the front of the refrigerator compartment, for sensing whether the door is open or close, and a controller linked to the temperature sensor and the door sensor, for operating the blowing fan when the door of the refrigerator compartment is open. 6 characterized in that the said controller is adapted to switch on the blowing fan whenever the temperature in the refrigerator compartment exceeds a predetermined temperature as sensed by said temperature sensor or the door of the refrigerator compartment is opened as sensed by said door sensor, thereby forming and maintaining an air curtain by dispersing the cool air at an upper portion of the refrigerator compartment, and to prevent the cool air from leaking out outside when the refrigerator door is opened . In the apparatus for circulating a cool air of the refrigerator 5A compartment according to the present invention, it is desirable that the cool air exhaling duct is formed of Coanda side from its front end portion where the cool air is exhaled into the refrigerator compartment to its rear end portion linked to the exhaling passage of the evaporator In the apparatus for circulating a cool air of the refrigerator compartment according to the present invention, it is desirable for the cool air exhaling duct that its rear end portion has air guides for uniformly dispersing the cool air into the passage of the cool exhaling duct The apparatus for circulating a cool air of the refrigerator compartment according to the present invention may further include an air curtain selecting switch for selectively operating the blowing fan under the circumstances that the door of the refrigerator compartment is open. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention In the drawings Fig 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional refrigerator; 7 Fig 2 is an enlarged view of "A" in Fig 1, Fig 3a is a fragmentary section view of an air curiam forming device according to a conventional method Fig 3b is a longitudinal sectional view of an air curtain forming device according to a conventional method, Fig 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, Fig 5 is an enlarged view of "3" in Fig 3. Fig 6 is a cross sectional view of a refrigerator compartment illustrating a cool air exhaling duct of a refrigerator according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, Fig 7 a cross sectional view of a refrigerator compartment illustrating a cool air exhaling duct of a refrigerator according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a flow route of a cool air under the circumstances that a door of a refrigerator is close, according to the embodiment of the present invention, Fig 9 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a flow route of a cool air under the circumstances that a door of a refrigerator is open, according to the embodiment of the present invention; Fig 10 is a block diagram of a micom controller according to the present invention. Fig 11 is a flow chart illustrating a method for circulating a cool 8 air in a refrigerator according to the present invention: and Fig 12 is a flow chart illustrating another method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention. Fig 5 is an enlarged view of "8" in Fig 4. Fig 6 is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator compartment illustrating a cool air exhaling duct of a refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention In the embodiment according to the present invention, a refrigerator includes a main body 200 having a freezer compartment 210 and a refrigerator compartment 220. The freezer compartment 210 and the refrigerator compartment 220 respectively have doors 211 and 221 capable of opening and closing at their front sides Evaporators 212 and 222 are mounted respectively at the rear in the freezer compartment 210 and the refrigerator compartment 220 In the same manner, blowing fans 213 and 223 are mounted respectively at the rear in the freezer compartment 210 and the refrigerator compartment 220. There is provided a special fresh box 227 at the front of the evaporator 222 in the refrigerator compartment 220. A compressor 230 is 9 mounted in a machine box at a lower portion of the refrigerator compartment 220 There is mounted a shelf 214 in the freezer compartment 210 There are mountd a plurality of shelves 224 in the refrigerator compartment 220 Furthermore there is provided a temperature sensor 215 in the freezer compartment 210 which senses temperature of the inside of the freezer compartment 210. There is provided a temperature sensor 225 in the refrigerator compartment 220 which senses temperature or the inside of the refrigerator compartment 220 There is further provided a door sensor 226 at a front panel in the refrigerator compartment 220, which senses the opening and closing of the door There are provided a rear cover 228 and a front cover 229 in the refrigerator compartment 220, which are linked to each other to divide an exhaling passage into an inhaling passage The cool air which is heat exchanged in the evaporator 222 is exhaled and inhaled through the exhaling passage and the inhaling passage A cool air exhaling duct 240 linked to the exhaling passage is mounted under the special fresh box 227 to disperse the cool air downwards At the rear end portion of the cool air exhaling duct 240, a plurality of air guides 241 are mounted to disperse the cool air in the left and right directions A spacer duct 242 having a linear side 242a is mounted at both sides of the cool air exhaling duct 240 making the passage of the cool air exhaling duct 240 at its front end portion wider. 10 According to the cool air exhaling duct 240 as mentioned above the cool air passed through the evaporator 222 to become uniformly dispersed by means of the air guide 241 is guided to be dispersed left and right of the exhaling passage of the cool air exhaling duct 240 by means of the linear side 242a Finally, the cool air is dispersed end portion of the cool air exhaling duct 240 Inner sides of the spacer duct 242 are formed of Coanda side 242a The Coanda side 242a' enables the cool air to flow along the sidewall of the spacer duct 242'. This is called Coanda effect. In other words, as illustrated in Fig 7. the cool air which is dispersed by the air guides 241 in the left and right directions flows along the Coanda side 242a' to be uniformly exhaled through the front end portion of the cool air exhaling duct 240 Reference numerals 216 and 217 which are not described represent rear and front covers respectively in the freezer compartment. In addition, reference numerals 229a and 229b represent a cool air exhaling hollow and a cool air inhaling hollow respectively in the freezer compartment. The operation of the apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator of the present invention as aforementioned will be described with reference to Fig. 8 to Fig.II. if the power source is applied to the refrigerator the temperature sensor 215 senses temperature of the freezer compartment 210 and transfers the sensed value to a controller. The controller operates the compressor 230 11 and the blowing fan 213 of the freezer compartment the temperature of the freezer compartment 210 is greater than a predetermined temperature On the other hand, the controller stops operating the compressor 230 and the blowing fan 213 if the temperature of the freezer compartment 210 is smaller than a" predetermined temperature In the same manner as the freezer compartment, in the refrigerator compartment 220, the temperature sensor 225 senses temperature of the refrigerator compartment 220. Thus, if the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 220 is greater than a predetermined temperature, the controller operates the blowing fan 223 of the refrigerator compartment 220. On the other hand, if the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 220 is smaller than a predetermined temperature, the controller stops operating the blowing fan 223 As aforementioned, the operation of the refrigerator of the present invention is the same as that of the conventional refrigerator in that the blowing fan 223 is operated depending on the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 220. However, in the present invention, the blowing fan 223 is continuously operated under the circumstances that the door 221 of the refrigerator compartment 220 is open even if the temperature of the refrigerator compartment is smaller than a predetermined temperature In other words, under the circumstances that the door 221 of the refrigerator compartment 220 is close, if the temperature of the refrigerator is greater than a predetermined temperature, the blowing fan 223 is naturally 12 operated. Thus as illustrated in Fig 7 the cool air which is exhaled into the cool air exhaling hollow 29a flows into the special fresh box 227. The cool air which is exhaled through the cool air exhaling duct 240 iS. uniformly dispersed at the upper portion in the refrigerator compartment 220 and then flows downwards. Subsequently, the cool air circulates in the space of the respective shelves 224 and then is returned to the evaporator 222 through the cool air inhaling hollow 229b. Furthermore under the circumstances that the door 221 of the refrigerator compartment 220 is open, the controller operates the blowing fan 223 regardless of the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 220. Thus. as illustrated in Fig, 8, the cool air is exhaled into the special fresh box 227 and the cool air exhaling duct 240. Particularly the cool air exhaled into the cool air exhaling duct 240 is uniformly dispersed at the front end portion of the cool air exhaling duct 240 by means of the air guides 241 and the Coanda side 242a. Thus, the cool air flows downwards to form an air curtain 250 at the front of the refrigerator compartment 220. As a result the cool air in the refrigerator compartment 220 is prevented from leaking out outside under the circumstances that the door 221 of the refrigerator compartment is open. Fig 11 is a flow chart illustrating a method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator aeeording to the present invention Meanwhile, Fig 12 is a flow chart illustrating a method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator according to the present invention 13 As aforementioned, the refrigerator of the present invention has the following advantages First, in the present invention, the cool air exhaled from the evaporator is uniformly dispersed at the upper portion of the refrigerator compartment and flows downwards. In addition, the air curtain is formed at the front of the refrigerator compartment As a result, the cool air in the refrigerator is prevented from leaking out outside even if the door of the refrigerator compartment is open. Second, under the circumstances that the door of the refrigerator compartment is open, the blowing fan of the refrigerator compartment is operated regardless of the temperature of the refrigerator compartment, so that the cool air desirably circulates through the inside of the refrigerator compartment Finally, since the air curtain is formed by operating only one blowing fan in the refrigerator without mounting additional fan, it is possible to reduce the costs in manufacturing the refrigerator and also reduce noise caused by operating the blowing fan It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the method and apparatus for circulating the cool air in the refrigerator according to the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of the invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents 14 WE CLAIM 1. An apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator comprising : an evaporator (212) mounted at the rear of the refrigerator compartment(220); a blowing fan (213) for exhaling a cool air which is heat exchanged in the evaporator, into the inside of the refrigerator compartment ; rear and front covers (228, 229) for forming an exhaling passage which guides the cool air heat exchanged to be exhaled into the inside of the refrigerator compartment; a cool air exhaling duct (240) mounted at the top of shelves in the refrigerator compartment; a plurality of air guides (241) for guiding the cool air from the exhaling passage to be dispersed at an upper portion of the front in the refrigerator compartment; a temperature sensor (225) mounted in the center of the refrigerator compartment, for sensing temperature of the refrigerator compartment; a door sensor (226) mounted in a panel at the front of the refrigerator compartment; for sensing whether the door is open or close; and a controller linked to the temperature sensor and the door sensor, for operating the blowing fan depending on opening of the door of the refrigerator compartment, 15 characterized in that the said controller is adapted to switch on the blowing fan whenever the temperature in the refrigerator compartment exceeds a predetermined temperature as sensed by said temperature sensor or the door of the refrigerator compartment is opened as sensed by said door sensor, thereby forming and maintaining an air curtain by dispersing the cool air at an upper portion of the refrigerator compartment, and to prevent the cool air from leaking out outside when the refrigerator door is opened. 2. The apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cool air exhaling duct is formed of Coanda side from its rear end portion which is linked to the exhaling passage of the evaporator to its front end portion which exhales the cool air into the refrigerator compartment. 3. The apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cool air exhaling duct includes a plurality of air guides at its rear end portion, which uniformly disperse the cool air into the passage of cool air exhaling duct. 4. The apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein an air curtain selecting switch is provided for selectively operating the blowing fan of the refrigerator compartment under the circumstances that the door of the refrigerator compartment is open. 16 5. A method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator by using the apparatus as claimed in claims 1-4 comprising the steps of : maintaining the inside of the refrigerator at a predetermined temperature or less by operating a blowing fan (213) of a refrigerator compartment (220) depending on temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that a door of the refrigerator compartment is close; operating the blowing fan of the refrigerator compartment regardless of temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that the door of the refrigerator compartment is open; and forming an air curtain by dispersing the cool air at an upper portion of the refrigerator compartment to prevent the cool air from leaking out outside. 6. The method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator as claimed in claim 5 comprising further steps of: selecting an air curtain mode : turning on said blowing fan regardless of temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that a door of the refrigerator compartment is open and said air curtain mode is selected ; and turning off said blowing fan regardless of temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that a door of the refrigerator compartment is open and said air curtain mode is not selected: 17 7. An apparatus for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator, substantially as herein described, particularly with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. (S.R.GUPTA) OF D. P. AHUJA & CO. APPLICANTS' AGENT 18 Dated this 28th day of July, 1997. A method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator according to the present invention includes the steps of maintaining the inside of the refrigerator at a predetermined temperature or less by operating a blowing fan of a refrigerator compartment depending on temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that a door of the refrigerator compartment is close. operating the blowing fan of the refrigerator compartment regardless of temperature in the refrigerator under the circumstances that the door of the refrigerator compartment is open, and forming an air curtain by dispersing the cool air at an upper portion of the refrigerator compartment to prevent the cool air from leaking out outside. For such a method for circulating a cool air in a refrigerator, the cool air exhaling duct is mounted at an upper portion of the refrigerator compartment and its left and right sides are formed of Coanda side so as to uniformly exhale the cool air Thus, since the air curtain is formed at the front in the refrigerator compartment the cool air in the refrigerator is prevented from leaking out outside, even if the door of the refrigerator compartment is open In-addition, since the air curtain is formed by operating only one blowing fan in the refrigerator, it is possible to reduce the costs in manufacturing the refrigerator and also reduce noise caused by operating the blowing fan.

Documents:

01402-cal-1997 abstract.pdf

01402-cal-1997 claims.pdf

01402-cal-1997 correspondence.pdf

01402-cal-1997 description(complete).pdf

01402-cal-1997 drawings.pdf

01402-cal-1997 form-1.pdf

01402-cal-1997 form-2.pdf

01402-cal-1997 form-3.pdf

01402-cal-1997 form-5.pdf

01402-cal-1997 pa.pdf

01402-cal-1997 priority document other.pdf

01402-cal-1997 priority document.pdf