Patent Publication Number: US-11378325-B2

Title: Refrigerator with noise reduction

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 62/873,283 filed 12 Jul. 2019, which application is herein expressly incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates generally to refrigerators and, more particularly, to a refrigerator for recreational vehicles such as a compressor refrigerator with noise reduction. 
     BACKGROUND 
     This section merely provides background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art. 
     Vehicles, including but not limited to, recreational vehicles (“RVs”, in the United States and “Caravans” in Europe), tractor trailers, airplanes, boats, trains and the like, often incorporate refrigerators for the comfort and convenience of the occupants. For example, recreational vehicle campers often find it convenient, or even necessary, to refrigerate food, drinks, and medicine during their journey and while at their campsites. While many prepared camp sites in parks and commercial campgrounds provide for electrical outlets, many do not. Moreover, many highly desirable camping locations exist outside of these prepared sites. Thus, a popular solution has been to equip the recreational vehicle with a built-in refrigerator. 
     It is generally known to use both compressor refrigerators and absorption refrigerators for mobile applications. Compressor refrigerators are typically able to chill to lower temperatures and cool more consistently than absorption refrigerators regardless of the outside ambient temperature due to the more powerful compressor motor. Compressor refrigerators, however, are generally associated with a greater degree of operating noise. The greater operating noise comes from running of the compressor. 
     Known refrigerators for mobile applications and the like have proven to be generally suitable for their intended purposes. A close proximity with vehicle occupants, however, raises particular issues relating to the noise created during normal operation of such a refrigerator, particularly for compressor refrigerators. For example, the noise created by a conventional mobile refrigerator may be undesirable to vehicle occupants sleeping in close proximity to the refrigerator. Accordingly, it remains an on-going need in the art to further reduce the operating noise generated by mobile refrigerators and other refrigerators. 
     SUMMARY 
     This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features. 
     The present teachings provide a refrigerator having a cabinet, at least one door and a plurality of refrigeration components. The cabinet defines an interior volume including at least one cooling compartment. The at least one door is carried by the cabinet and provides access to the interior volume. The plurality of refrigeration components includes a compressor, a condenser and a fan. The refrigerator additionally includes a component subassembly incorporating the plurality of refrigeration components and an airflow path extending between an inlet for colder air and an outlet for warmer air. The refrigeration components are located along the airflow path. The refrigerator further includes a noise reduction arrangement for reducing an operating noise of the refrigerator. The noise reduction arrangement including a plurality of walls defining the airflow path. The plurality of walls includes a plurality of external walls and a plurality of internal walls. The plurality of external walls defines an outer perimeter of the component subassembly and are oriented generally orthogonal to one another. 
     According to one particular aspect of the present teachings, the walls defining the airflow path include a noise absorbing material. 
     According to another particular aspect of the present teachings, the internal walls of the plurality of internal walls are skewed relative to the external walls of the plurality of external walls. 
     According to still yet another particular aspect of the present teachings, at least some of the walls of the plurality walls are load-bearing walls. 
     Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
    
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
       The present teachings will become more fully understood from the detailed description, any appended claims and the following drawings. The drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of a mobile refrigerator incorporating a noise reduction arrangement according to the present teachings. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the noise reduction arrangement according of  FIG. 1  looking generally in the direction of plane  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1  (i.e., with the remainder of the mobile refrigerator removed for purposes of illustration). 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the noise reduction arrangement of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is top view similar to  FIG. 2  illustrating a top another noise reduction arrangement for a mobile refrigerator in accordance with the present teachings. 
         FIG. 5  is another top view similar to  FIG. 2  illustrating a top of yet another noise reduction arrangement for a mobile refrigerator in accordance with the present teachings. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, its application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features. 
     With reference to the drawings, a refrigerator constructed in accordance with one example of the present teachings is shown and generally identified at reference numeral  10 . As will become apparent below, the refrigerator includes a noise reduction arrangement  12  for reducing the operating noise. In the embodiment illustrated, the refrigerator  10  is a mobile, compressor refrigerator for a recreational vehicle, tractor trailer, airplane, boat, train or the like. The present teachings, however, are not limited to any particular type of refrigerator. 
     The refrigerator  10  conventionally includes an interior volume  14  in which a user desires to store perishables and other items needing cooling. The interior volume  12  may be defined by a cabinet  16  that is divided into two, or more, sections  14 A and  14 B with one section being kept cooler than the other interior section. The cabinet  16  provides protection for the various components of the refrigerator  10 . At least one door carried by the cabinet  16  for accessing the interior volume  14 . As shown, a first door  18 A allows the user access to the first section  14 A of the interior volume  14  and a second door  18 B allows the user access to the second section  14 B of the interior volume  12 . 
     The refrigerator  10  includes a plurality of refrigeration components including a condenser  20 , a compressor  22 , and a fan  24 . These elements will be understood to be conventional in construction and function in so far as the present teachings are concerned. 
     A component subassembly  26  of the refrigerator  10  incorporates the plurality of refrigeration components  20 ,  22 , and  24  and includes an airflow path  28  extending between an inlet  30  for colder air and an outlet  32  for warmer air. The refrigeration components  20 ,  22 , and  24  of the plurality of refrigeration components are located along the airflow path  28 . In the embodiment illustrated, the component subassembly  26  is located below a remainder of the refrigerator  10  and may include a floor  34  defining a support surface for the refrigerator  10 . The inlet  30  and outlet  32  of the airflow path  28  are positioned at a forward side of the component subassembly  26  and may be covered by a grate  36  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ). The component subassembly  26  eliminates any need for additional installation work for ventilation as the ventilation is integrated into the refrigerator  10 . It will be understood, that in alternative applications, the present teachings may be adapted such that the component subassembly  26  is located at an upper end of the refrigerator  10 . 
     The noise reduction arrangement  12  includes a plurality of walls defining the airflow path  28 . The plurality of walls includes a plurality of external walls  38  and a plurality of internal walls  40 . The plurality of walls vertically extend upward from the floor  34 . In the embodiment illustrated, at least some of the walls are load-bearing. At least the external walls are load bearing. In some applications, the internal walls may also be load bearing. Explaining further, the load-bearing walls of the component assembly  26  provide structural integrity by functionally supporting the remainder of the refrigerator  10  on the floor  34  and thereby reducing the overall weight of the refrigerator  10  by eliminating alternative mechanical supports. The condenser  20  may also be used as a functional support between floor  34  and the remainder of the refrigerator  10 . 
     The plurality of internal walls  40  includes a central internal wall  40 C and a plurality of angled internal walls  40 A. The plurality of external walls  38  defining an outer perimeter of the component subassembly  26  and are oriented generally orthogonal to one another. As such, the component subassembly  26  has a generally rectangular shape with a front side  42 , a rear side  44 , and first and second lateral sides  46  and  48 . The central internal wall  40 C is parallel to the first and second lateral sides  46  and  48  and thereby perpendicular to the front and rear sides  42  and  44 . The central internal wall  40 C divides the flow path  28  into a first portion  28 A extending from the inlet  30  toward the rear side  44  and a second portion  28 B extending to the outlet  32  from the rear side  44 . The angled internal walls  40 A extend into the flow path from the central internal wall  40 C or from one of the first and second lateral sides  46  and  48  at an angle α. In the embodiment illustrated, the angle α is approximately 90 degrees. 
     The walls of the component subassembly  26  are constructed of a reflective material including but not limited to metal, plastic, wood and the like. The reflective material of the walls increases the length of the path of the soundwaves propagating through the flow path  28 . The condenser  20  may also be constructed of a reflective material to still further increase the length of the path of the soundwaves propagating through the flow path  28 . 
     During operation of the refrigerator  10 , when the compressor  22  is running, the fan  24  may be used to circulate cooling air along the flow path  28 . Operation of the fan  24  draws colder air in at the inlet  30 . The cooling air passes the compressor  22  to cool the compressor  22  and exits the flow path  28  at the outlet  32 . Operational noise generated by the compressor is reduced by the increased the length of the path of the soundwaves propagating through the flow path  28 . 
     Turning to  FIG. 4 , a top view similar to  FIG. 2  illustrates another noise reduction arrangement  100  for a mobile refrigerator in accordance with the present teachings. Given the similarities between the embodiment of  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 1-3 , like reference characters will be used to identify corresponding elements. The noise reduction arrangement  100  primarily differs from the noise reduction arrangement  12  by incorporating a noise absorption material  102  on the walls of the component subassembly  26 . The internal and external walls  40  and  38  are lined with noise absorbing material adjacent the flow path  28 . The noise absorbing material may be a foam or the like. 
     Turning to  FIG. 5 , another top view similar to  FIG. 2  illustrates yet another noise reduction arrangement  200  for a mobile refrigerator in accordance with the present teachings. Again, given the similarities between the embodiment of  FIG. 5  and previously described embodiments, like reference characters will be used to identify corresponding elements. The noise reduction arrangement  200  primarily differs from the noise reduction arrangement  100  in that angled internal walls  40 A of the plurality of internal walls  40  are skewed relative to the external walls of the plurality of external walls  38 . The angled internal walls  40 A extend into the flow path from the central internal wall  40 C or from one of the first and second lateral sides  46  and  48  at an angle β as the flow path extends from the inlet  30  to the outlet  32 . In the embodiment illustrated, the angle β is an obtuse angle. The angle β is preferably at least 100 degrees. The angled walls further facilitate the flow of air from the inlet  30  to the outlet  32 . 
     While specific examples have been discussed in the specification and illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalence may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the present teachings. For example, while the present teachings have been described in connection with a mobile compressor refrigerator, the invention is not so limited and may be extended to other applications. Furthermore, the mixing and matching of features, elements and/or functions between various examples may be expressly contemplated herein so that one skilled in the art would appreciate from the present teachings that features, elements and/or functions of one example may be incorporated into another example as appropriate, unless discussed otherwise above. Moreover, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the present teachings without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it may be intended that the present teachings not be limited to the particular examples illustrated by the drawings and discussed in the specification as the best mode of presently contemplated for carrying out the present teachings but that the scope of the present disclosure will include any embodiments following within the foregoing description and any appended claims.