Patent Publication Number: US-2022235998-A1

Title: Refrigerator and manufacturing method thereof

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to the field of refrigerators and manufacture thereof, and particularly to a refrigerator capable of preventing condensation on a back plate thereof, and a manufacturing method of the refrigerator. 
     BACKGROUND 
     With the improvement of people&#39;s living standards, people have higher and higher requirements for refrigerators. To ensure the thermal insulation, traditional refrigerators usually employ a thick foaming layer which therefore occupies a large area, so that the useable volume in the refrigerators becomes smaller. Therefore, as the thermally insulating material further develops, the thermal insulation layer of the refrigerators further thins, and a super-thin and large-volume refrigerator emerges. 
     In the super-thin and large-volume refrigerator, the distance between the inner liner and the housing is narrow, which means a narrow space is left for the foaming layer. In order to ensure the foaming speed, a conduit for filling a foaming material must have a certain diameter. The conduit is usually located close to the back plate of the housing. However, as the foaming layer becomes narrower, the diameter of the conduit has approached the thickness of the thermal insulation layer on the back side of the inner liner. Generally, the material of the conduit is generally a plastic material, and its thermal conductivity coefficient is higher than that of the thermal insulation layer. Therefore, when the refrigerator works, the temperature of the inner liner is lower, and the back plate is in an external environment and therefore has a high temperature, so that the cold will be conducted from the conduit to the back plate. In a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, condensation is prone to appear at a position of the back plate corresponding to the conduit. 
     SUMMARY 
     In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes a refrigerator. The refrigerator comprises a housing and a refrigeration inner liner disposed in the housing, and the refrigerator further comprises a foaming layer disposed between the refrigeration inner liner and the housing; the refrigerator further comprises a conduit extending inward from an edge of the housing and buried in the foaming layer, the conduit comprises a rigid tube and a flexible tube that are connected to each other, an end of the rigid tube far away from the flexible tube is disposed close to the edge of the housing, and a strength of the flexible tube is lower than the strength of the rigid tube. 
     As a further improvement of the present invention, the refrigeration inner liner comprises a refrigerating inner liner and a freezing inner liner, the foaming layer comprises a first foaming area arranged between the freezing inner liner and the housing, and a second foaming area arranged between the refrigerating inner liner and the housing, and the conduit extends inward from the edge of the housing close to the side of the freezing inner liner and is buried in the first foaming area. 
     As a further improvement of the present invention, a length of the rigid tube is 1/10 to ⅕ of the length of the flexible tube. 
     As a further improvement of the present invention, the rigid tube comprises a first body and an embedded portion extending from the first body; the flexible tube comprises a second body and an external connection portion extending from the second body, and an inner diameter of the external connection portion is larger than an outer diameter of the embedded portion such that at least part of the embedded portion may be sleeved inside the external connection portion. 
     As a further improvement of the present invention, the embedded portion extends from an edge of the first body in a direction away from the flexible tube to form a hook shape, and the external connection portion is sleeved on the embedded portion. 
     As a further improvement of the present invention, the conduit further comprises a connecting device which wraps around the external connection portion and the embedded portion in a state that the external connection portion is sleeved on the embedded portion. 
     As a further improvement of the present invention, a thickness of a wall of the rigid tube does not exceed 0.5 mm, and the thickness of a wall of the flexible tube is in a range of 50 um to 100 um. 
     To solve the above problems, the present provides a method of manufacturing a refrigerator, comprising: connecting a rigid tube with a flexible tube to form a conduit; extending the conduit between a housing of the refrigerator and a freezing inner liner; connecting an end of the rigid tube away from the flexible tube to an injection port; opening a material-filling gun to fill a foaming material into the conduit. 
     As a further improvement of the present invention, the step of “connecting a rigid tube with a flexible tube to form a conduit” comprises: 
     extending an edge of a first body of the rigid tube in a direction away from the flexible tube to form a hook-shaped embedded portion; sleeving an external connection portion of the flexible tube on the embedded portion. 
     As a further improvement of the present invention, the step of “connecting a rigid tube with a flexible tube to form a conduit” comprises: sleeving the flexible tube outside the rigid tube, so that the external connection portion of the flexible tube partially overlaps the embedded portion of the rigid tube; wrapping the external connection portion and the embedded portion with a connecting device. 
     Advantageous effects of the present invention are as follows: the conduit comprises the rigid tube and the flexible tube, and the flexible tube is more likely to deform than the rigid tube. Therefore, in the foaming process, the foaming material may be discharged from the flexible tube and filled in an initial process. Since the strength of the flexible tube is lower than the strength of the rigid tube, after the foaming material gradually increases, the foaming material presses the flexible tube so that the flexible tube is spaced apart a certain distance from the housing or the inner liner. After the refrigerator is formed and works, the flexible tube is completely buried in the foaming layer, so that the amount of cold that may be transferred is very limited, thereby preventing condensation from appearing at the position on the housing of the refrigerator corresponding to the conduit. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a structural schematic diagram of a refrigerator in the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged structural schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a circle portion of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged structural schematic diagram of a second embodiment of the circle portion of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand technical solutions of the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to figures in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only partial embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those having ordinary skill in the art without making inventive efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention. 
     In addition, references or numerals might be used repeatedly in different embodiments. Such repetitions are only intended to simply and clearly illustrate the present invention and not to mean there is any association between the discussed different embodiments or structures. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 3 , the present invention provides a refrigerator  100 . The refrigerator  100  comprises a housing and a refrigeration inner liner disposed in the housing. The refrigerator  100  further comprises a foaming layer  3  disposed between the refrigeration inner liner and the housing. The refrigerator  100  further comprises a conduit  40  extending inward from the edge of the housing and buried in the foaming layer  3 . The conduit  40  comprises a rigid tube  4  and a flexible tube  5  that are connected to each other. An end of the rigid tube  4  far away from the flexible tube  5  is disposed close to the edge of the housing, and a strength of the flexible tube  5  is lower than the strength of the rigid tube  4 . 
     Therefore, in the present invention, the conduit  40  comprises the rigid tube  4  and the flexible tube  5 , the flexible tube  5  is more likely to deform than the rigid tube  4 , and the end of the rigid tube  4  away from the flexible tube  5  is close to the edge of the housing so that the rigid tube  4  is served as an inlet of a foaming material and is connected to an injection port, and the flexible tube  5  further extends from the rigid tube  4  to the interior of the foaming layer  3 . Therefore, in the foaming process, the foaming material may be discharged from the flexible tube  5  and filled in an initial process. Since the strength of the flexible tube  5  is lower than the strength of the rigid tube  4 , after the foaming material gradually increases, the foaming material presses the flexible tube  5  so that the flexible tube  5  is spaced apart a certain distance from the housing or the inner liner. After the refrigerator  100  is formed and works, the flexible tube  5  is completely buried in the foaming layer  3 , so that the amount of cold that may be transferred is very limited, thereby preventing condensation from appearing at the position on the housing of the refrigerator  100  corresponding to the conduit  40 . Since the rigid tube  4  is relatively closer to the edge of the housing and needs to be connected to the injection port, the rigid tube  4  is required to be less deformable or non-deformable during foaming so that the strength of the rigid tube  4  is relatively large. 
     It needs to be appreciated that the rigidity and flexibility in the present invention only represent the difference in strength between the rigid tube  4  and the flexible tube  5 . Mechanically, a capability of a material to resist against damages (deformation and fracture) under an external force is called strength. The rigid tube  4  is stronger and can produce less or no deformation after being pressed by the foaming material during the foaming process. The flexible tube  5  has lower strength and will produce greater deformation after being pressed by the foaming material so that the flexible tube  5  is spaced apart from the housing or the inner liner of the refrigerator  100 . 
     The refrigeration inner liner comprises a refrigerating inner liner  22  and a freezing inner liner  21 . The foaming layer  3  comprises a first foaming area  31  arranged between the freezing inner liner  21  and the housing, and a second foaming area  32  arranged between the refrigerating inner liner  22  and the housing. Since the freezing inner liner  21  usually needs to have a better thermal insulation condition, the second foaming area  32  between the freezing inner liner  21  and the housing is usually thicker than the first foaming area  31 . Therefore, generally, the conduit  40  extends inward from the edge of the housing close to the side of the freezing inner liner  21  and is buried in the first foaming area  31 . 
     Generally, the housing comprises a back plate  11 , and the conduit  40  is disposed close to the back plate  11  and buried in the first foaming area  31  between the freezing inner liner  21  and the back plate  11 . The freezing inner liner  21  is usually disposed below the refrigerating inner liner  22 , so the injection port is also disposed at the bottom. In the material-filling process, the foaming material enters the conduit  40  from the injection port at the bottom of the refrigerator  100 . 
     Furthermore, as mentioned above, the rigid tube  4  needs to be connected to the injection port, so it must have a high strength. In order to further improve the anti-condensation effect on the back plate  11 , the length of the rigid tube  4  cannot be too long, so its length is at most ⅕ of the flexible tube  5 ; similarly, to enable the rigid tube  4  to be stably connected to the injection port, the length of the rigid tube  4  should not be too short, and it is at least 1/10 of the flexible tube  5 . In order to fill a sufficient amount of uniform foaming material between the refrigeration inner liner and the housing, the entirety of the conduit  40  is usually only disposed between the freezing inner liner  21  and the back plate  11 , that is, the conduit  40  usually does not extend to between the refrigerating inner liner  22  and the back plate  11 . 
     Since the rigid tube  4  and the flexible tube  5  are made of different materials, they cannot be integrally formed. In the present embodiment, to enable stable connection between the rigid tube  4  and the flexible tube  5 , the rigid tube  4  comprises a first body  41  and an embedded portion  42  extending from the first body  41 . The flexible tube  5  comprises a second body  51  and an external connection portion  52  extending from the second body  51 . An inner diameter of the external connection portion  52  is larger than an outer diameter of the embedded portion  42  such that at least part of the embedded portion  42  may be sleeved inside the external connection portion  52 . Certainly, the inner diameter of the second body  51  may be the same as or slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the external connection portion  52 . The first body  41  and the embedded portion  42  are integrally formed, and the second body  51  and the external connection portion  52  are also integrally formed. 
     Specifically, two specific embodiments are provided in the present invention. 
     In the first embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the embedded portion  42  extends from the edge of the first body  41  in a direction away from the flexible tube  5  to form a hook shape, and the external connection portion  52  is sleeved on the embedded portion  42 . In the present embodiment, the embedded portion  42  is formed by flipping the edge of the first body  41 , and the external connection portion  52  is directly sleeved on the embedded portion  42 , so that the rigid tube  4  and the flexible tube  5  are connected to each other. In the present embodiment, since the embedded portion  42  forms a hook, no additional connecting device  6  is needed to connect the external connection portion  52  with the embedded portion  42 . In addition, since the embedded portion  42  forms the hook, the embedded portion  42  is completely sleeved inside the external connection portion  52 . 
     In the second embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the conduit  40  may further comprise a connecting device  6  which wraps around the external connection portion  52  and the embedded portion  42 . In the present embodiment, the external connection portion  52  is directly sleeved outside the embedded portion  42 , and then is wrapped by the connecting device  6  so that the external connection portion  52  and the embedded portion  42  are fixed to each other. In the present embodiment, since the connecting device  6  may be used for fixing, the embedded portion  42  may directly extend from the first body  41  towards the flexible tube  5  without forming the hook as in the first embodiment. Certainly, the object of the present invention may also be achieved by firing the external connection portion  52  with the embedded portion  42  by the hook as stated in the first embodiment or in other manners, then by wrapping the external connection portion  52  and the embedded portion  42  through the connecting device  6  to further improve the sealing performance between the rigid tube  4  and the flexible tube  5 . In the present embodiment, the embedded portion  42  may be partially sleeved inside the external connection portion  52 , or certainly may also be completely sleeved inside the external connection portion  52 . 
     In addition, as stated above, the strength of the rigid tube  4  is greater than that of the flexible tube  5 . In the present embodiment, the material of the rigid tube  4  is a plastic material with a large thickness, and the material of the flexible tube  5  is a plastic material with a small thickness. Specifically, the thickness of the wall of the rigid tube  4  does not exceed 0.5 mm, and the thickness of the wall of the flexible tube  5  is in a range of 50 um to 100 um. 
     The present invention further provides a manufacturing method of a refrigerator  100 , comprising: 
     connecting a rigid tube  4  with a flexible tube  5  to form a conduit  40 ; 
     extending the conduit  40  between a housing of the refrigerator  100  and a freezing inner liner  21 ; 
     connecting an end of the rigid tube  4  away from the flexible tube  5  to an injection port; 
     opening a material-filling gun to fill a foaming material into the conduit  40 . 
     The manufacturing method of the refrigerator  100  of the present invention only comprises a process before and after foaming. Specifically, as compared with the prior art, in the manufacturing method of the refrigerator  100  according to the present invention, the conduit  40  needs to be configured first, i.e., the rigid tube  4  and the flexible tube  5  are connected to form the conduit  40 , and then a subsequent plastic foaming process is performed. In the foaming process, the foaming material will gradually press the conduit  40  and gradually compress the flexible tube  5  to prevent it from abutting against the back plate  11  of the housing and the freezing inner liner  21 , the thermal conductivity at the flexible tube  5  in the foaming layer  3 , and condensation may be further prevented from occurring on the back plate  11 . 
     Moreover, as stated above, the present invention provides two ways to connect the rigid tube  4  with the flexible tube  5 . Specifically, in the first embodiment, the step of “connecting the rigid tube  4  with the flexible tube  5  to form a conduit  40 ” comprises: extending the edge of the first body  41  of the rigid tube  4  in a direction away from the flexible tube  5  to form a hook-shaped embedded portion  42 ; sleeving an external connection portion  52  of the flexible tube  5  on the embedded portion  42 . Alternatively, in the second embodiment, the step of “connecting the rigid tube  4  with the flexible tube  5  to form a conduit  40 ” comprises: sleeving the flexible tube  5  outside the rigid tube  4 , so that an external connection portion  52  of the flexible tube  5  partially overlaps an embedded portion  42  of the rigid tube  4 ; wrapping the external connection portion  52  and the embedded portion  42  with a connecting device  6 . Both of the above embodiments can achieve the purpose of the present invention. 
     Therefore, in summary, the present invention provides a refrigerator  100  and a manufacturing method thereof. According to the refrigerator  100  and the manufacturing method thereof, during the injection molding and foaming process, the flexible tube  5  is gradually pressed and flattened by the foaming material so that it will not directly contact the housing and the inner liner. In the actual operation process of the refrigerator  100 , the flexible tube  5  is all buried in the foaming layer  3 , and the thermal conductivity of the foaming layer  3  at the flexible tube  5  is lower, so no condensation will occur on the back plate  11  of the housing, thereby achieving the anti-condensation effect. 
     It should be understood that although the description is described according to the embodiments, not every embodiment only comprises one independent technical solution, that such a description manner is only for the sake of clarity, that those skilled in the art should take the description as an integral part, and that the technical solutions in the embodiments may be suitably combined to form other embodiments understandable by those skilled in the art. 
     The detailed descriptions set forth above are merely specific illustrations of feasible embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. All equivalent embodiments or modifications that do not depart from the art spirit of the present invention should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.