Patent Publication Number: US-2010115982-A1

Title: Evaporator integrated duct and refrigerator having the same

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to evaporators. More specifically, the present invention relates to an evaporator having a duct integrated therewith, in which a circulating duct and an evaporator are fabricated as one module for reducing an error caused by a worker, a performance deviation and working man-hours. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     In general, the refrigerator is provided with a compressor for elevating a temperature and a pressure of low temperature, low pressure gaseous refrigerant to a high temperature and high pressure gaseous refrigerant, and a condenser for cooling and condensing the high temperature and high pressure gaseous refrigerant into liquidus refrigerant by using heat exchange with outdoor air. 
     In addition to this, the refrigerator is provided with a capillary tube having a diameter smaller than a diameter of other parts for decompressing the refrigerant introduced thereto from the condenser, and an evaporator for evaporating the refrigerant from the capillary tube to low temperature and low pressure refrigerant for absorbing heat from an inside of the refrigerator. 
     The refrigerator is also provided with a freezing chamber having cold air introduced thereto from the evaporator directly for maintaining a chamber temperature of about −18° C., and a refrigerating chamber having the cold air introduced thereto from the freeing chamber for maintaining a chamber temperature of about 0˜7° C. 
     There are a machinery room on a lower portion of a rear side of the refrigerating chamber having the compressor and the condenser mounted thereto, and a cold air supply unit in rear of the freezing chamber isolated therefrom with a rear wall thereof having a cooling fan for forced blow of the cold air from the evaporator to the freezing chamber and a defrosting heater for removing frost from a surface of the evaporator mounted thereto. 
     The cold air cooled down by means of heat exchange at the evaporator as the air is deprived of heat by refrigerant passes a cold air outlet in rear walls of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber through the circulating duct and discharged and circulated in the refrigerator by a fan to drop temperatures of the freezing chamber and 
     DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
     To solve the problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an evaporator having a duct integrated therewith, in which an evaporator having a duct integrated therewith, not individual evaporator and duct, is mounted for preventing a performance of the refrigerator from being influenced by an error of a worker, and reducing working hours. 
     Technical Solution 
     To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, an evaporator having a duct integrated therewith includes an evaporator, and a circulating duct including a duct portion for circulation of cold air, and a mounting portion mounted to an inner case like one body in a state the evaporator is placed therein. 
     The duct portion has insertion holes in a side of a lower portion thereof for pass through of a refrigerant pipe extended from the evaporator. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, a refrigerator includes an inner case, a cold air supply portion having an evaporator and a fan mounted therein, and a circulating duct including a duct portion connected to the cold air supply portion for circulation of cold air, and a mounting portion mounted to the inner case like one body in a state the evaporator is placed therein. 
     The duct portion has insertion holes in a side of a lower portion thereof for pass through of a refrigerant pipe extended from the evaporator. 
     ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS 
     The evaporator having a duct integrated therewith permits to mount the evaporator and the duct as a time, thereby reducing working man-hours to simplify the work and performance deviation of the refrigerator. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the disclosure. 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an exploded perspective view of an evaporator having a duct integrated therewith in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of a related art evaporator having a duct individually mounted thereto; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a front view of a refrigerator showing a portion having the evaporator in  FIG. 2  mounted thereto, with a partial cut-away view. 
     
    
    
     MODE FOR THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the specific embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the evaporator having a duct integrated therewith includes an evaporator  1  and a circulating duct  20 . 
     The evaporator  10  is used for generating cold air, and includes a heat exchanger tube  11  having a refrigerant pipe  12  extended from a top side thereof and connected to a refrigerant pipe  12  in a refrigerator by welding. 
     The circulating duct  20  is mounted in a cold air supply portion  4  (see  FIG. 3 ) located on one side of a freezing chamber for guiding the cold air from the evaporator  10  to a refrigerating chamber and/or the freezing chamber. 
     The circulating duct  20  includes a duct portion  30  and a mounting portion  40 , wherein the duct portion  30  is mounted to a top side of the cold air supply portion  4  and extended extensively to the refrigerating chamber and/or the freezing chamber, and may have a plurality of pass through holes  31  along an outside surface. 
     The duct portion  30  has an enlarged portion  32  on a lower side with a slope and insertion holes  33  for pass through of the refrigerant pipe  12  of the evaporator  10 . 
     The mounting portion  40  is connected to a bottom edge of the duct portion  30  and extended down extensively, and has a rear side of an opened box shape, a fan mounting portion  41  on an upper side for mounting a cooling fan (not shown) thereto, and an inside space for holding the evaporator  10 . 
     Particularly, the mounting portion  40  has a cover  42  on the opened rear side for easy holding of the evaporator  10 , wherein the cover  42  has mounting projections  43  at regular intervals along edges and the mounting portion  40  has mounting holes  44  in opposite sides at regular intervals in conformity with the mounting projections  43 . 
     As another embodiment of the present invention, instead of the mounting projections  43  of the cover  42  and the mounting holes  44  of the mounting portion  40  for holding the evaporator  10 , a door may be provided for rotatably opening/closing the rear side of the mounting portion  40 , or other system may be provided for easy holding of the evaporator  10  within the mounting portion  40 . 
     It is preferable that the mounting portion  40  fabricated as one module thus is mounted to a conventional inner case (not shown) which forms an inner surface of the refrigerator with conventional fastening means (screws or the like) in a state the evaporator  10  is received in and secured to the mounting portion  40 . 
     As one embodiment, though the evaporator is shown as a fin-tube type evaporator in the drawing, having a meander of repeatedly bent copper heat exchanger tube  11  with aluminum cooling fins  13  closely inserted on an outside of the tube  11 , a coaxial type or jacket type heat exchanger may be used as required. 
     Unexplained reference numeral  50  in the drawing denotes an accumulator for separating liquid refrigerant from gaseous refrigerant to prevent liquid back for protecting the compressor, thereby preventing turbulence of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator. 
     The operation of the evaporator having a duct integrated therewith of the present invention will be described. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , as one embodiment of the present invention, in a state the evaporator  10  is placed in the mounting portion  40 , the evaporator  10  and the circulating duct  20  are integrated by passing the mounting projections  43  on the edges of the cover  42  through the mounting holes  44  in the opposite edges of the mounting portion  40 , respectively. 
     In this instance, the refrigerant pipe  12  extended from the top side of the evaporator  10  is passed through the insertion holes  33  in the enlarged portion  32  of the circulating duct  20  to expose the refrigerant pipe  12  to an outside of the enlarged portion  32 , and welded to the refrigerant pipe  12  in an inside of the refrigerant, and finally, the evaporator  10  and the mounting portion  40  integrated as a module is mounted to an inner case of the refrigerator. 
     Eventually, because the evaporator  10  and the circulating duct can be mounted in the refrigerator as a mode of one component, a work load required for fastening can be reduced, significantly. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in 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 this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.