Patent Description:
As for a refrigerator with an evaporator at the bottom in the prior art, a cooling chamber is located on the lower portion of the refrigerator, the evaporator is internally provided at the bottom of the cooling chamber, and in order to increase the volume rate and safety of the technology of providing the evaporator at the bottom, a heating wire, e.g., an aluminum tube heating wire, is generally adopted as a defrosting device of the evaporator. However, in order to balance safety and other factors, the temperature of the aluminum tube heating wire will not be set too high, and it may lead to a situation that a fault occurs if large ice blocks a water drainage outlet and cannot be melted in time.

Prior art <CIT>) discloses a refrigerator and a water collector assembly thereof. The water collector assembly comprises a water collector, a heater arranged in the water collector, a water discharge pipe communicating with the water collector, and a heat conduction bar extending into the water collector and connected with the heater. The water collector assembly is provided with a heat conduction bar connected with the heater and extending into the water discharge pipe. When ice cube is accumulated in the water discharge pipe, the heat conduction bar transfers heat generated by the heater to the ice cube to melt the ice cube, thereby realizing the purpose of smoothly discharging water. The refrigerator and the water collector assembly are simple in structure and reliable for water discharge.

<CIT>) provides a refrigerating device for a refrigerator, and the refrigerator with the refrigerating device. The refrigerator comprises a liner, and an air flue panel arranged close to the back wall of the liner, wherein an evaporator chamber is formed between the air flue panel and the liner; the refrigerating device is arranged in the evaporator chamber and comprises an evaporator arranged in the evaporator chamber, a heating element for removing dew on the evaporator, and a flow guiding device for guiding defrosting water dripped from the evaporator; the flow guiding device comprises a water containing plate arranged under the evaporator and the heating element, and a flow guiding pipe arranged between the heating element and the water containing plate; the evaporator comprises two groups of sub evaporators communicating with each other and arranged side by side in one same plane; and the heating element is arranged between the two groups of sub evaporators.

<CIT>) and <CIT>) disclose an air-cooled refrigerator similar to that shown in <CIT>).

One objective of the present invention is to overcome at least one defect in the prior art and to provide an air-cooled refrigerator.

One further objective of the present invention is to prevent a water drainage outlet of a cooling chamber of the refrigerator from being blocked.

Another further objective of the present invention is that as for the air-cooled refrigerator where the cooling chamber is located at the bottom and an evaporator is obliquely provided in the cooling chamber, defrosting water on the evaporator is collected by a water receiving tray to the greatest extent.

Yet another further objective of the present invention is to optimize the shape of a heating wire to make the evaporator heated more evenly.

These and other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention will be better understood by those skilled in the art in the light of the detailed description of specific embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings below. However, the claimed subject-matter is defined by the independent claim <NUM>. Further preferred embodiments are defined by the dependent claims.

Some specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail in an exemplary and non-limiting manner with reference to the accompanying drawings. Identical reference numerals in the accompanying drawings indicate identical or similar components or parts. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these accompanying drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the accompanying drawings,.

In the description of the embodiment, it should be understood that, orientation or position relationships indicated by terms "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "depth", etc. are based on orientations of a refrigerator in normal use as a reference, and can be determined with reference to orientation or position relationships as shown in accompanying drawings. For example, "front" for indicating an orientation refers to a side of the refrigerator facing towards a user. It is merely for ease of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and not for indicating or implying the device or component referred to should have a specific orientation and be constructed and operated in the specific orientation, and thus it cannot be interpreted as the limitation on the present invention.

See <FIG>, a refrigerator <NUM> of the embodiment may generally include a refrigerator body <NUM>. The refrigerator body <NUM> may include a housing, a liner, a heat insulation layer and other accessories. The housing is an outer layer structure of the refrigerator <NUM>, and protects the whole refrigerator <NUM>. In order to isolate heat conduction from the outside, the heat insulation layer is added between the housing and the liner of the refrigerator body <NUM>, and the heat insulation layer is generally made by means of a foaming process. There may be one or more liners, which may be arbitrarily divided into a refrigerating liner, a variable temperature liner, a freezing liner and the like according to functions. The specific number and functions of the liners may be configured according to usage demands of the refrigerator. In the embodiment, the liner at least includes a bottom liner <NUM>, which may generally be a freezing liner.

See <FIG> and <FIG>, a cooling chamber <NUM> is provided at the bottom of the bottom liner <NUM> of the refrigerator <NUM> of the embodiment, and an evaporator <NUM> is provided inside the cooling chamber <NUM> and supplies cold to the refrigerator <NUM>. Specifically, a separation cover plate <NUM> is provided on the lower portion of the bottom liner <NUM>, and transversely provided inside the bottom liner <NUM> to separate the bottom liner <NUM> into the cooling chamber <NUM> and a freezing compartment <NUM> located above the cooling chamber <NUM>.

That is, the evaporator <NUM> in the embodiment is provided on the lower portion of the bottom liner <NUM>. Such a manner may avoid the reduction of depth of the freezing compartment due to the occupation of a rear space of the freezing compartment by an evaporator in a traditional refrigerator. Especially for a side-by-side refrigerator, it is especially important to increase the depth dimension of the freezing compartment when its transverse dimension is small. Thus, the space utilization of the refrigerator <NUM> is improved, and objects that are large and difficult to be divided are stored advantageously.

Additionally, in the traditional refrigerator, the freezing compartment on the lowest portion has a low position, a user needs to bend down significantly or squat down to pick up and place objects in the freezing compartment. Thus, it is inconvenient for the user to use, especially for the elderly. However, in the embodiment, the lower space of the bottom liner <NUM> is occupied by the cooling chamber <NUM>, and thus the height of the freezing compartment <NUM> above the cooling chamber <NUM> is raised, which reduces the degree of bending down when the user picks up and places the objects in the freezing compartment <NUM>, thereby improving the user experience of the user.

See <FIG>, according to the present invention, the evaporator <NUM> is arranged on the front portion of the cooling chamber <NUM>, and obliquely provided in the cooling chamber <NUM>. This mode breaks through the technical shackle that, in the prior art, an evaporator needs to be placed horizontally to reduce the depth dimension. Although oblique placement of the flat cuboid evaporator <NUM> may increase a length in the front-back direction, it makes other components inside the cooling chamber <NUM> arranged more reasonably, and it is verified from actual analysis of an air flow field that air circulation efficiency is higher, and water drainage is smoother. The layout of oblique placement of the evaporator <NUM> is one of the main technical improvements made in the embodiment. In some specific embodiments, the inclination angle of the evaporator <NUM> is set within a range from <NUM> to <NUM> degrees, e.g., <NUM> degrees, <NUM> degrees and <NUM> degrees, preferably <NUM> degrees.

See <FIG> and <FIG>, in the embodiment, the refrigerator <NUM> may also include an air supply assembly. The air supply assembly is provided behind the evaporator <NUM>. The air supply assembly may include a centrifugal fan and an air supply duct <NUM>. The centrifugal fan is obliquely provided behind the evaporator <NUM>, with its suction inlet facing towards a front lower portion and its air outlet facing towards a rear portion, and is configured to enable the formation of a refrigeration air flow supplied towards the freezing compartment <NUM> via the evaporator <NUM>. The air supply duct <NUM> communicates with the air outlet of the centrifugal fan and extends upwards, and is configured to convey an air flow discharged by the centrifugal fan to the freezing compartment <NUM>. A proportion of a horizontal distance between the front end of the centrifugal fan and the evaporator <NUM> to the depth dimension of the refrigerator body <NUM> in the front-back direction is less than <NUM>%. For example, the proportion is set to <NUM>%.

See <FIG> and <FIG>, the refrigerator <NUM> may also include an air duct back plate <NUM>. The air duct back plate <NUM> is provided in front of the rear wall of the bottom liner <NUM> and may be roughly parallel to the rear wall of the bottom liner <NUM>, so as to define the air supply duct <NUM> together with the rear wall of the bottom liner <NUM>. The air supply duct <NUM> communicates with the air outlet of the centrifugal fan and extends upwards. At least one air supply outlet <NUM> is formed in the air duct back plate <NUM>. The air supply outlet <NUM> is configured to make the air supply duct <NUM> communicate with the freezing compartment <NUM>. The air supply duct <NUM> communicates with the cooling chamber <NUM>, and the separation cover plate <NUM> serves as a separation portion of the cooling chamber <NUM>, thus the air duct back plate <NUM> may be connected with separation cover plate <NUM> in an abutting manner, so as to play a role in sealing a gap between the cooling chamber <NUM> and the air supply duct <NUM>. In some preferable embodiments, the refrigeration fan may also be a centrifugal fan.

See <FIG> and <FIG>, the refrigeration fan may also include fan blades <NUM>, a fan upper cover <NUM> and a fan bottom shell <NUM>. The fan upper cover <NUM> obliquely extends downwards from the lower end of the air duct back plate <NUM> into the cooling chamber <NUM>. The fan bottom shell <NUM> covers the fan upper cover <NUM> and is fastened thereto. The fan blades <NUM> are provided inside a fan cavity (not shown in the figures) formed by the fan upper cover <NUM> and the fan bottom shell <NUM>. The air duct back plate <NUM> and the fan upper cover <NUM> may also be configured as an integrally-formed piece, so as to simplify installation processes and reduce costs, and also enable the whole air duct structure to be more stable.

See <FIG> and <FIG>, the refrigerator <NUM> may also include a return air cover <NUM>. The return air cover <NUM> is provided on the front portion of the cooling chamber <NUM>. At least one front return air inlet <NUM> that makes the cooling chamber <NUM> communicate with the freezing compartment <NUM> is formed in the return air cover <NUM>.

The evaporator <NUM> inside the cooling chamber <NUM> conducts heat exchange with surrounding air, to reduce the temperature of the air to form a refrigeration air flow. With the promotion of the centrifugal fan, the refrigeration air flow is discharged from the cooling chamber <NUM> to the air supply duct <NUM>, and then enters the freezing compartment <NUM> from the air supply outlet <NUM> in the air duct back plate <NUM>, so as to conduct heat exchange with air in the freezing compartment <NUM> to reduce the temperature of the freezing compartment <NUM>. The refrigeration air flow may flow back to the cooling chamber <NUM> via the front return air inlet <NUM> in the return air cover <NUM> after heat exchange to continue to conduct heat exchange with the evaporator <NUM>, thereby forming a circulating air flow path.

See <FIG>, according to the present invention, a water receiving tank <NUM> is formed on the bottom wall of the bottom liner <NUM>, and a water drainage outlet 1241a is formed at the bottom of the water receiving tank <NUM>; the evaporator <NUM> also includes a water receiving tray <NUM> and a heating wire <NUM>; the water receiving tray <NUM> is provided between the evaporator <NUM> and the bottom wall of the bottom liner <NUM>, and is configured to receive water on the evaporator <NUM>, and a plurality of through holes <NUM> are formed in a region of the water receiving tray <NUM> facing towards the water receiving tank <NUM>; the heating wire <NUM> is provided between the water receiving tray <NUM> and the evaporator <NUM> in a coiled manner, and is configured to provide heat for defrosting of the evaporator <NUM>, and the heating wire <NUM> has an extension portion <NUM> extending to the water receiving tank <NUM> through the through holes <NUM>.

In a using process of the refrigerator <NUM>, since the temperature of the evaporator <NUM> is lower than the outside temperature, water vapor in outside air may be condensed by the evaporator <NUM> and then frosted onto the surface of the evaporator <NUM>, which is prone to affecting the refrigeration effect and efficiency of the refrigerator and even causes a quality fault.

The heating wire <NUM> is provided between the water receiving tray <NUM> and the evaporator <NUM> in the coiled manner, and may heat the evaporator <NUM> at intervals according to certain parameters to melt frost on the evaporator <NUM>. For instance, when a compressor of the refrigerator <NUM> starts to work, the temperature of the evaporator <NUM> is reduced, a large amount of condensed water or defrosting water is produced at this time, and the heating wire <NUM> is started to conduct defrosting. Of course, starting and stopping of the heating wire <NUM> may also be controlled by other control logics, and in order not to obscure the invention point of the invention, it will not be described in detail herein.

The water receiving tray <NUM> is provided between the evaporator <NUM> and the bottom wall of the bottom liner <NUM>. After the defrost on the evaporator <NUM> is melted by the heating wire <NUM>, the water receiving tray <NUM> may receive and collect the defrosting water, and divert the defrosting water into the water receiving tank <NUM> on the bottom wall of the bottom liner <NUM>. The water drainage outlet 1241a is formed at the bottom of the water receiving tank <NUM>. The water drainage outlet 1241a may generally communicate the water receiving tank <NUM> with a compressor compartment located below the rear side of the bottom liner <NUM> to evaporate the defrosting water in the compressor compartment, thus preventing the defrosting water from dripping onto other components of the refrigerator <NUM> and causing a fault.

The water drainage outlet 1241a is located at the bottom of the water receiving tank <NUM>. The heating wire <NUM> is provided between the water receiving tray <NUM> and the evaporator <NUM>. In other words, there is a certain distance between the water drainage outlet 1241a and the heating wire <NUM>, and there is also the water receiving tray <NUM> spaced between them, which may cause the situation that some large-volume ice cannot be melted by the heating wire <NUM> in time when falling in the water drainage outlet 1241a, resulting in blocking of the water drainage outlet 1241a and disadvantageous water drainage.

Thus, in order to overcome the above defects, in the refrigerator of the embodiment, the plurality of through holes <NUM> are formed in the region of the water receiving tray <NUM> facing towards the water receiving tank <NUM>, and the heating wire <NUM> has the extension portion <NUM> extending to the water receiving tank <NUM> through the through holes <NUM>. At least part of the extension portion <NUM> is provided in the water receiving tank <NUM>, which may reduce the distance between the heating wire <NUM> and the water drainage outlet 1241a so that heat of the heating wire <NUM> can be transferred to the water drainage outlet 1241a in time to prevent the water drainage outlet 1241a from being blocked. Additionally, since the heating wire <NUM> is provided between the water receiving tray <NUM> and the evaporator <NUM>, the extension portion <NUM> may define the position between the water receiving tray <NUM> and the heating wire <NUM> when extending to the water receiving tank <NUM> through the through holes <NUM>.

Additionally, while the extension portion prevents the water drainage outlet from being blocked, it may also avoid additional heating wires at the water drainage outlet, thus reducing the cost of the refrigerator.

In some specific embodiments of the present invention, the extension portion <NUM> may be formed by bending the middle of the heating wire <NUM> towards the water receiving tray <NUM>. The diameter of the heating wire <NUM> may be slightly smaller than the dimensions of the through holes <NUM> to allow the extension portion <NUM> to pass through the through holes <NUM>. For example, the diameter of the heating wire <NUM> may be <NUM>, and the widths of the through holes <NUM> may be <NUM>, etc., which will not be enumerated herein.

The heating wire <NUM> may also be configured as an aluminum tube heating wire. The water receiving tray <NUM> may also be configured as an aluminum water receiving tray. The aluminum water receiving tray <NUM> mainly acts to effectively and quickly transfer the heat of the heating wire <NUM> to all portions of the evaporator <NUM> to increase the heating area of the evaporator <NUM>, thereby improving the defrosting efficiency.

In some specific embodiments of the present invention, the distance between the bottom end of the extension portion <NUM> and the water drainage outlet 1241a may also be configured as any numerical value within a range from <NUM> to <NUM>, e.g., <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM>, so as to make the extension portion get close to the water drainage outlet 1241a to the greatest extent on the premise of not affecting the water drainage effect of the water drainage outlet 1241a to prevent the water drainage outlet 1241a from being blocked.

See <FIG> and <FIG>, in some embodiments of the present invention, the bottom wall of the bottom liner <NUM> may include a first oblique portion <NUM>, a sunken portion <NUM>, a second oblique portion <NUM> and a third oblique portion <NUM>. The first oblique portion <NUM> is obliquely provided downwards from front to back from the front end of the bottom wall of the bottom liner <NUM>. The sunken portion <NUM> is provided on the rear side of the first oblique portion <NUM>, and is configured to incline upwards from a transverse middle to two sides to form the water receiving tank <NUM> in the transverse middle. The second oblique portion <NUM> is obliquely provided upwards from front to back from the rear end of the water receiving tank <NUM>. The third oblique portion <NUM> is obliquely provided upwards from front to back from the rear end of the second oblique portion <NUM>.

In the embodiment, the second oblique portion <NUM> is obliquely provided relative to the front end of the bottom wall of the bottom liner <NUM>. The evaporator <NUM> may be directly or indirectly provided on the second oblique portion <NUM>, and the water receiving tank <NUM> is formed at the sunken portion <NUM> located on the lower side of the second oblique portion <NUM>, which enables the defrosting water on the evaporator <NUM> to be smoothly discharged into the water receiving tank <NUM> when the evaporator <NUM> is obliquely provided on the second oblique portion <NUM>.

In some specific embodiments, the inclination angle of the third oblique portion <NUM> is greater than that of the second oblique portion <NUM>, and the inclination angle of the third oblique portion <NUM> relative to the horizontal direction may also be set within a range from <NUM> to <NUM> degrees, e.g., <NUM> degrees, <NUM> degrees and <NUM> degrees, preferably <NUM> degrees.

See <FIG>, in some embodiments of the present invention, the water receiving tray <NUM> includes a front plate segment <NUM>, a middle plate segment <NUM> and a rear plate segment <NUM>. The front plate segment <NUM> is located at the front end of the water receiving tray <NUM>, and a gap is formed between it and the first oblique portion <NUM>; the middle plate segment <NUM> obliquely extends upwards from the rear end of the front plate segment <NUM>, with its front portion being located above the water receiving tank <NUM> and provided with the plurality of through holes <NUM> and its rear portion abutting against the second oblique portion <NUM>; and the rear plate segment <NUM> obliquely extends upwards from the rear end of the middle plate segment <NUM> and abuts against the third oblique portion <NUM>.

The evaporator <NUM> has an overall flat cuboid shape, and is provided on the middle plate segment <NUM>, and the bottom of a front end of the evaporator abuts against the junction of the middle plate segment <NUM> and the front plate segment <NUM>, such that the evaporator <NUM> is provided at the inclination angle of the second oblique portion <NUM> to achieve the technical effect of oblique provision of the evaporator <NUM> in the above embodiments.

In the embodiment, the front plate segment <NUM> may abut against the first oblique portion <NUM>, the middle plate segment <NUM> obliquely extends upwards from the rear end of the front plate segment <NUM>, and the rear plate segment <NUM> obliquely extends upwards from the rear end of the middle plate segment <NUM>. When the evaporator <NUM> is provided on the middle plate segment <NUM>, it may be completely enclosed by the front plate segment <NUM>, the middle plate segment <NUM> and the rear plate segment <NUM> to collect the defrosting water on the evaporator <NUM> to the greatest extent.

Further, in the embodiment, the evaporator <NUM> is provided on the middle plate segment <NUM>, and the middle plate segment <NUM> obliquely extends upwards from the rear end of the front plate segment <NUM>, with its front end being located above the water receiving tank <NUM>. In other words, the front end of the evaporator <NUM> is also inclined towards the water receiving tank <NUM>, which may also reduce the distance between the front portion of the evaporator <NUM> and the water receiving tank <NUM>, thus reducing the distance between the whole heating wire <NUM> and the water receiving tank <NUM>. In the present invention, it is precisely because of the cooperation of the modes of the extension portion <NUM> and oblique provision of the evaporator <NUM> that the distance between the heating wire <NUM> and the water receiving tank <NUM> is reduced to heat the water drainage outlet 1241a.

See <FIG>, the first oblique portion <NUM> may also form a protrusion portion <NUM>, and the front plate segment <NUM> may lean against the protrusion portion, such that a gap is formed between the front plate segment <NUM> and the first oblique portion <NUM>. The gap enables the water receiving tank <NUM> to communicate with the cooling chamber <NUM> to keep the pressure of the water receiving tank <NUM> equal to that of the cooling chamber <NUM>, which is beneficial to water drainage.

In some specific embodiments, the distance between the front plate segment <NUM> and the first oblique portion <NUM> may also be configured as any numerical value within a range from <NUM> to <NUM>, e.g., <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM>.

See <FIG> and <FIG>, in some embodiments of the present invention, the heating wire <NUM> includes a plurality of parallel sections <NUM> and a plurality of connection sections <NUM>. The plurality of parallel sections <NUM> are parallelly provided at intervals relative to the transverse direction of the refrigerator <NUM>, and the extension portion <NUM> is formed on the parallel sections <NUM>. Each connection section <NUM> is provided between the ends on a same side of adjacent two parallel sections <NUM> in a bent extension manner to sequentially connect the plurality of parallel sections <NUM> in series.

That is, the heating wire <NUM> in the embodiment is provided in a manner of being coiled in an S shape, and the number of the parallel sections <NUM> and the distance between every two adjacent parallel sections <NUM> may be configured according to the area of the evaporator <NUM>, such that the evaporator <NUM> may be evenly heated. The extension portion <NUM> may be formed by downwards bending the parallel sections <NUM>, so as to protrude from the surface of the heating wire <NUM> and extend downwards to heat the water drainage outlet 1241a.

See <FIG> and <FIG>, the heating wire <NUM> may also include an expansion section <NUM>. A middle portion of the expansion section <NUM> is provided abutting against the front plate segment <NUM> and the expansion section extends towards two sides to a position close to a side wall of the bottom liner <NUM> to conduct defrosting heating on a region in front of the evaporator <NUM>. Ice falling from the top of the evaporator <NUM> in the defrosting process and ice appearing at a side return air inlet are melted and removed, which makes the action region of the heating wire more comprehensive and further guarantees smooth defrosting and water drainage.

Correspondingly, the side portions of the water receiving tray <NUM> may also extend towards the two sides to form expansion plate segments <NUM> to bear the expansion section <NUM>.

See <FIG>, in some embodiments of the present invention, a plurality of limiting parts <NUM> are provided on the positions of the rear portion of the upper surface of the middle plate segment <NUM> facing towards the plurality of connection sections <NUM> to limit the connection sections <NUM>.

In the embodiment, the limiting parts <NUM> may be a plurality of clamping grooves arched from the upper surface of the middle plate segment <NUM>, and the connection sections <NUM> on the same side may extend into the clamping grooves, so as to limit the heating wire <NUM> and the middle plate segment <NUM> to simplify assembly processes. In some preferable embodiments, the limiting parts <NUM> have a shape of semisphere, which minimizes the impact on the refrigeration air flow.

Claim 1:
An air-cooled refrigerator (<NUM>), comprising:
a bottom liner (<NUM>), internally defining a cooling chamber (<NUM>) located at its bottom, a water receiving tank (<NUM>) being formed on a bottom wall of the bottom liner (<NUM>), and a water drainage outlet (1241a) being formed at a bottom of the water receiving tank (<NUM>);
an evaporator (<NUM>), provided inside the cooling chamber (<NUM>), and configured to cool an air flow entering the cooling chamber (<NUM>) to form a cooled air flow;
a water receiving tray (<NUM>), provided between the evaporator (<NUM>) and the bottom wall of the bottom liner (<NUM>), and configured to receive water on the evaporator (<NUM>), a plurality of through holes (<NUM>) being formed in a region of the water receiving tray (<NUM>) facing towards the water receiving tank (<NUM>); and
a heating wire (<NUM>), provided between the water receiving tray (<NUM>) and the evaporator (<NUM>) in a coiled manner, and configured to provide heat for defrosting of the evaporator (<NUM>), the heating wire (<NUM>) having an extension portion (<NUM>) extending to the water receiving tank (<NUM>) through the through holes (<NUM>), wherein
the evaporator (<NUM>) has an overall flat cuboid shape, and is arranged in a front portion of the cooling chamber (<NUM>) and provided obliquely upward from front to back in the cooling chamber (<NUM>), such that the front end of the evaporator (<NUM>) is inclined towards the water receiving tank (<NUM>), which reduces the distance between the front portion of the evaporator (<NUM>) and the water receiving tank (<NUM>), thus reducing the distance between the whole heating wire (<NUM>) and the water receiving tank (<NUM>).