Patent ID: 8087261

Claim:
A refrigerator, comprising: a cold air duct configured to receive cold air circulating inside of a refrigerating chamber and/or a freezing chamber; an evaporator in the cold air duct; at least one defrosting heater in the cold air duct configured to selectively emit heat; a fan in the cold air duct that selectively directs the cold air in an upward or downward direction; a motor that drives the fan; and an open/close device that selectively opens and closes a space containing the evaporator, the defrosting heater, and the fan positioned therein, wherein the space communicates with both the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber, wherein the open/close device is configured to be rotated by a force of a flow of the cold air generated by rotation of the fan so that the opening or closing between the space and the refrigerating chamber and the space and the freezing chamber are performed by the open/close device simultaneously, wherein the open/close device comprises a first open/close part on an upper side of the space and a second open/close part on a lower side of the space, and wherein the first and second open/close parts each comprises: a supporting plate having a plurality of openings, the supporting plate being arranged above or below the fan and the evaporator, respectively; and a plurality of rotating plates, each having one side coupled to the supporting plate by hinges, and the other side being rotatable upward by a predetermined angle, wherein each of the plurality of rotating plates is independently coupled to the supporting plate without a connection to others of the plurality of rotating plates, wherein the plurality of rotating plates of the first open/close part is configured to rotate upwardly in a direction opposite to a location of the fan and the plurality of rotating plates of the second open/close part is configured to rotate upwardly in a direction toward the location of the fan when the air is directed upwardly by the fan during cooling so that the space communicates with the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber simultaneously, and wherein the plurality of rotating plates of the first open/close part is configured to rotate downwardly toward the location of the fan and the plurality of rotating plates of the second open/close part is configured to rotate downwardly in a direction opposite to the location of the fan when the air is directed downwardly by the fan during the defrosting so that the space is prevented from communicating with the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber simultaneously.