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CN101666572A - Refrigeration appliance - Google Patents

Refrigeration appliance Download PDF

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Publication number
CN101666572A
CN101666572A CN200810195839A CN200810195839A CN101666572A CN 101666572 A CN101666572 A CN 101666572A CN 200810195839 A CN200810195839 A CN 200810195839A CN 200810195839 A CN200810195839 A CN 200810195839A CN 101666572 A CN101666572 A CN 101666572A
Authority
CN
China
Prior art keywords
tube
evaporator
collecting portion
appliance according
collecting
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
CN200810195839A
Other languages
Chinese (zh)
Inventor
亚历山大·若普
柏玉发
陶锋
朱启武
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
BSH Electrical Appliances Jiangsu Co Ltd
Original Assignee
BSH Electrical Appliances Jiangsu Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by BSH Electrical Appliances Jiangsu Co Ltd filed Critical BSH Electrical Appliances Jiangsu Co Ltd
Priority to CN200810195839A priority Critical patent/CN101666572A/en
Publication of CN101666572A publication Critical patent/CN101666572A/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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Abstract

The invention relates to a refrigeration appliance. The refrigeration appliance comprises an evaporator (2) and a defrosting heater (6), wherein the evaporator (2) comprises a pipe (4) which bears refrigerant, and the pipe (4) is provided with a collecting part (20) for collecting at least one part of liquid refrigerant. According to the suggestion of the invention, in terms of the pipe (4), the collecting part (20) or a part of the collecting part (20) is directly contacted with the defrosting heater (6).

Description

Refrigeration device
[ technical field ]
The present invention relates to a refrigeration appliance, and more particularly, to a refrigeration appliance including an evaporator and a defrosting heater for removing frost and/or ice formed on the evaporator during a refrigeration process.
[ background art ]
During operation of the refrigerator, frost and even ice may form on the evaporator. Frost and ice can reduce the efficiency of the refrigeration system. In the prior art, it is known in the art to provide a defrosting heater to melt frost and ice on an evaporator. Generally, when the defrosting heater is turned on, the operation of the refrigeration system is stopped. The defrosting heater may be turned on manually or automatically by the controller based on the detection signal.
US patent US 3,683,636 discloses a defrosting heater for melting frost on a finned evaporator. The defrosting heater is a U-shaped heating element which comprises two vertically upward leg parts and a curve part connected with the lower ends of the leg parts. The legs are spaced apart and thus juxtaposed on opposite sides of the evaporator. The curved portion extends below the bottom of the evaporator and the heating element is at a distance from the tube carrying the refrigerant. By switching on the heating element, the air around the evaporator is heated, thereby melting frost formed on the evaporator. The frost on the evaporator needs to be removed as quickly as possible to reduce the impact on the food or other items in the storage compartment. However, such a defrosting apparatus, which heats the evaporator mainly by using thermal convection, requires a long time to complete defrosting. The problem of the effect of the defrosting procedure on the storage compartment temperature is particularly pronounced for large capacity refrigerators employing evaporators of large size.
GB 755,144 discloses a defrosting heater for defrosting a tank type evaporator which comprises a tank type casing and a refrigerant carrying tube provided along the outer surface of the casing. The interior of the box-shaped housing defines a storage space for storing items to be cooled or frozen. A soft defrosting heater is disposed in contact with the tube and the outer surface of the case to quickly melt the frost on the evaporator, thereby reducing the effect of the defrosting process on the food in the box-type case. Considering that the bottom and rear surfaces of the box-type case have more frost, the solution places the defrosting heater in such a way that it exchanges heat with the bottom and rear surfaces of the box-type case more than with the top surface of the box-type case. However, the characteristics of the refrigerant carried within the tubes and the problem of the refrigeration efficiency of the refrigeration system are not well considered.
[ summary of the invention ]
The invention aims to provide a refrigeration appliance, which can obviously improve defrosting efficiency and does not need to obviously influence the refrigeration efficiency of the refrigeration appliance.
The invention therefore concerns a refrigeration appliance comprising an evaporator and a defrost heater, said evaporator comprising a tube carrying refrigerant, said tube comprising a collecting portion collecting at least part of the liquid refrigerant, characterized in that, as far as said tube is concerned, only said collecting portion or part of said collecting portion is in direct contact with said defrost heater.
Thus, heat from the defrosting heater can be quickly transferred to the collecting portion of the tube, and the liquid refrigerant in the collecting portion can start to evaporate within a short time from the start of the defrosting process, so that heat from the defrosting heater can be transferred from the collecting portion to other portions of the tube by the upward movement of the evaporated refrigerant. When this evaporated refrigerant flows, for example, upwards to a portion where the temperature is below its condensation temperature threshold, the refrigerant is re-condensed. In addition, since only the collecting part and the defrosting heater form such a strong heat exchange relationship, other parts of the tube can be maintained at a relatively low temperature, so that the refrigerant can be blocked from leaving the evaporator by liquefying the gaseous refrigerant for a relatively long time, and since other parts are not in direct contact with the defrosting heater, the heat exchange efficiency of the parts in the refrigerating process is not affected, so that the refrigerating efficiency of the refrigerating appliance is affected only in a limited way or even not.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention, individually or in combination with other features, are set forth in the following appended claims.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the collecting portion comprises the lowest part of the tube. Thus, ice/frost lumps having a large size formed at the bottom of the evaporator can be broken down at the very beginning of defrosting, thereby facilitating the entry and good propagation of hot air inside the evaporator; on the other hand, it is also advantageous to collect the liquid refrigerant in the collecting portion.
Advantageously, the defrosting heater comprises a contact portion in direct contact with the collecting portion, the contact portion being located at least partially below the collecting portion, so that the collecting portion can exchange heat with the defrosting heater more efficiently to gradually evaporate the liquid refrigerant in the collecting portion.
Advantageously, the contact portion is part of the defrost heater, so that it is possible to defrost the evaporator quickly and evenly by arranging the other parts of the defrost heater reasonably, e.g. keeping them at a predetermined distance from the other parts of the tube.
In order to enhance the heat exchange efficiency between the defrosting heater and the collecting part, the defrosting heater and the collecting part may be at least partially in surface contact.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the tube comprises a plurality of rectilinear tube sections which form tube rows which are spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction, wherein the collecting section comprises the tube row which is lowermost in the longitudinal direction.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the defrosting heater comprises a side portion arranged along at least one side of the tube row, said side portion being maintained at a predetermined distance from the tube row. Preferably, the side portions comprise a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart linear segments extending along the respective tube sections.
Particularly preferably, the number of the straight line sections is smaller than that of the tube rows, so that the heat exchange degree between the tube sections and the defrosting heater can be reasonably arranged according to the requirement.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the evaporator comprises a plurality of fins fixed to the tube, the collecting portion being distanced from each fin to facilitate the direct contact between the collecting portion and the defrosting heater.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the defrosting heater is fixed to the collecting part, so that the defrosting heater can be prevented from being detached from the collecting part. Preferably, the refrigeration appliance comprises a binding device for fixing the defrosting heater and the collecting part, so that the collecting part and the defrosting heater can be fixed under the condition that the existing evaporator and/or the defrosting heater is changed as little as possible or even is not changed.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the defrosting heater is an electric heating element.
The construction of the present invention and other objects and advantages thereof will be more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
[ description of the drawings ]
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. Wherein,
fig. 1 is a perspective view of an evaporator assembly 1 for a refrigeration appliance according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the evaporator assembly 1 including an evaporator 2 and a defrosting heater 6 installed to the evaporator 2.
Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view of the evaporator assembly 1 shown in fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a partial front view of the evaporator assembly 1 shown in fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a partial side view of the evaporator assembly 1 shown in fig. 1.
[ description of the preferred embodiments ]
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an evaporator assembly 1 for a refrigeration appliance (not shown) according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the evaporator assembly 1 includes an evaporator 2 and a defrosting heater 6 mounted to the evaporator 2. The refrigeration appliance comprises at least one storage compartment for storing items to be cooled, such as food, and a refrigeration system. The refrigeration system includes an evaporator, a condenser (not shown), a compressor (not shown), and a throttling device (not shown), and the refrigeration principle thereof is well known to those skilled in the art, and thus a more detailed description of the components of the refrigeration system other than the evaporator is omitted in the present invention.
The evaporator 2 is an important component of a refrigeration system of a refrigeration appliance, and is installed inside the refrigeration appliance. As shown in fig. 1, the evaporator 2 includes a tube 4 carrying refrigerant. The tube 4 is bent to have a plurality of linear tube sections 7 parallel to each other and bent sections 9 formed at opposite ends of the evaporator 2 and connecting the adjacent tube sections 7 in series. Adjacent tube sections 7 are spaced apart a predetermined distance and form tube rows 8a, 8b, 8c, 8n which are spaced apart a predetermined distance in the longitudinal direction. In the present embodiment, each tube row 8a, 8b, 8c, 8n comprises three tube segments 7 distributed on the same horizontal plane and parallel to each other.
During operation of the refrigeration system, the refrigerant in the tube 4 is a mixture of liquid and gaseous states. The tube 4 comprises a collecting portion 20, in which collecting portion 20 the liquid refrigerant in the tube 4 is at least partly collected during the cooling process. When the compressor of the refrigeration system is started to let gaseous refrigerant leave the evaporator 2, the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 2 partly evaporates due to the pressure change and absorbs heat, which results in a decrease of the temperature of the evaporator 2 and the environment surrounding the evaporator 2. In the present embodiment, the tube segments 7 of the lowermost tube row 8a form the collecting portion 20, so that the liquid refrigerant can be easily collected due to gravity.
According to the present embodiment, the evaporator 2 is a fin type evaporator, which includes a plurality of fins 14 made of a material excellent in thermal conductivity. According to the present embodiment, the fins 14 are sheet-like and have holes 15 for passing through the tube segments 7. Each hole 15 is circular and has a closed-loop edge. When the tube segments 7 are passed through the respective holes 15, no gap exists between the edges of the holes 15 and the outer surfaces of the tube segments 7, but they are in close contact, thereby establishing an efficient heat exchange relationship between the fins 14 and the tubes 4. However, as shown in fig. 1 and 3, the fins 14 are spaced from the tube segments 7 of the lowermost tube row 8 a.
The evaporator 2 includes two support plates 11 located at opposite ends of the evaporator 2. The support plate 11 is substantially parallel to the fins 14 and perpendicular to the tube segments 7. The support plate 11 is also preferably made of a material having good thermal conductivity to improve the heat exchange efficiency of the evaporator 2. The support plate 11 has a plurality of elongated support holes 17. As shown in fig. 2, the height of the support holes 17 in the longitudinal direction is preferably slightly smaller than the distance between adjacent tube rows 8a, 8 b. After the bent sections 9 pass through the corresponding support holes 17, the support holes 17 are engaged with the pipe sections 7 to fix the support plate 11 to the pipe 4. As shown in fig. 1 and 4, the support plate 11 is provided with a plurality of open-loop openings 18 at opposite sides thereof to receive corresponding portions of the defrosting heater 6. In the present embodiment, the remaining openings 18 are spaced from the support holes 17, except that the lowermost opening 18 communicates with the corresponding support hole 17.
Notches 16 for holding corresponding portions of the defrosting heater 6 are formed in both side edges of the fin 14, respectively. The recesses 16 are close to the respective holes 15, but do not communicate with the holes 15. The recesses 16 are at the same level as the corresponding openings 18 and have substantially the same shape and size.
Since frost or even ice is formed on the evaporator 2 during the operation of the refrigeration system to lower the refrigeration efficiency of the refrigeration system, the defrosting heater 6 is provided to remove the frost formed on the evaporator 2. The defrosting heater 6 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail below.
The defrosting heater 6 is based on an electric heater of resistance heating in the present embodiment. The defrost heater 6 has a generally upwardly U-shaped channel profile comprising two side portions 19 and a connecting portion 10 connected to the lower ends of the two side portions 19.
As shown in fig. 2, the connection portion 10 includes a contact portion 13 that is in direct contact with two tube segments 7 in the lowermost tube row 8 a. The contact portions 13 are substantially straight in the present embodiment and extend along the respective tube sections 7. Since the defrosting heater 6 is in direct contact with the collecting part 20, heat generated by the defrosting heater 6 is immediately transferred to the corresponding tube segment 7 of the lowermost tube row 8a constituting a part of the collecting part 20.
As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the contact portion 13 is located below the collecting portion 20. The contact portion 13 may be at least partially in surface contact with the collecting portion 20 to enhance the heat exchange efficiency therebetween. In the case of a round tube for the tube section 7, the surface contact between the two can be achieved by providing the contact portion 13 with a non-circular outer surface, and vice versa.
In the present embodiment, the defrosting heater 6 is in direct contact with only two pipe sections 7 in the collecting part 20. In further embodiments, the defrosting heater 6 may also be maintained in direct contact with the entire collecting part 20.
In order to make the contact between the contact portion 13 of the defrosting heater 6 and the collecting portion 20 reliable, the contact portion 13 is preferably fixed on the collecting portion 20. This may be achieved by using a binding means such as a binding wire to bind the contact portion 13 to the collecting portion 20.
The two side portions 19 are respectively arranged on opposite sides of the evaporator 2. The side portion 19 is bent to have a plurality of straight line segments 21a, 21b, 21m and a connecting bent segment 22 connecting the longitudinally adjacent straight line segments 21a, 21b, 21m in series. The straight sections 21a, 21b, 21m and the connecting bends 22 are shaped similarly to the pipe sections 7 and the bends 9, respectively, and are arranged next to the outside of the latter. As shown in fig. 4, the straight sections 21a, 21b, 21m and the connecting bend 22 are parallel to the adjacent pipe sections 7 and the bend 9.
The straight segments 21b, 21m are fixed to the evaporator 2 fixed to the corresponding openings 18 of the support plate 11 and the corresponding notches 16 of the fins 14, while the straight segments 21a are clamped only on the openings 18. The straight sections 21b, 21m of the side portions 19 are in direct contact with the fins 14 attached to the tube rows 8b, 8 c. The straight sections 21b, 21m, although arranged along the respective tube sections 7 of the tube rows 8b, 8c, 8m, maintain a predetermined distance therebetween, since the recesses 16 are spaced from the corresponding holes 15. Similarly, the straight segments 21a of the side portions 19 are arranged beside the outermost respective tube section 7 of the tube row 8a but at a distance from the latter. In another embodiment, not shown, the straight segments 21a are at least partially in contact with the outermost tube segments 7 of the tube row 8 a.
The number m of straight line segments 21a, 21 b.., 21m is less than the number n of tube rows 8a, 8 b.., 8 n. The tube rows 8(n-m), 8(n-m +1), 8n are less affected by the defrost heater 6 than the tube rows 8a, 8b, 8c, 8m located below. Thus, during defrosting, the tube rows 8(n-m), 8(n-m +1), 8n may be at a relatively low temperature for a relatively long time.
By establishing a strong heat exchange relationship between the defrosting heater 6 and the collecting portion 20 of the tube 4, heat from the defrosting heater 6 can be quickly transferred to the collecting portion 20 of the tube 4. The liquid refrigerant collected in the collecting portion 20 may start to evaporate within a short time immediately after the start of the defrosting process. The evaporated refrigerant flows upwards along the tubes 4 and, when it flows upwards to a portion where the temperature is below its condensation temperature threshold, it transforms from a gaseous state to a liquid state and gives off heat. In this way, heat from the defrosting heater 6 is transferred from the collecting portion 20 to the other portion of the tube 4 by the upward movement of the evaporated refrigerant. The liquefied refrigerant flows downward due to gravity and when it reaches a region where it is at a higher temperature than it can evaporate again, the refrigerant can begin another cycle. As the temperature of the collecting portion 20 gradually increases, more and more liquid refrigerant gradually evaporates and transfers heat from the collecting portion 20 to other portions. In this way, the refrigerant is greatly utilized to actively transfer the heat generated by the defrosting heater 6 from the collecting part 20 to other parts of the tube 4, and the heat is radiated from the inside of the tube 4 to the outside of the tube, which is more advantageous for defrosting.
In addition, since the collecting portion 20 is provided at the lowest portion of the evaporator 2, ice/frost cubes having a large size formed at the bottom of the evaporator 2 can be melted at the very beginning of defrosting, thereby facilitating better propagation of hot air into the evaporator 2 between the tube sections 7 of the evaporator 2.
On the other hand, the portion of the tubes 4 above the collecting portion 20 is kept at a distance from the defrosting heater 6, in particular the row of tubes 8(n-m), 8(n-m +1), the 8n initially receives only a limited amount of heat by thermal convection. These parts can thus be kept at a relatively low temperature, so that the refrigerant can be prevented from leaving the evaporator 2 by condensing the gaseous refrigerant for a relatively long time. In addition, the tube segments 7 of the tube rows 8b, 8c, 8n are not in direct contact with the defrosting heater 6, they can freely keep close contact with the fins 14, so that the heat exchange efficiency of the evaporator 2 is not affected thereby, and the refrigeration efficiency of the refrigeration appliance is affected only to a limited extent or not.
By measuring and calculating the weight Qw of the water collected after the defrosting procedure and the amount of electricity consumed Qh by the defrosting procedure, we surprisingly and clearly found that the defrosting efficiency Qw/Qh of the refrigeration appliance according to the embodiment of the present invention can reach 70% while the refrigeration efficiency is maintained at the same level.

Claims (13)

1. A refrigerator appliance comprising an evaporator (2) and a defrost heater (6), the evaporator (2) comprising a tube (4) carrying refrigerant, the tube (4) having a collecting portion (20) collecting at least part of the liquid refrigerant, characterized in that, as far as the tube (4) is concerned, only the collecting portion (20) or a part of the collecting portion (20) is in direct contact with the defrost heater (6).
2. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that said collecting portion (20) comprises the lowest portion of said tube (4).
3. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said defrost heater (6) comprises a contact portion (13) in direct contact with said collecting portion (20), said contact portion (13) being located at least partially below said collecting portion (20).
4. A refrigerator appliance according to claim 3, characterized in that said contact portion (13) is part of said defrost heater (6).
5. Refrigeration appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the defrosting heater (6) is at least partially in surface contact with the collecting portion (20).
6. Refrigeration appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tube (4) comprises a plurality of rectilinear tube sections (7), which tube sections (7) constitute a plurality of tube rows (8a, 8b, 8 c.., 8n) which are spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction, wherein the collecting portion (20) comprises the tube row (8a) which is lowest in the longitudinal direction.
7. A cold appliance according to claim 6, wherein the defrost heater (6) comprises a side portion (19) arranged along at least one side of the row of tubes (8a, 8b, 8 c.., 8n), said side portion (19) being at a predetermined distance from the row of tubes (8a, 8b, 8 c.., 8 n).
8. A cold appliance according to claim 7, wherein the side portion (19) comprises a number of longitudinally spaced straight line segments (21a, 21b, 21m), said straight line segments (21a, 21b, 21m) extending along the respective tube section (7).
9. A cold appliance according to claim 8, wherein the number (m) of straight line segments (21a, 21b, 21m) is smaller than the number (n) of tube rows (8a, 8b, 8c, 8 n).
10. Refrigeration appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said evaporator (2) comprises a plurality of fins (14) fixed to said tubes (4), said collecting portion (20) being distanced from each fin (14).
11. The refrigeration appliance according to any of the above claims, wherein said defrosting heater (6) is fixed to said collecting portion (20).
12. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 11, characterized in that it comprises binding means for fixing said defrosting heater (6) to said collecting portion (20).
13. The device according to any of the foregoing claims, characterised in that the defrosting heater (6) is an electric heating element.
CN200810195839A 2008-09-03 2008-09-03 Refrigeration appliance Pending CN101666572A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN200810195839A CN101666572A (en) 2008-09-03 2008-09-03 Refrigeration appliance

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN200810195839A CN101666572A (en) 2008-09-03 2008-09-03 Refrigeration appliance

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CN101666572A true CN101666572A (en) 2010-03-10

Family

ID=41803297

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CN200810195839A Pending CN101666572A (en) 2008-09-03 2008-09-03 Refrigeration appliance

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CN (1) CN101666572A (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN111102766A (en) * 2018-10-29 2020-05-05 博西华电器(江苏)有限公司 Microchannel heat exchanger and refrigeration appliance

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN111102766A (en) * 2018-10-29 2020-05-05 博西华电器(江苏)有限公司 Microchannel heat exchanger and refrigeration appliance

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Open date: 20100310