Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D17/00—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces
  • F25D17/04—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection
  • F25D17/042—Air treating means within refrigerated spaces
  • F25D17/045—Air flow control arrangements
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D17/00—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces
  • F25D17/04—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection
  • F25D17/06—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection by forced circulation
  • F25D17/062—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection by forced circulation in household refrigerators
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D2317/00—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass
  • F25D2317/06—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation
  • F25D2317/067—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation characterised by air ducts
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D2317/00—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass
  • F25D2317/06—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation
  • F25D2317/067—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass with forced air circulation characterised by air ducts
  • F25D2317/0672—Outlet ducts
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D2400/00—General features of, or devices for refrigerators, cold rooms, ice-boxes, or for cooling or freezing apparatus not covered by any other subclass
  • F25D2400/04—Refrigerators with a horizontal mullion

Definitions

• the present invention refers to a system to provide the selective control of the airflows that are forced to circulate in the interior of determined regions of the refrigerating and freezing compartments defined in a refrigerating cabinet.
• the invention is applied to refrigerators and freezers with the cabinet presenting a single compartment, or multiple compartments, each front lly closed by a door.
• a cool airflow is supplied to the different compartments by air passages provided in a front wall of an air distributing plenum usually located in the rear region of each respective compartment and which receives a forced cool airflow coming from an air cooling compartment, in which an evaporator and a fan are lodged.
• FIGS 1 and 2 of the enclosed drawings schematically illustrate a refrigerating compartment 10, in whose rear region is formed an air cooling compartment 20 lodging an evaporator 21 and a fan 22.
• the fan 22 produces an airflow which is forced to flow from the air cooling compartment 20 to an air distributing plenum 23, disposed in front of the air cooling compartment 20 and which presents a front .wall 24, facing the refrigerating compartment 10 and provided with a plurality of air passages 25 which allow the cool air, which is insufflated into the air distributing plenum, to be distributed to different levels in said refrigerating compartment 10, in order to refrigerate the load contained in the latter.
• FIG. 1 The construction exemplified in figures 1 and 2 is generally applied to the freezing compartment of a combined cabinet which is inferiorly provided with a refrigerating compartment (not illustrated) , in whose rear region is installed a cool air distributing duct provided with air passages in its front wall facing said refrigerating compartment, and said air distributing duct being superiorly connected to the air distributing plenum 23, so as to receive from the latter a cool airflow to be distributed to different levels of the refrigerating compartment.
• the air passages 25 provided in the air distributing plenum 23, or in the air distributing duct of the refrigerating compartment, are arranged and dimensioned to allow the respective compartment to have its load homogenously refrigerated or frozen.
• the physical distribution and the dimensioning of said air passages 25 cannot be altered, consisting in a passive system which will always produce the same refrigerating or freezing effect, independently of the operative specifications desired by the user operating said compartment.
• These prior art solutions do not allow the user to adjust the refrigerating intensity of different regions selected in one or another compartment, according to the characteristics of the load to be refrigerated or frozen in said region.
• this modification generally involves changing the operational ranges of the refrigerating system, proportionally influencing the temperatures in the other regions of one or more compartments.
• the present control system has at least part of the air passages provided in the front wall of the air distributing plenum operatively associated with respective closing means, which are selectively displaced to different operative positions, in which they maintain said air passages with a free area that is dimensioned as a function of the intensity of the forced airflow to be supplied to the refrigerating compartment.
• Figure 1 is a simplified schematic vertical sectional view of a refrigerating compartment provided with a system for supplying a forced cool airflow, constructed according to the prior art;
• Figure 2 is a front view of the refrigerating compartment illustrated in figure 1, with the respective door being opened for visualizing the arrangement of the air passages that supply the airflow refrigerated in said refrigerating compartment ;
• Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the refrigerating compartment illustrated in figure 1, but provided with the system for controlling the forced cool airflow of the present invention;
• Figures 4-8 are simplified and schematic front views of the refrigerating compartment illustrated in figures 1 and 2, but provided with the system for controlling the forced cool airflow of the present invention, in different operative conditions.
• the invention aims at providing a refrigerating compartment 10, which can take the form of a freezing compartment or a refrigerating compartment, with a system which allows for the selective control of the refrigerating intensity produced in predetermined different regions of said refrigerating compartment which are served by respective air passages 25 provided in the front wall 24 of the air distributing plenum 23, positioned in the rear region of the refrigerating compartment 10 and which is supplied with a forced cool airflow coming from an air cooling compartment 20, disposed immediately behind the air distributing plenum 23 or spaced from the latter, said air cooling compartment 20 lodging an evaporator 21 and a fan 22, which is responsible for supplying an airflow refrigerated by the evaporator 21 to the inside of the air distributing plenum 23.
• the air passages 25 are operatively associated with respective closing means 40, preferably interconnected to each other and which are selectively displaced between different operative positions, in which they produce different closing conditions of said air passages 25.
• the closing means 40 In a first operative position, as illustrated in figure 7, the closing means 40 assume a position in which the free area of the respective air passages 25 allows the forced cool airflow, which is supplied in the respective regions of the refrigerating compartment 10, to be the project nominal airflow which produces a refrigerating degree considered normal for the refrigerating appliance.
• the closing means 40 are displaced to at least one position, in which they allow the respective air passages 25 to present a free area larger than that defined in the first operative position.
• the second operative position can be defined in a point that corresponds to the total opening of the respective air passages 25 (see figure 8) , or subdivided in different second operative positions (not illustrated) , in which the free area of the air passages 25 presents different values higher than that corresponding to the first operative position.
• an increase of the forced cool airflow is obtained in the respective regions of the refrigerating compartment 10, increasing the refrigerating or freezing velocity of the load in said region.
• Each second operative position of the closing means 40 can be used to help the operation in a fast- freezing position, increasing the refrigerating efficiency in said region, in case the refrigerating compartment 10 is a freezing compartment.
• the closing means 40 can be further selectively displaced to at least one third position, in which they promote the reduction of the free area of the respective air passages 25.
• This function can be used to preserve ice creams, which for consumption require a higher temperature than those temperatures obtained inside a freezing compartment in the refrigerating appliances of the no-frost type.
• Figures 4, 5 and 6 illustrate third positions for the closing means, with the respective air passages 25 being fully closed.
• the refrigerating compartment 10 can be closed, i.e., separated from the remainder of the compartment of the refrigerating appliance, or opened to the interior of said compartment.
• the efficiency of the refrigerating appliance is increased.
• the closing means 40 can be constructed in different manners, so as to be manually or automatically driven by means of a function selector 50 which is operatively associated with the usual control module
• the closing means 40 can take the form of plate portions formed as a single assembly, simultaneously operating against the air passages 25 and being driven by a driving means 60, which can take the form of a solenoid or an electric motor, which is automatically driven as a function of the operational characteristics adjusted by the user in the function selector 50 to which the driving means is operatively associated.
• the closing means 40 takes the form of a plate which is internally and parallely displaced to the front wall 24 of the distributing plenum 23, superiorly and interiorly seated on rails 27 provided on an internal face of said front wall 24. It should be understood that other closing forms are perfectly possible, whose operation need not be performed by linear displacement.
• the closing means is/are able to be configured in such a way as to present an angular displacement around the axis which is orthogonal or parallel to the front wall 24 of the air distributing plenum 23.
• the present control system can be further used to provide the full closing of the air passages 25 during the defrost operation of the refrigerating appliance, as illustrated in figure 4, preventing the heat generated by the defrost resistance from passing to the refrigerating compartment 10 through said air passages, reducing the increase of the temperature in the load, which generally occurs during the periodic defrost of the appliance.
• the closure of the air passages is automatically instructed to the function selector 50 by the command module of the refrigerating appliance, without the user having to interfere.
• the front wall 24 of the air distributing plenum 23 can be provided with air passages 25 presenting the same cross section area, but whose free area will be defined by the operative position of the respective closing means 40.
• the front wall 24 of the air distributing plenum 23 is provided with air passages with different cross section areas.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Cold Air Circulating Systems And Constructional Details In Refrigerators (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=36643874

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (12)

• 2003
  • 2003-06-05 BR BRPI0301596-3B1A patent/BR0301596B1/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2004
  • 2004-05-31 AU AU2004245584A patent/AU2004245584A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-05-31 WO PCT/BR2004/000083 patent/WO2004109201A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2004-05-31 MX MXPA05013083A patent/MXPA05013083A/es unknown
  • 2004-05-31 US US10/557,276 patent/US20060218962A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-05-31 EP EP04735465A patent/EP1629238A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (4)

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