REFRIGERATOR

Abstract

 There is provided a refrigerator including a thermally insulated cabinet, a door body which is openably mounted to an opening portion of the thermally insulated cabinet, cooling means for cooling air within the thermally insulated cabinet to create cooled air, and a cooled-air circulation path for guiding cooled air between refrigerating room (1102) and the cooling means, wherein duct (1129a) which forms the cooled-air circulation path is formed to have a lateral width smaller than a lateral width of refrigerating room (1102) and, further, duct (1129a) includes, in its side surfaces, discharge ports (1130a to 1130f) for discharging cooled air into refrigerating room (1102) and suction port (1131a) for sucking cooled air from refrigerating room (1102). Further, chamber spaces (1302) are provided between the duct side surfaces and the inner side surfaces of the room, while there is no chamber space on the duct upper surface. This prevents the inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like in the refrigerating room, further improves the appearance of the refrigerating room and, further, maintains the uniformity of the temperature within the entire refrigerating room.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator and, more particularly, to a refrigerator which circulates cooled air between storage rooms and cooling means.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] In recent years, there have been found many refrigerators with layouts which place a refrigerating room to be used at higher frequencies at an uppermost portion which allows users to easily view objects stored therein and, further, place a freezing room just beneath the refrigerating room. In these cases, a cooler is placed in a cooling room placed on a rear portion of the freezing room and, therefore, in order to enable supplying cooled air to the entire area of the refrigerating room, the cooled air is transferred through a duct from a rear portion of the cooling room up to a rear portion of the refrigerating room.

[0003] FIG. 9 is an explanation view of a duct included in a conventional refrigerator. Here, there is illustrated a portion which can be viewed from a front side, when a door of refrigerating room 502 is opened. Specifically, duct 529a is provided along thermally insulated cabinet 501 in refrigerating room 502 having a heat insulating structure, and there is formed a Y-shaped cooled-air circulation path between duct 529a and thermally insulated cabinet 501. As indicated by arrows in FIG. 9, cooled air in refrigerating room 502 is sucked into suction port 531 which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 502 and is circulated within respective storage rooms and, thereafter, is discharged from discharge ports 530a, 530b, 530c, 530d, 530e and 530f which are opened at upper portions of refrigerating room 502. Duct 529a is adapted to have a lateral width approximately equal to a lateral width of refrigerating room 502, in consideration of distribution of an amount of air flows within the room. Further, duct 529a has a room-inside illumination device placed at its center portion and, further, is provided with an air-flow path branched in left and right directions, and opening portions for discharge at respective positions corresponding to respective shelf spaces (refer to Patent Document 1, for example).

[0004] FIG. 10A is a view illustrating a conventional duct, before it is secured. FIG. 10B is a view illustrating the conventional duct, after it has been secured.

[0005] In this case, these figures illustrate lateral section views of the portion of the rear surface of refrigerating room 502. As illustrated in FIG. 10A, there are formed protruding portions 501a and 501b for engagement with the duct, at corner portions in opposite sides of thermally insulated cabinet 501. By fitting duct 529a to protruding portions 501a and 501b such that they face to each other, protruding portions 501a and 501b are caused to engage with duct 529a, as illustrated in FIG. 10B.

[0006] Further, FIG. 11A illustrates a plan section view of a duct portion in another conventional refrigerator, and FIG. 11B illustrates a perspective view of a duct portion of another conventional refrigerator.

[0007] As illustrated in FIG. 11A, illumination device 47 is placed at a center portion of the rear surface of the refrigerator and, refrigerating-room ducts 44 are placed on opposite side surfaces of illumination device 47, wherein no discharge port is provided in the duct front surface, while cooled air is discharged from gaps between the duct side surfaces and a refrigerator inner box. This enables simply structuring the rear surface of the refrigerator, thereby offering the advantage of providing a wide space capable of housing even the rear-side duct (refer to Patent Document 2, for example).

[0008] Further, as illustrated in FIG. 11B, there is described a structure having hole 15b of a discharge port in a side surface portion of duct 15 (refer to Patent Document 2, for example).

[0009] However, with the conventional refrigerator (Patent Document 1), suction port 531 and discharge ports 530a to 530f exist in the front surface of duct 529a, which induces an problem of freeze of foods and drinks placed on the shelves in refrigerating room 502. Further, in cases of employing structures which place the discharge ports at positions corresponding to the uppermost portion between the shelves for flowing cooled air from above foods, as designs and measures for preventing discharged cooled air from directly impinging on foods even if only slightly, it is impossible to exert an effect thereof for foods with larger heights and stacked foods. Further, in cases of employing structures which enable changing the positions of the shelves for improving the storagability, the design and measure regarding the placement of the discharge ports make no sense.

[0010] Further, cooled air at a relatively-lower temperature passes at relatively-higher flow velocities through the discharge port in the duct and, therefore, their discharge port openings are required to be shaped by a member with a high heat insulating property (for example, a foam resin material, such as foamed polystyrene). Otherwise, they will be significantly prone to condensation. However, if the discharge ports in the front surface are formed by a heat insulating material, this will make the heat insulating material viewable, which results in poor appearance thereof. Furthermore, users may accidentally fall foods or drinks into the discharge ports. Further, there is a possibility of contaminations and clogging of the inside of the duct.

[0011] Further, when a user stores foods on the respective shelves, the foods may intercept spaces in forward and rearward directions, thereby inducing excessive cooling of rear portions, even when these foods are stored thereon to such an extent that they do not close the discharge ports in the duct.

[0012] Particularly, in recent years, refrigerators have increasingly had larger capacities and larger depthwise sizes. Therefore, it can be easily expected that foods which are not frequently used are placed on the deep shelves in their back portions, while foods to be frequently used are placed in their front sides, in view of the usability. In such cases, there is a high possibility that foods which are not frequently pulled out therefrom and introduced thereinto are brought into an excessively-cooled state for longer time periods, thereby inducing freeze of foods.

[0013] Further, when the shelves in a refrigerator have an increased depth size, it is impossible to easily check conditions of foods at rear portions, due to the presence of foods at front portions. Therefore, it can be easily expected that these foods are unknowingly pushed from front portions to the vicinity of the rear surface. This has made it significantly difficult to ensure spaces in front of the discharge openings.

[0014] Further, with the other conventional structure (Patent Document 2), the provision of the holes of discharge ports in the panel front surface is abolished and, further, the duct is formed to have a width approximately equal to the entire width of the rear surface. Further, the discharge ports are formed between the duct panel side surfaces and the room inner wall surface. However, there is no detailed description about the prevention of condensation in the opening portions of the discharge ports for passing cooled air at a lower temperature therethrough and, furthermore, there still exist a possibility of freeze of foods, in cases where foods are placed at end portions, since the opening portions of the discharge ports are positioned at the opposite end portions of the rear surface (see FIG. 11A).

[0015] Further, as another example of the other conventional structure (Patent Document 2), there is described the structure having hole 15b of the discharge port in the side surface portion of duct 15, but there is no description about the relationship with portions for storing foods. Accordingly, there is still a possibility of freeze of foods in cases where foods are placed in front of discharge port 15b in the side surface portion of duct 15 (see FIG. 11B).

[PRIOR ART DOCUMENT]

[Patent Document]

[0016] 

[Patent Document 1] Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 10-103844

[Patent Document 2] Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-213550

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0017] The present invention is made in order to overcome the above problems and aims at providing a refrigerator capable of preventing inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like within a refrigerating room, regardless of the positions at which shelves are mounted and the positions at which foods are placed.

[0018] In order to overcome the above problems in the prior art, the present invention provides a refrigerator including a thermally insulated cabinet, a refrigerating-room duct, provided at a rear surface of a refrigerating room formed in the thermally insulated cabinet, a side-surface discharge port which is provided in a side surface of the refrigerating-room duct when viewed from a front surface of the refrigerating room, an upper-surface discharge port which is provided in an upper surface of the refrigerating-room duct, and a suction port which is provided below the side-surface discharge port, the suction port being only in a side surface of the refrigerating-room duct, wherein there are chamber spaces in opposite sides of the refrigerating-room duct between side surfaces of the refrigerating-room duct and inner side surfaces of the refrigerating room, while there is no chamber space above the refrigerating-room duct between the upper surface of the refrigerating-room duct and an inner upper surface of the refrigerating room.

[0019] Thus, since the discharge ports for cooled air do not exist in the front surface of the refrigerating-room duct, it is possible to prevent inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like within the refrigerating room. Further, the cooled air discharged from the side-surface discharge port as a ventilating port in the refrigerating-room-duct side surface is mixed with the air within the room and is circulated therein, while being reduced in flow velocity within the chamber spaces. This reduces the possibility of local reduction of the temperature of foods.

[0020] With the refrigerator according to the present invention, the discharge ports for cooled air do not exist in the front surface of the refrigerating-room duct and, also, cooled air is discharged into the chamber spaces from the side-surface discharge port as a ventilating port provided in the side surface of the refrigerating-room duct, which prevents inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like within the refrigerating room. Further, the lateral width of the refrigerating-room duct is made smaller than that in the prior art, which reduces the amount of used materials to contribute to resource saving and, also, reduces the transferring energy for distributions of components to contribute to energy saving, thereby resulting in the advantage of reducing the fabrication cost. Further, since the discharge ports for cooled air do not exist in the front surface of the refrigerating-room duct, it is possible to improve the appearance of the refrigerating room, since the discharge ports can not be viewed from the front side when the door of the refrigerating room is opened. Further, above the duct, the cooled air discharged from the upper-surface discharge port as a ventilating port in the refrigerating-room-duct upper surface flows along the ceiling surface, while maintaining its larger flow velocity, which enables properly supplying the cooled air to areas which are prone to temperature rises. As described above, it is possible to maintain the uniformity of the temperature within the entire refrigerating room, which offers a merit about the qualitative performance and, also, realizes an energy saving effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] 

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section view of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a structure of a duct in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a general view of the duct in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a general view of the duct in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an internal structure of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanation view of the duct included in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A is a view illustrating the duct in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention, before it is secured thereto.

FIG. 8B is a view illustrating the duct in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention, after it has been secured thereto.

FIG. 9 is an explanation view of a duct included in a conventional refrigerator.

FIG. 10A is a view illustrating the conventional duct, before it is secured.

FIG. 10B is a view illustrating the conventional duct, after it has been secured.

FIG. 11A is a plan section view of a duct portion in another conventional refrigerator.

FIG. 11B is a perspective view of a duct portion in another conventional refrigerator.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a food storage shelf in a lower stage in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a plan section view, taken along the position of the food storage shelf in a lower stage in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a food storage shelf in a middle stage in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a plan section view, taken along the position of the food storage shelf in a middle stage in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an explanation view of a duct included in a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an explanation view of a duct included in a refrigerator according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is an explanation view of a duct included in a refrigerator according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a front view of a refrigerator according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a vertical section view of the refrigerator according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a view illustrating a structure of a duct in the refrigerator according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a general view of the duct in the refrigerator according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a general view of the duct in the refrigerator according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is an explanation view of the duct included in the refrigerator according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a vertical section view illustrating a sterilization device in a state where it is mounted in the refrigerator according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a view illustrating a structure of a duct in a refrigerator according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a view illustrating the structure of a duct in a refrigerator according another aspect of the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a view illustrating the structure of the duct in the refrigerator according another aspect of the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FOR CARRYING OUT OF THE INVENTION

[0022] Hereinafter, embodiments of a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, wherein the same structures as those in prior-art examples and aforementioned embodiments will be designated by like reference numerals and will not be described in detail. Further, these embodiments are not intended to restrict the present invention.

(First Embodiment)

[0023] FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, refrigerator 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is refrigerator 100 including double doors and further including plural sectioned storage rooms in thermally insulated cabinet 101. The storage rooms are called refrigerating room 102, ice making room 105, switching room 106, vegetable room 104 and freezing room 103 and the like, depending on their functions (their cooling temperatures).

[0024] Refrigerating room 102 is provided, at its front-side opening portion, with rotatable-type thermally-insulation door 107 which is filled with a foaming and heat-insulating material, such as urethane, in a state where it is foamed. Further, ice making room 105, switching room 106, vegetable room 104 and freezing room 103 are provided with respective heat insulation plates 108 which serve as front plates of drawers, in order to enclose the storage rooms for preventing leakage of cooled air therefrom.

[0025] FIG. 2 is a vertical section view of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention. More specifically, FIG. 2 is a section view of a portion cut along line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

[0026] Thermally insulated cabinet 101 is a cabinet constituted by an outer box made of mainly a metal steel plate, an inner box made of mainly a resin which has been subjected to vacuum formation, and a heat insulating material such as a hard urethane foam which is charged between the outer box and the inner box. Thermally insulated cabinet 101 suppresses movement of heat from ambiences to an inside of thermally insulated cabinet 101 to attain heat insulation.

[0027] Refrigerating room 102 is a storage room which is maintained at a low temperature enough to prevent freeze, in order to enable refrigeration storage. Regarding a concrete lower limit of the temperature, it is generally set to 1°C to 5°C. The temperature may be set to 0°C to 1°C, in order to improve the ability to maintain freshness of perishable products.

[0028] Vegetable room 104 is a storage room which is set to a temperature which is equal to or slightly higher than that of refrigerating room 102. More specifically, it is set to 2°C to 7°C. The lower the temperature therein, the longer the term during which the degree of freshness of green vegetables can be maintained. The reason why the temperature therein is set to be slightly higher than that of refrigerating room 102 is because of the aim of suppressing the influence of the degradation of the freshness of eggplants, cucumbers and the like at lower temperatures, which is called a low-temperature trouble. Further, vegetable room 104 which contains vegetables is subjected to a higher humidity than that in refrigerating room 102, due to water generated from foods contained therein and, therefore, if vegetable room 104 is locally and excessively cooled, this may induce condensation therein. Since the temperature therein is set to a relatively-higher temperature, it is possible to increase an amount of water contained in air and, also, it is possible to reduce an amount of cooling required for maintaining the temperature, which can suppress temperature variations in vegetable room 104, thereby suppressing the occurrence of condensation.

[0029] Freezing room 103 is a storage room which is set to within a freezing temperature range. More specifically, it is generally set to within the range of -22°C to -18°C for enabling freeze storage, but it may be set to a lower temperature such as -30°C or -25°C, in order to improve the freeze storage condition.

[0030] Ice making room 105 is a storage room which is supplied with water at regular time intervals from a water supply tank (not illustrated) placed in refrigerating room 102, further automatically caused to make ices with an ice making mechanism (not illustrated) and stores the ices.

[0031] Switching room 106 is a storage room which is provided beside ice making room 105 in parallel therewith and, also, is adapted such that the temperature within the room can be changed. Through an operation panel mounted on refrigerator 100, it is possible to change over, between a refrigerating temperature range and a freezing temperature range, according to the application.

[0032] Thermally insulated cabinet 101 is provided with concave portion 113 in its top surface portion to includes first top surface portion 111 and second top surface portion 112, in such a way as to have a step shape toward a back surface of the refrigerator. This step-shaped concave portion 113 mainly houses high-pressure-side components constituting a freezing cycle, such as compressor 114, a dryer (not illustrated) for removing water and the like. In other words, concave portion 113 for placing compressor 114 therein is formed in such a way as to intrude into a rear area of an uppermost portion of refrigerating room 102. Accordingly, compressor 114 is not placed in the rear area of the storage room at a lowermost portion of thermally insulated cabinet 101, as has been common practice in the prior art.

[0033] On the rear surfaces of freezing room 103 and vegetable room 104, cooling room 115 is provided in such a way as to straddle both the rooms. Cooling room 115 is isolated from freezing room 103 and vegetable room 104 with first partition 116 having a heat insulation property as a partition wall. Further, between freezing room 103 and vegetable room 104, there is provided second partition 117 having a heat insulation property as a heat-insulation partition wall.

[0034] First partition 116 and second partition 117 are members which are assembled into thermally insulated cabinet 101, after thermally insulated cabinet 101 has been foamed. Therefore, as the heat insulating material, usually, foam resin such as foamed polystyrene is used, in view of the heat insulation property. Further, it is also possible to employ hard urethane foam, in order to improve the heat insulation property and the rigidity. Also, it is possible to insert, therein, a vacuum heat-insulation material with a higher heat insulation property, in order to further reduce thickness of the partition structure. Further, third partition 118 and fourth partition 119 which, respectively, form a top surface portion and a bottom surface portion of ice making room 105 and switching room 106 placed in parallel with each other are integrally formed from the same foaming and heat-insulating material as that of thermally insulated cabinet 101.

[0035] Cooling room 115 forms a portion of cooling means and includes evaporator 120 of a fin-and-tube type, as a representative one. Further, cooling room 115 is longitudinally provided in upward and downward directions such that it sits on freezing room 103 and vegetable room 104. In this case, evaporator 120 is placed, such that evaporator 120 faces with vegetable room 104 over an area smaller than an area over which it faces with freezing room 103. This is because of the following reason. Since cooling room 115 has a lowest temperature in refrigerator 100, it is necessary to alleviate the influence of this low-temperature state on vegetable room 104.

[0036] Cooling fan 121 is placed in a space above evaporator 120. Cooling fan 121 is for feeding cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 120 to forcibly cause convection of the cooled air through the respective storage rooms and to circulate the cooled air through refrigerator 100.

[0037] Within refrigerator 100, there are formed circulation paths for forcibly circulating cooled air. More specifically, air cooled by evaporator 120 is forcibly fed, by cooling fan 121, to be transferred to the respective rooms through ducts provided between the respective storage rooms and thermally insulated cabinet 101 and, further, to cool the respective rooms and, further, to be returned to evaporator 120 through a suction duct. Further, sterilization device 200 is provided near the discharge port of refrigerating-room discharge duct 129a provided in refrigerating room 102 and, further, a deodorization device (not illustrated) is provided near the suction port thereof.

[0038] Further, within refrigerating room 102, there are provided plural food storage shelves 201 for storing foods and the like within the room. Slidable case 202 is provided on the lowermost stage, which provides a chilled room for mainly storing meats, fishes and the like, since the temperature therein is set to be slightly lower than that in the shelf portions in refrigerating room 102. Further, on the door, there are provided plural door shelves 203. Food storage shelves 201 and door shelves 203 are enabled to be mounted at different positions by being inserted into different portions, according to the usability for users. This enables adjusting the upward and downward intervals thereamong for changing the heights usable for storing foods, thereby improving various storage properties.

[0039] FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a structure of ducts in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 3, in refrigerator 100, there exist
refrigerating-room-102/vegetable-room-104 circulation path for circulating cooled air at a relatively-higher temperature, ice-making-room-105 circulation path for circulating cooled air at a relatively-lower temperature, freezing-room-103 circulation path, and switching-room-106 circulation path. These cooled-air circulation paths are formed by ducts.

[0040] Hereinafter, refrigerating-room- 102/vegetable-room-104 circulation path will be described, in detail. Cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 120 is fed, by cooling fan 121, to refrigerating room 102 through refrigerating-room discharge duct 129a. In this case, the cooled air cooled by evaporator 120 has been cooled to a temperature which can be sufficiently adapted to the freezing temperature in freezing room 103. Accordingly, if the cooled air at a relatively-lower temperature is continuously supplied to refrigerating room 102, this will excessively decrease the temperature in refrigerating room 102.

[0041] Therefore, in the cooled-air circulation path including refrigerating room 102, there is provided twin damper 128 capable of controlling the passage of cooled air therethrough. Cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 120 is controlled in passage by twin damper 128 (ON/OFF of passage of cooled air), so that cooled air is not always circulated through refrigerating-room-102/vegetable-room-104 circulation path. Further, when refrigerator 100 has been sufficiently cooled in its entirety, the rotation of cooling fan 121 is stopped, and the circulation of cooled air is also stopped. At this time, the refrigerating cycle, namely compressor 114 and the like, is also stopped.

[0042] Cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 120 passes upwardly through refrigerating-room discharge duct 129a from its lower portion under the control and, then, is discharged from ventilation ports 130a, 130b, 130c, 130d, 130e and 130f which are opened at upper portions of refrigerating room 102. The cooled air passed through refrigerating room 102 is sucked into suction port 131a which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 102. The cooled air sucked into suction port 131a is exhausted to refrigerating-room return duct 137 through exhaust port 131b, then passes through this refrigerating-room return duct 137 and is partially discharged from discharge port 136 which is opened at an upper portion of vegetable room 104. The partial air discharged from discharge port 136 is circulated through vegetable room 104 and, thereafter, returns to evaporator 120 by merging therewith. As described above, there is provided evaporator 120 for cooling thermally insulated cabinet 101 which is placed below refrigerating room 102 and, further, there is placed refrigerating-room return duct 137 for supplying cooled air from refrigerating room 102 to evaporator 120, in the same side as suction port 131a, such that it is communicated with suction port 131a and is directed in the downward direction, so that there is formed the cooled-air circulation path with the simple structure.

[0043] Refrigerating-room-102/vegetable-room-104 circulation path has been described above. Further, for ice making room 105 and switching room 106, similarly, the circulation of cooled air is controlled by a damper which intermittently controls the discharge of cooled air, so that the temperatures in the respective rooms are controlled. In other words, in each of refrigerating room 102, ice making room 105 and switching room 106, there is mounted a temperature sensor (not illustrated) for controlling the temperature in the room. Based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor, control board 122 (see FIG. 2) mounted on the back surface of refrigerator 100 controls the open/close of the damper. Specifically, when the temperature sensor indicates a higher temperature than a preset first temperature, the damper is opened, but it indicates a lower temperature than a second temperature, the damper is closed, in order to adjust the temperature in the room to a predetermined temperature.

[0044] Ice-making-room damper 123 for intermittently controlling ice making room 105 is installed at an upper portion of an inside of cooling room 115, and there is provided a duct structure which causes cooled air fed by cooling fan 121 to be discharged through ice-making-room damper 123 and ice-making-room duct 124a into ice making room 105, further to be subjected to heat exchange therein and, further, to return to evaporator 120 through ice-making-room return duct 124b.

[0045] Twin damper 128 includes a damper for intermittently controlling refrigerating room 102 and a damper for intermittently controlling switching room 106 which are integrated with each other, further includes refrigerating-room flap 125 for intermitting cooled air in refrigerating room 102 and switching-room flap 126 for intermitting cooled air in switching room 106 and, further, includes motor portion 127 for driving the flaps integrally therewith. Twin damper 128 is installed around back surfaces of ice making room 105 and switching room 106.

[0046] On the other hand, in a conventional refrigerator, as illustrated in FIG. 9, there are suction port 531 for sucking cooled air from refrigerating room 502 and discharge ports 530a to 530f for discharging cooled air into refrigerating room 502, in the front surface of duct 529a, which may cause foods and drinks placed in refrigerating room 502 to freeze, since they are placed near the discharge ports. Further, food storage shelves 201 can be inserted at different positions and, therefore, foods may be directly subjected to the cooled air, depending on the changed shelf positions in particular, which induces the problem that the foods are prone to freeze. Further, when the door of refrigerating room 502 is opened, suction port 531 and discharge ports 530a to 530f can be viewed, which induces the problem of poor appearance. Further, if the food storage shelves are changed in positions at which they are inserted, the positions of the discharge holes are placed inconsistently with the shelf intervals, which causes poor appearance.

[0047] Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the following structure is employed, in order to overcome the above problems.

[0048] FIGS. 4 and 5 are general views of the duct in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As used herein, the duct refers to refrigerating-room discharge duct 129a and, hereinafter, similarly, refrigerating-room discharge duct 129a will be simply referred to as "duct 129a". FIG. 4 illustrates the surface (front surface) which can be viewed when the door of refrigerating room 102 is opened, and FIG. 5 illustrates the back surface thereof. As illustrated in these views, duct 129a is constituted by the combination of heat insulating air-flow path 300 made of foamed polystyrene and the like which has been shaped, and front-surface panel 301 made of a resin such as polypropylene, polystyrene or ABS which has been shaped. The basic air-flow path is formed by heat insulating air-flow path 300, and front-surface panel 301 is provided at an outer portion, in view of the design and the strength. Further, front-surface panel 301 is formed to have a width larger than the lateral width of heat insulating air-flow path 300, in order to increase the difficulty of viewing the side surface portions and the ventilating openings, from the front side, thereby improving the design.

[0049] Duct 129a includes, in its side surfaces, discharge ports 130a to 130f for discharging cooled air into refrigerating room 102 as ventilating ports, and suction port 131a for sucking cooled air from refrigerating room 102. The shapes of discharge ports 130a to 130f and suction port 131a can be either holes or cutouts and are not particularly limited. In this case, discharge ports 130a to 130f are shaped by heat insulating air-flow path 300 and are structured to prevent front-surface panel 301 from directly contacting with the cooled air discharged therefrom, which can prevent front-surface panel 301 from being cooled to induce local condensation and formation of frost thereon.

[0050] The cooled-air circulation paths in duct 129a have the following structure. More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 5, duct 129a includes, at its center portion, a cooled-air circulation path which upwardly communicates with discharge ports 130a to 130f and, further, includes a cooled-air circulation path which communicates with suction port 131a, adjacently to a lower portion of the former cooled-air circulation path.

[0051] Duct 129a is required to have a lateral width smaller than the lateral width of refrigerating room 102, in order to ensure sufficient chamber spaces 302. Since duct 129a has the discharge ports in its opposite side surfaces, duct 129a is placed approximately at the center of the inside of refrigerating room 102, and the lateral width of duct 129a is designed such that the side surfaces of duct 129a are positioned approximately at middles (W2) between the room center and side wall surfaces (W1), in order to ensure sufficient chamber spaces 302. This is because, if the lateral width of duct 129a is made approximately equal to the lateral width of refrigerating room 102 as in the prior art, this will make it impossible to discharge sufficient cooled air from discharge ports 130a to 130f and, further, will make it impossible to suck sufficient cooled air through suction port 131a. Further, it is possible to provide a structure which inhibits foods, foreign substances and liquids from falling and intruding into suction port 131a.

[0052] Further, since discharge ports 130a to 130f are portions which first discharge cooled air at a low temperature into the space inside the room, discharge ports 130a to 130f are subjected to a lowest air temperature within refrigerating room 102 and, furthermore, are subjected to discharge flow velocities higher than those of other air convection within the room. Therefore, discharge ports 130a to 130f are placed in the duct side surfaces rather than in the front surface of duct 129a and, also, sufficient chamber spaces 302 are provided on the side surfaces thereof, in order to mix the cooled-air temperature with the air within the room for moderating it and, also, in order to decrease the discharge flow velocities, before the cooled air impinges on foods, thereby preventing local reduction of the temperature of foods for preventing freeze of foods.

[0053] Further, while, it has been described that, in order to ensure sufficient chamber spaces 302, duct 129a is placed approximately at the center of the inside of refrigerating room 102, and the lateral width of duct 129a is designed such that the side surfaces of duct 129a are positioned approximately at the middles (W2) between the room center and the side wall surfaces (W1), it is preferable to satisfy the range of (1/4) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a < (3/4) × W1. In this case, the positions of the side surfaces of duct 129a are defined as distances from the center of the refrigerating-room duct to the side surfaces thereof (hereinafter, referred to as "W0").

[0054] More specifically, if the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a are larger than (3/4) × W1, chamber spaces 302 are made smaller, which induces local temperature reduction, thereby resulting in a higher possibility of inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like.

[0055] On the other hand, if the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a are smaller than (1/4) × W1, duct 129a should be made larger in the depth direction (namely, the duct should exist in a front side of the room) in order to ensure a duct internal volume, thereby oppressing a room internal volume. Further, chamber spaces 302 are made larger, and the flow velocities of cooled air discharged from the discharge ports are decreased, which makes it hard to circulate the cooled air from the rear portion to the front portion. This makes it hard to uniformize the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room.

[0056] That is, in the present embodiment, preferable chamber spaces 302 mean the spaces which can be provided by designing the lateral width of duct 129a such that the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a fall within the range of (1/4) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a < (3/4) × W1, in the case where duct 129a is placed approximately at the center of the inside of refrigeration room 102 and, also, the distance from the room center to the side wall surfaces is defined as W1. This enables uniformizing the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room and, further, mixing the cooled-air temperature with the air within the room for moderating it and reducing the flow velocities of the discharged cooled air, before the cooled air impinges on foods, without oppressing the room inside volume. This can prevent local temperature reduction, thereby preventing freeze of foods and the like.

[0057] Further, the present inventors have gotten the following findings, as a result of detailed analyses regarding (1/4) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a < (3/4) × W1, which are the preferable chamber spaces.

[0058] More specifically, if the following holds; (1/2) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a, this will induce a larger area where cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the left side and cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the right side are mixed with each other (namely, a larger overlapping area), which will result in inefficient cooling. Further, this may induce local cooling, near the center portion of the inside of the room, which is the area within which cooled air laps.

[0059] On the other hand, by satisfying the following; (1/2) × W1 > the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a, there is created a smaller area where cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the left side and cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the right side are lapped with each other (namely, a smaller overlapping area), which results in efficient cooling. Further, due to the cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the left side and cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the right side, it is possible to easily cause cooled air to reach even the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces within the room, which further improves the uniformity of the temperature distribution within the room in the leftward and rightward directions in the room (namely, which decreases the temperature difference between the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces and the vicinity of the center portion in the room). Further, it is possible to reduce the area where cooled air laps, thereby resulting in a lower possibility of local cooling at the center portion within the room.

[0060] Accordingly, preferable chamber spaces 302 mean the spaces which can be provided by designing the lateral width of duct 129a, such that the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a fall within the range of (1/2) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a < (3/4) × W1, in the case where duct 129a is placed approximately at the center of the inside of refrigerating room 102, and the distance from the room center to the side wall surfaces is defined as W1. Although the degree of reduction of the lateral width of duct 129a is reduced, it is possible to prevent the size of duct 129a from increasing in the depth direction, thereby preventing it from oppressing the room internal volume, since the following is satisfied; (1/2) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a. Therefore, it is possible to decrease the area where cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the left side and cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the right side are lapped with each other, thereby realizing efficient cooling, without degrading the usability of the refrigerator. Further, cooled air can easily reach the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces within the room, which can uniformize the temperature distribution in the refrigerating room and, also, can mix the cooled-air temperature with the air in the room for moderating it, before the cooled air impinges on foods. Further, the discharge flow velocities of cooled air can be decreased, which can prevent local temperature reduction, thereby preventing freeze of foods and the like.

[0061] By designing the lateral width of duct 129a in such a way as to provide chamber spaces 302 as described above, the lateral width of the refrigerating-room duct is made smaller than that in the prior art, which reduces the amount of used materials to contribute to resource saving and, also, reduces the transferring energy for distributions of components to contribute to energy saving, thereby resulting in the advantage of reducing the fabrication cost.

[0062] Further, heat insulating air-flow path 300 in duct 129a is shaped to be bilaterally symmetrical and, as a result thereof, chamber spaces 302 are also shaped to be bilaterally symmetrical, which makes cooled-air flows in the leftward and rightward directions approximately equal to each other, thereby further improving the uniformity of the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room.

[0063] Further, as illustrated in FIG. 11B, with a conventional structure (Patent Document 2), in order to blow cooled air uniformly in the leftward and rightward directions, there is provided duct plate 15 for branching an air-flow path into rightward and leftward directions, in such a way as to provide a single direction of opening for a single air-flow path (for example, in the rightward direction). Further, this duct plate 15 is provided with an illumination-means housing portion 15d, and the portion of duct plate 15 forms no air-flow path, and the portion of duct plate 15, which is substantially the center portion, forms an ineffective space.

[0064] However, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the heat insulation air-flow path in the duct forms, at its lower portion, a single air-flow path at its center, without being branched from its center into leftward and rightward directions. By providing the respective chamber spaces ahead of the discharge ports, without providing an ineffective space as in the conventional structure (Patent Document 2), the discharge ports are prevented from being closed to degrade the balance among the drags of the air-flow paths, which enables reduction of the lateral width of the refrigerating-room duct, thereby enabling reduction of the amount of used materials to contribute to resource saving.

[0065] Further, food storage shelves 201 can be changed in positions at which they are inserted and, also, can be moved upwardly and downwardly, without being aware of the positions of the discharge ports. As previously described, cooled air is flowed upwardly through duct 129a and is discharged from discharge ports 130a to 130f which are opened at upper portions of refrigerating room 102. The cooled air discharged into refrigerating room 102 as described above is sucked into suction port 131a which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 102, then flows downwardly and then is exhausted through exhaust port 131b to refrigerating-room return duct 137.

[0066] In the present embodiment, cooled air is flowed from the lower portion to the upper portion, which requires larger flow velocities for sufficiently circulating the cooled air up to the upper portion, in comparison with methods for flowing cooled air from an upper portion to a lower portion. In cases of reducing the lateral width of duct 129a for reducing the cross-sectional area of duct 129a when viewed from above for making the amount of air flow constant, as in the present embodiment, it is possible to realize larger discharge flow velocities. Thus, this method can offer a particularly effective advantage, in view of cooling the inside of the room at a predetermined temperature.

[0067] While the placement of discharge ports 130a to 130f has been mainly described in the above description, there will be subsequently described the structures, effects and advantages of suction port 131a.

[0068] First, regarding the overall flow of cooled air, as described above, cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 120 provided below the refrigerating room enters the area of refrigerating room 102 and flows upwardly through duct 129a. Further, the cooled air is discharged from discharge ports 130a to 130f which are opened in refrigerating room 102, and the cooled air discharged into refrigerating room 102 is sucked into suction port 131a which is opened below discharge ports 130a to 130f in refrigerating room 102 (in the right side when viewed from the front side, in the present embodiment). Further, the cooled air downwardly returns to evaporator 120 through refrigerating-room return duct 137 (in the right side when viewed from the front side, in the present embodiment).

[0069] That is, in the present embodiment, regarding the flow of cooled air in the discharge side, the cooled air is discharged into the opposite sides of refrigerating room 102, since discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are placed in the opposite side wall surfaces of duct 129a. On the other hand, regarding the flow of cooled air in the suction side, since suction port 131a is placed in the side wall surface of duct 129a in one side (the right side), cooled air is sucked into the one side (the right side) of refrigerating room 102 and, then, flows through the one side (the right side) of evaporator 120 through refrigerating-room return duct 137 to return to evaporator 120 from therebelow.

[0070] Further, the reason why refrigerating-room return duct 137 is placed in only one side with respect to evaporator 120 is as follows. That is, if it is placed in the both sides, this oppresses the width size of evaporator 120, which reduces the degree of flexibility in designing a desired cooling ability and, further, involves a double-side return duct structure, thereby increasing the structure complicacy and increasing the cost along therewith. However, if the refrigerating-room return duct is provided only in front of or behind evaporator 120, the thickness of the refrigerating-room return duct is added to the thickness of evaporator 120, which results in the demerit of oppressing the effective space inside the room or obstructing the thickness of the heat insulating material behind the evaporator to degrade the cooling efficiency. Therefore, this is not an advantageous measure.

[0071] Further, the chamber spaces 302 in the discharge port side are formed in the opposite sides of duct 129a. These chamber spaces 302 are extended to below refrigerating room 102, and chamber space 302 in one side (the right side), out of them, is formed to face with the opening portion of suction port 131a placed in the side wall surface.

[0072] With this structure, the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f is discharged into chamber spaces 302, which mixes the cooled-air temperature with the air in the room to moderate it and, further, reduces the discharge flow velocities, before the cooled air impinges on foods. This can prevent local reduction of the temperature of foods, thereby preventing freeze of foods. At the same time, due to the provision of chamber spaces 302, the width of duct 129a is reduced, which makes the positions at which discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are placed in the width direction within refrigerating room 102 closer to the center of the inside of the room, thereby offering the advantage of improving the uniformity of the discharge temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102.

[0073] Further, the cooled air discharged from the portions closer to the center of refrigerating room 102 as described above finally tries to flow toward suction port 131a at a lower portion of the inside of refrigerating room 102, but suction port 131a is provided only in the side wall surface of duct 129a in one side (the right side) thereof. Due to the relationship therebetween, the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 130a and 130b provided in the side wall surface of duct 129a in the opposite side (the left side) thereof from the side provided with suction port 131a, at first, enters chamber space 302 beside them, then changes its direction to the forward direction and, then, flows within refrigerating room 102. Subsequently, it crosses in the width direction and, also, enters chamber space 302 in the opposite side and, thereafter, flows into suction port 131a which is opened beside it to be collected.

[0074] In this case, discharge ports 130a, 130b and suction port 131a are both provided in the side wall surfaces of duct 129a to form paths for flowing cooled air thereinto and therefrom through chamber spaces 302, which results in longer flow paths and, also, many changes in direction of flow. Therefore, this prevents the occurrence of short-circuits for cooled-air flows from discharge ports 130a and 130b to suction port 131a, which causes the cooled air to exist within refrigerating room 102 for longer time intervals, thereby causing the cooled air to be collected into suction port 131a while uniformly and effectively cooling the inside of refrigerating room 102.

[0075] In this case, if suction port 131a is opened in a common shape in the front surface of duct 129a, the discharged cooled air changes its direction few times and, also, induces smaller drags, since the suction port is in the front surface. Therefore, this facilitates the occurrence of short-circuits to the suction port in the duct front surface from discharge ports 130a and 130b which are made to be closer to the center due to the reduced width of duct 129a. This prevents the cooled air from flowing into the suction port while crossing in the width direction within refrigerating room 102, thereby making it impossible to uniformly cool the inside of refrigerating room 102.

[0076] Further, the cooled air collected into suction port 131a after cooling the inside of refrigerating room 102 is reasonably returned to evaporator 120 from one side beside it through refrigerating-room return duct 137 which is directly connected to the lower portion of suction port 131a.

[0077] As described above, duct 129a has a width reduced toward the center in the width direction of refrigerating room 102 and, further, is placed in such a way as to form chamber spaces 302 in the opposite sides beside it and, further, duct 129a is structured to have discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f placed in its opposite side wall surfaces. On the other hand, duct 129a is purposefully structured to have suction port 131a placed only in its wall surface in one side thereof, below discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f. This can reduce short-circuited components from the discharge to the suction in areas near the respective side surfaces, which would be induced in cases of double-side discharge and double-side suction. This offers the merit of uniformizing the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102.

[0078] Further, this merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution can be reasonably realized with the combined structure which places refrigerating-room return duct 137 only in one side. For example, even with a double-side suction port specification, it is possible to conceive a structure which provides a bypass duct for connecting the suction ports in the opposite sides of refrigerating room 102 to each other for realizing an one-side refrigerating-room return duct, but this can not offer the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room. In other words, it is impossible to realize both the reasonable duct structure which places refrigerating-room return duct 137 only in one side and the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution.

[0079] Accordingly, the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102 can be realized to offer advantages, by employing the structure which provides duct 129a having a smaller width than the width of refrigerating room 102 for providing chamber spaces 302 in the opposite sides of refrigerating room 102 and, further, provides discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f and suction port 131a in upper and lower portions of the side wall surfaces of duct 129a oppositely to chamber spaces 302, such that discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are provided in the opposite sides of ducts 129a while suction port 131a is provided only in one side thereof.

[0080] Further, by placing, in addition thereto, refrigerating-room return duct 137 below suction port 131a only in one side in the same side as suction port 131a, it is possible to provide a refrigerator having higher cooling efficiency including the merits, with the continuous reasonable duct structure and with lower cost.

[0081] Next, within the chamber space portions, there may be provided ribs on the inner side of the rear surface portion of thermally insulated cabinet 101, along extensions of food storage shelves 201, in the forward direction, in order to prevent foods from falling therefrom.

[0082] In the present embodiment, the food storage shelves in upper and lower stages employ such food-fall preventing means, which will be described hereinafter.

[0083] More specifically, within refrigerating room 102, there are provided plural food storage shelves 201 for storing foods and the like within the room. Within refrigerating room 102, there are three food storage shelves 201 at an upper stage, a middle state and a lower stage, such that they are installed in a bridge shape to sit on the left side surface and the right side surface of refrigerating room 102.

[0084] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the food storage shelf in the lower stage in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a plan section view, taken along the position of the food storage shelf in the lower stage in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0085] As illustrated in FIG. 12, the food storage shelf in the lower stage is food storage shelf 221 having a back side 221A having a straight-line shape. More specifically, food storage shelf 221 includes food placing space 211A on which foods and the like can be placed, and food placing space 211A is made of glass. Further, at the periphery of food placing space 211A, there is provided frame portion 211C made of a resin.

[0086] As illustrated in FIG. 13, within chamber spaces 302, there are ribs 223 formed on the inner surface of the rear surface portion of thermally insulated cabinet 101, in the forward direction therefrom, in the left and right sides with duct 129a sandwiched therebeteen. These ribs 223 are placed along lines extended from the end surface of food storage shelf 221 at its back side (near the inner surface of the rear portion of the thermally insulated cabinet).

[0087] Thus, since food storage shelf 221 has the straight-line-shaped back side, it is possible to narrow, with ribs 223, the gap formed by the rear end surface of food storage shelf 221 and the inner surface of the rear portion of thermally insulated cabinet 101, without performing complicated processing on the food storage shelf itself. This can prevent foods from falling into chamber spaces 302, particularly if small foods and the like, out of the foods placed on food storage shelf 221 in the back side thereof, are pushed rearwardly.

[0088] Further, although there has been described, herein, the food storage shelf in the lower stage, in the present embodiment, the food storage shelf in the upper stage has the same structure as that of the food storage shelf in the lower stage. Further, on the other hand, a contrivance can be made on the shapes of the food storage shelves, in order to prevent foods from falling therefrom.

[0089] In the present embodiment, the food storage shelf in the middle stage employs such food-fall preventing means, which will be described later. The food storage shelf in the middle stage is food storage shelf 211 which is installed in a bridge shape such that it sits on the left side surface and the right side surface of refrigerating room 102 and, also, is shaped to surround the periphery of refrigerating-room duct 129a. FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the food storage shelf in the middle stage in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a plan section view taken along the position of the food storage shelf in the middle stage in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0090] As illustrated in FIG. 14, food storage shelf 211 is constituted by food placing space 211A on which foods and the like can be placed, and guide ribs 211B provided on the back side of food placing space 211A, wherein food placing space 211A is made of glass, and guide ribs 221B are made of a resin.

[0091] More specifically, frame portion 211C made of a resin is provided at the periphery of food placing space 211A. Further, in the rear side of food storage shelf 211, frame portion 211C is extended rearwardly to form guide ribs 211B.

[0092] Further, between food placing space 211A and guide ribs 211B, there is provided a level difference for making guide ribs 211B higher. Usually, no food is placed on guide ribs 211B.

[0093] Further, guide ribs 211B are placed in chamber spaces 302. Thus, since there is provided food storage shelf 221 shaped to surround the periphery of refrigerating-room duct 129a, namely there are provided guide ribs 211B on the back side of the food storage shelf, it is possible to narrow, with guide ribs 211B, the gap formed by the rear end surfaces of food storage shelf 211 and the inner surface of the rear portion of thermally insulated cabinet 101. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent foods from falling into chamber spaces 302, particularly, if small foods and the like, out of foods placed on a back side of food storage shelf 221, are pushed rearwardly.

[0094] Further, in the present embodiment, the food storage shelves in the upper stage and the lower stage are formed to be food storage shelves 221 each having straight-line-shaped back side 221A, while the food storage shelf in the middle stage is formed to be food storage shelf 211 shaped to surround the periphery of refrigerating-room duct 129a. However, the plural food storage shelves can be all formed to be food storage shelves 221 each having straight-line-shaped back side 221A, and ribs 223 can be formed in the forward direction on the inner surface of the rear surface portion. Further, on the contrary, the plural food storage shelves can be all formed to be food storage shelves 221 shaped to surround the periphery of refrigerating-room duct 129a, and there is no need for providing ribs.

[0095] However, it is preferable, in view of the appearance, that the food storage shelves which can be changed in their upward and downward positions are formed to be food storage shelves 211 shaped to surround the periphery of refrigerating-room duct 129a, namely a contrivance is made on the shapes of the food storage shelves, without providing ribs 223.

[0096] In other words, a contrivance is made on the shape of the inner surface of the back portion of the thermally insulated cabinet or a contrivance is made on the shapes of the food storage shelves, namely there is provided food-fall prevention means. Thus, in the refrigerator including the chamber spaces from the side surfaces of the refrigerating-room duct to the inner side surfaces of the refrigerating room, it is possible to prevent foods from falling into chamber spaces 302, particularly if small foods and the like, out of foods placed on a back side of the food storage shelves, are pushed rearwardly.

[0097] Further, while, in the present embodiment, food storage shelves 221 are adapted to have straight-line-shaped back sides 221A, it is not necessary that they have a straight-line shape, and their back sides can partially have some concavity and convexity, provided that they can inhibit foods on food storage shelves 211 from falling therefrom.

[0098] FIG. 6 is a view illustrating the internal structure of the refrigerating room in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, there is illustrated a state before duct 129a is secured thereto. As illustrated in FIG. 6, there are formed protruding portions 101a and 101b in two longitudinal rows, at middle positions on thermally insulated cabinet 101. Protruding portions 101a and 101b are provided by protruding the inner box and are adapted to engage with duct 129a. Accordingly, the distance between protruding portions 101a and 101b is approximately equal to the lateral width of duct 129a, and no protruding portion exists at the positions which align with discharge ports 130a to 130f and suction port 131a.

[0099] FIG. 7 is an explanation view of the duct included in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, there is illustrated the portion which can be viewed from the front side, when the door of refrigerating room 102 is opened. Specifically, duct 129a is provided along thermally insulated cabinet 101 in refrigerating room 102 having a heat insulating structure, and there is formed a Y-shaped cooled-air circulation path between duct 129a and thermally insulated cabinet 101. As indicated by arrows in FIG. 7, cooled air in refrigerator room 102 is sucked into suction port 131a which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 102 and is circulated within the respective storage rooms and, thereafter, is discharged from discharge ports 130a to 130f which are opened at upper portions of refrigerating room 102. In other words, duct 129a is provided, at its center portion, with a cooled-air circulation path which upwardly communicates with discharge ports 130a to 130f and, further, is provided with a cooled-air circulation path which communicates with suction port 131a adjacently to a lower portion of the former cooled-air circulation path. With this structure, even through the cooled-air circulation paths are formed by duct 129a, it is possible to ensure the cooled-air circulation paths in a state where duct 129a is further compacted. Further, by further compacting duct 129a, it is possible to properly ensure the chamber spaces beside duct 129a.

[0100] In this case, discharge ports 130a to 130f and suction port 131a are both provided in the side surfaces of duct 129a. In other words, neither discharge ports 130a to 130f nor suction port 131a exists in the front surface of duct 129a, and, further, there are provided chamber spaces 302 ahead of discharge ports 130a to 130f. This can prevent the occurrence of inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like in refrigerating room 102 and, also, can improve the appearance of refrigerating room 102, since the discharge ports and the suction port can not be viewed from the front side when the door of the refrigerating room is opened.

[0101] On the other hand, in a conventional refrigerator, as illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B, there are formed protruding portions 501a and 501b for engagement with a duct, at corner portions of thermally insulated cabinet 501 in its opposite sides. However, protruding portions 501a and 501b are small, which induces the problem that protruding portions 501a and 501b can not be formed with excellent accuracy. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the following structure is employed, in order to overcome this problem.

[0102] FIG. 8A is a view illustrating the duct in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention, before it is secured thereto. FIG. 8B is a view illustrating the duct in the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention, after it has been secured thereto.

[0103] Here, there is illustrated a lateral section view of the portion of the rear surface of refrigerating room 102. As illustrated in FIG. 8A, there are formed protruding portions 101a and 101b for engagement with the duct, at middle positions on thermally insulated cabinet 101. By fitting duct 129a to protruding portions 101a and 101b such that they face to each other, protruding portions 101a and 101b are caused to engage with duct 129a, as illustrated in FIG. 8B. By forming protruding portions 101a and 101b at middle positions on thermally insulated cabinet 101 as described above, it is possible to provide a space margin for enabling formation of protruding portions 101a and 101b with excellent accuracy, in comparison with cases where they are formed at corner portions of thermally insulated cabinet 101.

[0104] Furthermore, since protruding portions 101a and 101b are formed at the middle positions on thermally insulated cabinet 101, protruding portions 101a and 101b are enabled to engage with duct 129a at their outer sides. In other words, protruding portions 101a and 101b are adapted to be held at their outwardly-protruding portions by duct 129a.

[0105] This point will be described, in more detail. If protruding portions 101a and 101b are formed at corner portions of thermally insulated cabinet 101 in its opposite sides, as in the prior art, duct 129a is required to engage with protruding portions 101a and 101b at their inner sides (see FIGS. 10A and 10B). However, in the present invention, protruding portions 101a and 101b are formed at the middle positions on thermally insulated cabinet 101, which enables duct 129a to engage with the outer sides of protruding portions 101a and 101b, as well as with the inner sides of protruding portions 101a and 101b, as a matter of course. As described above, according to the present invention, there are choices of the shape of protruding portions 101a and 101b (namely, a higher degree of flexibility of their shape) and, therefore, the present invention can be said to be excellent in terms of flexibility over the prior art.

[0106] As can be clearly seen from the above description, with the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention, neither the discharge ports for cooled air nor the suction port exist in the front surface of the duct, and chamber spaces 302 are provided between the side surfaces of duct 129a and the side wall surfaces inside the room. This prevents discharged cooled air at a lower temperature and at higher flow velocities from directly impinging on foods and the like within the refrigerating room, thereby preventing the occurrence of inconvenience of freeze of foods. Further, this can improve the appearance of the refrigerating room. Further, the lateral width of duct 129a is reduced in comparison with those in the prior art, which contributes to resource saving and energy saving, thus resulting in the advantage of reducing the fabrication cost.

[0107] Further, since the protruding portions for engagement with the duct are provided at middle portions on the thermally insulated cabinet, it is possible to provide a space margin for enabling formation of the protruding portions with excellent accuracy and, also, it is possible to increase the flexibility of the shape of the protruding portions, in comparison with cases where they are formed at corner portions of the thermally insulated cabinet. In addition thereto, since the protruding portions for engagement with the duct are provided in the thermally insulated cabinet, there is the advantage of eliminating the necessity of additional components for engagement with the duct.

[0108] Further, although there has not been particularly mentioned in the above description, it is also possible to employ a method for securing duct 129a using a securing member, such as a rivet. In this case, it is preferable to place a securing member (such as a rivet) for ensuring a sealing property, at a position at which the flow of cooled air in duct 129a should be controlled (for example, a portion at which the direction of cooled-air flow should be changed toward the discharge ports in the duct side surfaces). This is because, by doing this, it is possible to exert the function of guiding cooled air, concurrently with ensuring the sealing property. As a matter of course, a guide member can be provided in this securing member, which can further enhance the effect of guiding cooled air. Further, a securing member (for example, a rivet) can be placed at the position where the Y-shaped cooled-air circulation path is branched, which can branch cooled air from therebelow into two portions for allowing the cooled air to easily flow upwardly, thereby facilitating the circulation of the cooled air, as a matter of course.

[0109] Further, although there has not been mentioned in detail about the positions where six discharge ports 130a to 130f are placed, in the above description, the positions where they are placed are not particularly limited. However, it is preferable to place six discharge ports 130a to 130f, in such a way as to realize highest possible uniformity of the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102.

[0110] Further, although six discharge ports 130a to 130f have been exemplified in the above description, the number of discharge ports is not particularly limited. Similarly, although a single suction port 131a has been exemplified, the number of suction ports is not particularly limited.

[0111] Further, although the above description has been given by exemplifying a layout for placing the freezing room in the lowermost stage, it is also possible to employ a layout of a so-called middle-freezer type for placing a freezing room at the center to offer the same effects.

(Second Embodiment)

[0112] As described above, in the first embodiment, there has been mainly described the uniformization of the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room, by the positional relationship between the discharge ports and the suction port (by providing both the discharge ports and the suction port in the duct side surfaces).

[0113] However, as a result of detailed studies, it has been revealed that there are exemplary modifications which can offer certain practical advantages, regarding a method for uniformizing the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room. These will be described hereinafter.

[0114] As a first modification example, a second embodiment will be described hereinafter. The second embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment, in that discharge ports 130e and 130f in the right side are not provided, but discharge ports 130a and 130b in the left side are provided, as discharge ports.

[0115] FIG. 16 is an explanation view of a duct included in a refrigerator according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Here, there is illustrated the portion which can be viewed from the front side, when the door of refrigerating room 102 is opened. Specifically, duct 129a is provided along thermally insulated cabinet 101 in refrigerating room 102 having a heat insulating structure, and there is formed a Y-shaped cooled-air circulation path between duct 129a and thermally insulated cabinet 101. As indicated by arrows in FIG. 16, cooled air in refrigerator 102 is sucked into suction port 131a which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 102 and is circulated within respective storage rooms and, thereafter, is discharged from discharge ports 130a to 130d which are opened at upper portions of refrigerating room 102. In other words, as the discharge ports, in the side surfaces of duct 129a, only left-side discharge ports 130a and 130b are provided, but no discharge port is provided in the right side surface thereof.

[0116] In this case, discharge ports 130a and 130b and suction port 131a are both provided in the side surfaces of duct 129a. In other words, neither discharge ports 130a and 130b nor suction port 131a exist in the front surface of duct 129a, and, further, there are provided chamber spaces 302 ahead of discharge ports 130a and 130b. This can prevent inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like within refrigerating room 102 and, also, can improve the appearance of refrigerating room 102, since the discharge ports and the suction port can not be viewed from the front side when the door of the refrigerating room is opened.

[0117] Next, the flow of cooled air will be described. At first, regarding the overall flow of cooled air, cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 120 provided below the refrigerating room as described above enters the area of refrigerating room 102 and flows upwardly through duct 129a and, then, is discharged from discharge ports 130a to 130d which are opened in refrigeration room 102. The cooled air discharged into refrigerating room 102 is sucked into suction port 131a which is opened below discharge ports 130a to 130d in refrigerating room 102 (in the right side when it is viewed from the front side, in the present embodiment). Further, it downwardly returns to evaporator 120 through refrigerating-room return duct 137 (in the right side when it is viewed from the front side, in the present embodiment).

[0118] That is, in the present embodiment, regarding the flow of cooled air in the discharge side, the cooled air is discharged to the left side of refrigerating room 102, since discharge ports 130a and 130b are placed in the left side wall surface of duct 129a. On the contrary, regarding the flow of cooled air in the suction side, the cooled air is sucked into one side (the right side) of refrigerating room 102 since suction port 131a is placed in the side wall surface of the duct 129a in the one side (the right side) and, then, the cooled air flows through the one side (the right side) beside evaporator 120 through refrigerating-room return duct 137 to return to evaporator 120 from therebelow.

[0119] Further, the reason why refrigerating-room return duct 137 is placed in only one side with respect to evaporator 120 is as follows. That is, if it is placed in the both sides, this oppresses the width size of evaporator 120, which reduces the degree of flexibility in designing a desired cooling ability and, further, involves a double-side return duct structure, thereby increasing the structure complicacy and increasing the cost along therewith. However, if the refrigerating-room return duct is provided only in front of or behind evaporator 120, the thickness of the refrigerating-room return duct is added to the thickness of evaporator 120, which results in the demerit of oppressing the effective space inside the room or obstructing the thickness of the heat insulating material behind the evaporator to degrade the cooling efficiency. Therefore, this is not an advantageous measure.

[0120] Further, the chamber space 302 in the discharge-port side is formed in the left side with respect to duct 129a, and this chamber space 302 is extended to below refrigerating room 102.

[0121] With this structure, the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 130a and 130b is discharged into chamber spaces 302, which mixes the cooled-air temperature with the air in the room to moderate it and, further, reduces the discharge flow velocities, before the cooled air impinges on foods. This prevents local reduction of the temperature of foods, thereby preventing freeze of foods. At the same time, due to the provision of chamber spaces 302, the width of duct 129a is reduced, which makes the positions at which discharge ports 130a and 130b are placed in the width direction within refrigerating room 102 closer to the center of the inside of the room, thereby offering the advantage of improving the uniformity of the discharge temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102.

[0122] Further, the cooled air discharged from the portions closer to the center of refrigerating room 102 as described above finally tries to flow toward suction port 131a at a lower portion of the inside of refrigerating room 102, but suction port 131a is provided only in the side wall surface of duct 129a in one side (the right side) thereof. Due to this relationship therebetween, the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 130a and 130b provided in the side wall surface of duct 129a in the opposite side (the left side) thereof from the side provided with suction port 131a, at first, enters chamber space 302 beside them. Then, the cooled air changes its direction to the forward direction and flows within refrigerating room 102. Subsequently, the cooled air crosses in the width direction and enters chamber space 302 in the opposite side and, thereafter, flows into suction port 131a which is opened beside it to be collected.

[0123] In this case, discharge ports 130a, 130b and suction port 131a are both provided in the side wall surfaces of duct 129a to form paths for flowing cooled air thereinto and therefrom through chamber spaces 302, which results in longer flow paths and, also, many changes in direction of flow. This prevents the occurrence of short-circuits for cooled-air flows from discharge ports 130a and 130b to suction port 131a, which causes the cooled-air flows to exist within refrigerating room 102 for longer time intervals, thereby causing the cooled-air flows to be collected into suction port 131a while uniformly and effectively cooling the inside of refrigerating room 102.

[0124] Further, the cooled air collected into suction port 131a after cooling the inside of refrigerating room 102 is reasonably returned to evaporator 120 from one side through refrigerating-room return duct 137 which is directly connected to the lower portion of suction port 131a.

[0125] As described above, duct 129a has a width reduced in the width direction toward the center of refrigerating room 102 and, also, is placed in such a way as to form chamber space 302 in the left side beside it and, further, duct 129a is structured to have discharge ports 130a and 130b placed in its left side wall surface. On the other hand, duct 129a is purposefully structured to have suction port 131a placed only in its wall surface in one side thereof, below discharge ports 130a and 130b. This reduces short-circuited components from the discharge to the suction in the areas around the respective side surfaces, which would be induced in cases of double-side discharge and double-side suction. This offers the merit of uniformizing the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102.

[0126] Further, this merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution can be reasonably realized with the combined structure which also places refrigerating-room return duct 137 only in one side. For example, even with a double-side suction port specification, it is possible to conceive a structure which provides a bypass duct for connecting the suction ports in the opposite sides of refrigerating room 102 to each other for realizing an one-side refrigerating-room return duct, but this can not offer the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room. In other words, it is impossible to realize both the reasonable duct structure which places refrigerating-room return duct 137 only in one side and the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution.

[0127] Accordingly, the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102 can be provided to offer advantages, by employing the structure which provides duct 129a having a smaller width than the width of refrigerating room 102 for forming chamber space 302 in the left side beside it and, further, provides discharge ports 130a and 130b and suction port 131a in upper and lower portions of the side wall surfaces of duct 129a oppositely to chamber spaces 302 such that discharge ports 130a and 130b are provided in the left side of duct 129a while suction port 131a is provided only in one side thereof.

[0128] Further, by placing, in addition thereto, refrigerating-room return duct 137 below suction port 131a only in one side in the same side as suction port 131a, it is possible to provide a refrigerator having higher cooling efficiency including the merit, with the continuous reasonable duct structure and with lower cost.

[0129] Specifically, in the present embodiment, duct 129a has a width reduced toward the center of refrigerating room 102 in the width direction and, also, is placed in such a way as to form chamber space 302 in the left side beside it and, further, duct 129a is structured to have discharge ports 130a and 130b placed in the left side wall surface of duct 129a. On the other hand, duct 129a is purposefully structured to have suction port 131a placed only in its wall surface in one side thereof, below discharge ports 130a and 130b. This reduces short-circuited components from the discharge to the suction in the areas around the respective side surfaces, which would be induced in cases of double-side discharge and double-side suction. This offers a certain advantage of uniformizing the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102, in practical.

[0130] Further, while, in the present embodiment, discharge ports 130c and 130d are provided in an upper portion of refrigerating room, it is not necessarily necessary to provide discharge ports 130c and 130d, provided that the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room can be uniformized.

[0131] As described above, as described in the second embodiment, there is provided the refrigerator including the refrigerating-room duct provided on the rear surface of the refrigerating room formed in the thermally insulated cabinet, wherein the refrigerating-room duct includes the discharge ports as ventilating ports only in its side surface in one side thereof, and the suction port as a ventilating port below the discharge ports only in its side surface in the opposite side from the discharge ports, and there are provided the chamber spaces between the side surfaces of the refrigerating-room duct and the inner side surfaces of the refrigerating room.

[0132] Accordingly, (1) the cooled air discharged from the discharge ports provided in the opposite side from the suction port crosses in the width direction and enters the chamber space in the opposite side and, thereafter, flows into the suction port to be collected. This results in (2) longer flow paths for cooled air and (3) many changes in direction of flow. This causes the cooled air to exist within the refrigerating room for longer time intervals, which suppresses the occurrence of short-circuits for cooled air from the discharge ports to the suction port, thereby efficiently uniformizing the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room, in practical.

[0133] Further, since the discharge ports and the suction port for cooled air do not exist in the front surface of the duct, it is possible to improve the appearance of the refrigerating room, since the discharge ports and the suction port can not be viewed from the front side when the door of the refrigerating room is opened.

[0134] Further, in the present embodiment, similarly, the lateral width of duct 129a can be designed in such a way as to provide the chamber spaces described in the first embodiment, which can uniformize the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room.

(Third Embodiment)

[0135] As a second modification example, a third embodiment will be described, hereinafter. The third embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment, in that discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are provided in the front surface of duct 129a, rather than in the side surfaces of duct 129a.

[0136] FIG. 17 is an explanation view of a duct included in a refrigerator according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Here, there is illustrated the portion which can be viewed from the front side, when the door of refrigerating room 102 is opened. Specifically, duct 129a is provided along thermally insulated cabinet 101 in refrigerating room 102 having a heat insulating structure, and there is formed a Y-shaped cooled-air circulation path between duct 129a and thermally insulated cabinet 101. As indicated by arrows in FIG. 17, cooled air in refrigerator 102 is sucked into suction port 131a which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 102 and is circulated through respective storage rooms and, thereafter, is discharged from discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f which are opened at upper portions of refrigerating room 102.

[0137] In this case, discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are provided in the front surface of duct 129a, while suction port 131a is provided in a side surface of duct 129a. In other words, when the door of the refrigerating room is opened, the suction port can not be viewed in the front surface, which can improve the appearance of refrigerating room 102.

[0138] Further, desirably, the positions of discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f in the leftward and rightward directions are provided to be closer to the outer sides of duct 129a, rather than closer to the center of duct 129a. This can cause cooled air to reach even the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces inside the refrigerating room.

[0139] If discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are provided to be closer to the center of duct 129a, this may cause the center portion of the inside of the refrigerating room in the leftward and rightward directions to be cooled more significantly, while inhibiting cooled air from reaching the vicinities of the left and right sides of the refrigerating room.

[0140] Next, the flow of cooled air will be described. At first, regarding the overall flow of cooled air, cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 120 provided below the refrigerating room as described above enters the area of refrigerating room 102 and flows upwardly through duct 129a and, then, is discharged from discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f which are opened in refrigeration room 102. The cooled air discharged into refrigerating room 102 is sucked into suction port 131a which is opened below discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f in refrigerating room 102 (in the right side when it is viewed from the front side, in the present embodiment). Further, the cooled air downwardly returns to evaporator 120 through refrigerating-room return duct 137 (in the right side when it is viewed from the front side, in the present embodiment).

[0141] That is, in the present embodiment, regarding the flow of cooled air in the discharge side, the cooled air is discharged forwardly within refrigerating room 102, since discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are placed in the front surface of duct 129a. On the contrary, regarding the flow of cooled air in the suction side, the cooled air is sucked into one side (the right side) of refrigerating room 102, since suction port 131a is placed in the side wall surface of duct 129a in the one side (the right side) and, then, the cooled air flows through the one side (the right side) beside evaporator 120 through refrigerating-room return duct 137 to return to evaporator 120 from therebelow.

[0142] Further, the reason why refrigerating-room return duct 137 is placed in only one side with respect to evaporator 120 is as follows. That is, if it is placed in the both sides, this oppresses the width size of evaporator 120, which reduces the degree of flexibility in designing a desired cooling ability and, further, involves a double-side return duct structure, thereby increasing the structure complicacy and increasing the cost along therewith. However, if the refrigerating-room return duct is provided only in front of or behind evaporator 120, the thickness of the refrigerating-room return duct is added to the thickness of evaporator 120, which results in the demerit of oppressing the effective space inside the room or obstructing the thickness of the heat insulating material behind the evaporator to degrade the cooling efficiency. Therefore, this is not an advantageous measure.

[0143] Further, the chamber spaces 302 in the discharge-port side are formed in the opposite sides beside duct 129a. These chamber spaces 302 are extended to below refrigerating room 102, and chamber space 302 in one side (the right side), out of them, is formed to face with the opening portion of suction port 131a placed in the side wall surface.

[0144] With this structure, the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f is discharged into chamber spaces 302, which mixes the cooled-air temperature with the air in the room to moderate it and, further, reduces the discharge flow velocities, before the cooled air impinges on foods. This prevents local reduction of the temperature of foods, thereby preventing freeze of foods. At the same time, due to the provision of chamber spaces 302, the width of duct 129a is reduced, which makes the positions at which discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are placed in the width direction within refrigerating room 102 closer to the center of the inside of the room, thereby offering the advantage of further uniformizing the discharge temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102.

[0145] Further, the cooled air discharged from the portions closer to the center of refrigerating room 102 as described above finally tries to flow toward suction port 131a at a lower portion of the inside of refrigerating room 102, but suction port 131a is provided only in the side wall surface of duct 129a in one side (the right side) thereof. Due to this relationship therebetween, the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 130a and 130b provided in the front surface of duct 129a in the opposite side (the left side) from the side provided with suction port 131a, at first, flows forwardly within refrigerating room 102. Subsequently, the cooled air crosses in the width direction and enters chamber space 302 in the opposite side and, thereafter, it flows into suction port 131a which is opened beside it to be collected.

[0146] In this case, suction port 131a is provided in the side wall surface of duct 129a to form a path for flowing cooled air thereinto and therefrom through chamber spaces 302, which results in longer flow paths and, also, changes in direction of flow. Therefore, this suppresses the occurrence of short-circuits for cooled-air flows from discharge ports 130a and 130b to suction port 131a, which causes the cooled-air flows to exist within refrigerating room 102 for longer time intervals, thereby causing the cooled-air flows to be collected into suction port 131a while uniformly and effectively cooling the inside of refrigerating room 102.

[0147] In this case, if suction port 131a is opened in a common shape in the front surface of duct 129a, the discharged cooled air changes its direction few times and, also, induces smaller drags, since the suction port is in the front surface. Therefore, this facilitates the occurrence of short-circuits to the suction port in the duct front surface from discharge ports 130a and 130b which are made to be closer to the center due to the reduced width of duct 129a. This prevents the cooled air from flowing to the suction port while crossing in the width direction within refrigerating room 102, thereby making it impossible to uniformly cool the inside of refrigerating room 102.

[0148] Further, the cooled air collected into suction port 131a after cooling the inside of refrigerating room 102 is reasonably returned to evaporator 120 from one side through the refrigerating-room return duct 137 which is directly connected to the lower portion of suction port 131a.

[0149] As described above, duct 129a has a width reduced toward the center of refrigerating room 102 in the width direction and, also, is placed in such a way as to form chamber spaces 302 in the opposite sides beside it and, further, duct 129a is structured to have discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f placed in the front surface of duct 129a. On the other hand, duct 129a is purposefully structured to have suction port 131a placed only in its wall surface in one side thereof, below discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f. This reduces short-circuited components from the discharge to the suction in the areas around the respective side surfaces, which would be induced in cases of double-side discharge and double-side suction. This offers the merit of uniformizing the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102.

[0150] Further, this merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution can be reasonably realized with the combined structure which also places refrigerating-room return duct 137 only in one side. For example, even with a double-side suction port specification, it is possible to conceive a structure which provides a bypass duct for connecting the suction ports in the opposite sides of refrigerating room 102 to each other for realizing an one-side refrigerating-room return duct, but this can not offer the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room. In other words, it is impossible to realize both the reasonable duct structure which places refrigerating-room return duct 137 only in one side and the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution.

[0151] Accordingly, there is provided the structure which provides duct 129a having a smaller width than the width of refrigerating room 102 for providing chamber spaces 302 in the opposite sides beside it and, further, provides discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f at upper and lower portions of the front surface of duct 129a and suction port 131a in a side surface of duct 129a, such that discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are provided in the front surface of duct 129a while suction port 131a is provided only in one side surface thereof. This can provide the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102, thereby offering advantages.

[0152] Further, by placing, in addition thereto, refrigerating-room return duct 137 below suction port 131a only in one side in the same side as suction port 131a, it is possible to provide a refrigerator having higher cooling efficiency including the merit, with the continuous reasonable duct structure and with lower cost.

[0153] Specifically, in the present embodiment, duct 129a has a width reduced toward the center of refrigerating room 102 in the width direction and, also, is placed in such a way as to form chamber space 302 in the left side beside it and, further, duct 129a is structured to have discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f placed in the front surface of duct 129a. On the other hand, duct 129a is purposefully structured to have suction port 131a placed only in its wall surface in one side thereof, below discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f. This reduces short-circuited components from the discharge to the suction in the areas around the respective side surfaces, which would be induced in cases of double-side discharge and double-side suction. This offers a certain merit of uniformizing the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102, in practical.

[0154] Further, in the present embodiment, since discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are provided in the front surface of duct 129a, it is preferable to do as follows, in order to cause cooled-air flows to reach even the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces inside the refrigerating room.

[0155] More specifically, it is preferable that the chamber spaces are formed to be spaces which form preferable chamber spaces as described in the first embodiment, which can be provided by designing the lateral width of duct 129a, such that the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a fall within the range of (1/4) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a < (3/4) × W1, in the case where duct 129a is placed approximately at the center of the inside of refrigeration room 102 and, also, the distance from the room center to the side wall surfaces is defined as W1.

[0156] Thus, discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are made closer to the left and right wall surfaces of the refrigerating room, which can easily cause cooled air to reach even the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces inside the refrigerating room, thereby uniformizing the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room.

[0157] Further, in order to cause cooled-air flows to reach even the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces inside the refrigerating room, it is preferable to do as follows. More specifically, it is preferable that the chamber spaces are formed to be spaces which form preferable chamber spaces as described in the first embodiment, which can be provided by designing the lateral width of duct 129a, such that the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a fall within the range of (1/2) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a < (3/4) × W1, in the case where duct 129a is placed approximately at the center of the inside of refrigeration room 102 and, also, the distance from the room center to the side wall surfaces is defined as W1.

[0158] In this case, by providing discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f at a distance (a dimension X in FIG. 17) of 120 mm or less from the side surfaces of duct 129a, it is possible to make discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f closer to the left and right wall surfaces within the refrigerating room. This can cause cooled air to reach even the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces inside the refrigerating room, thereby further uniformizing the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room.

[0159] Specifically, in the present embodiment, since the discharge ports are placed in the front surface, the difficulty of causing cooled air to reach the vicinities of the left and right sides of the refrigerating room is compensated for by determining the width of duct 129a in such a way as to place the discharge ports at outermost possible positions, in order to uniformize the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room.

[0160] As described above, as described in the third embodiment, there is provided the refrigerator including the refrigerating-room duct provided on the rear surface of the refrigerating room formed in the thermally insulated cabinet, wherein the refrigerating-room duct includes the discharge ports as ventilating ports in its front surface, and the suction port as a ventilating port below the discharge ports only in the side surface in one side thereof, and there are provided the chamber spaces between the side surfaces of the refrigerating-room duct and the inner side surfaces of the refrigerating room.

[0161] Accordingly, (1) the cooled air discharged from the discharge ports provided in the opposite side from the suction port crosses in the width direction and enters the chamber space in the opposite side and, thereafter, flows into the suction port to be collected. This results in (2) longer flow paths for cooled air in comparison with the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1, and (3) many changes in direction of flow in comparison with the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1. This causes the cooled air to exist within the refrigerating room for longer time intervals, which suppresses the occurrence of short-circuits for cooled air from the discharge ports to the suction port, thereby efficiently uniformizing the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room, in practical.

(Fourth Embodiment)

[0162] As a third modification example, a fourth embodiment will be described, hereinafter. The fourth embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment, in that suction port 131a is provided in a front surface of duct 129a, rather than in the side surfaces of duct 129a.

[0163] FIG. 18 is an explanation view of a duct included in a refrigerator according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. Here, there is illustrated the portion which can be viewed from the front side, when the door of refrigerating room 102 is opened. Specifically, duct 129a is provided along thermally insulated cabinet 101 in refrigerating room 102 having a heat insulating structure, and there is formed a Y-shaped cooled-air circulation path between duct 129a and thermally insulated cabinet 101. As indicated by arrows in FIG. 18, cooled air in refrigerator 102 is sucked into suction port 131a which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 102 and is circulated within respective storage rooms and, thereafter, is discharged from discharge ports 130a to 130f which are opened at upper portions in refrigerating room 102.

[0164] In this case, discharge ports 130a to 130f are provided in the side surfaces of duct 129a. In other words, discharge ports 130a to 130f do not exist in the front surface of duct 129a, and, further, there are provided chamber spaces 302 ahead of discharge ports 130a to 130f. This prevents the inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like in refrigerating room 102 and, also, improves the appearance of refrigerating room 102, since the discharge ports can not be viewed in the front surface when the door of the refrigerating room is opened.

[0165] Next, the flow of cooled air will be described. At first, regarding the overall flow of cooled air, cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 120 provided below the refrigerating room as described above enters the area of refrigerating room 102 and flows upwardly through duct 129a and, then, is discharged from discharge ports 130a to 130f which are opened in refrigeration room 102. The cooled air discharged into refrigerating room 102 is sucked into suction port 131a which is opened below discharge ports 130a to 130f in refrigerating room 102 (in the right side when it is viewed from the front side, in the present embodiment). Further, the cooled air downwardly returns to evaporator 120 through refrigerating-room return duct 137 (in the right side when it is viewed from the front side, in the present embodiment).

[0166] That is, in the present embodiment, regarding the flow of cooled air in the discharge side, the cooled air is discharged to the opposite sides of refrigerating room 102, since discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are placed in the opposite side wall surfaces of duct 129a. On the contrary, regarding the flow of cooled air in the suction side, since suction port 131a is placed in the front surface of duct 129a in one side (the right side) thereof, the cooled air is sucked into the one side (the right side) of refrigerating room 102, and, then, the cooled air flows through the one side (the right side) of evaporator 120 through refrigerating-room return duct 137 to return to evaporator 120 from therebelow.

[0167] Further, the reason why refrigerating-room return duct 137 is placed in only one side with respect to evaporator 120 is as follows. That is, if it is placed in the both sides, this oppresses the width size of evaporator 120, which reduces the degree of flexibility in designing a desired cooling ability and, further, involves a double-side return duct structure, thereby increasing the structure complicacy and increasing the cost along therewith. However, if the refrigerating-room return duct is provided only in front of or behind evaporator 120, the thickness of the refrigerating-room return duct is added to the thickness of evaporator 120, which results in the demerit of oppressing the effective space inside the room or obstructing the thickness of the heat insulating material behind the evaporator to degrade the cooling efficiency. Therefore, this is not an advantageous measure.

[0168] Further, the chamber spaces 302 in the discharge-port side are formed in the opposite sides of duct 129a, and these chamber spaces 302 are extended to below refrigerating room 102.

[0169] With this structure, the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f is discharged into chamber spaces 302, which mixes the cooled-air temperature with the air in the room to moderate it and, further, reduces the discharge flow velocities, before the cooled air impinges on foods. This prevents local reduction of the temperature of foods, thereby preventing freeze of foods. At the same time, due to the provision of chamber spaces 302, the width of duct 129a is reduced, which makes the positions at which discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are placed in the width direction within refrigerating room 102 closer to the center of the inside of the room, thereby offering the advantage of further uniformizing the discharge temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102.

[0170] Further, the cooled air discharged from the portions closer to the center of refrigerating room 102 as described above finally tries to flow toward suction port 131a at a lower portion of the inside of refrigerating room 102, but suction port 131a is provided in the front surface of duct 129a only in one side (the right side) thereof. Due to this relationship therebetween, the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 130a and 130b provided in the side wall surface of the duct 129a in the opposite side (the left side) thereof from the side provided with suction port 131a, at first, enters chamber space 302 beside them. Subsequently, the cooled air changes its direction to the forward direction and, then, flows within refrigerating room 102 and, then, it crosses in the width direction and enters chamber space 302 in the opposite side and, thereafter, it flows into suction port 131a which is opened at a front surface to be collected.

[0171] In this case, discharge ports 130a and 130b are provided in the side wall surfaces of duct 129a to form paths for flowing cooled air thereinto and therefrom through chamber spaces 302, which results in longer flow paths and, also, many changes in direction of flow. This prevents the occurrence of short-circuits for cooled-air flows from discharge ports 130a and 130b to suction port 131a, which causes the cooled-air flows to exist within refrigerating room 102 for longer time intervals, thereby causing the cooled-air flows to be collected into suction port 131a while uniformly and effectively cooling the inside of refrigerating room 102.

[0172] Further, the cooled air collected into suction port 131a after cooling the inside of refrigerating room 102 is reasonably returned to evaporator 120 from one side through refrigerating-room return duct 137 which is directly connected to the lower portion of suction port 131a.

[0173] As described above, duct 129a has a width reduced toward the center of refrigerating room 102 in the width direction and, also, is placed in such a way as to form chamber spaces 302 in the opposite sides beside it and, further, duct 129a is structured to have discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f placed in the opposite side wall surfaces of duct 129a. On the other hand, duct 129a is purposefully structured to have suction port 131a placed only in the front surface in one side thereof, below discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f. This reduces short-circuited components from the discharge to the suction in the areas around the respective side surfaces, which would be induced in cases of double-side discharge and double-side suction. This offers the merit of uniformizing the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102.

[0174] Further, this merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution can be reasonably realized with the combined structure which also places refrigerating-room return duct 137 only in one side. For example, even with a double-side suction port specification, it is possible to conceive a structure which provides a bypass duct for connecting the suction ports in the opposite sides of refrigerating room 102 to each other for realizing an one-side refrigerating-room return duct, but this can not offer the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room. In other words, it is impossible to realize both the reasonable duct structure which places refrigerating-room return duct 137 only in one side and the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution.

[0175] Accordingly, the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102 can be provided to offer advantages, by employing the structure which provides duct 129a having a smaller width than the width of refrigerating room 102 for providing chamber spaces 302 in the opposite sides beside it and, further, provides discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f at upper and lower portions of the side wall surfaces of duct 129a oppositely to chamber spaces 302 and, also, provides suction port 131a in the front surface of duct 129a, such that discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f are provided in the opposite sides of ducts 129a while suction port 131a is provided only in one side thereof.

[0176] Further, by placing, in addition thereto, refrigerating-room return duct 137 below suction port 131a only in one side in the same side as suction port 131a, it is possible to provide a refrigerator having higher cooling efficiency including the merit, with the continuous reasonable duct structure and with lower cost.

[0177] Specifically, in the present embodiment, duct 129a has a width reduced toward the center of refrigerating room 102 in the width direction and, also, is placed in such a way as to form chamber spaces 302 in the left and right sides beside it and, further, duct 129a is structured to have discharge ports 130a and 130b in the left side wall surface of duct 129a, and discharge ports 130e and 130f in the right side wall surface of duct 129a. On the other hand, duct 129a is purposefully structured to have suction port 131a placed only in the front surface in one side thereof, below discharge ports 130a, 130b, 130e and 130f. This reduces short-circuited components from the discharge to the suction in the areas around the respective side surfaces, which would be induced in cases of double-side discharge and double-side suction. This offers a certain advantage of uniformizing the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 102, in practical.

[0178] As described above, as described in the fourth embodiment, there is provided the refrigerator including the refrigerating-room duct provided on the rear surface of the refrigerating room formed in the thermally insulated cabinet, wherein the refrigerating-room duct includes the discharge ports as ventilating ports in its opposite left and right side surfaces and, further, includes the suction port as a ventilating port below the discharge ports only in the front surface in one side thereof, and there are provided the chamber spaces between the side surfaces of the refrigerating-room duct and the inner side surfaces of the refrigerating room.

[0179] Accordingly, (1) the cooled air discharged from the discharge ports provided in the opposite side from the suction port crosses in the width direction and enters the chamber space in the opposite side and, thereafter, it flows into the suction port to be collected. Thus, (2) there are provided longer flow paths for cooled air in comparison with the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1 and, further, (3) there are many changes in direction of flow in comparison with the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1. This causes cooled air to exist within the refrigerating room for longer time intervals, which suppresses the occurrence of short-circuits for cooled air from the discharge ports to the suction port, thereby efficiently uniformizing the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room, in practical.

[0180] Further, in the present embodiment, similarly, the lateral width of duct 129a can be designed in such a way as to provide the chamber spaces described in the first embodiment, which can uniformize the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room.

(Fifth Embodiment)

[0181] FIG. 19 is a front view of a refrigerator according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 19, refrigerator 1100 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is refrigerator 1100 including a single-swing door and further including plural sectioned storage rooms in thermally insulated cabinet 1101. The storage rooms are called refrigerating room 1102, switching room 1104, and freezing room 1103 in order from above, depending on their functions (the cooling temperatures).

[0182] Refrigerating room 1102 is provided, at its front-side opening portion, with rotatable-type thermally-insulation door 1107 which is filled with a foaming and heat-insulating material, such as urethane, in a state where it is foamed. Further, switching room 1104 and freezing room 1103 are also provided with respective rotatable-type heat insulation doors 1107 which enclose the storage rooms for preventing leakage of cooled air therefrom. Note that switching room 1104 and freezing room 1103 can adopt a drawing door or the like in the form of door as needed.

[0183] FIG. 20 is a vertical section view of the refrigerator according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. More specifically, FIG. 20 is a section view of the portion cut along line 20-20 in FIG. 19. Thermally insulated cabinet 1101 is a cabinet which is constituted by an outer box made of mainly a metal steel plate, an inner box made of mainly a resin which has been subjected to vacuum formation, and a heat insulating material such as a hard urethane foam which is filled between the outer box and the inner box. Thermally insulated cabinet 1101 suppresses the movement of heat from ambiences to the inside of thermally insulated cabinet 1101 to attain heat insulation.

[0184] Refrigerating room 1102 is a storage room which is maintained at a low temperature enough to prevent freeze, in order to enable refrigeration storage. Regarding the concrete lower limit of the temperature, it is generally set to 1°C to 5°C. The temperature may be set to 0°C to 1°C, particularly, in order to improve the ability to maintain the freshness of perishable products.

[0185] Switching room 1104 is a storage room adapted to enable changing the temperature within the room. Through an operation panel mounted on refrigerator 1100, it is possible to change over between a refrigerating temperature range and a freezing temperature range, according to the application. For example, it can be set to -10°C to 5°C. It can be selectively set to weak freezing temperatures around - 6°C, a temperature range around -10°C which is suitable for mature freeze of meats and the like or for storage of ice creams, as well as refrigeration, chilling, ice temperatures, partial freezing and the like.

[0186] Freezing room 1103 is a storage room which is set to within a freezing temperature range. More specifically, it is generally set to within the range of -22°C to -18°C for freezing storage, but it may be set to a lower temperature such as -30°C or -25°C, in order to improve the freezing storage condition.

[0187] Thermally insulated cabinet 1101 is provided with concave portion 1113, at its area behind the lowermost storage room. This concave portion 1113 houses high-pressure-side components constituting the refrigerating cycle, such as compressor 1114, a dryer (not illustrated) for removing water and the like. In other words, concave portion 1113 for placing compressor 1114 therein is formed in such a way as to intrude into the area behind the lowermost portion of freezing room 1103.

[0188] On the rear surface of freezing room 1103, cooling room 1115 is provided. Cooling room 1115 is isolated from freezing room 1103 with first partition 1116 having a heat insulation property as a partition wall.

[0189] First partition 1116 is a member which is assembled into thermally insulated cabinet 1101, after thermally insulated cabinet 1101 has been foamed. Therefore, as the heat insulating member, usually, a foam resin such as foamed polystyrene is used, in view of the heat insulation property. Further, it is also possible to employ a hard urethane foam, in order to further improve the heat insulation property and the rigidity. Also, it is possible to insert, therein, a vacuum heat insulation material with a higher heat insulation property for further reducing the thickness of the partition structure. Further, third partition 1118 and fourth partition 1119 which, respectively, form the top surface portion and the bottom surface portion of switching room 1104 are integrally formed from the same foaming and heat-insulating material as that of thermally insulated cabinet 1101.

[0190] Cooling room 1115 forms a portion of cooling means and includes evaporator 1120 of a fin-and-tube type, as a representative one. Cooling fan 1121 is placed in a space above evaporator 120. Cooling fan 1121 is adapted to feed cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 1120 to forcibly cause convection of the cooled air within the respective storage rooms and to circulate the cooled air through refrigerator 1100.

[0191] Within refrigerator 1100, there are formed circulation paths for forcibly circulating cooled air. More specifically, air cooled by evaporator 1120 is forcibly fed, by cooling fan 1121, to be transferred to the respective rooms through ducts provided between the respective storage rooms and thermally insulated cabinet 1101, further to cool the respective rooms and further to return to evaporator 1120 through a suction duct. Further, sterilization device 1300 is provided near a discharge port of refrigerating-room discharge duct 1129a provided in refrigerating room 1102.

[0192] Further, within refrigerating room 1102, there are provided plural food storage shelves 1201 for storing foods and the like within the room. Slidable case 1202 is provided on the lowermost stage to provide a fresh case which is set to a temperature slightly lower than that of the shelf portions in refrigerating room 1102. Further, on the door, there are provided plural door shelves 1203. Food storage shelves 1201 and door shelves 1203 are enabled to be mounted at different positions by being inserted into different portions, according to the usability for users. This enables adjusting the upward and downward intervals thereamong for changing the heights usable for storing foods, thereby improving various storage properties.

[0193] FIG. 21 is a view illustrating the structure of a duct in the refrigerator according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 21, in refrigerator 1100, there exist refrigerating-room-1102 circulation path for circulating cooled air at a relatively-higher temperature, freezing-room-1103 circulation path for circulating cooled air at a relatively-lower temperature, and switching-room-1104 circulation path. These cooled-air circulation paths are formed by ducts.

[0194] Hereinafter, refrigerating-room-1102 circulation path will be described, in detail. Cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 1120 is fed, by cooling fan 1121, to refrigerating room 1102 through refrigerating-room discharge duct 1129a. In this case, the cooled air cooled by evaporator 1120 has been cooled to a temperature which can be sufficiently adapted to the freezing temperature in freezing room 1103. Accordingly, if the air at a relatively-lower temperature is continuously supplied to refrigerating room 1102, the temperature in refrigerating room 1102 will be excessively lowered.

[0195] Therefore, in the cooled-air circulation path including refrigerating room 1102, there is provided twin damper 1128 capable of controlling the passage of cooled air therethrough. Cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 1120 is controlled in passage by twin damper 1128 (the ON/OFF of the passage of cooled air), so that cooled air is not always circulated through refrigerating-room-1102 circulation path. Further, when refrigerator 1100 has been entirely and sufficiently cooled, the rotation of cooling fan 1121 is stopped, and the circulation of cooled air is also stopped. At this time, a cooling cycle, namely compressor 1114 and the like, is also stopped.

[0196] Cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 1120 passes through refrigerating-room discharge duct 1129a from its lower portion to its upper portion under the control and, then, is discharged from ventilation ports 1130a, 1130b, 1130c, 1130d, 1130e and 1130f which are opened at upper portions of refrigerating room 1102. The cooled air passed through refrigerating room 1102 is sucked into suction port 1131a which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 1102. The cooled air sucked into suction port 1131a is exhausted through exhaust port 1131b to refrigerating-room return duct 1137 and is returned to evaporator 1120 through this refrigerating-room return duct 1137.

[0197] Refrigerating-room-1102 circulation path has been described above. Further, for switching room 1104, similarly, the circulation of cooled air is controlled by a damper which intermittently control the discharge of cooled air, so that the temperatures in the respective rooms are controlled. In other words, in each of refrigerating room 1102 and switching room 1104, there is mounted a temperature sensor (not illustrated) for controlling the temperature in the room. Based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor, a control board 1122 (see FIG. 20) mounted on the back surface of refrigerator 1100 controls the open/close of the damper. Specifically, when the temperature sensor indicates a higher temperature than a preset first temperature, the damper is opened, but it is lower than a second temperature, the damper is closed, in order to adjust the temperature in the room to a predetermined temperature.

[0198] Twin damper 1128 includes a damper for intermittently controlling refrigerating room 1102 and a damper for intermittently controlling switching room 1104 which are integral with each other. Further, it includes refrigerating-room flap 1125 for intermitting cooled air in refrigerating room 1102 and switching-room flap 1126 for intermitting cooled air in switching room 1104. Further, it includes motor portion 1127 for driving the flaps integrally therewith. Twin damper 1128 is installed around the back surface of switching room 1104.

[0199] On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 9, a conventional refrigerator includes suction port 531 for sucking cooled air from refrigerating room 502 and discharge ports 530a to 530f for discharging cooled air into refrigerating room 502, in the front surface of duct 529a, which may freeze foods and drinks placed in refrigerating room 502 since they are placed near the discharge ports. Further, food storage shelves 201 can be inserted at different positions and, therefore, foods may be directly subjected to cooled air, depending on the changed shelf positions in particular, which induces the problem that the foods are prone to freeze. Further, when the door of refrigerating room 502 is opened, suction port 531 and discharge ports 530a to 530f can be viewed, which induces the problem of poor appearance. Further, if the food storage shelves are changed in the positions where they are inserted, the positions of the discharge holes are placed inconsistently with the shelf intervals, which results in poor appearance.

[0200] Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the following structure is employed, in order to overcome the above problems. FIGS. 22 and 23 are general views of the duct in the refrigerator according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[0201] In this case, the duct refers to refrigerating-room discharge duct 1129a and, hereinafter, similarly, refrigerating-room discharge duct 1129a will be simply referred to as "duct 1129a". FIG. 22 illustrates the surface (the front surface) which can be viewed when the door of refrigerating room 1102 is opened, and FIG. 23 illustrates the back surface thereof. As illustrated in these views, duct 1129a is constituted by the combination of heat insulating air-flow path 1300 formed by a foamed polystyrene and the like which has been shaped, and front surface panel 1301 formed by a resin such as polypropylene, polystyrene or ABS which has been shaped. The basic air-flow path is formed by heat insulating air-flow path 1300, and front-surface panel 1301 is provided at an outer portion, in view of the design and the strength. Further, front-surface panel 1301 is formed to have a larger width than the lateral width of heat insulating air-flow path 1300, in order to increase the difficulty of viewing the side surface portions and the ventilating openings from the front surface, thereby improving the design.

[0202] Duct 1129a includes, in its side surfaces, discharge ports 1130a to 1130f as ventilating ports for discharging cooled air into refrigerating room 1102, and suction port 1131a for sucking cooled air from refrigerating room 1102. The shapes of discharge ports 1130a to 1130f and suction port 1131a can be either holes or cutouts and are not particularly limited. In this case, discharge ports 1130a to 1130f are shaped by heat insulating air-flow path 1300 and are structured to prevent front surface panel 1301 from directly contacting with the cooled air discharged therefrom, which can prevent front surface panel 1301 from being cooled to induce local condensation and formation of frost thereon.

[0203] The cooled-air circulation paths in duct 1129a have the following structure. More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 23, duct 1129a includes, at its center portion, a cooled-air circulation path which upwardly communicates with discharge ports 1130a to 1130f and, further, includes a cooled-air circulation path which communicates with suction port 1131a adjacently to a lower portion of the former cooled-air circulation path.

[0204] Duct 1129a is required to have a lateral width smaller than the lateral width of refrigerating room 1102, in order to ensure sufficient chamber spaces 1302. Since duct 1129a has the discharge ports in its opposite side surfaces, duct 1129a is placed approximately at the center of the inside of refrigerating room 1102 and, further, the lateral width of duct 1129a is designed such that the side surfaces of duct 1129a are positioned approximately at the middles (W2) between the room center and the side wall surfaces (W1), in order to ensure sufficient chamber spaces 1302. If the lateral width of duct 1129a is made approximately equal to the lateral width of refrigerating room 1102 as in the prior art, it is impossible to discharge sufficient cooled air from discharge ports 1130a to 1130f and, further, it is impossible to suck sufficient cooled air into suction port 1131a. Further, it is possible to provide a structure which further inhibits foods, foreign substances and liquids from falling and intruding into suction port 1131a.

[0205] Further, since discharge ports 1130a to 1130f are portions which first discharge cooled air at a low temperature into the space inside the room, discharge ports 1130a to 1130f are subjected to a lowest air temperature within refrigerating room 1102 and, furthermore, are subjected to discharge flow velocities higher than those of other air convection within the room. Further, discharge ports 1130a to 1130f are placed in the duct side surfaces rather than in the front surface of duct 1129a and, also, sufficient chamber spaces 1302 are provided on the side surfaces thereof. This can mix the cooled-air temperature with the air within the room for moderating it and, further, can decrease the discharge flow velocities, before the cooled air impinges on foods, which can prevent local reduction of the temperature of foods, thereby preventing freeze of foods.

[0206] Further, while, it has been described that, in order to ensure sufficient chamber spaces 1302, duct 1129a is placed approximately at the center of the inside of refrigerating room 1102, and the lateral width of duct 1129a is designed such that the side surfaces of duct 1129a are positioned approximately at the middles (W2) between the room center and the side wall surfaces (W1), it is preferable to satisfy the range of (1/4) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a < (3/4) × W1.

[0207] More specifically, if the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a are larger than (3/4) × W1, chamber spaces 1302 are made smaller, which induces local reduction of the temperature, thereby increasing the possibility of inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like.

[0208] On the other hand, if the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a are smaller than (1/4) × W1, duct 1129a should be made larger in the depth direction (namely, the duct should exist in a front side of the room) in order to ensure the duct internal volume, thereby oppressing the room internal volume. Further, chamber spaces 1302 are made larger, and the flow velocities of cooled air discharged from the discharge ports are decreased, which makes it hard to circulate the cooled air from the rear portion to the front portion. This makes it hard to uniformize the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room.

[0209] That is, in the present embodiment, preferable chamber spaces 1302 mean the spaces which can be provided by designing the lateral width of duct 1129a such that the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a fall within the range of (1/4) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a < (3/4) × W1, in the case where duct 1129a is placed approximately at the center of the inside of refrigeration room 1102 and, also, the distance from the room center to the side wall surfaces is defined as W1. This enables uniformizing the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room and, further, enables mixing the cooled-air temperature with the air within the room for moderating it and reducing the flow velocities of the discharged cooled air, before the cooled air impinges on foods, without oppressing the room inside volume. This can prevent local temperature reduction, thereby preventing freeze of foods and the like.

[0210] Further, the present inventors have gotten the following findings, as a result of detailed analyses about (1/4) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a < (3/4) × W1, which are the preferable chamber spaces.

[0211] More specifically, if the following is satisfied; (1/2) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a, this will induce a larger area where cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the left side and cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the right side are lapped with each other (namely, a larger overlapping area), which will result in inefficient cooling. Further, this may induce local cooling, near the center portion of the inside of the room, which is the area where the cooled air is lapped.

[0212] On the other hand, by satisfying the following; (1/2) × W1 > the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a, there is created a smaller area where cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the left side and cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the right side are lapped with each other (namely, a smaller overlapping area), which results in efficient cooling. Further, due to the cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the left side and cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the right side, it is possible to easily cause cooled air to reach even the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces inside the room, which can further uniformize the temperature distribution within the room in the leftward and rightward directions in the room (namely, which can decrease the temperature difference between the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces and the vicinity of the center portion in the room). Further, it is possible to reduce the area where the cooled air is lapped, thereby decreasing the possibility of local cooling at the center portion in the room.

[0213] Accordingly, preferable chamber spaces 1302 mean the spaces which can be provided by designing the lateral width of duct 1129a such that the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a fall within the range of (1/2) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a < (3/4) × W1, in the case where duct 1129a is placed approximately at the center of the inside of refrigeration room 1102, and the distance from the room center to the side wall surfaces is defined as W1. Although the degree of reduction of the lateral width of duct 1129a is reduced, it is possible to prevent the size of duct 1129a from increasing in the depth direction, thereby preventing it from oppressing the room inside volume, by satisfying the following; (1/2) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a. Therefore, it is possible to decrease the area where cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the left side and cooled air discharged from the discharge ports in the right side are lapped with each other, thereby realizing efficient cooling, without degrading the usability of the refrigerator. Further, cooled air can easily reach even the vicinities of the left and right wall surfaces within the room, which can uniformize the temperature distribution in the refrigerating room and, also, can mix the cooled-air temperature with the air in the room for moderating it, before the cooled air impinges on foods. Further, the flow velocities of the discharged cooled air can be decreased, which can prevent local temperature reduction, thereby preventing freeze of foods and the like.

[0214] By designing the lateral width of duct 1129a such that chamber spaces 1302 as described above can be provided, the lateral width of the refrigerating-room duct is made smaller than those in the prior art, which reduces the amount of used materials to contribute to resource saving and, also, reduces the transferring energy for distributions of components to contribute to energy saving, thereby resulting in the advantage of reduction of the fabrication cost.

[0215] Further, food storage shelves 201 can be changed in positions at which they are inserted and, also, can be moved upwardly and downwardly, without being aware of the positions of the discharge ports.

[0216] As previously described, cooled air is flowed upwardly through duct 1129a and is discharged from discharge ports 1130a to 1130f which are opened at upper portions of refrigerating room 1102. The cooled air discharged into refrigerating room 1102 as described above is sucked into suction port 1131a which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 1102, then flows downwardly and then is exhausted through exhaust port 1131b to refrigerating-room return duct 1137.

[0217] Since cooled air is flowed from the lower portion to the upper portion, there is a need for larger flow velocities in order to sufficiently circulate the cooled air up to the upper portion, in comparison with methods for flowing cooled air from an upper portion to a lower portion. Thus, this method can offer an advantageous effect, particularly, since this can create larger discharge flow velocities. In cases of reducing the lateral width of duct 1129a for reducing the cross-sectional area of duct 1129a when viewed from above for making the amount of air flow constant, as in the present embodiment, it is possible to create larger discharge flow velocities. Thus, this method can offer a particularly advantageous effect, in view of cooling the inside of the room at a predetermined temperature.

[0218] While the placement of discharge ports 1130a to 1130f has been mainly described in the above description, there will be subsequently described the structure, effects and advantages of suction port 1131a.

[0219] First, regarding the overall flow of cooled air, as described above, cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 1120 provided below the refrigerating room enters the area of refrigerating room 1102, further flows upwardly through duct 1129a and, then, is discharged from discharge ports 1130a to 1130f which are opened in refrigerating room 1102. The cooled air discharged into refrigerating room 1102 is sucked into suction port 1131a which is opened below discharge ports 1130a to 1130f in refrigerating room 1102 (in the right side when it is viewed from the front side, in the present embodiment). Further, the cooled air downwardly returns to evaporator 1120 through refrigerating-room return duct 1137 (in the right side when it is viewed from the front side, in the present embodiment).

[0220] That is, in the present embodiment, regarding the flow of cooled air in the discharge side, cooled air is discharged into the opposite sides of refrigerating room 1102, since discharge ports 1130a, 1130b, 1130e and 1130f are placed in the opposite side wall surfaces of duct 1129a. On the other hand, regarding the flow of cooled air in the suction side, since suction port 1131a is placed in the side wall surface of duct 1129a in one side (the right side) thereof, cooled air is sucked into the one side (the right side) of refrigerating room 1102 and, then, flows through the one side (the right side) with respect to evaporator 1120 through refrigerating-room return duct 1137 to return to evaporator 1120 from therebelow.

[0221] Further, the reason why refrigerating-room return duct 1137 is placed in only one side with respect to evaporator 1120 is as follows. That is, if it is placed in the both sides, this oppresses the width size of evaporator 1120, which reduces the degree of flexibility in designing a desired cooling ability and, further, involves a double-side return duct structure, thereby increasing the structure complicacy and increasing the cost along therewith. However, if the refrigerating-room return duct is provided only in front of or behind evaporator 1120, the thickness of the refrigerating-room return duct is added to the thickness of evaporator 1120, which results in the demerit of oppressing the effective space inside the room or obstructing the thickness of the heat insulating material behind the evaporator to degrade the cooling efficiency. Therefore, this is not an advantageous measure.

[0222] Further, the chamber spaces 1302 in the discharge-port side are formed in the opposite sides of duct 1129a. These chamber spaces 1302 are extended to below refrigerating room 1102, and chamber space 1302 in one side (the right side), out of them, is formed to face with the opening portion of suction port 1131a placed in the side wall surface.

[0223] With this structure, the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 1130a, 1130b, 1130e and 1130f is discharged into chamber spaces 1302, which mixes the cooled-air temperature with the air in the room to moderate it and, further, reduces the discharge flow velocities, before the cooled air impinges on foods. This can prevent local reduction of the temperature of foods, thereby preventing freeze of foods. At the same time, due to the provision of chamber spaces 1302, the width of duct 1129a is reduced, which makes the positions at which discharge ports 1130a, 1130b, 1130e and 1130f are placed in the width direction within refrigerating room 1102 closer to the center of the inside of the room. This offers the advantage of further uniformizing the discharge temperature distribution within refrigerating room 1102.

[0224] Further, the cooled air discharged from the portions closer to the center of refrigerating room 1102 as described above finally tries to flow toward suction port 131a at a lower portion of the inside of refrigerating room 1102, but suction port 1131a is provided only in the side wall surface of duct 1129a in one side (the right side) thereof. Due to the relationship therebetween, the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 1130a and 1130b which are provided in the side wall surface of duct 1129a in the opposite side from the side provided with suction port 1131a, at first, enters chamber space 1302 beside them, then changes its direction to the forward direction and, then, flows within refrigerating room 1102 and, subsequently, it crosses in the width direction and enters chamber space 302 in the opposite side and, thereafter, flows into suction port 1131a which is opened beside it to be collected.

[0225] In this case, discharge ports 1130a, 1130b and suction port 1131a are both provided in the side wall surfaces of duct 1129a to form paths for flowing cooled air thereinto and therefrom through chamber spaces 1302, which results in longer flow paths and, also, many changes in direction of flow. This prevents the occurrence of short-circuits for cooled-air flows from discharge ports 1130a and 1130b to suction port 1131a, which causes the cooled-air flows to exist within refrigerating room 1102 for longer time intervals, thereby causing the cooled-air flows to be collected into suction port 1131a while uniformly and effectively cooling the inside of refrigerating room 1102.

[0226] In this case, if suction port 1131a is opened in a common shape in the front surface of duct 1129a, the discharged cooled air will change its direction few times and, also, will induce smaller drags, since the suction port is in the front surface. This will facilitate the occurrence of short-circuits to the suction port in the duct front surface from discharge ports 1130a and 1130b which are made to be closer to the center due to the reduced width of duct 1129a. This will prevent the cooled air from flowing to the suction port while crossing in the width direction within refrigerating room 1102, thereby making it impossible to uniformly cool the inside of refrigerating room 1102.

[0227] Further, the cooled air collected into suction port 1131a after cooling the inside of refrigerating room 1102 is reasonably returned to evaporator 1120 from one side beside it through refrigerating-room return duct 1137 which is directly connected to the lower portion of suction port 1131a.

[0228] As described above, duct 1129a has a width reduced toward the center in the width direction of refrigerating room 102 and, further, is placed in such a way as to form chamber spaces 1302 in the opposite sides beside it and, further, duct 1129a is structured to have discharge ports 1130a, 1130b, 1130e and 1130f placed in its opposite side wall surfaces. On the other hand, duct 1129a is purposefully structured to have suction port 1131a placed only in its wall surface in one side thereof, below discharge ports 1130a, 1130b, 1130e and 1130f. This can reduce short-circuited components from the discharge to the suction in areas near the respective side surfaces, which would be induced in cases of double-side discharge and double-side suction. This offers the merit of uniformizing the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 1102.

[0229] Further, this merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution can be reasonably realized with the combined structure which also places refrigerating-room return duct 1137 only in one side. For example, even with a double-side suction port specification, it is possible to conceive a structure which provides a bypass duct for connecting the suction ports in the opposite sides of refrigerating room 1102 to each other for realizing an one-side refrigerating-room return duct, but this can not offer the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room. In other words, it is impossible to realize both the reasonable duct structure which places refrigerating-room return duct 1137 only in one side and the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution.

[0230] Accordingly, the merit about the qualitative performance relating to the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 1102 can be realized to offer advantages, by employing the structure which provides duct 1129a having a smaller width than the width of refrigerating room 1102 for providing chamber spaces 1302 in the opposite sides beside it and, further, provides discharge ports 1130a, 1130b, 1130e and 1130f and suction port 1131a in upper and lower portions of the side wall surfaces of duct 1129a oppositely to chamber spaces 1302, such that discharge ports 1130a, 1130b, 1130e and 1130f are provided in the opposite sides of ducts 1129a while suction port 1131a is provided only in one side thereof.

[0231] Further, by placing, in addition thereto, refrigerating-room return duct 1137 below suction port 1131a only in one side in the same side as suction port 1131a, it is possible to provide a refrigerator having higher cooling efficiency including the merits, with the continuous reasonable duct structure and with lower cost. Further, the food-fall preventing means according to the present embodiment have the same contents as the contents described in the first embodiment (FIGS. 12 to 15) and will not be described herein.

[0232] Further, the internal structure of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment has the same contents as the contents described in the first embodiment (FIG. 6) and will not be described herein. FIG. 24 is an explanation view of the duct included in the refrigerator according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. Here, there is illustrated the portion which can be viewed from the front side, when the door of refrigerating room 1102 is opened. Specifically, duct 1129a is provided along thermally insulated cabinet 1101 in refrigerating room 1102 having a heat insulating structure, and there is formed a approximately-Y-shaped cooled-air circulation path between duct 1129a and thermally insulated cabinet 1101. As indicated by arrows in FIG. 24, cooled air in refrigerator room 1102 is sucked into suction port 1131a which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 1102 and is circulated through the respective storage rooms and, thereafter, is discharged from discharge ports 1130a to 1130f which are opened at upper portions of refrigerating room 1102.

[0233] In this case, discharge ports 1130a to 1130f and suction port 1131a are both provided in the side surfaces of duct 1129a. In other words, neither discharge ports 1130a to 1130f nor suction port 1131a exist in the front surface of duct 1129a and, further, there are provided chamber spaces 1302 ahead of discharge ports 1130a to 1130f. This can prevent the occurrence of inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like in refrigerating room 1102 and, also, can improve the appearance of refrigerating room 1102, since neither the discharge ports nor the suction port can be viewed from the front side when the door of the refrigerating room is opened.

[0234] Further, the method for securing the duct in the present embodiment has the same contents as the contents described in the first embodiment (FIG. 8) and will not be described herein. As can be clearly seen from the above description, with the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention, the discharge ports and the suction port for cooled air do not exist in the front surface of the duct, and chamber spaces 1302 are provided between the side surfaces of duct 1129a and the side wall surfaces inside the room. This prevents discharged cooled air at a lower temperature and at high flow velocities from directly impinging on foods and the like within the refrigerating room, thereby preventing the occurrence of inconvenience of freeze of foods. Further, this can improve the appearance of the refrigerating room. Further, the lateral width of duct 1129a is made smaller than those in the prior art, which contributes to resource saving and energy saving, thus resulting in the advantage of reduction of the fabrication cost.

[0235] Further, although there has not been mentioned in detail about the positions where six discharge ports 1130a to 1130f are placed, in the above description, the positions where they are placed are not particularly limited. However, it is preferable to place six discharge ports 1130a to 1130f, such that the temperature distribution within refrigerating room 1102 exhibits highest possible uniformity.

[0236] Further, although six discharge ports 1130a to 1130f have been exemplified in the above description, the number of discharge ports is not particularly limited. For example, the number of discharge ports in the left side of the refrigerator can be three. Similarly, although a single suction port 131a has been exemplified, the number of suction ports is not particularly limited.

[0237] Further, although there has been described the layout for placing the freezing room in the lowermost stage, it is also possible to employ a layout of a so-called middle freezer-type for placing a freezing room at the center to offer the same effects. Also, it is possible to employ a layout of a top-freezer type for placing a freezing room at an uppermost portion to offer the same effects.

[0238] Further, although, in the present embodiment, there has been described a case where third partition 1118 and fourth partition 1119 are integrally formed from the same foaming and heat insulating material as that of thermally insulated cabinet 1101, they can be separated components which are assembled in thermally insulated cabinet 1101 after thermally insulated cabinet 1101 has been foamed, similarly to first partition 1116.

[0239] Next, there will be described the fresh case provided at a lower portion of refrigerating room 1102. As described above, within refrigerating room 1102, there are provided plural food storage shelves 1201 for storing foods and the like within the room. Slidable case 1202, as a fresh case, is provided in the lowermost stage and is set to a temperature lower by about 1°C than that of the shelve portions in refrigerating room 1102. Further, the fresh case is adapted to be directly supplied with cooled air through a cooled-air flow path. More specifically, as illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23, duct 1129a is provided with discharge port 1140 placed approximately at the center portion of the air-flow path portion and, further, is provided with suction port 1141 placed below suction port 1131a.

[0240] Cooled air which has been cooled by evaporator 1120 passes through refrigerating-room discharge duct 1129a from its lower portion to its upper portion and, then, is discharged from discharge port 1140 which is opened at a lower portion of refrigerating room 1102. The cooled air which has been circulated within the slidable case is sucked into suction port 1141. The cooled air sucked into suction port 1141 is exhausted to refrigerating-room return duct 1137 through exhaust port 1131b and is returned to evaporator 1120 through refrigerating-room return duct 1137.

[0241] Further, this fresh case is used to store various types of foods, such as perishable products such as meats and fishes, processed food products such as hams and sausages, fish paste products such as "Chikuwa" and "Kamaboko", chilled food products such as raw noodles and prepared foods, yogurts.

[0242] Next, there will be mainly described differences of the present embodiment from the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, concave portion 113 for placing compressor 114 therein is formed in such a way as to intrude into the rear area of the uppermost portion of refrigerating room 102. Therefore, in the first embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4, duct 129a has a step shape (an L shape) at its upper portion.

[0243] However, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 20, thermally insulated cabinet 1101 is provided with concave portion 1113, at its area behind the lowermost storage room. In this concave portion 1113, there are mainly housed high-pressure-side components constituting a freezing cycle, such as compressor 114, a dryer (not illustrated) for removing water and the like. In other words, concave portion 1113 for placing compressor 1114 therein is formed in such a way as to intrude in the area behind the lowermost portion of freezing room 1103.

[0244] As a result thereof, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 22, duct 1129a has a plane shape (so-called a flattened shape), at its upper portion. Accordingly, in comparison with a duct having a step-shaped (L-shaped) upper portion, cooled air which has flowed from the lower portion of duct 1129a is subjected to reduced ventilation drags within duct 1129a, which increases the amount of cooled-air flows discharged from discharge ports 1130c and 1130d placed in the upper portion, thereby ensuring a cooling ability with the cooled air flowed from the upper portion.

[0245] Next, the sterilization device will be described. FIG. 25 is a vertical section view illustrating the sterilization device in a state where it is mounted in the refrigerator. Sterilization device 1400 according to the present embodiment is a device capable of forcibly removing fungi and spores existing in cooled air and, also, capable of realizing deodorization through decomposition of organic substances existing in cooled air. Sterilization device 1400 is constituted by carrying member 1401 which carries a photo catalyst, illumination means 1402 which illuminates carrying member 1401 with excitation light for exciting the photo catalyst, base plate 1403 to which illumination means 1402 is attached, and cover 1404 made of a transparent resin. More specifically, carrying member 1401 and base plate 1403 are secured to cover 1404. In other words, carrying member 1401 and illumination means 1402 are integrated with each other through cover 1404, and cover 1404 is secured to the inner box.

[0246] Carrying member 1401 is made of a porous resin capable of contacting with a larger amount of cooled air and, also, is of a filter type formed from tangled fibers containing a photo catalyst mixed therein. Further, the resin used as the matrix thereof is a resin capable of transmitting, therethrough, light which can easily excite the photo catalyst.

[0247] The photo catalyst is a catalyst which is capable of eliminating fungi from cooled air and, also, capable of deodorization through oxidation, decomposition and the like of odiferous components (such as organic substances) in cooled air, by being irradiated with light having a certain wavelength. The photo catalyst is a material which is considered to be capable of activating (for example, ionizing or radicalizing) components in cooled air and, based thereon, is capable of sterilization and deodorization. Exemplary photo catalysts include silver oxide or titanium oxide.

[0248] Silver oxide necessitates light with wavelengths which fall within a blue visible-light range of about 400 nm to 580 nm, in order to exert its sterilizing function and the like. Further, titanium oxide necessitates light with a wavelength of 380 nm, in order to exert its sterilizing function and the like.

[0249] Illumination means 1402 is a device including light source 1410 capable of emitting light with wavelengths which can excite the photo catalyst. Light source 1410 is required only to emit a predetermined amount of light with wavelengths including light with the wavelengths, and it is possible to exemplify an UV lamp or a common electric lamp. Further, in cases where the photo catalyst is silver oxide, it is possible to employ an LED (Light Emitting Diode) capable of emitting blue light (470 nm) in a visible-light range, which can increase the life and can reduce the cost. Further, in cases where the photo catalyst is titanium oxide, it is possible to employ an UV-LED capable of emitting 380-nm UV (Ultraviolet) light.

[0250] In the present embodiment, silver oxide is employed as the photo catalyst, and an arrangement of two LEDs placed on base plate 1403 is employed as light source 1410 in illumination means 1402.

[0251] Next, sterilization device 1400 will be described, regarding effects of its functions. Cooled air containing fungi and odoriferous air (organic substances and the like) which has been fed from cooling fan 1121 passes through refrigerating-room flap 1125 and duct 1129a, which is a duct for discharging cooled air to the refrigerating room, and, then, is discharged into refrigerating room 1102 through discharge ports 1130a, 1130b, 1130c, 1130d, 1130e and 1130f. At this time, a portion of the cooled air is introduced into sterilization device 1400 after being branched thereto. The introduced cooled air passes by carrying member 1401 as if the cooled air licks it. Odoriferous components and fungi contained in the cooled air are captured by the surface of carrying member 1401. The captured odoriferous components and fungi are subjected to deodorization and sterilization, through oxidation decomposition by the silver oxide and sterilization effects thereof.

[0252] Accordingly, it is possible to exert odoriferous-air decomposing and sterilizing functions with the effects of the silver oxide, even when it is not irradiated with light. This enables reduction of the amount of light irradiation and the time for light irradiation, while ensuring desired deodorization and sterilization effects, thereby increasing the life of the illumination means and, also, enhancing the energy saving effect. Furthermore, with the optical energy (blue or UV light) emitted from light source 1410, the silver oxide which has absorption spectra in these wavelength ranges is excited by the optical energy of the blue light, so that the photo catalyst on the surface of carrying member 1401 is excited. When the photo catalyst has been excited, OH radicals are induced from water in the air, which causes oxidation decomposition of odoriferous components captured by carrying member 1401 and, also, causes bacteriolysis of fungi.

[0253] The cooled air passed through sterilization device 1400 as described above has become clean cooled air which has been subjected to deodorization and sterilization and, further, is blown into the room through discharge ports 1130c and 1130d provided at an upper portion. Further, within refrigerating room 1102, the cooled air is mixed with the cooled air discharged from discharge ports 1130a, 1130b, 1130e and 1130f provided in the side surfaces and is circulated through the circulation paths.

[0254] Further, OH radicals created by sterilization device 1400 are also discharged into refrigerating room 1102 together with the cooled air to perform deodorization and sterilization within refrigerating room 1102. Specifically, in the present embodiment, sterilization device 1400 is constituted by carrying member 1401 which carries a photo catalyst, illumination means 1402 which illuminates carrying member 1401 with excitation light for exciting the photo catalyst, base plate 1403 to which illumination means 1402 is attached, and cover 1404 made of a transparent resin, wherein carrying member 1401 and base plate 1403 are secured to cover 1404. In other words, carrying member 1401 and illumination means 1402 are integrated with each other through cover 1404, and cover 1404 is secured to the inner box.

[0255] This can provide a stable distance between carrying member 1401 and illumination means 1402, thereby providing more stable sterilization and deodorization effects. Further, since the sterilization device is mounted to the inner box, it is possible to simplify duct 1129a.

[0256] Further, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 25, illumination means 1402 is placed inside duct 1129a. Thus, cooled air is flowed from discharge ports 1130c and 1130d placed at the upper portion of duct 1129a (an arrow A in FIG. 25) and, further, light is emitted from discharge ports 1130c and 1130d. More specifically, the light from illumination means 1402 creates a combination of direct light (an arrow M in FIG. 25) and reflected light (an arrow N in FIG. 25), which increases the illuminance in the back side in the upper portion of the inside of refrigerating room 1102, thereby improving the viewability. Particularly, with a refrigerator provided with concave portion 1113 for placing compressor 1114 therein such that it intrudes in the area behind the lowermost portion of freezing room 1103, as in the present embodiment, it is possible to utilize spaces in the back side of the upper portion of refrigerating room 1102 for placing foods and, therefore, the increased illuminance offers larger advantages.

[0257] Specifically, in the present embodiment, the cooled air discharged from the discharge ports provided in the duct side surfaces and the cooled air discharged from the discharge ports provided in the duct upper surface are circulated to surround the foods within the refrigerating room, thereby suppressing the occurrence of temperature nonuniformity within the refrigerating room.

[0258] Further, by providing sterilization device 1400 as in the present embodiment, clearer cooled air is caused to circulate in such a way as to surround the foods within the refrigerating room, thereby improving the hygiene of the inside of the refrigerating room.

[0259] Further, while, in the present embodiment, the storage room just beneath refrigerating room 1102 is made to be switching room 1104, this storage room can either be set to a temperature equal to that of refrigerating room 1102 or be made to be a vegetable room which is set to a temperature (2°C to 7°C, for example) slightly higher than that of refrigerating room 1102. Also, it can be made to be a storage room which is set to 0°C to 4°C.

[0260] Further, FIGS. 27 and 28 illustrate another aspect of the fifth embodiment. In a conventional refrigerator, cooled air for cooling the inside of the refrigerator has a larger specific gravity than that of air at a room temperature and, therefore, tends to be accumulated at a lower portion inside the refrigerator, while it tends not to be accumulated at an upper portion inside the refrigerator, thereby exhibiting a distribution having higher temperatures at upper portions inside the refrigerator, in general.

[0261] In addition, particularly, as illustrated in FIG. 27, cooled air can not easily reach an area Z at an upper portion of the refrigerator in the front side thereof, namely the vicinity of the upper portion of the door shelves, since this area is at a larger distance from duct 1129a on the rear surface of the room. This induces a local temperature increase at this portion, which has induced the problem of difficulty of uniformizing the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room.

[0262] On the contrary, as illustrated in FIGS. 27 and 28, assuming that the distance from the upper surface of duct 1129a to the upper surface the inside the refrigerator is Y, the upper surface of duct 1129a is placed in such a way as to satisfy the relationship of (1/4) × W1 > Y. By causing Y to satisfy the above relationship, it is possible to prevent the space between the upper surface of duct 1129a and the upper surface inside the refrigerator from functioning as a chamber space which moderates cooled air.

[0263] This enables the cooled air discharged from duct 1129a to flow along the ceiling surface to reach the area Z, while maintaining its larger flow velocity. FIG. 27 illustrates arrows indicating the cooled air flows. This can properly decrease the temperature even in the area Z which is less prone to temperature decreases therein, thereby uniformizing the temperature distribution within the refrigerating room.

[0264] As described above, regarding to the side surfaces of duct 1129a, the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 1129a are caused to fall within the range of(1/4) × W1 < the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of duct 129a < (3/4) × W1 and, on the other hand, regarding the upper surface of duct 1129a, the position of the upper surface of duct 1129a is caused to fall within the range of (1/4) × W1 > Y. Thus, the chamber spaces exist beside duct 1129a, while no chamber space exists above duct 1129a.

[0265] With this structure, it is possible to moderate cooled air beside duct 1129a for preventing freeze and the like of foods and, concurrently, it is possible to flow cooled air along the ceiling surface above duct 1129a while maintaining the larger flow velocity of this cooled air, thereby properly supplying the cooled air to the area Z which is prone to temperature rises. As described above, it is possible to maintain the temperature within the entire refrigerating room more uniform, which offers a merit about the qualitative performance and, also, realizes an energy saving effect.

[0266] In addition to the placement of duct 1129a in consideration of Y, duct 1129a is structured to have a plane shape, which can reduce the drag of air flowing in the upward direction within duct 1129a. By reducing the drag of air flowing in the upward direction, it is possible to reduce the overall drag of the air-flow paths in duct 1129a, which can increase the amount of air flow which passes through duct 1129a. This can increase the amount of air flow discharged from the upper surface, without exerting a large influence on the amounts of air flows discharged from the duct side portions. Also, by adjusting the dimension Y within the range of (1/4) × W1 > Y for taking a measure to further increase air flow velocities, it is possible to further enhance the cooling from above.

[0267] This can further enhance the qualitative performance merit and the energy saving effect within the entire refrigerating room. Further, as used herein, the plane shape can be any shape capable of ensuring a straight-line-shaped air-flow path portion for discharging a larger amount of air flow from the upper surface, as that of duct 1129a illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23.

[0268] Further, refrigerating-room return duct 137 for supplying cooled air from refrigerating room 1102 to evaporator 1120 is placed in the same side as suction port 1131a such that it is directed downwardly and communicated with suction port 1131a, which can structure a path for cooled air to the evaporator, without involving a complicated structure. Further, within the paths from evaporator 1120 to suction ports 1130c and 1130d, similarly, the cooled-air circulation paths involve no complicated structure. This can maintain the flow velocities of cooled air, thereby ensuring sufficient air-flow velocities of cooled air from the upper surface of duct 1129a, similarly.

(Sixth Embodiment)

[0269] FIG. 26 is a view illustrating the structure of a duct in a refrigerator according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the storage room just beneath refrigerating room 1102 can be either set to within a refrigerating temperature range, namely a temperature equal to that of refrigerating room 1102, or made to be a vegetable room which is set to a temperature (2°C to 7°C, for example) slightly higher than that of refrigerating room 1102. Also, it can be made to be a storage room which is set to 0°C to 4°C, if possible.

[0270] In cases of providing storage room 1504 structured to mainly have only a room temperature as a refrigerating temperature without having a freezing temperature range, as in this aspect of the layout, cooled air is supplied to the inside of refrigerating room 1120 through damper 1505 and, further, is sucked into refrigerator 1102 through suction port 1131a in the side surface of refrigerating-room duct 1129a in one side thereof. The cooled air sucked into refrigerating room 1102 is directly released and diffused into the room, through discharge port 1506 at an upper portion of storage room 1504 at a refrigerating temperature, which is adjacent to refrigerating room 1102 just therebeneath, rather than being downwardly directed through refrigerating-room duct 1137 as in the fifth embodiment. For example, the cooled air is sucked into suction port 1507 provided in a diagonal direction with respect to discharge port 1506 at a lower portion inside the room and, further, is returned to cooler 1120 through return duct 1508.

[0271] In this case, the returned cooled air within refrigerating room 1102 is sucked into suction port 1131a in the side surface of refrigerating-room duct in one side thereof and, since storage room 1504 just therebeneath is also set to within a refrigerating temperature range, the cooled air is immediately released, diffused and circulated within storage room 1504 without using a return duct and, then, is returned to cooler 1120. In this case, storage room 1504 functions as a chamber. This results in the merit of suppressing variations of the temperature distribution within storage room 1504 itself. This can provide a refrigerator capable of cooling a layout of connected two rooms constituted by refrigerating room 1102 at an upper portion of the refrigerator and storage room 1504 such as a vegetable room at the center portion, within a refrigerating temperature range, in balance, with the reasonable duct structure.

[0272] Further, it is not necessarily necessary that discharge port 1506 and suction port 1507 are placed diagonally with respect to each other, and they can have other placement relationships therebetween, provided that they can maintain a relationship therebetween which is capable of diffusing and circulating cooled air within the storage room as a chamber space for exerting an effect of suppressing the variation of the temperature distribution within the room.

[0273] As described above, according to the present application, there are provided the thermally insulated cabinet, the refrigerating-room duct provided on the rear surface of the refrigerating room formed in the thermally insulated cabinet, the side-surface discharge ports provided in the refrigerating-room-duct side surfaces when viewed from the front surface of the refrigerating room, the upper-surface discharge ports provided in the refrigerating-room-duct upper surface, and the suction port provided only in the refrigerating-room-duct side surface in one side below the side-surface discharge ports, wherein there are the chamber spaces in the opposite sides of the refrigerating-room duct, between the refrigerating-room-duct side surfaces and the refrigerating-room inner side surfaces, while there is no chamber space above the refrigerating-room duct between the refrigerating-room-duct upper surface and the refrigerating-room inner upper surface. Accordingly, there is no discharge port for cooled air in the front surface of the refrigerating-room duct, which can prevent the inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like in the refrigerating room. Further, the cooled air discharged from the side-surface discharge ports, as ventilating ports, in the refrigerating-room-duct side surfaces is mixed with the air within the room and is circulated therein, while being reduced in flow velocity within the chamber spaces. This can reduce the possibility of local reduction of the temperature of foods. Further, since there is no discharge port for cooled air in the front surface of the refrigerating-room duct, no discharge port can be viewed in the front surface when the door of the refrigerating room is opened, which can improve the appearance of the refrigerating room. Further, above the duct, the cooled air discharged from the upper-surface discharge ports, as ventilating ports in the refrigerating-room-duct upper surface, flows along the ceiling surface, while maintaining its high flow velocity. This enables properly supplying the cooled air to areas which are prone to temperature rises. As described above, it is possible to maintain the uniformity of the temperature within the entire refrigerating room, thereby offering a merit about the qualitative performance and, also, realizing an energy saving effect.

[0274] Further, in the case where the refrigerating-room duct is placed approximately at the center of the inside of the refrigeration room, the distances from the center of the refrigerating-room duct to the side surfaces thereof are defined as W0, the distance from the center of the inside of the refrigerating room to the inner side surfaces of the refrigerating room is defined as W1 and, also, the distance from the refrigerating-room-duct upper surface to the refrigerating-room inner upper surface is defined as Y, the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of the refrigerating-room duct are caused to fall within the range of (1/4) × W1 < W0 < (3/4) × W1, in order to form the chamber spaces, while the position of the upper surface of the refrigerating room duct is caused to satisfy the range of (1/4) × W1 > Y, in order to form no chamber space. This can maintain the uniformity of the temperature within the entire refrigerating room, thereby offering a merit about the qualitative performance and, also, realizing an energy saving effect.

[0275] Further, in the case where the refrigerating-room duct is placed approximately at the center of the inside of the refrigeration room, the distances from the center of the refrigerating-room duct to the side surfaces thereof are defined as W0, the distance from the center of the inside of the refrigerating room to the inner side surfaces of the refrigerating room is defined as W1 and, also, the distance from the refrigerating-room-duct upper surface to the refrigerating-room inner upper surface is defined as Y, the positions (W0) of the side surfaces of the refrigerating-room duct are caused to fall within the range of (1/2) × W1 < W0 < (3/4) × W1, in order to form the chamber spaces, while the position of the upper surface of the refrigerating room duct is caused to satisfy the range of (1/4) × W1 > Y, in order to form no chamber space. This can further increase air-flow velocities, which can maintain a higher uniformity of the temperature within the entire refrigerating room, thereby offering a merit about the qualitative performance and, also, realizing an energy saving effect.

[0276] Further, the refrigerating- room duct is formed to have a plane shape. This can reduce the drag of air flowing in the upward direction within the duct, which can increase the amount of air flow which passes through the duct. This can increase the amount of air flow discharged from the upper surface, without exerting a large influence on the amounts of air flows discharged from the duct side portions. This can further enhance the merit about the qualitative performance and the energy saving effect within the entire refrigerating room.

[0277] Further, the refrigerating-room duct is constituted by a thermally insulated air-flow path and a front-surface panel which is mounted to the front surface of the thermally insulated air-flow path, and the discharge ports as the ventilating ports in the side surfaces are formed by the thermally insulated air-flow path and are placed at positions which prevent cooled air discharged therefrom from directly contacting with the front-surface panel. This prevents the front-surface panel from being cooled to induce local condensation and formation of frost thereon.

[0278] Further, protruding portions for engagement with the refrigerating-room duct are formed at middle positions on the thermally insulated cabinet and the protruding portions engage with the refrigerating-room duct. This can provide a space margin for enabling formation of the protruding portions with excellent accuracy and, also, can increase the flexibility in determining the shape of the protruding portions, in comparison with cases where they are formed at corner portions of the thermally insulated body box. In addition thereto, since the protruding portions for engagement with the refrigerating-room duct are provided on the thermally insulated cabinet, there is the advantage of eliminating the necessity of additional components for engagement with the duct.

[0279] Further, the protruding portions are adapted to engage with the refrigerating-room duct, such that the refrigerating-room duct holds outwardly-protruding portions of the protruding portions. Thus, since the protruding portions are formed at middle positions on the thermally insulated cabinet, the protruding portions are enabled to engage with the duct at their outer sides, as well as at their inner sides, as a matter of course.

[0280] Further, there is placed a securing member for ensuring a sealing property, at a position at which the flow of cooled air in the refrigerating-room duct should be controlled. This can ensure the sealing property and, concurrently, can exert a function of guiding the cooled air, which can facilitate the circulation of cooled air.

[0281] Further, there are provided food storage shelves which are installed in a bridge shape to sit on the left side surface and the right side surface of the refrigerating room, and they are provided with food-fall preventing means for preventing foods from falling therefrom into the chamber spaces if foods placed on a back side of the food storage shelves pushed rearwardly. This narrows the gap formed by the rear-side end surfaces of the food storage shelves and the inner surface of the rear portion of the thermally insulated cabinet, which can prevent foods from falling therefrom into the chamber spaces, particularly, if small foods and the like, out of foods placed on a back side of the food storage shelves, are pushed rearwardly.

[0282] Further, the food-fall preventing means is constituted by straight-line-shaped back sides of the food storage shelves, and ribs formed on the inner surface of the rear surface portion of the thermally insulated cabinet in the forward direction in the chamber spaces, such that the ribs are placed on lines extended from the food storage shelves. Thus, since the food storage shelves have the straight-line-shaped back sides, it is possible to narrow, with the ribs, the gap formed by the rear end surfaces of the food storage shelves and the inner surface of the rear portion of the thermally insulated cabinet, without performing complicated processing on the food storage shelves themselves. This can prevent foods from falling therefrom into the chamber spaces, particularly, if small foods and the like, out of foods placed on a back side of the food storage shelves, are pushed rearwardly.

[0283] Further, as the food-fall preventing means, the food storage shelves are shaped to surround the periphery of the refrigerating-room duct. Thus, it is possible to narrow the gap formed by the rear end surfaces of the food storage shelves and the inner surface of the rear portion of the thermally insulated cabinet, by making a contrivance on the shapes of the food storage shelves, without performing processing on the shape of the thermally insulated cabinet. This can prevent foods from falling therefrom into the chamber spaces, particularly, if small foods and the like, out of foods placed on a back side of the food storage shelves, are pushed rearwardly.

[0284] Further, the refrigerating-room duct includes, at its center portion, a cooled-air circulation path which upwardly communicates with the discharge ports and, further, includes a cooled-air circulation path which communicates with the suction port, adjacently to a lower portion of the former cooled-air circulation path. Thus, even through the cooled-air circulation paths are formed by the duct, it is possible to compact the duct, thereby properly ensuring the chamber spaces beside the duct.

[0285] Further, there is provided an evaporator for cooling the thermally insulated cabinet, which is placed below the refrigerating room. Further, there is placed a refrigerating-room return duct for supplying cooled air from the refrigerating room to the evaporator, in the same side as the suction port, such that the refrigerating-room return duct is communicated with the suction port and is directed in the downward direction. This can form a path for cooled air to the evaporator, without employing a complicated structure. Further, within the paths from the evaporator to the suction ports, similarly, the cooled-air circulation paths involve no complicated structure. This can maintain the flow velocities of cooled air, thereby ensuring sufficient air-flow velocities of cooled air from the upper surface of the duct.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0286] As described above, with the refrigerator according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience of freeze of foods and the like within the refrigerating room and, also, it is possible to improve the appearance of the refrigerating room. Further, the refrigerator according to the present invention is applicable as various types of refrigerators and the like which have various sizes, such as those for domestic and industrial uses.

REFERENCE MARKS IN THE DRAWINGS

[0287] 

100

Refrigerator

101

Thermally insulated cabinet

101a, 101b

Protruding portion

102

Refrigerating room

103

Freezing room

104

Vegetable room

105

Ice making room

106

Switching room

107

Thermally-insulation door

108

Heat insulation plate

129a

Duct (Refrigerating-room duct)

130a, 130b, 130c, 130d, 130e and 130f

Discharge port (ventilating port)

131a

Suction port (ventilating port)

131b

Exhaust port

201, 211, 221

Food storage shelf

211A

Food placing space

211B

Guide rib

221A

Back side of Food storage shelf

223

Rib

300

Heat insulating air-flow path

301

Front surface panel

302

Chamber space

1100

Refrigerator

1101

Thermally insulated cabinet

1102

Refrigerating room

1103

Freezing room

1104

Switching room

1107

Thermally-insulation door

1129a

Duct (Refrigerating-room duct)

1130a, 1130b, 1130c, 1130d, 1130e and 1130f

Discharge port (ventilating port)

1131a

Suction port (ventilating port)

1131b

Exhaust port

1201

Food storage shelf

1300

Heat insulating air-flow path

1301

Front surface panel

1302

Chamber space

1400

Sterilization device

1401

Carrying member

1402

Illumination means

1403

Base plate

1404

Cover

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising:

a thermally insulated cabinet;

a refrigerating-room duct, provided at a rear surface of a refrigerating room formed in the thermally insulated cabinet;

a side-surface discharge port which is provided in a side surface of the refrigerating-room duct when viewed from a front surface of the refrigerating room;

an upper-surface discharge port which is provided in an upper surface of the refrigerating-room duct; and

a suction port which is provided below the side-surface discharge port, the suction port being only in a side surface of the refrigerating-room duct,

wherein chamber spaces are provided in opposite sides of the refrigerating-room duct, between side surfaces of the refrigerating-room duct and inner side surfaces of the refrigerating-room duct, while no chamber space is provided above the refrigerating-room duct, between the upper surface of the refrigerating-room duct and an inner upper surface of the refrigerating room.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the refrigerating-room duct is placed approximately at a center inside the refrigerating room, the distance from a center of the refrigerating-room duct to the side surface thereof is defined as W0, the distance from the center of the inside of the refrigerating room to the inner side surfaces of the refrigerating room is defined as W1, and the distance from the upper surface of the refrigerating-room duct to the inner upper surface of the refrigerating room is defined as Y,
the chamber spaces are formed by causing the position of the side surface of the refrigerating-room duct to fall within the range of (1/4) × W1 < W0 < (3/4) × W1, and
the chamber space is not formed by causing the position of the upper surface of the refrigerating-room duct to satisfy the range of (1/4) × W1 > Y.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the refrigerating-room duct is placed approximately at a center inside the refrigerating room, the distance from a center of the refrigerating-room duct to the side surface thereof is defined as W0, the distance from the center of the inside of the refrigerating room to the inner side surfaces of the refrigerating room is defined as W1, and the distance from the upper surface of the refrigerating-room duct to the inner upper surface of the refrigerating room is defined as Y,
the chamber spaces are formed by causing the position of the side surface of the refrigerating-room duct to fall within the range of (1/2) × W1 < W0 < (3/4) × W1, and
the chamber space is not formed by causing the position of the upper surface of the refrigerating-room duct to satisfy the range of (1/4) × W1 > Y.

4. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein
the refrigerating-room duct has a plane shape.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein
the refrigerating-room duct has a heat insulating air-flow path and a front surface panel which is mounted to a front surface of the heat insulating air-flow path, and
the discharge port as a ventilating port in the side surface is formed by the heat insulating air-flow path and is placed at a position which prevents cooled air discharged therefrom from directly contacting with the front surface panel.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein
a protruding portion for engagement with the refrigerating-room duct is formed at a middle position on the thermally insulated cabinet, and the protruding portion is adapted to engage with the refrigerating-room duct.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein
the protruding portion is adapted to engage with the refrigerating-room duct, such that the refrigerating-room duct holds an outwardly-protruding portion of the protruding portion.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein
a securing member for ensuring a sealing property is placed, at a position at which a flow of cooled air in the refrigerating-room duct is controlled.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein
a food storage shelf is provided, which is installed in a bridge shape to sit on a left side surface and a right side surface of the refrigerating room, and
food-fall preventing means is provided, which prevents foods from falling into the chamber spaces when a food placed on a back side of the food storage shelfis pushed rearwardly.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein
the food-fall preventing means includes a straight-line-shaped back side of the food storage shelf and a rib formed on an inner surface of a rear surface portion of the thermally insulated cabinet in the forward direction in the chamber spaces, such that the rib is placed on a line extended from the food storage shelf.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein
the food-fall preventing means is provided by shaping the food storage shelf so as to surround a periphery of the refrigerating-room duct.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein
the refrigerating-room duct includes, at a center portion thereof, a cooled-air circulation path which upwardly communicates with the discharge ports and a cooled-air circulation path which communicates with the suction port adjacently to a lower portion of the former cooled-air circulation path.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising an evaporator placed below the refrigerating room and for cooling the thermally insulated cabinet,
wherein a refrigerating-room return duct for supplying cooled air from the refrigerating room to the evaporator is placed in the same side as the suction port, such that the refrigerating-room return duct is communicated with the suction port and is directed in the downward direction.

Drawing