CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior
Japanese Patent Application No.
2013-136406, filled on June 28, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD
[0002] Embodiments described herein relate generally to a refrigerator.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In a refrigerator, a heat insulating cabinet is configured using heat insulating
wall bodies, and a storage compartment is formed inside the heat insulating cabinet.
There are some cases where a storage container is provided in such a form that a bottom
portion of the storage container comes close to a bottom portion of the storage compartment.
[0004] The heat insulating wall bodies constituting the heat insulating cabinet are generally
configured such that a heat insulating member is arranged between an outer plate portion
and an inner plate portion, but it is difficult to form the heat insulating cabinet
using one heat insulating wall body in manufacture. Therefore, the heat insulating
cabinet is formed by dividing the outer plate and the inner plate or the heat insulating
member of the heat insulating wall body and connecting them to each other in an approximate
manner. In this case, a connection portion thereof may be positioned at a lower portion
of the heat insulating cabinet. The heat insulating member such as a sponge is buried
in the connection portion, but it is difficult to completely maintain airtightness
and a minute clearance gap sometimes occurs.
[0005] Meanwhile, in this refrigerator, a cold air blowout port of a cold air generating
portion for generating cold air is provided above the storage container, and a cold
air suction port is provided at the farthest portion of the storage compartment to
return the cold air by which the inside of the storage compartment is cooled. In this
case, the cold air, which is blown from the cold air blowout port, enters into the
storage container and then comes out of the storage container to flow downward to
an outside of the storage container. Then, the cold air passes through a clearance
gap provided between an outer bottom surface of the storage container and a bottom
surface of the storage compartment and returns to the cold air generating portion
from the cold air suction port provided at the farthest portion of the storage compartment.
[0006] However, as described above, when the cold air passes through the narrow clearance
gap provided between the outer bottom surface of the container and the bottom surface
of the storage compartment and flows into the cold air suction port, the rate of flow
is relatively fast, and the connection portion near the inside of the refrigerator
becomes a relatively negative pressure with respect to the outside of the refrigerator
by the flow of the cold air, and the outside air is slightly sucked from the connection
portion of the lower portion of the heat insulating cabinet. Thus, the outside air
invades into the storage compartment or the heat insulating cabinet and there is a
concern that dew condensation occurs in the refrigerator or the connection portion.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007]
Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view illustrating a lower portion of
the refrigerator.
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view of a bent portion.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a case of a cold air generating portion.
Fig. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view of a connection portion illustrating
a reference example.
Fig. 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view of another connection portion.
SUMMARY
[0008] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the embodiment is to provide a refrigerator
in which a connection portion of a heat insulating wall body exists in a lower portion
of a heat insulating cabinet and outside air can be prevented from invading from the
connection portion.
[0009] The refrigerator according to an embodiment includes: a heat insulating cabinet that
is configured in a substantially box shape from a plurality of heat insulating wall
bodies and in which a connection portion of the heat insulating wall bodies exists
in a lower portion thereof and a storage compartment is formed therein; a storage
container that is provided in the storage compartment in a form that a bottom portion
of the storage container comes close to a bottom portion of the storage compartment
and a top surface thereof is opened; and a cold air generating portion that is provided
with an evaporator and a fan to generate cold air and is configured to blow the cold
air from a cold air blowout port and to suck the cold air from a cold air suction
port. In the refrigerator, the cold air blowout port is provided to blow the cold
air in the storage container, and the cold air suction port is provided above a lowermost
end of the cold air blowout port.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] A refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment will be described below.
[0011] As illustrated in Fig. 1, the refrigerator 1 includes a heat insulating cabinet 2.
In the heat insulating cabinet 2, a refrigerating compartment 3 and a vegetable compartment
4 are provided in this order from above, an ice-making compartment 5 and a small freezing
compartment 6 are laterally provided in parallel with each other below the vegetable
compartment 4 , and a main freezing compartment 7 is provided at the lowermost portion.
The main freezing compartment 7 is equivalent to a storage compartment.
[0012] The refrigerating compartment 3 and the vegetable compartment 4 are partitioned from
each other by a partition wall 8, and the vegetable compartment 4 is partitioned from
the ice-making compartment 5 and the small freezing compartment 6 by a heat insulating
partition wall 9. In addition, the front surfaces of the ice-making compartment 5
and the small freezing compartment 6 is partitioned from that of the main freezing
compartment 7 by a front partition portion 10. Further, the front surface of the ice-making
compartment 5 is partitioned from that of the small freezing compartment 6 by a longitudinal
beam 11.
[0013] The refrigerating compartment 3 and the vegetable compartment 4 are cooled at a refrigeration
temperature zone, and the ice-making compartment 5, the small freezing compartment
6, and the main freezing compartment 7 are cooled at a freezing temperature zone.
[0014] Rotary doors (double doors opening from the center) 12 and 13 for opening and closing
the refrigerating compartment 3, a drawer-type door 14 for opening and closing the
vegetable compartment 4, a drawer-type door 15 for opening and closing the ice-making
compartment 5, a drawer-type door 16 for opening and closing the small freezing compartment
6, and a drawer-type door 17 for opening and closing the main freezing compartment
7 are provided at the front portion of the heat insulating cabinet 2, respectively.
[0015] A vegetable storing container (not illustrated) is provided at a back surface of
the door 14 for the vegetable compartment 4. In addition, an ice-making pan (not illustrated)
is arranged in the ice-making compartment 5.
[0016] As illustrated in Fig. 2, a container for small freezing compartment 18 is provided
at a back side of the door 16 for the small freezing compartment 6 to integrally move
with the door 16. A plurality of vent holes 18a are formed at a front plate portion
of the container for small freezing compartment 18.
[0017] In addition, a lower-side freezing container 19 is provided at a back side of the
door 17 for the main freezing compartment 7 to integrally move with the door 17, as
a storage container. In this case, a bottom portion of the lower-side freezing container
19 has a form coming close to a bottom portion of the main freezing compartment 7,
and a clearance gap S is present. The lower-side freezing container 19 is formed in
a non-hole shape except that a top surface is opened. A part of rear upper end of
the lower-side freezing container 19 is formed to be slightly lower. This low portion
is presented by reference numeral 19s. Then, an outward projecting fin portion 19a
is formed at an upper end portion (including an upper end portion of the low portion
19s) of the lower-side freezing container 19.
[0018] An upper-side freezing container 20 is detachably arranged above the lower-side freezing
container 19, as an additional storage container.
[0019] A part (lower portion) of the upper-side freezing container 20 is positioned in the
lower-side freezing container 19, but a clearance gap G is formed between a front
portion of the upper-side freezing container 20 and the lower-side freezing container
19. That is, the clearance gap G is formed between the upper-side freezing container
20 and the lower-side freezing container 19.
[0020] However, the heat insulating cabinet 2 is configured by connecting a plurality of
heat insulating wall bodies. That is, in Fig. 2 , a back wall portion of the heat
insulating cabinet 2 is configured by a heat insulating wall body 21 and a bottom
portion of the heat insulating cabinet 2 is configured by heat insulating wall bodies
22, 23, and 24. Further, right and left wall portions and upper wall portion of the
heat insulating cabinet 2 are also configured by heat insulating wall bodies.
[0021] Since each of the heat insulating wall bodies 21 to 24 has basically a same structure,
the structure of the heat insulating wall body 24 will be described as a representative.
As illustrated in Fig. 3, the heat insulating wall body 24 includes an outer plate
24a made of metallic plate for the outer box, an inner plate 24b made of, for example,
a synthetic resin sheet member for the inner box, and a panel-like vacuum heat insulating
panel 24c which is arranged (interposed) in a state sandwiched between the outer plate
24a and the inner plate 24b and is configured by bonding them to each other.
[0022] The vacuum heat insulating panel 24c is made up of a core material 24c1 such as a
glass wool and a packaging material 24c2 having gas barrier properties. The panel-like
(plate-like) vacuum heat insulating panel 24c is manufactured by evacuating the inside
of the packaging material 24c2 in a state where the core material 24c1 is accommodated
in the packaging material 24c2. Further, in each of the heat insulating wall bodies
21 to 23, the portion formed of the same material as the heat insulating wall body
24 is presented by the same subscript.
[0023] An end of an outer plate 22a of the heat insulating wall body 22 is connected to
an end of an outer plate 23a of the heat insulating wall body 23 by, for example,
a screw or the like. In addition, an end of an inner plate 22b of the heat insulating
wall body 22 is connected to an end of an inner plate 23b of the heat insulating wall
body 23 by a corner member 25 having substantially a triangle-shaped cross section.
The corner member 25 is made up of a connection plate 25a for connecting the inner
plate 22b and the inner plate 23b to each other and, for example, a heat insulating
member 25b such as foamed polystyrene. In this case, the heat insulating wall body
23 is connected in the form of rising toward the obliquely rearward from a rear end
of the heat insulating wall body 22 having substantially a horizontal shape. The connection
portion of the heat insulating wall body 22 and the heat insulating wall body 23 is
presented by reference numeral R1.
[0024] In addition, an end of the outer plate 23a of the heat insulating wall body 23 is
connected to an end of the outer plate 24a of the heat insulating wall body 24 by
a corner member 26 having substantially a triangle-shaped cross section. The corner
member 26 is made up of a connection plate 26a for connecting the outer plate 23a
and the outer plate 24a to each other and, for example, a heat insulating member 26b
such as foamed polystyrene. In addition, an end of the inner plate 23b of the heat
insulating wall body 23 is connected to an end of the inner plate 24b of the heat
insulating wall body 24 by, for example, a screw or the like. In this case, the heat
insulating wall body 24 is connected in the form of being substantially horizontal
from the upper end of the heat insulating wall body 23. The connection portion of
the heat insulating wall body 23 and the heat insulating wall body 24 is presented
by reference numeral R2.
[0025] An end of the outer plate 24a of the heat insulating wall body 24 is connected to
an end of an outer plate 21a of the heat insulating wall body 21 by, for example,
a screw or the like. In addition, an end of the inner plate 24b of the heat insulating
wall body 24 is connected to an end of an inner plate 21b of the heat insulating wall
body 21 by a corner member 27 having substantially a triangle-shaped cross section.
The connection portion of the heat insulating wall body 24 and the heat insulating
wall body 21 is presented by reference numeral R3. Further, the corner member 27 is
different in size but has basically the same configuration compared with the corner
member 25.
[0026] As can be seen from the above, a bent portion K is formed at a lower portion of the
heat insulating cabinet 2 such that the farthest portion of the main freezing compartment
7 is expanded toward a near side, and the connection portions R1 to R3 exist in the
bent portion K. In addition, the vacuum heat insulating panels 21c to 24c are formed
to be individually divided by these connection portions R1 to R3. Further, a flexible
heat insulating member such as a sponge may be filled in space portions of the connection
portions R1 to R3.
[0027] A machine compartment 28 is formed at an outer lower portion of the heat insulating
cabinet 2 by the bent portion K. For example, a compressor 29 is provided in the machine
compartment 28.
[0028] The main freezing compartment 7 is communicated with the small freezing compartment
6 and the ice-making compartment 5, and a cold air generating portion 30 is provided
in the farthest portion of these compartments.
[0029] The cold air generating portion 30 includes a case 31 (also illustrated in Fig. 4),
an evaporator 32, and a fan 33. A partition plate portion 34 is formed in the case
31 to longitudinally partition the inside of the case. Here, the farthest-side space
portion is an apparatus arrangement compartment 35 and the near-side space portion
is a supply duct portion 36. The apparatus arrangement compartment 35 and the supply
duct portion 36 are communicated with each other through a lower opening 34a.
[0030] A bellmouth 35a is formed at an upper side of the apparatus arrangement compartment
35, and the fan 33 is installed in the bellmouth 35a. The evaporator 32 is installed
to be positioned below the fan 33.
[0031] As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, a cold air blowout port for lower-side freezing
container 37, a cold air blowout port for upper-side freezing container 38, a cold
air blowout port for ice-making compartment 39, a cold air blowout port for small
freezing compartment 40 are formed in the supply duct portion 36, as a cold air blowout
port. The cold air blowout port for lower-side freezing container 37 is formed at
a location (in this case, an upper portion of the low portion 19s), which is the upper
portion of the lower-side freezing container 19, to be directed to the inside of the
lower-side freezing container 19 such that cold air is blown into the lower-side freezing
container 19. In addition, the cold air blowout port for upper-side freezing container
38 is formed at a location, which is the upper portion of the upper-side freezing
container 20, to be directed to the front side such that the cold air is blown into
the upper-side freezing container 20. Further, the cold air blowout port for ice-making
compartment 39 is formed at a location, which faces the ice-making compartment 5,
to be directed to the front side such that the cold air is blown into the ice-making
compartment 5. Further, the cold air blowout port for small freezing compartment 40
is formed at a location, which faces the inside of the small freezing compartment
6, to be directed to the front side such that the cold air is blown into the container
for small freezing compartment 18.
[0032] In addition, suction ducts 41 and 42 are formed in the case 31 to be branched into
a left portion and a right portion which are communicated with the front portion of
the bellmouth 35a, and a tip of each of the ducts 41 and 42 is opened as cold air
suction ports 41a and 42a.
[0033] These suction ducts 41 and 42 are positioned at the right and left portions of the
rear portion (a portion between the main freezing compartment 7 and the ice-making
compartment 5 and a portion between the main freezing compartment 7 and the small
freezing compartment 6) of the front partition portion 10, and the cold air suction
ports 41a and 42a are positioned above the lowermost end of the cold air blowout port
for lower-side freezing container 37 as the cold air blowout port. That is, the cold
air suction ports 41a and 42a are positioned above the lowermost end of the cold air
blowout port 37 which blows the cold air into the lower-side freezing container 19
as a storage container positioned at the lowermost side. In addition, the cold air
suction ports 41a and 42a are positioned further forward than the cold air blowout
ports 37, 38, 39, and 40.
[0034] In an inner surface portion (including a back side of the door 17 and an outer front
surface of case 31) of the main freezing compartment 7 corresponding to an entire
circumference of the fin portion 19a of the lower-side freezing container 19, an elastically
deformable shielding portion 43 is provided to come in contact with the fin portion
19a, and a prevention portion 44 is formed by the shielding portion 43 and the fin
portion 19a to prevent the cold air from being circulated to the lower portion of
the main freezing compartment 7 outside the upper-side freezing container 20 from
the upper opening of the upper-side freezing container 20.
[0035] When a refrigeration cycle including, for example, the evaporator 32 and the compressor
29 is operated and the fan 33 is driven at the same time, air delivered by the fan
33 flows to the lower portion as indicated by solid and dotted line arrows in Fig.
2 and passes through the evaporator 32. At this time, the air is cooled and the cold
air is generated. The cold air flows to the front side by the opening 34a and flows
upward in the supply duct portion 36. Then, the cold air is blown into each of the
containers 19, 20, and 18 from the cold air blowout port for lower-side freezing container
37, the cold air blowout port for upper-side freezing container 38, and the cold air
blowout port for small freezing compartment 40. In addition, the cold air is blown
into the ice-making compartment 5 from the cold air blowout port for ice-making compartment
39.
[0036] The cold air, which is blown into the lower-side freezing container 19 from the cold
air blowout port for lower-side freezing container 37, passes through the inside of
the lower-side freezing container 19 to cool the inside (inner storage substance)
and then passes through the clearance gap G. Then, the cold air is sucked from the
cold air suction ports 41a and 42a to pass through the suction ducts 41 and 42 and
then is delivered again by the fan 33.
[0037] In addition, the cold air, which is blown into the upper-side freezing container
20 from the cold air blowout port for upper-side freezing container 38, passes through
the inside of the upper-side freezing container 20 to cool the inside and then comes
out of the upper opening. Then, the cold air is sucked from the cold air suction ports
41a and 42a to pass through the suction ducts 41 and 42 and then is delivered again
by the fan 33.
[0038] In addition, the cold air, which is blown into the container for small freezing compartment
18 from the cold air blowout port for small freezing compartment 40, passes through
the inside of the container for small freezing compartment 18 to cool the inside and
then comes out of the plurality of vent holes 18a. Then, the cold air is sucked from
the cold air suction ports 41a and 42a to pass through the suction ducts 41 and 42
and then is delivered again by the fan 33. The cold air supplied to the inside of
the ice-making compartment 5 is also provided for ice-making and then returns to the
cold air generating portion 30 by being sucked from the cold air suction port 41a.
[0039] Further, the supply of the cold air to the main freezing compartment 7, the ice-making
compartment 5, and the small freezing compartment 6 described above and the supply
of the cold air to the refrigerating compartment 3 and the vegetable compartment 4
is switched by operating a cold air switching damper (not illustrated) when cooling
switching command is issued from a controller (not illustrated) depending on cooling
condition. In this case, a dedicated evaporator or fan may be provided in order to
supply the cold air to the refrigerating compartment 3 and the vegetable compartment
4.
[0040] In the above-described embodiment, the cold air blowout port for lower-side freezing
container 37 is provided to blow the cold air into the lower-side freezing container
19, and the cold air suction ports 41a and 42a are provided above the lowermost end
of the cold air blowout port for lower-side freezing container 37.
[0041] According to the embodiment, since the cold air, which is blown from the cold air
blowout port for lower-side freezing container 37, cools the inside of the lower-side
freezing container 19 and then returns to the cold air generating portion 30 by being
sucked from the cold air suction ports 41a and 42a provided above the cold air blowout
port for lower-side freezing container 37, the cold air blown from the cold air blowout
port for lower-side freezing container 37 does not flow downward between the lower-side
freezing container 19 and the main freezing compartment 7. That is, the flow of the
cold air indicated by the chain double-dashed line arrow X in Fig. 2 does not occur.
As a result, the outside air (outer air) does not invade into the main freezing compartment
7 or the inside of the heat insulating cabinet 2.
[0042] In order words, if the flow of the cold air occurs as indicated by the arrow X described
above, the inside of the refrigerator such as the connection portion R1 or R2 becomes
a relatively negative pressure with respect to the outside of the refrigerator by
this flow of the cold air, and, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 as a reference example,
there is a concern that the outside air invades into the heat insulating cabinet 2
or the main freezing compartment 7 from a minute clearance gap of the connection portion
R1 or R2 as indicated by the arrow α. However, in this embodiment, since the flow
of the cold air indicated by the arrow X described above does not occur, the outside
air described above does not invade. Therefore, it is possible to avoid occurrence
of dew condensation in the inside of the refrigerator or the connection portions R1
to R3 caused by the intrusion of the outside air.
[0043] Here, when the vacuum heat insulating panel is used in the heat insulating wall body,
there is an advantage of forming the heat insulating wall body in a thinner shape.
However, since the vacuum heat insulating panel itself is a panel shape (plate shape),
it is difficult to form in a bent shape. Therefore, the heat insulating cabinet 2,
which is configured by the heat insulating wall body using the vacuum heat insulating
panel, has the configuration in which the plurality of heat insulating wall bodies
are connected to each other. For this reason, when the connection portion exists in
the lower portion of the heat insulating cabinet, there is a concern that the outside
air described above invades. Particularly, in this case, since the vacuum heat insulating
panel is provided in the form divided by the connection portion, the clearance gap
is formed between the vacuum heat insulating panels and thus there is further concern
that the outside air invades.
[0044] On the other hand, in the embodiment, even though the heat insulating wall body is
configured using the vacuum heat insulating panel and thus the outside air easily
invades, it is possible to suppress the intrusion of the outside air by preventing
the cold air from being flowed downward to the main freezing compartment 7 outside
the upper-side freezing container 20. In addition, according to the embodiment, since
the lower-side freezing container 19 is formed in the non-hole shape except that the
top surface is opened, the cold air blown into the lower-side freezing container 19
from the cold air blowout port for lower-side freezing container 37 passes through
the inside of the lower-side freezing container 19 and can then be directly guided
to the cold air suction ports 41a and 42a from the upper opening, thereby effectively
preventing the cold air from being flowed downward to the main freezing compartment
7.
[0045] Further, in the embodiment, since the upper-side freezing container 20 is provided
as a storage container which is different from the lower-side freezing container 19
and the clearance gap G is formed between the upper-side freezing container 20 and
the lower-side freezing container 19, even when the upper-side freezing container
20 exists in the upper side of the lower-side freezing container 19, the cold air
supplied into the lower-side freezing container 19 can be guided to directions of
the cold air suction ports 41a and 42a through the clearance gap G.
[0046] Further, instead of the configuration for providing the clearance gap G or in addition
to this configuration, the vent portion may be formed on the bottom portion of the
upper-side freezing container 20.
[0047] In addition, according to the embodiment, since the cold air generating portion 30
is configured in such a manner that the fan 33 is arranged above the evaporator 32
such that the cold air sucked from the cold air suction ports 41a and 42a is sent
once to the front by passing through the evaporator 32, which is provided below the
fan 33, and then flows upward by the supply duct portion 36 to be blown from the cold
air blowout ports 37, 38, and 39, it is possible to reduce a vertical dimension of
the cold air generating portion 30.
[0048] That is, when the supply duct portion is provided to be directed downward to the
lower portion of the evaporator 32 of the cold air generating portion 30 and the cold
air suction port is provided in the supply duct portion, if the position of the cold
air suction port is set to the upper position of the lower-side freezing container
19, the vertical dimension of the cold air generating portion becomes extremely long
and thus the entire refrigerator is large-scaled in a height direction. In contrast,
since the embodiment is made up of the above configuration, it is possible to reduce
the vertical dimension of the cold air generating portion 30 and to avoid the entire
refrigerator from being large-scaled in the height direction.
[0049] In addition, according to the embodiment, since the prevention portion 44 is provided
to prevent the cold air from being circulated to the lower portion of the main freezing
compartment 7 from the upper opening of the lower-side freezing container 19 in which
the cold air blows, the cold air supplied into the lower-side freezing container 19
is only guided to the directions of the upper cold air suction ports 41a and 42a,
and thus it is possible to prevent the cold air from being flown in the direction
as indicated by the arrow X described above and to further prevent the outside air
from invading.
[0050] Further, the heat insulating wall body of the heat insulating cabinet may be configured
using the heat insulating member such as foamed urethane. In this case, the outer
plate and the inner plate are connected to each other, thereby forming the connection
portion. In the embodiment, when the connection portion is positioned at the lower
portion of the heat insulating cabinet, the invasion of the outside air can be prevented.
[0051] In addition, the bent portion on the bottom portion of the heat insulating cabinet
is effective to form the machine compartment, but the bent portion is not essential
and the connection portion may be merely configured on the bottom portion of the heat
insulating cabinet.
[0052] According to the refrigerator of the embodiment described above, the refrigerator
includes: a heat insulating cabinet that is configured in a substantially box shape
from heat insulating wall bodies and in which a connection portion of the heat insulating
wall bodies exists in a lower portion thereof and a storage compartment is formed
therein; a storage container that is provided in the storage compartment in a form
that a bottom portion of the storage container comes close to a bottom portion of
the storage compartment and a top surface thereof is opened; and a cold air generating
portion that is provided with an evaporator and a fan to generate cold air and is
configured to blow the cold air from a cold air blowout port and to suck the cold
air from a cold air suction port. In the refrigerator, the cold air blowout port is
provided in the storage container to blow the cold air, and the cold air suction port
is provided above a lowermost end of the cold air blowout port. According to this,
in the refrigerator in which the connection portion of the heat insulating wall bodies
exists in the lower portion of the heat insulating cabinet, the outside air can be
prevented from invading from the connection portion.
[0053] In the drawings, according to the embodiment, reference numeral 1 indicates the refrigerator,
reference numeral 2 indicates the heat insulating cabinet, reference numeral 7 indicates
the main freezing compartment (storage compartment), reference numeral 19 indicates
the lower-side freezing container (storage container), reference numeral 20 indicates
the upper-side freezing container (additional storage container), reference numeral
30 indicates the cold air generating portion, reference numeral 32 indicates the evaporator,
reference numeral 33 indicates the fan, reference numeral 37 indicates the cold air
blowout port for small freezing compartment (cold air blowout port), reference numeral
38 indicates the cold air blowout port for upper-side freezing container (cold air
blowout port), reference numerals 41a and 42a indicate the air suction port, reference
numeral 44 indicates the prevention portion, reference numerals R1 to R3 indicate
the connection portion, and reference numeral K indicates the bent portion.
[0054] While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented
by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions.
Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other
forms; furthermore, various omissions substitutions and changes in the form of the
embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the
inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such
forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
1. A refrigerator comprising:
a heat insulating cabinet that is configured from a plurality of heat insulating wall
bodies and in which a connection portion of the heat insulating wall bodies exists
in a lower portion thereof and a storage compartment is formed therein;
a storage container that is provided in the storage compartment in a form that a bottom
portion of the storage container comes close to a bottom portion of the storage compartment
and a top surface thereof is opened; and
a cold air generating portion that is provided with an evaporator and a fan to generate
cold air and is configured to blow the cold air from a cold air blowout port and to
suck the cold air from a cold air suction port,
wherein the cold air blowout port is provided to blow the cold air in the storage
container, and the cold air suction port is provided above a lowermost end of the
cold air blowout port.
2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a bent portion is provided at the lower
portion of the heat insulating cabinet and the connection portion of the heat insulating
wall bodies exists in the bent portion.
3. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heat insulating cabinet is
made up of a plurality of heat insulating wall bodies including vacuum heat insulating
panels and the vacuum heat insulating panels are divided by the connection portion
of the heat insulating wall bodies provided at the lower portion of the heat insulating
cabinet.
4. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the storage container
is formed in a non-hole shape except that the top surface is opened.
5. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an additional storage
container, in which a top surface is opened, is provided above the storage container,
a vent portion is provided on a bottom portion of the additional storage container,
and/or a clearance gap is formed between the additional storage container and the
storage container.
6. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cold air generating
portion is configured in such a manner that the fan is arranged above the evaporator
and the cold air sucked from the cold air suction port is sent to a front by passing
through the evaporator, which is provided below the fan, and then flows upward to
be blown from the cold air blowout port.
7. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a prevention portion
is provided to prevent the cold air from being circulated to the lower portion of
the storage compartment from an upper opening of the storage container in which the
cold air blows.