Refrigerating appliance comprising a refrigerating compartment, a cold storage compartment and a freezer compartment

(12) PATENT DESCRIPTION (19) PL (11) 196902 (13) B1 (21) Application number: 356215 ⁽¹³⁾ (22) Date of notification: January 25, 2001 ^{(51) Int.Cl.}

F25D 17/06 (2006.01) (86) Date and number of the international application: F25D 11/02 (2006.01)

2001, PCT / EP01 / 00825 (87) Date and publication number of the international application:

August 2, 2001, WO01 / 55655 PCT Gazette No. 31/01 (54)

Refrigeration device

<td>(30) Priority: 2000-01-25, DE, 2000-1253.3</td><td>(73) The right holder of the patent: LIEBHERR-HAUSGERATE OCHSENHAUSEN GMBH, Ochsenhausen, DE</td>

<td>(43) Application was announced: 28.06.2004 BUP 13/04</td><td>(72) Inventor (s): Eugen Schmid, Biberach-Mettenberg, DE</td>

<td>(45) The grant of the patent was announced: 29 February 2008 WUP 02/08</td><td>(74) Representative: Szafruga Anna, POLSERVICE, Patent Attorneys' Office</td>

(57) 1. A refrigeration appliance comprising a refrigerating chamber, a refrigerator and a freezer, which are separated from each other by partitions and at least one door or a flap, characterized in that a cooling air duct (14) is provided in the cooling chamber (16), on the inlet of which a cooling fan ( 15) intake of cooling air from the cooling chamber (16), and the outlet of which is open to the chambers (17, 18) of the refrigerator, and also contains a single evaporator, one section (10) of which is connected to the freezer (6), the other section (11) is connected to the cooling air duct (14), and the cooling chamber (16) is separated from the refrigerator chambers (17, 18) by a partition ( 8) and / or a door (4) between which there are openings and / or slots for the flow of cooling air, and moreover, the device has a temperature sensor (27) and an adjustment or control device (28), which controls the on time and / or speed of the cooling fan (15) as a function of the ambient temperature measured by the temperature sensor (27).

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PL 196 902 B1

Description of the invention

The subject of the invention is a refrigeration device. This device is used for cooling goods and storing various products, e.g. food products.

There is known from EP 0 793 066 A2 a refrigeration appliance comprising a refrigeration chamber and a refrigerator, which are separated from each other by a horizontal partition, and which are provided with at least one door or a flap which closes them. In this known refrigerator, a cooling fan is arranged in the upper region of the cooling chamber, and the cooling air duct is separated by a partition arranged parallel to the rear wall of the cooling chamber. An evaporator is located in the cooling air duct which opens to the refrigerator in the rear part of the partition. Between the partition and the door in the front part of the partition, there are openings or a gap through which cold air flows into the cooling chamber. The distribution of the cold in the cooling chamber and chiller is controlled by the operating time of the compressor and / or by the ON time and / or the speed of the cooling fan.

Modern refrigeration appliances are usually additionally equipped with a freezer, which is usually called a four-star compartment.

Known devices, which are additionally equipped with a freezer, as well as a cooling chamber and a refrigerator, are equipped with two or three evaporators and electromagnetic valves in order to regulate various refrigeration requirements under changing environmental conditions and conditions of use. To ensure a uniform temperature in the refrigerator, it is equipped with a fan.

A refrigeration appliance comprising a refrigeration compartment and a freezer, the evaporator of which consists of two evaporator sections connected in series, one of which is associated with the freezer and the other is associated with a refrigeration compartment, for example, from EP 0 758 732 A2.

An evaporator section arranged in the cooling air duct has the effect of cooling the cooling chamber and the refrigerator, the cooling and the regulation of the cooling performance generally as described in EP 0 793 066 A2.

The object of the invention is to provide a refrigeration appliance of the type defined above, which has a simpler design while at the same time disposing of electromagnetic valves.

A refrigeration apparatus comprising a cooling chamber, a refrigerator and a freezer, which are separated from each other by partitions and at least one door or a flap, according to the invention, is characterized in that a cooling air duct is arranged in the cooling chamber, on the inlet of which is mounted a cooling fan sucking in cooling air from a cooling compartment, the outlet of which is open to the refrigerator compartments, and also contains a single evaporator, one section is connected to the freezer and the other section is connected to the cooling air duct, the cooling compartment is separated from the refrigerator compartments by a partition and / or a door between which openings and / or slots for the flow of cooling air are provided, and the device has an ambient temperature sensor and a regulation or control device, which controls the on time and / or speed of the cooling fan depending on the ambient temperature measured by the ambient temperature sensor.

Preferably, the operating time and / or the speed of the compressor are additionally controlled by means of the regulating or control device.

Preferably, the cooling air duct is placed between the rear wall of the cooling chamber and a partition arranged parallel to it.

Preferably, the refrigerator compartments are separated from each other by a partition in which openings and / or slots for the flow of cooling air are arranged.

Preferably, a temperature sensor is disposed in the cooling chamber.

Preferably, the evaporator section located in the cooling duct has a temperature sensor.

Preferably, a temperature sensor is placed in the refrigerator compartment.

Preferably, a device for generating a heat load is placed in the cooling chamber.

Preferably, at the lower end of the cooling air conduit there is a condensate conduit which is heated by an electric heater or by a heating deflector plate.

In the refrigeration appliance according to the invention, the evaporator which is common to the cooling chamber, the refrigerator and the freezer consists of a peripheral plate which is cut out and bent in such a way that the evaporator section for the freezer can be separated by a certain space from the evaporator section of the cooling chamber.

PL 196 902 B1

In order to further ensure that the temperature of the freezer, which may be a 4-star compartment, is maintained, a fan with variable speed depending on the ambient temperature is selected in a preferred embodiment. At low ambient temperature, the cooling requirement for the cooling part decreases so that the speed and / or operating time of the cooling fan is reduced. In this way, the evaporation temperature also drops. This lower evaporation temperature results in a higher cooling performance of the associated evaporator section of the freezer. This in turn causes freezer temperatures that are lower than -18 ° C to also occur at lower ambient temperatures, despite reduced compressor runtime and / or compressor speed.

If it turns out that the temperature in the freezer increases in an unacceptable way due to the low ambient temperatures, an element / device generating a heat load, i.e. a heater, for example, may also be placed in the cooling chamber or refrigerator, in order to increase the temperature in this way. compressor running time.

In order to monitor temperatures in one or both sections of the evaporator, temperature sensors can be placed for the refrigerator compartment and the refrigerator. The measurement results of the temperature sensors can be transferred to an electronic control system which preferably comprises a microprocessor which then controls the operating time and / or speed of the fan and the operating time and / or speed of the compressor.

An embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, which shows a vertical section through a refrigeration appliance comprising a refrigeration chamber, a refrigerator and a freezer.

The refrigeration appliance consists of a cabinet-like body part including a rear wall 1, a top wall 2 and a base 3, which are insulated in a known manner. The body part can be closed in the usual way by a door 4. The freezer 6, the opening of which can be closed by a door 7, is separated in the usual way from the inside of the body part by a partition 5. The refrigerator is separated by a horizontal partition 8, placed in the lower region of the body part, from the cooling chamber 16. The refrigerator is divided in the manner shown in the figure by a partition 9 into two chambers 17, 18: a dry cooler and a wet-dry cooler with temperatures accommodating ranging from 0 ° C to 3 ° C.

There is only one evaporator in the refrigeration appliance. It is bent and formed from an ordinary circumferential plate. The U-bent section 10 of the evaporator is associated with the freezer 6. The cooling distribution section 11 is normally fastened by means of foam to the rear wall 1 of the body portion. The U-shaped evaporator section 10 can also be attached with insulation foam as shown.

The condenser 12 is arranged in the usual manner on the rear wall 1 of the body portion.

A vertical partition 13, which is placed parallel to the rear wall 1 and together with the rear wall 1, is under the partition 5 separating the freezer 6 from the cooling chamber 16. Between the vertical partition 13 and the rear wall 1 is a cooling air duct 14. In the upper part, in the vertical partition 13, there is an opening in which a fan 15 for cooling air is placed. The fan 15 draws cold air from the cooling chamber 16 and blows it into the cooling air duct 14. The cooling air duct 14 has an outlet to the chambers 17, 18 of the refrigerator located under the horizontal partition 8.

At the lower end of the cooling air duct 14 there is a condensate duct 19 which can be heated by an electric heater 20 or by a heating deflector plate. The condensate accumulating in the condensate conduit 19 is discharged to a tank located on the compressor 21, where it can evaporate.

The cooling chamber 16 is equipped in the usual way with insertable trays 22 for refrigerated goods.

A device 30 for generating a heat load is placed in the cooling chamber 16. The device can also be placed in a refrigerator. The purpose of this device is to increase the operating time of the compressor 21, which will ensure that the temperature in the freezer 6 is kept at the required low level.

A temperature sensor 24, which measures the evaporator temperature in the evaporator section 11, is located in the region of the evaporator section 11, which is in the cooling air duct 14.

The temperature sensor 25 is placed in the cooling chamber 16.

The temperature sensor 26 is placed in the chamber 17, 18 of the refrigerator.

PL 196 902 B1

Moreover, a temperature sensor 27 measuring the ambient temperature is arranged in the body part of the refrigeration appliance.

The temperature values ​​measured by the temperature sensors 24, 25, 26, 27 are supplied to an electronic controller 28, which is preferably equipped with a microcomputer, and which controls the speed and / or time of switching on of the cooling air fan 15 and the operating time and / or speed of the compressor 21 according to the previously introduced program, on the basis of the measured temperatures, according to the required cooling state in the individual chambers.

The cooling air flow produced by the cooling fan 15 first flows out of the cooling air duct 14 through openings and slots into the cooling chambers 17, 18, and from there through the gaps formed between the partitions 8, 9 and the door 4, into the cooling chamber 16 and flows between trays 22. The cooling air flow is shown in the figure by single and double arrows.