Title of Invention

"REFRIGERATOR"

Abstract

There is disclosed a refrigerator in order to solve disadvantages that an air flow balance of a cooling fan is not constant, therefore a commodity temperature is not constant, a content of a bottle is frozen in some place with a commodity to be stored therein, and that conversely a temperature of the other place is higher than a temperature at which the content is good to drink, the refrigerator (1) comprising: an insulating box body(4) in which a storage chamber(3) is disposed; a door for openably closing an opening in a front surface of the insulating box body;(4) a duct formed by a bottom member(15) disposed in a lower part of the storage chamber, and a partition plate (8)disposed on a back surface of the storage chamber;(3) and a cooler (13)and a cooling fan(16) disposed in the duct, wherein a plurality of rectifiers are disposed on a downstream side of the cooling fan (16)in the duct, and the plurality of rectifiers are disposed apart from one another back and forth.

Full Text

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a refrigerator in which an opening of a front surface of a storage chamber is openably closed by a door. In a conventional refrigerator, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 347151/1994, an interior of an insulating box body whose front surface is open is partitioned into front and back parts by a partition plate, a storage chamber is formed in the front part, a duct is formed in the back part, a plurality of shelves are extended in the storage chamber, and an opening in the front surface of the insulating box body is openably closed by a multilayered glass door. Moreover, a cooler is disposed in the duct, a cooling fan is disposed in an upper end of the duct, and a discharge port is formed on a front side of the cooling fan. A mechanical chamber in which a cooling apparatus compressor, and the like are disposed is disposed in a lower part of an insulating wall. Furthermore, a cool air cooled by the cooler is sucked into the duct by the cooling fan, and discharged into the storage chamber via the discharge port. The cool air discharged into the storage chamber circulates in the storage chamber to cool a commodity inside the storage chamber. Thereafter, the cool air is sucked into the cooler via a lower end of the duct, the interior of the storage chamber is appropriately cooled/maintained, and commodities such as bottled beer are cooled at a temperature suitable for sale. However, in the conventional refrigerator, an air flow balance of the cooling fan is not constant. Therefore, a commodity temperature is not constant. The temperature of a place in which the commodity is positioned is sometimes lower than a predetermined temperature. In this case, a content of a bottle is frozen. Conversely, the temperature is sometimes higher than a temperature at which the content is good to drink. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been developed to solve the aforementioned problem, and an object thereof is to more effectively rectify a cool air discharged from a cooling fan, adjust an air flow in a storage chamber to be uniform, hold a uniform commodity temperature in the storage chamber, and adequately hold a commodity quality. To achieve the aforementioned object, according to the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator comprising: an insulating box body in which a storage chamber is disposed; and a door for openably closing an opening in a front surface of the insulating box body. A bottom member disposed in a lower portion of the storage chamber, and a partition plate disposed on a back surface of the storage chamber form a duct. A cooler and a cooling fan are disposed in the duct. A plurality of rectifiers are disposed on a downstream side of the cooling fan in the duct, and the plurality of rectifiers are disposed apart from one another back and forth. According to the present invention, in a portion where no rectifier is disposed between a portion where the cool air flows into a first rectifier and where the cool air flows into the next rectifier, the cool air flows to a portion with little air flow from a portion with much air flow. After a pressure of the air flow substantially becomes uniform, the cool air flows into the next rectifier. Therefore, when the air flows out of the last rectifier, a uniform cool air flow can be discharged as compared with when the air flows into the first rectifier. Therefore, since the air flow in the storage chamber substantially becomes uniform, and a substantially uniform commodity temperature can be held, a commodity quality can adequately be held. Moreover, in the refrigerator according to the present invention, the rectifier is formed integrally with the bottom member. According to the present invention, since the rectifier is formed integrally with the bottom member, the duct and rectifier can easily be formed by disposing the bottom member in the storage chamber. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a front view of the refrigerator with a door removed there from according to the present invention. Fig. 3 is a vertically sectional side view of the refrigerator according to the present invention. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig. 2 according to a first embodiment. Fig. 5 is a back view of a bottom member in the first embodiment. Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig. 2 according to a second embodiment. Fig. 7 is a back view of the bottom member in the second embodiment. Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig. 2 according to a third embodiment. Fig. 9 is a detailed vertically sectional view showing a main part of the refrigerator of Fig. 3. Fig. 10 is a plan view showing a main part of a mechanical chamber of the refrigerator according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the drawings. As shown in Fig. 3, a refrigerator 1 is constituted of: an insulating box body 4 whose front surface has an opening 2 and in which a storage chamber 3 is disposed; and a mechanical chamber 7 formed outside the insulating box body 4 below the storage chamber 3, and having an opening 6 in a front surface thereof. A partition plate 8 is attached to a back surface of the storage chamber 3 at an interval from the insulating box body 4, and a cool air path 11 is formed between the partition plate 8 and the insulating box body 4. Moreover, the front-surface opening 2 of the storage chamber 3 is openably closed by a door 22 with a see-through multilayered glass 21 attached thereto. The door 22 is rotatably attached to the insulating box body 4 via upper and lower hinges 23, 23 on the right side as faced. Furthermore, a cooler 13 constituting a known refrigerant circuit having a refrigeration cycle is vertically disposed in the cool air path 11, and an uppermost portion of the cool air path 11 is connected to the storage chamber 3 via a suction pot 14 formed in a back upper portion of the storage chamber 3. A plurality of shelves 17 for exhibiting a commodity V are extended in the storage chamber 8 in front of the partition plate 8 (only one shelf is shown in Fig. 3), and a bottom member 15 is laid on an lowermost portion of the storage chamber. A cooling fan 16 is positioned below the bottom member 15, and a cool air in the storage chamber 3 is sucked via the suction port 14 by the cooling fan 16. Thereby, the cool air in the storage chamber 3 is sucked via the suction port 14 by the cooling fan 16, and flows in a direction of the cooler 13. The cool air cooled by the cooler 13 flows through the cooling fan, and is discharged into the storage chamber 3 via a blow port 12 in a lower front portion of the bottom member 15. The cool air circulates in this manner. The bottom member 15 is integrally molded of an ABS resin by injection molding, and has a box form whose upper surface has an opening. Rising flanges 15A, 15B, 15C, 15C are disposed in front, back and left and right portions of the bottom member to regulate the commodity V laid on the bottom member. First bosses 15D, disposed on the back portion of the bottom member, for positioning the bottom member are inserted into two holes formed in the partition plate 8. A plurality of second bosses 15E are formed in a lower surface of the bottom member 15 at a predetermined interval from a bottom surface of the insulating box body 4 on a storage chamber 3 side to partially constitute the cool air path 11. Moreover, the partition plate 8 and bottom member 15 form a duct inside the cool air path 11. Furthermore, two rectifiers (first rectifier 40 and second rectifier 41) each constituted of a plurality of ribs 44 disposed at predetermined intervals in parallel with one another in a back and forth direction are disposed on the lower surface of the bottom member 15 on a door 22 side as the downstream side of the cooling fan 16 (on a front side from the cooling fan 16), so that a first cool air path 45 and second cool air path 46 are formed. These two rectifiers 40, 41 are disposed over the entire horizontal width of the bottom member 15. No rib 44 is disposed between the first rectifier 40 and the second rectifier 41. The rectifier 40 is apart from the rectifier 41 with a predetermined space, and a cool air enlarged space 47 with an enlarged space is formed. Moreover, blow holes 48, 49 integrally molded with the bottom member 15 are formed in a front portion of the rectifier 41 of the bottom member 15 and in the lower surface of the bottom member 15. On the other hand, disposed in the mechanical chamber 7 are a compressor 26 constituting the refrigerant circuit with the refrigeration cycle, a condenser 27 of a wire and tube, and a condenser fan 28 for blowing air to the compressor and condenser. Moreover, a dew receiving tray 20 for receiving a defrosting water of the cooler 13 is disposed below the condenser 27, the compressor 26 and condenser 27 disposed in parallel with each other in a horizontal direction of the opening 6 are disposed on a base leg 29, and the condenser fan 28 is disposed behind the compressor and condenser. Additionally, the cooling fan 16 and condenser fan 28 are both formed of propeller fans, and fixed to a coaxial motor 30. The condenser fan 28 is a suction type fan, and is attached in a downward direction in a circular opening 25 formed in an upper surface of a fan case 24 extending forward from a back lower portion of the mechanical chamber 7. The upper portion of the back surface of the mechanical chamber 7 is closed by a closing plate 32, and the front portion of the fan case 24 is closed by the base leg 29. Only lower and back portions of the fan case 24 are opened via long holes 18, 19 formed in the base leg 29 and closing plate 32. A mechanical chamber cover 33 is attached to the opening 6 in the front surface of the mechanical chamber 7, and positioned below the door 22. The mechanical chamber cover 33 is molded of a hard synthetic resin, and the front surface thereof has a curved shape. Furthermore, a blow portion 37 is formed of a plurality of slots (not shown) in an upper portion of the mechanical chamber cover 33, and connected to an opening 35 formed in a lower portion of a lower frame 34D of a frame member 34 described later. Additionally, an inner area of the mechanical chamber cover 33 is all opened to the rear surface. The door 22 is constituted of a resin door frame 36, the transparent multilayered glass 21 attached to the door frame 36, a gasket 39 attached to an inner peripheral surface of the door frame 36, and the frame member 34 projecting forward from an outer periphery of the door frame 36. The frame member 34 is integrally molded of the hard synthetic resin, and substantially forms a square shape by an upper frame 34A, left frame 34B, right frame 34C and lower frame 34D. A portion (glass portion) of the frame member other than the door frame 36 can be seen through, and the frame member engages with the door frame 36 of the door 22 in a fixed manner. The lower portion of the lower frame 34D of the frame member 34 has the opening 35, and this opening is connected to the blow portion 37 of the mechanical chamber cover 33. The upper portion of the lower frame 34D includes a slot to form a discharge port 43. In the aforementioned constitution, when the condenser fan 28 is operated, the air below and behind the mechanical chamber 7 are sucked into the fan case 24 via the long holes 18, 19, blown to the front compressor 26 and condenser 27 via the mechanical chamber 7 to air-cool the compressor and condenser, and blown to the dew receiving tray 20. This promotes heat radiation of the condenser 27 and compressor 26, and evaporation of the defrosting water in the dew receiving tray 20. Additionally, outside air (warmed air) for successively air-cooling the condenser 27 and compressor 26 flows forward from the mechanical chamber 7 because the back surface of the mechanical chamber 7 and the front portion of the fan case 24 are closed by the closing plate 32 and base leg 29. Moreover, the air flows into a space 31 of the lower frame 34D through the opening 35 of the lower frame 34D of the frame member 34 from the blow portion 37 disposed in the upper portion of the mechanical chamber cover 33, and is blown upward to the front surface of the multilayered glass 21 of the door 22 disposed above via the discharge port 43 formed in the frame member as shown by the arrow. The air flows over the front surface of the door 22 in this manner. On the other hand, when the compressor 26, condenser fan 28 and cooling fan 16 are operated, the cooler 13 fulfills a cooling action, and the cool air cooled by the cooler circulates in the storage chamber 3 by the cooling fan 16 as described above. This cools the interior of the storage chamber 3 at a predetermined low (refrigerating or freezing) temperature. The rectifiers 40, 41 disposed on the lower surface of the bottom member 15 will next be described. Since the large-volume compressor 26 is disposed on the left side in the mechanical chamber 7, the condenser fan 28 is disposed on the right side as the inner side of the condenser 27. Since the cooling fan 16 and condenser fan 28 are fixed to the coaxial motor 30 as described above, the cooling fan 16 is positioned in a right inner corner on the storage chamber 3 side of the bottom surface of the insulating box body 4. Therefore, for the cool air passed through the cooling fan 16, by inertia resulting from rotation of the cooling fan 16, air flow increases on one side in the cool air path 11, and the air flow decreases on the other side. Therefore, for the flow of cool air flowing into the first cool air path 45, the air flow on one side in the cool air path 45 increases, and the air flow on the other side in the cool air path 45 decreases. Therefore, when the cool air next flows into the cool air enlarged space 47, a pressure on one side of the cool air enlarged space 47 is larger than that on the other side of the cool air enlarged space 47, and the cool air flows toward the other side because of a pressure difference. Therefore, the air flow substantially becomes uniform on both sides in the cool air enlarged space 47, and the air then flows into the second cool air path 46. Therefore, substantially uniform cool air is blown from the blow holes 48, 49. Next, Figs. 6 and 7 show a second embodiment, and Fig. 8 shows a third embodiment. In these rectifiers, a third cool air path 50 and fourth cool air path 51 are extended toward a cooling fan 16 side from the first rectifier of the first embodiment. As in these embodiments, various modifications of the cool air path can be proposed in order to supply the substantially uniform cool air from the cooling fan 16. As described above, according to the present invention, in a portion where no rectifier is disposed between a portion where the cool air flows into the first rectifier and where the cool air flows into the next rectifier, the cool air flows to a portion with little air flow from a portion with much air flow. After the pressure of the air flow substantially becomes uniform, the cool air flows into the next rectifier. Therefore, when the air flows out of the last rectifier, a uniform cool air flow can be discharged as compared with when the air flows into the first rectifier. Therefore, since the air flow in the storage chamber substantially becomes uniform, and a substantially uniform commodity temperature can be held, the commodity quality can adequately be held. Moreover, since the rectifier is formed integrally with the bottom member, the duct and rectifier can easily be formed by disposing the bottom member in the storage chamber. We Claim 1. A refrigerator (1) comprising: an insulating box body (4) in which a storage chamber (3) is disposed; a door (22) for openably closing an opening in a front surface of the insulating box body;(4) a duct formed by a bottom member (15) disposed in a lower part of said storage chamber(13), and a partition plate (8) disposed on a back surface of said storage chamber (3); and a cooler (13) and a cooling fan (16) disposed in the duct, characterized in that a plurality of the rectifiers (40, 41) are disposed on a downstream side of said cooling fan (16) in said duct, and the plurality of rectifiers (16) are disposed apart from one another back and forth. 2. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rectifier is formed integrally with the bottom member.

Documents:

198-del-2001-abstract.pdf

198-del-2001-claims.pdf

198-del-2001-correspondence-others.pdf

198-del-2001-correspondence-po.pdf

198-del-2001-description (complete).pdf

198-del-2001-drawings.pdf

198-del-2001-form-1.pdf

198-del-2001-form-19.pdf

198-del-2001-form-2.pdf

198-del-2001-form-3.pdf

198-del-2001-form-5.pdf

198-del-2001-gpa.pdf

198-del-2001-pa.pdf