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Patent Searching and Data


Title:
A COOLING DEVICE
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2011/080089
Kind Code:
A2
Abstract:
The present invention relates to a cooling device (1) comprising at least one compartment (2) wherein foodstuffs to be cooled are placed, an evaporator (3) providing the compartment (2) to be cooled by absorbing the thermal energy in the compartment (2), a chamber (4) disposed at the rear of the compartment (2), wherein the evaporator (3) is placed and a cover (5) situated between the chamber (4) and the compartment (2), closing the front of the evaporator (3).

Inventors:
KODAZ TUGRUL (TR)
Application Number:
PCT/EP2010/069882
Publication Date:
July 07, 2011
Filing Date:
December 16, 2010
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
ARCELIK AS (TR)
KODAZ TUGRUL (TR)
International Classes:
F25D21/08
Foreign References:
US7030344B22006-04-18
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Claims:
Claims

1. A cooling device (1 ) comprising at least one compartment (2) wherein

foodstuffs to be cooled are placed, an evaporator (3) providing the

compartment (2) to be cooled by absorbing the thermal energy in the compartment (2), a chamber (4) disposed at the rear of the compartment (2), wherein the evaporator (3) is placed and a cover (5) situated between the chamber (4) and the compartment (2), closing the front of the evaporator (3), characterized by at least one radiant film heater (6), that defrosts, disposed on at least one inner wall of the chamber (4) so as to extend parallel to one of the surfaces of the evaporator (3) in the vertical plane.

2. A cooling device (1 ) as in Claim 1 , characterized by the radiant film heater (6) that is disposed on only one of the chamber (4) walls facing the evaporator (3).

3. A cooling device (1 ) as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized by the radiant film heater (6) that is disposed on the surface of the cover (5) facing the chamber (4).

4. A cooling device (1 ) as in Claim 1 , characterized by the evaporator (3) the flow ducts of which are formed by being bent in serpentine shape such that the consecutive pitches are parallel to and overlapping each other in the horizontal plane and the radiant film heater (6) disposed inside the evaporator (3) winding so as to remain between each pitch.

5. A cooling device (1 ) as in Claim 1 , characterized by the wire on tube type

evaporator (3) and the radiant film heater (6) disposed on the front and/or the rear surface of the evaporator (3).

Description:
Description

A COOLING DEVICE

[0001] The present invention relates to a cooling device comprising a defrost heater.

[0002] In cooling devices, for example in freezers and refrigerators, at least one fresh food compartment is provided wherein the foodstuffs to be cooled are placed and at least one freezing compartment that is kept at a lower temperature than the fresh food compartment and wherein foodstuffs to be frozen are placed. Cooling of the freezing compartment is performed by the freezing compartment evaporator. The water vapor contained in the air entering the cabinet during opening and closing of the door of the freezing compartment condenses on the surfaces of the evaporator which are below the condensation temperature and results in frosting in the course of time. The heaters mounted on the evaporator are operated at certain time intervals in terms of cooling device performance and the frost is melted by performing the defrost process.

[0003] Electrical (resistor) heaters are widely used for the defrost process. These heaters not only heat air by convection but also provide heat transfer by some amount of conduction. The resistor heaters (2') are disposed so as to contact on the fins (3') of the evaporator (V) (Figure 1 ). Heat

transmission by conduction is less, compared with convection since the heat transfer surface area of these heaters contacted on the evaporator surfaces from a limited number of points is small. Therefore, the thermal load provided by the heaters directly heats the evaporator casing and the cabinet volume. Accordingly, the defrost effectiveness of the refrigerator decreases and the thermal load causes the cabinet of the refrigerator to heat up.

[0004] In the state of the art United States Patent Document No. US7030344, an embodiment is described wherein a heat transfer plate with an aluminum film heater adhered thereon is placed on the evaporator.

[0005] The aim of the present invention is the realization of a cooling device the defrost effectiveness of which is increased.

[0006] The cooling device realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention, explicated in the first claim and the respective claims thereof, comprises at least one radiant film heater disposed on at least one wall of the chamber wherein the evaporator is disposed. The radiant film heater is disposed so as to extend parallel to the vertical plane of the evaporator. Since the radiant film heater performs heat transfer by radiation, the regions that are farther away from the evaporator are also provided to be heated and thus a more effective defrost process is performed.

[0007] In an embodiment of the present invention, the radiant film heater is

adhered on only one of the chamber walls facing the evaporator.

[0008] In another embodiment of the present invention, the radiant film heater is adhered on the surface of the cover, separating the chamber and the compartment, that faces the chamber.

[0009] In another embodiment of the present invention, the radiant film heater is adhered on the chamber wall facing the evaporator and also on the surface of the cover facing the chamber. Accordingly, by realizing heat transfer on both surfaces of the evaporator by means of double sided radiation, defrost effectiveness is increased.

[0010] In another embodiment of the present invention, the flow ducts of the

evaporator are formed by bending in serpentine shape such that the consecutive pitches overlap in the vertical plane. The radiant film heater is disposed inside the evaporator winding so as to remain between each pitch. Accordingly, heat transfer is realized from the inner surfaces of the evaporator outwards by bidirectional radiation.

[001 1] In another embodiment of the present invention, the evaporator is a wire on tube type evaporator and the radiant film heater is adhered on the front and/or rear surface thereof so as to be parallel to the vertical plane of the evaporator. Since the radiant film heater is plate shaped, the assembly thereof on the evaporator is easily performed.

[0012] In another embodiment of the present invention, the radiant film heater is adhered on both front and rear surfaces of a wire on tube type evaporator. Consequently, the defrost performance of the cooling device is improved by providing bidirectional heat transfer.

[0013] The model embodiments relating to a cooling device realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention are illustrated in the attached figures, where:

[0014] Figure 1 - is the schematic view of a state of the art evaporator and

heater.

[0015] Figure 2 - is the sideways schematic view of a cooling device.

[0016] Figure 3 - is the sideways schematic view of the evaporator and the

radiant film heater relating to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 4 - is the sideways schematic view of the evaporator and the

radiant film heater relating to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 5 - is the sideways schematic view of the evaporator and the

radiant film heater relating to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 6 - is the sideways schematic view of the evaporator and the

radiant film heater relating to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 7 - is the front schematic view of the evaporator and the radiant film heater relating to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

1. Cooling device

2. Compartment

3. Evaporator

4. Chamber

5. Cover

6. Radiant film heater

[0022] The cooling device (1) of the present invention comprises at least one

compartment (2) wherein foodstuffs to be cooled are placed, an

evaporator (3) providing the compartment (2) to be cooled by absorbing the thermal energy in the compartment (2), a chamber (4) disposed at the rear of the compartment (2), wherein the evaporator (3) is disposed and a cover (5) situated between the chamber (4) and the compartment (2), closing the front of the evaporator (3) (Figure 2).

[0023] The cooling device (1) furthermore comprises at least one radiant film

heater (6) that defrosts, disposed on at least one inner wall of the chamber (4) so as to extend parallel to one of the evaporator (3) surfaces in the vertical plane (Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7). [0024] The radiant film heater (6) is adhered on at least one of the chamber (4) inner walls. The radiant film heater (6) functions in far infrared ray (FIR) wavelength and realizes heat transfer by radiation. The regions on the evaporator (3) that remain farther away from the heater (6) are also heated easily and the frost is melted due to the radiant film heater (6) performing heat transfer by radiation. The total radiation in other words the heat transfer area is increased since the radiant film heater (6) has a wide surface area. Accordingly, the defrost effectiveness of the evaporator (3) is increased. Moreover, since the FIR wavelength has the feature of preventing formation of bacteria and bad odor, by means of the radiant film heater (6) the formation of bacteria on the evaporator (3) and in the chamber (4) is prevented during defrosting and occurrence of the bad odor problem in the cooling device (1 ) is decreased. On the other hand, the radiant film heater (6) provides ease of assembly during production.

[0025] In an embodiment of the present invention, the radiant film heater (6) is disposed on only one of the chamber (4) walls facing the evaporator (3) (Figure 3). The radiant film heater (6) is adhered on the chamber (4) wall opposite the cover (5) so as to extend parallel to the evaporator (3) in the vertical plane. Thus, the defrost process is performed by realizing heat transfer via radiation along the vertical plane of the evaporator (3).

[0026] In another embodiment of the present invention, the radiant film heater (6) is disposed on the surface of the cover (5) facing the chamber (4) (Figure 4). The cover (5) functions as the wall that separates the chamber (4) and the compartment (2). The radiant film heater (6) is adhered on the surface of the cover (5) facing the chamber (4).

[0027] In another embodiment of the present invention, the radiant film heater (6) is disposed on the surface of the chamber (4) facing the evaporator (3) and on the surface of the cover (5) facing the chamber (4) (Figure 5).

Accordingly, the evaporator (3) is subjected to thermal load from both directions and the defrost effectiveness is increased.

[0028] In another embodiment of the present invention, the evaporator (3) flow ducts are formed by being bent in serpentine shape such that the consecutive pitches are parallel to and overlapping each other in the horizontal plane and the radiant film heater (6) is disposed inside the evaporator (3) winding so as to remain between each pitch (Figure 6). The radiant film heater (6) radiates heat to both directions by radiation in almost the same amount. Consequently, a homogeneous heat distribution is attained on both surfaces of the evaporator (3) and thus the defrost effectiveness is increased.

[0029] In another embodiment of the present invention, the cooling device (1 ) comprises the wire on tube type evaporator (3) and the radiant film heater (6) disposed on the front and/or the rear surface of the evaporator (3) (Figure 7). The evaporator (3) comprises wire shaped flow ducts bent in serpentine form. The radiant film heater (6) is disposed on the front surface of the evaporator (3), along the vertical plane of the evaporator (3). Since the radiant film heater (6) is in plate shape, the assembly thereof on the evaporator (3) is easily performed. Consequently cost advantage is obtained by providing facility in production and labor.

[0030] In the case the radiant film heater (6) is disposed both on the front and rear surfaces of the tube on wire type evaporator (3), the defrost effectiveness is increased by providing heat transfer on both surfaces of the evaporator (3) by radiation.

[0031] By means of the present invention, the defrost effectiveness is increased by means of utilizing the radiant film heater (6) that realizes heat transfer by radiation and savings is provided in energy consumption relating to defrost.

[0032] It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited by the

embodiments disclosed above and a person skilled in the art can easily introduce different embodiments. These should be considered within the scope of the protection postulated by the claims of the present invention.