Technical Field

The present invention relates to the refrigerator structure and the house external wall construction, and in particular to a through-wall refrigerator and the temperature control method thereof.

Background Art

In 1910, the first household refrigerator of compression type refrigeration in the world was appeared in the United States. In 1925, a household refrigerator of absorption type was developed in Sweden. Household thermoelectric refrigerators have been brought into manufacture since the last half of 1950s. With the development until today, the refrigerator can be classified into the following categories according to its refrigeration principle: (1) 91% to 95% of the world's refrigerators belong to compression type refrigerators with a refrigeration system composed of a compressor, a condenser, a dry filter, a capillary tube (throttle device) and an evaporator; the refrigerant flows through the system due to the work of the electric compressor, then the refrigerant vapor with high temperature and high pressure (more than ten atmospheres) is discharged into the condenser mounted outside the box shell and cooled and liquefied therein; the refrigerant in liquid state flowing into the evaporator inside the refrigerator is evaporated and vaporized by reducing pressure therein and absorbs the heat inside the refrigerator, so as to carry out refrigeration; the Freon is usually used as the refrigerant, however it has been phased out due to its harm to the ozone layer of earth atmosphere, and replaced by other types of refrigerants having the same principle. (2) the absorption type refrigerator accounts for about 5% of the market, and it constitutes a closed refrigeration system composed of a generator, a rectifier, a condenser, an evaporator, an absorber and a condensate tank; the system is filled with three kinds of substances which are ammonia, water and hydrogen respectively; wherein the ammonia vapor with high pressure dissipates heat and is liquefied within the condenser outside the box shell; the ammonia in liquid state is evaporated and vaporized by reducing pressure in the evaporator, and absorbs the heat inside the refrigerator to produce a refrigeration effect. (3) the thermoelectric refrigerator, i.e., the semiconductor refrigerator; it applies the direct current into a PN type semiconductor and realizes the refrigeration effect by using the thermoelectric effect of semi-conductor materials. In addition, there are also chemical refrigerator, electromagnetic-vibration refrigerator, adiabatic demagnetization-refrigeration refrigerators, radiative-cooling refrigerator, and solid- refrigeration refrigerator.

The refrigerators can be classified into direct-cooling and air-cooling (also known as indirect-cooling) refrigerators according to the refrigeration type (the air-circulating manner inside the refrigerator) thereof. The direct-cooling refrigerator can directly absorb the heat therein by the evaporator to reduce the temperature; while the air- cooling refrigerator is provided with an evaporator and a fan therein, the fan blows winds to force the air convection inside the refrigerator, thus to promote the evaporator to absorb the heat therein, so that the temperature inside the refrigerator can be uniformly cooled. The refrigerators can be classified into the cooling type, the freezing type and the cooling-freezing type according to the purposes of use (according to the storage requirement) thereof. The cooling type refrigerator can be used to storage foods which do not need to be frozen, and the temperature thereof is set at 4°C to 5°C. The freezing type refrigerator is used to freeze food, and the temperature thereof is set below -18°C (the temperature settings of the refrigerator are slightly varied and different depending on the storage requirements, the food to be frozen, and the manufactures thereof, but are substantially the same. The present invention takes the above mentioned temperature settings for the refrigerator as examples for discussion). The refrigerator can also be classified according to the number of the refrigerator door, the freezing ability, the defrosting way, etc., further details are not given thereto.

The existing refrigerators involve many problems, among which the following four points are most important and shall be improved.

First, the environmental temperature of the refrigerator is critical for the energy saving. To save the energy used by the refrigerator, the family users have noticed that the refrigerator should be placed at ventilated and shady places, away from the heat source; while the experts pointed out theoretically that the environmental temperature, i.e., the temperature around the refrigerator, directly affects the electric power consumption of the refrigerator in that, if the temperature around the refrigerator is increased, the heat dissipation from the refrigerator becomes relatively difficult , the temperature inside the refrigerator will be decreased slowly, and it is hard to maintain a low temperature inside the refrigerator, more refrigerating output will be spent by dissipating from the inside to the outside of the refrigerator, so that the turn-on time of the refrigerator is prolonged, and the halting time is shortened; as a result, the electric power consumption is increased. Experimental data of common refrigerators shows that, whenever the environmental temperature of a refrigerator is increased by 5°C, the electric power consumption of the refrigerator will be increased by 25%. Conversely, the electric power consumption of the refrigerator will be reduced correspondingly whenever the environmental temperature of the refrigerator is decreased ( if other physical conditions are the same ) . However the normal room temperature for a modern family is about 20°C to 25°C. The household refrigerator is usually placed inside the room, so the environmental temperature of the refrigerator is just the room temperature; comparing the environmental temperature of the refrigerator and the temperature setting of the cooling box or the freezing box of the refrigerator, there exists a higher temperature difference which is critically related to the higher electric power consumption. If the environmental temperature of the refrigerator is decreased compared to the room temperature, the electric power consumption of the refrigerator will be reduced.

Second, the use of outdoor cold air

If the refrigerator is placed inside the room, the room temperature is just the environmental temperature of the refrigerator, wherein the comfortable standard room temperature for a modern family is about 20°C to 25°C, while the room temperature is not advisable to be changed; Table 1 shows the outdoor temperatures by listing the monthly average temperatures of 12 months of 10 main cities in the world (including the largest cities or capitals of 5 permanent member states of the United Nations and other 5 developed countries). Table 1, a statistical chart for the monthly average temperatures (by centigrade, outdoor) in a year of the 10 main cities

Country City /month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

US New York 0.0 0.7 4.9 11.0 16.5 21.7 24.7 24.0 20.0 14.2 8.4 2.3

China Beijing -4.6 -2.0 4.4 13.2 19.9 24.2 25.9 24.4 19.4 12.5 4.0 -2.4

Russia Moscow -9.5 -8.4 -3.3 5.1 12.4 16.8 18.4 16.5 10.9 4.8 -1.7 -6.0

Britain London 3.6 4.1 5.6 7.9 11.1 14.3 16.1 15.9 13.7 10.7 6.4 4.4

France Paris 3.3 4.0 6.6 9.6 13.3 16.4 18.2 18.2 15.3 11.2 6.6 4.3

Japan Tokyo 5.2 5.6 8.5 14.1 18.6 21.7 25.2 27.1 23.2 17.6 12.6 7.9

German Berlin -0.2 0.5 3.8 8.5 13.6 17.6 18.7 18.2 14.5 9.8 4.8 1.5

Sweden Stockholm -3.0 -3.6 -0.5 4.1 9.9 15.4 16.9 16.0 11.7 7.1 2.2 -0.8

Canada Toronto -6.7 -6.0 -1.0 6.2 12.2 17.7 20.6 19.7 15.4 9.3 3.3 3.5

Korea Seoul -3.3 -1.3 4.2 11.5 17.3 21.2 24.6 25.2 20.5 14.1 6.6 0.6

The Table can be representative of a temperature variation range for wide regions of the world to some extent. If taking an average temperature of a certain month of a certain city as one "monthly average temperature", Table 1 has statistically counted 120 "monthly average temperature" in total, wherein

(1) 116 "monthly average temperature" are lower than 25°C , which account for 96.6%.

(2) 104 "monthly average temperature" are lower than 20°C, which account for 86.6%.

(3) 84 "monthly average temperature" are lower than 15°C, which account for 66.6%.

(4) 60 "monthly average temperature" are lower than 10°C, which account for 50%.

(5) 39 "monthly average temperature" are lower than 5°C, which account for 33.3%.

(6) 22 "monthly average temperature" are lower than 0°C, which account for 18.3%. It can be seen that, for the most time, in the wide region of the world, the outdoor temperature is lower than the indoor temperature.

Regarding taking the outdoor cold air as the refrigeration source of the refrigeration equipment, especially in the winter of northern area, some ideas have been suggested in the last several years, but have not been extensively commercially applied due to various reasons. There is a need to explore a simpler structure and method being suitable for directly using the large quantity of cold air naturally existed at outdoor to be participated in the refrigeration of the refrigerator.

Third, the refrigerator occupies the valuable indoor area and space.

The refrigerator is one of the household electrical appliances which occupy the largest indoor area and space. Furthermore, the front, the back, the top, the bottom, the left and the right sides of the refrigerator need to be kept a certain distance from the wall of the house and other furniture. Under the situation that the utilization area and space of the family house in the large and medium-sized cities becomes more and more expensive and insufficient, the users expect to maintain the refrigerator functions while saving the indoor area and spaces occupied by the refrigerator.

Fourth, the refrigerator is also a high magnetic field.

According to the expert's introduction, the refrigerator in operation is a high magnetic field. The poster lateral side or the bottom of the refrigerator produces the strongest magnetic field. The electromagnetic wave with different wavelength and frequency released by the refrigerator has a certain influence on the nervous system and physiological function of a human being in that, the electromagnetic wave has extremely strong penetration ability, so it can penetrate the body surface, deeply into the deep tissues and organs, and damage them. To reduce and avoid the influence and harm on the human body caused by the magnetic field of the refrigerator, is also a problem often considered by the users.

Therefore, various schemes have been suggested separately.

For example, it is suggested in some schemes that the refrigeration equipment may be placed outdoor or may be mounted on the window. Although the shell of the refrigeration equipment can be made of materials with good quality, the life span of the refrigerator will be affected due to exposure to the outdoors all the time; only an air temperature around the setting temperature of the refrigerator is suitable, but if the air temperature is too low then the food deposited in the cooling box although the food are not needed to be frozen; and if the air temperature is too high then things may go contrary to one's wishes. It is not convenient for the user indoor to store food into and take food from the refrigerator, or it may affect the day-lighting and the view of the room.

Some schemes suggested that the outdoor cold air flow into the room and the refrigerator by a conduit passing through the bottom wall. Cooperated with shaft-flow fans, the cold air is driven into the refrigerator and goes through the refrigerator. Cooperated with the exhaust fans, the air that has been exchanged inside the refrigerator is discharged from the refrigerator to the outdoor atmosphere by an exhaust pipe ie another conduit passing through the bottom wall leading out; then the refrigeration is carried out by circulations as such. This kind of input and output conduits of the air cooling system have a certain length, the wall needs to be drilled to form holes to receive the conduits, but the above-mentioned problems caused by indoor placement of the refrigerator still have not been solved.

Some schemes suggested separating the compressor and the condenser from the refrigerator, and taking them as the outdoor machines placed outdoors and connected with the other portions as the indoor machines of the refrigerator via conduits leading through the wall, so as to reduce the heat dissipation and the noise of the refrigerator. However such reduction of heat is severely limited because the devices which participate in the heat dissipation of the refrigerator are not only limited to the compressor and the condenser, in fact, the main body, the machine chamber, the air blowers and even the airflow conducting components of the refrigerator are all related to the heat dissipation. Meanwhile the problems caused by the indoor placement of the refrigerator still have not been solved.

Some schemes suggested imbedding the refrigerator into a concave of the wall; or into a cabinet; or internally installing it into a partition wall between two rooms which is not a outside wall of the house, it may be for example a partition wall between the kitchen and the living room, so that a user can get foods from the kitchen and the living room at the same time when the refrigerator is opened from two sides. These schemes can beautify the room, and save the area and space occupied by the refrigerator. However the refrigerator is still placed inside the room, the environmental temperature of the refrigerator is still just the room temperature, thus the above mentioned problems can still not be solved by these schemes.

In addition, regarding the influence of the electromagnetic radiation of the refrigerator, the expert suggests that the refrigerator should not be placed in the living room where people often stay. Even if the refrigerator is placed in the kitchen, it is still preferable to avoid staying closer to it, or to avoid storing or taking food when the refrigerator is in work; moreover, it is better to frequently remove the dust on the heat dissipation pipes and other portions of the refrigerator by using the dust collector, because the more dust exist, the more electromagnetic radiation produced. However, these suggestions produce limited effects, and are not helpful to solve other problems mentioned above.

Contents of the Invention

(1) Technical Problems to Be Solved

The technical problems to be solved by the present invention is to provide a refrigerator inside the house-external wall and a temperature control method thereof to effectively take advantage of the characteristics that the outdoor environmental temperature is usually lower than the indoor environmental temperature to reduce the power consumption of the refrigerator, and meanwhile to reduce the indoor space occupied by the refrigerator and the harm to the user which is caused by the refrigerator.

(2) Technical Solution

To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a through-wall refrigerator comprising a refrigerator body, and further comprising:

A wall-cavity is provided inside a house-external wall separating indoor environment and outdoor environment therein for resettlement of the refrigerator body with the door of the refrigerator body arranged towards the interior of the room.

A wall-cavity rear cover that is located at one side of the wall-cavity facing the outside of the room and covering over a rear side of the refrigerator body opposite to the door of the refrigerator body. The wall-cavity rear cover is used to isolate the wall-cavity inside the wall from the outdoor environment, and a number of ventilation holes that can be opened and closed are arranged on the wall-cavity rear cover.

A frame-shaped partition plate that is sealed between the indoor side of the sidewall of the wall-cavity and the refrigerator body surrounding the refrigerator door o The frame-shaped partition plate is used to isolate the wall-cavity inside the wall from the indoor environment, and is provided with a number of controllable valves and fans corresponding to the controllable valves.

An environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator; the size of the wall-cavity inside the wall is greater than the size of the refrigerator body; the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerators is formed in the wall-cavity inside the wall, around the circumference of a outer shell of the refrigerator body, and decides the environmental temperature of the refrigerator body.

An outdoor cold air refrigeration system that is composed of a short through-pipe for gas entering, a short through-pipe for gas discharging, as well as valves and fans corresponding to the short through-pipe for gas entering and the short through-pipe for gas discharging, wherein the short through-pipe for gas entering and the short through- pipe for gas discharging are passing through the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator to communicate the outdoor environment with the environment inside the refrigerator body.

Preferably, the wall-cavity rear cover protrudes from the house-external wall outdoor wall surface.

Preferably, several insulated partition battens are located inside the environmental temperature space, and the environmental temperature space is divided into a number of subspaces corresponding to different temperature regions of the refrigerator body by the insulated partition battens.

Preferably, several heat dissipation fans are located at one side of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator towards the outdoor, and the heat dissipation fan is used to blow the wind towards a heat dissipation device of the refrigerator body.

Preferably, the refrigerator body is provided with a food pre-cooling space (not shown) therein corresponding to the outdoor cold air refrigeration system.

Preferably, the through-wall refrigerator further comprises the following elements.

Several intelligent temperature sensors that are located on the back side of the wall- cavity rear cover, located in the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator, located on the indoor-side of the frame-shaped partition plate, and located in the respective boxes of the refrigerator body, respectively.

A controller that receives temperature signals collected by the intelligent temperature sensors, and sends controlling signals to the opening and closing ventilation holes arranged on the wall-cavity rear cover, to the controllable valves and fans on the frame- shaped partition plate, to the heat dissipation fans in the environmental temperature space of the through- wall refrigerators and to the outdoor cold air refrigeration system, according to the temperature signals.

On the other hand, the present invention also provides a temperature control method for the above mentioned through- wall refrigerators, which comprises the following steps:

SI, comparing an outdoor environmental temperature with an indoor temperature, then going to step S2 if the outdoor environmental temperature is lower than the indoor environmental temperature; otherwise, going to step S6;

S2: starting the outdoor cold air refrigeration system, opening the ventilation holes arranged on the wall-cavity rear cover, and closing the controllable valves of the frame- shaped partition plate, until the temperature inside the refrigerator body and the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator are corresponding to the outdoor environmental temperature;

S3: comparing the outdoor environmental temperature with a pre-setting temperature inside the refrigerator body; if the outdoor environmental temperature is higher than the pre-setting temperature of the refrigerator body, then going to step S4; otherwise, going to step S5;

S4: stopping the outdoor cold air refrigeration system and starting the original refrigeration system of the refrigerator body to maintain the temperature inside the refrigerator body at a set temperature; starting the heat dissipation fans in the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator in time to maintain the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator corresponding to the outdoor environmental temperature,; finishing the temperature control step;

S5: refrigerating the refrigerator body by the outdoor cold air refrigeration system until the temperature of the refrigerator body reaches and maintains at the set temperature; controlling the open-and-close of the ventilation holes on the wall-cavity rear cover and of the controllable valves on the frame-shape partition plate, and controlling the operation of the fans on the frame-shaped partition plate, to make the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator reaching and maintaining at the set temperature; finishing the temperature control step;

S6: starting the original refrigeration system of the refrigerator body until the temperature of the refrigerator body reaches and maintains at the set temperature; meanwhile closing the ventilation holes on the wall-cavity rear cover, controlling the open-and-close of the controllable valves and controlling the operation of the fans on the frame-shaped partition plate, so as to maintain the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator corresponding to the indoor environment temperature; finishing the temperature control step.

Wherein, if the refrigerator body includes a number of boxes which have different presetting box temperature, and the respective boxes correspond to the respective environmental temperature subspaces while the subspaces are isolated from each other, then the temperature control methods mentioned in steps S2-S6 are suitable for the temperature control of each box of the refrigerator body; wherein, the pre-setting box temperature of the refrigerator body corresponds to the pre-setting box temperature of each box, the temperature of the refrigerator body corresponds to the temperature of each box, and the environmental temperature space of the refrigerator body corresponds to the environmental temperature subspace of each box.

(3) Beneficial Effects

The beneficial effects of the present invention will be discussed from aspects such as the environmental temperature and the energy saving of the refrigerator, the convenient utilization of the outdoor cold air, the increase of the available indoor area and space, and the reduced harmfulness of the refrigerator magnetic field, as well as perspectives such as the user, the home builder, the refrigerator manufacture and the society.

1. The environmental temperature and the energy saving of the refrigerator

It can be seen from the regional comprehensive analysis represented by the 10 cities listed in Table 1 that, about 86.6% to 96.6% of the monthly average temperatures are lower than the room temperature if calculated based on the usual standard room temperature of 20°C to 25°C. The situation that the outdoor temperature is lower than the room temperature is analyzed firstly, in which the outdoor temperature is lower than the room temperature while the environmental temperature of the refrigerator inside the wall is lower than the room temperature. Considering that the environmental temperature (the temperature around the refrigerator) of the refrigerator directly affects the electrical power consumption of the refrigerator which has been pointed out by expert, and meanwhile the experimental data shows that the electrical power consumption of the refrigerator increases by 25% whenever the environmental temperature of the refrigerator increases by 5°C, therefore the environmental temperature of the traditional refrigerator placed indoors, i.e., the room temperature, is obviously higher than the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the refrigerator inside the wall, then the electrical power consumption of the traditional refrigerator is obviously higher than that of the refrigerator inside the wall. Thus the energy saving of the refrigerator is realized according to the present invention because the environmental temperature of the refrigerator inside the wall is lower than the room temperature during a longer period where the air temperature is lower than the room temperature in wide regions.

It can be seen from the regional comprehensive analysis represented by the 10 cities listed in Table 1 that, the monthly average temperatures higher than the room temperature are accounting for a small percentage. In such a short period, even for other regions where the air temperature is higher than the room temperature in a longer period, the environmental temperature of the refrigerator inside the wall can be maintained to be equal to the room temperature. A common vertical type refrigerator with a height of 1.8 meters, a width of 0.6 meters and a depth of 0.6 meters, and a separated type refrigerator that has a cooling box and a freezing box located side by side with a height of 1.8 meters, a width of 1.2 meters and a depth of 0.6, are taken as two examples respectively, if the geometric size of the environmental temperature space of the above refrigerator is 10 centimeters higher, 10 centimeters deeper than the refrigerator body, and 5 centimeters wider than each side of the two sides of the refrigerator body, the volumes of the environmental temperature spaces of the two refrigerators inside the wall will be about 0.28 cubic meter and 0.43 cubic meter respectively. Compared with a volume of 220 cubic meters for a common house with an available area of 100 square meters and a height of 2.2 meters, the volumes of the environmental temperature spaces of the refrigerators inside the wall only occupy about 0.1% and 0.2% of the house volume respectively, thus only a very few increase of energy consumption is required to maintain the volume with such little percentage at the room temperature; particularly compared with the energy saving when the air temperature is lower than the room temperature, the total energy consumption of the refrigerator in a long time is reduced.

2. The convenient use of the outdoor cold air

A distance between the back wall of the concave inside the wall and the rear part of the refrigerator inside the wall is small, thus the short through-pipes for gas entering and discharging that are connected between said back wall and said rear part are usually straight pipes with a length of ten centimeters and a simple structure, they are easily assembled, and convenient for promotion and application.

When the compressor of the traditional refrigerator works, the refrigerant vapor with more than ten atmospheres needs to be discharged into the condenser and continuously circulating flow in the system, the process does more work and consumes more electrical power; when the cold air refrigeration system of the refrigerator inside the wall works, the pipes for gas entering and discharging are short and straight, and the resistance against the fans to blast and discharge air is very small, thus the electrical energy consumption is little.

When the traditional refrigerator is started, it should run in an empty state for 2 hours, and only can be used to store foods until the interior of the refrigerator reaches a stable state. Hot foods have to be placed into the refrigerator after being cooled, or else more electrical energy will be consumed. The "refrigeration source" of the outdoor cold air refrigeration system of the refrigerator inside the wall is a large quantity of cold air which is naturally existed with a large refrigerating output and a fast initial cooling speed, therefore the refrigerator inside the wall can be started to directly store the foods without running in an empty state for a while, hot foods can be directly placed into a food pre-cooling space of the refrigerator inside the wall without waiting until the foods are cooled, and the food is pre-cooled for a moment via outdoor cold air refrigeration system at the food pre-cooling space and then transferred to and stored in the cooling box or the freezing box of the refrigerator inside the wall, thus it almost has no influence on the electrical power consumption.

3. The increase of the available area and space of the room

A common refrigerator placed inside the room occupies a portion of the available area and space of the room. Still taking a common vertical type refrigerator with a height of 1.8 meters, a width of 0.6 meters and a depth of 0.6 meters and a separated type refrigerator having a cooling-box and a freezing box located side by side with a height of 1.8 meters, a width of 1.2 meters and a depth of 0.6 meter as two examples, they usually remain a distance of several centimeters at the rear side, the top side and the two lateral sides, thus occupy about 0.5 square meter and 1 square meter respectively of the indoor structural area, and occupy about 1 cubic meter and 2 cubic meters of the indoor space. The selling price per square meter of a house in the modern city is usually several times higher than the selling price of a refrigerator. With the refrigerator inside the wall, the available area and space of the room that are occupied by a conventional refrigerator can be saved.

4. Reduce the harmfulness of the magnetic field of the refrigerator

The refrigerator is transferred from the room into the concave inside the wall according to the present invention, and there are walls and grounds surrounding the refrigerator. Since the rear side that releases the strongest magnetic field is facing the outdoor, the influence and damage on the human body can be reduced and even avoided.

5. Analysis from the perspectives of the user, the house builder, the refrigerator maker and the society

For a user, the refrigerator inside the wall saves the electrical energy, produces a large quantity of refrigerating output, avoids concerns about the magnetic field of the refrigerator, and provides "more" indoor area and space compared with the refrigerator placed inside the room. Since the price of the "more" indoor area is usually higher than the price of the refrigerator, such refrigerator is cost-effective; furthermore, the saved area and space is also practical; therefore the refrigerator according to the present invention will be populated.

For house builders, in the housing design construction, reserving a wall vacancy which is slightly wider than the refrigerator inside an external wall of the house and further finishing the concave inside the wall does not involve any bottleneck of the engineering mechanics or any problem of increasing the cost and the house price due to high consumption of the material funds. The wall vacancy can be reserved according to the type of the house, the local climate and the vegetable/food market conditions and adaptive to the requirement. For example, a bigger wall vacancy for a separated type refrigerator which has a cooling box and a freezing box located side by side can be remained in a villa, and a wall vacancy for a common vertical refrigerator can be remained in a building and apartment. In the regions where the temperature is high and fresh vegetables are sufficiently supplied and in the regions where the temperature is low and a lot of refrigerated and frozen foods should be stored, the sizes of the refrigerators used by the residents, and further the sizes of the wall vacancy remained, shall be different. To say the least, the wall vacancy is not in use temporarily and the time and materials consumed to fill it during the finishing is little, thus it is beneficial for the house builders and becomes a highlight of the house selling.

For the refrigerator manufacturer, the ref igerator inside the wall saves the electrical energy and produces a large quantity of refrigerating output without obviously increasing the manufacturing cost; moreover, the workload undertaken by the traditional refrigeration technology is reduced, the turn on time of the compressor is shorter while the halting time is longer, thus the service life of the refrigerator is extended, and the commercial prospects will be excellent. Refrigerator manufacturer and the house builder will mutually benefit and win-win from the incorporation of the environmental temperature space within the refrigerator inside the wall.

For the society, the refrigerator has become the large household appliance necessary for a modern family. With so large usage amount, the social benefits regarding the energy saving and environmental protection aspects of the refrigerator is very important, as a result, the advantages of the refrigerator inside the wall will obtain attention and promotion.

Brief Description of Figures

FIG. 1 is a front view of a house-external wall and a wall vacancy therein according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the wall-cavity according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the through-wall refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view along A direction of Figure 3.

FIG.5 is a view along B-B direction of Figure 3. Fig.6 is a flow chart of a temperature control method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In the figures, 1: the wall vacancy; 3: the indoor wall surface; 4: the ground; 5: the house-external wall; 6: the outdoor wall surface; 7: the sidewall of the wall-cavity; 8: the wall-cavity rear cover; 9: the ventilation hole; 10: the wall-cavity; 11: the opening; 12: the bottom side of the wall-cavity; 13: the door of the cooling box; 14: the door of the freezing box; 15: the frame-shaped partition plate; 16: the controllable valve; 17: the pulley or the support; 18: the outer shell of the refrigerator body; 19: the environmental temperature subspace of a cooling-box of the through- wall refrigerator; 20: the environmental temperature subspace of a freezing box of the through- wall refrigerator; 21: the insulated partition batten; 22: the cooling box; 23: the freezing box; 24: the heat dissipation fan; 25: the short through-pipe for air intake; 26: the short through-pipe for air intake exhaust .

Specific Modes for Carrying out the Invention

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in further details in combination with drawings and examples.

First Embodiment

As shown in Figure 1 to Figure 5, a through-wall refrigerator includes the following elements;

a refrigerator body (in the present embodiment the refrigerator body includes a cooling box 22 and a freezing box 23);

a wall- cavity 10 that is provided inside a house-external wall 5 separating indoor and outdoor environments for resettlement of the refrigerator body with the door of the refrigerator body arranged towards the interior of the room, so that the user can open and close the refrigerator conveniently;

a wall-cavity rear cover 8 that is located at one side of the wall-cavity 10 facing the outside of the room and coving over a rear side of the refrigerator body, and that is opposite to the refrigerator door, the wall-cavity rear cover 8 is used to isolate the wall- cavity 10 inside the wall from the outdoor environment, and a number of ventilation holes 9 that can be opened and closed are arranged on the wall-cavity rear cover 8 ; a frame-shaped partition plate 15 that is sealed between the indoor side of the sidewall 7 of the wall-cavity 10 and the refrigerator body interior side around the refrigerator door (the door frame of the door of the refrigerator body), the frame-shaped partition plate 15 is used to isolate the wall-cavity 10 inside the wall from the indoor environment, and is provided with a number of controllable valves 16 and fans corresponding to the controllable valves 16;

an environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerators (in the present embodiment the environmental temperature space of the refrigerator body includes an environmental temperature subspace 19 of the cooling-box 22 and an environmental temperature subspace 20 of the freezing box 23), the size of the wall-cavity 10 inside the wall is greater than the size of the refrigerator body, therefore when compared with the refrigerator body, the size of the wall-cavity 10 inside the wall is slightly wider, higher and deeper, thus a space is formed within the wall-cavity 10 inside the wall and surrounding the refrigerator body, that is, the environmental temperature space, which is around the circumference of the outer shell 18 of the refrigerator body and decides the environmental temperature of the refrigerator body;

an outdoor cold air refrigeration system composed of a short through-pipe 25 for air intake , a short through-pipe 26 for air exhaust , as well as valves and fans corresponding to the short through-pipe 25 for air intake and the short through-pipe 26 for air exhaust, wherein the short through-pipe 25 for air intake and the short through- pipe 26 for air exhaust are passing through the wall-cavity rear cover 8, the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator and the rear shell of the refrigerator body, so as to communicate the outdoor environment with the environment inside the refrigerator body; the outdoor cold air flows into the chamber of the refrigerator body via the short through-pipe 25 for air intake, goes through the chamber of the refrigerator body and is discharged into the outdoor atmosphere via the short through-pipe 26 for air exhaust, therefore, the outdoor cold air refrigeration system allows a lot of outdoor cold air conveniently circulating inside the chamber of the refrigerator body and cooperates with other original refrigeration systems of the refrigerator bodies.

In the present embodiment, the refrigerator body includes a cooling box 22 and a freezing box 23; the bottom of the refrigerator body is supported on the bottom side 12 of the wall-cavity 10 by the pulley or the support 17.

In the present embodiment, the wall-cavity 10 is formed by a wall vacancy 1 which is broken through the house-exterior wall 5 separating indoor and outdoor environments where the through-wall refrigerator is to be placed, during the construction of the house engineering design or during the reconstruction of the house; a opening 11 of the wall- cavity 10 is opened towards the interior of the room, and indoor side of the wall-cavity 10 towards the interior of the room is aligned with the indoor wall surface 3 of the house-external wall facing the interior of the room; the bottom side 12 of the wall- cavity 10 may be located higher than the ground 4 of the house.

In the present embodiment, a plane where the door frame of the door of the refrigerator body (includes a door 13 of the cooling box and a door 14 of the freezing box) is located is aligned with the indoor wall surface 3 of one side of the wall-cavity 10 towards the interior of the room.

In the present embodiment, the wall-cavity rear cover 8 protrudes from the house- external wall 5 outdoor wall surface 6. The wall-cavity rear cover 8 is made of solid plates with good insulation to protect the refrigerator body inside the wall from rain and sun.

In the present embodiment, a number of ventilation holes 9 that can be closed or opened are arranged on the wall-cavity rear cover 8, a close-and-open control can be performed according to the demands, so as to make the wall-cavity 10 communicating with or isolating from the outdoor environment.

In the present embodiment, a number of controllable valves 16 are arranged on the frame-shaped partition plate 15 to communicate the wall-cavity 10 with the indoor environment or to isolate the wall-cavity 10 from the indoor environment. The fans to which the controllable valves 16 are corresponding can blow the air in the indoor environment into the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator, so as to accelerate the heat exchange between the indoor environment and the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator according to need. When the controllable valves 16 are opened, the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator is communicated with the indoor environmental air; when the ventilation holes 9 are opened, the environmental temperature space of the through- wall refrigerator is communicated with the outdoor environmental air. Therefore when the controllable valves 16 are opened and the ventilation holes 9 are closed, the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator is communicated with the indoor environment and is isolated from the outdoor environment, so that the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator can be corresponding to the room temperature; when the controllable valves 16 are closed and the ventilation holes 9 are opened, the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator is communicated with the outdoor environment and is isolated from the indoor environment, so that the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator can be corresponding to the outdoor environmental temperature; when both of them are closed, the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator is isolated from both of the indoor environment and the outdoor environment.

A number of insulated partition battens 21 are located inside the environmental temperature space, and the environmental temperature space is divided into a number of subspaces corresponding to the different temperature regions of the refrigerator body by the insulated partition battens 21. In the present embodiment, the different temperature regions of the refrigerator body are the cooling-box 22 and the freezing box 23. Along the boundary of the cooling box 22 and the freezing box 23 , the insulated partition battens 21 divide the environmental temperature space into the environmental temperature subspace 19 of the cooling box 22 and the environmental temperature subspace 20 of the freezing box 23, the subspaces are not communicated with each other. In the other embodiments of the present invention, the refrigerator body of the through-wall refrigerator can be a separated type refrigerator, in which the cooling box and the freezing box each has an its own environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator; or, the refrigerator body is a refrigerator which has a number of doors and a plurality of setting box temperatures, and the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator can be divided into two environmental temperature subspaces of the through-wall refrigerator according to whether the setting temperature is higher or lower than 0°C or can be divided into a number of environmental temperature subspaces of the through-wall ref igerator according to different setting box temperatures.

In the present embodiment, heat dissipation fans 24 located at one side of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator towards the outdoor are blowing winds towards the heat dissipation device of the refrigerator body, for discharging the heat into the outdoor environment via the ventilation holes 9.

The refrigerator body is provided with a food pre-cooling space (not shown) corresponding to the outdoor cold air refrigeration system. In the present embodiment, the food pre-cooling space is located inside the cooling box; warmer food can be placed in the food pre-cooling space for pre-cooling for a moment by the outdoor cold air refrigeration system and then transferred and stored in the cooling box 22 or the freezing box 23; the food pre-cooling space can also be used as a part of the cooling box 22 of the through- wall refrigerator.

In the present embodiment, the through-wall refrigerator further includes the following elements;

intelligent temperature sensors that are located on the back side of the wall-cavity rear cover 8, located in the environmental temperature space of the through- wall refrigerator, located on the indoor-side of the frame-shaped partition plate 15, and located in the respective boxes of the refrigerator body, respectively;

a controller that receives the temperature signals collected by the intelligence temperature sensors and sends the controlling signals to the opening and closing ventilation holes 9 arranged on the wall-cavity rear cover 8, to the controllable valves 16 and fans on the frame-shaped partition plate 15, to the heat dissipation fans 24 in the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator and to the outdoor cold air refrigeration system, according to the temperature signals.

Of course, in other embodiments of the present invention, each portion of the through- wall refrigerator can be controlled manually. The Second Embodiment

As shown in figure 6, a temperature control method for the above mentioned through- wall refrigerator is provided, which includes the following steps:

SI, comparing the outdoor temperature and the indoor temperature, then going to step S2 if the outdoor temperature is lower than the indoor temperature; otherwise, going to step S6;

S2: starting the outdoor cold air refrigeration system, opening the ventilation holes arranged on the wall-cavity rear cover, and closing the controllable valves on the frame- shaped partition plate, until the temperature of the refrigerator body and the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator are corresponding to the outdoor environmental temperature;

S3: comparing the outdoor environmental temperature with a pre-setting temperature of the refrigerator body, if the outdoor environmental temperature is higher than the preset temperature of the refrigerator body, then going to step S4; otherwise, going to step S5;

S4: stopping the outdoor cold air refrigeration system and starting the original refrigeration system of the refrigerator body to maintain the temperature of the refrigerator body at a set temperature; starting the heat dissipation fans in the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator in time to maintain the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator corresponding to the outdoor environmental temperature, and finishing the temperature control step;

S5: refrigerating the refrigerator body by the outdoor cold air refrigeration system until the temperature of the refrigerator body reaches and maintains at the set temperature; controlling the open-and-close of the ventilation holes on the wall-cavity rear cover and of the controllable valves on the frame-shaped partition plate, and controlling the operation of the fans on the frame-shaped partition plate, to make the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator reaching and maintaining at the set temperature, finishing the temperature control step; S6: starting the original refrigeration system of the refrigerator body until the temperature of the refrigerator body reaches and maintains at the set temperature; meanwhile closing the ventilation holes on the wall-cavity rear cover, controlling the open-and-close of the controllable valves and controlling the operation of the fans on the frame-shape partition plate, so as to maintain the temperature of the environmental temperature space of the through-wall refrigerator corresponding to the indoor environment temperature, finishing the temperature control step.

Wherein, if the refrigerator body includes a number of boxes (such as the cooling box and the freezing box) which have different pre-setting box temperatures, and the respective boxes correspond to the respective environmental temperature subspaces (such as the environmental temperature subspace of the cooling box and the environmental temperature subspace of the freezing box) while the subspaces are isolated from each other, then the temperature control methods in steps S2-S6 are suitable for the temperature control of each box of the refrigerator body; wherein, the pre-setting box temperature of the refrigerator body corresponds to the pre-setting box temperature of each box, the temperature of the refrigerator body corresponds to the temperature of each box, and the environmental temperature space of the refrigerator body corresponds to the environmental temperature subspace of each box.

Regarding step S4 and step S5, those warmer food does not need to be placed outside the refrigerator and then placed in the through-wall refrigerator after being cooled, but can be placed directly in the food pre-cooling space of the cooling box of the through- wall refrigerator where the food is pre-cooled for a moment via the outdoor cold air refrigeration system and then transferred to and stored in the cooling box or the freezing box of the through-wall refrigerator.

The embodiments above are used for illustrating the present invention only, but not for limiting the scope thereof. It will be obvious for a person skilled in the art that, many modifications and variations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, thus all of the equivalent technical solutions should also be regarded as falling within the scope of the present invention which is defined by the claims.