U.S. patent application number 13/952044 was filed with the patent office on 2014-01-30 for refrigerator vegetable room and a refrigerator with the same.
This patent application is currently assigned to LG ELECTRONICS INC.. Invention is credited to Moongyo JUNG, Dullae MIN, Ahreum PARK.
Application Number | 20140028172 13/952044 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48914063 |
Filed Date | 2014-01-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140028172 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MIN; Dullae ; et
al. |
January 30, 2014 |
REFRIGERATOR VEGETABLE ROOM AND A REFRIGERATOR WITH THE SAME
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator vegetable room
and a refrigerator with the same for storing fresh foods such as
fruits or vegetables in a distinguished manner from the other foods
and drinks, and according to an aspect of the present disclosure,
there is provided a refrigerator vegetable room including a case on
which a front side thereof is open; a drawer inserted into a front
side opening portion of the case in a drawable manner to store
fruits and vegetable therein; and a metal plate provided to be
brought into contact with at least two surfaces of the case to
cause heat transfer from one surface of the case to the other
surface thereof.
Inventors: |
MIN; Dullae; (Seoul, KR)
; JUNG; Moongyo; (Seoul, KR) ; PARK; Ahreum;
(Seoul, KR) |
Assignee: |
LG ELECTRONICS INC.
Seoul
KR
|
Family ID: |
48914063 |
Appl. No.: |
13/952044 |
Filed: |
July 26, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/404 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D 23/00 20130101;
F25D 23/066 20130101; F25D 25/021 20130101; F25D 25/025
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/404 |
International
Class: |
F25D 23/06 20060101
F25D023/06; F25D 23/00 20060101 F25D023/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 26, 2012 |
KR |
10-2012-0081928 |
Jul 26, 2012 |
KR |
10-2012-0081931 |
Claims
1. A refrigerator vegetable room, comprising: a case having a front
side opening; a drawer insertable into the front side opening of
the case in a drawable manner to store food items therein; and a
metal plate disposed on at least two surfaces of the case to cause
heat transfer from one surface of the case to the other surface
thereof.
2. The refrigerator vegetable room of claim 1, wherein the metal
plate comprises an external metal plate on outside surfaces of the
case.
3. The refrigerator vegetable room of claim 2, wherein the external
metal plate is disposed to be on at least three external surfaces
of the case.
4. The refrigerator vegetable room of claim 1, wherein the metal
plate comprises an internal metal plate on inside surfaces of the
case.
5. The refrigerator vegetable room of claim 4, wherein the internal
metal plate is disposed to be on at least three internal surfaces
of the case.
6. The refrigerator vegetable room of claim 4, wherein the internal
metal plate comprises an upper metal plate on an inner surface of
an upper plate of the case, and a surface of the upper metal plate
comprises a plurality of protruding portions and groove
portions.
7. The refrigerator vegetable room of claim 6, wherein the
protruding portions are formed with a plurality of protruding ribs
in a lattice shape, and the groove portions are formed as
depression in a rectangular shape between the protruding ribs.
8. The refrigerator vegetable room of claim 1, further comprising:
an insulating material disposed on an outer side plate of the case
to be faced with a freezing chamber.
9. The refrigerator vegetable room of claim 8, wherein a plurality
of ribs are formed to protrude from the outer side plate of the,
and the outer side plate of the case and the insulating material
are separated from one another by the ribs.
10. The refrigerator vegetable room of claim 9, wherein the
insulating material comprises a sealing portion formed to be
brought into contact with the outer side plate of the case, to form
hermetically sealed air cells between the outer side plate of the
case and the insulating material.
11. A refrigerator, comprising: a refrigerating chamber and a
freezing chamber; a refrigerating chamber door to open or close the
refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber door to open or close
the freezing chamber; a vegetable room accommodated at a
predetermined location of the refrigerating chamber, and comprising
a case having a front side opening and a drawer insertable into the
front side opening of the case in a drawable manner to store food
items therein; and a metal plate disposed on at least two surfaces
of the case to cause heat transfer from one surface of the case to
the other surface thereof.
12. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the metal plate comprises
an external metal plate disposed on at least three or more external
surfaces of the case.
13. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the metal plate comprises
an internal metal plate disposed on at least three or more internal
surfaces of the case.
14. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the metal plate is on an
internal ceiling of the vegetable room, and comprises an upper
metal plate comprising a plurality of protruding portions and a
plurality of groove portions.
15. The refrigerator of claim 11, further comprising: an insulating
material on to an outer side plate of the case facing the freezing
chamber.
16. The refrigerator of claim 15, wherein a plurality of ribs are
formed to protrude from the outer side plate of the case, and the
outer side plate of the case and the insulating material are
separated from one another by the ribs.
17. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein the insulating material
comprises a sealing portion formed to be brought into contact with
the outer side plate of the case, to form hermetically sealed air
cells between the outer side plate of the case and the insulating
material.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained
in priority Korean Application Nos. 10-2012-0081928 and
10-2012-0081931, filed on Jul. 26, 2012, which is herein expressly
incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the invention
[0003] The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator vegetable
room and a refrigerator with the same for storing fresh foods such
as fruits or vegetables in a distinguished manner from the other
foods and drinks.
[0004] 2. Description of the related art
[0005] In general, refrigerator is an apparatus for generating cool
air by the driving of a freezing cycle provided therein, and
storing foods and the like for a long period of time in a low
temperature state by supplying the cool air to an inner portion of
a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber.
[0006] It has been known that factors affecting the quality of
fresh vegetables include temperature, humidity, environmental
gases, microbes, light, and the like. Vegetables continuously
perform respiration and transpiration, and thus the suppression of
such respiration and transpiration is required to maintain the
quality of fresh vegetables. Most vegetables, except some
vegetables such as those susceptible to lower temperature damage,
respiration can be suppressed at low temperature, and transpiration
can be prevented at high humidity.
[0007] For this reason, the refrigerator is provided with a
vegetable room for storing vegetables as an independent space from
the refrigerating chamber to store vegetables in a fresh state for
a long period of time. The vegetable room maintains a suitable low
temperature state as well as maintain an attainable high humidity
state. In other words, the vegetable room may maintain a suitable
low temperature and high humidity state, thereby allowing
vegetables stored in the vegetable room to maintain freshness.
[0008] Typically, a refrigerator 1 may include a freezing chamber
20 and a refrigerating chamber 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1, and
also include a freezing chamber door 20 and a refrigerating chamber
door 11 for opening or closing the freezing chamber and
refrigerating chamber, respectively. Furthermore, a vegetable room
100 for storing vegetables and fruits (collectively, referred to as
"vegetables") in a more fresh state is additionally provided at a
predetermined location of the refrigerating chamber 10.
[0009] The vegetable room 100, as illustrated in FIG. 2, may be
provided with a drawer type, and may include a case 110 and a
drawer 130 inserted into the case 110 in a drawable manner.
[0010] The case 110 is formed in a front side open state to open or
close the vegetable room while the drawer 130 is reciprocately
inserted into a front side opening portion thereof that is open in
a drawable manner .
[0011] The case 110 is formed with a freezing chamber side plate
111, an outside plate 112, an upper plate 113 and a lower plate
114, and the rear surface thereof has a closed structure and the
front side thereof has an open structure.
[0012] Accordingly, when the vegetable room 100 is closed, the
inner portion may preferably sealed from the outer portion to
maintain a pressure lower than external atmospheric pressure, which
activates a separate vacuum pump to allow the inner portion of the
vegetable room to become a semi-vacuum state, thereby maintaining a
pressure lower than atmospheric pressure.
[0013] In the refrigerator 1, the refrigerating chamber 10 and
freezing chamber 20 are sealed and divided by a partition wall 30,
and the partition wall 30 may be preferably formed not to transfer
temperature from the freezing chamber 20 to the refrigerating
chamber 10, thereby independently performing the function of each
storage chamber.
[0014] However, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the left space of the
refrigerating chamber 10 located with the partition wall 30 forms a
temperature lower than that of the right side thereof due to the
cool air (F) of the freezing chamber 20. Accordingly, the left wall
portion of the vegetable room 100 (freezing chamber side plate 111)
mounted at an inner portion of the refrigerating chamber 10 has a
lower temperature distribution, and the right wall portion (outside
plate 112) has a higher temperature distribution compared to that
of the left wall portion.
[0015] The temperature distribution of the case 110 member
consequently exerts an effect on a temperature distribution within
the vegetable room 100, and such an uneven temperature distribution
within the vegetable room may cause dew due to their temperature
difference.
[0016] The dew falls on foods such as vegetables or the like stored
in the vegetable room 100 to be brought into contact with them,
thereby causing the decay of vegetables and exerting a great
influence on the freshness.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0017] The present disclosure is to solve the foregoing problems in
the related art, and a technical task of the present disclosure is
to provide a refrigerator vegetable room capable of maintaining a
uniform temperature within the vegetable room.
[0018] Furthermore, another technical task of the present
disclosure is to provide a refrigerator including a vegetable room
having a uniform temperature distribution.
[0019] In order to accomplish the foregoing technical tasks,
according to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided
a refrigerator vegetable room including a case on which a front
side thereof is open; a drawer inserted into a front side opening
portion of the case in a drawable manner to store fruits and
vegetable therein; and a metal plate provided to be brought into
contact with at least two surfaces of the case to cause heat
transfer from one surface of the case to the other surface
thereof.
[0020] Here, the metal plate may include an external metal plate
attached to the outside of the case. Furthermore, the external
metal plate may be formed to be brought into contact with at least
three surfaces on an external surface of the case.
[0021] On the other hand, the metal plate may include an internal
metal plate attached to the inside of the case. Here, the internal
metal plate may be formed to be brought into contact with at least
three or more surfaces on an internal surface of the case.
[0022] In addition, the internal metal plate may include an upper
metal plate attached to a lower surface of the inner upper plate of
the case, and a lower surface of the upper metal plate may include
a plurality of protruding portions and groove portions. Here, the
protruding portion may be formed with a plurality of protruding
ribs in a lattice shape, and the groove portion may be formed to be
depressed in a rectangular shape between the protruding ribs.
[0023] On the other hand, the refrigerator vegetable room may
further include an insulating material attached to an outer side of
the freezing chamber side plate of the case. Here, a plurality of
ribs may be formed to be protruded from an external surface of the
case, and the surface and insulating material of the case may be
disposed to be separated from one another by the ribs. Furthermore,
the insulating material may include a sealing portion formed to be
brought into contact with the surface of the case, and a
hermetically sealed air cell may be formed between the case surface
and the insulating material surface by the sealing portion.
[0024] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there
is provided a refrigerator including a refrigerating chamber and a
freezing chamber; a refrigerating chamber door configured to open
or close the refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber door
configured to open or close the freezing chamber; a vegetable room
accommodated into a predetermined location of the refrigerating
chamber, and comprising a case on which a front side thereof is
open and a drawer inserted into the case in a drawable manner to
store fruits or vegetables therein; and a metal plate provided to
be brought into contact with at least two surfaces of the case to
cause heat transfer from one surface of the case to the other
surface thereof.
[0025] Here, the metal plate may include an external metal plate
formed to be brought into contact with at least three or more
surfaces on an external surface of the case.
[0026] Furthermore, the metal plate may include an internal metal
plate formed to be brought into contact with at least three or more
surfaces on an internal surface of the case.
[0027] In addition, the metal plate may be attached to an internal
ceiling of the vegetable room, and may include an upper metal plate
comprising a protruding portion and a plurality of groove
portions
[0028] Furthermore, the refrigerator may further include an
insulating material attached to an outer side of the freezing
chamber side plate of the case. Here, a plurality of ribs may be
formed to be protruded from an external surface of the case, and
the surface and insulating material of the case may be disposed to
be separated from one another by the ribs. In addition, the
insulating material may include a sealing portion formed to be
brought into contact with the surface of the case, and a
hermetically sealed air cell may be formed between the case surface
and the insulating material surface by the sealing portion.
[0029] According to the aspects of the present disclosure having
the foregoing configuration, a metal plate may be attached to an
outer or inner circumferential surface of the case to uniformly
distribute cool air transferred from the freezing chamber by the
conductivity of the metal to the outer circumferential surface of
the case, thereby enhancing temperature distribution.
[0030] Furthermore, an insulating material may be attached to a
freezing chamber side outer wall of the refrigerator case to block
cool air transferred from the refrigerating chamber side, thereby
minimizing a non-uniform temperature distribution within the
vegetable room by cool air at the freezing chamber side.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a
further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of
the invention and together with the description serve to explain
the principles of the invention.
[0032] In the drawings:
[0033] FIG. 1 is an internal perspective view illustrating a
refrigerator;
[0034] FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a drawer type
vegetable room;
[0035] FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a vegetable room
to an outer portion of which a metal plate of the invention is
attached;
[0036] FIGS. 4A through 4C are perspective views illustrating
various embodiments of the metal plate in FIG. 3;
[0037] FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a vegetable room
to an inner portion of which a metal plate is attached according to
another embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0038] FIGS. 6A through 6C are perspective views illustrating
various embodiments of the metal plate in FIG. 5;
[0039] FIG. 7 is a graph in which the internal temperature
distributions of a vegetable room according to the related art and
a vegetable room to which a metal plate is attached according to
the present disclosure are measured;
[0040] FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating the enhanced
temperature distribution structure of a vegetable room using groove
portions according to still another embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0041] FIGS. 9 and 10 are views illustrating an example of groove
portions in the embodiment of FIG. 8;
[0042] FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating another
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0043] FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an embodiment
illustrated in FIG. 11;
[0044] FIG. 13 is a graph illustrating a temperature distribution
in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11;
[0045] FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating still another
embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0046] FIG. 15 is a graph illustrating a temperature distribution
in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 14.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0047] Hereinafter, a refrigerator vegetable room using a metal
plate for enhancing temperature distribution according to a
preferred embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in
detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0048] Prior to the description, it should be noted that terms and
words used in the description and claims must not be limited and
interpreted to be typical or literal, and should be construed as
the meaning and concept conforming to the technical concept of the
invention on the basis that the inventor can define the concept of
the terms and words to describe the invention in a best way.
[0049] Accordingly, since the embodiments described in the present
invention and configurations shown the drawings are the most
preferred embodiments only and do not represent all of technical
concept of the invention, it should be understood that there may be
various equivalents and modification examples that may replace them
at the time of application of present invention.
[0050] Hereinafter, a refrigerator vegetable room according to the
present disclosure and a refrigerator mounted with the same will be
described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 through 10.
[0051] Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, according to the present
disclosure, there is provided a refrigerator vegetable room 100
including a refrigerating chamber 100 having a case 110 on which a
front side thereof is open and a drawer 130 inserted into the case
in a drawable manner to store fruits or vegetables therein; and a
metal plate 200, 400 provided by way of a surface contact at the
case 110 to disperse the temperature distribution of the case by
conduction.
[0052] The vegetable room 100 may be typically implemented with a
first box type and a second box type vegetable room, and when
implemented with a second box type as illustrated in FIG. 2, the
vegetable room 100 may be formed with a drawer type including a
case 110 configured to implement the case of the vegetable room and
a drawer 130 inserted into the case 110 in a drawable manner.
[0053] The case 110 is formed in a front side open state to open or
close the vegetable room while the drawer 130 is reciprocately
inserted into a front side opening portion thereof that is open in
a drawable manner .
[0054] The case 110 is formed with a freezing chamber side plate
111, an outside plate 112, an upper plate 113 and a lower plate
114, and the rear surface thereof has a closed structure and the
front side thereof has an open structure.
[0055] Accordingly, when the vegetable room 100 is closed, the
inner portion may preferably sealed from the outer portion to
maintain a pressure lower than external atmospheric pressure, which
activates a separate vacuum pump to allow the inner portion of the
vegetable room to become a semi-vacuum state, thereby maintaining a
pressure lower than atmospheric pressure.
[0056] Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the refrigerating
chamber 10 and freezing chamber 20 in the refrigerator 1 are sealed
and divided by a partition wall 30, and the left space of the
refrigerating chamber 10 located with the partition wall 30 forms a
temperature lower than that of the right side thereof due to the
cool air (F) of the freezing chamber 20.
[0057] Accordingly, the left wall portion of the vegetable room 100
(freezing chamber side plate 111) mounted at an inner portion of
the refrigerating chamber 10 has a lower temperature distribution,
and the right wall portion (outside plate 112) has a higher
temperature distribution compared to that of the left wall
portion.
[0058] The temperature distribution of the case 110 member
consequently exerts an effect on a temperature distribution within
the vegetable room 100, and such an uneven temperature distribution
within the vegetable room may cause dew due to their temperature
difference.
[0059] The temperature of the freezing chamber 20 side of the
side-by-side refrigerator 1 is low to generate dew (D) better due
to a non-uniform temperature distribution, and thus the dew (D)
produced at the left side of the inner surface of the vegetable
room 100 cannot be solved.
[0060] The dew falls on foods such as vegetables or the like stored
in the vegetable room 100 to be brought into contact with them,
thereby causing the decay of vegetables and exerting a great
influence on the freshness.
[0061] Accordingly, according to the present disclosure, a metal
plate 200, 400 is attached to the case 110 to solve the temperature
distribution imbalance, thereby enhancing the temperature
distribution.
[0062] Referring to FIGS. 3 through 4C, the metal plate 200 is
attached to the outside of the case 110 to uniformly distribute the
temperature using the conductivity of the metal.
[0063] In addition, the external metal plate 200 may be attached to
a third, a fourth or a fifth surface of the case 110 as in various
embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 4A through 4C.
[0064] In this manner, using the fast thermal conduction of a metal
through the metal plate 200 attached to the outside of the case
110, a low temperature at the left side (freezing chamber side
plate 111) of the vegetable room 100 can be dispersed to the upper
portion (upper plate 113), right side (outside plate 112), bottom
(lower plate 114) and rear surface of the vegetable room 100.
[0065] Furthermore, the temperature may be dispersed to each plate
of the case 110 due to the metal plate 200 in this manner, thereby
decreasing a temperature difference between the left and right
sides within the vegetable room 100, enhancing the distribution
thereof, and consequently reducing dew generation within the
vegetable room 100.
[0066] FIG. 4A illustrates an embodiment in which a freezing
chamber side metal plate 201, an upper metal plate 203 and an
external side metal plate 202 are connected as an integral body to
form an external metal plate 200 according to the present
disclosure.
[0067] In addition, FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment in which a
freezing chamber side metal plate 201, an upper metal plate 203, an
external side metal plate 202 and a rear metal plate 205 are
connected as an integral body to form an external metal plate 200
according to the present disclosure.
[0068] Furthermore, FIG. 4C illustrates an embodiment in which a
freezing chamber side metal plate 201, an upper metal plate 203, an
external side metal plate 202, a rear metal plate 205 and a lower
metal plate 204 are connected as an integral body to form an
external metal plate 200 according to the present disclosure.
[0069] In this manner, the external metal plate 200 is attached to
the third, fourth or fifth surface of the case 110, thereby
uniformly distributing cool air from the freezing chamber 20
transferred by the freezing chamber side metal plate 201 using the
conductivity of the metal plate 200.
[0070] Referring to FIGS. 5 through 6C, according to another
embodiment of the present disclosure, the metal plate 400 is
attached to the inside of the case 110 to uniformly distribute the
temperature using the conductivity of the metal.
[0071] In addition, the internal metal plate 400 may be attached to
a third, a fourth or a fifth surface of the case 110 as in various
embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 6A through 6C.
[0072] In this manner, using the fast thermal conduction of a metal
through the metal plate 400 attached to the inside of the case 110,
a low temperature at the left side (freezing chamber side plate
111) of the vegetable room 100 can be dispersed to the upper
portion (upper plate 113), right side (outside plate 112), bottom
(lower plate 114) and rear surface of the vegetable room 100.
[0073] Furthermore, the temperature may be dispersed to each plate
of the case 110 due to the metal plate 400 in this manner, thereby
decreasing a temperature difference between the left and right
sides within the vegetable room 100, enhancing the distribution
thereof, and consequently reducing dew generation within the
vegetable room 100.
[0074] FIG. 6A illustrates an embodiment in which a freezing
chamber side metal plate 401, an upper metal plate 403 and an
external side metal plate 402 are connected as an integral body to
form an internal metal plate 400 according to the present
disclosure.
[0075] Furthermore, FIG. 6B illustrates an embodiment in which a
freezing chamber side metal plate 401, an upper metal plate 403, an
external side metal plate 402 and a rear metal plate 405 are
connected as an integral body to form an internal metal plate 400
according to the present disclosure.
[0076] Furthermore, FIG. 6C illustrates an embodiment in which a
freezing chamber side metal plate 401, an upper metal plate 403, an
external side metal plate 402, a rear metal plate 405 and a lower
metal plate 404 are connected as an integral body to form an
internal metal plate 400 according to the present disclosure.
[0077] In this manner, the internal metal plate 400 is attached to
the third, fourth or fifth surface of the case 110, thereby
uniformly distributing cool air from the freezing chamber 20
transferred by the freezing chamber side metal plate 401 using the
conductivity of the metal plate 400.
[0078] FIG. 7 is a graph in which the internal temperature
distributions of a vegetable room according to the related art and
a vegetable room to which a metal plate is attached according to
the present disclosure are measured, in particular, a graph in
which the temperature distribution is measured in a state that a
metal plate 200, 400 is attached to four surfaces (freezing chamber
side, upper side, external side, rear surface) thereof.
[0079] As a result, the metal plate 200, 400 according to the
present disclosure is attached to the outside or inside of the
vegetable room, and then the inside of the vegetable room is made
airtight, and then temperature distribution is measured in the
condition of an internal temperature of 4.degree. C. In case of the
internal temperature of the vegetable room in the related art, the
lower space of the vegetable room at the freezing chamber side
(left) exhibits a very low temperature of about 1.8 to 3.degree.
C., and the middle space of the vegetable room at the external side
(right) exhibits a high temperature of 4.8 to 5.8.degree. C.
However, in case of measuring the internal temperature distribution
of the vegetable room in a state that the metal plate 200, 400
according to the present disclosure is formed of a stainless steel
material and attached to four surfaces (freezing chamber side,
upper side, external side, rear surface) thereof, the side of the
freezing chamber exhibits a low temperature but has a temperature
distribution in a diffused broad area. In particular, it is seen
that the external side (right) exhibits a temperature distribution
of about 4.degree. C. and has a much more uniform temperature
distribution compared to the internal temperature distribution of
the vegetable room in the related art.
[0080] In this manner, according to the present disclosure, the
metal plate 200, 400 may be attached to the outside or inside of
the case 110 to allow a low temperature at the side of the freezing
chamber to be uniformly distributed using the conductivity of the
metal, thereby reducing a dew condensation phenomenon within the
vegetable room.
[0081] According to still another embodiment of the present
disclosure with reference to FIGS. 8 through 10, the internal metal
plate is may include an upper metal plate 600 attached to a lower
surface of the upper plate 113 of the case 110, and formed to
include a protruding portion 610 and a plurality of groove portions
630. Here, the plurality of groove portions 630 may reduce the
falling of dew (D) generated within the vegetable room.
[0082] In other words, the groove portion performs the role of
collecting the generated dew, and thus performs the role of
minimizing the falling of dew compared to a case where the groove
portion is not formed. Here, the depressed shape of the groove
portion 630 may not be necessarily limited to the illustrated
shape, and may be also formed to have a circular or any polygonal
cross-section.
[0083] On the other hand, according to the foregoing embodiment,
temperature distribution is allowed to be uniform using a metal
plate, but according to circumstances, the example of using an
insulating material may be also taken into consideration. In other
words, for the refrigerator 1, the refrigerating chamber 10 and
freezing chamber 20 are disposed side by side, and thus the left
space of the refrigerating chamber 10 located with the partition
wall 30 forms a temperature lower than that of the right side
thereof due to the cool air (F) of the freezing chamber 20.
[0084] Accordingly, the left wall portion of the vegetable room 100
(freezing chamber side plate 111) mounted at an inner portion of
the refrigerating chamber 10 has a lower temperature distribution,
and the right wall portion (outside plate 112) has a higher
temperature distribution compared to that of the left wall portion.
Due to this, a temperature at an inner portion of the vegetable
room becomes non-uniform, and thus an insulating material may be
provided at a portion adjacent to the freezing chamber, thereby
preventing cool air from the freezing chamber from being
transferred as well as maintaining a more uniform temperature
within the vegetable room.
[0085] FIGS. 11 and 12 are a perspective view and a cross-sectional
view illustrating an example in which an insulating material 900 is
added to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3. Referring to FIGS.
11 and 12, the vegetable room includes a drawer 130 sealed and
inserted into a front opening portion of the case in a drawable
manner, and the case 110 includes ribs 111a, 111b externally
protruded, and the insulating material 900 attached to the freezing
chamber side plate of the case 110 to block cool air from the
freezing chamber is disposed between the metal plate 203 and the
case 110.
[0086] The insulating material 900 uses an insulating member such
as a compressed styropor plate-shaped member. As illustrated in the
drawing, the insulating material 900 is provided at an external
left side (freezing chamber side) of the case 110 to insulate a low
temperature transferred from the partition wall 30 dividing the
freezing chamber 20 and refrigerating chamber 10 of a side-by-side
refrigerator, thereby preventing a temperature lower than the dew
point from being generated from the left wall of the vegetable room
100.
[0087] The ribs 111a, 111b are provided to enhance the rigidity of
the case 110, and formed to be extended along the vertical and
horizontal direction on a circumferential surface of the case.
Specifically, the ribs are configured with a vertical rib 111a and
a horizontal rib 111b, and formed with a plurality of horizontal
ribs and a plurality of vertical ribs crossed in a lattice
form.
[0088] Referring to FIG. 12, the insulating material 900 is
attached to the freezing chamber side plate 111 at the left wall of
the case 110, in which the insulating material 900 is provided in
an attached manner to be separated from the freezing chamber side
plate 111 by a predetermined distance due to a lattice structure
formed by the vertical rib 111a and horizontal rib 111b.
[0089] In other words, the insulating material 900 is provided to
be separated from the freezing chamber side plate 111 by the ribs
111a, 111b, and a separation space between the freezing chamber
side plate 111 and insulating material 900 forms an air cell (Ac).
To this end, the insulating material 900 includes sealing portions
901, 902 for sealing the air insulating layer at an edge attached
to the case 110. Due to this, the air cell (Ac) may more
effectively block cool air at the side of freezing chamber, and
maximize the insulation effect.
[0090] FIG. 13 is a graph in which the internal temperature
distributions of a vegetable room according to the related art and
a vegetable room according to the present disclosure are measured,
in particular, a graph in which the temperature distribution is
measured in a state that the external metal plate 200 is attached
to four surfaces (freezing chamber side, upper side, external side,
rear surface) thereof.
[0091] Specifically, temperature distribution is measured in the
condition of an internal temperature of 4.degree. C. in a state
that an inner portion of the vegetable room is made airtight.
[0092] In case of the internal temperature of the vegetable room in
the related art, the lower space of the vegetable room at the
freezing chamber side (left) exhibits a very low temperature of
about 1.8.degree. C., and the middle space of the vegetable room at
the external side (right) exhibits a high temperature of 5.3 to
5.8.degree. C., thereby generating a severe temperature
distribution imbalance.
[0093] However, according to an embodiment of the present
disclosure, it is seen that the freezing chamber side exhibits a
relatively low temperature, but has a uniform temperature
distribution compared to related art. In particular, it is seen
that the external side (right) exhibits a temperature distribution
of about 3.8.degree. C., and has a much more uniform temperature
distribution compared the internal temperature distribution of the
vegetable room in the related art.
[0094] On the other hand, according to circumstances, the example
including only an insulating material except the metal plate may be
also taken into consideration. FIG. 14 is a perspective view
illustrating an embodiment of having only an insulating material,
which is the same as the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11
excluding that the metal plate is removed. FIG. 15 is a graph
illustrating a temperature distribution in the embodiment
illustrated in FIG. 14 in which temperature distribution is
measured in the condition of an internal temperature of 4.degree.
C. after the inside of the vegetable room is made airtight.
[0095] Referring to FIG. 15, in case of the internal temperature of
a refrigerator vegetable room simply formed with only ribs without
attaching an insulating material thereto, the inner space of the
vegetable room at the freezing chamber side (left) exhibits a very
low temperature of about 1.8.degree. C., and the inner space of the
vegetable room at the external side (right) also exhibits a low
temperature of about 3.6 to 4.8.degree. C.
[0096] However, in case of a temperature distribution in which the
internal temperature of the vegetable room is measured in a state
that an insulating material (goldfoam, compressed styropor
material) is attached on the rib, it is seen that the region has a
far less temperature distribution region compared to a region in a
state that the insulating material is not attached thereto even
though the temperature of the freezing chamber (left) is about
1.8.degree. C.
* * * * *