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US 12,467,677 B2Granted
Refrigerator
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorYeongsu Yun
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A refrigerator includes a refrigerator case, a freezer case disposed below the refrigerator case, a door disposed at a front of the refrigerator case, an ice maker disposed at the door, an evaporator disposed at a rear of the freezer case, an ice maker supply duct supplying the cold air to the ice maker, and an ice maker return duct supplying the cold air from the ice maker to the freezer compartment. An upper portion of the ice maker return duct extends from a rear of one side surface of the freezer case to a front of one side surface of the refrigerator case, a lower portion of the ice maker return duct extends in a vertical direction from the rear of one side surface of the freezer case, and the lower portion bends from the upper portion toward the other side surface of the freezer case.
Claims20
A refrigerator, comprising:
- a refrigerator case that defines a refrigerator compartment;
- a freezer case that is disposed below the refrigerator case and defines a freezer compartment;
- a door disposed at a front of the refrigerator case and configured to open and close at least a portion of the refrigerator case;
- an ice maker disposed at the door and configured to generate ice;
- an evaporator disposed at a rear of the freezer case and configured to generate cold air;
- an ice maker supply duct configured to supply the cold air generated by the evaporator to the ice maker;
- an ice maker return duct configured to supply the cold air from the ice maker to the freezer compartment, the ice maker return duct extending downward from a front portion of a first side surface of the refrigerator case to a rear portion of a first side surface of the freezer case;
- an outer case that defines an exterior of the refrigerator and is disposed outside the refrigerator case and the freezer case, the outer case being spaced apart from the ice maker return duct in a width direction of the refrigerator;
- and
- a vacuum insulator disposed between the ice maker return duct and the outer case,
- wherein the ice maker return duct comprises:
- a first portion that extends from the front portion of the first side surface of the refrigerator case toward the rear portion of the first side surface of the freezer case, and
- a second portion that is disposed below the first portion and extends in a vertical direction from the rear portion of the first side surface of the freezer case, the second portion defining a curved shape that is curved inward relative to the vacuum insulator and the outer case in the width direction toward a second side surface of the freezer case.
10 more elements
A refrigerator comprising:
- a refrigerator case that defines a refrigerator compartment;
- a freezer case that is disposed below the refrigerator case and defines a freezer compartment;
- a door disposed at a front of the refrigerator case and configured to open and close at least a portion of the refrigerator case;
- an ice maker disposed at the door and configured to generate ice;
- an evaporator disposed at a rear of the freezer case and configured to generate cold air;
- an ice maker supply duct configured to supply the cold air generated by the evaporator to the ice maker;
- and
- an ice maker return duct configured to supply the cold air from the ice maker to the freezer compartment, the ice maker return duct extending downward from a front portion of a first side surface of the refrigerator case to a rear portion of a first side surface of the freezer case,
- wherein the ice maker return duct comprises:
- a first portion that extends from the front portion of the first side surface of the refrigerator case toward the rear portion of the first side surface of the freezer case, and
- a second portion that is disposed below the first portion and extends in a vertical direction from the rear portion of the first side surface of the freezer case, the second portion defining a curved shape that is curved from the first portion toward a second side surface of the freezer case,
- wherein the ice maker return duct comprises:
- a return duct inclination part that defines a return duct inlet configured to receive the cold air from the ice maker, the return duct inclination part extending from the front portion of the refrigerator case to the rear portion of the freezer case,
- a return duct bend part that is connected to the return duct inclination part and curved from the first side surface of the freezer case toward the second side surface of the freezer case,
- a return duct vertical part that is connected to the return duct bend part and extends in the vertical direction, and
- a return duct connection part that defines a return duct outlet connected to the return duct vertical part and configured to discharge the cold air to the freezer compartment, and
- wherein a cross-section of the return duct inclination part and the return duct vertical part define the curved shape.
14 more elements
A refrigerator, comprising:
- an outer case that defines an exterior of the refrigerator;
- a refrigerator case that is disposed in the outer case and defines a refrigerator compartment;
- a freezer case that is disposed in the outer case and disposed below the refrigerator case, the freezer case defining a freezer compartment;
- a door disposed at a front of the refrigerator case and configured to open and close at least a portion of the refrigerator case;
- an evaporator disposed at a rear of the freezer case and configured to generate cold air;
- an ice maker disposed at the door and configured to generate ice;
- an ice maker return duct configured to supply the cold air from the ice maker to the freezer compartment;
- and
- a vacuum insulator disposed between the outer case and a first portion of the ice maker return duct,
- wherein the first portion of the ice maker return duct is disposed closer to the outer case than a second portion of the ice maker return duct in which the vacuum insulator is not disposed.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.