US 12,222,152 B2
Refrigerator
Dohyun Park, Seoul (KR); Haewon Seo, Seoul (KR); Sunghee Kang, Seoul (KR); Yongbum Cho, Seoul (KR); and Kihwang Kim, Seoul (KR)
Assigned to LG ELECTRONICS INC., Seoul (KR)
Appl. No. 17/787,136
Filed by LG Electronics Inc., Seoul (KR)
PCT Filed Oct. 26, 2021, PCT No. PCT/KR2021/015136
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 17, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/124568, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 16, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2020-0172259 (KR), filed on Dec. 10, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0332819 A1, Oct. 19, 2023
Int. Cl. F25D 17/06 (2006.01); F25D 17/08 (2006.01)
CPC F25D 17/065 (2013.01) [F25D 17/08 (2013.01); F25D 2317/067 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A refrigerator comprising:
an outer casing that defines an exterior of the refrigerator;
a partition wall that divides an inner space of the outer casing into an upper space and a lower space;
a freezer compartment inner casing that is located in the upper space above the partition wall and defines a freezer compartment;
a refrigerating compartment inner casing that is located in the lower space below the partition wall and defines a refrigerating compartment, the refrigerating compartment inner casing having a side wall that defines a cold air discharge hole;
an evaporator located in the freezer compartment inner casing;
a freezer compartment door to open and close the freezer compartment;
a refrigerating compartment door to open and close the refrigerating compartment;
a hot line disposed along a perimeter of a front end portion of the refrigerating compartment inner casing facing the refrigerating compartment door;
a cold air duct located between a side wall of the outer casing and the side wall of the refrigerating compartment inner casing to receive cold air supplied from the freezer compartment and to supply the cold air to a front space of the refrigerating compartment through the cold air discharge hole,
wherein the partition wall having a duct connection flow path to guide the cold air provided from the freezer compartment, and the duct connection flow path configured to pass through a side surface of the partition wall,
wherein the cold air duct comprises:
a main flow part located at a position farther from the hot line than from the cold air discharge hole, the cold air discharge hole being located between the main flow part and the hot line, and
a branching flow part branched from the main flow part and connected to the cold air discharge hole.
 
11. A refrigerator comprising:
an outer casing that defines an exterior of the refrigerator;
a partition wall that divides an inner space of the outer casing into an upper space and a lower space;
an inner casing that defines an interior of the refrigerator, the inner casing having an opening for access to the interior of the refrigerator, and a cold air discharge hole at a side of the inner casing;
a refrigerator door to open and close the opening of the inner casing;
a cold air duct located between a side wall of the outer casing and a side wall of the inner casing, the cold air duct to supply cold air to a front of the refrigerator through the cold air discharge hole;
wherein the partition wall having a duct connection flow path to guide cold air, and the duct connection flow path configured to pass through a side surface of the partition wall, and
wherein the cold air duct comprises:
a main flow part including a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the main flow part located farther from the opening of the inner casing than from the cold air discharge hole, the cold air discharge hole located between the main flow part and the opening of the inner casing, and
a branching flow part branching from between the first end and the second end of the main flow part and connected with the cold air discharge hole.