Cold appliance

Abstract

A cold appliance, such as a domestic refrigerator or freezer, comprising a cabinet ( 101 ) having a cold compartment ( 104 ), and a cooling module ( 102 ). The cooling module comprises an air outlet ( 43 ) delivering cooled air to the cold compartment, an air inlet ( 44 ) receiving air from the cold compartment, an evaporator ( 33 ), and an evaporator fan ( 42 ), which generates an air flow from the air inlet, through the evaporator, and to the air outlet. The cross-sectional shape of the evaporator is adapted to the airflow such that the rate of the highest air velocity to the lowest air velocity through different portions of the evaporator is minimized

1 . A cold appliance, such as a domestic refrigerator or freezer, comprising a cabinet ( 101 ) having a cold compartment ( 104 ), and a cooling module ( 102 ), wherein the cooling module comprises an air outlet ( 43 ) delivering cooled air to the cold compartment, an air inlet ( 44 ) receiving air from the cold compartment, an evaporator ( 33 ), and an evaporator fan ( 42 ), which generates an air flow from the air inlet, through the evaporator, and to the air outlet, characterized in that the cross-sectional shape of the evaporator is adapted to the airflow such that the rate of the highest air velocity to the lowest air velocity through different portions of the evaporator is minimized. 
     
     
         2 . A cold appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the cross-section of the evaporator ( 33 ) is a rectangle in which the difference in the length of the sides is less than 20%, preferably the difference is less than 10%, and most preferably the length of all sides are approximately the same. 
     
     
         3 . A cold appliance according to  claim 2 , wherein the width of the evaporator ( 33 ) corresponds to or is less than the cross-section swept by the evaporator fan ( 42 ). 
     
     
         4 . A cold appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the cross-section of the evaporator ( 33 ) is circular. 
     
     
         5 . A cold appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the evaporator ( 33 ) comprises a plurality of fin plates. 
     
     
         6 . A cold appliance according to  claim 5 , wherein the shortest distance between two fin plates is between 2-12 mm, preferably between 3-5 mm. 
     
     
         7 . A cold appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein a pre-defrost device ( 48 ) is arranged adjacent to the evaporator ( 33 ), such that the air from the cold compartment ( 104 ) is guided by the pre-defrost device ( 48 ) before reaching the evaporator such that at least some humidity in the air from the cold compartment sticks to the pre-defrost device. 
     
     
         8 . A cold appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the cabinet ( 101 ) has been assembled from separate cabinet pre-foamed panels comprising two opposite side wall panels ( 1 ), a rear wall panel ( 4 ), a top panel ( 2 ), and a bottom panel ( 103 ), which are connected essentially perpendicular to each other by means of mechanical and/or glue joints, and a door ( 6 ). 
     
     
         9 . A cold appliance according to  claim 8  wherein, the evaporator ( 33 ) is kept in a restricted and well insulated space ( 34 ) with relatively small inlet and outlet openings ( 43 ,  44 ) such that the amount of air in this restricted space is quite small.