Refrigerator

Abstract

A refrigerator including a housing mounted at a rear surface of a door to define a storage space of food, a basket disposed inside the housing, a duct extending to the housing from one side of an evaporator to supply cold air generated by the evaporator into the storage space of the housing, and a fan assembly coupled to the duct to allow the cold air to be forcibly supplied.

1 . A refrigerator, comprising:
 a cabinet defining a storage compartment therein;   an evaporator configured to cool air   an evaporator fan configured to blow the cooled air into the storage compartment;   a door configured to open or close at least a portion of the storage compartment, wherein the door includes an outer door and an inner door having an access hole;   a housing provided for the inner door, and an upper surface of the housing having an opening, wherein the inner door and the housing define a door storage space, and the outer door is configured to allow access to the door storage space through the access hole;   a grill provided over the opening of the upper surface;   at least one basket disposed within the door storage space; and   a blowing fan configured to draw the cooled air of the storage compartment through the grill,   wherein the cooled air drawn in by the blowing fan is directed in opposite directions and blown into the door storage space.   
     
     
         2 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one first discharge port formed in a first lateral side surface of the housing and at least one second discharge port formed in a second lateral side surface of the housing such as to allow the cooled air flowing through the door storage space to escape into the storage compartment. 
     
     
         3 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein a first gap is provided between an upper surface of the housing and an upper inner wall of the storage compartment. 
     
     
         4 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein a second gap is provided between a rear surface of the housing and a rear surface of the at least one basket to allow the cool air to flow between the second gap. 
     
     
         5 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the cooled air drawn in by the blowing fan are directed in opposite directions by first and second ducts provided below the opening of the housing. 
     
     
         6 . The refrigerator of  claim 5 , wherein the first duct includes a first surface to guide the cooled air drawn in through the grill by the blowing fan in a first direction, and the second duct includes a second surface to guide the cooled air in a second direction, the first and second direction being opposite directions. 
     
     
         7 . The refrigerator of  claim 6 , wherein the blowing fan is provided between the grill and a shroud, and wherein the first and second ducts are part of the shroud, and the first and second surfaces are inclined. 
     
     
         8 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein after the cooled air is blown in opposite directions, the cooled air flows along opposite walls of the walls of the door storage space and then dispersed into the door storage space. 
     
     
         9 . The refrigerator of  claim 8 , wherein one of the opposite walls comprises a rear wall of the housing coupling first and second lateral side surfaces of the housing. 
     
     
         10 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein at least one side of the outer door is thinner than the inner door. 
     
     
         11 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein at least one basket includes a first basket and a second basket provided below the first basket, a front wall of the first basket having a first height and a front wall of the second basket having a second height, wherein the first height is smaller than the second height. 
     
     
         12 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one basket is provided between the opening of the upper surface and at least one of the first discharge port or the second discharge port. 
     
     
         13 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein
 the upper surface of the housing is oriented at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane such that the opening provided on the top surface of the housing is angled, the horizontal plane extending perpendicular to a central longitudinal axis of the door when the door is closed, and   the blowing fan is angled like the upper surface of the housing and aligned with the opening to directly cover the opening provided on the upper surface of the housing.   
     
     
         14 . A refrigerator, comprising:
 a cabinet defining a storage compartment therein;   a door configured to open or close at least a portion of the storage compartment, wherein the door includes an outer door and an inner door having an access hole;   a housing provided for the inner door, wherein the inner door and the housing define a door storage space, and the outer door is configured to allow access to the door storage space through the access hole; and   at least one basket disposed within the door storage space,   wherein the housing includes an air inlet to allow air from the storage compartment to enter the door storage space and an air outlet to allow air from the door storage space to escape into the storage compartment, the air outlet being positioned lower than the air inlet to stabilize temperatures between the storage compartment and the door storage space.   
     
     
         15 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the air outlet includes a first discharge port formed in a first lateral side surface of the housing and a second discharge port formed in a second lateral side surface of the housing, the first and second lateral side surfaces being different lateral side surfaces of the housing. 
     
     
         16 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the air inlet is an opening provided on an upper surface of the housing. 
     
     
         17 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein a blowing fan draws in air of the storage compartment through the air inlet and blows the air into the door storage space, and the blown air of the door storage space escapes to the storage compartment through the air outlet. 
     
     
         18 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the blowing fan is oriented at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane, the horizontal plane extending perpendicular to a central longitudinal axis of the door when the door is closed, and an upper surface of the housing is inclined like the blowing fan. 
     
     
         19 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein a first gap is provided between an upper surface of the housing and an upper inner wall of the storage compartment when the inner door is closed, and a second gap is provided between a rear surface of the basket and a rear surface of the housing. 
     
     
         20 . The refrigerator of  claim 17 , wherein the blowing fan is fixed to align with air inlet. 
     
     
         21 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein at least one basket includes a first basket and a second basket provided below the first basket, a front wall of the first basket having a first height and a front wall of the second basket having a second height, wherein the first height is smaller than the second height. 
     
     
         22 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein at least one side of the outer door is thinner than the inner door. 
     
     
         23 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one basket is provided between the air inlet and the air outlet. 
     
     
         24 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 an evaporator configured to cool air and provided behind a rear wall of the storage compartment; and   an evaporator fan provided behind the rear wall and configured to blow the cooled air into the storage compartment and for entry through the air inlet of the door storage space.