Supercooling refrigerator

Abstract

Disclosed is a supercooling refrigerator including: a main body having a refrigerating chamber for housing and holding stores including containers with a beverage filled therein in a supercooled state; a door for opening/closing an opened front or the refrigerating chamber; at least one shelf arranged in the refrigerating chamber in multiple stages with spaces therebetween for placing the stores thereon; a supply duct mounted in the refrigerating chamber in a vertical direction for circulating air in the refrigerating chamber; air holes formed in the supply duct; a heat exchanger arranged in the supply duct for cooling the air from the refrigerating chamber; a cooling unit connected to the heat exchanger for circulating refrigerant through the heat exchanger; and a mixing unit for introducing the air from the refrigerating chamber to the supply duct and continuously circulating the air to the refrigerating chamber through the heat exchanger, thereby permitting down-sizing of the refrigerator and supercooling beverages having different supercooling temperatures from one another at the same time.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A supercooling refrigerator comprising:
 a main body having a refrigerating chamber for housing and holding stores including containers with a beverage filled therein in a supercooled state;   a door for opening/closing an opened front or the refrigerating chamber;   at least one shelf arranged in the refrigerating chamber in multiple stages with spaces therebetween for placing the stores thereon;   a supply duct mounted in the refrigerating chamber in a vertical direction for circulating air in the refrigerating chamber;   air holes formed in the supply duct;   a heat exchanger arranged in the supply duct for cooling the air from the refrigerating chamber;   a cooling unit connected to the heat exchanger for circulating refrigerant through the heat exchanger; and   a mixing unit for introducing the air from the refrigerating chamber to the supply duct and continuously circulating the air to the refrigerating chamber through the heat exchanger.   
     
     
         2 . The supercooling refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the main body has a separator formed therein in a horizontal direction to form at least two refrigerating chambers in the main body separated from each other, the door is mounted to each of the opened front sides of the refrigerating chambers to individually open/close the refrigerating chambers, and each of the refrigerating chambers has the supply duct, the heat exchanger, and the mixing unit provided thereto to be operated. 
     
     
         3 . The supercooling refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the refrigerating chambers in the main body have different supercooling temperature ranges on the stores from one another. 
     
     
         4 . The supercooling refrigerator of  claim 3 , wherein the main body has two refrigerating chambers provided therein in the vertical direction, wherein the temperature of one refrigerating chamber is controlled to be in a range of 0° C.˜−10° C., and the temperature of the other refrigerating chamber is controlled to be in a range of −10° C.˜−20° C. 
     
     
         5 . The supercooling refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the cooling unit includes a compressor connected to the heat exchanger for compressing a refrigerant, and a condenser for condensing the compressed refrigerant and forwarding the compressed refrigerant to the heat exchanger, wherein the cooling unit is provided in a plural number thereof that is matched to a number of the refrigerating chambers and arranged on a lower side of the refrigerating chamber. 
     
     
         6 . The supercooling refrigerator of  claim 1 , further comprising a temperature sensor mounted to the supply duct for detecting a temperature of the refrigerating chamber, and a controller for calculating a detected value of the temperature sensor and controlling the cooling unit and the mixing unit to make the temperature of the refrigerating chamber be within a predetermined temperature range. 
     
     
         7 . The supercooling refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the supply duct has an inlet formed between an upper side thereof and the main body, and the mixing unit includes at least one fan or blower mounted to the inlet to the supply duct for drawing air from the refrigerating chamber into the inlet to the supply duct and circulating the air to the refrigerating chamber through the air holes by driving the fan or blower. 
     
     
         8 . The supercooling refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the supply duct is mounted to be connected between a top and a bottom of the main body, and the mixing unit includes at least one fan or blower arranged over the heat exchanger in the supply duct for circulating the air from the refrigerating chamber through the air holes in the supply duct by the fan or blower. 
     
     
         9 . The supercooling refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the supply duct is mounted to be connected between a top and a bottom of a main body, with a partition wall formed therein for partitioning a heat exchanging area and an air hole area to partition the supply duct into a heat exchanger passage and an air hole passage, with the heat exchanger passage having an inlet connected to an introduction hole formed in the supply duct and an outlet connected to the air hole passage through the partition wall, wherein the mixing unit includes at least one fan or blower mounted to the outlet of the partition wall or the heat exchanger passage for circulating the air from the refrigerating chamber to the supply duct through the air holes formed in the supply duct.