Refrigerator

Abstract

Proposed is a refrigerator including a cabinet having a freezing compartment above a partition wall and a refrigerating compartment therebelow, an evaporator positioned behind the freezing compartment and generating cool air, a freezing-compartment grill assembly positioned in front of the evaporator inside the freezing compartment, a blowing fan for blowing the cool air being mounted in the freezing-compartment grill assembly, and a refrigerating-compartment grill assembly positioned behind the refrigerating compartment, wherein a refrigerating-compartment discharge flow path guiding discharging of the cool air supplied from the freezing-compartment grill assembly into the refrigerating compartment, and a refrigerating-compartment retrieval flow path guiding flowing of the cool air retrieved from the refrigerating compartment into the freezing compartment are formed together in the refrigerating-compartment grill assembly.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A refrigerator comprising:
 a cabinet defining a storage space including (i) a freezing compartment above a partition wall and (ii) a refrigerating compartment below the partition wall;   an evaporator provided behind the freezing compartment and configured to generate cool air;   a freezing-compartment grill assembly provided in front of the evaporator inside the freezing compartment;   a blowing fan provided at the freezing-compartment grill assembly and configured to blow the cool air generated by the evaporator into the freezing compartment; and   a refrigerating-compartment grill assembly provided inside the refrigerating compartment at a rear side portion thereof,   wherein the refrigerating-compartment grill assembly provides (i) a refrigerating-compartment discharge flow path configured to guide the cool air from the freezing-compartment grill assembly into the refrigerating compartment and (ii) a refrigerating-compartment retrieval flow path configured to guide the cool air from the refrigerating compartment into the freezing compartment.   
     
     
         2 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein a first transfer flow path is defined at the partition wall and configured to guide the cool air to the refrigerating-compartment discharge flow path. 
     
     
         3 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the first transfer flow path is provided at a rear side center portion of the partition wall such that the first transfer flow path passes through the rear side center portion from a top towards a bottom thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein a cool-air inlet of the refrigerating-compartment discharge flow path is provided downward in a backward direction relative to a bottom end of the first transfer flow path, and (i) a front side branch flow path extending up towards a front side bottom surface of the partition wall and (ii) a rear side branch flow path connected to the refrigerating-compartment discharge flow path are both defined at the bottom end of the first transfer flow path. 
     
     
         5 . The refrigerator of  claim 4 , wherein the rear side branch flow path gradually inclines downward from the first transfer flow path toward the refrigerating-compartment discharge flow path. 
     
     
         6 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein a second transfer flow path is defined at the partition wall and configured to guide the cool air towards the evaporator. 
     
     
         7 . The refrigerator of  claim 6 , wherein the second transfer flow path is recessed in a rear surface of the partition wall, and a blocking cover is provided at the rear surface of the partition wall and configured to cover the second transfer flow path from an external environment. 
     
     
         8 . The refrigerator of  claim 7 , wherein the blocking cover is detachably provided at the rear surface of the partition wall. 
     
     
         9 . The refrigerator of  claim 7 , wherein a cool-air outlet of the refrigerating-compartment retrieval flow path is provided at an upper surface of the refrigerating-compartment grill assembly, and a communication groove is defined in the second transfer flow path such that the communication groove passes through the second transfer flow path towards the cool-air outlet. 
     
     
         10 . The refrigerator of  claim 9 , wherein a guidance flow path is defined in the blocking cover and configured to guide the cool air from the refrigerating-compartment retrieval flow path to an upper center portion of the blocking cover. 
     
     
         11 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the refrigerating-compartment grill assembly comprises:
 a first duct unit provided at an inside of the refrigerating compartment and having a plurality of refrigerating-compartment discharge openings; and   a second duct unit coupled to a rear surface of the first duct unit, wherein the refrigerating-compartment discharge flow path is defined in the second duct unit.   
     
     
         12 . The refrigerator of  claim 11 , wherein the first duct unit has (i) a width that is greater in a leftward-rightward direction than a width of the second duct unit and (ii) lateral walls on opposite sides thereof, wherein a front surface of the second duct unit is in contact with one portion of the rear surface of the first duct unit, and the rear surface of the first duct unit and the second duct unit are covered by a blocking plate. 
     
     
         13 . The refrigerator of  claim 12 , wherein the refrigerating-compartment discharge flow path is recessed in a rear surface of the second duct unit and thus is blocked by the blocking plate from an outside environment. 
     
     
         14 . The refrigerator of  claim 12 , wherein the blocking plate is made of an insulating material. 
     
     
         15 . The refrigerator of  claim 12 , wherein the second duct unit is provided at a center portion of the rear surface of the first duct unit, and the refrigerating-compartment retrieval flow path is defined between one lateral wall of the first duct unit and one lateral wall of the second duct unit and between the other lateral wall of the first duct unit and the other lateral wall of the second duct unit. 
     
     
         16 . The refrigerator of  claim 11 , wherein a plurality of communication discharge openings are defined in the second duct unit and configured to be in fluid communication with each of the plurality of refrigerating-compartment discharge openings in the first duct unit and thus discharge the cool air, and a plurality of the refrigerating-compartment discharge flow paths pass through each of the plurality of communication discharge openings. 
     
     
         17 . The refrigerator of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of refrigerating-compartment discharge openings are provided at opposite sides, respectively, of the first duct unit, and the plurality of communication discharge openings are provided at portions, respectively, of the second duct unit that correspond to the refrigerating-compartment discharge openings when the second duct unit is combined with the rear surface of the first duct unit. 
     
     
         18 . The refrigerator of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of refrigerating-compartment discharge flow paths are defined to (i) branch off from a cool-air inlet towards opposite sides, respectively, of the second duct unit, (ii) pass through the plurality of the communication discharge openings, respectively, and (iii) reach bottoms, respectively, of the opposite sides of the second duct unit, and wherein the cool-air inlet is provided at a center portion of an upper surface of the second duct unit and passes therethrough. 
     
     
         19 . The refrigerator of  claim 11 , wherein the first duct unit has openings at a bottom surface and an upper surface of the refrigerating compartment, and wherein the refrigerating-compartment retrieval flow path is configured to guide the cool air from the refrigerating compartment into the refrigerating-compartment retrieval flow path through the openings at the bottom surface and then discharge through the openings at the upper surface. 
     
     
         20 . The refrigerator of  claim 11 , wherein the refrigerating-compartment discharge flow path in the second duct unit is configured to receive the cool air from a center portion of an upper surface of the second duct unit.