Refrigerator airflow distribution assembly

US6655169B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• General Electric Company · US

Inventors

• Jeffery Allen Tupis · Taylorsville, US
• Martin Christopher Severance · Louisville, US
• Arthur Wilson Scrivener · Louisville, US
• Gerald Eugene Sturgeon · Louisville, US
• Richard DeVos · Goshen, US
• Steven James Gray · Southlake, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 5, 2001
• Grant date: Dec 2, 2003
• Expiry date: Jan 5, 2021

Classification

• Technology area (CPC F): Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
• CPC primary: F25D2400/06
• WIPO field: Other consumer goods
• WIPO sector: Other fields

Abstract

A refrigerator airflow distribution assembly includes an airflow diverter in flow communication with freezer compartment air. The diverter includes a primary flow path and at least one diverter opening therethrough, and together with a cover forms a secondary flow path in flow communication with the first flow path through the diverter opening. Freezer compartment air is directed to the primary flow path, and a portion of the air in the primary flow path flows through the diverter openings and into the secondary flow path, and is introduced to the fresh food compartment through one or more vents in the cover. Metered airflow through the diverter reduces temperature gradients in the refrigerator, as well as provides a regulated temperature source for a storage drawer in the fresh food storage compartment.