JP7731071B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to refrigerators.

Patent Document 1 discloses a refrigerator having a refrigerator main body having an outer box and an inner box, a refrigerator compartment provided at the top of the refrigerator main body, a vegetable compartment provided at the bottom of the refrigerator main body, a freezer compartment provided between the vegetable compartment and the refrigerator compartment, a storage compartment rear member provided at the back of the freezer compartment, a cooler cover provided behind the storage compartment rear member, a cooler compartment provided between the cooler cover and the inner box, a cooler provided within the cooler compartment, a defrost heater provided below the cooler, and a freezer compartment return port provided at the bottom of the storage compartment rear member and communicating between the freezer compartment and the cooler compartment.

JP 2010-060188 A

This disclosure provides a refrigerator that can achieve rapid cooling using cold air with reduced pressure loss.

The refrigerator of the present disclosure comprises at least a first storage compartment and a second storage compartment, a blower fan disposed rearward of the first storage compartment and capable of blowing cool air to the first storage compartment and the second storage compartment, and a partition wall separating the first storage compartment and the blower fan, the partition wall having an opening communicating with the inside of a fan casing of the blower fan, and a rapid cooling compartment on the opposite side of the opening from the blower fan that can be rapidly cooled by the cool air passing through the opening, the blower fan being attached to one surface of the partition wall, and the opening being provided on the surface of the partition wall on which the blower fan is attached and formed along an arc based on the center of rotation of the blower fan .

The refrigerator disclosed herein can send the cold air inside the blower fan's fan casing directly into the rapid cooling chamber. This makes it possible to achieve rapid cooling using cold air with reduced pressure loss.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a rear view showing a cooling chamber and a duct in the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a rear view showing a blower fan portion and a peripheral configuration according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a blower fan portion according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a rear view of a blower fan portion according to the first embodiment, seen from the cooling chamber side. FIG. 1 is a front view of a blower fan portion according to the first embodiment, seen from the freezer compartment side. FIG. 1 is a rear view showing the first partition plate as viewed from the cooling chamber side in the first embodiment; FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first partition plate and a blower fan according to a first embodiment, as viewed from the cooling chamber side; FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first partition plate and a second partition plate portion according to the first embodiment, as viewed from the cooling chamber side; FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first partition plate and a second partition plate portion according to the first embodiment, as viewed from the freezer compartment side;

(Findings that formed the basis of this disclosure)
At the time the inventors came up with the idea for the present disclosure, there was a technology in place to supply cool air to a refrigerator compartment, a vegetable compartment, and a freezer compartment, which involved using a diverter or a flap downstream of the fan casing of the blower fan.

However, conventional technologies tend to require long paths for supplying cool air from the blower fan to each room, which is disadvantageous in reducing pressure loss of the cool air. On the other hand, rapid cooling requires supplying cool air at high static pressure.
Therefore, the present disclosure provides a refrigerator capable of rapid cooling with cold air with reduced pressure loss by directly supplying cold air in a fan casing of a blower fan to a rapid cooling chamber.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, in some cases, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanation of already well-known matters or redundant explanation of substantially the same configuration may be omitted.
The accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1-1. Configuration]
FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a rear view showing a cooling compartment and a duct. FIG. 3 is a rear view of a blower fan portion together with its surrounding configuration, viewed from the cooling compartment side. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the blower fan portion. FIG. 5 is a rear view of the blower fan portion, viewed from the cooling compartment side. FIG. 6 is a front view of the blower fan portion, viewed from the freezer compartment side. FIG. 7 is a rear view of a first partition plate, viewed from the cooling compartment side. FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the first partition plate and the blower fan, viewed from the cooling compartment side. FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the first partition plate and the second partition plate portion, viewed from the cooling compartment side. FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the first partition plate and the second partition plate portion, viewed from the freezer compartment side.

As shown in Fig. 1, refrigerator 10 has a box-shaped housing 11 with an open front. A refrigerating compartment 12 with a temperature of approximately 2°C to 4°C is formed in the upper part of housing 11 as a second storage compartment, and a freezing compartment 13 with a temperature of approximately -18°C is formed in the lower part of housing 11 as a first storage compartment. A low-temperature compartment 60 with a temperature of approximately -5°C to 1°C is formed between refrigerating compartment 12 and freezing compartment 13 as a third storage compartment.
In the refrigerator 10, a side-opening door 14 is provided at the opening on the front of the refrigeration compartment 12 so as to be able to open and close freely. A side-opening door 61 is provided at the opening on the front of the freezer compartment 13 so as to be able to open and close freely, and a drawer case 15 for storing food is provided inside. In addition, a drawer door 62 is provided at the opening on the front of the low-temperature compartment 60 so as to be able to open and close freely, and a drawer case 63 is provided which is linked to the opening and closing of the drawer door 62.

2 to 10, a cooling compartment 20 is provided on the rear side of the freezer compartment 13 of the refrigerator 10. A duct 21, which is located on the rear side of the refrigerator compartment 12 and communicates in the vertical direction, is connected above the cooling compartment 20.
The duct 21 is provided with a refrigerating air outlet (not shown) that communicates with the refrigerating compartment 12 .
A heat insulating wall 64 is provided between the freezing compartment 13 and the low-temperature compartment 60. A cold air passage 64a is formed in the heat insulating wall 64, connecting the cooling compartment 20 with the duct 21. This allows the cold air generated in the cooling compartment 20 to be introduced into the duct 21 via the cold air passage 64a.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cold air passage 64a is provided with a twin damper 65 for adjusting the amount of cold air flowing into the refrigerating compartment 12 and the low-temperature compartment 60.
2, the twin damper 65 includes a low temperature compartment damper 65a as a third storage compartment damper and a refrigerator compartment damper 65b as a first storage compartment damper, which are arranged adjacent to each other in the left-right width direction of the refrigerator 10. The low temperature compartment damper 65a and the refrigerator compartment damper 65b are controlled in accordance with the room temperatures of the low temperature compartment 60 and the refrigerator compartment 12, respectively, and independently open and close the dampers to adjust the amount of cold air into the low temperature compartment 60 and the refrigerator compartment 12.

A first partition plate 30 is provided on the front side of the cooling compartment 20. A second partition plate 40 is provided on the rear side of the freezer compartment 13. A cold air passage 41 is formed between the first partition plate 30 and the second partition plate 40.
An inclined surface 31 is formed on the upper part of the first partition plate 30, inclined so as to move away from the second partition plate 40 as it goes upward. A blower fan 32 is attached to the rear side of the inclined surface 31.
The first partition plate 30 and the second partition plate 40 form a partition wall 17 that separates the freezer compartment 13 from the blower fan 32 .

The blower fan 32 is a type of fan that is classified as a blower fan. Blower fans also include axial fans. Generally, axial fans have rotating blades attached to the center of the frame, drawing air in from the front of the rotating blades and blowing it out the rear. Conventional refrigerators often use axial fans to circulate cool air.

In contrast, the blower fan 32 comprises a fan unit 34 with rotating blades 33 and a fan casing 35 that covers the rotating blades 33. It is configured to draw air in from the front of the rotating blades 33 and blow it out the side of the rotating blades 33 (corresponding to the upward direction in Figure 5). The fan casing 35 is formed as a casing shaped along an involute curve based on the center of rotation C1 of the rotating blades 33; in other words, it is formed as a roughly spiral-shaped casing.

As the rotating blades 33 rotate, the wind flows radially from the center of rotation C1 and along the inner surface of the fan casing 35, causing the wind to blow out from an opening provided on the side of the fan casing 35 (which in this embodiment corresponds to the second opening 36 provided above).
Generally, the blower fan 32 can easily obtain a higher static pressure than an axial fan of the same size. Also, the number of rotating blades 33 of the blower fan 32 is generally greater than the number of rotating blades of an axial fan, which also makes it easier to obtain a high static pressure.

As shown in Figures 3 and 5, the fan casing 35 is formed in a generally spiral shape with the distance from the center of rotation C1 gradually increasing in the clockwise direction. A second opening 36 that communicates with the lower end of the cold air passage 64a is formed at the top of the fan casing 35. A cold air intake 37 is formed in the center of the fan casing 35 opposite the rotation axis of the blower fan 32 to draw cold air from the cooling chamber 20 into the fan unit 34.

3, the fan casing 35 expands from its top toward both sides of the fan casing 35 and connects to the connecting part 70 via the second opening 36. The connecting part 70 forms a cold air passage that connects to the low-temperature compartment damper 65a and the refrigerator compartment damper 65b.
The low-temperature chamber damper 65a is disposed at a position corresponding to the downstream outer periphery of the fan casing 35, and the refrigerator chamber damper 65b is disposed at a position corresponding to the downstream inner periphery of the fan casing 35. Therefore, of the airflow blown out from the fan casing 35, the airflow flowing on the downstream outer periphery of the fan casing 35 is supplied to the low-temperature chamber 60 via the low-temperature chamber damper 65a, and the airflow flowing on the downstream inner periphery of the fan casing 35 is supplied to the refrigerator chamber 12 via the refrigerator chamber damper 65b.

By driving the fan unit 34 and rotating the rotary blades 33, cold air from the cooling chamber 20 is drawn into the fan unit 34 through the cold air intake 37 of the fan casing 35 and blown out from the outer periphery of the fan unit 34 into the interior of the fan casing 35. The cold air blown out into the interior of the fan casing 35 is guided along the fan casing 35 and sent to the duct 21 through the second opening 36 and the cold air passage 64a.

An evaporator 22 is installed below the blower fan 32 of the cooling compartment 20. A compressor 23 is disposed at the upper rear of the refrigerator compartment 12. The compressor 23, a condenser (not shown), an expansion mechanism, and the evaporator 22 are connected by refrigerant piping to form a refrigeration cycle.
Then, by discharging the refrigerant from the compressor 23, the evaporator 22 exchanges heat between the refrigerant and the air inside the cooling chamber 20, generating cool air inside the cooling chamber 20.

A roughly arc-shaped first opening 38 (indicated by reference numerals 38a, 38b, and 38c in Figures 7-9) is formed in the first partition plate 30 at a position corresponding to the fan casing 35. The first openings 38a-38c are shaped along an arc based on the center of rotation C1, and three openings are formed in this embodiment.

7 to 9, the first openings 38a, 38b, and 38c are formed in this order from the upstream side of the airflow generated by the blower fan 32. Hereinafter, when the first openings 38a to 38c are to be distinguished from one another, they will be referred to as the upstream first opening 38a, the midstream first opening 38b, and the downstream first opening 38c, respectively.
The opening areas of the first upstream opening 38a, the first midstream opening 38b, and the first downstream opening 38c are each formed so that the opening width gradually increases from the upstream side to the downstream side of the airflow. Also, the opening areas of the first upstream opening 38a, the first midstream opening 38b, and the first downstream opening 38c are formed so that the opening areas successively increase from the upstream side.
This ensures efficient cooling by ensuring a sufficient airflow rate to the freezer compartment 13. However, as long as the airflow rate can be ensured, at least only the upstream first opening 38a may be gradually enlarged.

7, the space between the three first openings 38a-38c is a fan mounting portion 39 for mounting the fan unit 34 to the first partition plate 30. Each of the fan mounting portions 39 is formed with a recess 39a.
As shown in Figure 8, the fan unit 34 is formed with three fan support portions 34a that protrude outward at equal angular intervals (120-degree intervals in this embodiment). The fan support portions 34a have vibration-isolating rubber and are fixed to recesses 39a formed in the first partition plate 30 via the vibration-isolating rubber. This allows the fan unit 34 to be elastically supported by the first partition plate 30 at three points. Note that although screws 66 are used to fix the first partition plate 30 to the first partition plate 30, a method that does not use screws 66 may also be used.

By attaching the blower fan 32 to the inclined surface 31 of the first partition plate 30, the rotation axis L1 (Figure 4) of the blower fan 32 is positioned at an angle. This causes the blower fan 32 to blow cool air upward and forward from the first opening 38, facilitating cool air convection.

Further, a molded heat insulating material 50 made of, for example, polystyrene foam or the like is provided on the second partition plate 40 in close contact with the second partition plate 40 .
Similar to the first partition plate 30, the second partition plate 40 and the molded insulating material 50 are each formed with three discharge ports 42, 51 at positions corresponding to the first opening 38 of the first partition plate 30. These discharge ports 42, 51 are arranged so that at least a portion of them overlaps with the first opening 38 in a front view.
In addition, a plurality of (three in this embodiment) second outlet ports 43, 52 are formed below the outlet ports 42, 51 of the second partition plate 40 and the molded insulation material 50. The second outlet ports 43, 52 connect the freezer compartment 13 and the cold air passage 41.

A disk-shaped rotary disk 44 that closes each of the discharge ports 42 is rotatably attached to the second partition plate 40 at the discharge port 42 portion.
The rotary disk 44 is formed with a disk opening 45 that corresponds to the discharge port 42 and has substantially the same shape as the discharge port 42. An operation knob 46 is provided in the center of the rotary disk 44, and by operating the operation knob 46, the rotary disk 44 can be rotated.

In other words, if the rotating disk 44 is positioned so that the discharge port 42 and the disk opening 45 are aligned, the cold air from the cooling chamber 20 flows directly into the freezer chamber 13 via the first opening 38. Furthermore, by rotating the rotating disk 44 and shifting the positions of the discharge port 42 and the disk opening 45 to reduce the opening area, it is possible to reduce the amount of cold air flowing in from the first opening 38.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10 , a container 18 that defines a rapid cooling chamber is provided on the opposite side of the blower fan 32 across the openings (first opening 38 and discharge ports 42, 51) that penetrate the partition wall 17.
As shown in Fig. 1 , container 18 is formed in a size and shape that allows it to be placed in the space above drawer case 15 in freezer compartment 13. More specifically, as shown in Fig. 10 , container 18 is formed in a polygonal (quadrilateral in this embodiment) cylindrical shape that extends in the front-to-rear direction of refrigerator 10. When viewed from the front of the refrigerator, container 18 surrounds all of the outlets 42 of second partition plate 40, and cool air blowing out from outlets 42 flows directly into container 18.

The container 18 has a cylindrical shape that extends in the front-to-rear direction of the refrigerator 10, so the operating knob 46 of the rotating disk 44 can be accessed from the front of the container 18. Furthermore, when the container 18 is removed, it can be easily accessed using the operating knob 46. By operating the operating knob 46, the amount of cool air flowing into the container 18 can be adjusted.

As shown in Figures 1 and 10, a drawer case 15 is provided on the bottom of the freezer compartment 13 so that it can be pulled out in the front-to-rear direction of the refrigerator 10, and a shelf 19 is provided on top of this drawer case 15. The container 18 is provided in the space between the shelf 19 and the ceiling of the freezer compartment 13. Therefore, the cold air that flows in through the first opening 38 flows into the container 18 and then flows out through the front opening of the container 18, cooling the shelf 19 and the internal space of the drawer case 15.

The container 18 is formed from a metal plate such as an aluminum alloy, and can accommodate food to be cooled inside the container 18. The food may be, for example, ingredients such as vegetables, meat, or fish, or processed foods such as frozen foods.
By making the container 18 out of a metal with high thermal conductivity, the container 18 and the interior of the container 18 can be efficiently cooled by the cold air that flows directly in from the inside of the fan casing 35 of the blower fan 32 .

From the perspective of rapidly cooling the food inside the container 18, it is preferable that the entire inner surface or the bottom surface of the container 18 be made of metal, but this is not limited thereto, and it is sufficient that at least a portion of the inner surface of the container 18 be made of metal. Furthermore, as long as the inside of the container 18 can be sufficiently cooled, the container 18 may be made of a material other than metal, such as a resin material. Furthermore, the shape of the container 18 is not limited to being cylindrical with an open front, and may be other shapes.

[1-2. Operation, etc.]
Next, the operation of the refrigerator 10 in the first embodiment will be described.
In this embodiment, the compressor 23 is driven to circulate the refrigerant through the refrigerant circuit, and the evaporator 22 exchanges heat with the air inside the cooling chamber 20, thereby generating cool air.
Then, by driving the blower fan 32, the cool air inside the cooling chamber 20 is taken in through the cool air intake 37 and blown out to the fan casing 35.
A portion of the cold air blown out to the fan casing 35 is sent from the second opening 36 toward the duct 21, and the air volume is controlled by the refrigerator compartment damper 65b of the twin damper 65 to cool the refrigerator compartment 12, and the air volume is controlled by the low temperature compartment damper 65a to cool the low temperature compartment 60.

In this configuration, the airflow blown out from the fan casing 35 flows relatively more toward the low-temperature chamber damper 65a due to centrifugal force, and the amount of air flowing toward the low-temperature chamber damper 65a is greater than that toward the refrigerator chamber damper 65b, thereby improving the cooling efficiency in the low-temperature chamber 60.
Furthermore, a portion of the cool air blown out to the fan casing 35 is sent to the cool air passage 41 through the first opening 38 .
A portion of the cold air sent to the cold air passage 41 is sent directly into the container 18 from the outlets 42, 51 of the second partition plate 40 and the molded insulation material 50. The cold air sent into the container 18 is exhausted from the front opening of the container 18 and sent to the shelf 19 in the freezer compartment 13 and the internal space of the drawer case 15. The remainder of the cold air sent to the cold air passage 41 is sent from the second outlets 43, 52 to the internal space of the drawer case 15, cooling the internal space of the drawer case 15, etc.

In this configuration, the first opening 38 and the outlets 42, 51 are positioned so that at least a portion of them overlap in a front view, so that the cold air blown out from the first opening 38 is sent directly to the container 18, causing the container 18 to function as a rapid cooling chamber. In addition, the rotation axis L1 of the blower fan 32 is positioned at an angle, so that the cold air hits the inner surface of the container 18 and flows throughout the container 18, which is expected to have the effect of suppressing temperature imbalances within the container 18.
As a result, the temperature inside the container 18 can be controlled to the lowest temperature in the freezing chamber 13 with cold air with reduced pressure loss, realizing a rapid cooling chamber capable of rapid cooling. In addition, other spaces within the freezing chamber 13 are cooled by the cold air flowing out of the container 18 and the cold air from the second outlets 43, 52.

[1-3. Effects, etc.]
As described above, refrigerator 10 of this embodiment includes at least freezer compartment 13 (first storage compartment) and refrigerator compartment 12 (second storage compartment), as well as blower fan 32 that is arranged rearward of freezer compartment 13 and capable of blowing cool air to freezer compartment 13 and refrigerator compartment 12, and partition wall 17 that separates freezer compartment 13 from blower fan 32. Partition wall 17 has openings (first opening 38 and outlets 42, 51) that communicate with the inside of fan casing 35 of blower fan 32, and has container 18 on the opposite side of this opening from blower fan 32 that functions as a rapid cooling chamber by the cool air that passes through the openings.
Since the cold air in the fan casing 35 of the blower fan 32 is sent directly into the container 18, a rapid cooling chamber capable of rapid cooling with cold air with reduced pressure loss can be realized. Therefore, compared to a case where a rapid cooling chamber is realized using an axial fan or duct, the configuration is simpler and pressure loss is reduced, making it easier to obtain sufficient rapid cooling performance while suppressing increases in cost.

In addition, the openings (first opening 38 and outlets 42, 51) provided in the partition wall 17 are formed along an arc based on the center of rotation C1 of the blower fan 32, so that the air flowing radially due to the rotation of the blower fan 32 can be smoothly discharged outside the fan casing 35. This prevents an increase in air flow resistance caused by a long air flow path, and makes it easier to supply cool air that has been brought to a relatively high static pressure by the rotational force of the blower fan 32 to the container 18.

The amount of cold air supplied to the container 18 can be easily adjusted by adjusting the area of the opening (e.g., the length of the arc shaved) and the distance from the center of rotation C1 to the opening. For example, the area of the opening (e.g., the length of the arc shaved) and the distance from the center of rotation C1 to the opening can be varied to suit the specifications of each part, such as the volume of the container 18 and the output of the blower fan 32.

In addition, at least a portion of the inner surface of the container 18 that defines the rapid cooling chamber is made of metal, which allows food and other items inside the container 18 to be cooled quickly, making it more advantageous for rapid cooling.

In addition, in the freezer compartment 13, the front of the container 18, which serves as the rapid cooling compartment, is open, and the container 18 is located on the opposite side of the blower fan 32, across the partition wall 17, with a drawer case 15, which corresponds to another cooling container, located below the container 18. This allows the cold air flowing out from the front of the container 18 to be efficiently used to cool the drawer case 15.

Furthermore, the blower fan 32 is positioned with its rotation axis L1 tilted, and the blower fan 32 blows cool air from the opening in a forward and upward direction, promoting cool air convection and circulating cool air throughout the container 18, making it easier to suppress temperature imbalances within the container 18.

(Other embodiments)
Note that the first embodiment has been described as an example of the technology disclosed in the present application. However, the technology in the present disclosure is not limited to this, and can be applied to embodiments in which modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, etc. are made.

In the first embodiment, the first storage compartment is the freezer compartment 13, and the second storage compartment is the refrigerator compartment 12. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the first storage compartment may be the refrigerator compartment 12, and the second storage compartment may be the freezer compartment 13.
In this case, the blower fan 32 can be configured to directly cool the refrigerator compartment 12 via the first opening 38, the outlets 42, 51, and the second outlets 43, 52, and to cool the freezer compartment 13 via the duct 21.

In addition, in embodiment 1, the rotation axis L1 of the blower fan 32 is arranged at an angle, but this is not limited to this. For example, the rotation axis L1 may be arranged so that it is approximately horizontal.

As described above, the refrigerator according to the present invention can be suitably used as a refrigerator capable of achieving rapid cooling using cold air with reduced pressure loss.

10 Refrigerator 11 Housing 12 Refrigerating compartment 13 Freezing compartment 13 Direct freezing compartment 14 Door 15 Drawer case 17 Partition wall 18 Container 19 Shelf 20 Cooling compartment 21 Duct 22 Evaporator 23 Compressor 30 First partition plate 31 Inclined surface 32 Blower fan 33 Rotating blade 34 Fan unit 34a Fan support portion 35 Fan casing 36 Second opening 37 Cold air intake port 38 First opening 39 Fan mounting portion 39a Recess 40 Second partition plate 41 Cold air passage 42 Each outlet port 42 Outlet port 43 Second outlet port 44 Rotating disk 45 Disk opening 46 Operation knob 50 Molded insulation material 51 Outlet port
52 Second outlet 61 Side-opening door 62 Drawer door 63 Drawer case 64 Heat insulating wall 64a Cold air passage 65 Twin damper 65a Low temperature compartment damper 65b Refrigerator compartment damper 66 Screw 70 Connection C1 Rotation center L1 Rotation axis

Claims (4)

The storage device includes at least a first storage chamber and a second storage chamber,
a blower fan disposed rearward of the first storage chamber and capable of blowing cool air into the first storage chamber and the second storage chamber; and a partition wall separating the first storage chamber from the blower fan,
the partition wall has an opening communicating with the inside of a fan casing of the blower fan, and a rapid cooling chamber on the opposite side of the opening from the blower fan, the rapid cooling chamber being capable of rapid cooling by cool air passing through the opening ;
the blower fan is attached to one surface of the partition wall,
The opening is provided on a surface of the partition wall on which the blower fan is attached, and is formed along an arc based on the center of rotation of the blower fan . The refrigerator according to claim 1 ,
The refrigerator is characterized in that at least a part of the inner surface of the rapid cooling compartment is made of metal. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The front surface of the rapid cooling chamber is open,
The refrigerator is characterized in that the rapid cooling chamber is provided on the opposite side of the blower fan across the partition wall in the first storage chamber, and another cooling container is provided below the rapid cooling chamber. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The blower fan has a rotation axis that is inclined,
The blower fan blows cool air from the opening in an upward and forward direction.