JP2008039291A - refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that can be assembled with fewer parts than a conventional refrigerator and is light and easy to use and can be used with ease by using a light door. provide.
In a refrigerator having a door that opens and closes a front opening of a heat insulation box, and a door outer plate of the door is a design surface, a cross section is formed at an arbitrary position on the front surface of the door outer plate of the door. The concave / convex shape portion 20 having the concave / convex shape is provided in the vertical direction of the door. By the said structure, the refrigerator with the good design property which gave the change to refraction of the light which hits a door outer plate is obtained. Moreover, the strength of the door is improved, and the distortion and deformation of the door can be suppressed.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to the structure and appearance design of a refrigerator.

Conventionally, in order to improve the design of a refrigerator door, a steel plate outer plate, a transparent resin panel covering the surface of the outer plate, a resin cap provided on the upper and lower sides of the outer plate, an inner plate, and an outer plate, It consists of a heat insulating material that is foam-filled between the inner plate and the resin cap, and the transparent resin panel that covers the outer plate and the surface of the outer plate has a substantially U-shaped cross section with a side wall surface. It has been proposed that the design property of the peripheral part of the door body is enhanced and the design property of the entire door body is enhanced by refracting the poured light and giving a lens-like texture within the transparent resin (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).
JP 2004-278891 A (page 10, FIG. 4)

  The refrigerator door described in Patent Document 1 has a configuration in which a transparent resin panel is provided so as to cover a door outer plate manufactured by press processing in order to enhance design, and thus poured into the transparent resin panel. The design was improved by refracting the light and using the lens effect. However, by using transparent resin parts that cover the entire door surface, the number of parts is increased, and the door becomes heavy, resulting in poor productivity, and there is a problem that opening and closing the door is heavy even in actual use.

  In addition, because the outer plate made of steel plate and the outer plate made of transparent resin are used for the door outer plate, the heat insulation thickness of the door body is reduced by increasing the thickness of the door surface. In order to prevent the occurrence of dew in the case, it is necessary to add aluminum tape or the like, and there is a problem that the assembly workability is poor. Therefore, in order to ensure the heat insulation thickness with a door inner board, the heat insulation thickness of the door body was ensured by sacrificing the food storage part.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can be assembled with a smaller number of parts than a conventional refrigerator (for example, one described in Patent Document 1). Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that is easy to use and has excellent design properties by reducing the burden at the time of opening and closing in actual use.

  The refrigerator according to the present invention has a door that opens and closes the front opening of the heat insulating box, and in the refrigerator in which the door outer plate of the door is a design surface, the cross section at an arbitrary position on the front surface of the door outer plate of the door. Is provided with a concave and convex portion having a concave and convex shape in the vertical direction of the door.

  The refrigerator which concerns on this invention can obtain the refrigerator with the good design property which gave the change to the refraction of the light which hits a door outer plate by the said structure. Moreover, the strength of the door is improved, and the distortion and deformation of the door can be suppressed.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 to 6 are diagrams showing Embodiment 1, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator 50, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a refrigerator door left door 3, FIG. 3 is a ZZ sectional view of FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the vegetable compartment door 7, and FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 50 includes a heat insulating box 2 filled with a heat insulating material between a steel plate outer box 1 and a resin inner box (not shown). The heat insulating box 2 has an opening on the front surface, and the inside thereof is divided into a plurality of chambers by a partition member (not shown) vertically and horizontally. Each chamber partitioned by this partition member has its front opening closed by a door.

  In the refrigerator 50 shown in FIG. 1, the uppermost chamber is a refrigeration chamber, and the front opening thereof is closed by a double-folded refrigeration chamber left door 3 and a refrigeration chamber right door 4. The refrigerator compartment left door 3 and the refrigerator compartment right door 4 are rotary doors.

  In the lower stage of the refrigerator compartment, the ice chamber is on the left side and the switching chamber is on the right side, and the front opening is closed by the ice chamber door 5 and the switching chamber door 6, respectively. The ice chamber door 5 and the switching chamber door 6 are drawer type doors.

  The lower part of the ice room and the switching room is a vegetable room, and the front opening is closed by the vegetable room door 7. The vegetable compartment door 7 is also a drawer-type door.

  The lower part of the vegetable compartment, that is, the lowermost part of the refrigerator 50 is a freezer compartment, and the front opening is closed by the freezer compartment door 8. The freezer compartment door 8 is also a drawer door. And the refrigerator compartment left door 3, the refrigerator compartment right door 4, the ice compartment door 5, the switching compartment door 6, the vegetable compartment door 7, the freezer compartment door 8, etc. are simply called a door.

  An evaporating dish cover 9 for evaporating dish that receives and evaporates water (drain) generated when removing frost attached to a cooler (not shown) is provided at the lower part of the refrigerator 50.

  In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a steel plate door outer plate forming the design surface of the refrigerator compartment left door 3, the ice compartment door 5, the vegetable compartment door 7, and the freezer compartment door 8 is arranged in the vertical direction. It is characterized in that it becomes a refrigerator having a door with excellent design by changing the refraction of light hitting each door outer plate by changing the uneven shape part 20 arranged in a straight line and changing the expression of the door outer plate. There is.

  From the refrigerator door left door 3 in the upper part of the refrigerator 50, the ice-shaped door 5 and the vegetable room door 7 arranged in the center part of the refrigerator 50 are passed, and the concavo-convex shaped part 20 is straightened to the freezer compartment door 8 in the lower part of the refrigerator 50. It is a structure which has the design which the uneven | corrugated shaped part 20 arrange | positioned in a straight line becomes an accent with respect to the whole some door by letting it pass.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the refrigerator door left door 3. A steel door outer plate 11 constituting the front design surface, a resin door inner plate 12 constituting the door inner surface, a door upper cap 13 fitted to the upper end, and a door lower fitted to the lower end. A door body is constituted by the cap 14, and a foam heat insulating material is filled or injected into the door body. A handle 16 is formed integrally with the lower door cap 14. A magnet gasket (not shown) is fitted around the door inner plate 12 side of the refrigerator compartment left door 3 to prevent cold air from flowing out of the refrigerator. And the uneven | corrugated shaped part 20 is given to the door outer plate 11 made from the steel plate which comprises the design surface in the straight line in the vertical direction on the right side a little from the center.

  FIG. 3 is a ZZ sectional view of FIG. The door outer plate 11 is further bent inward from the door outer plate front surface 21 provided with the concave and convex portion 20, the door outer plate side surface 22 bent rearward, and the rear end portion of the door outer plate side surface 22. The door outer plate rear surface 23 is configured. Further, the corner portions of the door outer plate front surface 21 and the door outer plate side surface 22 may be configured with an arbitrary bend R in order to change the door design, or may be configured with chamfering as illustrated.

  FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the concavo-convex shape portion 20 of the door outer plate 11. The uneven shape portion 20 of the door outer plate 11 has an uneven shape in cross section. The concavo-convex shape portion 20 has the same cross-sectional shape from the upper end to the lower end of the refrigerator 50, and is formed by sheet metal pressing. In the example of FIG. 4, the concavo-convex shape portion 20 is recessed by about 1 mm from the door outer plate reference surface (reference plane or reference curved surface), the width of the recess is about 15 mm, and six of these recesses are continuous.

  However, the above is an example, and a bulge (convex portion) may be provided continuously instead of a dent. Moreover, you may provide a dent and a protrusion alternately. A combination of dents, a combination of bulges, and a combination of dents and bulges alternately or arbitrarily are collectively referred to as an uneven portion 20.

  In addition, the size of the dent or protrusion can be freely selected within a range where the depth or height is about 5 mm or less and the width is 30 mm or less. Furthermore, the number of dents and protrusions should be at least two. Thereby, a design surface rich in change can be formed.

  In this Embodiment 1, the uneven | corrugated shaped part 20 is provided in the left side of the refrigerator 50, and it is set as the asymmetrical design. That is, the center in the left-right direction of the concavo-convex shape portion 20 is arranged to be shifted to the left or right from the center in the left-right direction on the front surface of the refrigerator 50. Thereby, the design property of a door improves.

  As another modification, the uneven shape part 20 of the door outer plate 11 may be provided on the right side of the refrigerator 50, or may be provided in the center part to provide a symmetrical design. Furthermore, it is good also as a symmetrical design provided in both the left side and the right side, and you may give the change of the design by not only the uneven | corrugated shaped part 20 but gloss (gloss), a color change.

  Also, paint, plating, in-mold, etc. on a part or the whole of the upper door cap (the upper door cap 13 in the left refrigerator door 3) of the uppermost door of the refrigerator 50 (the left refrigerator door 3 or the right refrigerator door 4). The design may be further improved by adding another part or partially decorating the decoration. Thus, the refrigerator 50 with a better design can be obtained by decorating the upper end of the refrigerator 50 with painting, plating, in-mold, or the like.

  In addition, by adding or partially decorating decorations such as painting, plating, in-mold, etc. on a part or the whole of the bottom cap (not shown) of the lowermost door (freezer compartment door 8) of the refrigerator 50 Further, the design property may be further improved. Thus, the refrigerator 50 with better designability is obtained by decorating the lower end of the refrigerator 50 with painting, plating, in-mold, or the like.

  The upper door of the refrigerator 50 (the refrigerator door left door 3 or the refrigerator door right door 4) and the upper cap of the refrigerator (the door cap 13 of the refrigerator door left door 3) and the lower door of the refrigerator 50 (the freezer door 8) The design may be further improved by adding another part or partially decorating decoration such as painting, plating, in-mold, etc. to a part or the whole of the door cap (not shown). Thus, the refrigerator 50 with better designability can be obtained by applying decoration such as painting, plating, in-mold, etc. to the upper end and the lower end of the refrigerator 50.

  Although the door outer plate 11 is made of a steel plate, the design can be improved by using a laminated steel plate, a stainless steel plate, a coated steel plate, or a printed steel plate having a woodgrain print.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the vegetable compartment door 7. The vegetable room door 7 is the same as the left door 3 of the refrigerator compartment, and is made of a steel plate outer plate 11 constituting the front design surface, a door upper cap 13 fitted to the upper and lower ends, a door lower cap 14, and a door inner surface. The door body is constituted by a resin door inner plate (not shown) that constitutes, and a foam heat insulating material is filled or injected into the door body. In addition, a magnet gasket (not shown) is fitted around the inner plate side of the vegetable compartment door 7 in order to prevent the cool air from flowing out of the cabinet. Moreover, it has the handle 16 formed in the horizontal direction in the upper part of the vegetable compartment door 7. As shown in FIG.

  The vegetable room door 7 shown in FIG. 5 is a door that extends over the entire width of the refrigerator 50, but such a door that extends over the entire width of the refrigerator 50 is provided not only in the vegetable room but also in any room of the refrigerator 50. Also good. And the handle 16 is formed in the horizontal direction in the position which shifted | deviated to the right side from the center at the upper end part of the door, for example. The design is achieved by bringing the left and right ends of the handle 16 closer to within 30 mm from the right end or the left end of the uneven portion 20 of the door outer plate 11 (in the case of the left end, the handle 16 and the uneven portion 20 partially overlap). Improves sex.

  The vegetable compartment door 7 shown in FIG. 5 is a pull-out door and the handle 16 is arranged at the top, but it may be installed at the bottom of the vegetable compartment door 7.

  Further, the handle 16 of the rotary door such as the refrigerator door left door 3 shown in FIG. 2 is brought close to within 30 mm from the right end or the left end of the concavo-convex shape portion 20 of the door outer plate in the same manner as the drawer type door. The design property may be improved. The position of the handle of the rotary door may be arbitrary.

  Further, a full-width door is arranged in an arbitrary room of the refrigerator 50, and the center of the handle of the full-width door is shifted to the left or right from the center of the door and is disposed at an asymmetric position. By arranging the center of the handle of the full width door at an asymmetrical position shifted to the left or right from the center of the door, a novel design-type refrigerator 50 that has never been obtained can be obtained.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 50 is provided with an operation panel 10 in the vicinity of the center in the height direction of the surface of the door outer plate 11 of the refrigerator compartment right door 4. The operation panel 10 is located on the opposite side of the concavo-convex shape portion 20 provided on the refrigerator door left door 3 with respect to the center of the refrigerator 50. The operation panel 10 may be provided in the upper part or the lower part of the refrigerator compartment right door 4 in addition to the vicinity of the central portion in the height direction of the refrigerator compartment right door 4. In addition, the operation panel 10 may be provided at an arbitrary position on the refrigerator compartment left door 3 provided with the concave and convex portion 20. In that case, the concave and convex portion 20 may overlap the operation panel 10, but that may be used.

  Further, the operation panel 10 may be moved into a refrigerator such as a refrigerating room, and the operation panel 10 may not be provided on the door surface.

  Next, the assembly structure of the door will be described taking the vegetable compartment door 7 shown in FIG. 5 as an example. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the lower door cap 14. The lower door cap 14 is molded into a shape matching the lower edge shape of the door outer plate 11 by injection molding synthetic resin, and a flange 30 having a shape covering the lower edge of the door outer plate 11 is provided on the periphery thereof. The door outer plate 11 is fitted into a groove between the rib 31 provided inside thereof. Of course, the cap is positioned with respect to the door inner plate 12 by a flange or a rib.

  Elongation that repeatedly occurs in heat cycle tests on synthetic resin door caps (upper door cap 13 and lower door cap 14), door outer plate 11, and door inner plate (for example, vegetable compartment door 7). There is a possibility that cracks may occur in the door cap cap uneven portion 32 in the vicinity of the uneven portion 20 due to the difference between the door upper cap 13 or the door cap 14 and the portion of the door outer plate 11 in the vicinity of the uneven portion 20. By providing a clearance, the occurrence of cracks can be suppressed.

  Moreover, although shrinkage | contraction by a heat cycle test may generate | occur | produce a sink on the surface of the door outer plate | board 11, and the curvature of a door and a twist may generate | occur | produce, the uneven | corrugated shaped part 20 is given to the door outer plate | board 11. As a result, the strength of the door outer plate 11 is improved, there are few sink marks, warpage, and the like, and no reinforcing parts are required. Thus, it is possible to obtain an inexpensive refrigerator 50 door that reduces the number of parts and the number of assembly steps. . Further, distortion and deformation of the door outer plate due to foaming pressure at the time of injection of the foam heat insulating material can be suppressed.

  In addition, there is an example in which a drawing process is added to the door outer plate 11 in order to secure the handleability of the pull-out door, but a dent may be generated due to distortion during the drawing process. By molding the shape corresponding to the drawing process of the door outer plate 11, the door outer plate 11 is not subjected to the drawing process, and it is possible to obtain the door of the refrigerator 50 with less distortion and excellent design.

  Next, the door assembly procedure will be described by taking the vegetable compartment door 7 shown in FIG. 5 as an example. A lower door cap 14 is attached from below the door outer plate 11. At this time, the door outer plate 11 is inserted between the flange 30 and the rib 31 of the door lower cap 14, and the flange 30 overlaps with the outer surface of the door outer plate 11. Next, the door upper cap 13 is attached from above the fitted door outer plate 11. At this time, the door outer plate 11 is inserted between the flange and rib of the door upper cap 13, and the flange overlaps with the outer surface of the door outer plate 11.

  Then, the door inner plate is temporarily fixed to the rear surface of the door outer plate of the door outer plate 11, moved to the foam heat insulating material injection facility, the door inner plate is lifted, the foam heat insulating material is injected, and then the door inner plate is covered. The space surrounded by the outer plate 11, the door upper cap 13, the door lower cap 14, and the door inner plate is filled with a foam heat insulating material and solidified by bonding to form an integrated door (for example, the vegetable compartment door 7).

  Moreover, although the structure of the door was demonstrated to the vegetable room door 7 as an example here, also about the other refrigerator compartment left door 3, the refrigerator compartment right door 4, the ice compartment door 5, the switching compartment door 6, and the freezer compartment door 8, Same structure and assembly procedure. Further, when a vacuum heat insulating material is used in addition to the foam heat insulating material, a structure in which the vacuum heat insulating material is bonded to the door outer plate 11 or the like can be made into an integral door structure.

  Since the concave and convex portion 20 is provided on the door outer plate 11, the strength of the door is increased, and the reinforcing member added for the purpose of reinforcement can be eliminated. In addition, since the parts are less warped and twisted, the door can be assembled easily. Further, distortion and deformation of the door outer plate due to foaming pressure at the time of injection of the foam heat insulating material can be suppressed. By reducing the number of plastic parts, the increase in weight can be suppressed, and the entire refrigerator 50 can be prevented from being deformed or distorted during manufacturing, installation, transportation, moving, etc. The possibility of leakage of refrigerant such as hydrocarbons or chlorofluorocarbons filled in the refrigeration cycle is reduced, and the refrigerator 50 with higher reliability can be obtained.

FIG. 5 shows the first embodiment and is a perspective view of a refrigerator 50. FIG. It is a figure which shows Embodiment 1, and is a perspective view of the refrigerator compartment left door 3. FIG. FIG. 3 shows the first embodiment, and is a ZZ cross-sectional view of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 shows the first embodiment, and is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3. It is a figure which shows Embodiment 1, and is a perspective view of the vegetable compartment door 7. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the first embodiment, and is a perspective view of a door lower cap 14.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outer box, 2 Thermal insulation box, 3 Cold room left door, 4 Cold room right door, 5 Ice room door, 6 Switching room door, 7 Vegetable room door, 8 Freezer room door, 9 Evaporating dish cover, 10 Operation panel, 11 Door outer plate, 12 Door inner plate, 13 Door upper cap, 14 Door lower cap, 16 Handle, 20 Uneven shape part, 21 Door outer plate front, 22 Door outer plate side, 23 Door outer plate rear, 24 Door outer plate standard Surface, 30 flange, 31 rib, 32 Door cap cap uneven shape part.

Claims (7)

In the refrigerator that has a door that opens and closes the front opening of the heat insulation box, and the door outer plate of this door is a design surface,
The refrigerator characterized by giving the uneven | corrugated shaped part which a cross section makes uneven | corrugated shape to the arbitrary positions of the door outer plate | board of the said door in the vertical direction of the said door.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a center in the left-right direction of the concavo-convex shape portion is shifted to either the left or right with respect to the center in the left-right direction of the front surface of the refrigerator.   The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein decorative parts such as coating, plating, or in-mold are applied to the upper or lower end of the door or the portion corresponding to both the upper and lower ends.   As a door that opens and closes the front opening of the heat insulation box, a door that covers the entire width of the refrigerator is disposed, and an end of the handle of the door that extends over the entire width is brought close to one of the left and right ends of the uneven shape portion. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the refrigerator is provided.   As a door that opens and closes the front opening of the heat insulation box, a door that covers the entire width of the refrigerator is arranged, and the center of the left and right direction of the door handle that covers the entire width is left or right than the center of the left and right direction of the front surface of the refrigerator. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the refrigerator is arranged so as to be offset.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an operation panel is disposed on a surface of the door.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the door handle is made of resin.

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