JP7576001B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a refrigerator.

As a method of fixing the internal duct to the rear of the refrigerator, in addition to fixing it to the inner box with a claw, there is also a refrigerator that is known in which a separate part is attached to the inner box and the duct is fixed to the separate part with screws or hooks. For such refrigerators, there are cases where a fixing method that does not use a separate part is required.

Patent No. 5859152

The problem that this invention aims to solve is to provide a refrigerator that allows parts to be fixed to the inner box without using separate parts.

The refrigerator according to the embodiment is made up of an inner box and an outer box, and includes a wall surrounding a storage compartment and a part forming a cooling air passage between the wall and the inner surface of the inner box, the part includes a hook part protruding toward the outer box, and the inner box has an opening into which the hook part is inserted from inside and engaged in a hooked state. A guide part is formed on the hooked part of the inner box, which is inclined toward the part and guides the hook part inserted into the opening .

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator taken along line F2-F2 in FIG. 1 . 3 is a rear view of the refrigerator taken along line F3-F3 in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the upper portion of the refrigerator as viewed diagonally from the rear. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional perspective view of an attachment portion of the flow passage forming component. FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the mounting portion of the flow passage forming component shown in FIG. 5 . FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part of the mounting portion shown in FIG. 6 . FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 3 .

The refrigerator according to the embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, components having the same or similar functions will be given the same reference numerals. Furthermore, duplicate descriptions of those components may be omitted.

In this specification, left and right are defined based on the direction in which the refrigerator is viewed from a user standing in front of the refrigerator. Furthermore, the side closer to the user standing in front of the refrigerator as viewed from the refrigerator is defined as the "front", and the side further away is defined as the "rear". In this specification, the "width direction" means the left-right direction as defined above. In this specification, the "depth direction" means the front-rear direction as defined above. In the drawings, the +X direction is the right direction, the -X direction is the left direction, the +Y direction is the rear direction, the -Y direction is the front direction, the +Z direction is the upward direction, and the -Z direction is the downward direction. Furthermore, in a refrigerator, the interior (storage compartment) side in the thickness direction of the wall described below is defined as the "inside", and the outside of the refrigerator opposite the inside across the wall is defined as the "outside".

[Overall configuration of refrigerator]
A refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 9. First, an overall configuration of the refrigerator 1 will be described. However, the refrigerator 1 does not need to have all of the components described below, and some components may be omitted as appropriate.

Figure 1 is a front view of refrigerator 1. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of refrigerator 1 taken along line F2-F2 in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a rear view of refrigerator 1. Figure 4 is a perspective view of the upper part of refrigerator 1 as seen obliquely from the rear. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, refrigerator 1 includes a wall having wall 10 and door 11. Refrigerator 1 includes, for example, wall 10, a plurality of doors 11, a plurality of shelves 12, a plurality of containers 13, a flow path forming part 60 (part), a cooling unit 15, and a control board 16. In this embodiment, refrigerator body 5 is formed by the above-mentioned components other than the plurality of doors 11.

The wall body 10 includes, for example, an inner box 30, an outer box 40, and a foam insulation material 50. The inner box 30 is a member that forms the inner surface of the wall body 10, and is made of, for example, synthetic resin. The outer box 40 is a member that forms the outer surface of the wall body 10, and is made of, for example, metal such as a steel plate. The outer box 40 is formed to be one size larger than the inner box 30 and is arranged outside the inner box 30. The foam insulation material 50 is a foam insulation material such as, for example, urethane foam, and is filled between the inner box 30 and the outer box 40. This gives the wall body 10 thermal insulation properties. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, a plate-shaped vacuum insulation plate 51 is provided in the insulation space between the inner box 30 and the outer box 40.

The wall body 10 has an upper wall 21, a lower wall 22, left and right side walls 23, 24, and a rear wall 25. The upper wall 21 and the lower wall 22 extend approximately horizontally. The left and right side walls 23, 24 rise upward from the left and right ends of the lower wall 22 and connect to the left and right ends of the upper wall 21. The rear wall 25 rises upward from the rear end of the lower wall 22 and connects to the rear end of the upper wall 21.

A plurality of storage compartments 27 are provided inside the wall body 10. The plurality of storage compartments 27 include, for example, a refrigerator compartment 27A, a vegetable compartment 27B, an ice-making compartment 27C, a small freezer compartment 27D, and a main freezer compartment 27E. In this embodiment, the refrigerator compartment 27A is located at the top, the vegetable compartment 27B is located below the refrigerator compartment 27A, the ice-making compartment 27C and the small freezer compartment 27D are located below the vegetable compartment 27B, and the main freezer compartment 27E is located below the ice-making compartment 27C and the small freezer compartment 27D. However, the arrangement of the storage compartments 27 is not limited to the above example. The wall body 10 has an opening on the front side of each storage compartment 27 that allows food to be put in and taken out of each storage compartment 27.

The openings of the multiple storage compartments 27 are closed by multiple doors 11 in an openable and closable manner. The multiple doors 11 include, for example, left and right refrigerator compartment doors 11Aa and 11Ab that close the opening of the refrigerator compartment 27A, a vegetable compartment door 11B that closes the opening of the vegetable compartment 27B, an ice-making compartment door 11C that closes the opening of the ice-making compartment 27C, a small freezer compartment door 11D that closes the opening of the small freezer compartment 27D, and a main freezer compartment door 11E that closes the opening of the main freezer compartment 27E.

The left and right refrigerator compartment doors 11Aa, 11Ab are, for example, double-door doors. The left and right refrigerator compartment doors 11Aa, 11Ab are rotatably supported on the wall body 10 by hinges 10h. In this embodiment, the width of the right refrigerator compartment door 11Ab in the horizontal direction is greater than the width of the left refrigerator compartment door 11Aa in the horizontal direction.

On the other hand, the vegetable compartment door 11B, the ice compartment door 11C, the small freezer compartment door 11D, and the main freezer compartment door 11E are, for example, pull-out doors. The vegetable compartment door 11B, the ice compartment door 11C, the small freezer compartment door 11D, and the main freezer compartment door 11E are supported by rails so that they can be pulled out relative to the wall body 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the wall body 10 has first and second partitions 28, 29. The first and second partitions 28, 29 are, for example, partition walls that are approximately horizontal. The first partition 28 is located between the refrigerator compartment 27A and the vegetable compartment 27B, and separates the refrigerator compartment 27A from the vegetable compartment 27B. On the other hand, the second partition 29 is located between the vegetable compartment 27B and the ice making compartment 27C and the small freezer compartment 27D, and separates the vegetable compartment 27B from the ice making compartment 27C and the small freezer compartment 27D. Note that no partition is provided between the ice making compartment 27C and the small freezer compartment 27D and the main freezer compartment 27E.

The multiple shelves 12 are arranged in the refrigerator compartment 27A. The multiple containers 13 include a refrigerator compartment container 13A (e.g., a chilled compartment container) arranged in the refrigerator compartment 27A, first and second vegetable compartment containers 13Ba, 13Bb arranged in the vegetable compartment 27B, an ice compartment container (not shown) arranged in the ice compartment 27C, a small freezer container 13D arranged in the small freezer compartment 27D, and first and second main freezer containers 13Ea, 13Eb arranged in the main freezer compartment 27E.

The flow path forming part 60 is, for example, a roughly flat plate-shaped member made by injection molding synthetic resin, and is arranged inside the wall body 10. Between the inner surface 30a of the inner box 30, a cooling air passage 60c is formed through which cooled air flows. The lower end 60b of the flow path forming part 60 is locked by, for example, fitting it between a claw member 291 provided on the upper surface of the rear side of the second partition part 29 and the inner box 30. The upper part of the flow path forming part 60 is attached by engaging a hook 61 described later with the inner box 30. When attaching the flow path forming part 60 to the inner box 30, the hook 61 of the flow path forming part 60 is inserted into the opening 31 of the inner box 30 described later, and the lower part is elastically deformed while pushing it from the front to the rear to overcome the claw member 291, thereby locking it. The flow path forming part 60 is fixed to the inner box 30 in a state in which it is difficult to come off due to the fixation by the hook 61.

The flow path forming part 60 includes, for example, a first duct part 60A and a second duct part 60B. The first duct part 60A is provided along the inner box 30 of the wall body 10 and extends vertically. The first duct part 60A forms a flow path that flows the cold air supplied from the cooling unit 15 to the refrigerator compartment 27A and the vegetable compartment 27B. The second duct part 60B is provided along the inner box 30 of the wall body 10 and extends vertically. The second duct part 60B forms a flow path that flows the cold air supplied from the cooling unit 15 to the ice making compartment 27C, the small freezer compartment 27D, and the main freezer compartment 27E.

The cooling unit 15 includes a first cooling unit 15A, a second cooling unit 15B, and a compressor 45. The first cooling unit 15A includes a first cooler 41 and a first fan 42 arranged in the cooling air passage 60c formed by the first duct part 60A, for example. The second cooling unit 15B includes a second cooler 43 and a second fan 44 arranged in the cooling air passage 60c formed by the second duct part 60B, for example.

The compressor 45 is provided, for example, in the machine room 26 at the bottom of the refrigerator 1. The compressor 45 compresses the refrigerant gas used to cool the storage room 27. The refrigerant gas compressed by the compressor 45 is sent to the first cooler 41 and the second cooler 43 via a suction pipe or the like.

The control board 16 controls the entire refrigerator 1. For example, the control board 16 controls the operation of the first fan 42, the second fan 44, the compressor 45, etc. based on the detection results of temperature sensors installed in the refrigerator compartment 27A and the main freezer compartment 27E, etc. The control board 16 is attached to the top wall 21 of the wall body 10 together with the case 17.

In the first cooling unit 15A, the cold air cooled by the first cooler 41 flows into the cooling air passage 60c by the rotation of the first fan 42. The cold air that flows into the cooling air passage 60c flows from the bottom to the top and is blown out into the refrigerator compartment 27A and the vegetable compartment 27B from the air outlet (not shown) formed in the flow path forming part 60.

The rear side of the left refrigerator door 11Aa is removably fitted with door containers 18A and 18B whose height can be changed, and a door container 19 fixed to the bottom.

Here, the configurations of the right refrigerator door 11Ab, the vegetable door 11B, the ice-making door 11C, the small freezer door 11D, and the main freezer door 11E are the same as the configuration of the left refrigerator door 11Aa described above. In other words, the configurations of the right refrigerator door 11Ab, the vegetable door 11B, the ice-making door 11C, the small freezer door 11D, and the main freezer door 11E can be understood by replacing "left refrigerator door 11Aa" with "right refrigerator door 11Ab," "vegetable door 11B," "ice-making door 11C," "small freezer door 11D," or "main freezer door 11E" in the description of the left refrigerator door 11Aa described above.

[Installation configuration of flow path forming components]
Next, the structure for attaching the flow path forming part 60 to the inner box 30 will be described with reference to Fig. 5 to Fig. 9. Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional perspective view of the attachment portion of the flow path forming part 60. Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the attachment portion of the flow path forming part 60 shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of a main portion of the attachment portion shown in Fig. 6.

5 to 7, a pair of upwardly protruding hooks 61 (hooks) are provided on each side of the rear surface 60a of the flow path forming part 60 in the width direction, which extend toward the outer box 40 located at the rear and protrude in an upwardly bent shape. The hooks 61 are formed with a predetermined width dimension in the width direction. The hooks 61 have a base 611 that is supported by the rear surface 60a of the flow path forming part 60 and protrudes toward the rear, and a claw portion 612 that is a hook-shaped portion that protrudes upward from the protruding tip of the base 611. The base 611 gradually inclines upward as it moves rearward from the flow path forming part 60. The claw portion 612 extends in an approximately vertical direction and is inserted into an opening 31 of the inner box 30 (described later) and positioned in an insulated space rearward of the outer surface 30b, thereby engaging with the hooked portion 30c on the outer surface 30b of the inner box 30.

The distance in the depth direction between the claw portion 612 and the rear surface 60a of the flow passage forming part 60 is set to a dimension that ensures the necessary distance of the cooling air passage 60c described above and the thickness of the inner box 30. The hook 61 is in a state where the upper edge portion (hooked portion 30c) of the opening 31 of the inner box 30 is inserted into the recess 61a that is the upward opening formed in the hook 61, and as a result, the claw portion 612 is positioned on the outer surface 30b side of the inner box 30.

The inner box 30 has an opening 31 into which the hook 61 is inserted from the inside and engaged. The opening 31 is provided at a position facing the hook 61 of the flow path forming part 60 in the depth direction, and the opening shape is rectangular when viewed from the rear. The hooked portion 30c of the inner box 30 where the hook 61 is engaged is formed with a guide portion 32 that guides the hook 61 inserted into the opening 31. The guide portion 32 forms an inclined surface that gradually slopes forward as it approaches downward. The tip portion 61b of the hook 61 is inserted into the opening 31 by being guided along the rear surface 32a of the guide portion 32. Note that in Figures 5 to 7, a gap is generated between the hook 61 engaged with the inner box 30 and the outer surface 30b of the inner box 30, but the hook 61 may be engaged in a state where there is no gap and the hook 61 is in contact with the outer surface 30b of the inner box 30, or the hook 61 is pressed against the inner box 30 from the rear.

Figure 8 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the hooked portion 30c of the inner box 30. As shown in Figure 8, the hooked portion 30c of the inner box 30 has curved portions 33 (reinforcement portions) with a corrugated cross section formed therein to increase the rigidity of the hooked portion 30c (see Figure 5). When viewed from above, the curved portions 33 have front convex portions 33A and rear convex portions 33B arranged alternately along the width direction.

The configuration of the reinforcing portion of the hooked portion 30c is not limited to the curved portion 33, and reinforcing portions with other configurations can be used. For example, the reinforcing portion can be a rod-shaped bead or a bulge extending in the vertical or horizontal direction, or a reinforcing plate laminated to the hooked portion 30c to increase the thickness dimension of the hooked portion 30c.

As shown in Figures 4 to 7, the inner box 30 is provided with a cover member 34 (accommodating member) that accommodates the portion of the hook 61 engaged with the inner box 30 that is located rearward of the outer surface 30b of the inner box 30 and covers the opening 31 from the outside. In other words, the portion of the hook 61 that is located in the thermal insulation space is covered by the cover member 34. The cover member 34 is provided on each of the pair of hooks 61, 61.

The cover member 34 has a bottomed cylindrical cover body 341 that has an opening toward the front and covers the portion located in the heat-insulating space of the hook 61 from the rear, and a flange portion 342 that extends from the front edge of the cover body 341 all around. The front surface 342a of the flange portion 342 is fixed in contact with the portion of the outer surface 30b of the inner box 30 surrounding the opening 31 using a fixing means (not shown), such as a double-sided adhesive tape or adhesive. The provision of the cover member 34 prevents the foam insulation material 50 that fills the heat-insulating space on the outer surface 30b side of the inner box 30 from flowing forward of the inner box 30 through the opening 31.

Figure 9 is an enlarged view of the main parts of the refrigerator 1 shown in Figure 3. As shown in Figure 9, at least a part of the cover member 34 (projection portion 34a) projects outward in the width direction beyond the vacuum insulation plate 51 arranged on the outer surface 30b side of the inner box 30. Since the vacuum insulation plate 51 does not overlap the projection portion 34a of the cover member 34, the foam insulation material 50 is filled to a greater thickness than the portion overlapped by the vacuum insulation plate 51.

Next, we will explain the operation and function of refrigerator 1.

According to the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment, the refrigerator 1 is composed of an inner box 30 and an outer box 40, and includes a wall body 10 surrounding the storage chamber 27 and a flow path forming part 60 that forms a cooling air passage 60c between the inner surface 30a of the inner box 30 and the wall body 10. The flow path forming part 60 includes a hook 61 that protrudes toward the outer box 40 side, and the inner box 30 has an opening 31 into which the hook 61 is inserted from the inside and engaged in a hooked state, so that the hook 61 of the flow path forming part 60 can be inserted from the inside to the outside in the depth direction into the opening 31 of the inner box 30 and engaged in a hooked state with the inner box 30. In other words, by engaging the hook 61 with the inner box 30, the flow path forming part 60 can be fixed while maintaining a gap (cooling air passage 60c) forward with respect to the inner surface 30a of the inner box 30.

In this manner, in this embodiment, the flow path forming part 60 can be fixed directly to the inner box 30, eliminating the need to interpose a separate part for mounting parts between the flow path forming part 60 and the inner box 30 as in the conventional case, resulting in an attachment structure that is unlikely to come off even when turned sideways. Therefore, even if the refrigerator 1 is turned sideways when being transported or brought in, the flow path forming part 60 can be prevented from coming off the inner box 30.

In addition, in this embodiment, the mounting structure is such that the hook 61 is hooked onto the opening 31 of the inner box 30, and only a simple process of providing the opening 31 in the inner box 30 is required. Therefore, the structure is not one in which the inner box 30 is fixed to the inner box 30, which is made of a thin, low-rigidity sheet-like material, using bolts, screws, etc., and furthermore, no complicated mounting process is required for the inner box 30.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, there is no need to use screws or hooks to attach the flow path forming part to a separate part attached to the inner box as in the conventional method, and as described above, the separate part can be omitted, improving the work efficiency for attaching and detaching the flow path forming part 60. Moreover, it is possible to reduce the costs of separate parts and processing.

According to the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment, a cover member 34 is provided that houses the hook 61 engaged with the inner box 30 and covers the opening 31 from the outside. This makes it possible to prevent the foam insulation material 50 made of urethane foam that is filled between the inner box 30 and the outer box 40 from flowing into the interior inside the inner box 30 through the opening 31. In addition, because the hook 61 that engages with the inner box 30 is housed inside the cover member 34, it is possible to prevent the hook 61 from being embedded in the foam insulation material 50 and becoming fixed therein.

According to the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment, a vacuum insulation plate 51 is provided on the outer surface 30b side of the inner box 30, and at least a part of the cover member 34 protrudes outward in the width direction beyond the vacuum insulation plate 51. As a result, the vacuum insulation plate 51 does not overlap the protruding portion 34a of the cover member 34, so the foam insulation material 50 can be filled thicker than the portion where the vacuum insulation plate 51 overlaps, and the pressing force with which the cover member 34 presses against the inner box 30 from behind can be increased. Therefore, the cover member 34 can be securely fixed to the inner box 30, and it is possible to prevent the cover member 34 from coming off when pressed by, for example, the hook 61.

According to the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment, the hooked portion 30c of the inner box 30 where the hook 61 is hooked is formed with a reinforcing portion such as a curved portion 33 that increases the rigidity of the hooked portion 30c. This makes it possible to increase the rigidity of the hooked portion 30c, which is the portion of the inner box 30 where the hook 61 is fixed, by reinforcing the reinforcing portion made of the curved portion 33 as in this embodiment. Even if the sheet-like inner box 30 is thin, the engaged state of the hook 61 can be maintained.

In the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment, the hooked portion 30c of the inner box 30 is formed with a guide portion 32 that is inclined toward the flow path forming component 60 and guides the hook 61 inserted into the opening 31. As a result, when the hook 61 is inserted into the opening 31, the hook 61 is guided by the guide portion 32 formed on the hooked portion 30c, making it easier to insert the hook 61 into the opening 31.

According to at least one of the embodiments described above, it is possible to provide a refrigerator in which the flow path forming part 60 can be fixed to the inner box 30 without using a separate part.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are within the scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the claims, as well as the scope and gist of the invention.

In this embodiment, a flat-plate-shaped flow path forming part 60 is used as an example of a part that forms a cooling air path 60c between the inner surface 30a of the inner box 30, but this is not limited to this. For example, when a plate-shaped hollow member with a cooling air path formed therein is used, the front wall located on the front side of this hollow plate-shaped part corresponds to the part of the present invention.

In addition, in this embodiment, the hook 61 is shown as an example of the hanging part, but it is not limited to a hook-shaped hook 61, and the shape of the hook 61 and the orientation of the opening of the recess 61a can be set as desired. That is, in this embodiment, the claw part 612 of the hook 61 faces upward, but it is also possible to use a hook 61 in which the claw part 612 faces downward (the recess 61a opens downward).

The shape of the opening 31 in the inner box 30 is not limited to being rectangular as in the above embodiment, and may be, for example, circular or elliptical. The point is that the hook 61 can be easily inserted and the claw portion 612 of the hook 61 inserted into the opening 31 should be in contact with the outer surface 30b of the inner box 30.

In addition, in this embodiment, a cover member 34 is provided to cover the opening 31 from the outside, but it is also possible to omit such a cover member 34. In addition, the shape, size, and other configurations of the cover member 34 can be appropriately set according to, for example, the space of the insulated space.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, at least a portion of the cover member 34 extends outward in the width direction beyond the vacuum insulation plate 51, but this is not limited to this. The entire cover member 34 may be covered by the vacuum insulation plate 51 when viewed from the rear.

In addition, in this embodiment, the hooked portion 30c of the inner box 30 is provided with a reinforcing portion (curved portion 33) and a guide portion 32, but it is possible to omit these reinforcing portions and guide portions. For example, if the hooked portion 30c of the inner box 30 is strong enough to support the hook 61, the reinforcing portion is not necessary.

1...refrigerator, 5...refrigerator body, 10...wall, 27...storage compartment, 30...inner box, 30a...inner surface, 30b...outer surface, 30c...hooked part, 31...opening, 32...guiding part, 33...curved part (reinforcement part), 34...cover member (accommodating member), 40...outer box, 50...foamed insulation material, 51...vacuum insulation board, 60...flow path forming part (part), 60c...cooling air passage, 61...hook (hooking part)

Claims (4)

A wall body including an inner box and an outer box and surrounding a storage chamber;
a component that forms a cooling air passage between the component and the inner surface of the inner box,
The component includes a hook portion protruding toward the outer box,
the inner box has an opening into which the hook portion is inserted from the inside and engaged in a hooked state,
A refrigerator in which a guide portion is formed on the hooked portion of the inner box, the guide portion being inclined toward the component side and guiding the hook portion being inserted into the opening . a housing member is provided to house the hook portion engaged with the inner box and to cover the opening from the outside;
2. The refrigerator according to claim 1. A vacuum insulation board is provided on the outer box side of the inner box,
At least a portion of the storage member protrudes outward in the width direction from the vacuum insulation board.
3. The refrigerator according to claim 2. A reinforcing portion is formed on the hooked portion of the inner box at a portion where the hooking portion is hooked, the reinforcing portion increasing the rigidity of the hooked portion.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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