Refrigerator

Abstract

To provide a refrigerator to which a recycled resin is effectively applied.SOLUTION: A refrigerator 1 includes: a storage chamber 2r having an opening 1H0 in a front part and storing food products; storage chamber doors 2a, 2b for allowing the opening 1H0 to be freely opened and closed; and an inner chamber 2r1 installed to the storage chamber 2r and including a box 11 of which front side is freely opened and closed by an inner door 13. The inner door 13 includes a recycled resin having light transmissivity.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6A

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, recycled plastics have been used as plastic materials. Refrigerators, which are one type of home electric appliance, use many plastic materials for their insulated box body forming a storage compartment, doors, and the like. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for applying recycled plastics to refrigerators. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2006-78060 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Although Patent Document 1 describes the technology to apply recycled plastics, it does not describe the method of applying recycled plastics to refrigerators. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has an object to provide a refrigerator in which recycled resin is effectively used. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the refrigerator of the present invention comprises a storage compartment having an opening at the front for storing food, a storage compartment door which allows the opening to be opened and closed freely, and an inner compartment provided in the storage compartment and having a box at the front which can be opened and closed freely with an inner compartment door, the inner compartment door comprising translucent recycled resin. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment, seen obliquely from the front. [Figure 3A] Front view of the lower freezer door. [Figure 3B] Rear view of the lower freezer door. [Figure 4A] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the lower freezer door from the upper right front. [Figure 4B] FIG. [Figure 5A] A front view of the top refrigerator compartment. [Figure 5B] Cross-sectional view II of FIG. 5A. [Figure 6A] FIG. [Figure 6B] Front view of the chilled container in the chilled compartment. [Figure 7A] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the chilled inner case pulled out from the chilled box. [Figure 7B] 6B in a state where the chilled inner case is pulled out from the chilled box. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. [Figure 9] Exploded view of the cooling panel. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. [Figure 11] IV-IV cross-sectional view of FIG. 8 . [Figure 12] VV cross-sectional view of Figure 1 showing the flow of cool air. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0007] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. FIG. 1 shows a front view of a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0008] Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of refrigerator 1 of the embodiment as seen obliquely from the front. Note that Fig. 2 shows a state in which ice-making compartment door 3, upper freezer compartment door 4, and lower freezer compartment door 5 are open.

[0009] In the refrigerator 1 of the embodiment, a refrigerator compartment 2r, an ice-making compartment 3r, an upper freezer compartment 4r, a lower freezer compartment 5r, and a vegetable compartment 6r are arranged from top to bottom.

[0010] A refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a box body 1H and doors (2a, 2b, 3, 4, 5, 6). The box 1H has an opening 1H0 (see FIG. 2). The opening 1H0 of the box 1H is opened and closed by doors (2a, 2b, 3, 4, 5, 6). The topmost refrigerator compartment 2r is provided with a left refrigerator compartment door 2a and a right refrigerator compartment door 2b at the front. The secondmost ice-making compartment 3r and upper freezer compartment 4r are provided with an ice-making compartment door 3 and an upper freezer compartment door 4, respectively. The thirdmost lower freezer compartment 5r is provided with a lower freezer compartment door 5 at the front. The bottommost vegetable compartment 6r is provided with a vegetable compartment door 6 at the front.

[0011] The left and right refrigerator compartment doors 2a and 2b open like hinges relative to the box body 1H. The left refrigerator compartment door 2a can be rotated toward the front by an upper hinge 7a and a lower hinge 8a. Similarly, the right refrigerator compartment door 2b can be rotated toward the front by an upper hinge 7b and a lower hinge 8b.

[0012] The second-stage ice-making compartment door 3, the upper-stage freezer compartment door 4, the third-stage lower-stage freezer compartment door 5, and the lowest-stage vegetable compartment door 6 shown in Fig. 1 can be pulled out toward the front of the page. At the rear of each of the ice-making compartment door 3, the upper-stage freezer compartment door 4, the lower-stage freezer compartment door 5, and the vegetable compartment door 6, an ice-making compartment container 3u, an upper-stage freezer container 4u, a lower-stage freezer container 5u, and a vegetable compartment container 6u are integrally provided, respectively.

[0013] The vegetable compartment 6r on the bottom level is a storage compartment for storing vegetables, fruits, bottled beverages, etc.

[0014] The outside and inside of the refrigerator 1 are separated by a box body 1H of an insulated box body filled with a foam insulating material (not shown) and doors (2a, 2b, 3, 4, 5, 6). For example, polyurethane foam is used as the foam insulating material.

[0015] <Box 1H> The box body 1H constituting the heat-insulating box is composed of an outer box 1s, an inner box 1u (see FIG. 5A), a vacuum heat insulating material, etc., as shown in FIG. 2. The outer box 1s is a metal plate such as a steel plate that covers the box body 1H. The outer box 1s is made of a thin iron plate, for example, with a wall thickness of 0.5 mm to 0.4 mm.

[0016] The inner box 1u is made of synthetic resin, typically acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin (ABS resin) by vacuum molding, but may also be made of other synthetic resins such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene resin (PP), polyethylene terephthalate resin (PET resin), etc.

[0017] <Lower freezer door 5> FIG. 3A shows a front view of lower freezer door 5, and FIG. 3B shows a rear view of lower freezer door 5.

[0018] FIG. 4A shows a perspective view of lower freezer door 5 as seen from the upper right front, and FIG. 4B shows a perspective view of lower freezer door 5 as seen from the lower right front. As shown in FIG. 4A, the lower freezer compartment door 5 has a front door panel 5a and a guide rail 5b. A lower freezer container 5u (see FIG. 2) is placed on the guide rail 5b. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the guide rail 5b can be freely inserted and removed from the box body 1H. For this reason, the guide rail 5b is provided with rollers 5b1 that roll on a rail portion (not shown) provided on the box body 1H.

[0019] The front door panel 5a shown in Figures 4A and 4B has a front panel 5a1, an upper frame panel 5a2, a lower frame panel 5a3, a right frame panel 5a4, a left frame panel 5a5, and a rear panel 5a6 (see Figure 3B). The front door panel 5a is formed by filling the inside with foamed resin.

[0020] 2 and 4A, a grip portion 5at is formed on the upper frame plate 5a2. The user grips the grip portion 5at when inserting or removing the lower freezer container 5u into or from the refrigerator 1. In the case where the front plate 5a1 of the lower freezer compartment door 5 is formed from a steel plate, the front plate 5a1, the right frame plate 5a4 and the left frame plate 5a5 are formed by bending a single steel plate. The upper frame plate 5a2 is formed using virgin plastic. Since the upper frame plate 5a2 is easily visually observed by a user, virgin plastic with excellent appearance is used.

[0021] The lower frame plate 5a3 is made of recycled plastic. The lower frame plate 5a3 is made of recycled plastic because it is difficult for users to see. The reason is that recycled plastic is inferior in appearance to virgin plastic. On the other hand, in the case where the front panel 5a1 of the lower freezer compartment door 5 is formed of a glass plate, only the front panel 5a1 is formed of a glass plate. The upper frame plate 5a2 is made of virgin plastic, and the lower frame plate 5a3 is made of recycled plastic.

[0022] Although new plastic is used for the right frame plate 5a4 and the left frame plate 5a5, recycled plastic may be used. In this case, it is preferable to decorate the right frame plate 5a4 and the left frame plate 5a5 by coloring them or the like. The rear plate 5a6 is made of ABS resin or polypropylene resin (PP), and may be made of recycled plastic since it is difficult for the user to see.

[0023] <Ice compartment door 3, upper freezer door 4, vegetable compartment door 6> The other pull-out doors, that is, ice-making compartment door 3, upper freezer compartment door 4, and vegetable compartment door 6, are configured in the same manner as lower freezer compartment door 5 described above. That is, as shown in Fig. 1, the upper frame plate 3a2 of the ice-making compartment door 3 is made of new plastic, and the lower frame plate 3a3 is made of recycled plastic. The upper frame plate 4a2 of the upper freezer compartment door 4 is made of new plastic, and the lower frame plate 4a3 is made of recycled plastic. The upper frame plate 6a2 of the vegetable compartment door 6 is made of new plastic, and the lower frame plate 6a3 is made of recycled plastic.

[0024] <Refrigerator left door 2a, refrigerator right door 2b> The upper frame plate 2a2 and the lower frame plate 2a1 of the left refrigerator door 2a, and the upper frame plate 2b2 and the lower frame plate 2b1 of the right refrigerator door 2b are made of recycled plastic because the upper frame plate 2a2 and the lower frame plate 2a1 of the left refrigerator door 2a, and the upper frame plate 2b2 and the lower frame plate 2b1 of the right refrigerator door 2b are difficult for users to see.

[0025] <Refrigerator room 2r> Fig. 5A shows a front view of the uppermost refrigerator compartment 2r as seen from the front, and Fig. 5B shows a cross-sectional view taken along line II of Fig. 5A. The refrigerator compartment 2r is divided into a chilled compartment 2r1 at the bottom right, an ice-making compartment 2r2 at the bottom left, and a refrigerator shelf compartment 2r3 above the chilled compartment 2r1 and the ice-making compartment 2r2. The refrigerated shelf compartment 2r3 is vertically divided by the chilled compartment upper shelf t1 and the refrigerated shelves t2, t3, and t4.

[0026] <Chilled room 2r1> FIG. 6A shows a perspective view of the chilled container 10 in the chilled compartment 2r1, and FIG. 6B shows a front view of the chilled container 10 in the chilled compartment 2r1.

[0027] 7A shows a perspective view of the state in which chilled inner case 12 has been pulled out from chilled box 11, and FIG. 7B shows a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 6B of the state in which chilled inner case 12 has been pulled out from chilled box 11. FIG.

[0028] A chilled container 10 is provided in the chilled compartment 2r1 shown in FIG. 5A. As shown in FIG. 7A, the chilled container 10 includes a chilled box 11 and a chilled inner case 12 that is inserted into and removed from the chilled box 11. The chilled box 11 has a box shape with an opening 11a at the front. The chilled box 11 is located at the back of the interior of the refrigerator 1 and is difficult to see from the user of the refrigerator 1. In addition, the chilled box 11 may be made of recycled plastic and is formed in a dark color such as black or dark gray mixed with black.

[0029] Therefore, the chilled box 11 is difficult to see by the user because it is formed in a dark color and is located at the back of the refrigerator compartment 2r as shown in Fig. 5B. In addition, foreign matter contained in the recycled plastic of the chilled box 11 is also difficult to see by the user.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 7A, the refrigerated inner case 12 has a box-shaped case 12c that is open at the front and top for placing items to be stored, and a refrigerated door 13. The chilled door 13 is a door that opens and closes the opening 11a of the chilled box 11. The box-shaped case 12c is made of recycled plastic.

[0031] The chilled door 13 shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B is attached to the front part of the box-shaped case 12c so as to be freely rotatable about a shaft 12c1. By rotating the chilled door 13, the chilled door 13 is shifted between a closed state shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B and an open state shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B.

[0032] The chilled door 13 shown in FIG. 6A has a frame 13a forming a door body, a transparent or translucent flat front panel 13b, and a rod-shaped grip portion 13c. The rod-shaped grip portion 13c is hung across the left and right sides of the frame body 13a. The grip portion 13c is gripped by a user when the box-shaped case 12c is taken in or out of the chilled box 11. The frame 13a is made of virgin plastic, and a decorative member 14 made of a metal such as stainless steel or aluminum is provided on the top surface of the gripping portion 13c and on the front surface of the gripping portion 13c. The transparent or translucent front panel 13b is made of recycled plastic, i.e., light-transmitting recycled plastic (recycled resin).

[0033] The upper surface of front panel 13b is textured to make fine details difficult to see, so that when chilled door 13 is opened and viewed from eye line p1, as shown in Fig. 7B, foreign objects in the transparent or translucent recycled plastic of front panel 13b are prevented from being seen.

[0034] As shown in Figures 7A and 7B, when the chilled inner case 12 is pulled out from the chilled box 11, the chilled door 13 is inclined at θ1 degrees (see Figure 7B) with respect to the box-shaped case 12c so that the upper part is located at the front side. For example, the inclination angle θ1 is set to about 45 degrees ±5 degrees. This makes it difficult for the user p1 to see the front panel 13b made of recycled plastic, as shown in Figures 7B and 7A.

[0035] <Ice compartment container 3u, upper freezer container 4u, lower freezer container 5u, and vegetable compartment container 6u> The vegetable compartment container 6u of the vegetable compartment 6 and the ice compartment container 3u of the ice compartment 3 shown in FIG. 2 are molded from a single layer of virgin plastic. This is because the vegetable compartment container 6u and the ice compartment container 3u are not made of recycled plastic materials because they may come into direct contact with food. This ensures the safety of the food stored in the vegetable compartment container 6u and the ice compartment container 3u.

[0036] Recycled plastic is used for the upper freezer container 4u and the lower freezer container 5u because food stored in the upper freezer container 4u and the lower freezer container 5u does not directly touch the containers (5u, 4u).

[0037] <Cooling panel 15> FIG. 8 shows a front view of the cooling panel 15 that constitutes the refrigerator compartment 2r. As shown in Fig. 5B, the cooling panel 15 is provided at the rear side of the refrigerator compartment 2r. The cooling panel 15 forms a wall body at the rear side of the refrigerator compartment 2r, and an air passage 15f is formed inside the cooling panel 15. Cooling air for cooling the refrigerator compartment 2r flows through the air passage 15f. The cooling panel 15 is formed with a plurality of cold air outlets 15i for cooling air from the air passage 15f, and a plurality of cold air return ports 15o1, 15o2, and 15o3 for the cooling air.

[0038] A deodorizer is installed at cool air return port 15o2 at the lower right of cooling panel 15 (details will be described later). FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of the cooling panel 15. The cooling panel 15 is composed of an upper cooling panel 15U and a lower cooling panel 15S. The upper cooling panel 15U is made of virgin plastic since it is visually inspected by the user.

[0039] The lower cooling panel 15S is disposed behind the chilled box 11 of the chilled compartment 2r1 shown in Fig. 5A, and the rear end of the chilled compartment shelf t1 disposed above the chilled box 11 is disposed close to the cooling panel 15 and hidden (see Fig. 5B), making it difficult for users to see, and therefore is formed using recycled plastic. Therefore, an environmentally friendly cooling panel 15 can be created.

[0040] FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. The upper cooling panel 15U and the lower cooling panel 15S are joined together by tab fitting 16 (see FIG. 10) and screw fixing 17 (see FIG. 11). The tab fitting 16 (see FIG. 10) utilizes the elasticity of plastic. The screw fixing 17 (see FIG. 11) is a fixation using a screw.

[0041] As mentioned above, recycled plastics tend to be harder and more brittle than virgin materials (new plastics). Therefore, in the case of the claw fitting 16 shown in Fig. 10, the claw 16a is provided on the upper cooling panel 15U made of virgin material (new plastic), and the claw receiving portion 16b is provided on the lower cooling panel 15S made of recycled plastic. This is because the claw 16a has a large deformation amount, while the claw receiving portion 16b has a small deformation amount. Therefore, the reliability of the claw fitting 16 is high.

[0042] In the case of the screw fixing 17 shown in Fig. 11, the screw boss 17a into which the screw is cut is made of the upper cooling panel 15U made of virgin material (new plastic). The hole 17b through which the screw is inserted is made in the lower cooling panel 15S made of recycled plastic. Therefore, the reliability of the screw fixing 17 is high. The cooling panel 15, which is made by combining the upper cooling panel 15U and the lower cooling panel 15S, is fixed to the inner box 1u (see FIG. 5A) by the upper cooling panel 15U made of virgin material. As a result, the cooling panel 15 is fixed to the inner box 1u by the upper cooling panel 15U made of soft and tough virgin material, so that the fixing can be performed with high reliability.

[0043] The chilled compartment upper shelf t1 and cold air return cover 19 shown in FIG. 5A are fixed to the upper cooling panel 15U of the cooling panel 15 made of new plastic that is flexible and tough. All parts that are fixed or supported on the inner box 1u of the refrigerator compartment 2r are made from new virgin plastic.

[0044] <Deodorant> FIG. 12 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line II in FIG. 1, illustrating the flow of cool air. An evaporator for refrigeration (not shown) is disposed on a cooling panel 15 (see FIG. 5A) on the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 2r. The cold air generated by the evaporator for refrigeration is blown out from the cold air outlet 15i (see FIG. 5A) of the cooling panel 15 into the refrigerator compartment 2r (arrow α11 in FIG. 12). Then, the cold air is exhausted from the cold air return ports 15o1, 15o2, and 15o3 shown in FIG. 8 to the air passage 20f1 (see FIG. 12) on the rear side of the refrigerator compartment 2r.

[0045] Further, at the rear of the ice-making compartment 3r, the upper freezing compartment 4r, and the lower freezing compartment 5r which are the freezing compartments Fr shown in FIG. 12, an evaporator for freezing (not shown) is disposed. The cold air generated by the refrigeration evaporator is blown into the freezing chamber Fr from the air outlet fr1 at the rear upper part of the freezing chamber Fr shown in Fig. 12 (arrow α12 in Fig. 12). Then, the cold air is exhausted from the cold air return port fr2 at the rear lower part of the freezing chamber Fr shown in Fig. 12 to the air passage 20f2 (see Fig. 12) at the rear of the freezing chamber Fr.

[0046] Thereafter, the cool air in air passage 20f2 (see FIG. 12) is discharged into vegetable compartment 6r, circulates within vegetable compartment 6r (arrow α13 in FIG. 12), and returns to air passage 20f2 on the rear side of freezer compartment Fr. By the way, there are cases where the odor of recycled plastics is a concern. For example, if an odorous object is placed near the cold air outlet (inlet) 15i (see FIG. 5A) in the refrigerator compartment 2r, the odor may be carried by the wind and may adhere to other foods in the refrigerator compartment 2r. Therefore, the odorous substances are stored near the cool air return port 15o2 (see FIG. 8). Then, the deodorizer 21 is placed near the cool air return port 15o2.

[0047] Therefore, as shown in Fig. 8, the refrigerator 1 is provided with a lattice-shaped deodorizer case 21c in front of the cold air return port 15o2. The deodorizer case 21c is configured to hold the deodorizer 21. This can prevent odors from accumulating in the refrigerator compartment 2r. In the above example, the deodorizer 21 is placed in the cold air return port 15o2 (see Figure 8) of the refrigerator compartment 2r, but the deodorizer case and deodorizer may also be provided in the cold air return port fr2 (see Figure 12) at the lower rear of the freezer compartment Fr or in the cold air return port fr3 (see Figure 12) of the vegetable compartment 6r.

[0048] <How to use recycled plastics (recycled resins)> In the refrigerator 1 shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the recycled plastic (recycled resin) is provided in a location that is difficult to see from the eye level of a user standing in front of the refrigerator 1. As shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the cooling panel 15 is composed of an upper cooling panel 15U and a lower cooling panel 15S. The upper cooling panel 15U is formed using virgin plastic since it is visible to the user. On the other hand, the lower cooling panel 15S is formed using recycled plastic since it is located behind and hidden from the chilled box 11 of the chilled compartment 2r1 and the chilled compartment upper shelf t1 (see Fig. 5A) when the refrigerator compartment door 2 is open and is difficult to see by the user, as shown in Fig. 5A. This means that foreign matter contained in recycled plastics (recycled resins) cannot be seen with the naked eye.

[0049] According to the above configuration, an environmentally friendly refrigerator 1 can be realized because recycled plastic members are used for the refrigerator 1. In addition, the use of recycled plastic members for the refrigerator 1 allows for cost reduction.

[0050] <<Other embodiments>> 1. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and modified configurations, and various modifications and specific forms are possible within the scope of the appended claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1. Refrigerator 1H0 aperture 2 Refrigerator door (storage door) 2a2 Upper left frame plate (upper frame member of the upper storage compartment door) 2b2 Upper right frame plate (upper frame member of the upper storage compartment door) 2r Refrigerator (storage room) 2r1 Chilled room (inner room) 3 Ice making compartment door (storage compartment door) 3a3 Bottom frame plate (bottom frame member of storage room door) 3r Ice making room (storage room) 3u Ice Container (Freezer Container) 4 Upper freezer door (storage compartment door) 4a3 Bottom frame plate (bottom frame member of storage room door) 4r Upper freezer (storage room) 4u Top freezer container (freezer container) 5 Lower freezer door (storage compartment door) 5a3 Bottom frame plate (bottom frame member of storage room door) 5r Lower freezer (storage room) 5u Lower Freezer Container (Freezer Container) 6 Vegetable compartment door (storage compartment door) 6a3 Bottom frame plate (bottom frame member of storage room door) 6r Vegetable room (storage room) 6u vegetable compartment container 11 Chilled boxes (boxes, containers for chilled compartments) 12c Case (Chilled room container) 13 Chilled door (inner door) 15 Cooling Panel 15o2 Cold air return port 15S Lower cooling panel 15U Top Cooling Panel 16 Claw fitting 16a Claw 16b Claw receiver (claw receiver) 17 Screw fixing 17a Screw boss (female thread) 20f1 Air path (cooling air path) 21 Deodorant

Claims

1. a storage chamber having an opening at a front portion and for storing food; a storage compartment door that can freely open and close the opening; an inner chamber provided in the storage chamber and having a box whose front is freely opened and closed by an inner chamber door; The refrigerator is characterized in that the inner door is made of translucent recycled resin.

2. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, The refrigerator is characterized in that a part of the inner door where the recycled resin is used is textured.

3. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, The refrigerator is characterized in that the box is a dark color that is a mixture of black and dark gray.

4. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, This refrigerator is characterized in that the containers of the vegetable compartment and the ice compartment are made of virgin resin.

5. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, A refrigerator in which the containers of the freezer and chilled compartments are made of recycled resin.

6. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, A refrigerator characterized in that a lower frame member of the storage compartment door is formed from recycled resin.

7. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, A refrigerator characterized in that an upper frame member of the uppermost storage compartment door is formed from recycled resin.

8. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, A refrigerator characterized in that in the case of a claw fitting in which a member is fixed by a claw and a claw receiver, the claw is provided on a portion of new resin, and the claw receiver is provided on a portion of recycled resin.

9. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, The refrigerator is characterized in that in the case of screw fixing, the female thread portion is provided in the part of the new resin.

10. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, A refrigerator characterized in that a deodorizer is disposed at a cool air return port in the storage compartment.

11. a refrigeration chamber having an opening at a front portion and for storing food; a refrigerator compartment door that can freely open and close the opening; a cooling panel that forms a back wall of the refrigeration chamber and forms a cooling air passage for the refrigeration chamber; The cooling panel is formed by combining an upper cooling panel and a lower cooling panel, A refrigerator, wherein the upper cooling panel is made of new resin, and the lower cooling panel is made of recycled resin.

Images